"Mo."
"Have you ever heard of something called high-entropy alloy?"
Cheng Qi let out a slightly shaky breath and tried to steady himself.
"Of course I have."
"It's an extremely precious alloy with a disordered atomic arrangement, often used in the core chips of top-tier computing systems."
"I'm rather surprised you even know the name high-entropy alloy."
"Are you looking to buy some?"
"I'm not boasting, but in the entire Solar System, no more than ten people can get their hands on high-entropy alloy, myself included."
"What's more, once you find the right sales channel, the seller has complete control over its price."
"With all due respect, you simply can't afford its exorbitant price right now."
"Our transaction is complete. As a businessman, my time is money. At present, one second of my time is worth approximately 2,000 credit points. I need to end this call."
Mo's voice remained rational and calm.
"I have four pieces."
Cheng Qi spoke abruptly.
Mo paused. "Four pieces of what?"
Cheng Qi continued, "I weighed them earlier. About 410 grams."
Mo's pitch rose slightly. "Four pieces of what?"
Cheng Qi's voice was calm. "I'm planning to sell them to you."
Mo slowly drew a breath. "Four pieces of what?!"
Cheng Qi enunciated every word. "High. Entropy. Alloy."
The other end of the communicator fell silent for a full thirty seconds.
"Mo, isn't a second of your time worth 2,000 credit points? Why aren't you saying anything?"
"Cheng Qi, don't fucking drink those gene agents before I fucking get there, or this whole fucking deal is off!"
Cheng Qi smiled.
Heh heh.
He's panicking.
"Forget it. Give me your ID."
"I'll pay you a deposit first."
"Cheng Qi, life is actually quite beautiful. Genetic evolution isn't the only path."
"With your abilities and luck, I think we could establish a long-term partnership."
"Look around at those garbage heaps, reeking of rot and filling you with endless despair. Don't you think they're beautiful?"
As a thoroughly rational Higher-Grade Gene Bearer who rarely experienced emotional fluctuations, Mo was truly no good at motivational speeches. Especially since he was a little flustered himself at the moment.
During this exchange, Cheng Qi received a transfer of ten million credit points from Mo.
Cheng Qi's heart trembled.
Ten fucking million!
And that's just the deposit!
At that moment, another faint glimmer appeared in the sky.
It was another transport box.
When it opened, there was a tiny balance scale inside. Cheng Qi remembered it as something Mo carried with him, but this time the little scale was no longer gold. It was pitch-black all over.
Cheng Qi took out the four pieces of high-entropy alloy.
One end of the scale emitted a scanning beam, and detailed data appeared on the other.
--High-purity high-entropy alloy, 410.23 grams, value: 34.5532 million credit points.
Thirty-four million.
Although Cheng Qi had prepared himself mentally, his heart still seemed to skip a beat when he saw the final selling price.
For a scavenger who had spent years struggling at the very bottom, this was an astronomical sum among astronomical sums!
Cheng Qi wasn't particularly concerned about Mo's earlier remark that "the seller controls the price of high-entropy alloy."
Mo's offers had always been fair and reasonable.
Besides, high-entropy alloy wasn't all that precious to Cheng Qi.
He was already more than satisfied with this price!
Then.
Cheng Qi drew up a list. He wanted to barter!
A B343 Nanny Robot, the original model Foolish Boy was based on.
Medical mechanical assistance gloves.
Mechanical exploration boots.
An Extreme Soldier Exoskeleton.
And equipment related to muon technology.
Getting his hands on these would give Cheng Qi's strength another tremendous boost.
Unfortunately, Mo interrupted him.
"Do you know why I didn't come to see you in person?"
"Because Garbage Earth was locked down yesterday."
"For some unknown reason, humanity's leadership doesn't want any more technological waste entering Earth for the time being."
"They've deployed a large number of detection devices outside Earth."
"Those black transport boxes you've seen, along with the black scale, are all made of special biological materials. They can just barely slip past the detection signals."
"The Gene Catalysis Agents I sent you work on the same principle. At the very least, they don't emit electronic signals."
"Don't think this is easy."
"Getting those biotech boxes into Earth already takes extraordinary connections and resources."
"If they're any bigger, or the shipments become too frequent, they'll risk being seized. Even I won't be able to protect myself."
"The last time we met, we were doing legitimate business."
"Now we're smuggling."
Cheng Qi was stunned.
Why would humanity's leadership seal off an Earth filled with garbage?
"Besides, everything you want is extremely outdated. The outside world discarded them long ago. Take the B343 Nanny Robot, for example. Earth's garbage is probably the only place you can still find their wreckage."
Mo pondered for a moment. "As for this muon technology you mentioned, I've never heard of it."
Cheng Qi fell silent for a moment.
There seemed to be no other path to choose.
Someone who truly strove to grow stronger could carve out a path through any desperate situation.
Earth's garbage dumps were vast. With the Standard Template Construct in hand, he could still defy the odds and change his fate, so long as he dug deep enough.
"I'll keep the ten million credit points you've already transferred."
"Exchange the remaining value of the high-entropy alloy for Gene Catalysis Agents."
"You're responsible for ensuring safe delivery."
"My requirements are the same as before."
"Quantity over quality."
"The crappier, the better. The worse, the better. The cheaper, the better!"
Glug, glug, glug...
Sitting in his starship's cockpit, Mo suddenly jolted. "Cheng Qi, what are you drinking?!!"
"I'm thirsty. I'm drinking water! You didn't think I was chugging Gene Catalysis Agents, did you?"
"..."
"Cheng Qi, take out your agents and put the high-entropy alloy into the transport boxes. They'll return automatically. It's been a pleasure doing business with you. I hope you're still alive the next time I contact you."
Cheng Qi began carrying out the steps one by one.
After carefully removing the Gene Catalysis Agents, his gaze happened to fall on the black transport boxes.
[Similar technological constructs detected] [Ultra-Miniature Transport Box] [Made from high-molecular-weight biopolymer materials, with a built-in biofuel engine. Its material properties, thermal operating principles, and other factors allow it to evade signals from most detectors]
"Hmm...?"
Cheng Qi looked at the ground. Five boxes now rested quietly there. Four had delivered the gene agents earlier, and another had brought the black scale afterward.
Getting the packaging along with your purchase is perfectly reasonable, right?
Cheng Qi rubbed his chin. Surely I don't need to ask Mo about that?
Then.
Cheng Qi looked at the black scale inside one of the boxes.
It was clearly a tool Mo had made specifically for trading with scavengers. Taking it back into outer space didn't seem to serve much purpose.
Grandpa said that in the old days, buying a watermelon got you a free spoon, buying instant noodles got you a free fork, and buying a Porsche got you a free saleswoman.
I've bought over ten million credit points' worth of agents.
A free little scale... isn't asking too much, is it?
Cheng Qi continued rubbing his chin.
For something this trivial.
Surely I don't need to ask Mo?
Then.
Cheng Qi took out the little scale and stuffed all four pieces of high-entropy alloy into the same box.
The instant he closed it, faint blue biological flames emerged from the bottoms of all the boxes as they prepared to take off.
Cheng Qi gave a meaningful glance.
Foolish Boy, poised and ready, pounced like a ravenous tiger and pinned all four empty boxes beneath him.
"Come here, you little darlings!"
"Where do you think you're going?!"
Before you continue