Chapter 155: The First Pot of Gold?

Among the medical and pharmaceutical trade listings, Ye Chong finally found the inventory of bone materials. The long list of diverse bone materials instantly made his eyes light up, lifting the heavy anxiety that he might have nowhere to source them. For a bone-craftsman, perhaps nothing is more terrifying than a lack of raw bone materials! Furthermore, the variety and quantities listed genuinely took Ye Chong by surprise.

"Why are these bone materials listed under pharmaceutical goods?" Ye Chong was thoroughly perplexed. Bone materials and medicine seemed to have absolutely no connection whatsoever.

"In pharmacology, there is a branch dedicated to using plants and minerals as raw materials to concoct medicines or treat patients, and animal bones also occupy an important part of it. Judging by the trading volume here, this sub-discipline must be quite popular in this place! Of course, the specifics require further investigation; what I just stated is merely a speculative inference with a high degree of possibility," Mu replied.

"Such a discipline actually exists?" Ye Chong was quite astonished.

"Yes, this has been passed down from an ancient tribe and later underwent systematic development. Even so, it remains a very niche branch today, though it often produces miraculous effects when treating certain unusual diseases. The data in my database regarding this aspect is very sparse!"

The most abundant items here were the bone materials of mutated creatures, in various colors and bizarre shapes. However, the point values differed drastically from what he had expected. Some bone materials that Ye Chong considered quite ordinary had ridiculously high point costs, while others with exceptional performance had extremely low point costs—so low, in fact, that as he browsed through them, he couldn't help but curse inwardly at himself for not having even a single point to his name.

Realizing later that this was classified under pharmaceuticals, and that he was probably the only bone-craftsman in Jiukai City, their judgment of bone materials' value obviously differed from his. Yet, this turned out to be quite advantageous for him. He could acquire high-quality bone materials at lower point costs, thereby reducing his production expenses.

Understanding the market conditions, the first thing Ye Chong needed to consider now was how to earn enough points to buy even a single piece of bone material.

So, where should this first pot of gold come from? Ye Chong frowned in deep thought.

"My database contains many special metal formulas, which can be used to exchange for Jiukai points," Mu suggested.

"No!" This proposal was immediately rejected by Ye Chong. He understood very well that these formulas were far more valuable than a full-bone mecha. Moreover, they would likely make the Clan Association even more powerful! Judging by the current situation, a hostile relationship between the Clan Association and himself had already formed. For transient gains, he would never use his own data to enhance the enemy's strength.

Even if he were to exchange them for points, Ye Chong would choose the stranded drifters rather than the Clan Association.

For the second time, Ye Chong walked into the Azure Sand Little Shop. Upon seeing Ye Chong, the middle-aged man was momentarily startled, then smiled and said, "Young man, why aren't you preparing for your evaluation? Still out wandering around?" Inwardly, he secretly ridiculed that he had never seen such a leisurely applicant.

"Well, the evaluation has changed!" Ye Chong stared straight at the Tianlun-4 without turning his head. "There is a problem with this Tianlun!"

"A problem?" Ye Chong's abrupt train of thought left the middle-aged shopkeeper stunned, yet his feet involuntarily walked toward the Tianlun. "What kind of problem?" His expression, however, held a trace of disbelief. Although he himself was not entirely satisfied with this Tianlun, could this little brat actually find flaws in his work?

"The characteristic of the Tianlun-4 is stable performance, but its shortcoming is insufficient speed. To enhance its kinetic performance, you added horizontal wings and streamlined its main mecha chassis. However, doing so will cause a considerable drop in the mecha's stability! And even more fatally, its defensive capabilities will decrease drastically," Ye Chong said expressionlessly.

"Uh!" Ye Chong hit the nail right on the head, leaving the middle-aged shopkeeper completely dumbfounded. "That actually sounds somewhat reasonable! But I had no other choice; the Tianlun simply cannot accommodate other models of engines, so I had no alternative but to work on this aspect."

That was indeed true. The Tianlun's engine was incompatible with other engine models, which was why the Tianlun had never been a favorite among mecha modificationists. Very few people chose it as a modification target, which was why Ye Chong's attention was drawn to this Tianlun the moment he walked in.

"There are ways, but they are too complicated," Ye Chong said. During his time at Aurora, Ye Chong had specifically pondered this problem and even consulted the old men there, finally devising an optimization plan. It had to be said that Ye Chong possessed extraordinary intuition in this domain.

"Hehe, little fellow, don't go around talking big. That is a bad habit!" the middle-aged shopkeeper remarked dismissively. He hadn't expected that this stern-looking little fellow was also someone who liked to boast, which severely lowered his impression of Ye Chong. Although the middle-aged shopkeeper was merely the owner of a small shop now, as an applicant who had successfully passed the third-tier evaluation, he had once been a renowned figure across the Five Galaxies. A rigorous attitude was deeply engraved in his bones, making him greatly dislike the young man's casual, unsubstantiated claims before him.

"Oh, if you want to know, I can sell it to you for ten points!" Only then did Ye Chong reveal his true objective. In fact, Ye Chong secretly felt that selling this plan for a mere ten points was somewhat of a loss; if he weren't in urgent need of points, he would never have parted with it. It wasn't that the plan possessed a higher intrinsic value, but rather that people naturally cherish things obtained through their own hard work, and Ye Chong was no exception.

Frowning, the middle-aged shopkeeper said, "If you truly have an improvement plan, forget ten points—I can give you twenty! Young man, at your age, you shouldn't develop the habit of talking big."

Ye Chong understood that his age often made it difficult for others to have confidence in him, something he was already long accustomed to. He knew exactly how to make someone's attitude shift.

"If you add a wedge-shaped box inside the mecha's interior, adopt the Famesil dual-circuit connection method for the optical circuits, and reduce the inner wall thickness by half..." Ye Chong recited a long string of technical details unprompted.

As Ye Chong spoke in his cool, detached voice, the expression on the middle-aged shopkeeper's face shifted from casual perfunctoriness to intense concentration. His eyes grew increasingly bright, radiating a burning fervor!

When Ye Chong walked out of the Azure Sand Little Shop, twenty additional points had already been credited to his account on his wristband. The middle-aged shopkeeper even escorted Ye Chong all the way to the door with a respectful demeanor.

The reason Ye Chong chose to sell this plan was based on his own calculations. Although the Tianlun series mechas were considered high-end mechas within the Five Galaxies, in the orbital ring they could only be regarded as ordinary. Needless to say, compared to the various mechas inside the Clan Association, there were plenty of superior mechas available for purchase on the open market within the orbital ring. Moreover, while this plan was cleverly designed, its applicable scope was extremely narrow, usable only on the Tianlun series, and it did not touch upon core foundational principles. Because of this, Ye Chong was willing to let it go in exchange for points.

Upon returning to his room, all the rare minerals Ye Chong had previously purchased had already been delivered. Each transaction was sealed in metal boxes of varying sizes, completely concealing their contents from the outside. A serial number was stamped on the exterior of each box, primarily used for cargo verification.

Opening all the metal boxes, Ye Chong took out the minerals. Not a single piece was missing, and they completely matched the holographic images seen on the transaction list. Naturally, these "scavenged" treasures were handed over to Mu for processing, while Ye Chong had his own tasks to attend to.

After spending a considerable amount of time, Ye Chong selected a shinbone of a munch-leaf beast and a shell of a red-thread clam, costing him less than two points in total.

Naturally, aside from the bone materials, Ye Chong also had to purchase raw ingredients for strengthening fluid. To his surprise, the prices of these items were far higher than the bone materials, costing him seven points.

Soon, the bone materials and strengthening fluid ingredients purchased by Ye Chong were successively delivered to his room.

Since Ye Chong lacked processing equipment, he had to resort to manual fabrication. Fortunately, his foundational skills were solid, and the two accessories he intended to make were relatively simple for him.

The complete fabrication of these two accessories was finished by the next day! One was a hazy-blue circular mecha gasket, while the other was an internal mecha retaining ring, its pristine white inner surface adorned with intricate, brilliantly red natural patterns formed by fine lines, looking quite striking. These two accessories were simple to make, required short processing times, and possessed broad applicability, allowing them to be used in nearly all mechas.

Satisfied, Ye Chong gazed at his handiwork before adding both accessories to the accessories trade list.

When Ye Chong opened the trade inventory for mecha accessories, the overwhelmingly long list and staggering number of parts momentarily startled him. This was simply too excessive!

Mecha modificationists and mecha assemblers had always been bustling professions, with an immense number of people in the Five Galaxies studying these two trades. Whether one was a modificationist or an assembler, dealing with mecha accessories was unavoidable, not to mention general mecha maintenance and loss replenishment. These factors directly resulted in a massive demand for mecha accessories in Jiukai City, which explained why the trade of mecha accessories within the city was so exceptionally booming.

Ye Chong even doubted whether his two pieces of work could even make the slightest ripple in this vast ocean of accessories.