Green Water Ghost

Next, Du Ke officially started working at the custom car shop, proving his skills. Boss Xu generously offered him a contract with a million-dollar annual salary.

Additionally, for every custom job he took on, Du Ke would receive a 30% commission on the modification fee.

Boss Xu initially planned to sign him for five years, but Du Ke only agreed to one: "Let's try it out first. If I do well, we can renew the contract. If not, you'll probably kick me out within five days, let alone five years."

Boss Xu assumed Du Ke was holding back, planning to ask for a raise later, so he didn't pay it much mind and agreed.

In reality, Du Ke just wanted to make quick money.

His current goal was to accumulate knowledge, cultivate his Mind Power, and hopefully fully charge the Mind Armor soon to begin the grand prelude to his journey.

"This energy needs to be enough for one round trip, plus extra energy to carry supplies. When I factor that in, I'll need to store at least triple the energy for travel."

The Mind Armor had already merged with Du Ke. Traveling had a fixed energy cost, and carrying additional items required extra energy expenditure. Du Ke could choose not to bring anything from Earth, but he definitely wanted to bring back samples of new materials found in the Fantasy World.

This meant he had to store more Psionic Energy.

He calculated based on his daily cultivation progress and figured it would take about five to six months to store triple the energy. Having acquired the Mind Armor in early April, he wouldn't be able to start traveling until around October.

During these six months.

He still needed to continue finding new items to replicate; he couldn't do that without money.

During the day, he spent his time at the custom car shop, wandering around and inspecting vehicles. He was responsible for the talking, while the other mechanics handled the actual work. When wealthy second-generation clients came for modifications, he would approach them and offer a technical solution. The custom car shop had several skilled mechanics, but few could provide a complete plan.

Du Ke, however, knew every car like the back of his hand, so he could explain things thoroughly. He only provided modification ideas and didn't do the hands-on work.

He relied on the Mind Armor's analytical capabilities to understand the structure of the custom cars.

The materialized forms of the Mind Armor couldn't exist for long; they would eventually return to the Mind Armor itself and weren't suitable for circulation.

When it was time for the actual modifications, he'd arrange for other mechanics to take over, so he wasn't taking anyone's job. Because of this, the mechanics at the custom car shop had no complaints about him.

On the contrary, Du Ke was a good talker, and his explanations were so convincing that several wealthy second-generation clients who hadn't planned on modifying their cars ended up transferring money on the spot, leading to a slight increase in the shop's performance.

As a result.

In the first month, Du Ke earned nearly two hundred thousand in commission.

"Making money is too easy!" Holding his paycheck, Du Ke immediately bought a membership at the Luzhou City Shooting Club, fired a few shots, and then replicated all the firearms.

He currently had no way to access military equipment, so he couldn't get his hands on rocket artillery or howitzers for now. He could only replicate some firearms to satisfy his craving.

The New World was unknown. Although the Mind God Race considered it habitable, who knew what dangers lurked there? Du Ke had to ensure he could return alive.

Mastering marksmanship would definitely help.

As long as he had sufficient Mind Power, he could materialize bullets anytime, anywhere, replenishing his ammunition infinitely.

Besides practicing his shooting at the club, he would also drive to remote mountainous areas around Luzhou City, bring a silencer, and shoot to his heart's content. The gunshots were loud, and even with a silencer, there was no guarantee they wouldn't be heard. So, he would only shoot for an hour before moving to another location.

Every night, he would surf the internet to learn.

Before sleeping, he would cultivate his Mind Power.

Unknowingly, he had started self-studying university subjects he had fallen behind on, like calculus. "If I had encountered the Mind Armor in high school, I would probably have graduated from Xiake University by now."

Xiake University, Huaxia University of Science and Technology, was the most sacred university in the hearts of everyone in Anhui Province, even more so than Tsinghua-Peking.

Three months passed in a flash, and the scorching heat of July arrived.

Life had never been so fulfilling.

Du Ke had already earned eight hundred thousand from customizing cars. By this time, his reputation in the Luzhou City custom car scene had exploded. Wealthy second-generation individuals from far and wide flocked there, wanting him to modify their cars. It wasn't just the wealthy second-generation individuals from Luzhou City; people from surrounding cities and even other provinces came to find him.

In short, money was no longer a concern for him.

He now planned to work diligently for a year and save a few million. This would be enough startup capital for his company when he returned with materials from the New World.

In addition, his biggest gain was systematically studying university courses. From Materials Science to physics, from Chemistry to Mathematics, from Biology to Geology, he had devoured almost all the fundamental sciences. This continuous stream of knowledge was his greatest motivation for cultivation.

Moreover.

In between customizing cars, he also pondered how to modify the Mind Armor. Iron Man's suit was flashy but impractical, so he discarded it. Instead, the nano-biotech suit from Crysis caught his eye.

Using titanium alloy as the raw material, he processed it at the nanoscale to form a flexible, foldable defensive layer. After repeated revisions and adjustments, a set of Nano Armor took shape, capable of providing safety protection in most environments. He also compressed a few cans of liquid air for backup.

Since he didn't know if the New World was suitable for human survival, bringing his own air supply was essential.

"Bringing enough air to breathe will increase the energy consumption..." Du Ke shook his head. For safety's sake, these were all necessary.

Time continued to flow.

July quickly turned into August. Du Ke saved another four hundred thousand, bringing his total savings to 1.2 million.

At this point, in addition to working and studying, he embarked on another replication research project: infiltrating various research institutions, either by paying or using connections, to replicate precision scientific research instruments. This was partly to increase his knowledge base and partly to prepare for the New World.

After all, everything in the New World was unknown. Even if he found new materials, he needed to study them thoroughly. He absolutely couldn't let outsiders handle this; he had to do the research himself.

Simultaneously.

Besides the Nano Armor, the Mind Armor gained several other forms: an all-terrain vehicle form, a jet ski form, a drone aircraft form, a long-range artillery system, a close-combat weapon system, and a sterilization and decontamination system.

He also acquired a set of sealed containers and test tubes.

These were all preparations for the New World.

"I feel like I'm sufficiently prepared... but I still need to add more protective measures. The New World, oh, the New World. What if it's a harsh environment similar to the planets in Interstellar? My current protective measures wouldn't be enough. A giant wave could shatter me into pieces."

In the following period, he continued to be diligently busy, preparing for his journey.