Chapter Sixty-Four: The Heart of Yunmeng
When Wu Hua came down from the second floor, his face looked as if he were about to cry. The new reporter asked with concern, “What happened? Did something go wrong?”
Wu Hua replied, “No, I just made a long-term investment, like buying stocks.”
The new reporter breathed a sigh of relief.
Wu Hua calculated silently. The deposit alone was ten thousand, and the odds of failure were high. He didn’t even know what kind of gun it was. According to Monica’s instructions, he still needed to gather two more materials before the weapon could be forged. If he succeeded, the gun would be worth at least a hundred thousand credit points—perhaps it would even be a legendary artifact.
“A laser rifle?” Wu Hua’s eyes lit up with excitement.
Beside him, Monica shook her ponytail. “Mr. Madblast, don’t set your expectations too high. I think you understand that both you and I have built our abilities step by step. No one becomes great overnight.”
Wu Hua was taken aback; he hadn’t expected such words to come from an NPC. He immediately felt grateful. “Thank you for your guidance, Master. You’ve awakened me from my dreams.”
Monica continued, “Mr. Madblast, your AUG is a little worn. Would you like some maintenance?”
Wu Hua thought to himself that he’d already spent plenty of blood today, so there was no point being stingy now. This was bound to be a tough mission; a bit of maintenance wouldn’t hurt. He handed his gun to Iced Coffee standing nearby and said, “And order five thousand rounds of purple-grade NATO armor-piercing ammo.”
Iced Coffee examined the gun. “Wear level: 11%. Performance decreased by 5.5%. Maintenance fee: 6,233 credits. Five thousand rounds of ammo: 7,271 credits. Total: 13,054 credits.”
“Green gear is still green gear—even repair costs are enough to kill a man,” Wu Hua gritted his teeth. “Fine, I’ll pay!”
The system notification chimed:
“Honorable player Madblast, your relationship with NPC—”
Wu Hua cursed under his breath. “Damn, I just spent over twenty thousand credits and only got two points of favor. Seriously?”
Yet he completely overlooked the benefits favor could bring. Suddenly, Monica said, “Mr. Madblast, the two materials I mentioned will be a formidable challenge for you. Honestly, I don’t expect you to finish the task. But you’re the first customer to place such a large order at my boutique. As a reward, are you interested in purchasing some of my auxiliary equipment? No need for bulk orders.”
Wu Hua sighed inwardly: Money, like fleeting clouds in the sky, ephemeral and insubstantial. Best not to get attached.
“All right, let me see what you have,” Wu Hua replied.
“Monica’s Magic Cube Lightweight Backpack, with spatial compression, gravity reduced to two-sevenths, capacity of five hundred units, movement speed reduced by fifteen percent, unit price five thousand credits.”
“Buy it!” Wu Hua’s voice was firm as steel. Only a fool would pass up such a good item. Even with the five percent movement penalty, the extra four hundred units of capacity meant he could carry all his weapons and ammo without worry.
“G4 Offensive High-Explosive Grenade, high-density energy crystal core, ten-meter blast radius, five hundred joules of damage, two thousand credits each.”
Wu Hua was breathing heavily. “I’ll take as many as you’ll sell me.”
Monica smiled. “Sorry, you can only buy ten. Consider this my reward to you.”
“Ten it is. Money isn’t the issue.” Wu Hua knew the value of these—since they weren’t available on the market at all. Anyone who dared cross him now would be blown to kingdom come.
“Type 98 Dazzling Flashbang, high-purity metallic magnesium, high-density compression, blinding radius thirty meters, price twenty-five hundred credits each.”
Wu Hua forced himself to stay calm. “Can I only buy ten of these as well?”
Monica nodded with a smile. “Yes. I believe these will be of some help to you.”
Help? Wu Hua was ecstatic. This was more than a little help—these items would make him a true force to be reckoned with. Using them against the likes of the Maragobi’s crawling beasts would be a breeze.
“Total comes to forty-five thousand credits,” Iced Coffee announced, always eager to quote prices.
Wu Hua calculated: appraisal fee nine hundred, deposit ten thousand, maintenance six thousand two hundred thirty-three, ammo seven thousand two hundred seventy-one, backpack five thousand, grenades twenty thousand, flashbangs twenty-five thousand. His crystal card balance had just shrunk by over seventy thousand credits.
After the Divine Radiance Auction, his gear had improved, but his wallet kept shrinking—a bad omen for the future.
“Time to make some money.” The first thing Wu Hua did after leaving Monica’s Boutique was to text Lifelong Bachelor: “I have some purple gear to consign—meet me at the third taxi stand to the left outside Monica’s Boutique.”
Lifelong Bachelor replied, “Give me five minutes! Boss, you have to wait for me—my monthly bonus depends on you!”
As he waited the five minutes, his receiver buzzed with another message. “Brother, where are you?”
The sender was Dragonstar Longye, which surprised Wu Hua.
“My ‘Cloud Dream’ Training Center just opened today. If you’re free, come be my guest of honor. The center will benefit you too,” said Dragonstar Longye.
Wu Hua checked the time. It was already six in the evening. That was enough for today. He’d been working hard lately—it wouldn’t hurt to relax and see something new. And if he happened to meet a beautiful woman, all the better.
Besides, hitching a ride with Lifelong Bachelor would save him a taxi fare—a nice bonus.
As Lifelong Bachelor’s Jetta pulled up to Peach Blossom Square in Dreamstar City, Wu Hua spotted the glowing “Cloud Dream” sign, which illuminated the whole square in the colorful twilight.
Downtown real estate was staggeringly expensive. Renting a storefront cost a million credits for five years—over a hundred thousand yuan. For many in-game entrepreneurs, this was an investment. No matter what, they had to recoup that million credits in five years.
Dragonstar Longye had clearly poured his heart and fortune into the training center. There were luxury cars parked out front—Benz, BMW, Crown, Porsche—twenty or thirty in total. It was obvious Dragonstar Longye had a vast network in Star Wars, and was rather well-known.
“Boss, I’ll head back to the office now. As soon as that battle blade sells, I’ll notify you immediately!” Lifelong Bachelor called from the car.
“OK!” Wu Hua got out and strode toward the training center.
The entrance was festooned with lanterns and flower baskets, radiating festivity. Wu Hua entered the grand lobby with a smile. The decor was resplendent—gold and jade everywhere. Men and women in formal evening wear mingled, wine glasses in hand.
He’d never cared for such “high society” gatherings. After wandering around, he approached the bar to ask the beautiful NPC receptionist about the facility’s offerings.
Most player-run shops were martial arts or boxing gyms, or fencing schools, but such a massive training center was rare. Dragonstar Longye’s offered close-combat training, a shooting range, gym, swimming, driving, ball games, and more.
The advantage of such a comprehensive facility was that it wasn’t bound by upgrade limitations. Master close-combat, and you could create your own skills. Improve your marksmanship, and your ranged specialization would increase automatically. Training in the gym would boost your physique. As long as you put in the effort, even a level-one player could amass dozens of points in strength and constitution—it just took time and money.
“Heh, sign me up for a platinum VIP membership, with access to close-combat, shooting, and fitness,” Wu Hua told the receptionist.
“Certainly, sir. Please wait a moment,” she replied, entering his details. “Platinum VIP costs ten thousand credits, granting one thousand hours of facility use. To celebrate our grand opening, all memberships are thirty percent off today.”
A rough voice sounded behind him. “Give this gentleman the highest-level gold VIP membership, but charge him the platinum rate—half price.”
Wu Hua turned and couldn’t help but grin.