Chapter 35

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Although Young Master Zhu was arrogant and looked down on others, he was not a completely useless rich kid; he did have some real skills.

He had privately watched that nearly miraculous battle video many times. With his discerning eye, he could confirm that there was nothing wrong with the video. But this was precisely what puzzled him the most.

He knew everything about the Blood Mane Spotted Lion's level and innate abilities, recognizing it as a not particularly powerful fierce beast. If it were him, dealing with dozens of lions would be like playing a game!

But facing a lion pack of several hundred, and with only the most basic teaching mechs available, that was a different story! Even though Zhu Yingxuan's source energy index was much higher than Qin Huang's, he had no confidence in escaping unscathed in such a perilous situation.

"So, there must be something wrong with this kid..." He repeated this sentence, which he had said countless times.

But even so, he still didn't know what the problem was! Despite spending a lot of money to have people investigate Qin Huang's background, the information they provided was all trivial, with nothing of value!

Moreover, after this incident, this troublesome opponent had caught the attention of the school's upper management. Using certain underhanded methods to scheme against him would be too risky now. Wang Yu's experience was a warning!

"It seems I need to find a few more helpers!" After some deliberation, Young Master Zhu finally made up his mind.

He picked up the optical brain from the carpet, dialed a communication code, and a few seconds later, the connection was established.

"Is this Senior Xu Dezhi?" Zhu Yingxuan composed himself and greeted with a smile.

The other party did not turn on the video, and a lazy voice came from the optical brain: "It's Zhu Yingxuan, I see. What can I do for you?"

"It's not a big deal!" Young Master Zhu laughed. "It's been a while, and I just want to invite you for a meal to catch up! Would you be so kind as to join me?"

The other party was silent for a moment, then said, "A free meal, of course, I'm more than welcome! How about tonight? Let's go to the Cloud Top Restaurant at the Divine Dragon Starlight Hotel in the city center. What do you think?"

The Divine Dragon Starlight Hotel was the most famous super-luxury hotel on Dinas Star, and the Cloud Top Restaurant was a place where social celebrities and high-ranking officials entertained important guests. A single meal there would cost tens of thousands of star coins, something most people would never have the chance to experience in their lifetime!

Zhu Yingxuan frowned slightly, but after some thought, he agreed readily, "Alright, it's settled then!"

...

The next day, Qin Huang received a thank-you gift from Councilor Cheng Tiande: the title of Honorary Citizen of Dinas Star, and an additional 300,000 star coins in his bank account.

The first item was an award from the government. According to federal law, this title was only granted to citizens who had made outstanding contributions to society. With it, Qin Huang would receive considerable support from the government in areas such as employment, bank loans, and healthcare, making it a practical reward.

As for the second item, it was Councilor Cheng Tiande's personal gratitude for saving his life.

The money was indeed a lot, a fortune that ordinary civilians might accumulate over a lifetime. But Qin Huang understood that by accepting this large sum, it meant that he and the councilor were now even, with no further ties.

This did not surprise him. Cheng Tiande came from a wealthy family, and as a member of the upper class, he would rarely interact with the common people.

Although this time an elementary mech warrior saved his life, Cheng Tiande clearly did not want to owe a favor to a commoner, so giving a large sum of money as a reward was a natural action for him.

They were from different worlds, and there was no possibility of becoming friends. Why complicate things?

Qin Huang had no particular thoughts about this. He had never been interested in those who tried to climb the social ladder by attaching themselves to powerful figures, hoping to achieve success through their connections. He could not bring himself to lower his standards or flatter others for such a purpose.

Since the other party did not want any further entanglements, he was happy to have peace and quiet.

"At least it's a large sum of money, which can be exchanged for a lot of useful resources!"

He stopped thinking about the councilor and carefully planned in his mind. He decided to give 100,000 star coins to the Wu brothers and use the rest to buy high-grade cultivation potions. This would be enough to bring his strength to the level of a second-rank mech warrior within a few months, and even exceed it.

Things were different now. With the resource bottleneck resolved, the A赖耶识心法 and the War Emperor Extermination Star Technique, these two mysterious and powerful cultivation methods, could allow his cultivation to rapidly improve. Given time, surpassing those powerful instructors would not be a problem!

...

In the laboratory.

On a fully equipped large workbench, various instruments were already turned on, and the different frequencies of the faint humming sounds merged into a unique background music.

At the center of the workbench, a diamond-shaped blue component was steadily held by a levitation field, slowly rotating at a constant speed within a pale silver light flame. The surface of the component was covered with intricate and detailed source energy matrix patterns.

"Teacher, it's done!"

With the final step completed, Qin Huang carefully withdrew the silver light flame formed by his mental energy, turned off the levitation field, and returned all the processing instruments to their places. He then removed the dark gold sensing headband from his head. A young staff member immediately handed him a bottle of Lan Hua Essence.

He took a few sips, and the fatigue on his fair and delicate face was hard to hide.

Shazhenghai, who had been assisting him, put away his tools and said with satisfaction, "Good job, kid! This is a component for a Bronze Rank Two mech, and you actually managed to make it!"

After praising Qin Huang for a while, his expression turned gloomy, and he sighed, "What a waste! You not becoming a mech creator is a real pity! What's so great about being a mech warrior? They're just a bunch of brutes who only know how to fight!"

"Once you become a mech creator, you'll have wealth, women, and status. What good things can't you get? Why go out and risk your life? That's just being foolish..."

Qin Huang was already used to his incessant chatter. After drinking two bottles of Lan Hua Essence, he took a moment to rest and recover, then stood up and said, "Alright, let's not talk about this. Let's go test its actual performance now!"

This component was a core module for the "Crack Cloud Leopard Type 1" Bronze Rank Two mech, used in the ion laser sword. It could reduce the activation time of the blade by 27.5% and increase the cutting damage by 33%, without significantly increasing the energy consumption. This was compared to its factory performance parameters.

This level of optimization and improvement directly boosted the ion laser sword's attack power to the Bronze Rank Three level, without causing excessive source energy consumption for the mech warrior. It was an extremely rare and high-quality weapon!

Three days ago, Shazhenghai and Qin Huang had discussed attempting to process this component. After two failures, they finally succeeded today.

The factory price of this core module was 120,000 star coins, and failure would mean losing half a lifetime's earnings for an ordinary person! This did not even include the cost of precious materials and energy consumption during processing, the depreciation of various instruments, and the time and labor costs of the creator!

But if successful, it could be sold for no less than 600,000 star coins on the market, sometimes even more! Even after deducting the high costs, the profit was still a staggering amount!

The laboratory had the necessary testing equipment, and it didn't take long for a detailed test report to be delivered to Shazhenghai. The technical parameters were even better than he had expected.

"Kid, are you really not going to reconsider?" He started nagging again, "Look, this is the most advanced mech creator's processing mother machine in the federation, a highly intelligent workbench, a giant optical brain cluster, and a special small integrated energy reactor, as well as the most comprehensive supply of rare materials in the federation... These are things you can't buy with money elsewhere. If you're willing, they can all be your dedicated equipment!"

"I know you're still racking your brains to secure a spot in the elite seed program in a few months! But once you become a mech creator, you'll start as a school officer in the military academy, with material benefits no less than those of powerful generals! The rookies in the military academy aren't even worthy to polish your shoes..."

"Also, you're single, right? If you're willing, I can immediately introduce a few pretty girls to be your assistants. You can choose any type you like, and they will satisfy any of your requests. If you don't like them, you can change them at any time..."

Qin Huang said with a headache, "Thank you for your kindness, teacher! I'm not doubting your sincerity, but I really don't like being treated like a golden pig in a cage, dealing with instruments and equipment all day. That's not the life I want."

Shazhenghai shook his head regretfully, "Alright! You're a stubborn one, everyone has their own aspirations, I won't force you! I won't make it difficult for you!"

Then he said seriously, "But... since you've chosen the path of a mech warrior, you'll have to find a way to solve your cultivation resource problems! Don't think you can still earn enough to support yourself after reaching the fifth rank. The resources needed will be astronomical! At that point, trying to meet your needs by doing odd jobs will be a pipe dream!"

Qin Huang's expression turned serious, and he asked, "What do you suggest, teacher?"

"Simple, even after you become a mech warrior, you'll have to come and help me every month!" Shazhenghai said with a smile, "The mech components you process and optimize, I can help you sell on the online platform. After deducting the material costs, including the use of the laboratory equipment and the labor costs of the assistants, we'll split the remaining income equally. How about that?"

Qin Huang thought for a moment and nodded, "Alright, it's settled then!"

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