A Simple Spending Spree

On Hilling Star, inside the Big House.

Hua Wei stared at the system interface. The number displayed there—[Emotion Points: over twelve million]—did not excite him. Instead, it left him feeling somewhat gloomy.

"Over twelve million..." he muttered, poking at the air now and then as though he were poking the system in the face. "System, tell me honestly. Did you skim off my hard-earned money?"

[System Notice: Emotion Point calculations are accurate. During the Terra campaign, the total emotional fluctuations triggered and participated in by the host's units—including Liang Bing, Valkyrie, Obi-Wan, and Apocalypse One—were extremely substantial. However, this is the actual amount of Emotion Points that could be absorbed and converted.]

[Reason Analysis:]

[1. Warp Interference Extraction: 55.6% of the emotional energy was absorbed, assimilated, or distorted by the Warp itself—especially Khorne's domain—and could not be effectively converted.]

[2. Golden Throne Will Extraction: 16.8% of the emotional energy—primarily the intense faith, fealty, hope, and similar emotions of Terra's defenders, Guilliman, and others—was absorbed by the Emperor's will to maintain the Astronomican and resist Warp corruption.]

[3. System Conversion Efficiency: The remaining 27.6% of emotional energy was successfully absorbed by this system and converted into usable Emotion Points.]

"Fuck! 55.6% got snatched by those Warp bastards? And 16.8% got sucked away by that stingy old yellow man?!" Hua Wei sprang off the bed, pointing at the screen as he cursed. "Old Yellow Man! You thick-browed bastard! You keep saying you're not a god! And yet when it comes to snatching Emotion Points, you're more ruthless than anyone! Sixteen point eight percent! You old parasite! That's a disgusting way to eat!"

The more he cursed, the angrier he got. He paced in circles around the room, spittle flying as he insulted the Emperor all the way from miser and hypocrite to antique relic, right up to his father.

As he ranted, Hua Wei's eyes suddenly lit up, as though he had thought of some brilliant scheme. He abruptly stopped, a crooked merchant's grin spreading across his face. "Wait! System! You mean... if I went to the gates of the Imperial Palace of Terra right now and cursed Old Yellow Man while pointing at the Golden Throne, the Emotion Points generated... wouldn't that be a damn ocean? And there's Chaos too..."

[System Warning: The host is strongly advised against carrying out this dangerous and inefficient idea!]

[Reasons:]

[1. Chaos God-Level Exemption: At the current stage, the system cannot effectively convert or absorb emotional energy generated by the bodies of Chaos Gods. Their emotional fluctuations are too immense, chaotic, and fundamentally exceed the system's current analytical limits. Forced contact may cause system overload.]

[2. Ant Effect: The host's current individual existence level is too low. Insulting a Chaos God or the Emperor would be like an ant provoking a divine dragon. There is an overwhelming chance that the target would ignore it, or more likely, directly unleash a destructive strike on the level of will—such as a Warp storm or an Emperor psychic assault—instantly erasing the host. There would be no sustained process of "emotional fluctuation" for the system to effectively absorb.]

[3. Insulting the Emperor or Chaos Gods may cause emotional fluctuations among their followers, but those emotions would most likely be absorbed by the Emperor or Chaos Gods, strengthening the enemy and weakening the host. Is the host certain it wishes to be so great?]

"Tch! What a buzzkill!" Hua Wei sat back down on the bed in annoyance. "So the system 'can't absorb Chaos God Emotion Points at the current stage'? That means it can later?"

"Hm? Wait! System, you can level up?" He immediately caught the keyword.

[System Notice: Yes. This system possesses an upgrade module.]

[Unlock Condition: Bound to the host's own star rating. When the host's star rating rises to the next stage, the system may undergo a corresponding core upgrade.]

[System Upgrade Effect Preview (Partial): Increases the upper limit of Emotion Point conversion efficiency; expands the tiers of absorbable emotional energy, such as faint divine emotions; unlocks higher-tier unit summoning permissions/technology trees, and so on.]

"Holy fuck, fuck, fuck!!!" Hua Wei exploded again, his finger trembling as he pointed at the screen. "System! You're not enough of a bro! Why didn't you tell me something this important earlier?! If I'd known that raising my star rating would upgrade you too, I'd have sold everything I owned to raise myself first! Better safety, more power to show off, and a stronger system—shouldn't that be the highest priority?!"

[System Notice: Raising the host's star rating from one star to two stars requires a cumulative expenditure of 100,000,000 Emotion Points. Raising it from two stars to three stars requires a cumulative expenditure of 200,000,000 Emotion Points.]

[Emotion Points required for the system core's first upgrade: 100,000,000.]

[Based on the host's previous and current Emotion Point acquisition speed and total amount, informing the host of this in advance held no practical significance and might instead have caused unnecessary anxiety and poor decision-making. The optimal current strategy remains accumulating Emotion Points and prioritizing the strengthening of deployable forces.]

Looking at that string of dizzying zeroes, Hua Wei opened his mouth and muttered, "Fine, fine. Good thing my star rating upgrades are free. I really am broke right now. Even raising myself by one star is a distant dream... Forget it. No point thinking about it. Better to figure out how to spend these twelve million in front of me."

He forced himself to calm down and began seriously analyzing the situation.

"High-star units are powerful, sure. Queen Liang Bing can hold up half the sky by herself. But the problem is, her range of influence is too limited. She can only cause major trouble in one place. And the cost is too damn high..."

"If I want to expand my influence, bloom in multiple places, and keep harvesting steadily... I still need numbers! I need broad deployment!" Hua Wei's eyes gleamed. "Soldiers! Lots of reliable, capable soldiers! Three stars minimum! Those weaklings at one or two stars aren't even worth using as cannon fodder. Let them be non-combat personnel, operators, technicians, logistics staff, whatever—or stuff them into warships to do odd jobs."

"Three-star units cost ten thousand each. Summoning one or two hundred won't be a problem... But men alone aren't enough. They need equipment! Otherwise they won't look impressive enough, and they'll get wiped out too easily." Hua Wei did the math in his head. "Equipping each three-star unit costs thirty thousand. A hundred would be three million Emotion Points. Not bad."

"I also need a reliable mothership!" Hua Wei opened the system shop and began filtering the "warships" category.

The dazzling selection of warship icons made his eyes spin. There were sleek sci-fi starships, floating fortresses covered in magical runes, and everything in between.

But the figures on their price tags made his heart pound as well.

"Star Destroyer... can't afford it!"

"Death Star... can't afford it!"

"Mantle's Approach... I can't even afford the fraction!"

"Sovereign... tsk, forget it, forget it..."

Hua Wei took several deep breaths, suppressing his desire for top-tier warships as he rationally filtered out the options with astronomical prices.

In the end, an icon of a heavy cruiser with hard lines, a sturdy structure, and reddish-brown paint caught his attention.

[Product: Spirit of Fire]

[Price: 2,250,000 Emotion Points]

[Description: A legendary warship from the Human-Covenant War era of the Halo universe.]

"Spirit of Fire!" Hua Wei's eyes lit up. "Tough as nails, heavy firepower, and it can deploy troops too! The base price is 2.25 million, and its equipment can be upgraded!"

He decisively hit the purchase button.

[Emotion Points Consumed: 2,250,000]

Next, he began configuring the crew and equipment.

Basic Crew Members (one star): Summon 2,000 non-combat personnel with basic skills in ship operation, maintenance, and logistics.

Captain/Senior Management (two stars): Summon one experienced captain and 100 department heads for tactics, engineering, navigation, and more.

Engine upgrade, shield upgrade, weapon upgrade, paired with an AI core...

"Whew... Not bad. There are still over eight million left. Time to bring out my three-star legion." Hua Wei looked at the remaining number and relaxed slightly.

"One hundred! I want a full company of Spartans!" Hua Wei entered the number grandly.

[Summon 100 three-star Spartans (upgraded full equipment configuration)]

The instant he pressed confirm, Hua Wei felt his heart bleed, but his excitement outweighed it.

However, it was not over yet. A powerful force needed a soul—a commander who could hold the field and earn the wholehearted respect of those unruly super-soldiers!

Hua Wei's finger rapidly scrolled through the "Drawn Cards" list before stopping on an icon without any flashy rendering, containing only a simple designation and a silhouette.

[Unit: Master Chief John-117]

[Rating: Five Stars (My love has no limit, so neither does Master Chief)]

[Summoning Price: 1,000,000 Emotion Points]

[Description: A legendary human hero from the Halo universe, survivor and symbol of the Spartan-II program.]

Note: Master Chief was not a commander in the traditional sense, but rather the spearhead and stabilizing pillar of the battlefield. His very existence was legendary and could greatly improve a force's cohesion and combat effectiveness.

"Come out! My Master Chief!" Hua Wei's eyes burst with light.

After the excitement came an overwhelming emptiness. Looking at the mere four million-plus Emotion Points remaining, Hua Wei felt completely drained.