Wasteland: I Awakened A Plant System-Chapter 8: Chaos In Survival Platform

Vikram checked the messages from the morning to see if anyone had responded to him. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

This time, everyone had replied, but it was a bit regrettable that by the time Vikram responded to them that evening, the bandages had already been traded.

Only the iron pot blueprint and corn seeds remained.

First, he spoke with Rohan Mehta, who was trading the iron pot blueprint.

[Vikram: Are you still selling the iron pot blueprint?]

[Rohan Mehta: Oh, yes, I’m selling it, Brother, as long as you can trade me some water.]

[Vikram: So, how much water do you want?]

Vikram still decided to let the other party name their price first. The advantage of doing this was to roughly gauge whether the other person was honest or liked to play tricks, and also to understand their psychological expectations, giving him the upper hand in bargaining later.

[Rohan Mehta: This blueprint is green. Can I trade it for two bottles of water?]

[Vikram: Are you sure?]

[Rohan Mehta: Ah, then one bottle?]

Rohan Mehta asked hesitantly.

Vikram was initially a bit confused as to how a green blueprint could be offered at such a cheap price, but he didn’t expect the other party to lower the price themselves.

This made Vikram wonder if the other party was born in an extremely water-scarce place like a desert.

He asked, [Vikram: Is your Shelter built in a desert.]

To his surprise, as soon as he asked, it was as if he had touched a sensitive nerve of Rohan.

Rohan began pouring out his miserable experiences from the past two days, as if he had completely forgotten about their transaction—and that they had only met less than two minutes ago.

Essentially, he was originally a construction worker still working on a site, and like everyone else, he was brought to this world.

The difference was that most other people’s spawn points came with resources, and even if they were difficult to obtain, it only took some time.

However, his spawn point was in the desert, with nothing but endless yellow sand and cacti. It had been three days, and his Shelter was still the initial wooden house.

He had even tried to walk out of the desert. But without any landmarks, he wandered blindly for an entire day, only to run out of water and find himself still surrounded by an endless sea of sand.

The only comfort was that yesterday he killed a lizard with an axe, which dropped a treasure chest containing an iron pot blueprint.

He immediately listed the blueprint on the trading market for water, since it was useless to him.

However, blueprints were simply not appealing to other Survivors in the early stage.

Most people were still relying on the bread and mineral water in their bags to get by. What sense did it make to trade precious water for an iron pot blueprint?

And even if they obtained it, they wouldn’t have iron to make a pot.

Rohan Mehta, who initially thought his luck had turned good, felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over him. When he saw that the trade had been ignored all day.

Only Vikram’s appearance rekindled a glimmer of hope in him.

After pouring out his pitiful story in one breath, he felt much more relieved.

But while he was relieved, Vikram was suffering.

The corn seed trade was still waiting for him, but he didn’t want to give up on this blueprint either, so he had to endure and listen until Rohan finished.

However, he also felt a bit of melancholy; compared to Rohan Mehta’s predicament, it made him realize just how fortunate he was.

He knew that he truly lacked nothing in terms of resources here.

Although he had the plant system’s help, if he had also been born in a desert region, he believed that even with the plant system, it would be like a clever housewife unable to cook without rice.

Rohan Mehta on the other side seemed to finally realize he had said too much to a stranger, and changed the subject back to the main topic.

[Rohan Mehta: One bottle of water, just one bottle and I’ll give you the blueprint.]

"..."

After a moment of silence, Vikram said, [Vikram: I can give you two bottles’ worth of water.]

[Vikram: But if you find similar items again, you have to prioritize trading with me. What do you think?]

Almost instantly, a positive reply came from the other side.

[Rohan Mehta: No problem, Brother. If I find anything good, I’ll definitely contact you first... if I can survive this natural disaster.]

He clicked on the trade, and Rohan Mehta put up the iron pot blueprint.

[Trader: Rohan Mehta, Item: Iron Pot Blueprint, Required Item: Water X1000ml.]

Trade completed.

He immediately used the blueprint from his backpack, unlocking the crafting recipe for an iron pot, which required three pieces of iron.

Before closing the chat window, Vikram sent Rohan a reminder.

[Vikram: I have a map that shows the terrain of this world is very different from Earth.]

[Vikram: Each region spans roughly 15 kilometers, about the distance between Survivors’ spawn points.]

[Vikram: If you can escape the desert before the disaster begins tomorrow, you might be able to use the terrain to avoid the worst of it.]

[Rohan Mehta: Thank you so much, Brother Vikram. If I survive this disaster, I’ll owe you my life.]

Although not highly educated, Rohan had been taught since childhood to repay kindness. He silently swore that if he ever had the chance, he would repay Brother Vikram.

Vikram didn’t pay much attention to those words. He wasn’t acting purely out of kindness—only making a practical investment. Trading with someone honest and sincere was far more reliable in the long run.

He then switched to the chat window of the corn seed seller.

[Vikram: Do you still have corn seeds?]

After a short delay, the reply came.

[Divya Rajput: Yes, as long as you have enough stones.]

[Vikram: Alright, I have 10 stones here. Do you think these are enough to trade for your corn seeds?]

[Divya Rajput: I have 200g of corn seeds. You’ll need to give me at least 20 stones.]

The other party seemed short on time for haggling, and her tone was somewhat impatient.

[Vikram: In this environment, planting crops would be difficult, wouldn’t it?]

[Divya Rajput: How you plant them is your business. Anyway, I want 20 stones.]

[Vikram: How about this, you sell me your seeds for 15 stones. And in the future, if you want to trade seeds for stones, come to me. I’ll buy as many as you have at the same price.]

Hearing Vikram’s new price and conditions, Karthik Iyer thought for a moment and agreed to the trade.

"With the corn seeds in hand, today’s tasks are all completed. The only slight regret is not getting the bandages." However, Vikram was already very satisfied with this.

Afterall, planting corn seeds will give him not only the food but also Plant Essence. But it was for the future, till he didn’t safeguard his base.

Sitting on a stool, Vikram waited quietly for the pork to roast, taking the opportunity to open the regional chat channel.

With the natural disaster imminent, most people showed clear signs of panic.

[Brothers, how are things on your end?]

[It’s already starting to drizzle here.]

Someone mentioned acid rain in the channel, immediately drawing everyone’s attention.

[Same here. I wonder if my solid wood house can hold up.]

[The brother above, I’m telling you, it will definitely be fine.]

[Actually, maybe you’re overthinking it. Acid rain is corrosive, but it’s not that exaggerated.]

[At most, it’ll just damage the plants.]

[Yeah, a solid wood house should be enough. Otherwise, with only three days to prepare, how could anyone upgrade to a stone house with just a broken stone axe? I don’t believe anyone has already done that.]

[Hahaha, who said no one has a stone house? I just finished building mine.]

[You say you have one, and you do? Who are you trying to fool? I could say I have a golden house.]

That Survivor was a bit unconvinced. After all, he had worked so hard chopping trees and digging stones, yet he was still a bit short of a stone house. Now, someone was claiming to have one, so he naturally didn’t believe it and retorted directly.

The person who had spoken earlier immediately posted a picture in the channel.

The image of a stone house standing on a mountainside instantly sparked heated discussion.

[Holy crap, it’s real! Big bro, are you taking in little brothers? I can bring my Territory Core to join you.]

[Get lost, you above! You just want to freeload. Who doesn’t have a Territory Core? Big bro, I’ll soon have enough stone to upgrade too. If we two cooperate, we’ll definitely adapt quickly here."]

[Big bro, look at me! I’m pretty and sweet-voiced. If you take me in, I’ll do anything you want.]

[Hahaha, alright, alright. As long as you bring your Territory Core to find me, I’ll take all of you in.]

Seeing how many people were fawning over the stone house, several Survivors who had managed to upgrade quickly began appearing in the chat, showing off their strength while recruiting others to join their Shelters.

Vikram quietly watched the scene unfold, secretly noting those who had built stone houses and estimating how many people in his region had already completed such upgrades.

"There are eight known people who spoke up in the channel. Including those keeping a low profile and those not watching the chat, there are probably ten times that number or more."

He was somewhat surprised that they had managed to build stone houses within three days without any special system assistance. He himself had used the stone axe provided by the Survival Platform, and its efficiency was far from impressive.

He believed that only through cooperation between multiple people would it be possible to complete a stone house within three days.

And the fact that those who had built stone houses were even more eager to recruit other Survivors further confirmed his idea.

However, none of that concerned him. As long as they survived peacefully and did not cause trouble, he had no intention of interfering.

Unless something unexpected happened, he would never allow strangers to share his territory. If the existence of the Plant Life System were exposed to someone with ulterior motives, he would inevitably be targeted and besieged.

After all, an innocent man is guilty of possessing a treasure.

"The accumulation of Plant Essence in the early stage is still too slow," he muttered.

"So far, I only used 5 Plant Essence to craft the temporary Leaf Resin Coating. Including yesterday’s remaining 22 and today’s net gain of 25, I only have 47 Plant Essence in total."

"The road to survival is long and arduous."

He tossed a slightly overcooked strip of roasted rabbit to Pinku before eating his own roasted meat alongside boiled spring water.