Chapter 66
The system began to throw a tantrum.
[I don’t care, I want to buy it! Help me, help me!]
[The next time it’s released, who knows when that will be!]
[How about this, you guys only have to pay back four million. I’ll pay back the other million for you!]
[Is that still not enough? Sob, sob, I really don’t have any money left!]
Xia Anran: “…”
The system was usually very smug, always acting all high and mighty. For it to be groveling like this meant that this “residence” thing was really important to it.
“How about… we take the loan?” Xia Anran asked, looking at the leaders.
The leaders were also a little helpless, watching the system throw a fit. The top leader, after confirming with it again that there would be no adverse effects on Xia Anran and that the repayment period was not urgent, finally nodded. The system was so desperate it almost pulled out a contract on the spot.
In the end, in what was probably the fastest transaction in the system’s history, the five million arrived in just a few minutes. Then, after quickly helping them exchange it for the Psychic Power Detector, the system took off. It had probably rushed off to buy its house.
This so-called Psychic Power Detector was a small, glossy black sphere. The material felt like glass but was much stronger and smoother. It wasn’t large, with a diameter of only about a dozen centimeters, and had a protruding part on top that looked like a button.
The system had run off so quickly it hadn’t had time to teach them how to use it. Based on her past experience, the more high-end a product from the system sounded, the more fool-proof its operation was. So, she just pressed the button.
Sure enough, the small sphere lit up in her hand, flashing with a white light.
[Scanning for psychic power…]
[Scan complete. One psychic power user detected within a ten-meter radius.]
After the mechanical report, the sphere’s light changed from white to green, and then it flew out of her hand and floated next to Ren Yi.
[Take compulsory measures?]
Ren Yi: ?
Compulsory measures? This thing has combat capabilities?
Faced with this unknown alien technology, he didn’t dare to move. Xia Anran tried to give a voice command. “No need.”
[Understood. Command received.]
It actually worked. The small sphere obediently stayed by his side until she walked over and took it away.
The leaders were curious and also went forward to try, but they found that the small sphere did not respond to them at all. It only listened to her.
“There might be a mechanism to register an owner. I was the first one to touch it,” she said after some thought. After all, this thing looked like it could be dangerous. It would be troublesome if just anyone could give it orders.
The top leader nodded. Since that was the case, he also assigned her a task: tomorrow, she and Ren Yi would go to the military to find people with psychic potential.
…
After the meeting, Xia Anran and Ren Yi got into a car and headed back to her small villa in the capital. The production team was still waiting for them there.
“Senior Colonel Ren, where are we going tomorrow?”
She was still a little excited. She had never been to a military base before.
“The capital military region. It’s a bit remote, so we might have to set off a little earlier tomorrow,” he explained patiently.
She nodded. Suddenly, she felt her phone vibrate. She took it out and saw that the system was back.
[La la la la]
[I got it! That guy, Number One, even tried to compete with me. Doesn’t he know who I am?]
[I’ll have a big house to live in tonight!]
She poked it. “How much did you buy it for?”
The system laughed it off. [Not much! I’m a rich system!]
That’s true, she thought coolly. Who knows how much of my earnings this thing ate behind my back before it came back to life. It probably stuffed some of it into its own little treasury.
The system couldn’t hold back for long and started to complain to her.
[Maybe it’s because I haven’t been to the market in many years, but now you can even pay for a residence in installments!]
[Damn it! A lot of little systems that couldn’t even come up with a million were all scrambling for it. I almost didn’t get it!]
[They must have learned bad habits from you humans!]
Xia Anran: “…You didn’t take out a mortgage, did you?”
System: …
[Good night. Bye-bye.]
She burst out laughing. Now even electronic life forms had mortgages. One could only say… times were progressing.
…
When they returned home, the production team was also waiting for them in the living room, having not yet gone to sleep. Seeing them return, they all gathered around and asked a flurry of questions. “How did it go? Did you make it public?”
“We’ve been watching the news all day. Nothing.”
“Why am I a little excited?”
Director Huang coughed twice. “Let Little Xia and the Senior Colonel sit down first.”
Xia Anran satisfied everyone’s curiosity and said with a smile, “It’s already been made public to the heads of state and scientists of various countries. But for now, it’s limited to that level. The top leader is worried that announcing it to the public will cause unnecessary panic.”
Right now, the whole world needed to unite, especially the leadership, who had to prepare in advance. When the preparations were almost complete, they would probably announce it to the public. It seemed that all the countries in the world had the same idea and had tacitly sealed the news.
“The Senior Colonel and I are going out tomorrow. We might not be back for a day or two,” she said, looking at Director Huang. “So we might not have time for the livestream.”
“No problem.”
Director Huang seemed to have had a plan for this all along. “A while ago, the system was chatting with me and said we can upload videos to our account. I’ve been thinking about this for a long time. Why don’t we upload some classic films, TV shows, and documentaries? It can be considered as promoting our Hua nation’s culture.”
Since Director Huang often had to edit and prepare content for the livestream, he would often have her phone. The system, being a chatterbox, couldn’t stay quiet, so it was normal for it to chat with him.
After some discussion, everyone agreed that this was a good idea. This way, they could use the films to distract the audience, and they could reduce the frequency of their livestreams to save up more broadcast time. Who knew, maybe one day they could stream for a whole day without interruption.
…
The next morning, Xia Anran and Ren Yi got into a car specially arranged by the leaders to pick them up. The moment they got in, she took out the egg pancakes that Master Guo had specially made for them and gave some to Ren Yi and the few young men in military uniform who had come to pick them up.
These young men were acquaintances of Ren Yi. At first, they were a little embarrassed, but in the end, Ren Yi stuffed the pancakes into their hands one by one. “You must not have eaten, rushing over so early. Have some.”
The young soldiers scratched their heads and accepted them shyly.
It turned out that Ren Yi’s claim that the place was remote was no exaggeration. They were in the car for nearly four hours before they arrived. The actual distance wasn’t that far, but after turning onto a mountain road, the car had slowed down, and there were many ups and downs that made even her, who didn’t get carsick, feel a little dizzy.
When she finally set foot on the ground again, she let out a long sigh of relief. It had not been easy.
In front of them was a very large military base. The soldiers guarding the main gate checked their documents and let them in. The car drove all the way to a five or six-story building, where a middle-aged man in a military uniform was waiting for them, the three stars on his epaulets shining brightly.
“General Chen,” the few of them said, getting out of the car. Ren Yi and the other soldiers gave a proper military salute.
General Chen stepped forward and shook his hand. “Long time no see. I heard a long time ago that you’re a different man now. A rare sight, hahaha.”
Ren Yi smiled. “You’re too kind. The one behind me is the one who’s different.”
General Chen looked at Xia Anran and said with a smile, “Little Xia. Your name is also like thunder in my ears.”
She shook his hand. Without much more pleasantry, he led them into the building in front of them and into a conference room on the first floor.
“The Chief has already told me about your mission for today,” he said. “Have a seat first.”
After the two of them sat down, he continued, “To be honest, before this, I never really believed in any of this interstellar, psychic power stuff. It was only today, when the Chief sent you here, that I truly believed it wasn’t a rumor.”
“General Chen, your information is a bit outdated,” Ren Yi joked with him.
Although Xia Anran’s matter was a top secret, it was no longer a secret among the high command of the Hua nation. After all, she was pulling out good things one after another; it was impossible to hide.
General Chen waved his hand. “Hah, I was busy with the drills with the northern military region a while ago. I only heard Old Yue mention it once. I just got back not long ago.”
“By the way, I heard you also brought a divine beast?”
The Psychic Power Detector, which they had bought at a huge cost, could detect psychic power. But for someone like Qi Yunhan, who possessed the power of the beast race, which was probably the interstellar equivalent of Horn Power, they still had to rely on the Qilin to judge. So, they had brought it with them today.
The Qilin, knowing it could finally escape the clutches of those professors at the Academy of Sciences, had agreed to come work for them in a second, without any hesitation.
General Chen looked left and right, his heart burning with excitement. “Did you bring it?” To say he wasn’t interested in this ancient divine beast was a lie.
Xia Anran nodded and took out a jade ornament in the shape of a Qilin. Of course, it couldn’t parade around in its true form. Originally, she had planned to have the top leader send a truck to bring it over, but it had firmly refused to be transported like a common animal, and had proactively offered to use its ability to possess an object. …She had almost forgotten it was a divine beast, having seen it fooling around for so long.
She took out the jade pendant, and soon, the Qilin jumped out of it with a flash. “Have we arrived?”
It had taken a nap in the jade pendant and was still a little dazed from being woken up just now. It looked around and saw Xia Anran and Ren Yi standing in front of it, and… another old man, whose excitement was no less than that of the old men at the Academy of Sciences.
The Qilin was so scared it was triggered. With a flash, it hid behind Xia Anran. “Didn’t you say we were coming to find people? Why is there another strange old man!”
She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “This is General Chen, not a professor.”
After confirming that the person in front of her didn’t have a bunch of strange questions to ask it, the Qilin finally regained its divine pride and walked gracefully up to General Chen, looking at him.
The general was extremely excited. He asked cautiously, “Can I… touch it?”
As expected, all humans will bow before my beautiful appearance, the Qilin thought, lifting its head proudly. “Go ahead,” it said magnanimously. This is just a way for humans to show their reverence for me. Although some humans don’t let go after they start touching. But… it’s still quite comfortable.
The Qilin’s body temperature was a little higher than that of an ordinary animal, and it felt soft and warm to the touch. After feeling what it was like to touch a Qilin, General Chen withdrew his hand, satisfied. Hmm, not a greedy human. Not bad, the Qilin thought to itself.
“Qilin, can you feel any aura from the General?” Ren Yi suddenly asked.
General Chen also became a little nervous. The Chiefs had told him that they were here to screen soldiers with special qualifications for psychic and Horn Power training. Although he was no longer young, when he was, he had also imagined that he was a chosen one who could awaken a unique power. Now that the opportunity was right in front of him, it would be a lie to say he wasn’t nervous.
The Qilin circled him twice and then shook its head. “I don’t feel anything.”
For a moment, he was a little disappointed, but he quickly recovered and said with a smile, “Not everyone has such a fate. But with so many outstanding soldiers in our military region, we will definitely be able to find some.”
After the morning drill, all the soldiers in the military region had received a notice. All training plans were canceled, and they were to gather at the training grounds of their respective districts. There was an important matter to be announced. General Chen had issued a strict order that everyone must be present on time and that it was a top military secret, with no leaks allowed. This had made everyone secretly speculate whether a war was about to break out and they would be sent to the front lines.
But to their surprise, the person who came was a very delicate-looking young woman.