Chapter 154 Now We're in Trouble

What did a start-up capital of four hundred and ninety points mean? Ye Chong did not know, but Vici understood very clearly. A start-up capital of four hundred and ninety points was definitely the highest she had ever encountered! More importantly, it was the Research Institute’s affirmation of him. Three light mechs granting four hundred and ninety points was equivalent to over one hundred and sixty points per light mech. Although Vici was not intimately familiar with the current market prices in Jiukai City, she knew that even the works of master-level artisans barely fetched this price.

If this had happened to an octogenarian, she would not have been so surprised. Yet, she believed this Mr. Ye before her was certainly not older than twenty.

His profession must be very unusual! Vici guessed inwardly.

Recalling that Ye Chong had told her he was a bone craftsman, ah, it must be because of this strange-sounding profession! Vici comforted herself. As a non-combat personnel, she also had her own profound field, but her expertise was in pharmacology.

What a gap! Even though her teacher considered her excellent and elite, she understood very well that the potions she brewed could never earn more than ten points.

The living reality before her struck her solidly! With a bitter internal smile, she thought it seemed geniuses truly existed in this world!

Ye Chong had no idea that Vici before him had gone through so many thoughts. Vici gathered her composure and instructed Ye Chong on how to use the access wristband, how to check his points, and so on. Fortunately, Ye Chong had an exceptional memory and learned instantly, greatly easing Vici's mind.

After teaching Ye Chong some basic operations, Vici told him some fundamental common sense about Jiukai City before leaving.

Only then did Ye Chong gain a slight understanding of Jiukai City.

There were only two types of residents in Jiukai City. One type consisted of applicants who had passed the third-tier assessment but failed the fifth-tier assessment. The other type consisted of Research Institute personnel. Just as the owner of the Azure Sand shop had said, the young people here were mostly internal personnel of the Research Institute. Ye Chong guessed they must be trainees or something similar.

Ye Chong was currently browsing the market items on the optical brain; his own raw materials still needed to be sourced from here. Unlike the retro style of other places in the Orbit Ring, Jiukai City had established a virtual network, and the market trading system was part of this virtual network. Ye Chong asked Mu if he could hack into it, but when Mu told him that the probability of being discovered was very likely over fifty percent, Ye Chong immediately abandoned the idea of letting Mu hack it. Of course, he could not help but be astounded by the formidable strength of the Research Institute.

He had originally thought Jiukai City was merely a city and that the traded items would not be particularly abundant, but the transaction list and item descriptions on the optical brain were so numerous that they dazzled Ye Chong. A strong surge of interest arose in him, and he began to browse through these items carefully.

Ye Chong had not yet found any bone-material trading goods, but there was no rush. He casually clicked on the transaction list on the optical brain.

These were minerals, the vast majority of which Ye Chong did not recognize; his knowledge of mineralogy and metal smelting was practically a blank slate. Fortunately, he had Mu, a massive database, acting as a teacher right by his side.

"Dual-energy ore!" Mu's usually flat tone suddenly turned high-pitched, startling Ye Chong. However, he immediately understood that this thing was definitely not ordinary merchandise.

Maltis was browsing the mineral section with great enthusiasm, seeing if there was anything worth his while. As a light mech trainee at the Jiukai City Research Institute who was minoring in metal smelting, he had recently improved an alloy formula with good luck, and the Research Institute had rewarded him with a quite considerable number of contribution points. He had come here to see if he could unearth one or two good items.

Listlessly flipping through the item list on the optical brain, he sighed. Although these minerals were decent, and some were even considered rare, they were all things the Research Institute could provide; they were not worth wasting points on. He shook his head. Ah, why wasn't there a single piece of ore that made his eyes light up?

Most of these minerals were mined by stranded individuals of a fairly high standard, but the knowledge systems they had learned were far inferior to the Research Institute's internal materials. However, their experience was extremely rich, and their appraisal of minerals was equally superb. Many of the minerals they had never seen before, yet experience and intuition prompted them to keep them and sell them for high points. This was the type of ore Maltis was looking for, though of course, there was also the chance that the owner was in extreme need of points and forced to sell.

Whichever the case, it was not something one encountered often. Up to now, Maltis had only ever struck one bargain here. That time, he had accidentally discovered a fist-sized earth-core ore, and the success of his recent improvement was crucially dependent on it. This made Maltis even more enthusiastic about "treasure hunting." However, this was a task that heavily tested patience, though Maltis did not think he lacked patience.

Suddenly, Maltis's eyes lit up. An unremarkable gray ore entered his field of vision. Maltis's right hand twitched. Heavens! Wasn't this dual-energy ore? This was something that could rank in the top one hundred known rare minerals in the universe! Maltis's brain almost short-circuited; even with the Research Institute's formidable financial resources and power, he had never seen a physical piece of dual-energy ore before! Taking a deep breath, Maltis tried his utmost to calm himself, though it seemed to have very little effect!

He reached out his trembling right hand, just about to buy it, when suddenly this dual-energy stone vanished from the item list!

Maltis froze, his expression instantly changing drastically. He frantically flipped through the item list, but that vanished dual-energy ore was nowhere to be found!

A full half-hour passed, and Maltis was still searching for the disappeared dual-energy ore, but after flipping through every single mineral, he still could not find it! Maltis slumped dejectedly into his seat, filled with remorse and regret. Why hadn't he been a little faster? As long as he had been a little faster, just a fraction faster, this dual-energy stone would have been in his hands!

Just as Maltis was feeling so depressed he wanted to tear his hair out, Ye Chong was counting how many points he had left, never expecting that a single piece of ore would cost him two hundred points! In the blink of an eye, his points had shrunk by half.

The excavator of this dual-energy ore had discovered that it possessed strong energy fluctuations but did not recognize what kind of mineral it was. After consulting multiple experts among the stranded people, not a single one recognized it. Knowing that this must be an extremely rare mineral, but having an urgent need for points, the miner had no choice but to consign it for sale. Gritting his teeth, he set an exorbitant price of two hundred points, figuring that if it didn't sell, that was fine—he could keep it and study it properly. If it did sell, he would make a huge profit.

Two hundred points was equivalent to forty Tianlun mechs! Even though Ye Chong knew it must be very precious, he still couldn't help feeling a pang of heartache!

While urging Ye Chong to keep flipping through the item list, Mu explained: "Dual-energy ore can be mixed into alloys. Alloys mixed with dual-energy ore have the effect of enhancing defense against energy-based weapons, such as laser beams! It is an essential material for making light mech super shields. However, because it is extremely rare, it belongs to one of the super-precious specialized minerals in the universe."

Hearing Mu put it this way, Ye Chong felt much better!

"Stop, Yezi!" Mu's voice sounded once again.

Although Maltis's minor was metal smelting, as an outstanding light mech warrior, he possessed good emotional regulation skills and quickly walked out of his state of emotional confusion. Comforting himself, he gathered his spirits and once again began the long process of "treasure hunting." The item list here was constantly changing, and new items could appear at any time.

Monocrystalline alumstone? Maltis's eyes lit up. Could this be a gift sent by the heavens to make up for the dual-energy ore he had just missed? Although monocrystalline alumstone was not as precious as dual-energy ore, it was likewise an extremely rare and scarce mineral. However, Maltis had seen the physical thing; a small piece was displayed in the Research Institute's mineral museum, crystal-clear and dazzling, looking just like a gemstone.

This piece of monocrystalline alumstone had a rough and crude exterior, with only a fraction of transparent crystal exposed at one corner. Maltis's emotions immediately soared. With his excellent knowledge of mineralogy, he naturally knew that this outer layer was merely its accompanying mineral; once this outer layer of accompanying mineral was peeled away, the inside would definitely be as clear as water. Furthermore, judging by its volume, it was at least a dozen times larger than the piece displayed in the school's mineral museum!

This was an extremely rare, massive piece of monocrystalline alumstone!

Maltis's eyes shone with wild joy, and he couldn't help laughing aloud, "This time nobody is going to snatch it from before me..."

Before his words faded, that block of monocrystalline alumstone on the optical brain suddenly vanished! Maltis's laughter stopped abruptly, his eyes bulging, veins throbbing on his forehead, his gaze turning sluggish. Finally unable to hold it in, *blech*, he spat a mouthful of blood and fell backward!

Having been beaten to the punch twice, and both times for such precious minerals, no matter how good Maltis's psychological endurance was, he could not suppress the raging fury rising in his heart. After vomiting that mouthful of blood, he collapsed stiffly to the ground.

Meanwhile, entirely oblivious to this, Ye Chong was receiving a baptism of knowledge from Mu: "Monocrystalline alumstone is likewise a rare mineral that can significantly improve the toughness of metals and enhance their physical properties. Its most special feature is that it can drastically improve metal performance at high temperatures, making it the premier material for making light mech engines!"

Ye Chong and Mu conversed continuously. As usual, they were completely unaware that someone had literally been infuriated into fainting by them! Though even if Ye Chong had known, he probably wouldn't have felt any guilt; instead, he would likely have warned himself inwardly to always make his moves fast! The person before him was a living lesson of what happened when one wasn't fast enough!

Under Mu's guidance, Ye Chong bought a few more pieces of ore. Although they weren't as precious as the previous two, they were also exceptionally rare minerals!

However, Ye Chong soon discovered a very serious problem: under such lavish spending by him and Mu, all four hundred points had been completely depleted! Ye Chong even suspected whether Mu had calculated his exact points beforehand and then chosen the minerals accordingly. The degree to which his points had been cleanly wiped out was no different from when Ye Chong had just stepped off the spacecraft!

Now, even if he found bone materials, he didn't have a single point left to buy them!