Proxima Star was a directly governed star under the command of the Federation's Seventh Lord, Black Lord Sauron. It was one of the Cosmic Federation's three great free markets, with extraordinary money-making power. Every year, it brought Lord Sauron tens of quadrillions in tax revenue!
The planet was the birthplace of the Piltover Civilization. In its early days, it had merely been a barren Ninth-Grade Planet. Sauron had recognized the Piltover Civilization's superior creativity and invested heavily in it, turning it into one of the Cosmic Federation's most outstanding bloodlines. Its unique Hextech occupied nearly a quarter of the Federation's technology market.
Here, one could buy the newest and purest Hextech products. Countless lords came here every year to make massive purchases, causing the entry requirements to grow higher and higher.
"Stop standing there like an idiot. Register and get out of the way! There's still a line behind you!"
The speaker was a standard Piltover Policewoman. Her advanced Hextech equipment probably cost nearly ten million God Coins. Xi Ye was green with envy. Only this planet could equip its guards with such high-end gear!
"Five hundred million in deposit per person!"
"That expensive?" Xi Ye froze. "I remember the deposit being only forty million ten thousand years ago."
"Ten thousand years ago?" The policewoman rolled her eyes at him. "Why don't you quote the prices from the previous era while you're at it? If you can't pay, then scram. Don't waste my time!"
Xi Ye silently took out his black card. The deposit would be refunded anyway, so he was not worried. He was merely shocked by the price.
They said that the Piltover policewomen, the Wood Spirit Clan doctors, and the Flower Spirit branch's female teachers were all equally ideal marriage partners. As it turned out, whoever said that had definitely been some poor loser who had never visited this planet. With this attitude, they were even more arrogant than the civil servants on Ziyao Star. If you married one and did not make her kneel on a mechanical keyboard until she died, would that even count as marriage?
After filling out the forms and paying the deposits, Xi Ye and the others used the Teleportation Array to enter the city. The moment they emerged from the teleportation gate, a group of people claiming to be guides surrounded them.
They came from various races, all extremely attractive. There were members of the Flower Spirit Clan, reputed to be the most beautiful in the universe; members of the Charm Clan, said to be the most soul-stirring; and the most popular Spirit Foxes and Azure Phoenixes among the Vastaya.
All these people had graduated from language schools and were fluent in over a thousand mainstream Federation languages. The outstanding ones even knew many obscure languages.
Faced with so many choices, Xi Ye naturally chose... the cheapest one.
As a great lord, he naturally could not be dazzled by all these flashy things. All he needed was a guide. Why did the guide need to be so pretty?
Xi Ye hired a Panda Man from one of the Vastaya branches. Panda Men were typical examples of gluttony and laziness. Although their average intelligence was not low, few of them could enter a Higher Academy. Most relied on their simple, honest, and goofy appearance to take on tourism jobs. Even in the tourism industry, they earned far less gray income than those beautiful races, but they did not care. They were the universe's most carefree race, earning money one day at a time and enjoying life one day at a time.
Of course, hiring a Panda Man had its advantages. Panda Men did not work with unscrupulous merchants anywhere to attract customers. They had always maintained their honest reputation, allowing them to retain a place in the guide market.
Generally speaking, any lord who knew how to spend money sensibly would hire a Panda Man. Xi Ye consoled himself with this thought.
"Wow, bro, look! Look! So many newly upgraded mechas! A lot of them haven't even been released yet!" Little Neeko's round blue face was flushed with excitement, and her already bright blue eyes shone even more brilliantly!
The players also stared around them with wonder. The various races and never-before-seen goods made them realize that the game's world was probably far beyond their imagination, filling them with even greater anticipation for the content to come!
Grandpa Lu was practically taking screenshots until his eyes blurred. By the time they reached the mecha market, he had even forgotten to take screenshots.
What did men love most? The ancients loved horses, modern people loved cars, and in science fiction, mechas were a subject that would never go out of style!
Why had Transformers and Pacific Rim been able to make so many sequels despite being so terrible? Wasn't it because they let people see live-action mechas?
Compared to what they were seeing now, the models in those virtual movies were simply pathetic!
The dazzling metallic texture, ferocious shapes, and overwhelming sense of technology nearly made Grandpa Lu pounce on them.
"Hey... what are you doing?" Xi Ye grabbed the overexcited ball of fluff. "This Venom Sting-series mecha is made of Valere Steel. You're only a Level One Lifeform, yet you dare approach it? Its edge alone could stab you to pieces. Believe it or not?"
"Is it really that exaggerated? Its edge can..." Liver Emperor said, clearly unconvinced.
"Uh, boss... I think I..." Grandpa Lu suddenly sounded weak. "I'm leaking..."
"Really?" Xi Ye asked curiously, giving him a pinch. He then watched as Grandpa Lu visibly shrank from a ball of fluff into something resembling a raisin.
"What the—wasn't it several meters away?" Xi Ye froze. He poked him with a finger. "Hey, are you all right?"
Grandpa Lu said, "I feel... so cold. Ah, so many stars. I see Old Ancestor. I also see the Emperor's team winning the championship. Ahahaha, all you chicken-eating trash, go to hell!"
"What is he talking about?" Xi Ye asked curiously.
"Some ancient grudge. Nothing worth mentioning!" Liver Emperor waved it off, then pointed at his own chest. "Boss, what's going on with this mecha? Why can it injure people from several meters away?"
Everyone looked over. At some point, several wounds deep enough to expose bone had appeared on Liver Emperor's chest. They looked horrifying.
Xi Ye said, "Good steel has a sharp edge. You're all Level One Lifeforms, so it's easy for this kind of steel edge to injure you. But I haven't seen many mechas that can hurt people from several meters away."
"This is Venom Sting's latest Dragon Steel model." Nicole was excited. "I heard it was made to compete in the market against the Wolf Fang Black Gold model."
Xi Ye was stunned, then looked at Little Neeko with amusement. "You know so much about mechas. Don't tell me you want to become an Overcontroller in the future?"
Little Neeko twisted her fingers shyly and murmured, "The tuition for becoming an Overcontroller is too expensive, and Arcane Overcontrollers have very high bloodline requirements..."
"It's all right..." Seeing her like this, Xi Ye's heart ached. He crouched down and scraped her nose. "Focus on your studies. Big brother will find you a good gene, and I'll buy you the best Arcane Mecha!"
"Really?" Little Neeko's eyes lit up. She excitedly blew a kiss at his helmet, making Xi Ye so happy that he nearly danced for joy.
"Boss, can we have mechas in the future?" Little Fairy gazed at the rows of mechas, her eyes sparkling just like Neeko's.
Being stared at by a Green Titan covered in muscles instantly ruined the tenderness he had felt from being charmed moments earlier. Xi Ye rolled his eyes at her. "Of course not. You Green Titans can only follow the warrior path. Overcontrollers are Mental Department professions. Although different mechas have corresponding traits for different races, anyone who wants to control something with such a massive amount of data must specialize in a mental profession. Among you, only she has a chance of becoming an Overcontroller..." As Xi Ye spoke, he pointed at Yu Nv Wu Gua.
"What?" All the players were shocked. Yu Nv Wu Gua smiled foolishly, looking as though happiness had struck her in the head. The other Titans were filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred. Even the half-dead Grandpa Lu in Xi Ye's hand could not help jumping down. "So that's why being a developer is such a miserable profession! It turns out there are benefits like this later on? This game's planners are way too shameless. Why didn't they leak even a hint of this before?"
Xi Ye was speechless. He did not understand the thought process of these D-Earthlings. Why did they think an office job would be more miserable than hauling bricks? He had clearly given them the freedom to choose. If they loved hauling bricks, how was that his fault?
"Uh... Xi Ye..." Old Ancestor, who had not spoken all this time, suddenly said something.
"What is it?"
"Don't you feel that your subordinates have gotten bigger?"
"Hmm?" Xi Ye froze. He took a careful look and discovered that it really did seem so. Both Liver Emperor and Grandpa Lu, who was a Wood Elf, appeared to have grown a little fatter.
"No way..." Xi Ye angrily pressed the stall owner's bell.
"Esteemed customer, may I ask what you need?" A goofy Panda Man came running over, panting heavily.
Xi Ye curiously looked the other over. Few people usually hired Panda Men to watch their stalls. Most of the stalls here hired either clever Golden Goblins or Succubi who could manipulate people's emotions. How could one happily rip off customers with a goofy Panda Man?
Even though the other party looked foolish, Xi Ye was still furious. "What's wrong with your exhibits? Did you coat them with poison?"
The Panda Man scratched its large, chubby head apologetically. "Sorry, customer. This is the newest Dragon Steel Venom Fang model. The poison refined by a top Zaun alchemist is one of its selling points. We also set up a protective net. We just didn't expect anyone to bring Level One Lifeforms to visit Proxima Star. You really are a wealthy big shot!"
Xi Ye narrowed his eyes slightly. He believed the other party's last sentence had come from the heart. After all, Panda Men never lied.
Thus, most of his anger faded. He waved his hand. "Hurry up and bring the antidote."
"Certainly!" The Panda Man hurried back indoors. Nearly fifteen minutes later, it crawled back out looking as though it were about to die, then smiled apologetically. "We only have one dose of antidote left. Sorry, customer..."
"But two of my subordinates have been poisoned!"
"We will provide compensation..." The Panda Man continued rubbing its chubby palms together apologetically.
"Compensation?" Xi Ye's eyes lit up. He turned around and looked at the two poisoned individuals, sizing up which one would bring a higher payout if they died.
"What are they discussing?" Although the two could not understand Xi Ye or the Panda Man, they still sharply sensed their lord's malicious gaze with disaster looming over them.
Suddenly, the system issued a prompt: Temporary quest "The Brave Prevail When Paths Cross" has been released!
Quest Details: Both of them have been poisoned, but there is only one bottle of antidote. What should you do? It is time for a true man's duel! If you want to survive and continue traveling through the prosperous starry sky with your lord, then show your valor!
Winner: Reward of five hundred points!
Holy crap, five hundred points!!
Liver Emperor was instantly excited. He had mined day and night for a month without earning five hundred points, yet a random quest gave him this much. As expected... a horse would not grow fat without night fodder!
Thinking of this, he stared viciously at Grandpa Lu. Grandpa Lu felt his scalp go numb under that gaze and hurriedly shouted, "This is unfair! How could an Elf Ball like me possibly beat this beast?"
How could Liver Emperor let him struggle? Before the system could continue speaking, he immediately charged forward like a tiger pouncing on its prey. "Halt, you Emperor-trash brat! Stop talking and fight me like a man!"
Before you continue