Just counting the materials Ice Regint traded for recently, excluding what they had brought...
Total Crystals: 959 pieces - Fire Crystals: 588, tal Crystals: 261, Water Crystals: 92, Earth Crystals: 12, Life Crystals: 6.
Even Magnus didn’t expect they’d trade this many crystals.
But thinking about it, it made sense. One tal Crystal could get you about 880 pounds of rice, a Fire Crystal around 550. No ordinary group would say no to that kind of deal. Crystals only gave you one hour of effect - once used, they were gone. But 550 or 880 pounds of rice? That was real. That lasted.
Water Crystal trades - 3,300 pounds per piece - might not be worth it, but for regular folks, crushing one ant a flood of clean water that wouldn’t stop. And not everyone had Magnus’s kind of control. To most people, Water Crystals weren’t practical. Better to just take the food.
Weapons and ammo, though, didn’t co in nearly as heavy as expected. Magnus flipped through the logs: 77 automatic rifles, 112 pistols, 55 rifle magazines, 91 pistol magazines - and one grenade. That was it. Nowhere near enough to bolster the Ice Regint. Maybe the others were running low too.
Household goods, on the other hand, ca in like a flood.
They received over 57,000 rolls of toilet paper. Split among the won on the team, that was almost 570 rolls each - and that didn’t even count what they already had. Even using one roll a day, it would last close to two years.
Beyond that, they’d collected more than 5,900 sets of won’s clothing and over 3,700 pairs of hiking boots and military shoes. There were also 32,000 brand-new pots, pans, and other kitchen utensils, plus over 6,000 sets of bedding and quilts.
Hygiene and body care products were stacked to the ceiling - 127,000-plus bottles and packages of shampoo, body wash, soap, towels, face cleansers, toothpaste, toothbrushes...
And costics? Over 158,000 items - lipsticks, powders, foundation, perfu. The kinds of things people wouldn’t have given a damn about a month into the apocalypse. Now they were trading them away for rice.
The numbers nearly knocked Magnus off his seat. He’d already squeezed the trade prices as low as they could go - and still ended up buried in a mountain of goods. Just how long would this all last?
Emily, Sophia, and Charlotte had seen the report too. They couldn’t hide their shock. Sophia blurted out, "My god! This much? Guess we don’t ever need to worry about blankets again!"
Charlotte nodded. "Yeah. Might last us a lifeti."
Emily added, "Why not let everyone pick out so clothes tomorrow? Maybe a few makeup items too. Let people feel human again."
"I’m in," Sophia said instantly.
As for vehicles, the haul wasn’t small either. They brought in 33 fuel tankers, 12 fire trucks, 9 sleeper buses, 72 box trucks, and 39 RVs.
Most of the RVs were valued under a million, but their interiors were decent enough. Only seven were truly high-end, with luxurious fittings and space to match. The one Magnus and his core team used - the one worth several million - was still the only one of its kind in the entire fleet.
They checked the RVs right after the trade and were satisfied. The offer had cost a fortune.
Charlotte suggested, "Let’s rotate these RVs among mbers. Everyone earned a break."
"I’m good with that," soone replied.
"Sa here," another echoed. None of the won showed greed - nobody was trying to claim a camper for themselves. Instead, Emily suggested, "Then I think we should assign this RV specifically to Magnus. He’s a guy, after all. I don’t think anyone would object."
No one did. Magnus didn’t play coy but had his own thoughts. "There are 40 RVs in total, counting this one. I’m fine with rotating them among the team, but we’ll only distribute 30 for now. I’ll keep one, and each of you can pick one for yourselves. The remaining ones can wait, we’ll decide on them later."
"We’re getting our own campers too? That might not sit well with the others..." Liana looked uneasy. She was in charge of logistics and would be the one to deliver the news.
Charlotte frowned. "I agree with Liana, it could cause so discontent."
"What’s the problem?" Magnus stood up and glanced at the won. "Wherever people live together, there’s always hierarchy. Always has been. Whether in a ti of peace or now - commanders get better benefits than grunts. That’s the way it works, all over the world. Our ancestors did it the sa way. I don’t see anything wrong with that."
The won fell silent. After a while, Emily said, "How about this - we share. Two of us per RV. For the squad leaders, group four to six per unit based on size. Then assign four more for the sub-leaders to rotate in."
"That works," Sophia nodded. "But since we’re doing this, we need clear rules for promotions. Whoever earns rit gets a chance to move up. Squad leaders, sub-leaders - even us. If soone sses up, they should take responsibility. That way the team knows this isn’t favoritism."
With that settled, they moved on to other items in the inventory. A few things stood out.
Gas tanks - this shipnt had nothing but. The Ice Regint got 422 fully filled ones.
Pesticides - over 300 crates, about 12 bottles each. Also a mishmash of perfus, deodorizers, strong-slling toilet cleaners, and hospital disinfectants. All adding up to over 500 crates.
Smokeless coal - over 7,000 kilograms, just under 4 tons - enough for a while.
Fuel - 61 tanker trucks ca in. Of these, 48 were full with gas or diesel, plus a truckload of filled fuel drums.
Still, what they lacked most were fruits and vegetables. They did manage to get 93 boxes of canned fruit, along with over 600 boxes of vacuum-packed side dishes - fernted tofu, chili paste, things like that. More than enough for variety, but vitamins were running thin. Eating like this too long might drag down morale.
"For vitamins, we’ll have to get creative," Magnus said. "Given the tis, we could try throwing tree leaves or wild grass into soups. Even toss so in during cooking - it helps."
It wasn’t perfect, people might end up with the runs, but Magnus had seen it work before. That was how the Ice Regint and others coped in the previous tiline.
Flipping to the end of the ledger, Liana had listed the newest recruits. The team had absorbed 311 newcors - all won. Of them, 307 were Awakened. Most were between 18 and 35, all in good shape. The total headcount was now 1,434.
Then Liana chid in, a hint of pride in her voice. "Flip a bit further - check out what jobs these new girls used to have..."
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