Chapter 143.1 – Fire Seed (12)
◎ V587 escorts you ◎
With a deadline of one month, as long as the ranking is not in the last 1%, one can stay—though this applies to ordinary teams.
V587, as a lively, free-spirited, united, and friendly rising star team, not only had the wise leadership of an S-level captain but also the strong support of four A-level backbone members and two talented and mysterious family members. Their goal was to charge to the front row!
However, before being the “wise leader of the team,” Song Ke had to settle some debts.
For example—owing Lu Xiaoyu 270 grams.
Lu Xiaoyu had set his sights on a rhenium block with a purity of over 90% in the black market, and because it was a rare item, it was currently being publicly auctioned online. Bidders needed not only substantial financial resources but also exceptional speed.
Song Ke crouched beside him, reluctantly clutching her money pouch. It was the first time she had seen Lu Xiaoyu so busy. Six mechanical arms simultaneously controlled six screens displaying densely refreshing data. Lu Xiaoyu was constantly tapping on the terminal with a clattering sound. According to Lu Xiaoyu himself, he had implanted an automatic bidding system in the background, capable of jumping thousands of times in a minute.
In the ultra-high-definition projection, the auctioneer eloquently introduced the item.
Song Ke paid no attention to what he was saying, staring intently at the large screen with continuously jumping numbers: 1 million, 2 million, 3 million…
“Ding—” The golden auction hammer finally fell.
“How is it?” Song Ke asked nervously.
“We got it,” Lu Xiaoyu proudly replied, lifting his chin. His silver hair tips brushed against his neck, and a unique light called “happiness” flashed in his distinctive pupils.
“Pay up, Captain.”
Song Ke glanced at the final bid on the big screen, her voice trembling, “Lu Xiaoyu, do we, do we really have to buy it?”
Lu Xiaoyu’s wheelchair “swooshed” to the front of Song Ke, staring at her without blinking. “Zhuang Qingyan said you would buy it for me.”
There was an irresistible focus in his gaze, like a stubborn child pestering an adult for candy. If you didn’t buy it for him, he would keep nagging, seizing every opportunity to ask for it.
Song Ke took a glance at his empty pants leg. Besides mechanical parts, Lu Xiaoyu never actively asked for anything. If he wanted a new and fancy leg, what else could she do as his team captain?
She gritted her teeth, “Buy it!”
Song Ke, with a righteous demeanor, pulled out her terminal and swiped it. The deduction prompt sounded: “You have spent 3,300,000 Alliance Coins from your account ending in xxxx.”
3.3 million! Not 330 Alliance coins! For such a tiny amount! This wasn’t a rhenium block; it was clearly a gold-devouring beast!
Not only was her money pouch emptied, but a part of Song Ke’s soul also seemed to be hollowed out in a trance.
Lu Xiaoyu enthusiastically started purchasing new parts, his joy being so simple and unpretentious that a mere 3.3 million could satisfy him.
Song Ke rested her chin on the bar, wearing a look of despair. Zhuang Qingyan passed by and casually asked, “How much did you spend?”
Song Ke slowly raised the terminal to show him.
“Hmm, it’s about the same as what I calculated,” Zhuang Qingyan commented.
Song Ke suddenly realized; no wonder Zhuang Qingyan insisted on only buying 270 grams for him. Even a substantial family fortune couldn’t withstand Lu Xiaoyu’s extravagant spending.
Zhuang Qingyan leaned in close and whispered in her ear, “I won’t let you suffer a loss. This is called casting a long line to catch big fish. Give him a little sweetener, and later, I’ll help you recover the cost with interest.”
Song Ke: “…”
She sneakily glanced at Lu Xiaoyu, silently lighting a candle for him in her heart. Why does he have a friend like Zhuang Qingyan? It’s really an unfortunate choice of friends, too pitiful.
The next day, Lu Xiaoyu spent the whole day in his room, busy working on the new arm.
Among the six mechanical arms, one was noticeably different, with a silver-white appearance similar to a starship, polished to a dazzling shine.
“Other than being good-looking, is there any other difference with this one?” Fang Zhixu asked with a curious expression.
Lu Xiaoyu’s rhenium arm flew out with a swoosh, touching the terminals of Fang Zhixu, Su Cha, and Lin Youyou in turn. Then, magically, the browsing records from the previous night appeared before everyone:
Fang Zhixu repeatedly watched some precious old photos and videos, all related to him, Zhang Wanyao, and Tiantian.
Su Cha was diligently studying the public lessons of the Alliance Combat Master, information he didn’t have access to back in Ferrara.
As for Lin Youyou… she was chatting with Jennifer. To win the favor of the beautiful woman, Jennifer, without any hesitation, spilled the beans about her Daddy, Yin Xiao, confessing and failing miserably. The two of them were enjoying the gossip to the fullest.
Lin Youyou supported her forehead, gritting her teeth, and muttered, “…Lu Xiaoyu, leave some privacy for people!”
She glanced at Su Cha, who was diligently studying even before going to sleep, feeling inexplicably guilty.
After Lu Xiaoyu showcased the new features, he finally answered Fang Zhixu’s question, “Rhenium has a hexagonal close-packed crystal structure, outstanding mechanical properties, and, when made into an alloy, it can become a superconductor. By combining my ability with the mechanical arm, it now functions as a powerful hacking interface, capable of connecting to any machine with basic computing capabilities.”
“Any machine? Even a starship?” Zhuang Qingyan suddenly spoke up.
Everyone paused, wondering what he meant.
“The latest model of starships in District B, can it connect to them?” Zhuang Qingyan asked again.
Their current missions were limited to the vicinity of the Northern Base due to transportation and time constraints. If they could switch to the fastest District B starship, it would save a lot of travel time and expand their mission choices.
“No way! Are you planning to steal a starship?” Lin Youyou exclaimed. Wasn’t that too audacious? They had just arrived at the Northern Base, and now they were making such a big move?
“How can you call it stealing? We’re borrowing it; we’ll return it,” Zhuang Qingyan corrected.
V587: “…” Shameless, so shameless.
*
Northern Base, the busy starship station.
A newly maintained and pristine starship slowly emerged from the energy column, gliding smoothly on the track, about to enter the station to pick up passengers.
A group of seven people wearing masks and hats passed by. Men and women, old and young, two young men were in wheelchairs, a girl held a skipping child’s hand, appearing as if they were joyfully heading out for an excursion.
As they passed the starship not yet carrying passengers, a silver-white mechanical arm suddenly appeared in the air. It touched the charging port briefly, and the control panel inside the starship flickered for a second, silently changing its original route and switching to high-orbit mode, heading towards an empty platform.
At the same time, the station’s floating screen automatically issued an error alert: “C1011 train detected a malfunction, signal lost!”
A silver-haired young man slightly tilted his head upward, his ice-blue eyes sparkling with scattered light as the flowing data invaded the panel.
Half a second later, the floating screen automatically corrected the information: “Malfunction cleared, today’s weather: clear.”
The starship’s cabin door opened, and the seven individuals who had just passed by walked in without any concern, disappearing into the sky after a moment.
It was like any other calm and peaceful morning.
Except for the passengers waiting on the original platform, looking utterly bewildered: where was their car? They bought tickets, so why was the car gone?
*
Yin Xiao pulled Song Ke into a channel with a somewhat peculiar name. Although the name was odd, the quality of the tasks inside was indeed much higher than the ones pushed by the system. Moreover, they quickly received a mission they desired:
“A-level Commission (urgent): In District C27, a large-scale zombie tide has occurred. Detected zombie quantities are as follows: 3rd-level zombies xx, 2nd-level zombies xxxx, and mutant zombies xxxx. Nearby awakeners are requested to immediately provide support. Depending on the number of zombies killed, different amounts of points and Alliance coins rewards can be obtained.”
Killing zombies, this was undoubtedly their specialty as V587.
Four engines simultaneously spewed out streams of air, and the silver meteor flashed across the sky.
Old habits die hard lol