Chapter 1 The Shop

Su Mo calmed his shocked heart slightly and browsed the other items on the counter.

However, the prices here made his jaw drop.

Basically, nothing was less than 100 million star coins, but the items here seemed very powerful from their names.

Star Destroyer Cannon, Space Jump Device, Csd Star Crystal Shield Device, tCs Shipborne Optical Brain Device...

Su Mo even saw an item that made his eyelids twitch—a very special Star Destroyer model.

Su Mo was quite certain that this was no ordinary store; the grade of the items sold here was exceptionally high.

At this moment, Su Mo's gaze inadvertently swept across the middle counter, personally guarded by the old man, where a damaged mechanical sphere was placed. His heart inexplicably constricted.

He immediately realized that what had guided him to come here was this damaged mechanical sphere.

Su Mo observed it calmly. This damaged mechanical sphere had no price tag, making it seem like it was not for sale.

If it were a normal item for sale, it should have a label and price here.

Since it was not for sale, there were only two possibilities: one, it was for display; two, it was damaged and could not be sold.

Su Mo's thoughts raced. He checked his wealth. He currently held 1.321 billion gold points and 12.689 billion silver points, which, when converted, totaled 2.59 billion star coins.

So Su Mo surveyed all the items on display, planning to divert the old man's attention first. He set his sights on a V-generation colony armor called "Tian Zui" (Heaven's Punishment), whose parameters were as follows:

It used a miniature bio-assisted optical brain as its core, a CAss bio-nuclear crystal as its power core, could resist V-level mental pollution, was immune to V-level harsh environments, provided dark bio-energy assistance, and was equipped with the Tian Zui Blade...

The price was 10 billion star coins.

Su Mo looked at the parameters; it was more powerful than a typical third-generation mecha. If he equipped this armor, he would be like a humanoid monster.

It was impossible not to be tempted.

So Su Mo opened his mouth and asked, "How is this armor sold?"

The old man didn't look up, simply replying coldly, "Look for yourself."

"Your price is too high. How about this: sell it to me for 2 billion star coins?"

Su Mo unceremoniously started to bargain, adhering to the spirit of bargaining to the death, aiming for a deep discount first.

Unfortunately, the old man in front of him was unmoved and did not respond in any way.

"How about I offer a little more? 2.1 billion star coins."

Su Mo replied calmly without embarrassment.

"10 billion."

The old man replied hoarsely, with no intention of lowering the price.

"2.3 billion, this is a very sincere price."

"10 billion."

The old man remained unmoved.

Su Mo said very seriously to the old man, "How about this, I'll add a little more, 2.5 billion star coins, this is the maximum price. It's not me bragging, but if you don't sell it to me, no one can afford it now. Your thing is valuable if you say it is, and worthless if you don't. It's just gathering dust here."

"10 billion."

The old man repeated like a robot, without a trace of emotion, not budging an inch.

Su Mo shook his head and replied, "Too expensive, just 2.5 billion star coins. If you're willing to sell, then sell. If not, then I'll leave. There are plenty of merchants outside. Not to mention, I can buy from Mechanical Pillar."

Saying that, Su Mo walked out, waiting for the other party to call him back.

Unfortunately, there was still no reaction.

Su Mo didn't turn back, leaving straight away, as if he had given up.

After leaving the store, Su Mo looked around. There were quite a few stores nearby. He planned to browse a few more and also check out Mechanical Pillar. There's a saying that comparing three stores is always a good idea.

........

------------------------------------

Outside the Star Ring City's outer trading market, Xiao Wen and Chen Shan were handing over with a Federal quartermaster.

"This is the list of supplies you are escorting back this time. Be sure not to let anything go wrong. This is a very important batch of supplies for the Federation. Every bit of resource is crucial in the early stages."

"Wu Yue, rest assured, we will properly escort these things back."

Xiao Wen solemnly guaranteed.

"I am naturally relieved to leave things to you. Well, with the serious business finished, you don't have to be so restrained. After finishing with the goods, there is still plenty of spare time. You can take this opportunity to stroll around the trading market here and arm yourselves appropriately."

"That's what we were thinking too."

"Friendly reminder, if you're not rich, don't go to Mechanical Pillar to buy things. The things there are ridiculously expensive and you can't bargain. Of course, the quality is also unquestionable. You can check out the nearby shops and stalls. You might find unexpected gains. The owners of the shops and stalls here are all people left over from defeated civilizations. You just buy things and bargain. Ignore everything else they say. We are new here and don't understand this negative universe at all. We are at a disadvantage when communicating with them. We wouldn't even know if we were sold out. But we also have our strengths, which is that our future is full of possibilities, while they can only linger on, slowly dying in Star Ring City."

Wu Yue said very seriously to Xiao Wen.

Xiao Wen stepped forward and hugged Wu Yue to express his gratitude.

"I will."

"Okay, I'll go get busy first. When I'm transferred back to Earth, we'll get together again."

"Okay, bye!"

Xiao Wen said goodbye to Wu Yue.

Chen Shan said to Xiao Wen with emotion, "We graduated from military academy together. I didn't expect Wu Yue to be doing so well. The logistics department is a lucrative position in itself. I didn't expect him to be stationed in Star Ring City."

"Don't say that. Although it's a lucrative position, I'm not envious at all. I'm very satisfied with the present. We at least have the opportunity to witness the sea of stars!"

"That's true!"

"Alright, let's not talk about this. Let's quickly send these supply boxes to the port to be loaded onto the ship, then we can go shopping."

Xiao Wen looked at the tightly sealed boxes in front of him. Although they were not large, their value was probably not low. If it weren't for the fact that no one dared to mess around in Star Ring City, he would definitely escort them back immediately.

"Okay!"

......

On the other side, Su Mo walked out of a private store, also with a worried face.

The quality of the things inside was not good, but they were selling them at exorbitant prices.

The most crucial thing was that the store owner kept subtly asking questions.

The shopping experience was terrible.

"Brother, are you here to buy supplies? I have a whole batch of munitions here, good quality and cheap!"

"Don't believe him, I have a batch of warships here, even cheaper..."

"Believe me, I have a batch of mechas here, all brand new."

"Bullshit, your mechas are all centuries-old antiques."

.....

At this time, three or four die-hard scalpers immediately crowded around, vying for business.

Unfortunately, Su Mo had no interest at all. He had just taken a look. The things sold in these stores were not of very good quality. The highest grade he saw was a third-generation mecha, and it was quite old.

But the advantage was that he could bargain!

At this moment, Su Mo saw a Mechanical Pillar not far ahead, and was immediately attracted to it.

He ignored the scalpers and walked straight up.

When the scalpers saw Su Mo heading towards the Mechanical Pillar, they deflated like punctured balls, sighing one after another.

Soon Su Mo came to the Mechanical Pillar. He reached out and pressed against the Mechanical Pillar. Instantly, the Mechanical Pillar emitted a special halo, covering Su Mo.

Immediately afterwards, a special light screen image appeared in front of him.

Rows of lists and catalogs floated out, dazzling Su Mo.

He briefly browsed the general directory. The Mechanical Pillar sold more than a million different types of things. It was simply too powerful.

It could be said that it had everything from the First Civilization to the Fifth Civilization.

Su Mo couldn't wait to filter and browse.

He looked for a while, frowning tightly. He compared it slightly. Although the V-generation mecha here also sold for 100 billion, it was labeled as a standard fifth-generation mecha.

Its performance data was far worse than that old store.

Su Mo continued to browse the Star Destroyer Cannons, V-generation colony armor, and so on.

As a result, the prices were outrageously expensive. Under the same quality conditions, the things at Mechanical Pillar were almost twenty percent more expensive than that store.

If that was the case, the things in that store were really at a fair price, without much markup.

No wonder the old man had an attitude of "take it or leave it," not giving any leeway.

However, although he confirmed that the things at Mechanical Pillar were more expensive, Su Mo didn't close the operation interface, but continued to browse. The Mechanical Pillar had a relatively complete selection of items, and safety was more guaranteed.

Su Mo quickly called up the gene enhancement injections.

Swish! An entire interface popped up!

Hundreds of different models of gene injections popped up, ranging from Type I to Type V.

And even for the same type of gene injection, there were different branch types, and the prices were also different.

But a closer look revealed that the omnipotent, perfect Cres gene injection was the most expensive, crushing other gene injections of the same type by several or even dozens of times.

Su Mo clicked on it and saw that the introduction clearly stated that it was a non-alienating gene enhancement injection with no side effects. It would not damage gene stability, could maximize the enhancement of mental and physical strength, and was immune to negative intrusions below level V.

Su Mo tried to click on it. The price of Type I was 100 star coins (special price), Type II was 1 million star coins, Type III was 10 million star coins, Type IV was 100 million star coins, and Type V was 1 billion star coins.

It was simply robbery!

Su Mo took a deep breath, raised his hand, trembling slightly, and clicked a few times, buying the most expensive set of gene injections.

After all, it was being injected into the body, so it was better to buy something good to feel more at ease. Moreover, even if this kind of thing was cheaper in a private store, he wouldn't want to buy it.

Who knows if they were selling fakes or cutting corners.

Mechanical Pillar should be more reliable.

At that moment, Mechanical Pillar popped up a prompt: "Please convert gold points and silver points into star coins first. Do you want to convert?"

"Yes!"

Su Mo clicked.

The next second, a metal card popped out from the recessed part in the middle of the Mechanical Pillar.

Su Mo pulled it out. This should be something like a bank card, but it seemed to be bound to biometric features and didn't require a password. Only the person himself could use it.

Then Su Mo clicked on checkout again.

"Checkout successful. Please go to biological warehouse G7632 to collect your purchased items. Because your spending has met the standard, you will be given a free one-year stay in Star Ring City."

Su Mo was a little surprised to see the final prompt. He even got a free gift.

At this time, Su Mo curiously asked a question.

"How can I stay in Star Ring City for a long time?"

"You are advised to purchase the corresponding real estate in Star Ring City and pay fixed taxes every year to obtain the right of residence, otherwise you will be forcibly expelled."

Su Mo clicked to take a look at the real estate in Star Ring City, and his mouth twitched slightly.

The price of each house was no less than 10 million star coins. It was simply robbery!

In that instant, Su Mo even felt that the entire Star Ring City was an invisible vampire, sucking dry those who wanted to live here, indirectly forcing them to leave Star Ring City.

Su Mo browsed the things sold in Mechanical Pillar for a while, and was extremely envious, but he still rationally restrained himself.

Then Su Mo asked.

"How do I get to area G7632!"

"You can pay 1 star coin to take the floating mechanical grid, or you can walk there."

As he spoke, a holographic image showed the route, which was not very far, only 500 kilometers.

Su Mo's mouth twitched slightly, and he decisively chose to pay 1 star coin.

Suddenly, in the next second, the metal grid under his feet automatically floated into the air, and at the same time released a transparent energy shield to wrap Su Mo, and then flew away at high speed.

Its moving speed was super fast, and he saw the external scenery quickly passing by.

Before Su Mo could recover, the floating mechanical grid began to slow down, preparing to land.

Soon he came to the designated area. After the energy shield was removed, Su Mo saw a huge biological building appear in front of him.

The closed metal door opened automatically.

At this time, a short, white-coated humanoid frogman came out.

His face was full of disgusting bubbles. The skin on his body was also abnormally greasy.

"Hello, Mr. Su Mo, are you here to pick up the gene potion you purchased?"

"Yes."

Su Mo replied, suppressing his discomfort.

"Please come with me."

The frogman in front of him led Su Mo in.

After entering this building, Su Mo clearly felt the temperature drop a lot, and couldn't help but shiver.

Along the way, various scanning devices were constantly scanning Su Mo deeply, making him feel very uncomfortable.

After passing through一道dao shutter doors, the frogman led Su Mo to a cold storage. He reached out and opened the cold storage door, releasing an ultra-cold aura.

It almost froze Su Mo. He gritted his teeth and followed in.

The frogman walked to the cold storage, and along the way began to take out small metal boxes and handed them to Su Mo at will.

Su Mo glanced at the metal boxes, all of which were marked with the model number. This was a Type I gene injection.

Until he walked to the depths and took out the fifth gene metal storage box, his expression revealed envy.

"Here, all five different models of gene metal storage boxes are for you. You can choose to take them away directly, or you can choose to inject them here. We provide a quiet injection room here. You can inject them yourself, but of course it's not free. You need to pay 10,000 star coins."

"Okay, give me an injection room."

Su Mo didn't even want to think about it and wanted this service. These five gene injections were about to wipe out almost half of his assets. He didn't want any accidents to happen. The sooner he used them, the better!

"Please come with me."

The frogman directly led Su Mo out of the cold storage.

A moment later, Su Mo came to a closed metal room, which contained only a metal bed, nothing else.

"You can use it here. No one will disturb you. Of course, if you have side effects from the injection and need first aid, we also provide it here, but it's not free."

"Understood."

Su Mo nodded in response.

"Then I won't disturb you."

The frogman said and retreated.

Su Mo looked at the five gene metal storage boxes in front of him, and his heart was also a little apprehensive. The memory of using gene injections in the Star Ring was still deeply etched in his mind.

However, he couldn't care so much. He took the lead in opening the first metal box.

He took out the Type I biological gene injection and injected it into himself without hesitation.

Soon the gene injection took effect, but unexpectedly, it wasn't as painful as Su Mo had imagined. Although he felt a heat all over his body, and his bones were creaking, he also felt abnormalities in his internal organs.

But it was much stronger than before.

When the physical abnormalities disappeared, Su Mo moved his muscles and bones slightly. He felt more comfortable than ever before.

But he couldn't say exactly what was better. After all, this was no longer the Star Ring world. There would be no interface to tell him how much his body had been strengthened.

But Su Mo could clearly feel that he had become stronger in real terms.

His eyes became more and more firm as he looked at the second gene injection.

.....

Twelve hours later, Su Mo walked out of the biological reserve gate. At this moment, he felt like he had been reborn.

His perception, nerves, sense of smell, and physical strength had all been amplified like never before.

He also felt unprecedentedly powerful, but Su Mo was not lost because of this. He was very clear that his physical strength was still within the scope of humans.

If he wanted to use his flesh to resist weapons, that would be suicide. After all, he didn't use alienating injections. What specific effects he achieved, he still had to test slowly later to find out.

Forget it, I don't want to think about this, Su Mo stood directly on the floating metal grid at the door, took out his metal card and said.

"Return to the Mechanical Pillar I came from before."

Immediately, the floating metal pillar that was being called out automatically started. The transportation in Star Ring City was very convenient. It could take you anywhere you wanted to go, but of course the price was not cheap.

.......

Not long after, Su Mo returned to the street he had come from. He looked at the time and felt it was about time.

It was time to get down to business, so he walked towards that store again.

Soon he walked into the store as if nothing had happened.

The store was still deserted and there were not many people. The eerie old man was still sitting motionless at the counter.

He didn't mean to welcome guests at all.

At this time, Su Mo walked around each counter again and found that the fourth-generation mechas ranged from 100 million star coins to 10 billion star coins. Then he set his sights on a special IV-generation biomecha, Dark Warrior. The model looked very handsome and used two light blades. The price was 1.2 billion star coins.

"Can this mecha be cheaper?"

"1.2 billion."

The old man was as cold as ever.

"You can't do business like this. You have to be a little cheaper, 1.1 billion star coins."

Su Mo tried to see if he could cut down some of the price.

"1.2 billion."

The old man was not angry, but he didn't bargain either.

Su Mo looked very tangled, and then said with a determined look: "Okay, 1.2 billion is 1.2 billion, but I'm losing money, so you have to give me that broken iron ball."

At this time, Su Mo said his purpose without showing any emotion.

At this time, the old man moved. He raised his head and looked at Su Mo.

Su Mo's nerves contracted instinctively. He had obviously been strengthened, but he still felt instinctively afraid.

The old man opened his mouth, revealing his rotten teeth, and said: "This damaged optical brain device costs 1.5 billion. Do you think that if you buy that 1.2 billion mecha, I will give you this one?"

"Are you robbing me? What's that broken thing worth?"

"Take it or leave it!"

Seeing this, Su Mo didn't hide it and replied directly.

"Okay, in that case, I don't want that mecha, I want this damaged optical brain device."

"1.5 billion! Pay up."

The old man reached out directly.

"I only have so much, take it or leave it."

Su Mo also handed over the metal card very simply. He now had more than 1.478 billion star coins in his card, which was indeed a little short. But if he really wanted to sell it, he would probably sell it.

The old man took the card and swiped it, falling silent as he looked at the balance on the card.

Su Mo couldn't help but become nervous. Normally, there should be no problem, but Su Mo really couldn't say for sure about this old man.

But fortunately, the old man finally relented.

He directly cleared the balance in Su Mo's card.

Then he took out the damaged metal ball and metal card and handed them to Su Mo.

After Su Mo took it, he turned around and left the store directly, without looking back.

He was afraid that the other party would go back on his word. For some reason, Su Mo's heart was accelerating inexplicably. This feeling was like winning the lottery.

Not long after Su Mo left, a twisted smile appeared on the old man's ferocious face. Then he turned around and took out a bottle of scarlet wine from the counter behind him. He bit off the bottle cap and took a sip.

However, in the next second, a painful expression appeared on his dry face, and he vomited it out directly.

The vomited wine was completely blackened.

....

On the other side, Su Mo found a deserted corner after getting this damaged optical brain device and began to look at it.

At this time, the green fluorescent mark on his hand emitted a faint light.

Then a little green fluorescence separated from Su Mo and floated into the damaged optical brain device.

The originally dim and dry optical brain device began to repair rapidly on its surface, and then countless patterns and circuits emerged. At the same time, the entire damaged optical brain device began to pulsate like a living life form.

Su Mo was also shocked by this sudden change. In the next second, the activated optical brain was forcibly embedded into Su Mo's chest and began to penetrate into it.

The severe pain caused Su Mo to kneel down suddenly.

He felt that the cells all over his body were about to be torn apart. This was still under the condition that he had strengthened his body.

Su Mo's blood vessels all over his body bulged, making him look extremely hideous. xxs one

At this time, a voice sounded in Su Mo's mind, and a line of prompts automatically appeared in front of him.

"Prompt: The counterfeit master optical brain Devourer has been successfully activated!"

"Prompt: The host identity has been successfully bound."

"Prompt: The database has been damaged, automatically initializing!"

"Prompt: Insufficient energy, entering hibernation state."

.......

After a full half an hour, Su Mo gradually recovered. He slowly stood up, his expression full of horror.

He always felt like there was something more in his mind, but everything seemed normal again.

Su Mo's expression kept changing, and finally he took a long breath. Although he was a little worried, he still accepted it and would study it slowly later.

After he adjusted his mentality, he took out his phone to check the time.

There was still plenty of time before the 24-hour departure time. If it were a normal situation, he would definitely take a stroll and buy some necessary things.

Not to mention anything else, he would definitely dig up some information to enrich himself.

He now knew nothing about the performance of the mechas and warships in this world, as well as some miscellaneous devices and equipment, let alone how to use them.

In addition, the most important thing was that he needed to buy a complete encyclopedia of monsters, so that he wouldn't stupidly rush up when he encountered a powerful monster.

The information that Lin Yue had shown him before was not comprehensive, but only a rough introduction.

This was probably largely related to the limited funding of the Federation.

But now that he had spent all his money, what was there to buy?

Not to mention getting himself a colony armor or a mecha, Su Mo felt a pain in the ass thinking about it, feeling like he had become a pauper overnight.