Selling off a treasure, doubling down on the investment

Ruiya was stunned.

He was a little confused for a moment.

Although he and Ruida weren't exactly close brothers who grew up together, they were still of the same bloodline, and they always greeted each other politely and warmly. So why was it that this time, as soon as he got off the spaceship and before he could even stand properly, his cousin was already asking him when he was leaving?

Ruiya frowned slightly, but then quickly relaxed.

He wasn't the kind of person who was easily swayed by emotions; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to rise to the position of dispatcher in the supply fleet.

He noticed that there was no trace of indifference or distance in Ruida's eyes; on the contrary, her eyes, slightly bright with excitement, said it all.

His cousin didn't want him to leave; he just wanted him to do something for him as soon as possible.

"What happened?" Ruiya's tone immediately turned serious. He took half a step forward, closing the distance between them to just one step, and switched to telepathy. "Just tell me."

Ruida took a deep breath, suppressing the surging excitement in his heart.

The thousand-year wait had made him rehearse his words countless times in his mind, but now, facing his cousin, he still felt his heart beating faster than usual.

"How are your flight routes arranged this time?" Ruida didn't answer directly, but asked first.

"We'll return after delivering these three nearby fleets," Ruiya replied without hesitation. "Your Seventy-First Fleet is the first stop. After delivering them all, plus the return journey, it will probably take twenty Epoch to get back to Mist Sea City."

Twenty Epoch.

Ruida silently calculated in his mind that this time was not too long.

"Twenty Epoch, not bad." He nodded, his expression relaxing slightly, before finally getting to the point, "What I need to tell you is about Centurion Lin. This matter needs to be reported to the family as soon as possible; it can't be delayed."

Ruiya was slightly taken aback and asked in confusion, "Commander Lin? What Commander Lin?"

This time, it was Ruida's turn to be stunned.

He opened his mouth, then suddenly realized what he meant.

The supply fleet only comes once every three hundred Epoch. When the last supply fleet arrived, Lin Yi was just the Deputy Captain.

"It's Lin Yi," Ruida quickly added, "He's already a centurion!"

???

Bai Chang? Lin Yi? Which Lin Yi?

"He's reached the advanced stage of the True Source Realm?"

Ruiya blurted it out, her voice trembling slightly.

"I clearly remember that he was only at the beginner level when I came here last time..."

If Lin Yi has already reached the advanced stage, then his cultivation speed is not just fast, it's terrifying.

"No, no, you've misunderstood," Ruida quickly waved his hand. "He's currently at the mid-stage of the True Source Realm."

Ruiya breathed a sigh of relief. Although it was still an extremely fast promotion speed, it was at least within an understandable range.

But then, doubt arose in his mind.

How could a mid-level officer possibly become a centurion?

He knew the rules of the Imperial Army all too well. Let alone the intermediate level, even ordinary high-level True Source Realm had to rely on military merit and seniority. Without the approval of the army commander, it was impossible to cross that threshold.

A centurion at the mid-stage of the True Source Realm?

Are you kidding me?

Seeing his cousin's "Are you kidding me?" expression, Ruida quickly covered up his lie. "Although his cultivation is only at the mid-stage of the True Source Realm, he has mastered four Cosmic Universe Seal, and his combat strength is already comparable to that of a high-stage True Source Realm cultivator. The military lord personally summoned him and promoted him exceptionally."

The four Cosmic Universe Seal were presented to the military commander in person.

Although Ruiya's combat strength was lacking, she still had basic insight and naturally knew what it meant to master four Cosmic Universe Seal at the mid-stage of the True Source Realm.

"The chieftain's eye for talent... is truly accurate," Ruiya couldn't help but exclaim.

When Ruizhan insisted on investing over 20,000 Eternal Cosmos Crystal in a fledgling young man, there were voices of doubt within the family.

Looking back now, Ruizhan's decision seems almost as accurate as if he had foreseen the future.

"That's not the key point," Ruida continued. "He has a nickname that everyone on the mothership knows now."

"Nickname?"

Lin Three Favors.

Ruiya frowned, not immediately understanding the meaning behind those three words: "What do you mean?"

Ruida recounted in detail what Li had said in public at the celebration banquet.

Ruiya fell silent.

The hustle and bustle of the berth area seemed to suddenly fade into the distance at that moment.

The logistics soldiers in the distance were still shouting and carrying supplies, and the surrounding sounds were normal, but Ruiya felt that the world had become quiet.

He mentally reviewed every word Ruida had just said, then took a deep breath.

He understood.

Why was Ruida in such a hurry? Why did she ask him when he was going back as soon as they met?

This news hasn't reached Mist Sea City yet. Once it does, those families with keen senses will swarm in like sharks smelling blood, and the Rui Family's first-mover advantage will be greatly diminished.

"Even if the news hasn't reached Mist Sea City yet," Ruida continued, "There are already quite a few centurions on this Black Rock Mothership who are showing goodwill to Centurion Lin."

Ruiya frowned slightly upon hearing this, then slowly nodded.

"I understand. I'll report to the clan chief as soon as I get back."

Looking at his cousin's serious face, Ruida immediately laughed.

"No need to be so serious, come on," he said. "Let's have a drink together. I'll show you firsthand what Lin Baichang means to the Black Rock Mothership."

Ruiya grinned, and the fatigue of the long flight seemed to vanish in an instant.

He put his arm around Ruida's shoulder, and the two left the berth area side by side. Their silhouettes were stretched into two overlapping shadows, one long and one short, under the cold white lights of the mothership.

Twenty Epoch later.

Mist Sea City Naval Port.

The massive ships of the supply fleet slowly slid into the giant berth of the naval port. After the fleet had entered the port, the protective shield of the naval port closed again, and a light blue energy film silently covered the berth entrance, completely obscuring the deep black void outside.

Logistics personnel in the naval port area were busy moving between berths, while various types of military shuttles roared past overhead, leaving dark blue energy trails in their wake.

Ruiya was among the first to set foot on the naval port.

He lingered almost the entire time, handing the captain a brief report on his personal affairs before boarding a military shuttle within the naval port area.

The shuttle took off from the internal channel of the military port and flew at high speed for a short while in the military passage above Mist Sea City, leaving the towering towers of the military port behind.

There is a clear boundary between the naval port area and the civilian area.

As the shuttle passed through the semi-transparent military control barrier, Ruiya glanced down through the porthole.

The magnificent Mist Sea City unfolds beneath my feet, with countless air routes crisscrossing the skies above the city.

This colossal city shelters countless lives and also supports a massive tax system that sustains the Imperial Army's soldiers—the "gratitude" Lin Yi speaks of is accumulated from every single tax coin collected by this city.

The shuttle landed smoothly at a transit station on the outskirts of the naval port.

Ruiya quickly stepped out of the cabin, completed the departure check-in at the naval port exit, and then stepped into the civilian area, heading straight for the private berth next to the transit station.

He doesn't have his own private Flying Shuttle, but he had already contacted his family, and the air shuttle that came to pick him up was intelligently controlled and parked there.

Soon, the air shuttle rose vertically from its berth, made a turn in mid-air, and shot towards the floating islands high above Mist Sea City like an arrow.

As soon as he disembarked from the transport ship, he had already sent an urgent request to the clan leader through the clan's internal system.

The reason for the application was only one sentence.

"Important matters concerning the Black Rock Mothership, personally conveyed by Ruida."

The power of those words was greater than he had imagined.

Ruizhan's reply popped up quickly, containing only two words: Come quickly.

As Ruiya walked through the intricately carved corridor and pushed open the two heavy doors of the council chamber, the sight inside made him pause slightly.

There were more people than he had expected.

Ruizhan himself sat in the main seat.

On both sides of the long table, more than a dozen elders of the Rui Family were seated.

These old folks, who rarely gather together, were all present, some even looking travel-worn from their journeys.

Under everyone's gaze, Ruiya walked to the end of the long table and stood still, placing her right hand on her left chest in a gesture of respect.

"Chieftain, elders." He didn't beat around the bush, directly repeating the information Ruida had told him, and adding at the end, "Based on my observations during my stay on the Black Rock Mothership, the situation is entirely true."

A murmur of discussion immediately broke out in the meeting room.

Ruizhan remained silent for a few moments, then nodded slightly and said with emotion, "His talent is even greater than I expected. Very good."

Then, he paused and looked around at the elders present.

"The other family members in the supply fleet should already be on their way back to report. Lin Yi's current reputation and status on the Black Rock Mothership can no longer be kept secret. The warlord personally promoted him exceptionally, and he even refused a Constant Source Realm opportunity to repay a debt of gratitude. Once this news spreads in Mist Sea City, you all know how many families will want to get in touch with him."

The clan elders nodded silently.

They knew all too well what kind of families in Mist Sea City were like; they would pounce like sharks when they smelled profit, and if they were a step too slow, someone else would snatch it away.

"So not only can we not slow down, we need to take another step forward." Ruizhan tapped his fingers lightly on the table twice. "I suggest we send him another gift to solidify our friendship. But as for what to send and how much, I'd like to hear your opinions first."

At this moment, Ruituan, who was standing to the side, said with a wry smile, "I agree to the additional gift. We don't need to think too much about what to give him. He can exchange military merits for almost anything in the Imperial Army, except for Eternal Cosmos Crystal, which are not worthwhile. So, giving him Eternal Cosmos Crystal directly is the most direct and practical option."

Upon hearing this, the elders all nodded in agreement, finding it to be true.

But the bitter smile on Ruituan's face did not disappear; instead, it deepened.

"The problem is, where do we find a large sum of extra funds right now?" Ruituan spread his hands. "Last time, we spent over 20,000 on sending the Cosmic Clam, and the family's cash flow is already tight. With Lin Yi's current reputation and strength, giving less would seem disrespectful and inappropriate."

That makes sense, but it's also a headache.

Lin Yi's current status and prestige are indeed incomparable to those of the new recruit who just joined the fleet.

Giving a gift to this kind of person that is too small in value would be awkward, as it would seem like a perfunctory gesture.

A moment of silence fell over the meeting room.

Just then, a clear, cold female voice rang out.

"Sell this."

All eyes turned to the source of the sound.

Ruiling stood up from her seat, and something appeared in her hand without her noticing.

It was a treasure that emitted a soft, pale blue light. Its shape resembled a mixture of some kind of naturally formed crystal and metal, with extremely complex patterns of laws faintly visible flowing within.

With a casual toss, the treasure traced an arc in the air before landing steadily on the table in front of Ruituan with a soft, crisp sound.

Ruituan looked down and his expression changed drastically.

His lips parted slightly, his gaze shifting from the treasure on the table to Ruiling's face, then back to Ruiling face several times before he finally managed to speak with difficulty, "This isn't the one he gave you."

"No need to say more," Ruiling interrupted him.

She then turned and left the conference room without giving the treasure another glance.

The meeting room was extremely quiet.

The elders, each with their eyes downcast and seemingly lost in thought, stared intently at the wood grain patterns on the table, as if they contained secret runes of the Chaos Law.

Anyone who's been in the Rui Family for a while knows when to shut up, and now is that moment.

No one dared to glance at Ruiling's retreating figure at that moment, and no one dared to utter a single word.

Ruizhan watched the figure disappear outside the door and sighed softly.

He remained silent for a long time, so long that Ruituan was about to say something to break the deadlock, when he finally spoke slowly.

Let's listen to her.

Hearing Ruizhan's words, Ruituan finally sighed, then carefully put away the treasure. He looked at Ruizhan and slowly said, "Then let's set the price at 100,000 Eternal Cosmos Crystal."

"Once everything is ready, have Ruiya take it over," Ruizhan nodded.

Unexpectedly, Ruituan shook his head.

"No," he said, "I'll go myself."

The air in the conference room suddenly froze.

The elders all turned to look at Ruituan once again.

A mere 100,000 Eternal Cosmos Crystal as an additional investment is already quite substantial; why would Ruituan need to personally make the trip?

"The supply fleet only makes one round trip every three hundred Epoch, which is too slow," Ruituan explained. "In those three hundred Epoch, if any family is one step ahead of us, even by just one Epoch, the value of our gift will be greatly reduced."

He might not even accept any gifts sent later.

The elders remained silent for a moment, then nodded one after another.

That makes sense.

Timing is often more important than quantity. The weight that Lin Yi held in his heart was completely different between the first person to give away 100,000 Eternal Cosmos Crystal and the third person to give away 100,000 Eternal Cosmos Crystal.

The Rui Family has put so much effort into building this friendship; they absolutely cannot let someone else get there first just because they were a step behind.

Ruizhan gave Ruituan a deep look, and finally nodded, saying, "Go."

Time flew by between battles and rest.

The tenth Epoch passed in the blink of an eye.

Another period of rest and recuperation.

Lin Yi stood by the porthole of the Fierce Blood Assault Ship, watching the familiar energy membrane in the Black Rock Mothership berth area turn from light blue to pale gold, and silently made some calculations in his mind.

After more than thirty Epoch of battles, he amassed nearly 9.3 million military merits.

This number was slightly higher than his initial estimate, mainly because the Sixteenth Squad had pushed the battle line forward a little further in recent Epoch, and the appearance frequency of late-stage Tier 1 Black Silence Beast was more frequent than before.

His cooperation with Li became increasingly seamless, and when the two joined forces, their efficiency in killing late-stage first-tier Black Silence Beast increased by nearly 20% compared to when they first teamed up.

In these thirty-odd Epoch, he only symbolically spent less than 300,000 military merits to buy some supplies to maintain his daily training and combat needs. Apart from that, the military merits in his account remained almost unchanged.

At this rate, the goal of 110 million will be easily achieved in less than a hundred Epoch.

Lin Yi's lips curled up slightly at the thought, then he quickly suppressed it.

He never allowed himself to indulge in imagined satisfaction too early before achieving his goals.

He then separated a wisp of his consciousness and sank it into the badge, connecting to the mothership's data center for synchronization as usual.

The first thing to do each time a warship returns is to update all kinds of information about the mothership during that period, including fleet scheduling, supply replenishment, training ground reservations, minor adjustments to the military merit redemption catalog, and various notifications and applications under the individual account.

As usual, Lin Yi quickly scanned through this information.

Then he paused for a moment.

In the personal notification bar, a visitor request lay quietly.

The source of the application clearly states: Rui Family, Ruituan.

The application was submitted more than 5,000 years ago, and the status shows that the visitor has passed the mothership's identity verification. The current waiting area is the third meeting room in the public area.

Lin Yi was taken aback.

Ruiyuan.

He remembered the name.

Lin Yi had met the elder of the Rui Family on the floating island in Mist Sea City. He was a powerful expert at the Eternal Source Realm and his status in the Rui Family was second only to the patriarch Ruizhan.

This person actually went to the Black Rock Mothership in person?

Lin Yi pondered for a moment, then turned to look at the group of blood-armored warriors behind him who were also preparing to disembark.

"Ruida," he transmitted his voice, "Elder Ruituan has arrived. He's in the third reception room in the common area. Do you know what it's about?"

Upon hearing this, Ruida was taken aback.

Although he had long guessed that his family would take action after receiving the news, he never expected that Ruituan would come in person.

In any case, Ruituan's presence here can only be related to one thing.

Ruida took a deep breath, made no attempt to hide anything, and honestly confessed. "Commander, when the supply fleet came last time, I had a cousin in the fleet named Ruiya. I mentioned your promotion to him then, and I guess he reported it to the clan after he got back."

After listening, Lin Yi understood.

That makes sense.

It is highly likely that after receiving the message, the Rui Family was clearly not satisfied with waiting for the supply fleet to slowly complete the entire round trip.

However, even though he knew that the Rui Family wanted to make amends, the sincerity of an elder of the Eternal Source Realm who personally made a trip to the Frontline mothership just to see him still moved him somewhat.

"Then let's go meet them together," Lin Yi transmitted his voice.

He had originally intended to repay the Rui Family, and now that the Rui Family family elder had personally come to his door, he had no reason to avoid seeing him.

The third public meeting room is located in a quiet corner of the mid-level deck of the mothership.

When Lin Yi entered, the first thing he saw was Ruituan, who was dressed in casual clothes.

He concealed his aura extremely well, making him appear like an ordinary imperial citizen.

"Commander Lin." Seeing Lin Yi walk in, Ruituan stood up from his seat, took two steps forward to greet him, and smiled.

"Elder Ruituan, it's been a long time." Lin Yi bowed politely, then turned and pointed to Ruida beside him, "I brought Ruida along."

Ruituan's gaze fell on Ruida, and he nodded slightly.

Ruida stepped forward and gave a proper bow.

"Not bad." Ruituan only said two words, then withdrew his gaze and looked back at Lin Yi.

Then, an exquisite box appeared out of thin air and floated in front of Lin Yi.

"Chief Lin, my elder brother Ruizhan was overjoyed to hear of your promotion to chief. Ruida has also received much care from you during this time, and the entire Rui Family is very grateful. However, my brother is very busy and cannot come in person, so he asked me to deliver a small gift to express his congratulations."

Ruituan smiled and said, "It's nothing valuable, please accept it."

Lin Yi's gaze fell on the box, and he quickly calculated in his mind.

If it were someone from another family who came, he would most likely think it over carefully.

After all, he now has a well-known reputation on the Black Rock Mothership. If he accepts gifts from other families at this time, and they are after him for a favor, there will inevitably be trouble in the future.

His principle is clear: he'd rather save up slowly on his own than owe anyone an unclear or unresolved favor.

But Rui Family is different.

Therefore, he didn't need to refuse or be pretentious about the gifts from the Rui Family.

Accept it, and remember to repay it double in the future.

"Chief Ruizhan and Elder Ruituan are too kind." Lin Yi accepted the box with both hands and said with a smile, "Then I won't refuse. Please thank Chief Ruizhan for me."

Seeing how decisively Lin Yi answered, Ruituan's smile grew even brighter.

He didn't dwell on the topic, but skillfully changed the subject, chatting with Lin Yi about the battle in the Black Mist Sea and the daily life on the mothership.

Although Ruituan holds a high position in the family, he never displays any condescending attitude in his speech.

After chatting for a while, Ruituan stood up and took his leave.

"Lin Baichang, if you encounter any difficulties, please don't hesitate to tell us." Ruituan stopped at the door, turned to look at Lin Yi, and said in a tone that was not just a polite remark, "Although our Rui Family is not considered a top-tier family in Mist Sea City, we are still capable to some extent in gathering information and handling certain matters."

Lin Yi smiled and thanked him again, "I certainly won't hesitate to ask if you need anything."

Ruituan nodded, glanced at Ruida again, and then turned and left the meeting room.

After seeing Ruituan off, Lin Yi and Ruida walked side by side on the way back to the warship.

Ruida glanced at Lin Yi several times, her lips moved, but she ultimately didn't ask the question.

He was very sensible.

Even if he was very curious, he wouldn't ask about something that was personally delivered by the three clan elders at this time.

This is about knowing your limits.

Lin Yi was willing to take him to meet the Ruituan, which meant Lin Yi considered him one of his own. But if he went and asked Lin Yi what gifts he had received, that would be ungrateful.

The two parted ways at the entrance of the warship, and Lin Yi went straight back to his training room.

Then he took out the metal box that Ruituan had given him, and with a gentle stroke, the lid made a very faint buzzing sound, and then slid open silently.

That was a storage space.

In the center of the storage space, several neat rows of Eternal Cosmos Crystal were stacked.