Chapter 313: Making Trouble

Chapter 313: Chapter 313: Making Trouble

A V4 Standard Mechanical God starts at 100 million Star Coins, with custom models starting at one billion Star Coins.

A V5 Standard Mechanical God starts at 10 billion Star Coins, with custom models starting at 100 billion Star Coins.

Moreover, there was a price but no supply, making it impossible to buy any Mechanical God equipment.

This was because the corporate giants that produced this equipment were heavily regulated, and they didn’t sell to individuals.

Long Ming stroked his chin in thought. The Red Demon mech armor he currently had, which was made from a Sovereign-class Blood Breath Beast, should be on par with a V3 Mechanical God in terms of raw performance.

However, the Red Demon armor had its flaws. First, it placed a massive strain on the body. Second, it had no flight system or long-range attack capabilities.

Long Ming’s expression flickered. He then began searching for information on Genetic Potions.

An advanced civilization as powerful as the Star Alliance should, by all rights, have Genetic Potions for sale.

SWOOSH!

Numerous data threads and posts popped up.

Long Ming suppressed his excitement and began to carefully browse through them.

「Over an hour later.」

A rather complicated expression appeared on Long Ming’s face. The Star Alliance did indeed sell Genetic Potions for normal people, but they were a complete rip-off.

These Genetic Potions didn’t guarantee how much one’s attributes would increase after injection; the stat gains were completely random.

According to the comments under the posts, an increase of two or three points was considered pretty good.

Furthermore, it was said that injecting a low-quality Genetic Potion could even lower a person’s potential, negatively affecting subsequent injections.

Of course, that wasn’t even the worst part. A Type-I Genetic Potion currently sold for one million Star Coins, which was equivalent to 10 billion 1D Coins.

And when Long Ming checked the model type, he saw it wasn’t even an all-around Genetic Potion.

But even so, they were said to have a price but no supply.

Seeing this, Long Ming closed the civilization’s forum and opened the store on his wristband.

A dazzling array of various weapons filled his vision.

SCL-03 Particle Beam Rifle

Gen-2 "Cheetah" Mechanical Exoskeleton Armor

KLT-04 Sub-light Crystal Missile

Class-3 Interstellar Transport Ship

...

Long Ming’s vision blurred from looking at all the options. He then tried searching for Genetic Potions.

The results showed a pile of beastification and semi-finished Genetic Potions. He couldn’t find a single normal one.

Long Ming then searched for Mechanical God equipment, and the entire display went blank.

"Sigh."

Long Ming let out a sigh and began to clear out his warehouse.

He listed everything he could sell on the store—except for the V3 Mechanical God equipment—at below market price.

BZZT BZZT~

Instantly, his wristband began to pop up with notifications of successful sales.

Long Ming then salvaged the remaining miscellaneous items. Converted into Star Coins, his total earnings came to 1,675,800 Star Coins.

He converted the 60,014,750,000 1D Coins he had on hand into 6,001,475 Star Coins, bringing his total to 7,677,275 Star Coins.

Long Ming’s brows furrowed as he looked at his seven-million-plus Star Coins. To be honest, this was a lot of money, enough for him to live a comfortable life as a middle-class citizen in the Star Alliance.

But it still wasn’t enough. Even if he added the value of his Destroyer set, he couldn’t even afford a single custom V3 Mechanical God, let alone a decent Genetic Potion.

"Hooo..."

Long Ming let out a long breath.

’In fact, joining the Star Alliance has one huge advantage: you don’t have to discover all the information and progression paths on your own.’

’But there’s also a major downside. The class system is fully established, and every path to growth is crowded. If you want to succeed, you have to pay a much higher price than others.’

With that thought, Long Ming turned off his wristband’s screen, lay down on the bed, and closed his eyes to rest.

...

「The next day.」

Bright sunlight streamed through the window, shining down on Long Ming.

Just then, a commotion erupted from outside.

Long Ming slowly opened his eyes, a look of confusion on his face. He then got up, dressed, and left his room.

「The first-floor hall.」

A group of slouching men in black leather jackets were occupying the helmet stations, their legs casually crossed.

"What the hell do you guys want?"

Xiaoqi demanded, glaring at them furiously.

The leader, a young man with yellow hair and a face full of pimples, said with a smirk:

"Not much!"

"If you’re not doing anything, then please leave."

"Can’t do that. We’re here to use the rigs."

"Then please pay."

"No rush. We’re waiting for some other friends."

Jibo replied with a chuckle.

"Sister Qi, they’re just here to cause trouble! Why are you wasting your breath on them?"

Johnny was so furious he felt like his lungs would explode.

"Now, now, don’t get physical. The consequences would be very serious,"

Jibo "thoughtfully" reminded Johnny.

Xiaoqi quickly reached out to stop Johnny, then said in a cold voice,

"I’ve already called the guards."

"Suit yourself."

Jibo shrugged, a look of complete indifference on his face.

Just then, the sound of footsteps approached.

Two guards wearing standard-issue Gen-2 mechanical exoskeleton armor walked in and called out to Xiaoqi’s group,

"Who filed the report?"

"I did! We’re running a normal business, and these people came here to cause trouble."

Xiaoqi immediately said to the guards.

The two guards looked over at Jibo and his men.

Jibo replied with a smile,

"Officers, we’re not causing any trouble. We’re just here to use the rigs. We just haven’t decided if we want to, since the equipment here is so old and outdated, and the prices are so high."

"You!"

Xiaoqi was about to die from anger at Jibo’s words.

"Ahem. They haven’t committed any illegal acts, so we can’t intervene. You’ll have to negotiate this among yourselves!"

The two guards gave Xiaoqi a dismissive reply and turned to leave.

"This is outrageous! How can they do that?"

...

Cloud Fish and the others cursed in frustration.

Xiaoqi suppressed her rage, looked at Jibo, and said,

"What is it you really want?"

"We don’t want anything. It’s just... shouldn’t you be paying your ’management fee’? Everyone else on this street has already paid up."

Jibo stood up, walked over to the counter, reached into a bag, and pulled out a fresh meat bun, taking a bite.

"Who said you could take that!"

Xiaoqi was livid when she saw this; she had prepared that for Long Ming.

"It’s just a bun. No need to get so angry."

Jibo replied nonchalantly.

Just then, Long Ming came down the stairs, his brows knitted together as he asked,

"Xiaoqi, what’s going on?"

"It’s nothing."

Xiaoqi said quickly upon seeing Long Ming.

She then raised her wristband, transferred 10,000 2D Coins to Jibo, and said to his group,

"Now get out."

"See? If you’d just done this from the start, we’d be done already."

Jibo waved his hand, and his men left with him.

Long Ming watched Jibo and the others leave, a flicker in his eyes.

"Long Ming, I’ve got breakfast ready for you."

Xiaoqi forced a smile and said to Long Ming.

"Thanks."

Seeing that Xiaoqi didn’t want to elaborate, Long Ming didn’t press the matter.

Cloud Fish and the others at the side were about to say something, but Xiaoqi called out to them,

"You guys, come with me for a second."

"Okay."

Cloud Fish and the others then followed Xiaoqi out.

Just then, Xiaopang scurried over with a grin and said,

"Boss, you’re up."

"You saw all that just now."

"I did. They were just collecting protection money."