Just as he was about to close the system, he noticed the communication group below was flashing.
Not only did the private group have 99+ messages, but even the official group had 99+ messages.
There were also a few announcements and mass-sent messages.
'Was there an emergency notice?'
Zhao Chi quickly tapped on it to check.
The first few messages were voice messages from Chief Instructor Li Ruanyu.
Her voice was filled with anxiety and anger:
"Another reminder! You must pay attention! Under no circumstances are you to enter the Wall of Fog!"
"I remind you all every single day, so how could someone still run into that Fog Wall?"
"Liu Xun is already lost. The instructors are carrying out an emergency rescue plan."
"No matter the reason, if there's any danger, I want all of you to leave the Territory World immediately!!"
"Saving your own life is always the number one priority! If you run into the Wall of Fog, not only will you be unable to save your territory, but you won't be able to save your own life either!!"
"Every single one of you, reply with 'Received'!"
Li Ruanyu had a gentle personality.
It was rare for her to use such a stern tone.
But after something like this, it was understandable she would be furious.
Below was a long string of students replying with "Received."
But even more were asking for the specifics of the situation.
But Li Ruanyu didn't reply again.
The other instructors didn't reply either.
Liu Xun was a classmate of his, rather ordinary, and from a poor family.
He was normally quite hardworking, so it was unexpected that he'd run into the Wall of Fog.
He checked the time; the messages were sent at 2:17 AM.
The situation was unclear right now.
But he could speculate. 'He probably didn't clear out the Alien Race during the day and got attacked at night. In the ensuing panic, was he still trying to save his territory, fighting while retreating, until he finally ended up in the Wall of Fog?'
Zhao Chi didn't know the details.
But this speculation was probably not far from the truth.
Students from poor families cherished their starting territory.
If they retreated, their citizens would suffer heavy casualties, and with their buildings destroyed, the system would judge the territory to be annihilated.
They would be alive, but their territory would be gone.
And people from poor backgrounds didn't have the money to hire professionals to clear the traces of their old territory, nor could they afford a new World Stone.
That's why they would do everything in their power to protect their territory and not retreat.
To the point that some "foolishly" lost their chance to live.
You couldn't entirely blame them.
Although this had nothing to do with Zhao Chi, and his relationship with Liu Xun was only ordinary, he still felt a tightness in his chest.
This had nothing to do with the pair of large melons Gu Qing was pressing tightly against him.
It was just the feeling that a classmate was gone, just like that.
Even though Li Ruanyu and the others were attempting a rescue, it was basically a futile effort.
Zhao Chi sighed and opened the private group.
There were even more messages inside.
Dozens of classmates were already awake and endlessly discussing the matter.
But most of them were already discussing other things.
Shi Juan: "Everyone, come help me figure out how to best allocate points for this Beastman. His Power is as high as 7, but his personality is Timid and Perverted."
Li Xun: "Why has a new Alien Race camp already spawned on my end? It's a stone man camp. Fire Spiritual Skills are useless against stone men, right?"
Zheng He: "I heard a beast tide came from outside the wall in the early morning. Did any of you hear about it?"
Some other classmates were selling items or posting buy requests.
Lu Yi: "If anyone gets any Elf captives, you can sell them to me. I'll buy them all."
Tan Wei: "Same as above. Buying Human captives."
Wang Lie: "Anyone want a Silk Stocking Fashion Improvement Book? Willing to trade for a Weapon Improvement Book or Goblin captives. Or I can just sell it."
'A Silk Stocking Fashion Improvement Book?'
Zhao Chi immediately clicked on it.
He could view its information.
[Silk Stocking Fashion Improvement Book]
[Type] Technology
[Level] Basic
[Explanation] A basic improvement book for Silk Stocking Fashion. After use, you can choose an improvement path for the Silk Stockings.
Zhao Chi saw the word "choose" in the explanation.
It was a very ordinary word.
But he felt as if it was glowing.
His intuition told him that this Improvement Book would very likely trigger the effect of Transplantation.
Although this kind of fashion was useless to Zhao Chi himself, it would be helpful to Gu Qing and the other women.
Fashion items came with extra Attributes, which could make them stronger, and that alone made it worthwhile.
'I should buy it.'
'However, there's another problem.'
'This Improvement Book only improves upon an existing foundation.'
'But my territory doesn't know the crafting technique for Silk Stocking Fashion yet.'
'In the future, I'll only be able to buy finished Silk Stockings and then improve them for Gu Qing and the others to wear.'
'It might be a bit more expensive.'
The other students saw it too, and quite a few were interested.
Ji Ya: "A Silk Stocking Improvement Book? For fashion, huh? How much is it?"
Li Ke: "An Improvement Book? Where'd you get it? Your luck is pretty good. I want one too."
Wang Lie: "Where else would it come from? Got it from a Treasure Chest. 3 Gold Coins, or trade for another Improvement Book."
Cao Feng: "Are you crazy for money? 3 Gold Coins? It's just a Basic Improvement Book."
Wang Lie: "Even if it's a Basic Improvement Book, it still requires research by a professional Tailor. It would take a long time to research, so you're basically paying to save time. Besides, they sell for over 3 Gold Coins on the market."
Cao Feng: "Save what damn time? Is researching for a month considered a long time? If it's 3 Gold Coins on the market, then why wouldn't I just buy it from the market?"
Ji Ya: "Can you make it a little cheaper? Can you sell it for 2 Gold Coins?"
Cao Feng: "Ji Ya, didn't you see I said I was buying it? Are you trying to compete with me?"
Ji Ya: "Brother Cao, I'm so sorry, I didn't see what you said. I won't buy it."
Wang Lie: "Cao Feng, what's your problem? Ji Ya, you're not buying it anymore?"
Ji Ya: "I... I'm not buying it."
Cao Feng: "I fucking dare anyone else to buy it."
Zhao Chi didn't get into the squabble in the group chat.
He sent a private message to Wang Lie:
"Wang Lie, I saw you said at the beginning you'd take Goblins in trade? I have some Goblin captives on hand. What's the rate?"
Wang Lie replied quickly:
"How many do you have?"
The market price for a Goblin was 2-50 Silver Coins each, with top-tier ones selling for Gold Coins.
The price varied greatly.
The average price was around 10-15 Silver Coins.
It mainly depended on their Attributes and personality.
If they had a terrible personality and low Attributes, basically no one would want them.
After all, Lords had the responsibility to defend against Magical Beasts.
And the number of citizens was an important measure of a Lord's strength.
More citizens meant a stronger Lord, which meant a larger number of Magical Beasts would be assigned to them, and the Magical Beasts would also be stronger. This made things very dangerous.
Therefore, citizens with low Attributes sold for a very low price.
They were worth even less than a piece of Equipment.
Of course, the evaluation criteria were different for different Races.
It was impossible to equate 1 Goblin with 1 Beastman.
Correspondingly, if a citizen had a good personality and high Attributes, everyone would fight over them, and the price would be many times higher.
That was a given.
Zhao Chi's Goblins were all starter mobs, with rather poor Attributes and bad personalities.
Their price would be a bit low.
Fortunately, he had the Goblin Clan Leader to carry the deal. Its Attributes were a bit higher than an ordinary Goblin's, which added a lot to the premium.
It should be worth a fair bit more money.
However, it was already old, so it couldn't be worth too much.
Moreover, a private trade like this would definitely be lower than the market price.
If it were the same as the market price, they would just buy from the market directly.
Zhao Chi did a rough calculation.
The 21 Goblins should be worth 2 Gold Coins, but not quite 3 Gold Coins.
But it should be enough to trade for the Silk Stocking Fashion Improvement Book.
He was going to sell them anyway, and now was the perfect time.