Chapter 35: I'm going to play with you and you pay! ...
Bai stared silently at the steaming soup in front of him. After a few seconds, he asked, "Is it obvious?"
"It's quite obvious." Nan Qi pushed the pearl rice meatballs in front of Bai, "Eat and talk while you eat. You can tell me anything as your ally. I will help you."
"Ally." Bai rolled the word around on his tongue, a warm feeling welling up in his heart. "You know about Black Crystal, right?"
Nan Qi nodded. "The best energy stones in the universe, divided into high, medium and low grades, are considered the most valuable currency in the universe."
Bai nodded and added, "Among various crystals of the same size, low-grade black crystals can store ten times more energy than higher-grade crystals."
"This is just a bare stone. If it were made into an energy box, the energy within the black crystal would be more durable than the bare stone. That's why it's also known as the Star of Hope."
"Black crystal ore is rare. Although the Tro system is rich in energy minerals, black crystal ore has only been found on 18 of the 736 planets that have been developed."
Nan Qi seemed to have thought of something and continued, "It's the largest black crystal producing area on the Potter Planet. I remember it has its own code name among the many small planets."
Nan Qi smiled at this and said, "Isn't it because of this code name that you found me?"
There are a total of 736 planets developed in the Trolo system. These planets, excluding the central star, are divided into 36 regions based on the locations of the remaining six main stars and the coordinates of the smaller planets.
Each of the thirty-six districts contained over twenty small planets. Only those with large mines had unique numbers. This was Nan Qi's conclusion, drawn from observing the different IDs used by the participants.
The first two digits of the contestant's ID represent their district.
00 means that the central star is not in the arrangement, 01-36 represent the thirty-sixth district, and the last digit of 01-36 is the unique code of the contestant's planet, which is not the same for every contestant.
Nan Qi's competition ID is 19268, which should be correctly written as 19-2-68, indicating that Nan Qi is from District 19, Star 2, No. 68, where 2 Star is the code name for Porter Star.
The IDs of contestants whose planets do not have code names are the area code—※—XX. For example, the contestant ID is 15※126, which means contestant No. 126 of the codeless planet in District 15.
Bai found Nan Qi through Nan Qi's competition ID. He was also lucky because there was only one Brave Game store on the Porter Star where Nan Qi was, and the store randomly broadcast Nan Qi's live competitions. They found Nan Qi without much effort.
Now it seems that there really is a sense of destiny.
Bai frankly explained how he found Nan Qi.
"I had no ill intentions at the time. If I made you feel uncomfortable, I apologize."
"I'm not upset. Your appearance has solved my financial dilemma. That's great." Nan Qi waved his hand and brought the topic back to the point. "You suddenly asked me about the black crystal stone. What do you want to do?"
Bai pursed his lips and said honestly, "The military's supplies are allocated by the National Finance Department. The army uses energy in so many places, but the Ministry of Finance never provides us with sufficient black crystal energy boxes. They always pass off inferior ones as good ones, saying that the Empire's black crystal resources are tight."
When he said this, Bai sneered.
He is only nervous about them. Don't think he doesn't know what the male insects from those big families like to give to the female and male prostitutes when they are looking for willows.
It is an ornament made of black crystal.
They say that they are just scraps, and that black crystal is precious and cannot be wasted, but everyone knows that they are not scraps.
The things they need most but cannot get are used by those noble male insects as tools for pleasure and showing off.
Although it was just a low-level black crystal stone, and even though the playboy male insect didn't have many of them, it was enough to make the female soldiers feel uncomfortable.
"But I've seen that black crystals aren't expensive, and they don't seem particularly hard to come by."
Nan Qi was puzzled. After he mined the high-level black crystal stone, Siphis gave him three low-level black crystal stones as a reward.
He exchanged two of them for star coins at the trading center, for a total of 40,000 star coins. He also used the black crystal to buy a star brain.
According to Bai, the black crystal is extremely precious and is in the hands of the empire, making it difficult for female soldiers to obtain it.
Then why does the trading hall dare to conduct transactions so blatantly, the stores dare to openly collect black crystals, and Siphis dare to use black crystals as rewards?
This is too contradictory. It is also because of this that Nan Qi has never taken the black crystal stone seriously, thinking that it is similar to the gold in his original world.
It is a strategic material, but it is widely circulated.
Now listening to Bai Yi's words, it seemed that it was not what he thought at all. There must be a reason that he didn't know.
Bai explained simply, "In principle, all crystals can be traded and exchanged at the Crystal Exchange. Black crystals are rare, and bugs that can easily obtain them aren't short of money, so naturally they won't go to the exchange to exchange them."
"The Empire was also worried that low-level insects who suddenly acquired the Black Crystal would drive up the price, disrupting the market. Therefore, they established an exchange rate to keep the price of the Black Crystal low."
"Besides, a small amount of black crystal can't do much. The value of black crystal can only be realized in interstellar trade or on the black market. Interstellar trade is large-scale, and ordinary insects can't access it. But the black market is not accessible to all insects."
"Even if they get in, they won't accept loose black crystals. The fact that stores can accept them is regulated by the Ministry of Finance to prevent the secret outflow of small amounts of black crystals. The price is determined by the exchange. To put it bluntly, they're trying to find a so-called source for the black crystals in the male insects' hands."
Otherwise, those male insects would be arrested for illegally obtaining state energy.
"As for what you said about the mine manager, Sifis, using black crystals as a reward, it's because he doesn't want to give you a large reward of star coins, but he also wants to take credit for your achievements and use the mine's original resources to make a profit."
Having said that, Bai lowered his eyes to hide the sneer in his eyes.
"Ah, so treacherous, and so contradictory!" Nan Qi frowned and patted his forehead, "So I'm at a loss, what a mistake."
Bai was amused by Nan Qi's expression and smiled slightly. He comforted him, "You'll get used to it. You're not at a disadvantage. Not to mention interstellar trade, you can't enter the black market without a familiar guide. Even if you enter, they won't accept scattered black crystals."
"But you can buy things with black crystals, right?" Nan Qi looked at Bai eagerly, his chin resting on the table like a deflated ball. "Are things on the black market really that expensive?"
Bai opened his mouth and hummed unwillingly, "You have too few black crystals. You can't buy anything important."
Nan Qi had thought so when he decided to exchange for the black crystal stone, but he didn’t think so now. He knew that Bai followed his words to comfort him.
It was also his fault for not studying it carefully. Nan Qi was a little depressed, but he didn't get too hung up on it. Just when he wanted to get back to business, he felt a hand gently placed on his head and rubbed it softly.
"It's not your fault. You don't have access to interstellar trade or the black market. Given that these aren't true, exchanging your money at an exchange is your best option."
The gentle voice was different from the female insect's usual cold voice. Nan Qi, who was obsessed with both looks and voices, immediately pricked up his ears.
It really stood up, and two soft and warm cat ears popped out. Under Bai's comfort, it swayed flexibly from side to side comfortably.
Bai was seduced by this pair of cat ears, and his fingers seemed to be out of control, lightly twisting the soft cat ears with his fingertips.
Twisting and kneading are two completely different experiences. Just for a moment, Nan Qi trembled all over and let out a cry.
Nan Qi's vocal range was originally low, and this voice was filled with surprise, low and hoarse, sexy and seductive, full of eroticism.
However, Nan Qi's face did not turn red when he made such an obscene sound, but his ears turned red.
He retracted his hand as if he had touched a hot potato, opened his mouth, and after a moment, uttered three words: "I'm sorry."
"It's okay, it's okay, it's just a little itchy. I'm just not used to it and a little sensitive. It's not your problem."
Nan Qi shook his head vigorously, and the long hair on the tips of his cat ears swayed left and right in the air, which was very beautiful.
Seeing that Nan Qi was not angry, Bai felt relieved and apologized again: "I should have asked for your permission before touching you."
"Hey, it's okay, don't worry about it." Nan Qi pointed to the top of his head and said with a smile, "I'm also at fault. You rubbed it so comfortably that it came out."
Nan Qi tilted his head and tugged at the fur on the tips of his cat ears. He shook his head, and the cat ears disappeared. "Let's get back to business. Let's talk while we eat."
Bai looked at Nan Qi putting away his cat ears, feeling a sense of inexplicable loss in his heart. He ate the dish Nan Qi pushed in front of him before continuing:
"We're being held back by the Ministry of Finance's energy budget. We have to budget carefully for both training and combat, but it's still not enough. Many female soldiers have been left on the battlefield forever due to energy shortages, so we've come up with a solution."
"What method?"
"You know, besides the planet's existing military and police, there are also military females stationed there from the planet's military," Bai Dao said. "These military females are elite, protecting the energy mine from damage or invasion."
"Ah!" Nan Qi understood. "You place your own insects among the stationed military females, and then...how do you cleanse them? Through the black market?"
Bai nodded: "Smart."
"Then I think I know what you're looking for me about this time." Nan Qi took a sip of his soup, admired his own perfect cooking skills, and then said, "I'll join, but after the deal is done, I want to go to the black market and play. You'll reimburse all the expenses. Deal?"
All the words Bai had prepared were blocked by Nan Qi's words. He laughed, and laughed happily. His dark eyes turned into ice blue. The cold light in his icy eyes was no longer cold, but ripples like water.
"Okay, I'll reimburse you." Bai's voice was filled with laughter, and on the windy night, it sounded like it was soaked in honey.
After eating the two insects in one meal, they were very satisfied. After digesting the food, Nan Qi took Bai Gui and went out stealthily.
Half an hour later, a group of female soldiers and Nan Qi successfully reunited.
Surrounded by Bai and the others, Nan Qi pointed at the towering, cliff-like mountain on the map:
"The high-grade black crystal ore is just below this mountaintop. It's a whole vein. I only mined two pieces last time, and I discovered—"
Nan Qi paused, as if considering how to explain it so that they could understand.
After thinking for a few seconds, he couldn't come up with an appropriate explanation: "High-grade black crystal ore can block mental power, but when you dig out the black crystal, the bare stone can help the mental power spread outward."
"I suspect that low-grade black crystal ore has the same properties, but because it is low-grade, its shielding and diffusion capabilities are not strong."
"No wonder we can't use instruments to detect it. The miners can only be F-level bugs. So that's the root cause. They're afraid the true function of the black crystal will be discovered." Mellon sneered. "When did they discover it? Was the professor's death really an accident?"
"There's no point in saying more. It's not too late for us to know now."
After saying this, Bai looked at Nan Qi and asked, "Will mining high-grade black crystals have a negative impact on you?"
"That's not the case. It's just that when I'm mining, there can't be any other bugs around except you." Nan Qi blinked, with an expression that said you know.
Bai Leran nodded and asked Melon and the others to set up the net below while he and Nan Qi went up.
The female soldiers who were able to come here today were all Bai's confidants. They knew that Nan Qi was the leader chosen by their general, and they were curious and suspicious of this unfamiliar Nan Qi.
If Bai had not been very strict in his military discipline, they would definitely not have let their general follow a strange male insect, especially since this male insect had a strong mental strength.
Seeing the male insect nimbly climb up the mountain without the help of their general, the insects' eyes flashed with surprise. A female soldier who noticed something came up to Melon and asked without thinking:
"Is it him?"
Mellon nodded, and the military girl showed a surprised expression: "Sure enough, the admiral's preference is extraordinary."
Mellon was proud of it: "Of course."
Seeing this, the other female soldiers also came over, wanting to inquire about the information of the new general. Melon coaxed them back and told them to set up the net quickly and not delay things.
One of the female soldiers said: "The general and his master have gone up there. They shouldn't be dug out so quickly. Don't worry, the adjutant will tell us—"
Before Junfe could finish his words, he saw something falling from the mountain at a very fast speed. He rushed to catch it, but it almost broke his waist.
When the female soldier saw what she caught, she felt sick all over.
He turned around holding the huge thing, with an expression that said, "What is this? Why is it so big? High-grade black crystal is so easy to dig." This made Melon and other insects laugh.
Peggy still had a conscience and stepped forward to take the crystal from the military girl's hand. However, he paused for a moment when he touched it, and then returned to normal.
Mellon and the others also saw this performance and believed Nan Qi's words a little more.
"Everyone, move." Melon methodically directed the female soldiers to quickly and quietly spread out a large net.
As soon as the net was opened, crystal rain began to fall sparsely.
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