He watched the faint speck in the sky disappear into the distance.
The lone black box carrying the High-Entropy Alloy returned by itself.
"Heh heh heh."
The other four were pinned beneath Foolish Boy, wriggling stubbornly.
Foolish Boy flashed a lecherous grin. "Little Sweetie, struggling is useless. Scream your lungs out-no one's coming to help!"
Just then.
Heavy footsteps sounded in the distance.
Cheng Qi turned and saw several oddly shaped figures emerge from behind a nearby garbage heap.
Once he made out their faces, his brow relaxed slightly, and a hint of surprise even crossed his face.
It was Monkey, along with a few of the scavenger boys.
One of the burly boys had a rusty mechanical arm mounted on his back. It wasn't an implant, but a standalone machine he had strapped to his waist with belts and steel wire.
The mechanical arm held a huge pile of technological scrap secured with hemp rope.
"Hey, Brother Qi! It's me, Monkey!"
"Brother Qi, my name's Bear!"
The skinny, beanpole-like Monkey greeted him, while Bear was the sturdy youth with the mechanical arm strapped to his back.
Bear set the large bundle of junk on the ground, then laid out its contents one by one.
Cheng Qi's eyes flickered as notifications from the Standard Template Construct kept sounding in his ears.
[Matching technological constructs detected] [Synthesize?] [Matching technological constructs detected] [Synthesize?]... [Matching technological constructs detected]...
"Brother Qi, we were short on time and money. This was all we could get today!"
Monkey scratched his head with a sheepish grin.
Looking at the scavenger boys in their ragged clothes, their faces covered in dust.
Cheng Qi could hardly believe it. "You guys..."
"Brother Qi."
Monkey seemed to see what Cheng Qi was thinking. He said sincerely, "In a place like this, no one knows whether tomorrow or disaster will come first. We're the lowest of the low. Finding a boss we can rely on, someone who'll protect us, isn't easy."
"We might all be scavengers at the very bottom."
"But sometimes, character has nothing to do with status."
"We've always kept our word."
"And once we've accepted someone as our big brother, we won't go back on it lightly."
After a pause, Monkey smiled again. "Of course, we also all agree that you're a kind person, Brother Qi."
Cheng Qi was moved. He looked up at the boys standing in the darkness. "I understand."
Monkey spoke of seeking protection, but wasn't there also trust and acceptance hidden beneath those words?
"Brother Qi, the reason you asked us to look for junk of the same model... I'm guessing..."
Bear scratched his head and grinned. "You must be an amazing repairman, right? You want to gather all the parts, combine them into a working machine, then sell it!"
"That's right. Combine them."
Cheng Qi smiled too, looking at the rather simple-minded Bear, though the combining he meant was something else entirely.
"Brother Qi, when you have some free time, could you fix my mechanical Little Brother? It keeps having trouble getting up lately!"
As Bear spoke, he reached back and patted the mechanical arm. "This thing's ancient. It left the factory over 110 years ago!"
"Bear, get out of here. What kind of decent person names a mechanical arm 'Little Brother'?"
Monkey stepped forward, looking hesitant. "Brother Qi, everything we bought today cost 350 Credit Points in total. That's all the money we had. Tomorrow, we'll try to borrow some. Don't feel pressured, Brother Qi. Once the business gets going and you've made it big, you can pay us back then..."
Bear grinned sheepishly too. "That's right, Brother Qi. We're not in a hurry."
"What's your account ID?"
Cheng Qi looked at Monkey, his eyes now holding a measure of trust.
"My ID?"
Monkey hesitated.
As he saw it, Brother Qi had originally been nothing special, but must have gotten incredibly lucky and found that unstoppable weapon. His rise had been so sudden that he probably hadn't built up any savings.
A hero's origins didn't matter, but heroes generally didn't have much financial backing either.
Monkey was about to refuse.
Because Cheng Qi would most likely pull out everything he had-perhaps two or three hundred Credit Points.
Monkey wanted to follow this boss, not embarrass him.
But Cheng Qi raised his hand and tapped the financial module on Monkey's chest.
A three-dimensional, colored four-dimensional code was immediately projected.
Compared with the QR codes of the old era, this form of ID had been greatly optimized, offering both greater information storage and a higher level of security.
'ID855596552455' '200,000 Credit Points received.'
Hearing the notification, Monkey's mouth fell open. "H-h-how... how much?"
Bear's limp mechanical arm shot straight up, and his eyes went as wide as brass bells. "Two hundred thousand!"
Monkey swallowed, staring at him in shock. "Brother Qi, you've been... keeping one hell of a secret!"
For bottom-rung scavengers, anything over ten thousand was already a fortune. A hundred thousand put someone among the rich.
Now Cheng Qi had casually handed over two hundred thousand in one go. The shock was no less than dropping a nuclear bomb into their minds.
"Small businesses need hard work. Big businesses need capital."
Cheng Qi smiled. "From now on, the rule stays the same: buy as much technological scrap of matching models as you can find. As for the commission, the agreed thirty percent won't change either."
"Monkey."
"From now on, you're in charge of this purchasing team. You'll handle everyone's commission payments."
"Settle up every day. Never leave it overnight."
The scavenger boys standing farther away suddenly lit up, their arms trembling slightly. For some reason, their eyes grew damp too.
Damn, weren't things finally looking up?
Brother Qi was the man!
Monkey really was someone worth trusting. Now, a troubled look crossed his face. "Brother Qi, most of the junk we buy is stuff nobody wants. But once some scavengers heard we were looking for it, they started demanding outrageous prices."
Monkey frowned. "I've never been good at setting prices."
Cheng Qi smiled calmly. He had prepared for this long ago.
Then Cheng Qi slowly held up a tiny black balance scale.
Monkey and the others leaned closer and exchanged bewildered looks.
Brother Qi was pretty thoughtful!
He'd gotten them a little scale!
But what could such a tiny balance scale weigh?
Cheng Qi glanced around, then finally aimed the little scale at the small black box the merchant Mo had used to deliver his goods.
One end of the scale emitted a scanning beam.
'Nanoscale biomaterial box, equipped with a Bio-Drive Engine, 95% of original condition, contains approximately 6.5 kilograms of Class B Biomaterial.'
On the other end of the scale, the corresponding price appeared-worth 53,200 Credit Points.
The boys' eyes widened. "Just one scan, and it instantly identifies the material and price? This thing's incredible!"
Cheng Qi was stunned too. This thing was that expensive?
Only then did the other scavenger boys catch on.
Bear said in surprise, "Brother Qi really is something else. Even a random shoebox of yours is worth over fifty thousand! Brother Qi, could I borrow that for a moment? I want to see how much my Little Brother is worth!"
Bear twisted his rusty, battered mechanical arm.
Everyone else was speechless.
The little scale flickered.
'I55 Mechanical Lifting Arm, lithium iron phosphate battery-powered, 3% of original condition, contains approximately 43 kilograms of scrap iron.' 'Value: 12 Credit Points.'
"What?!"
Bear fell apart. "My Little Brother's only worth twelve bucks!"
Before you continue