"So that's how it is."
Mo took out a compact high-tech balance and held it in his palm.
One end of the balance emitted a golden scanning beam, sweeping up and down over the twenty-three pieces of amorphous alloy.
The other end projected a laser screen, where a string of numbers gradually appeared.
"Amorphous alloy, purity 100%, total weight 1,186.3 grams."
"Value: 5.016 million credit points."
Holding the high-tech balance in one hand, Mo looked earnestly at Cheng Qi. "Standard market price. Fair and square."
Cheng Qi's brow twitched.
A gram of amorphous alloy was worth more than four thousand.
Even after being beaten to that miserable state, Hyena had still dared to hold something back.
People died for wealth just as birds died for food. That saying rang all the truer on Garbage Earth.
By contrast, Mo seemed thoroughly professional.
"Under Galactic Alliance regulations, even the lowest-grade Gene Catalysis Agent is extremely precious and commands a hefty price."
Mo looked at Cheng Qi, his voice entirely rational. "Although its success rate is as low as 0.0035%, it still sells for one to two million a dose."
Cheng Qi keenly picked up on the crucial point. "What about outside Galactic Alliance regulations?"
Mo smiled, a glimmer of approval in his eyes. "Black-market Gene Catalysis Agents cost eight hundred thousand a dose. The success rate is 0.002 percentage points higher, but the downside is that they can easily cause genetic dissolution, killing the user on the spot."
Cheng Qi frowned and said something startling. "Got anything worse?"
"What?"
"There's no worst, only worse. I like taking things to the extreme!"
Mo looked a little stunned. "I thought you were prepared to die for a chance of success well below one percent. I didn't expect you to be even crazier than I imagined."
"Anything worse would be something only I, Mo, can get my hands on."
Mo tipped his head back. "Failed black-market Gene Catalysis Agents. Three hundred thousand a dose, with a 0.8%... survival rate."
A light Mo couldn't understand flickered in Cheng Qi's eyes. "That's the one."
Even Mo, who always put reason first, froze a little.
He watched Cheng Qi silently for a long while, then nodded in acceptance. "I'll need to take your alloy first. Do you trust me?"
"I hear being a Higher-Grade Gene Bearer means more than just an improved body."
Cheng Qi studied Mo. All scavengers were filthy rats trapped in a garbage heap, with a closely barred cage surrounding it.
Mo might be a swindler, or he might be a valuable [channel to the outside world] that Cheng Qi desperately needed.
Cheng Qi had to test this channel. It was like gambling: if he won, a new door would open, and buying or selling would become effortless. If he lost, he would have to start over. That was how life worked for the lower classes. They always had to pay a higher price.
It might seem unfair, but in truth, not every scavenger had the chance or the means to place such a "bet."
Of course, Cheng Qi had been observing Mo as closely as possible and doing his best to predict the outcome. He believed the odds favored him.
Cheng Qi paused, then smiled. "The outlook and morality of Higher-Grade Gene Bearers improve along with their gene sequences. Take you, for example. As a merchant, you should consider fraud beneath you."
"Advanced humans aren't perfect. Some are as you describe, but not all."
Mo merely nodded calmly. "But you can rest easy when doing business with me."
With that, Mo packed Cheng Qi's amorphous alloy into the black leather case he carried, then turned to leave.
After a few steps, however, he stopped and looked back. "Since you've put your trust in me, I'll give you a free gift."
Mo took a slip of paper wrapped in a dustproof sleeve from his case and handed it to Cheng Qi.
Cheng Qi examined it in his hand and discovered that it was a paper business card.
In this era, paper business cards were hopelessly outdated, having long since been replaced by digital ones.
"Huo Linzhong."
"Chief professor at the Muon Research Institute?"
Cheng Qi looked up. "What's this?"
"A piece of information."
Mo picked up his case and said slowly, "The Muon Research Institute was among the last research institutions to evacuate Earth. Although mainstream science had already rendered it obsolete, and it was even widely criticized, I suspect they left behind a large amount of research equipment and findings."
"You're a scavenger."
Mo headed back toward his aircraft, speaking with his back turned. "This information should be useful to you."
After Mo boarded the aircraft, Hana poked her head out from behind a mountain of garbage. She hadn't really left.
Watching the aircraft slowly rise into the sky, she pressed a hand to her chest, her face filled with an indescribable sense of loss.
Then.
Hana looked toward the garbage heaps and stood on tiptoe, craning her neck. She knew Mo had come to trade with someone, but she hadn't caught a glimpse of that person.
Once she was sure no one was there.
Hana smoothed her disheveled long hair and wiped the grime off her knees.
She swished her vivid red dress and lifted her smooth chin in the hazy darkness, her expression once again becoming cold and aloof, keeping everyone at arm's length.
Hana stepped across the scattered garbage and walked into the night.
Cheng Qi emerged from behind the garbage heap.
As he watched the beautiful figure recede into the distance, a touch of indifference entered Cheng Qi's eyes.
Hana was no longer the beautiful red rose in his heart.
Now, Cheng Qi.
Wanted only to keep climbing and break through the class barrier that no one had ever breached.
"The Muon Research Institute..."
"What is a muon?"
"Some kind of unknown particle?"
"Why have I never heard about it on the news?"
In front of his shack, Cheng Qi studied the business card by the light of the campfire.
The card was probably over a hundred years old.
Something like a phone number was surely no longer valid, and Professor Huo Linzhong had probably passed away.
The address... China 52nd Research Zone.
Where was the 52nd Research Zone?
On Garbage Earth, human civilization had suffered countless breaks in continuity.
No one knew where this "52nd Research Zone" had once been, or what place it corresponded to now.
Besides, Zone 52 was surely buried under a thick layer of garbage.
Cheng Qi turned the card over and examined the back.
The back was empty except for a symbol: a black circle with a small white dot in its center.
Cheng Qi's pupils suddenly contracted.
He immediately stood and fetched a black box from his shack. He had found it in Hyena's safe, where Hyena had hidden it away like a treasure alongside the beef, apples, and other items.
He compared the box with the business card.
The symbols were identical: a circle with a white dot, like some microscopic particle with a spherical exterior and a core inside.
"This box once belonged to the Muon Research Center."
Cheng Qi immediately got to work dismantling the Technology Box in front of him. His earlier tests had shown that it was broken. Now, he wanted to try repairing it.
Ten minutes later, Cheng Qi had completely dismantled the Technology Box and understood its internal structure and functions.
It was a signal tracker.
And it had only one tracking target.
Cheng Qi's eyes flickered.
"There's a very good chance this box is set to track the Muon Research Center!"
"And Hyena had already taken this box apart. He probably knew there was a treasure hidden behind all this too."
"But."
"Four separate chips inside the tracking box have burned out."
Cheng Qi sucked his teeth, feeling deeply disappointed. "I'll have to replace the chips. Unfortunately, even across Earth's entire garbage dump, the odds of finding replacements are vanishingly small!"
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