"Buy potatoes from me?"
Liang Chuan blinked at WaiBiBaBu's urgent request, momentarily stunned.
After thinking for a moment, he waved his hand.
"Hold on. Let me check something."
He returned to the Stone Shelter, though he wasn't "checking" anything physical—
he was contacting the system.
"System, how do players purchase items using in-game currency?"
System:
[The Host may establish a "Shop" within the base and assign an NPC clerk.
Players may then purchase any unlocked items from the shop.]
A list of all unlocked Level-2 items instantly popped up in his vision.
[Unlocked Level-2 Shop Items]EquipmentDull Sword — 50 copper
Boots of Swiftness — 50 copper
Iron-Tipped Spear — 50 copper
…
ConsumablesBandage — 10 copper
Small Vitality Potion — 10 copper
Small Spirit Potion — 10 copper
Energy Drink — 10 copper
Basic Control Collar — 50 copper
Intermediate Control Collar — 1 silver
…
FoodWuchang Rice — 10 copper
Drinking Water — 2 copper
Wheat — 5 copper
Leafy Greens — 5 copper
Potato — 5 copper
…
Everyday ItemsDurex Protection — 10 copper
…
There were easily over a hundred items—
and this was only the "second tier."
Once the Bio-Energy Terminal reached higher levels, even five-star weapons would be for sale.
Thanks to the trading platform fees he'd collected, Liang Chuan now had 1 gold, 30 silver in his system account.
He decided to test the shop interface and purchased:
10 Bandages
10 Vitality Potions
10 Spirit Potions
10 Energy Drinks
All stored neatly in his Boarhide Backpack.
"System, I can buy directly. Players can't, right?"
System:
[Players must physically enter the "Shop Area" to open the shop UI, and all items must be handed over by an NPC.]
"…So you want ritual.
Extreme realism, huh?"
Liang Chuan clicked his tongue.
"So if I set up a shop, I have to stand there like a real NPC, handing out items one by one?
Did I come to Teyvat to work a retail job?!"
System:
[The Host may assign a Teyvat local as the NPC clerk, or craft an autonomous puppet NPC.]
"A local? Don't tell me you expect me to collar a human being like some sort of slave owner?!"
Liang Chuan shuddered.
Sure, Natlan had many dark-skinned tribes—but he wasn't about to accidentally reinvent slavery.
"…Puppets are the answer. Something like the Katheryne automatons."
Each nation had a Katheryne.
His bases could each have their own puppet clerk.
"But puppet tech is Snezhnayan.
Do you want me to go ask the Tsaritsa for a batch of robot shopkeepers?
Even if she agreed, I bet she'd leave a backdoor…"
"System, the Workbench can't craft puppets?"
System:
[A Level-5 Workbench, the "Puppeteer" profession at Level 10 with the "Automaton Engineering" skill, plus the required materials, may craft puppet NPCs.]
Liang Chuan immediately checked the player roster.
Sure enough—someone had chosen Puppeteer.
Level 2 for now.
As for crafting materials:
Basic puppet → 10 Chaos Devices
Mid-tier puppet → Chaos Circuits
High-tier pseudo-humanoid combat puppet → Magical Heart (drops from Inazuma elite bosses)
He just needed a clerk—not a battle robot.
A basic puppet would do.
After sorting all this out, Liang Chuan left the Stone Shelter.
"The potatoes you want? I do have them.
But I can only sell them once the Shop is built."
"Build a shop?"
WaiBiBaBu instantly opened world chat.
[Natlan Chat]
WaiBiBaBu:
Liang Chuan has stuff for sale, but we need a Shop. Any Builders available?
KingOfConcrete (Builder):
I'm working on the Residential Block. I'm on a tight schedule. Shop comes later.
WaiBiBaBu:
I need potatoes now! By the time your housing block's done, I could've harvested a whole crop. The Shop doesn't need to be big!
KingOfConcrete:
No size requirement? Then just throw a tarp over a table and call it a shop.
WaiBiBaBu:
…That works??
KingOfConcrete:
Try it. I'll send a simple shop layout.
A few minutes later, WaiBiBaBu and other Farmer-players erected… a shack.
A ragged tarp overhead.
One wooden table underneath.
They proudly dragged Liang Chuan over.
"Done! The shop is built!"
Liang Chuan stared at the pitiful structure.
His eye twitched violently.
You call this… a shop?
But the moment he stepped within range—
A system prompt chimed:
[You have entered the Shop Area. Open shop?]
[Yes / No]
Liang Chuan: "…"
He tapped Yes.
From now on, any player who stepped into the shade of this ridiculous shack could access the shop menu—
but the items still had to be handed out by him personally.
Which made him even more determined to create a puppet clerk.
He didn't want to stand here all day handing out potatoes.
At least the system gave him one consolation:
As the Shop NPC, he earned a salary.
50% of all sales.
If a player bought an item worth 10 copper—
he pocketed 5 copper.
"…Well, at least the pay is decent."
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