My Romance Game Updated – Chapter 52
by Little PandaExorbitant Profit
The first time Qi Sheng saw the small, compact machine Chen Gu was holding, he didn’t associate it with a generator at all. In his mind, a generator’s output was directly proportional to its size. The new, modified generators were often much larger than the old-fashioned models. So when faced with Ren Chenxi’s so-called Crystal Core Generator, Qi Sheng was naturally a little skeptical.
Despite his doubts, Qi Sheng didn’t voice them as directly as Chen Gu had. As a leader who had managed the base for two years, he had seen all sorts of storms and bizarre situations. Even with reservations, he insisted on trying it first before saying anything. Following the method Ren Chenxi had taught him, Qi Sheng took out a 1st-order crystal core. He connected the charging cable to a 10,000 mAh mobile power supply, then placed the crystal core into the generator and flipped the switch.
Human ingenuity is limitless. Even in the apocalypse, with limited resources, humanity could create all kinds of possibilities. Take the lightning-powered generator in the men’s old building, for example, or those two mobile power supplies. Who knew how they had been modified, but they charged extremely fast. A full 10,000 mAh charge took only ten minutes.
But compared to Ren Chenxi’s system-produced generator, that speed was far too slow. As long as conditions allowed its charging power to reach its maximum value, filling the small mobile power supply in Qi Sheng’s hand wouldn’t even take a few minutes.
Evidently, the conditions of Qi Sheng’s modified mobile power supply did not allow for that.
And so, from the moment the mobile power supply’s red charging light came on, Ren Chenxi found herself stuck in an awkward chat with Qi Sheng. Though it was an awkward chat, Ren Chenxi noticed that Qi Sheng was intentionally or unintentionally trying to probe her about the generator’s origins.
In truth, the moment the crystal core was inserted and the mobile power supply’s red light lit up, Qi Sheng had basically concluded that this Crystal Core Generator was functional. And since he had operated it himself, there was no room for trickery. With that, his gaze on Ren Chenxi grew even more fervent. As early as the second month after the apocalypse began, survivor bases of all sizes started being established across the country. Among them, the major cities with military garrisons were the fastest and most orderly in setting up large-scale survivor bases.
Of these bases, Ning’an Base in A City, which had the most talent from all walks of life, boasted the best conditions in every respect. Therefore, the first time Qi Sheng had heard the novel term “Crystal Core Generator” was from a survivor at the base who owned a radio.
This survivor had a small, portable radio that he couldn’t bear to throw away. In his spare time, he liked to turn it on, fiddle with the dial, and switch through the channels. Even if all he got was static, he would repeat the process tirelessly. Then, one day, his radio suddenly picked up a signal.
As a large base stabilized by the military and filled with a wealth of talent, Ning’an Base was the fastest to restore order and the first to invest heavily in manpower, resources, and funds for scientific research and innovation. Thus, a large base like this was also the first to establish its own radio station, using radio waves to send out recruitment information to anyone who could receive it.
And so, this survivor, who was tuning his radio as usual, picked up the broadcast from Ning’an Base. He learned that A City was vigorously researching and developing the energy contained within crystal cores, hoping to harness it.
The Crystal Core Generator was the primary research subject at Ning’an Base at the time.
After learning about Ning’an’s radio station and their research, Qi Sheng had scavenged a radio for himself and frequently followed the situation at Ning’an Base. But after all this time, the Ning’an radio station had stopped reporting on the progress of the Crystal Core Generator research. Instead, they spent their days boasting in various ways about how great their base environment was, how comfortable the living conditions were, and how good the food was, making the other survivors in Nanhai Base who also had radios itch with envy.
Although Qi Sheng was annoyed that Ning’an Base was always broadcasting such things to stir up people’s hearts, H City was ultimately too far from A City. Even if some espers in the base were tempted, they didn’t dare risk leaving Nanhai Base for the long journey to Ning’an. More than Ning’an’s daily bragging, what Qi Sheng cared about most was the result of their research into crystal core energy.
Unfortunately, they simply wouldn’t announce the results. No matter how anxious Qi Sheng was, there was nothing he could do. Then today, Chen Gu had suddenly run over to ask if he wanted to buy a Crystal Core Generator. He had been so dazed, he thought he was going crazy from obsessing over Ning’an Base’s research and had started hearing things. But after listening to Chen Gu’s explanation, Qi Sheng, while coming to his senses, remained half-convinced and half-doubtful about the device. It wasn’t until this very moment, when he had personally charged his own mobile power supply, that the heavy weight in Qi Sheng’s heart finally lifted.
It seemed Ning’an Base really had successfully developed a Crystal Core Generator. But how did a mere 4th-order esper like Ren Chenxi have such an advanced machine? And how could she have brought it all the way to Nanhai Base and be selling it so casually?
Having listened to the Ning’an radio station, Qi Sheng had already jumped to the conclusion that Ren Chenxi’s Crystal Core Generator had come from A City. At the same time, he also speculated that if the generator had been developed, then Ning’an Base might have also developed other machines that utilized crystal core energy.
Listening to Qi Sheng’s surreptitious probing, Ren Chenxi answered a few of his questions with a mix of truth and lies. For instance, regarding the generator, she only said she got it from a group of people. As for who they were or how they had such a device, Ren Chenxi claimed to know nothing. When asked where she met them, she spouted nonsense about running into them in S City, and she didn’t know where they went afterward. As for why she came to Nanhai Base, Ren Chenxi pushed the responsibility onto the junior students from S University, saying she had brought them here to seek refuge with Mu Ning.
Finally, Qi Sheng asked probingly, “Besides the Crystal Core Generator, Sister Xi, do you know if those people have any other machines that use crystal core energy?”
When Qi Sheng asked this, an idea sparked in Ren Chenxi’s mind. She quickly called up the Apocalypse Mall panel, did a search, and actually found a Crystal Core Engine. The selling price was 200,000 crystal stones; with her member discount, it was only 100,000.
The prices in the Apocalypse Mall were set by the system, and Ren Chenxi couldn’t figure out the pricing rules. She just knew that when she saw the 100,000-crystal-stone engine, her heart couldn’t help but race.
Should I take this chance to make another huge profit?
Ren Chenxi’s hesitation, in Qi Sheng’s eyes, was confirmation that she knew of other crystal core machines. He instantly grew tense as well and pressed on, “Sister! Just tell your ge, what other machines do they have?”
Ren Chenxi glanced at Qi Sheng, deciding to test his attitude first before committing to profiting from the Crystal Core Engine. She nodded and replied, “There’s also a Crystal Core Engine.”
“A Crystal Core Engine!” Qi Sheng’s voice shot up. A Crystal Core Engine would be incredibly useful! Setting aside everything else, just looking at the growing number of abandoned vehicles in the base showed how desperately they needed fuel. The fuel shortage meant they couldn’t travel farther to find supplies or the various materials needed for base construction. It could be said that Qi Sheng had even issued specific missions just to collect large amounts of diesel and gasoline. Unfortunately, the survivors who went out to find fuel consumed fuel themselves, and sometimes the hard-won gasoline would be bought up by the Fan family at a high price.
The lack of sufficient fuel to allow his people to cross provinces in search of supplies had always been a major headache for Qi Sheng.
Seeing Qi Sheng’s ecstatic expression, Ren Chenxi knew what to do.
“The Crystal Core Engine is more expensive than the Crystal Core Generator. Do you want it, Sheng-ge?”
“You have a Crystal Core Engine too?” Qi Sheng’s voice cracked.
“Mhm. When they gave me the generator, they gave me the engine too.”
“S-such a precious thing, they just… just gave it to you?” Qi Sheng’s voice trembled slightly.
“Mhm. Because I saved their lives,” Ren Chenxi said, her tone perfectly self-righteous.
Qi Sheng nodded in agreement. If they were about to die, it wouldn’t matter how advanced or precious their machines were. Giving such a fine machine to their savior… then again, if it were him, he still wouldn’t be able to part with it. But those people were most likely the relevant scientific researchers; for them, making another one was probably a simple matter. So giving it to their savior as a reward was reasonable, right?
Of course, Qi Sheng didn’t fully believe Ren Chenxi’s story. But if he didn’t believe she got the two machines by saving someone, he couldn’t guess how else she might have obtained them. There were clearly many suspicious things about Ren Chenxi, but since she was unwilling to say more, Qi Sheng couldn’t press her for details. Besides, compared to the mysteries surrounding her, Qi Sheng was far more interested in the Crystal Core Engine she mentioned.
“Then… Sister Xi, the Crystal Core Engine… how many crystal cores?”
“200,000 1st-order crystal cores.” With Mu Ning’s pricing demonstration as a precedent, Ren Chenxi didn’t hold back this time, quoting the Apocalypse Mall’s original price.
“200,000 1st-order crystal cores?” Although Qi Sheng could afford it, he still wanted to haggle. “Sister, can’t you give your ge a…”
Before he could finish, Mu Ning, who had been listening to their idle chat from the side, suddenly cut in. “200,000 1st-order crystal cores. I’ll take that engine. Our minivan is out of fuel; a new engine would be perfect.”
“…” Qi Sheng was highly suspicious. This was someone Mu Ning had personally brought into the base, and she clearly took special care of her. With a relationship like that, did she really need to spend crystal cores to buy an engine from her? Couldn’t she just say the word and they’d share it? But it was precisely because of this that Qi Sheng worried Ren Chenxi might actually forgo the 200,000 crystal cores and keep the engine for their own use. So, steeling himself, he hurriedly shouted, “Alright, alright! 200,000 1st-order crystal cores! I’ll take it!”
Though the flesh hurt, he had no choice. In the apocalypse, gasoline was far rarer than crystal cores!
Hearing Qi Sheng’s concession, Ren Chenxi instinctively looked at Mu Ning and couldn’t help but smile at her. 150,000 crystal stones—an amount that would have taken her who-knows-how-many zombies and mutated beasts to earn—had just fallen into her lap so easily. And a large part of that was thanks to Mu Ning’s feigned competition.
And Mu Ning, upon seeing such a genuine smile from Ren Chenxi, felt her heart once again begin to pound uncontrollably. At the same time, a stinging sensation welled up in her nose.
In the past, she had seen this same brilliant smile countless times but had never known to cherish it. Now, this rare, genuine smile directed at her was as fleeting as a night-blooming cereus.1 Before she could even get a good look, it was gone again.
The author has something to say:
Qi Sheng: With a relationship like yours… you still have to pay in crystal cores?
Xixi: What relationship?
Wooden-head: What relationship?
Qi Sheng: Uh… a good sisters relationship?
Wooden-head: Don’t sell him the generator and the engine!
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