Yang Yiyi sent over a list.
Xie Litang pulled out her phone and took a look.
She had to admit, this woman was surprisingly resourceful. Not only did she have access to cultivation techniques from prestigious families, but she could even get her hands on ones from higher institutions of learning.
Xie Litang filtered through the cultivation techniques.
"I can skip the offensive ones for now. What I lack most right now is defense."
"After all, no matter how high my Vitality is, if a heavy sniper rifle capable of piercing a meter-thick plate of special steel aims for my head, a single shot could probably chunk away tens of thousands, or even over a hundred thousand, of my health."
Before long...
"Huh?"
"What's this?"
Xie Litang tapped on a cultivation technique to inspect it, reading aloud softly, "Blood River Divine Canon (Incomplete Chapter), D-Grade technique. Effect: Converts 1% of Vitality into defense."
For ordinary people, this technique was complete trash.
One point of defense for every hundred points of Vitality meant even if they trained themselves to death, its bonus wouldn't surpass a single piece of equipment.
However, Xie Litang was different. Every time she stacked Heartsteel, her Vitality permanently increased by several hundred points.
So it was effectively...
...every time she stacked Heartsteel from now on...
...it would permanently increase her attack, defense, and Vitality simultaneously. Infinite scaling across all three stats—a true showcase of pure numerical perfection in the late game.
Xie Litang singled out the Blood River Divine Canon and asked, "Why is it incomplete?"
Yang Yiyi brushed back her bangs and shrugged. "Because the rich boy's elder only cultivated up to that point before he took it out to sell for cash."
"I have another question. What about the risks?"
"You killed four peacekeepers, which was seen as a direct provocation to their authority. You're an A-Grade wanted criminal across the entire network of the Human New Citadel, and you're on the hit list of the Ye Family, the mega-corporation of Jianghai City. Someone like you is afraid of risks?"
"Don't misunderstand. I mean there should be a discount."
"Fine, fine, joking aside. There's definitely a risk. The Blood River Divine Canon originates from Jingbu Martial Arts University. Although it's a D-Grade technique, it's still their private property. If you're not afraid of trouble, go ahead and learn it."
Pausing briefly...
...Yang Yiyi pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of her nose, pursed her crimson lips, and continued, "Four hundred thousand. Not a penny less, or I won't be able to answer to the rich boy."
Xie Litang gave a slight nod. "Deal. On another note, do you have any recommendations for a small machine tool bench?"
Yang Yiyi swiped across her phone screen and sent over a file. "Nanometer-Grade Additive Integrated Manufacturing Terminal. It's a field military-grade piece of equipment."
"It integrates disassembly, processing, and material printing all in one. It's no exaggeration to say that as long as you have enough raw materials, it's essentially a miniature armory."
"The original owner was a military enthusiast whose family line has fallen on hard times."
"The full set was originally over three million. Now, with a steep discount, it's yours for just 1.4 million."
Xie Litang slapped the table and gritted her teeth. "1.4 million? Even if I sold myself, it wouldn't be enough! Plus, it's secondhand!"
Yang Yiyi waved her hand and chuckled. "How can you say that? Miss Xie, did that turbofan skateboard of yours not treat you well?"
"I, Yang Yiyi, might not guarantee other things, but can't you trust items from rich boys?"
"If I tell you it's a rare item barely used by a rich boy, then it really is like brand new."
Xie Litang shook her head. "In any case, I don't have the money."
Yang Yiyi covered her mouth with a soft laugh. "Look at you getting impatient again. Interested in hearing about our loan services?"
Xie Litang made a face of sheer disgust and refused, "Another scheme of lending nine and returning thirteen? Not interested."
Yang Yiyi hurriedly explained, "No, no, no! As long as it's within Miss Xie's repayment period, I can authorize a zero-interest loan. But in return, if Miss Xie comes across any good stuff in the future, you must give me right of first refusal to buy it. What do you think?"
Was there really such a good deal in this world?
Yet, thinking about it carefully, she didn't seem to have anything worth the woman targeting.
"Yang Yiyi, what's your angle here?"
"It's called an investment."
"I'm currently wanted across the entire network. I really don't know what makes me worth investing in."
"Put it this way." Yang Yiyi pondered for a moment before continuing, "A few days ago, your former classmates participated in some New Citadel High School Tournament where they fought demon beasts captured and locked in cages."
"That Xue Qingyue killed a Two-Star Demon Beast and was hailed as a rising star of Jianghai City. Major universities are throwing olive branches at her, scrambling to recruit her."
"While they're busy debating who's a genius, you can already produce materials from Five-Star Demon Beasts."
"Others fear your status as a wanted criminal, but what I see is your potential."
"Besides..."
"Where do you think I get all these secondhand goods from rich boys?"
"In a world like this, you might kill a demon beast or pick a herb today and become a billionaire overnight, but you could also die out in the wild tomorrow, plummeting from the clouds in an instant."
Xie Litang gritted her teeth and made up her mind. "Fine, deal."
Yang Yiyi stood up and extended her hand. "A wise choice. I'll get the goods to you within three days at most."
Xie Litang still felt an ache in her... nonexistent balls?
Wait, balls? Well... even though she didn't have balls anymore, it was just deeply uncomfortable, pure and simple.
During this black market trading day, she had made 1.4 million.
After all that fuss, she ended up owing Yang Yiyi 400,000 instead.
Moreover, problems followed one after another. She didn't feel comfortable leaving such an expensive piece of equipment in the black market.
Just like when she traveled far from home—if she was going to be gone for more than three days, she had to find a place to hide Chen Linling.
During mealtime...
...Xie Litang brought up the matter.
Chen Linling looked excited, yet touched with guilt. "Sis, thank you. I haven't contributed anything at all, yet you've done so much for me."
Xie Litang rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Why bring that up? Let's figure out where to place the equipment instead."
"Sis, how about Fumu City?"
"What's your reasoning?"
"When we were in the Fumu City vault last time, I detected some weak electromagnetic signals. That proves although the city was abandoned, the Old Era facilities aren't completely scrapped."
Pausing briefly...
...Chen Linling continued.
"We can use an Old Era server to deploy a private local network. Then, we'll only need to obtain a network access permit and connect through a signal tower to gain access to the intranet."
"Most importantly..."
"...Fumu City has more than enough Old Era materials."
Xie Litang pondered for a moment before deciding, "Alright, let's go with your plan."
Besides, in her view...
...Fumu City could practically be considered a safe zone.
Last time when her turbofan skateboard used its street-blasting function, it only lured out a few Wandering Corpses.
In less than two days...
...Chen Linling sat at the computer and typed up a proposal. From site selection and construction to recycling, and even restoring parts of the Old Era facilities, it covered everything.
The most troublesome part was undoubtedly the manpower.
Hiring people was clearly unrealistic. Xie Litang gritted her teeth and contacted Yang Yiyi once more.
On the private communication line, Yang Yiyi wore an alluring professional suit and said with amusement, "Miss Xie, you sure are a busy person. Speak, what is it?"
"Do you have bionic industrial robots?"
"Yes, of course! A demon beast material processing plant just decommissioned a batch. Twenty thousand each, want any?"
"Do I look like a junk collector to you?"
"Brand new ones have a market price of one hundred and twenty thousand. I'll give you a discount—one hundred and fifteen thousand."
"What did you say right before that?"
"A discount?"
"I mean the sentence before that."
"Decommissioned bionic robots, want any?"
"I'll take them."
"How many?"
"Ten."
"Thank you for your business. That will be two hundred thousand in total."
"Can I put it on tab?"
On the other end of the line, Yang Yiyi remained silent for a moment before pursing her red lips. "Business is business, and friendship is friendship. We have to keep them separate, you know."
Xie Litang spread her hands, saying with disappointment, "Then let's talk about it later."
Just as she was about to close the communication...
"Wait a second."
"Is there something else?"
"I noticed your delivery address is in Fumu City?"
"Why? Is there a problem?"
"There's a dormant Corpse General in Fumu City with strength equal to a Seven-Star Demon Beast. If you can get me the Corpse General's fangs, I'll give you those ten bionic industrial robots for free, plus consider myself owing you a personal favor."
"What do you need that stuff for?"
"An elder in the rich boy's family was gravely injured on the battlefield and is near death. They want to try corpsification to keep him alive."
Over the comms...
...Yang Yiyi leaned back into her seat and continued, "You know how it is. Once certain people die, their whole clan falls apart like scattered monkeys when the tree falls. But as long as they hold onto even a breath of life, it serves a purpose."
Xie Litang thought about it for a moment.
A Seven-Star Demon Beast had roughly ten-thousand-plus health points.
A Corpse General specialized in flesh and blood, so at most it would have around twenty thousand. That was just a matter of stacking Heartsteel a couple more times.
"Deal."
Xie Litang agreed.
Rate on N.U.
