Chapter 17: Harvest (Seek follow-up reads on Wednesday)

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"Clap, clap, clap!"

Song Chi had just finished speaking when, without waiting for a reply from Sun Hao, a round of applause broke out from behind them.

Turning their heads, the person clapping was none other than Wang Yuan, who, besides Sun Hao, was another student in Class 5 to have awakened the white Seed of Torch.

As he stood up from the back row, he praised with a smile,

"Well said, you win some, you lose some—exactly my sentiment."

After speaking, he squeezed next to Song Chi and Sun Hao and began to converse familiarly,

"Sun Hao, Song Chi, hello. Due to various reasons, we haven't had much interaction over the past decade. But things are different now; only 16 of our classmates have successfully awakened, and after the recent welfare exploration, only 15 are left..."

Listening silently to the other's nutritionless words, Song Chi subtly made space and shifted to another seat, discerning that Wang Yuan was here for Sun Hao, not so much for him.

As for Wang Yuan's intentions, with the wisdom of someone who had lived twice, Song Chi could guess easily: it was nothing more than convincing his classmates to band together. And as a person who had awakened the white Seed of Torch, to naturally take the lead in this group, elevating his status and network and by doing so, gaining access to more resources and benefits.

He wasn't interested in that, though he didn't have any aversion to it either. Without power or background, it was understandable to want to advance further by banding together.

...

At First Torch Academy's auditorium, nearly two hundred students sat below the stage while the teaching director spoke with fervor.

This was the outgoing students' last school assembly. After this, everyone would graduate and head their separate ways.

Some might soon perish in subsequent Alien Star Domain explorations.

Others might give up on exploring Alien Territories altogether, relying on the Spectral Energy Cultivation Platform on their shuttles, accumulating time to step into First Rank and live a merry life for two hundred years.

Yet others might rise meteorically, diving into the vast ocean to forge achievements beyond measure in the future.

But no matter what, none would return to this moment.

Song Chi was somewhat distracted, and once the assembly was over, he declined invitations from Sun Hao, Wang Yuan, and the others, eager to return home.

Once in his bedroom, he immediately entered the Zhu Tian Ruins Market.

In the market's stall zone, what had been an empty area was now filled with various ores.

Not just mithril and copper azurite, but also electrum, cold iron, and others, though in small quantities, all under ten tons—electrum amounting to about thirty tons.

Including the mithril and copper azurite, first to be mined, the value was around 350 strands of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin.

350 strands of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin might not sound like much, but don't forget, the average yield of a Torch Civilization shuttle grade Torch Warship from a single Alien Star Domain exploration is only about 100 strands. Moreover, he had not yet accounted for that Purple Component, the Nuclear Fusion Engine.

Speaking of the Nuclear Fusion Engine, Song Chi promptly summoned the Cang Qiong and checked the Component's specific attributes, something he had wanted to do for hours since his return.

Nuclear Fusion Engine lv0

Quality: Purple

Feature: An additional 20% increase in energy supply efficiency

Consumption: 5/s

Energy Supply: 36/s

Post-overload Buffer: 30 minutes

Energy Pool: 5000 points (can store 5000 energy points)

UpRank Requirement: 5 strands of Floating Land Origin (Zero Rank), 500 energy points, 5 Life Cores (Zero Rank).

Examining the engine's attributes, Song Chi's eyes sparkled.

Worthy of a Purple Level component, even without enhancement, its attributes were already stronger than a lv7 Spectral Engine. Especially that high-quality Feature unique to Purple Components—an additional 20% increase in energy supply efficiency—would evidently become more astonishing as the Component's Enhancement Level rose.

After a slight thrill, Song Chi shifted his attention to the "Convertible" section. This attribute represented the original Strange Object form of the "Nuclear Fusion Engine" Component. It's been said that each starship component with a color has been transformed from a Starry Sea Oddity.

Once a First Rank Floating Land Origin Core fusion body is inducted into a Torch Warship, it gets converted into a Component Shape. Similarly, when the Component leaves the Torch Warship, it can be reconverted into its original Strange Object shape.

After checking the attributes, Song Chi hesitated to swap the Purple Engine with the standard Spectral Engine. While it might seem like a nuclear engine, unrelated to Spectral Energy, this relationship was only because it hadn't been installed. Once merged into the warship's slot, the Seed of Torch would instantly transform the produced energy into Spectral Energy.

The reason he didn't swap it right away was firstly, the exploration of the Alien Territories had just ended and the second would only start a month later, so there was no rush. Secondly, at that moment, the Cang Qiong didn't have any high-energy-consuming components, making the Spectral Engine sufficient.

The most important reason was that he was about to engage in his first trading at the Zhu Tian Ruins Market, and he wanted to see if other Starry Sea intelligent beings were willing to pay a higher price for the First Rank Floating Land Origin Core fusion body or something like that.

While the likelihood was low, trying was always worth it.

After sorting out his current needs and situation, Song Chi began to intricately plan the details for before the opening of Zhu Tian Ruins Market.

Since the Ultra Long-Distance Space Gate Random Deployment Platform was entirely random, he didn't know what kind of civilization's creatures would enter the Ruins Market, so he needed to be prepared in advance.

For example, he might purchase in advance a batch of good and inexpensive items widely praised within the Torchlight Humanity.

Such as the durable and affordable Tungsten Gold Combat Shields and Tungsten Gold Lances.

Or the widely propagated gene optimization serums, not just cheap but also very effective for those species that never used them before.

And Life Cores, materials commonly used throughout the Shattered Starry Sea, and so forth.

Of course, his meticulous considerations and plans weren't meant to benefit the "lucky" beings of Alien Territories; he would price all these bulk-purchased goods at three to five times the cost, profiting from the price difference in trading with beings from different parts of the Starry Sea.

After an hour of careful planning, confident there were no other oversights, Song Chi summoned Cang Qiong again, ready to transport the ores stored in the market.

Currently, he had only a few strands of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin left, and stocking up would require capital. With insufficient funds, he naturally needed to sell the ores first, which were meant to be sold regardless.

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