People from Shrek City (Part One)

"Young Master, what is this thing for?" Ma Ming stared at the Soul Tool Automobile for a while before finally asking.

Clearly, the others had been wondering the same thing. They all looked at Jing Chen, waiting for an answer.

Jing Chen smiled without speaking. He simply opened the door and sat in the driver's seat.

This was a compact version with two seats placed close together, so the interior was not particularly spacious.

Jing Chen pressed the start button on the left side of the steering wheel. It activated the propulsion devices, of which there were three in total.

They corresponded to three different speeds. The button Jing Chen pressed now only activated one of the propulsion devices.

Energy shot out from the rear of the automobile, generating thrust and pushing it forward at several meters per second.

Jing Chen quickly stepped on the brake. The four brake pads clamped onto the iron wheels at once, stopping their rotation. The automobile slid less than a meter before coming to a halt.

Ma Ming and the others were all astonished. Looking like country bumpkins who had never seen the world, they immediately gathered around the automobile.

"Ma Ming, get in. I'll take you for a ride around the city," Jing Chen said through the rolled-down window.

There was glass in this world, so Jing Chen had installed windows on the automobile that could be manually rolled up and down.

He had always called Ma Ming by name, never addressing him as Uncle or Grandpa. If his ages on Earth and Blue Star were included, Ma Ming was not actually older than him.

"Alright!" Ma Ming replied with a grin. He jogged over to the other side and tried several times before managing to open the door.

"Keep a close eye on the shop. Don't go running around," Ma Ming instructed the other employees as he sat down inside.

Jing Chen pressed the button on the right side of the steering wheel, activating the propulsion device installed at the front. The automobile began backing up.

Jing Chen repeatedly reversed and moved forward to adjust its position, successfully driving it out of the shop.

Although he had not driven for a long time, his driving skills were still there. He quickly adapted to this simplified automobile.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Ma Ming looked everywhere with a face full of wonder, constantly praising it aloud.

Jing Chen paid no attention to his compliments and calmly drove on at a slow speed, enough to draw the notice of people on the street.

"What is that?" A metal object this large moving down the street was simply too conspicuous to ignore.

The people on the street all cast astonished looks at it. They found it novel; it was their first time seeing such a thing.

Quite a few were even frightened, thinking that a piece of metal had somehow come to life and could move on its own.

More than an hour later, Jing Chen drove the automobile back to the automobile shop, followed by many curious onlookers.

"Everyone, this is a Soul Tool Automobile produced by the automobile branch of our Reincarnation Shop. Its purpose is similar to that of a carriage—it can carry people on the road."

"But it is better than a carriage because it does not need horses. It is also smaller and more convenient."

Following Jing Chen's instructions, Ma Ming began energetically promoting the Soul Tool Automobile.

People were quite curious about this new thing, and many developed the desire to buy one.

However, upon hearing that the automobile was priced at one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, many immediately gave up on the idea.

Of course, not everyone was discouraged by the price. There were still a few people who could afford it.

Shrek City was one of the top cities on the continent, with an extremely developed commercial sector and many people running large businesses.

These people were relatively well-off. They could still afford one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins.

Very soon, a middle-aged man dressed in expensive clothing made an offer, hoping to purchase the automobile.

He was a well-known wealthy man in South City of Shrek City, operating more than a dozen hotels with total assets exceeding one million Gold Soul Coins.

To him, spending one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins to buy the first automobile was worthwhile.

Its practical value was secondary. The important thing was that driving it around would draw plenty of attention and enhance his prestige. That alone was enough.

After this man made his offer, another person also bid, adding an extra five thousand Gold Soul Coins.

Ma Ming's idea was to sell to the highest bidder, but Jing Chen did not agree. He directly sold the automobile to the first person who had made an offer.

Their principle was first come, first served. Whoever made an offer first would get the automobile.

There was no need to make them buy it through bidding, since this was an ordinary model that would become fairly common in the future.

If they bought it at an inflated price, they would feel like suckers. That would not be conducive to fleecing them in the future.

The first bidder was in high spirits and immediately developed a favorable impression of the Reincarnation Shop.

He was also very straightforward, directly taking out a Gold Soul Coin Card with a denomination of one hundred thousand to settle the payment.

Among the former three nations of Douluo Continent, currency had been standardized to facilitate trade.

With a Gold Soul Coin Card like this, Gold Soul Coins could be directly exchanged at any depository institution in any of the three nations.

For convenience, these Gold Soul Coin Cards came in several fixed denominations: ten thousand, one hundred thousand, one million, and ten million.

As long as one held such a card, it contained the corresponding amount of Gold Soul Coins. There was no situation where a card marked one hundred thousand actually contained only eighty thousand.

This was because once money was withdrawn from a depository institution, it had to be withdrawn in full. Partial withdrawals were not allowed.

After paying, the man also received a driving guide as a gift, personally compiled by Jing Chen.

Its contents included introductions to the various buttons in the automobile, as well as basic driving instructions.

Driving in this world placed relatively low demands on the driver. As long as one could make it move and avoid hitting people, that was enough.

There were no requirements for things like reverse parking or hill starts; for now, those were unnecessary.

As soon as the man finished paying, he eagerly took the keys and got into the car, intending to try driving it away.

Driving was harder than he had imagined. At first, he fumbled about in a panic, nearly crashing into walls and people several times.

Only after getting familiar with it for a while did he manage to drive somewhat normally, no longer as flustered as he had been at the beginning.

The man happily drove the car around the streets, clearly showing it off a little.

"Friends who didn't manage to buy one, don't worry. A second and third car will be produced before long. You can come back and buy one then."

Ma Ming said to the crowd with a cheerful smile. He could already sense that their Reincarnation Shop was going to make a fortune from these cars.

The onlookers gradually dispersed, chattering animatedly along the way. Everyone found the automobile remarkably novel.

After those people had left, Jing Chen told Ma Ming to speak with the forging shop and have them produce as much of the metal needed for automobiles as possible.

At the same time, they also needed to procure the other automobile components. They would be producing more cars next.

He himself was responsible for training the ten staff members, handing each of them an operations manual.

The manual contained the automobile assembly process, and he placed particular emphasis on several key steps.

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