Chapter 37

This is a middle-aged man, holding a large pair of scissors, who should be a gardener responsible for trimming the flowers and plants in the villa. When the middle-aged man rushed out, his face was filled with anxiety, but when he saw the sweeper stop and turn to look at him, his expression became hesitant.

"Is there something wrong?" the sweeper asked, looking at the middle-aged man.

"No... not what Sambu said." The middle-aged man's face was hesitant, but he finally mustered the courage to say this.

"What are you doing, Samsan?" Just as the middle-aged man was about to say more, the old butler appeared at the villa's entrance and shouted at him.

The middle-aged man's face changed dramatically, and he gave the sweeper a meaningful look. Then he turned and left. The sweeper's gaze met the old butler's, who nodded at the sweeper without changing his expression and then turned and walked back.

"What do you mean, not what Sambu said?" The man with the almond eyes scratched the back of his head, looking puzzled.

"Sambu is probably the old butler's name. If it's not what Sambu said, then the old butler's words are incorrect. But it's unclear whether the old butler was wrong about Sang's death or about the werewolf transformation." The sweeper frowned, looking at the old butler.

"Do we even need to think about it? Of course, it's the werewolf transformation that's wrong. It's been thirty or forty years, and you still see the little girl Sang as a seven or eight-year-old. She must have died and then transformed, so she still looks the same after all these years."

"Have you ever seen a dead person eat fruit?" The sweeper glanced at the man with the almond eyes.

"Uh... Are you saying you've encountered a ghost? I feel like this mission is getting more and more mysterious." The man with the almond eyes felt a chill down his back and looked around with a trembling voice.

"It's broad daylight, what ghost? This matter is definitely suspicious. Hmm..."

"What's wrong?"

"The mission has changed. It's no longer about bringing back the little girl Sang. Now it's about going to the police station and asking Chief Pete about the events of that year."

"Really? Is this some kind of hidden mission? A hidden main mission? Who designed this?" The man with the almond eyes looked at the mission panel. Since he and the sweeper were on the same team, their missions were synchronized.

"Who should I ask? Let's go to the police station and see."

Half an hour later, the sweeper and the man with the almond eyes came out of the police station. The sweeper's face was even more puzzled. Chief Pete was one of the police officers who handled the case of the village being attacked by mutated beasts that year. The case files from that year were sealed, but Chief Pete had some doubts about the case, so he kept a few photos from the scene.

"What's so interesting about these photos? Don't they just confirm that the culprit was a werewolf?"

There were three photos in total. One showed a large footprint, which matched the characteristics of a werewolf after transformation. Another showed marks on a wall, left by sharp claws, which also looked like werewolf claws. The last one was a corpse, a torn-up corpse. These three photos indeed suggested that the culprit was a werewolf, as the man with the almond eyes had said.

"I'm a bit confused too. The key to this problem lies with the little girl Sang, the old butler Sambu, and the gardener Samsan. But the old butler doesn't seem to be telling the truth, and Samsan was hesitant. Maybe talking to Sang will reveal something." The sweeper rubbed his forehead, clearly troubled by the matter.

At first, the sweeper chose the second path because he trusted his instincts and didn't want to kill a little girl, even in a game. But based on the limited information they now had, it seemed there was indeed a secret hidden here.

"Doing a mission is like solving a case like Sherlock Holmes. The Destiny game is the Destiny game. It's not like other games where all tasks are straightforward." The man with the almond eyes sighed, not sure what he was thinking. Then he seemed to have an idea and asked, "What if you had killed the werewolf and brought Sang back? What would have happened to the mission?"

"We can't go back and redo it now. How would I know what would happen? But if we don't expose the process of this mission, future players might end up killing the werewolf and bringing Sang back. Then we'll know."

"Forget it. Let's find evidence first. This main mission seems to have deviated from the right path. We'll just have to take it one step at a time."

"Have you sold the item? Did you really sell that design for 10,000 points?" The sweeper felt that this matter couldn't be rushed, but now he had evidence that his instincts were right. He felt more at ease and less anxious.

"Not sold, I gave it away."

"What?" The sweeper's eyes widened as he looked at the man with the almond eyes. Although he had lived in the military and didn't know much about the outside world, he still had some concept of money. Giving away 10,000 points was a big deal, and the sweeper was very surprised.

"I gave it to a mechanic, the one who made the abacus for me. His skills are top-notch. We've signed a system-verified agreement. When he finishes making the energy furnace according to the design, 70% of the profit from selling the energy furnace will be ours. This is a long-term investment." The man with the almond eyes said proudly.

"How much will one of these second-generation energy furnaces sell for once they're made?" The sweeper sighed with relief, as this seemed like a more reliable plan than just selling the design for a profit.

"That depends on when the third-generation design comes out. But according to Wrench's estimation, this second-generation energy furnace will be three times more efficient than the current ones used by mechs. It can also be improved further, so the third-generation design won't come out soon. The profit margin will be significant."

"Three times the efficiency, that's indeed very valuable. But just having the energy furnace isn't enough. Other parts of the mech need to be upgraded as well to match the new energy furnace. The current mechs are too cumbersome." The sweeper sighed, not fully understanding the market, but from a military perspective, a threefold increase in efficiency was priceless. In battle, even a small advantage could turn the tide, let alone a threefold increase.

"Ha, we're on the same page. I also think just selling the energy furnace isn't enough. I've already talked to Wrench about it. We need to see if we can develop a second-generation mech based on the second-generation energy furnace. We'll monopolize the market first. With limited supply, we'll sell one mech a week. The profit, after deducting costs, should be at least 30,000 points per mech." The man with the almond eyes' eyes turned into dollar signs.

"Snap out of it. An energy furnace is important, but other components are also essential, like upgrading the metal and energy sources used in mechs. These aren't things one person can handle. Besides, mechs are just one of the six professions, so even if we make money, it will be limited." The sweeper smirked, still very calm.

"Just a little daydreaming won't hurt. Come on, I'll introduce you to Wrench. You're one of the bosses, so you should meet. We'll need your help with a lot of things."

"What kind of help?"

"Even with the design, it's not as simple as just manufacturing the energy furnace. We need to test the materials and their compatibility, which requires a lot of experimental materials."

"Can I alone provide enough materials for the experiments to make an energy furnace?" The sweeper's forehead started to show black lines. The amount of materials needed for an experiment was astronomical. Even with the design, the material testing alone was beyond what the sweeper could support.

Back when he was in the African star domain, the new mechs and weapons that were secretly produced and tested consumed a staggering amount of resources. Just the continuous adjustments and small-scale improvements based on combat data were overwhelming. This material testing from scratch was definitely a money-burning endeavor.

"You alone can't provide enough materials. But when you kill monsters, you get materials and points, right? If materials are insufficient, we can use points to buy more. If that's still not enough, we can exchange some real money for points..."

The sweeper felt that no matter how the man with the almond eyes calculated, it would leave him with nothing.

But the sweeper underestimated the man with the almond eyes' ability to utilize his remaining value. As they walked, the sweeper felt very familiar with the place. When they entered, he saw that the room he and the man with the almond eyes rented for resting and storing items in the game had been turned into a laboratory.

"Your get-rich-quick plan is here? Aren't you afraid that a thief might come in and steal your means of getting rich?"

The sweeper's rented place was in a shanty town, with two small rooms and a small yard. The front door was just a creaky iron sheet that could be kicked open with one kick. The two small rooms had no solid defenses. Using this place as a laboratory seemed unreliable.

"You don't know. No one has the design for the second-generation energy furnace, and no one knows its value. As long as we're careful, the second-generation energy furnace won't attract attention before it hits the market. By the time others see its value, we'll have made our money. Then we can move to a better place. I've already told Wrench to store all the experimental results on the computer. There are very few people in this world who can hack my computer." If you like it, please give a recommendation. It's very important for new books. Thank you all.