My neighborhood has time-traveled.

Chapter 21 Utilizing Information Asymmetry, a Giant Praying Mantis Appears.

"Strange, why is it so quiet?"

When people returned to their neighborhood, they found it deserted.

Bricks and bricklaying tools were lying haphazardly to one side.

The cement that was only half-mixed on the ground clumped together.

It was eerily quiet.

"Doctor, doctor."

Wang Hao and his group rushed to Dr. Qian's house and told him about being bitten by centipedes.

"Fortunately, you returned in time."

Dr. Qian looked at the wound on Wang Hao's hand. "Hmm, your wound is much better than theirs. Have you been taking any medication?"

"No." Wang Hao also found it strange, as he had also been bitten by a centipede.

Aside from the excruciating pain he experienced at the beginning, he is not in as much pain now.

The purplish-black color at the wound site gradually faded.

"Why is this happening?" Wang Hao asked.

After thinking for a moment, Dr. Qian replied, "It seems your immune system is much stronger than theirs."

"Why is the neighborhood so quiet?" Wang Hao asked, pointing outside.

Dr. Qian's expression changed. "A huge, strange bird has arrived!"

People who had gone out gradually returned to the community.

Everyone was carrying a bag or a backpack.

Both the bags and backpacks contained more or less items.

"Strange, everyone in our neighborhood has disappeared."

"I'm so thirsty, I need to go home and get some water." Someone walked towards their building.

Some people are eager to go home to see their relatives.

"Wow, look at those two, they've filled a whole bag with so much stuff!" Someone exclaimed in surprise when they saw Li Hao and Li Wen.

The two men each carried a bag on their shoulders, and unlike the others who only filled their bags a little bit, their bags were bulging.

Li Hao and Li Wen didn't return to their building; instead, they started hawking their wares at the main entrance.

"Exchange insect carcasses, two for one."

"Such a good thing exists?"

Several men surrounded them.

One of the men, whose arms were covered in scratches, asked, "You said you'd trade two for one, is that true?"

"It's true, but it has to be this big."

Li Hao poured out several fist-sized grasshoppers and mantises from the bag and placed them on the ground.

None of the ones that were poured out had heads.

The man squatted down, took a look, and said, "You don't often see ones this big outside, but I grabbed a few in my bag too."

"Is it really possible to exchange it?" He asked again, still unsure.

After all, he found the idea of ​​exchanging two for one somewhat absurd.

"You can change it." Li Hao nodded with a smile.

"Okay, I'll switch with you."

The man emptied his bag and picked out five grasshoppers the size of a fist.

Each grasshopper's head was intact.

When Li Hao and Li Wen saw the five intact grasshoppers, they exchanged glances and a knowing smile appeared on their lips.

They prey on people's greed, trading two for one, believing that no one will take the bait.

Li Hao handed the man ten headless grasshoppers.

"I'll change mine too, I'll change mine too."

The other men watching immediately joined in.

More and more people gathered there.

Some people were suspicious when they heard that Li Hao and his companion were doing such a losing business.

A man carrying a machete pointed at the grasshoppers on the ground and asked, "Is it really true? Two for one? Isn't that a losing proposition?"

He had been standing there watching for a while and felt there was something fishy going on, but seeing everyone else leave, he suddenly felt a little itchy to do the same.

"It's true, you can change it. If you want to change it, I can change it for you right now." Li Hao glanced at him but didn't explain why.

The man hesitated, because this thing that defied common sense made him feel uneasy. He stood aside and watched for a while, and then saw the others leave.

They really did replace one with two.

"I'll exchange too, I'll exchange too." Seeing that there were fewer and fewer insects, he couldn't resist any longer and immediately joined the exchange.

He felt that no matter what shady dealings were involved, exchanging one for two was definitely a good deal.

Li Hao and Li Wen, who originally had two bags of insects, quickly reduced them to one. They told the others, "We'll come down and change them later."

The two men carried a bag of freshly replaced insects and quickly went up the stairs. In the stairwell, Li Wen excitedly said, "Brother, they really don't know yet! That's great! This way we can still make a profit."

Li Hao also looked delighted, "This is the benefit brought about by information asymmetry."

He's exploiting the information gap.

As it turned out, they made the right bet.

Most people don't even have time to deal with the insects they kill, so they naturally don't notice the little pebble in their head.

According to Li Hao's estimation, it would be at least until they went back to slaughter and dispose of the insect corpses that more people would discover the trickery involved.

The two entered the room and, without saying a word, immediately used a knife to split open the insect's head and took out the small stones inside.

This time, instead of twisting the insect's neck, they cut open the insect's head to remove the small stone.

This way, at least the body can be preserved intact, making it impossible for anyone to spot any flaws.

A total of 20 small stones were taken out of the bag.

The two of them, without even taking the medicine, hurriedly put the insect corpses back into the bag and carried the bag downstairs.

"Let's change the insects, two for one."

The two men started hawking their wares loudly again at the gate.

The people who were waiting there immediately surrounded them.

Moreover, the large number of people gathered here, coupled with the fact that they were doing this kind of unprofitable business, quickly attracted the attention of others.

One by one, they walked over carrying bags.

"I'll change."

"I'll change mine too."

"Take mine first."

Some people worried that Li Hao and his group wouldn't have enough insects to exchange, and they started fighting over them.

Even in the wild, catching an insect the size of a fist takes considerable effort.

Now, one can easily be exchanged for two.

Unless someone is an idiot, no one can resist such a temptation.

As Li Hao handed two dead grasshoppers to a man, he said loudly, "No rush. If you want to trade, we can give you rice or other daily necessities if we don't have any insects to exchange."

You can even exchange it for rice!

Everyone's eyes lit up.

Upon hearing that insects could be exchanged for rice or other necessities, this announcement drew even more people, who surrounded the two of them, making the area completely packed.

"Don't rush, don't rush, take it one at a time."

Li Hao and Li Wen took the insects with heads attached from the other person's hands and gave them two insects with damaged heads.

After exchanging one bag of insects, exchange it for half a bag of insects containing small pebbles.

The two suppressed their excitement.

Indeed, doing business is much faster than struggling on your own!

"Wait here, we'll go upstairs and get some food and supplies to exchange for them."

Li Hao and Li Wen, carrying half a bag of insects, quickly ran back to their building, went upstairs, and entered their room.

Use a knife to split open the insect's forehead and remove the small stone.

All in one go.

Li Wen carried a 50-pound bag of rice in his left hand and filled another bag with lighters, sausages, instant noodles, and other items in his right hand.

"Brother, am I taking too much?" Li Wen hesitated for a moment, feeling that he should leave some for his own family as well.

Li Hao told him, "It's alright, these small pebbles are the most precious. We eat insect corpses, so there's no need to worry."

He added, "Moreover, the resources outside are more abundant than we imagined. As long as we are strong enough, we won't have to worry about not being able to get food."

"Okay." Li Wen packed some more things.

The two went downstairs again.

A group of people suddenly surrounded them.

"I want to change, I want to change the rice."

Someone pointed to their bags and asked, "What other good stuff is in your bags?"

Li Hao replied, "We have sausages, bread, and instant noodles."

"I want to change my instant noodles," a woman shouted as she squeezed in.

Just then, several men rushed over and said to the crowd, "You just came back and don't know, but a huge, strange bird attacked our neighborhood and someone was carried away."

Another man said excitedly, "Yes, it was a huge, strange bird, three stories high, bigger than the front of a truck."

"With its wingspan extended, it's tens of meters long, longer than a large truck."

"And they're impervious to blades and spears; their claws are like knives!"

The men talked amongst themselves, recalling the scene, their eyes still showing a hint of fear.

"Really? Is it that big?" Some people around were skeptical.

A man in overalls pointed to the ground in the distance, "Look at that pool of blood over there, there's no doubt about it. It flew down from the sky and killed the person instantly."

"Hurry up and run! It's too dangerous outside." After saying that, the men ran away and went into their respective buildings.

Upon hearing this, everyone looked up at the sky, their faces filled with fear, and they turned and ran.

In this world, even grasshoppers and wasps can grow that big, and there are strange birds bigger than trucks; it's perfectly normal.

Li Hao glanced at the residents who had run away and called out to them, "Let's go to the building. Those who want to redeem their items, come with me."

Li Hao led Li Wen into the building, and a group of people behind them heard this and ran in as well.

the other side.

field.

The ground was littered with the dead bodies of wasps, each about the size of a fist.

A group of young men and women, panting heavily, groaned in pain from time to time.

Zhao Meng gestured to his younger siblings, "Gather all these wasps."

"It hurts so much, I want to go back," a girl said, covering her face.

A large welt appeared on her face, quite swollen. After saying this, she walked back crying.

The others also had marks on their faces or heads from being stung by wasps, and some even had sausage lips from being stung.

"Big brother, my mouth hurts so much, I want to go back too." The sausage-lipped younger brother pointed to his mouth, looking miserable, and said to Zhao Meng in a slurred voice.

Even Zhao Meng had several large welts on both arms from the stings.

He remained unfazed.

He spoke loudly and righteously to the crowd, "What are you afraid of? This is all food! If you back down because of this little difficulty, do you even want to stay in this society anymore?!"

The blond-haired guy next to him immediately chimed in, "That's right, we're out of water and food now. If we don't get you some more food, you'll all starve to death."

"But they've all gone back." The sausage-lipped boy pointed around, his tone somewhat aggrieved.

Zhao Meng glanced around. He had been so focused on swatting the wasps that he hadn't noticed the rest of the group had left, leaving only his group far away.

Zhao Meng was still reluctant to go back so soon. He was worried about the crystals in the insect's head. "Let's go check ahead again. Don't be afraid. It's better if there's no one else around. If we find anything good, it'll all be ours!"

Zhao Meng encouraged them.

The younger siblings, upon hearing his words, also felt that there was some truth to them. Now that no one was competing with them outside, all the food they found was theirs.

They picked up the dead wasps from the ground, put them in a bag, and continued walking with Zhao Meng.

As Zhao Meng walked, he took out a wasp's head from the bag, cut it open, and ate the small pebbles inside.

Feeling the heat flowing through his body, he suddenly felt that being stung by a few wasps was nothing.

It was all worth it.

When they reached the vicinity of the large tree, he glanced at the wasps circling in the canopy and led the group around them.

The weeds in front were even denser.

"Big brother, there's a huge praying mantis over there!"

They hadn't walked far when the blond-haired thug suddenly pointed excitedly to a patch of grass.

Zhao Meng looked in the direction he was pointing, and his eyes widened immediately.

He looked excited.

In the grass, which was taller than a person, stood a praying mantis, which was about half a person's height.

Zhao Meng estimated that it should be between 1.3 and 1.5 meters tall.

too big!

The crystals inside the brain must be enormous!

Got it!

We absolutely must get our hands on it!

There was only one voice in his mind.

"Come with me quickly, there's a giant praying mantis here, surround it."

Zhao Meng waved and called out loudly.

Upon hearing his words, the younger siblings swarmed around him.

"Pour it! Don't let it get away!"

At Zhao Meng's command, he grabbed his knife and charged towards the mantis.

He was determined to have this giant praying mantis.

In the bushes, the boy with sausage lips slowly approached the encirclement. He was surrounded by bushes taller than a person, making it impossible to see his surroundings.

Push aside the grass with your hands and move forward slowly.

A praying mantis, taller than a person, suddenly appeared behind him.

The mantis's compound eyes scanned the boy's back for a moment, then its scythe plunged deep into his chest.

"what!"

Before Zhao Meng could even reach the mantis, a scream came from the bushes.

"what!"

"Help!"

Screams and cries for help came from more than one direction; screams could be heard from multiple directions.

The grass in front of him was too tall for him to see clearly, but the mantis was right in front of him. He didn't want to give up, so he took another step and charged straight at it.

Just as they were about to reach each other, a praying mantis taller than Zhao Meng jumped out of the grass and landed behind the little mantis. It was carrying a boy's head in its mouth. The boy's eyes were wide open as the mantis's sharp mandibles were gnawing at his neck, and drops of blood were falling.

The two praying mantises turned their triangular heads, their compound eyes fixed on Zhao Meng as he charged forward.

It seems they are not waiting for predators, but for prey to come to them.

When Zhao Meng saw the head inside the mantis's mouth, a look of horror flashed in his eyes, and he immediately stopped in his tracks.

"what!"

"Help! Monster! Run!"

Screams continued to come from the nearby bushes.

"Grass!"

Zhao Meng glanced at the head that the mantis was gnawing on; it was the sausage-lipped little brother from before who had been clamoring to go back.

A chill ran through his body, making his pores stand on end, instantly bringing him back to calm from his initial excitement.