Chapter 13: The Wild Chicken That Flies With Its Beard

“That’s the wicked maid,” Yun Xiaoyu scrunched up his whole face, pouting as he muttered, “What use is she? Can we trade her for spirit coins?”

Yun Qimu’s lips curled into a smile. “Not while she’s alive, but once she’s dead, we can.”

“Huh?”

Yun Xiaoyu looked completely baffled. His clever little brain hadn’t caught up yet, but Yun Qimu was already striding over.

She circled around the maid’s body to stand in front of her. The maid’s eyes were wide open, her thin, sharp face twisted in terror. The exposed skin had turned a bluish-purple, and her clawed fingers had dug deep, messy grooves into the muddy ground.

Clearly, she’d suffered extreme fright before dying.

Still, the fact that she’d managed to leave behind an intact corpse on this harsh exile planet—even with both arms still attached—showed just how much the Main Brain had “looked after” this body.

Yun Xiaoyu put his little hands behind his back and paced around Nasha’s corpse like a stern little scholar, seriously inspecting it as if searching for any remaining value.

There wasn’t a hint of fear on his face. He’d seen dead bodies plenty of times during the Yun family’s training. Only that dumb, chubby Yun Shangyang would get so scared at the sight of a corpse that he’d cry for his mom and beg to go home.

So, how exactly do you trade a corpse for a room?

Yun Qimu’s lips quirked. “Main Brain, there’s no way you’ll let me upgrade a bedroom for just thirty spirit coins. If this corpse is enough to upgrade, then do it. If not, forget it—I’ll just bury her here and call it the end of our master-servant relationship.”

The Main Brain was secretly gnashing its teeth. This stingy host was just too much.

It protested, [Last night’s gale was fierce. Preserving this corpse cost me energy, you know!]

Yun Qimu raised an eyebrow leisurely, her tone full of mischief. “That was your choice, not mine. Besides, a corpse is worth seventeen spirit coins and one energy coin. Based on the resource allocation for each room in the cabin, you’re still making a profit. Actually, now that I think about it, you should throw in a little courtyard for me—just add a few bamboo fences, or wooden ones if you must.”

The Main Brain was so angry it could spit blood. [You think a courtyard is as cheap as cabbage? It’s not just about adding a few fences! Expanding the courtyard means extending your cabin’s defensive perimeter, and that all takes energy!]

The Main Brain felt a pang of regret. If it had known, it wouldn’t have thrown in that little vegetable patch as a bonus. It only did it because the kid was cute—hmph!

If the Main Brain had a human form, its lips would be pouting to the sky.

Yun Qimu’s gaze turned thoughtful, her brow arching slightly.

So this game runs on energy. And the energy comes from those energy coins she handed over yesterday.

A sly smile played at her lips. “Fine. For the sake of our future cooperation, I’ll be generous and take a step back. Add twenty more spirit coins, and you expand two bedrooms and a courtyard for me.”

The Main Brain was taken aback, its mechanical voice full of suspicion. [You’re actually willing to compromise?]

It did a quick calculation in its program. In fact, the nutrients and spiritual energy in this corpse were worth even more than the energy coins—twenty spirit coins was a fair price.

Bedrooms were the simplest rooms in the cabin; even building two wouldn’t use up ten spirit coins. The courtyard was the real energy drain, especially since it meant expanding the defensive shield...

All things considered, it was still making a profit.

But could this ultimate cheapskate of a host really be so agreeable?

Had she grown a conscience?

Ten minutes later, as per Yun Qimu’s request, a courtyard had been added—no, a huge courtyard, one that wrapped around the entire cabin, with enough space left over to build two more cabins.

The Main Brain was so angry it collapsed. Don’t ask—just light incense for it; it’s gone to the next world!

After withdrawing two thousand energy coins from her stash, Yun Xiaoyu stared at the enormous new courtyard and the two extra bedrooms, his mouth forming a perfect “O” of surprise.

And thus, a new world opened up for him!

You could haggle in this game—as long as you had the gift of gab and a thick skin, you could reap huge rewards!

The game even accepted corpses, and they were especially valuable.

Yun Xiaoyu’s little eyes drifted to the still-messy but treasure-filled garbage mountain nearby, his face full of eager anticipation.

He’d heard that the garbage heaps in Kimberley were full of corpses waiting to be scavenged—so what about the dumps on this exile planet?

Main Brain: Regret. The kid’s learning all the wrong things.

...

In the end, the siblings still didn’t get to eat Dad Yun’s stir-fried greens—because they hadn’t brought any oil. They had to settle for boiled greens.

But the greens were fresh, clean, and tender, and the taste of the boiled vegetables amazed both siblings.

Yun Qimu marveled too—this flavor was far better than the simulated greens in her old VR games.

“Dumb Mu, what should we do next?” Yun Xiaoyu, belly bulging, sprawled in the courtyard, staring at the gray sky in boredom.

Normally, he’d be sitting in class with those dumb snot-nosed kids at this hour.

Dad Yun also pulled up a little stool to sit beside him, both of them gazing blankly at the sky.

“Recruit people.”

Yun Qimu walked to the front of the courtyard, pulled out a big white sign sponsored by the Main Brain from her storage, and started figuring out where to plant it.

“Huh? Why do we need to recruit people?” Yun Xiaoyu sat up, his face puzzled.

“Because this game is called ‘Building Earth Village.’ The more people, the better for construction.” Yun Qimu explained as she pulled out a pen—another Main Brain freebie—and began writing on the sign.

Of course, the real reason was that she’d nearly driven the Main Brain to strike earlier, so now she was tossing it a bone.

Plus, with more “sheep” around, the Main Brain could spread its attention and not get so worked up over her, the sheep with no wool to give. That way, she could enjoy her future life in peace.

“Oh.” Since it involved abilities, Yun Xiaoyu didn’t ask further.

Right now, abilities were exploding everywhere—even bugs could awaken powers and become intelligent. This rebellious, stingy game AI with a mind of its own was nothing special.

When Yun Qimu paused, Yun Xiaoyu’s curiosity got the better of him. He waddled over, belly first. “Dumb Mu, what kind of recruitment ad did you write?”

He craned his neck to see, and his face froze in shock.

On the big white sign, two bold lines of text stood out:

Left side: “Do you want a life with wine to drink and meat to eat? Make a deal with the devil and it can be yours.”

Right side: “Friendly reminder: This is NOT a scam, absolutely NOT a scam! Miss out and you’ll regret it!”

Banner: “Earth Village Welcomes You.”

After a long moment, Yun Xiaoyu’s face twisted in confusion.

Was this supposed to attract people or scare them away?

Could such a blatant scam ad really bring anyone in?"