Chapter 29: The Propane Tank Trap!

Chapter 29: Gas Tank Trap!

Lu Feng descended directly to the eighth floor of the department store.

Lin Jiao and Xu Bin followed closely behind him, moving on tiptoe, clearly wary of the mutant beast. The two peeked out cautiously to look at the mutant beast on the sixth floor; the upper half of the man from before had been entirely devoured, leaving only his lower half behind.

Xu Bin gestured toward the mangled lower half of the man and remarked, "I told you, with my physique, it would be enough for it to have two full meals!"

"..." Lin Jiao frowned at him instantly, realizing that there was something not quite right with this person's head.

Lu Feng, however, had already begun inspecting the shops on the eighth floor. He intended to find a storefront on this level to design a gas tank trap. After searching for a while, he found a relatively narrow shop. It was a doll store, where the dolls were covered in a layer of dust and emitted an odor of decay. He chose this specific shop because of its cramped space; at the moment the gas tanks exploded, the mutant beast would have no room to dodge, allowing it to sustain maximum damage.

Lu Feng turned to Lin Jiao and Xu Bin. "You two go back upstairs and hide. I am going to deal with that mutant beast specifically, and you won't be able to help."

Seeing that Lu Feng was serious, Lin Jiao and Xu Bin felt a surge of alarm; after all, the mutant beast was no laughing matter. Then, the two recalled the other identity of this mysterious boss—the rumored "ability user." Perhaps he possessed some terrifying power. This made them feel a stir of anticipation. If this mysterious boss could handle the mutant beast, he might be able to lead them out of the department store. Otherwise, with those three mutant beasts roaming about, they were even afraid that their attempts to clear out zombies would be discovered by the beasts. Sooner or later, they would die here—either from starvation or in the jaws of a beast.

Lin Jiao couldn't help but ask again, "Boss, are you sure you want to handle that mutant beast alone?"

"Yes, go on up," Lu Feng confirmed with a nod.

Seeing his certainty, Lin Jiao and Xu Bin left decisively, returning to the Qingfeng Tea flagship store. Lu Feng then used a thought to exit the game and return to his apartment, waiting for his cousin to deliver the gas tanks.

However, Da Fei’s call came in first.

As he answered, the man's voice came through: "Young Master Feng, where are you? I’d like to come over and report to you regarding the tea factory."

Hearing this, Lu Feng replied, "I'm at the apartment."

"Understood." Da Fei hung up. Shortly after, he arrived at Lu Feng's apartment with a folder. As soon as they met, he handed it over. "Young Master Feng, here is the basic information regarding investing in a tea factory."

Lu Feng took the folder and began to review the materials, which detailed the investment status of various tea factories in Youcheng. He had to admit that Da Fei was efficient; the information was comprehensive, covering the investment status of all types of factories, from large to small. The most basic and rudimentary factories were very cheap—essentially family workshops located in towns—costing about 200,000 to 400,000 yuan. Naturally, they could not invest in such workshops for Qingfeng Tea.

Moreover, opening a factory in Youcheng required a location in one of the industrial zones, where rent was much higher than in town workshops. Then there was the tea production line. Since their tea primarily relied on powdered tea ingredients, the stir-frying process was casual and had no special requirements. To better protect their trade secrets, however, automating the production line was a necessity. This required purchasing an automated tea production line, similar to those used by medium-sized factories. By hiring a worker to simply watch over it and pour in materials, while the compounding process was handled by the line, and having his cousin and Da Fei assign a trusted brother to oversee operations, there would be no issues.

Such an automated production line that met Qingfeng Tea’s requirements would cost at least several hundred thousand yuan. Furthermore, large-scale tea production was not as casual as his previous stir-frying in a single pot. According to Qingfeng Tea’s needs, the flooring, factory renovation, drying yards, and water-sprinkling areas all had to meet certain standards, which would likely cost another several hundred thousand. Overall, a decent tea factory would probably require an investment of about 1.5 million yuan.

Naturally, this was not enough. Since the factory needed to produce tea, they had to prepare enough raw materials to compound the special tea powder. It took 5,000 yuan to compound one portion of the special tea powder, which could produce about half a jin of finished tea. A factory had to produce a batch; even if it wasn't much, they needed at least 2,000 boxes to start with. That would require about 330 jin of finished tea. This meant they needed to prepare over 3.3 million yuan for materials. Adding the initial 1.5 million, the total would be around 4.8 million yuan.

However, he only had about 2 million yuan left in his account. Even with the 1.6 million from tea shop sales and having Da Fei and his cousin invest a share, it still wouldn't be enough. Furthermore, he wanted to buy a car and a house as soon as possible, and the issue with Yang Qingxue’s mother needed to be resolved; he couldn't let her keep arranging blind dates for Yang Qingxue.

Therefore, he had to take that jewelry store in the game world. That mutant beast was as good as dead. If the tea factory were established, based on this investment, 2,000 boxes of Qingfeng Tea sold at 7,500 yuan each would generate 15 million yuan in revenue. After deducting costs, labor, and utilities, there would still be over 10 million in profit. This was absolutely a windfall. However, as Qingfeng Tea had just appeared and lacked fame, others wouldn't know of its quality. Whether it would sell well, how quickly they could recoup costs, and if they could keep selling depended on Da Fei’s ability.

After finishing the report, Lu Feng made his decision: "Da Fei, let's proceed with this scale for the tea factory—an investment of about 1.5 million, plus enough materials for 2,000 boxes of tea."

"I will provide the funds for the investment and materials as soon as possible. You start handling the paperwork for the factory. Also, since you want to invest and own a share, make sure your funds are ready."

"Don't worry, Young Master Feng, I'm already raising the money," Da Fei said with gratitude. He knew that this time, Young Master Feng was essentially handing them a guaranteed profit, and he certainly wouldn't miss this opportunity. He had already convinced his parents to mortgage their house for a loan.

"Good," Lu Feng nodded.

After the discussion, Da Fei left to handle the factory paperwork. Two hours later, Lu Feng received a call from his cousin. Yang Ming arrived with A-Pao and transported five tampered, old gas tanks to Lu Feng's apartment. A-Pao was curious why Lu Feng wanted so many tampered gas tanks, but he had been instructed by Brother Ming not to ask any questions.

Lu Feng said to Yang Ming and A-Pao, "Cousin, Da Fei is already handling the factory paperwork. You two should prepare for your share of the investment as well."

"Don't worry, I'm not stupid," Yang Ming said with a wide smile. Since his cousin had provided a legitimate way to make money, he would be a fool not to get on board. A-Pao nodded with equal gratitude. He knew Lu Feng was being loyal by giving them an opportunity to make money, so he would find a way to scrape together the funds. Afterward, Yang Ming and A-Pao left; even to invest a single share in the tea factory required significant capital, so they needed time to prepare. They wouldn't have the nerve to ask to pay later or deduct it from dividends after Lu Feng had offered them a free pass to wealth.

After they left, Lu Feng locked his apartment door and entered the doll shop in the game world, carrying two gas tanks. Feeling it wasn't enough, he exited the game and brought in a third. Three gas tanks would definitely destroy this doll shop—that should be enough to solve the mutant beast problem, right? As for the remaining two, he would keep them in reserve.

He opened the valves of the three gas tanks and pointed the nozzles toward the floor. Because they had been tampered with, the moment they were ignited, the pressure would be obstructed, causing the flame to backflow into the tanks, igniting the contents and causing an instantaneous explosion. At the same time, the flames from the three valves would roast the tanks, increasing the explosive force.

In an instant, the smell of gas began to spread. Lu Feng picked up his machete, walked out into the corridor, and looked toward the mutant beast resting on the sixth floor.

At the same time, inside the Qingfeng Tea shop, Lin Jiao and Xu Bin snuck out to the corridor, looking down toward the sixth floor.

"There's still no movement," Lin Jiao said suspiciously.

Xu Bin nodded. "The mutant beast is still resting; it hasn't been disturbed. The boss hasn't made a move yet."

Lin Jiao asked, "It's been so long, do you really think our new boss can handle that mutant beast?"

Both were clearly curious. But just then, they heard a metallic clanging sound that echoed across the floors. The sound seemed to be coming from the eighth floor.

The two looked at each other, their faces filled with anticipation. Was the boss about to make his move? They immediately leaned forward, dying to see what method the boss would use to deal with the mutant beast.