Chapter 37 - Thirty-Seven Freelancers (3)

Chen Gu suddenly felt an eerie sense of familiarity. Looking down, he saw that in each ring of light from the Flying Skull, there was the Steam Locomotive’s ’toe-print’ of approval! Chen Gu’s fingers gently touched the Steam Locomotive icon, and SWOOSH—many more rings of light flew out. However, unlike the Flying Skull’s, these were all... loaded with merchandise. "No need for much talk about these potent wares! The ultra-weapon [Scorpio Hook] ray gun—powerful, rapid-firing, one shot blasts pursuers to the Skeletal Dragon Star Domain! Limited quantity; miss out and you’ll be slapping your thigh in regret!" Below was a picture of several dozen large-caliber energy ray guns arrayed together. "$Huge stock arrived!$ $Huge stock arrived!$ $Huge stock arrived!$ [Rejuvenation II] stamina recovery potion, the highly reputed ’Little Red Bottle.’ Zero-profit, a boon for our customers—don’t ask; it just shows our strength!" Beneath was a picture of a warehouse piled high with boxes of medicine. "[Special channel leak] Mysterious mineral from Kuigu Kill Star, ’Heaven’s Magnetite,’ imbued with mysterious energy. You all know how to use it; if you don’t, don’t ask too many questions. Pricey, serious inquiries only!" Below was a pile of unidentifiable stones. "[Exceedingly rare] Supermaterial from the Giant Tree series, weighing 6.78 grams—a pillow! A priceless treasure, over ten million per gram! No time-wasters. Straight to business." Beneath was a picture of a piece of decaying wood under lights. In the corner, watermarks were layered one upon another, at least a dozen deep, with a steam locomotive at the very top. These were the kinds of listings Chen Gu scrolled through. In just four entries, he found four typos, averaging one per ring—a clear testament to the seller’s consistently terrible copywriting skills. But what truly interested Chen Gu was the information on one of the supermaterials! With a per-gram price of over ten million, this 6.78-gram piece was conservatively estimated to be worth seventy million Starshield! Chen Gu subconsciously touched his pocket. I originally thought that with the one billion from my filial adult son, I wouldn’t have to worry about making a living for the rest of my life. I didn’t expect that in the eyes of Professionals, this sum really isn’t much... Chen Gu had already reached the third preliminary training phase for the Star Battle Instructor role; it was time to consider the matter of his official investiture. Supermaterial was not only needed for the investiture but also for every subsequent promotion. The more supermaterial one had, the safer the process. Moreover, according to the memories of Milna Katerina and Griffin Wester, using a large amount of supermaterial during promotion, or using rare varieties, offered a chance to awaken some rather uncommon skills. And according to Griffin Wester’s memory, the minimum amount of supermaterial required for the Star Battle Instructor’s investiture ceremony was 3 grams. However, the failure rate with the minimum amount was too high. A safer quantity was 5.5 grams, and ideally, it should be above 6.5 grams. As for the type of supermaterial, those from the Demonic Hound series were best. Supermaterials from any animal-aspected branch could be used, but those from plant-aspected branches like the Giant Tree series or Ghost Vine series were unsuitable. Given Chen Gu’s cautious nature, safer was always better; he wished he could use over 10 grams of supermaterial for the investiture! In other words, even without considering the price differences between various supermaterials, Chen Gu’s material expenses for a single investiture ceremony could easily exceed one hundred million! His wealth would instantly shrink by a tenth. I need to figure something out; I can’t just keep asking my son for money. Even an award-winning actor had his pride. Chen Gu’s gaze returned to that secret account. If he truly ran out of money, he might have no choice but to take a risk. Chen Gu carefully examined all of the Steam Locomotive’s light rings. They advertised various ultra-weapons and prohibited drugs. In short... if it’s legal, I don’t sell it! Making money wasn’t the main point; what mattered was appearing sufficiently villainous. Anything less was a loss of face. Among the hundreds of light rings, supermaterial listings appeared only three times. Two of the older ones were marked at the end with: Claimed. Chen Gu thought for a moment, then tapped open the other four symbols. These four were "Radiant Cross Sword," "Comical Fish Head," "Big Gold-Toothed Cowboy Rabbit," and "Matchstick Man Pianist." Three of them didn’t post many light rings and seemed like normal individuals. Only "Big Gold-Toothed Cowboy Rabbit" was somewhat different, its wording extremely suggestive, making Chen Gu momentarily suspect it was a "little match girl" selling something illicit. Then it suddenly dawned on him: This guy is a Professional mercenary! Chen Gu internally fumed, What a talent! How do you manage to make selling your life sound like hawking seafood? That Steam Locomotive was also a real character; every light ring from every person had his ’footprint’ like. Not a single one was missed. After this bit of investigation, Chen Gu also understood the purpose of this short, thick cylinder: it was a social networking tool for Professionals. However, the individuals on it were probably not what one would call legitimate Professionals. No, that was a bit discriminatory. It should be said that they weren’t exactly legal Professionals... which amounted to pretty much the same thing. Anyway, that was the gist. They didn’t belong to the government, nor to any major organizations. Chen Gu pondered for a moment, then carefully left a message in the Steam Locomotive’s light ring: How much? As soon as he sent it, Chen Gu felt the short, thick cylinder in his hand begin to vibrate uncontrollably. Then, WHOOSH, it projected a silvery-white screen of light. Lively characters rapidly scrolled out: "Hello, Mr. President!" "The tycoon hasn’t graced us with his presence in a long time." "As expected, when you make a move, it’s always a big one! Supermaterial, eh? So expensive. Have you taken a liking to it?" "Are you preparing for a promotion? This little bit of supermaterial probably isn’t enough. I’ll keep an eye out for you and make sure to gather enough." It was a long, rambling message, every word oozing the excitement of having hooked a big spender, yet it never got to the point: how much? This exchange, however, gave Chen Gu an important insight for his persona: A female President? She’s probably the aloof type. Still, anyone who could become a President would naturally understand worldly wisdom and human relationships, so the aloofness of this character needed to be moderated appropriately. Chen Gu carefully formulated his reply: "Hmm, give me a price." He adopted the posture of an all-business commercial negotiation. The Steam Locomotive’s reply came quickly: "You know this stuff is hard to get. It’s all controlled by the government, the military, the Bureau of Mystic Security, and those big organizations." "The price definitely won’t be cheap, but with your capabilities, Mr. President, it’s certainly not an issue." "I also had to pester a friend endlessly to get just a little bit. Since it’s for you, Mr. President, I won’t make a profit. Just give me one hundred thirty million." "Just look after my business more in the future." Chen Gu knew it would be expensive, but he hadn’t expected it to be *this* expensive! It was double his anticipation. "Alright, I’ll consider it." First, he had to maintain the persona. A clatter of text flew over from the Steam Locomotive: "Mr. President, don’t hesitate! This stuff really sells out the moment it’s available. Who knows when you’ll find it again." "Money is important, of course, but promotion is even more so! If you miss this chance, you might never be able to advance." "If you’re sincere about buying, I’ll give you a discount of 200,000!" "I really can’t go any lower. At this price, I’m already taking a loss..." Chen Gu replied, "I’ll get back to you once I’ve considered it," and then directly closed the dialogue. After waiting in the apartment for a while longer and confirming that everything was calm with no unusual activity nearby, Chen Gu finally relaxed. On second thought, items like these were unlikely to have tracking modules. These freelance (illegal) Professionals were probably even more cautious than he was; they wouldn’t carry something on them that could be traced. The biggest gain this time was undoubtedly this social networking tool. It provided Chen Gu with a bridge to communicate with Professionals, allowing him to observe the Professionals of this era up close. And Chen Gu’s first impression was: Money flows like water... Chen Gu packed up these items, keeping only the social networking tool with him. He put the rest into a small iron box, not intending to keep it in his apartment. He would find an opportunity to bury it outside.