Chapter 89

She was told that with the league approaching, as a rising star this year, some of the competition's operations teams might target her.

Of course, as fellow freshmen, the other party couldn't really cause her any substantial physical harm. If things got out of hand, it would definitely attract the attention of the college. The main thing was to act within the bounds of what was permissible and try to influence her mindset before the competition.

"Is it really necessary?" Wen Jing was surprised at the time.

With so many people in the Freshman League, it's uncertain whether we'll even run into each other.

However, Song Zhi on the other end said, "It's not a question of whether it's necessary or not, it's that taking this step won't cause them any loss. That's the job of those staff members."

"They'll do it even if the improvement is only 0.1%, to increase their customers' chances of winning in the competition, enhance their own strength, and suppress potential opponents."

"In the past, no one from our Red Earth Academy has been targeted, but this year... I've received some information that someone might make a move against you."

Now, seeing this inexplicably appearing debt information, Wen Jing understood.

Song Zhi's reminder yesterday was probably because he had already received confirmation of the information before reminding her, wanting to curry favor with her.

"These people are really..."

Wen Jing quickly scanned the risk control report, reading ten lines at a glance.

The financial group shouldn't know her account balance, but the risk control system will show that her recent financial situation is insufficient to repay the life loan.

Normally, only a crazy financial company would bother an Awakened because their temporary balance is insufficient to repay a loan. They would only be singled out during special periods.

Clearly, her current troubles stem from the performance of a certain tycoon's staff.

Even if it doesn't necessarily affect her mindset, doing something is definitely better than doing nothing.

Wen Jing, of course, would not cooperate with this inexplicable credit investigation, nor was he willing to pay more interest for no reason.

Therefore, the most effective and permanent solution is to settle the principal of the five million life loan in one lump sum.

"Life Loan..."

Wen Jing recited these three words, his expression inscrutable.

She hadn't made any loan repayments in the past, partly because she was wasting points redeemed for Integral, but more importantly, because she had a strong aversion to Life Loan itself.

She has paid off all the loans the population factory provided for her upbringing after birth.

Wen Jing refused to acknowledge that 'life' itself was worth five million.

Humans have raised other species, feeding, breeding, and slaughtering them... making the most of everything. Farmers can be seen as the gods and creators of poultry.

But as human beings, the lives of one group should not be considered the property of another.

Having been in this world for eighteen years, Wen Jing has almost adapted to it.

That's the one thing she'll never agree with.

This is trampling on her intellect and violating the most basic and fundamental human rights concepts in her mind.

Life belongs to oneself, and not to anyone else.

She's paid five million now, and she'll definitely get it back in the future.

In the few minutes that Wen Jing was briefly thinking, dozens of loan platform advertisements had been sent one after another, which might be another of those people's traps.

After blocking with one click, Wen Jing started looking at her bank balance.

She currently has 31 Integral left. Exchanging points for Integral is a losing proposition, and if she's in a hurry to sell them, she'll lose even more. Moreover, if she doesn't spend her Integral on improving herself, it's like giving those people what they want.

Asking Song Zhi would easily solve the problem, and he had made it clear, but she didn't want to owe the Student Council from wealthy families, it was uncertain whether Song Zhi was trustworthy.

Alternatively, Wen Jing could borrow money from Dean Bai or Xie Ming; they would definitely help. However, unless there was absolutely no other way, Wen Jing didn't want to bother them with such a small matter.

Especially since she does have other options right now.

Awakened may spend money quickly, but they also make money quickly.

Compared to ordinary people, they don't have to worry about finding ways to make money quickly.

Wen Jing opened her contacts and found ' AAA Express Delivery Old Wang ', the black market contact card she had obtained from the restaurant where she worked.

Chapter 89

After the communication was established, the voice on the other end was clearly distorted and synthesized electronically.

"Hello, what service do you need?"

Wen Jing, Wen Jing also controlled his throat and changed his voice, saying, "I want to earn five million credits in the shortest amount of time, without taking out a loan."

"The Awakened?"

"Yes."

After confirming this, the other party didn't say anything and directly sent Wen Jing a coordinate.

The coordinates are on the other hemisphere of Red Earth Star, but the intercity plane is very fast, so distance is not a problem at all.

The next day, Wen Jing went to Jumu to clock in as usual.

After nearly two months of effort, the entire sea of green leaves in the canopy had disappeared, and her devouring pace had extended to the main trunk of the giant tree and the area of the black thread worm swamp.

"These guys are real parasites!"

The largest wood-boring insect in the giant tree is making an impolite assessment of what was once the original wood-boring insects here.

The black nematode's main food is the slightly fragile core of the tree under the hard bark, and the small amount of Emerald Crystal Rice Grain contained therein.

These creatures don't have the storage consciousness of ants; they only know how to eat and reproduce. They ate all the Emerald Crystal Rice Grain in the area they occupied, making this area the least cost-effective for Wen Jing to eat along the way. He could only eat them casually to make up for the loss.

Having harvested a large area of black threadworm breeding grounds, Wen Jing once again chose to return empty-handed.

Although she intends to pay off her debts at this stage, the resources of the entire Giant Wood Space are the foundation for her growth, and there is absolutely no reason for her to give them back.

The person who orchestrated this was trying to suppress and slow down her progress. If she chose to exchange rare treasures like Emerald Crystal Rice Grain and Bird Eggs, which would improve her own abilities, for credit points, wouldn't that be exactly what the other party wanted?

Moreover, she already had enough insect samples and couldn't buy any more; she had already looted and sold all the other non-insect samples from the giant trees.

Especially given the recent investigation, things are tense right now. Bringing back the same resources for resale repeatedly would be very risky.

Wen Jing would only consider selling resources from the Ancient Wilderness Belt to the black market if he couldn't find a more suitable way to make money there, but that would be a last resort.

There are intervals between entering the Ancient Wilderness world, and the time spent inside is the most precious. In comparison, the time spent in the material universe is 'cheaper', and she can make money by using the time spent traveling between these intervals.

After leaving the shuttle center, she boarded an intercity plane and arrived at her destination city in less than an hour.

The most time-consuming part of intercity flights is the acceleration and landing process; once acceleration is complete, the speed of movement is very fast.

Compared to the somewhat old-fashioned Xinpu City, White Rock City in front of us is significantly more prosperous, and can be said to be the largest city on Red Earth Star besides the Academy.

"Basic Mimicry ability is very useful..."

This time, Wen Jing made a special change of clothes.

She wore casual clothes over her school uniform jacket, and on the plane, she manipulated pigmentation to turn her hair white, her eyes red, her skin dark, and moved her facial muscles.

When Wen Jing got off the plane, he looked like a completely different person.

As for why he has white hair and red eyes, it's partly to differentiate himself from his past image, and partly because it's his personal preference.

Although the same effect can be easily achieved with technology in this era, there is a difference between paying for it and getting it for free, and the Mimicry feature can be applied at any time without relying on external means.

Upon arriving at the agreed-upon meeting place in the suburbs, Wen Jing saw a car already parked there.

The car door was open, and inside sat a man who looked to be in his thirties with a weathered air.

Wen Jing noticed his empty right leg below the knee. "Old Wang?"

The black market contact is a disabled Awakened.

Being a completely natural person is one of the hallmarks of Awakened, because a mechanically modified body structure cannot traverse the Ancient Wilderness. Unlike clothing, if there are prosthetic parts, they will fall off directly on the spot when traversing.

Therefore, ordinary people who become disabled will directly get prosthetic limbs, while Awakened become disabled will only use some external tools for assistance.

This was one of the things Xie Ming casually mentioned in his Introduction to the Ancient Wilderness course. As for why the clothes of those Awakened Ancient Wilderness Traversal and returned to awaken are still there, there are several different arguments in academia.

"What should I call you?" Old Wang nodded.

"Pagoda." Since he couldn't use his real name while operating in the black market, Wen Jing casually mentioned the secret technique he had recently been practicing as an alias.

Old Wang was used to this, but he looked at her with a strange expression. "Are you still a student?"

Why do you say that?

Wen Jing's eyes turned slightly cold, and he immediately became wary.

Old Wang seemed to sense danger and quickly raised his hands to explain, "Don't be nervous. I didn't mean to find out your identity. I only asked because I saw that you didn't come directly from here."

"Besides, if I don't have a good reputation, no one will recommend me to you. I was originally going to recommend you for a delivery, but if you're not a fully Awakened, this business isn't suitable for you."

Upon hearing this, Wen Jing's expression also turned strange. "Express delivery?"

She assumed the name on the business card was an alias used in the industry, but it turned out the person actually worked in the courier business.

"Yes." Old Wang nodded, already realizing that Wen Jing knew nothing about this before. He stepped into the car and invited, "Come on in and let's talk about it in detail."

On the way, Old Wang explained to Wen Jing in detail his real main business besides being a black market contact—

Interstellar Express.

Awakened can use the Ancient Wilderness to jump between spaces and travel between two worlds. In addition to the traditional applications of obtaining various precious resources from the Ancient Wilderness and fighting, this ability can also be used to cross planets in a short period of time.

Ordinary materials cannot enter the Ancient Wilderness, but there is no need to use Awakened to transport items of very low value.