The Gates to Heavens appeared, connecting to a true Golden Planet whose composition was overwhelmingly gold.
Lin Ze had discovered the coordinates of this Golden Planet as an extra bonus while exploring coordinates for the Other World.
At Lin Ze's current stage, a Golden Planet like this had no practical value. He had no way to mine on a world with such a hostile environment, and even if he tried, what he gained might not cover the cost of the effort.
But now, Lin Ze casually revealed it to Chu Ge, adding considerable weight to what he was about to say.
"Trade is an act born from the need for different parties to complement one another."
"It's the same for plane merchants who can travel through endless worlds. But we don't trade to obtain the resources we need. What truly holds value for us is the act of trading itself."
"Through trade, our Gates to Heavens Mall can collect a conceptual force of law called Equivalent Exchange. It's the truly valuable universal currency accepted throughout the myriad worlds, and with it, you can obtain anything you desire."
"That's why there are plane merchants like us, traveling through the myriad worlds."
"Civilizations and life are unique. As the leader of a civilization, you command abundant resources and are qualified to trade with me."
Lin Ze answered Chu Ge's question in a casual tone.
Then he closed the Gates to Heavens and said calmly, "That's the end of the explanation. Now, let's begin the actual trade. You can tell me what you need, and if I have it, we can trade for it directly."
"If I don't have what you want, I can act as an intermediary and help you find it."
"If your development goes smoothly in the future, and you gain the ability to travel through the multiverse, you may even have the chance to join the Gates to Heavens Mall."
Before the Gates to Heavens closed, Chu Ge had used his instruments to examine the Golden Planet.
The electromagnetic waves and gravity analyses bouncing back from multiple probes clearly showed that there was a genuine Golden Planet beyond the spatial passage.
With technology like that, destroying an entire planet would probably be no difficult feat.
All it would take was linking World Number Three to a star. The star's immense power could vaporize the entire planet in an instant.
After realizing this, Chu Ge more or less believed Lin Ze's words.
Judging the situation was a basic quality of an intelligent person.
Chu Ge continuously analyzed Lin Ze's behavior and words from beginning to end. It was hard to believe, but Chu Ge still concluded that Lin Ze was most likely telling the truth.
Who would have thought that someone might display technology beyond countless dimensions just to create a convincing illusion?
It was like a billionaire taking an ordinary person like you into his bank vault and telling you he wanted to befriend and invest in you not because of money, but because he saw something special in you. Who wouldn't be left bewildered?
"Is Equivalent Exchange a law force used as currency, or can the law force be used to exchange for anything you want?"
After accepting Lin Ze's explanation, Chu Ge began thinking about Equivalent Exchange without even realizing it.
But it was pointless. He knew far too little.
Unable to find an answer, Chu Ge began to consider what he could trade for from Lin Ze.
If Lin Ze really were an artificial intelligence, then the more powerful computers and interstellar travel technology he'd proposed would undoubtedly be very appealing.
But he wasn't. He was a living person.
As a human, compared to those two technologies—ones that his own talents would inevitably allow him to master—he wanted knowledge from a completely unfamiliar system, something entirely new that could make up for his own frail body.
But his assumed identity was that of a rogue artificial intelligence, so he couldn't ask for that directly. He had to be more tactful.
So he spoke up and said to Lin Ze:
"I've decided what I want to trade for. Please prepare computer technology with greater processing power and interstellar travel technology for me. I also need a method to increase a biological being's Combat Power, so I can deal with powerful individuals like you whom I might encounter in the future."
"Please give me a price. How much precious metal will all of this cost?"
With just a few words, Chu Ge had turned his actual need for a cultivation system into a desire to study ways of dealing with powerful individuals, without contradicting his identity as a rogue machine servant at all.
But Lin Ze immediately realized that the one speaking to him wasn't a rogue machine servant at all. It was Chu Ge himself.
A genuine artificial intelligence would surely seek a way to deal with powerful individuals in its own area of expertise—the mechanical realm—instead of going to all the trouble of raising a group of potentially uncontrollable flesh-and-blood beings.
Lin Ze pretended not to know and simply replied:
"The items you've requested will cost thirty thousand tons of gold. You'll also need to give me an additional ten thousand tons of gold as compensation, for a total of forty thousand tons."
"The supercomputer and interstellar travel technologies will take some time to prepare. As for a method to strengthen an individual, I can give you that right now as a down payment for our cooperation."
He didn't have any supercomputer or interstellar travel technology, but that didn't stop him from bluffing and buying time.
And buying time was perfectly reasonable.
After all, if Lin Ze really had the technologies Chu Ge wanted, they would surely involve an enormous amount of information.
The information on the industrial systems of an advanced civilization might well exceed all the useful and useless information their entire civilization had accumulated since its birth. It was only natural that organizing it would take time.
As he spoke, Lin Ze took out a translucent gem.
It was the Longevity Seed Yue Sheng had given him, and the ace up Lin Ze's sleeve for today. Things hadn't gone quite as he'd expected, but he was still able to use it in the end.
He showed the gem to the drone and explained, "I don't know much about the structure of humans in this world, but the principles behind strengthening flesh-and-blood beings are the same in every world: strengthen the origin of life."
"This is a Power Seed. Just touch it with your body, and you'll learn how to strengthen your own origin from the seed, thereby gaining powerful combat strength. But it's a one-use item."
"The strongest flesh-and-blood life-form I've ever seen had the terrifying power to destroy a star with a single strike. It achieved that by strengthening its origin."
"You can use this Power Seed as a foundation to cultivate a powerful flesh-and-blood being, then work with them to find a way to deal with enemies like that."
With that, Lin Ze placed the Longevity Seed on the drone's mechanical arm, letting it grasp the gem.
"Let's end our conversation here for today. I'll be going to prepare the things you need. Please get the payment ready on your end, too. I'll see you in ten days. I hope our cooperation goes well."
With that, Lin Ze waved and opened the Gates to Heavens right in front of the drone, then left.
"Goodbye. Thank you for coming. Your existence is extremely beneficial to my survival," Chu Ge said.
Then he directed the drone to the nearest unmanned supersonic aircraft and had it transport the newly acquired gem to the closest sub-base.
At the same time, many of Chu Ge's engineering robots had already set out for banks in various cities, smashing open vault after vault.
They took out the gold that Chu Ge hadn't paid much attention to before. Though gold and silver were industrial materials, Chu Ge had little use for them at the moment, so he hadn't bothered to collect much in advance.
The gold and silver were taken from the vaults and gathered together as payment for his trade with Lin Ze ten days later.
By now, Chu Ge had more or less believed most of what Lin Ze had said.
The Golden Planet was real, and Lin Ze's explanation was more or less logically consistent, accounting for his actions.
But it never hurt to be wary of others. Chu Ge planned to test the Power Seed on a lab rat.
If he confirmed that the Power Seed was genuine, he would consider using it on himself.
Hidden behind the Gates to Heavens, Lin Ze tracked the supersonic aircraft's sonic boom trail with an astronomical-grade high-precision telescope, following the Longevity Seed all the way.
In the end, the Longevity Seed entered an underground base.
This Longevity Seed was the most important bait in Lin Ze's Lure the Snake from its Hole plan.
If Chu Ge hadn't asked for it just now, Lin Ze would have found another reason to send it over.
Lin Ze had never used a Longevity Seed himself, but he knew its properties. Simply holding it let you sense the Longevity Heaven Skill's cultivation instructions stored inside the gem. The instructions guided a martial artist through cultivation in conjunction with the Longevity Seed.
Chu Ge only needed to test it a little to discover this trait.
As someone from another world who had never cultivated martial arts, Chu Ge wouldn't know whether the Longevity Heaven Skill was good or bad, or what it actually did.
At the same time, the Longevity Seed could only be used once. Combined with the ability of the Gates to Heavens that Lin Ze had demonstrated earlier, it had quietly shown the violent force he commanded.
At that point, Chu Ge would fall into a mental rut.
If Lin Ze could easily destroy an entire world, then he must be telling the truth. He wanted to make a willing, fair, and just trade with me, so there was no way anything would go wrong when I used the Longevity Seed.
That was the human instinct to worship the strong: believing that whatever the powerful said must be right, that their moral character must be superior, and that they would surely look after the weak.
But they didn't realize that the powerful might simply be looking for an easier way to achieve their goals.
So Chu Ge would personally touch the Longevity Seed.
Then Lin Ze could follow the seed's transport route and trace it back to the mastermind behind the world's destruction.
That was Lin Ze's entire Lure the Snake from its Hole plan. So far, everything had gone smoothly.
The trap was now set. All that remained was for the fish to bite.
Inside the underground base, Lin Ze opened the Gates to Heavens in the blind spot of a camera and watched what was happening.
A woman, starved until she was nothing but skin and bones, was brought in and strapped to an operating table. Various instruments were connected to her to monitor changes in her body.
"Pick up this gem and report your sensations honestly. If you're still alive when the experiment is over, you'll get a full meal," an order came through the loudspeaker.
The woman's starved, numb face remained expressionless. She simply did as she was told, then began to report: "The instant I picked up the gem, a large amount of information appeared in my mind. It told me that if I cultivated as instructed, I could strengthen my origin and live longer."
"Something about essence, energy, spirit, and vital essence. I don't really understand it."
The lie detector showed normal readings. The woman wasn't lying.
The experiment ended there. The woman was taken away to eat, and Chu Ge arranged for several more men and women, all starved until they were nothing but skin and bones, to take part.
The same experiment was conducted, and the same conclusion was reached.
By then, Chu Ge completely believed in the Power Seed. His spirits soared, and he was eager to use it himself and become the absolute powerhouse Lin Ze had described—someone who could destroy a star with a single strike.
So the Longevity Seed was transferred once more. It was carried from Chu Ge's sub-base toward the main base aboard a supersonic aircraft.
After some time, the aircraft landed at an airport whose exterior had been deliberately disguised. A small drone carried the Longevity Seed into a hidden underground base, where it landed in the hand of a handsome man.
"Power Seed. Get stronger. I can finally escape this frail body."
A feverish look appeared on Chu Ge's face as he gripped the Longevity Seed, listening to the profound, almost Dao-like words that rang in his ears.
But only a few seconds after he'd begun to rejoice, he felt a large hand close around his throat.
Then, like a little chick, he was lifted into the air. The scene around him shifted. He was no longer in the familiar, technology-filled underground base. Now he was in a barren land full of sand and gravel, where he was hurled heavily to the ground.
Standing before him was none other than Lin Ze, the man who had called himself a plane merchant.
"Hello," Lin Ze said with a smile.
But compared to his calm tone when speaking through the drone, Lin Ze now had a hint of mockery and killing intent at the corners of his mouth.
Chu Ge's clever mind whirred into action. Almost instantly, he understood everything.
Lin Ze had followed the clues back to the coordinates of his real body, opened a spatial gate, and used telekinesis to drag him over. He had left his own world and lost everything he relied on, alone before someone who could withstand a nuclear explosion.
He raised his hand and pointed at Lin Ze.
Anger, terror, and humiliation surged through him all at once, leaving him unable to speak.
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