At the Meihao Hotel, Bai Ge waited for a while before Zhuang Ze arrived with his father, Zhuang Bi.
Bai Ge smiled and shook his head. "I came today mainly to discuss a business deal with you."
Zhuang Bi asked doubtfully, "Discuss a business deal?"
He raised an eyebrow, his expression full of astonishment.
After all, in his mind, what business could someone like Bai Ge possibly have to discuss with him?
Bai Ge smiled. "I plan to purchase ninety-six tons of No. 0 ordinary diesel every day. For now, I only need enough for one week—that is, 672 tons of diesel."
"I'll pay directly. I absolutely won't delay payment."
Zhuang Bi furrowed his brows deeply. "Do you know how much 672 tons of diesel costs?"
Bai Ge replied, "At the wholesale price, roughly 4.1 million yuan."
Zhuang Bi sized Bai Ge up. "You have that much money? If you have that much money, why not just go to Sinopec? I have to buy oil from them too."
Bai Ge asked, "If I buy it myself, it'll cost 6,105 yuan per ton. What price can you offer?"
Zhuang Bi smiled without answering. He understood what Bai Ge meant now.
Bai Ge clearly hoped to buy the oil from him at a lower price, but the wholesale price he could get was naturally different from the price Bai Ge would receive.
After thinking it over, Zhuang Bi decided to sell to Bai Ge. It was only a little over 600 tons, and as long as he did not lose money, it was fine. Besides, Bai Ge was not someone he should offend.
"I can sell it to you for 5,600 yuan per ton. Don't haggle. I'm only giving you this price because of that matter," Zhuang Bi said.
Bai Ge did the math. He would only save a little over 300,000 yuan.
However, this was merely one week's supply. There was no telling whether he would need even more in the future. After all, one could never have too much energy.
"Here's a 500,000-yuan deposit. We have an agreement, right? The price will be 5,600 yuan per ton. Don't raise it later without making any major changes." Bai Ge handed over a card.
Zhuang Bi froze. "Later?"
Bai Ge smiled. "Of course. I'll need it every week, and I may increase the amount later. Don't worry, I'll settle the bill on the spot every time. I absolutely won't delay payment."
The corner of Zhuang Bi's mouth twitched. Although he would still make a profit at this price, he would be earning far too little.
He had thought this would only be an order for 672 tons. He had not expected it to become a long-term order.
"Four weeks at most. Otherwise, there's nothing to discuss. I hope you won't bring up the matter of taking the exam for me again."
After saying that, Zhuang Bi glared fiercely at Zhuang Ze.
In his heart, his son only needed to take the exam honestly, no matter how he did. Having someone take it for him was completely unreliable.
Deep down, he did not believe Bai Ge had the ability to get a high score.
"Four weeks... Fine. After four weeks, I won't need to buy from you anymore."
"Come on, let's sign an agreement."
"Can you deliver 100 tons tonight?"
Under Bai Ge's insistent demands, around ten o'clock that night, 100 tons of oil was delivered to his factory.
The remaining diesel would not be delivered until the next day.
After everyone had left, Bai Ge stayed alone in the factory and sent the 50-liter oil drums into the Material Universe one by one.
He poured the diesel directly into the Material Universe, then tossed the oil drums back out.
This was one advantage of the brain-hole world: when storing things, containers were sometimes completely unnecessary.
The generator units, for example, were arranged in rows, floating in "outer space."
"Bell, I'll leave the maintenance and refueling to you from now on."
Bell replied, "Understood. After generating the electricity, where should the current be sent?"
"Try using a cable to connect the brain hole and the outside world at the same time." Bai Ge took out a cable and gave it a try.
Unfortunately, it seemed that what allowed him to enter and leave the brain hole was not a concept like a "passage."
It might have involved some kind of direct leap. In any case, aside from his consciousness itself, it was impossible to connect both ends at the same time.
The cable either had to be brought entirely into reality or moved entirely into the brain hole.
If he forcibly left half on each side, the cable would be severed, and energy would also be consumed.
The energy was consumed because physical matter from reality had been cut.
"If I can't charge myself anytime and anywhere, that'll greatly reduce the efficiency of my energy absorption!"
"I'm planning to charge nonstop for twenty-four hours every day!"
"Bell! Cut out my appendix!"
Charging with the appendix!
Bai Ge's body had been designed so that every cell could store electricity. The human body's hair and nails were even made of keratinized cells, so the appendix naturally counted as well.
In theory, he could leave any part of his body in the brain hole and use it as a battery.
To ensure that Bai Ge could act in reality while his body was charged inside the brain hole,
leaving a section of his appendix behind as a power bank seemed like a good choice.
After all, the appendix was not particularly useful for adults. Although it had some benefits, removing it did not matter.
"Yes!"
In an instant, Bell removed Bai Ge's appendix, and two cables were directly attached to it.
All ten generator units began operating simultaneously, producing 20,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per hour.
When Bai Ge needed to use the electricity, he could simply reconnect the appendix to the cecum. This kind of operation involving the form of matter consumed very little energy.
What truly consumed a great deal of energy was altering its properties.
"If my appendix is fully charged in the future..."
"Then cut out the entire cecum!"
"If the cecum isn't enough, cut out one of my kidneys!"
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