Chapter 9: You’d Even Swindle Money from the Poor?
“Hurry up, whose account should I transfer it to?” the owner urged them.
“Wait, tally theirs up too.” Yan Zhou bypassed the crowd and grabbed Scarface, who was trying to leave from the back.
Upon seeing the mountain of Thorny Devil Lizards that Yan Zhou’s group had taken out, Scarface’s heart was filled with regret.
He hadn’t expected that in just one day, they had hunted over thirty Thorny Devil Lizards, a full three times their number!
Was the gap between an ordinary person and an A-rank ability user really that vast?
At this moment, Scarface’s teammates were also glaring at him fiercely. If he hadn’t been so bored and insisted on provoking Yan Zhou’s group, how would things have ended up like this?
Scarface had originally wanted to weasel his way out of it, telling Yan Zhou to ‘just let it go’.
But Black Pearl stepped forward and directly dumped the Thorny Devil Lizards, the Giant Salamander, and the mutated beast eggs from her nano-ring.
“A B-rank mutated beast!” the owner immediately exclaimed.
Their market primarily dealt with low-level mutated beasts, with the highest rank being no more than C.
And now, a B-rank mutated beast had appeared.
What kind of windfall was this?
If he acquired this mutated beast and sold it to the material suppliers, there was no telling how much profit he could make in between!
With this thought in mind, his attitude towards the group became much better, regardless of whether they were from the slums or not.
The owner immediately started calculating the money.
There were a total of 48 D-rank Thorny Devil Lizards, amounting to 1536 star coins.
The current market price for a B-rank Giant Salamander was 800 star coins.
In addition, there were over 100 Giant Salamander eggs. Although they were just eggs, they were still from a B-rank mutated beast. If sold to a mutated beast breeding base, they could fetch a small sum. In the end, he gave them a package price of 500 star coins for the 100-plus eggs.
“Esteemed bosses, the total is 2836 star coins.” The owner smiled obsequiously. “How would you like to receive the payment?”
It was clear they were working together, but the owner couldn’t be bothered with the details; he only dealt with the person in charge.
Yan Zhou held out his Star Brain. “Transfer 1701 star coins to me, and give the rest to Scarface.”
The owner was a sharp man. He immediately realized this group wasn’t splitting it fifty-fifty. He said nothing on the surface and directly transferred 1701 star coins to Yan Zhou, then transferred the rest to Black Pearl.
Scarface looked fierce and was clearly not someone to be trifled with. He didn’t want to cause trouble.
After receiving the money, the few from East District 1 left with long, grim faces.
They had tried to be clever but ended up losing out. Losing to Yan Zhou’s group was already humiliating enough; there was no reason for them to stay here and listen to the others celebrate.
After leaving the mutated beast trading market, Yan Zhou’s group rushed Jiang Ning to a nearby treatment center without stopping.
When Jiang Ning woke up again, she found herself in a bright environment, lying in a semi-reclined capsule. Her body couldn’t move; only her eyes could.
Jiang Ning: “???”
Where was she now?
Jiang Ning lay there quietly for half an hour until she gradually felt she could move her fingers.
【Your treatment service is about to end. In ten seconds, the cabin door will open. Please exit only after the door is fully open to avoid being caught.】
As a robotic female voice sounded in the cabin, Jiang Ning finally knew where she was.
After the countdown ended, Jiang Ning slowly sat up from the treatment cabin and surveyed her surroundings.
Just as she woke up, a doctor in a white coat walked in with a form.
“Awake?”
“There’s nothing seriously wrong with your body, just physical exhaustion.”
“In addition, you have severe malnutrition. At your age, you should be growing. You must eat more.”
The doctor held a report sheet, which recorded Jiang Ning’s physical data from the treatment cabin.
The doctor said, “I gave you a glucose injection, and you’ve been in the treatment cabin for twelve hours. You should feel much better now.”
Jiang Ning did indeed feel much better. The unbearable feeling in her abdomen had eased considerably, her arms no longer hurt, and her legs were no longer sore.
“The fee…”
Jiang Ning touched her head, feeling a bit embarrassed.
She was penniless right now!
“The total fee is 100 star coins.” The doctor signed the report sheet. “The group that brought you here has already paid for you.”
Jiang Ning pursed her lips and asked, “Where are they?”
The doctor handed the report sheet to Jiang Ning. “One of them is still outside.”
Hearing this, she walked towards the door.
The metal door rotated open from the middle, revealing an endless corridor outside.
The corridor flickered with indicator lights, and the straight lines of the metal panels on both sides made it look bright and simple.
“Auntie Li?”
In the corridor outside the treatment room, Auntie Li was sitting and dozing off.
“Jiang Ning, you’re awake?” Auntie Li opened her drowsy eyes. Last night, as it grew dark, she had let the others go back first and had volunteered to stay and take care of Jiang Ning.
“Yes.” Jiang Ning nodded. “I’m all better. Let’s go back.”
The treatment cabin was truly a good thing. After just lying in it for a while, her injuries were seventy to eighty percent healed.
The only drawback was that it was expensive.
No, that wasn’t the treatment cabin’s drawback, it was hers.
On their way back.
Auntie Li suddenly mentioned, “Yesterday, Yan Zhou transferred your share of the star coins to me. Let me transfer it to you now.”
“We divided it among the three families. Your Uncle Yan’s family took five parts, our family took three, and you took two. The total is 340 star coins. After deducting the 100 star coins for the treatment fee, I’ll transfer 240 star coins to you.”
Auntie Li guiltily glanced at Jiang Ning’s face. After all, whether it was the Thorny Devil Lizards or the Giant Salamander, Jiang Ning had definitely contributed a lot, yet she only got two parts.
Jiang Ning, however, didn’t feel it was unfair.
The advantage of dividing it by family was that each family’s share was higher than if it were divided simply by headcount.
She had originally planned to earn one or two hundred from this trip. She hadn’t expected to have 240 star coins left after paying for the treatment.
Jiang Ning took out her Star Brain and accepted the star coins transferred from Auntie Li.
Seeing that the balance in her account was no longer zero, a smile couldn’t help but curve her lips.
“Auntie Li, why don’t you go back first? I want to buy some things in the city.” Now that she had money, Jiang Ning naturally wanted to do some shopping.
Auntie Li also knew about Jiang Ning’s situation at home and nodded in agreement.
So she parted ways with Auntie Li, and Jiang Ning followed the map on her Star Brain to the city center.
Flying vehicles zipped around in the sky, and the outer walls of the tall buildings on both sides of the street were adorned with glasses-free 3D screens, displaying incredibly cool special effects.
Jiang Ning walked and watched, experiencing the technological advancement of the interstellar era.
An advertisement for nutrient solution was playing on a bus stop sign. She looked at the address on it and found that it wasn’t far from her.
On second thought, she decided to go to this nutrient solution supermarket first.
The supermarket was on the basement level of an orange-red shopping mall. Perhaps because the advertising was good, there were quite a few people shopping inside.
Jiang Ning walked in, dazzled by the vast array of nutrient solution brands and flavors.
She looked at them all and finally picked a pile of near-expiry nutrient solutions from a corner.
She had no choice. The nutrient solutions on the regular shelves cost at least 5 star coins per tube, and the price was determined by its satiety level. A nutrient solution that kept you full for longer meant it was more expensive.
Near-expiry nutrient solutions were cheaper, usually two to three star coins per tube, and came in many flavors.
Jiang Ning filled a cart. At checkout, the total was only 86 star coins.
If she ate sparingly, this would be enough for a month.
Jiang Ning was very happy and immediately opened one and poured it into her mouth.
It was sweet and sour, a mixed fruit flavor.
The two shopping bags in her hands no longer felt heavy; she felt full of energy.
With the food problem solved, Jiang Ning thought of the nano-ring and searched for a nearby nano-ring shop on her Star Brain.
Jiang Ning followed the navigation for about ten minutes and finally arrived at her destination.
The nano-ring shop’s decor was a bit like a jewelry store from her world, but a tech version.
The clerk saw a skinny little kid walk in carrying two bags of nutrient solution, and the look in her eyes couldn’t have been stranger.
However, maintaining good professional etiquette, the clerk still smiled at her.
“I want the 100-star-coin nano-ring,” Jiang Ning said, looking up at the clerk, her goal clear.
Hearing this, the clerk turned and took out a row of nano-rings from a white counter. “Which one would you like? These are all our 100-star-coin models.”
“…” Jiang Ning looked hesitantly at the row of rings in front of her.
She had thought the 100-star-coin nano-ring Auntie Li mentioned was just one model.
Jiang Ning thought for a moment and chose one in the shape of a plant leaf. “This one.”
Jiang Ning paid, put the nano-ring on her middle finger, stored the two large bags of nutrient solution in the nano-ring, and then left the shop.
She had 54 star coins left in her account. Jiang Ning decided to wander around.
And on her walk, Jiang Ning happened to come across a shop that claimed to sell items that enhanced psychic energy.
She walked in curiously.
The shop’s interior was very high-end, and most of the items sold were stone-like ornaments.
So this is what nourishes psychic energy?
“Are you also here to buy a spirit tool?”
As Jiang Ning was looking with interest, a childish voice sounded from behind her.
So this thing was called a spirit tool.
Jiang Ning turned her head. A chubby little girl was standing behind her.
The little girl was wearing a pink princess dress, her hair cascading over her shoulders. There were no adults with her.
Without waiting for Jiang Ning’s reply, the little girl asked again, “What kind of spirit tool are you going to buy?”
She acted like a little boss.
Jiang Ning glanced at the owner behind her who was serving other customers in the shop and immediately understood that this little girl was the shop owner’s daughter.
“I’m not buying a spirit tool,” Jiang Ning shook her head.
“Then what are you doing in here?” the little girl muttered. Her gaze towards Jiang Ning instantly became strange.
A suspicion arose in her mind.
Could she have been sent by another shop to spy on their designs? She had heard that people often did that.
“How much psychic energy can one spirit tool enhance?” Jiang Ning asked.
The little girl gave her a strange look. She didn’t even know this.
“It depends on the quality of the spirit tool. A low-grade spirit tool might not even raise your psychic energy by one level even if it costs hundreds.”
“Did you design these spirit tools?” Jiang Ning asked again.
The little girl hesitated for a moment, then shook her head. “No, ordinary people can’t design spirit tools. These were designed by those spirit tool masters.”
This wasn’t a secret; everyone in the interstellar era knew this.
The little girl’s shrewd eyes carefully sized up Jiang Ning. Her clothes were old and had many green and yellow stains. Most importantly, she didn’t even know about spirit tools. She was clearly a child from a poor family. However, such people were also very hopeful about awakening an ability, hoping to turn their lives around with the identity of an ability user. She could take this opportunity to make a killing.
The little girl had been around the spirit tool shop with her parents for many years, and she hadn’t learned nothing.
“Spirit tools are much more effective for ordinary people than for ability users,” she mentioned casually.
“I have no money,” Jiang Ning said, spreading her hands, refusing directly.
She had just looked; the cheapest spirit tool cost tens of thousands.
“It’s okay, our shop supports loans,” the little girl said, a smile blooming on her face.
Persuading people to take out loans, that’s asking to be struck by lightning!
Jiang Ning frowned at the little girl. “Seriously? You’d even swindle money from the poor?”