Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 640 - 255. Foreign Exchange Harvest

Chapter 640: 255. Foreign Exchange Harvest

Li Aozi didn’t expect that the Crystal Tower would be so ungraceful. It was clear that Baizhu Star no longer had any important Magic Workshops, and of the most critical "Discerning Eye Fragments," two had been taken by the Night Butterfly Federation, and the only remaining one had long since been secretly moved.

Whoever would spend eighty million Ammonium Gold for the Discerning Eye Fragments would be the ultimate fool. Li Aozi would be sure to laugh at them heartily.

"Looks like there will be some heavy bleeding, but that’s okay. Even with a bit of markup, I can quickly recoup the costs through my operations."

But it was a pity that now online auctions were in vogue. Li Aozi looked around and didn’t see sellers engaging in banter or trash-talking, which was a pity.

The entertaining bid-raising of auctions was replaced here by indifferent numbers. It was even hard to say whether your competitors were people or digital lifeforms.

Knock, knock, knock—

The office door was knocked on.

"Come in," Li Aozi said offhandedly. The next moment, the door opened, and Nikita came in, humming as he carried a stack of files, which he promptly dropped on Li Aozi’s desk.

"What were you thinking, suddenly deciding you want me to collect information on ’Zhi Xiang’?"

Nikita muttered.

"Just a personal hobby," Li Aozi said, picking up one of the files, with the translation software automatically converting it to a language he could understand: "Zhi Xiang: A Mysterious Mandate Creature, Starry Abyss: Lord Entropy, Zhi Xiang, Primordial Beast, Law Ghost... I knew it, magical civilization’s fondness for these fantastic creatures far exceeds that of other civilizations."

"In the ancient legends of the Starry Abyss, Lord Entropy ’Yituo Feiya’, Zhi Xiang ’Enrique’, Primordial Beast ’Aurijin’, and Law Ghost ’Leru’ are four species older than the deities. They are neither living beings nor do they possess the concept of death. Even if the Destroyer attacked, they would still coldly observe the Starry Abyss, for whether it is destroyed or not doesn’t affect their existence."

Li Aozi casually flipped through:

"Among them, Lord Entropy is a calamity beast that causes severe disasters to the material universe. If a juvenile is discovered, it must be eliminated immediately. The Primordial Beast is rather mysterious, said to be an ancient presence from the dawn of the universe. As for the Law Ghost, it’s probably the safest primordial species. Their initial form is born from Spirit Maggots, and they can still be used by the Obliteration Sanctum as tools for growing Stellar Gods."

Interesting.

This part was exactly as he remembered. Even in the previous life, with cognition filters present, information about primordial species was not hidden.

Conversely, the Qiqiao Network was more focused on preventing players from learning about the content of the Secret Society, stopping them from acquiring extraordinary powers in the game, and from climbing the Pathway in reality.

...What is this? Cognitive warfare? Or is the Terra Federation trying to maintain its dominion by stopping players from gaining power from the game? But there aren’t any real conflicts in reality, is such a measure necessary?

"Zhi Xiang is a strange thing. It’s not particularly dangerous, but whether it can be useful to living people—who knows?"

Nikita rubbed his hands and said:

"Anyway, I’ve pulled some strings and gathered this information for you, Mayor."

"You’ve worked hard, Nikita." Li Aozi nodded, "These intelligence reports are very useful to me. Feel free to ask for any reward."

"Don’t be so formal, Li Aozi. You spent five years turning us, a bunch of foreign refugees, into respectable citizens with security and economic assurance. I don’t need anything more."

Nikita shook his head and then reminded:

"Are you participating in the planet auction?"

"Yes, it has started, but my target is the final main event, so I’m not in a rush," Li Aozi said, turning the screen towards him. "These are the preceding planets."

"Let me help you out. If I can get a few enclaves or satellites, that would be great. If we get a resource planet, we can start transfer payments."

Nikita immediately perked up. When he was young, he was a Zeta Rank (Level 6) strongman, following Valenkov’s army across the land, well-traveled and experienced:

"Roby-2, Aquablue Star—I know these two planets. Their civilizations are braindead and belligerent. They have entered the capitalist era but still can’t reach the cosmos. They’re absolute trash that can’t rise to the top. Their resources aren’t lacking but they fight all the time, and crucially they can’t form a unified empire. Anyone who buys them is braindead!"

"Varekell Planet? This one is worth considering. It’s suitable for atmospheric creatures, but the land area is too small and the atmospheric thickness is too high. If you have dragons, griffins, or elemental creatures, you could raise them here. The advantage is that it can accommodate organisms up to Kappa Rank (Level 10). But it’s a bit pricey—damn, forty million Ammonium Gold! With that amount of money, I could assemble four hundred thousand Zeta Rank (Level 6) mercenaries and take over the planet myself!"

"Oh? Flame Demon Star! They’re even selling such a treasure trove. Let me tell you, though this planet is on the edge of the galaxy, its residents are descendants of the demonic civilization from the age of the gods. The volcanic environment has created fertile soil, and the ocean areas aren’t small, yielding a high production of expensive rare elements. The key is its exceptional regenerative ability for mineral resources, producing new batches every 300,000 years or so. Its ecosystem can also accommodate creatures up to Iota Rank (Level 9)—you ask for its downside? There is no downside! The downside is the price! Two hundred million Ammonium Gold! It has no downsides, the downside is I don’t have enough money!"

Nikita glanced at the auction list, offering a barrage of critiques to help Li Aozi steer clear of traps.

The auction continued, with prices reaching tens of millions to billions of Ammonium Gold. Initially, Nikita was astonished, but as he got used to it, he just grumbled about Li Aozi’s lack of funds.

"Hey, Li Aozi, can’t you bid a bit more?"

"A lot of my assets are tied up in trust funds and investments; they’re not liquid."

Li Aozi said lightly:

"My budget this time is only 1.2 billion; at most, I can mortgage some assets, giving me an additional 37 million, totaling 1.57 billion. Baizhu Star might push the price up by tens of millions, so I need to be fully prepared."

"That’s true. Baizhu Star is the main event."

Nikita nodded. At that moment, new auction items appeared, and his eyes narrowed as he exclaimed:

"This is... Easter Star! Damn, only eight million Ammonium Gold, quick, buy it!"

"What kind of planet is that?"

"It looks like a simple rocky planet, but few people know it has an ancient star gate worth fifty million. It might even lead to a site inhabited by Spiritual Warriors from the age of gods. Even if you find nothing, just getting the star gate is like getting extra lives. Eight million for an extra life, isn’t that a bargain?"

Li Aozi perked up and quickly joined the auction: "Number 077, 8.2 million—"

"Number 016, bid 8.9 million."

"Number 190, bid 12 million."

"Number 122, bid 38 million."

In no time, this planet was auctioned off for 56.09 million.

Li Aozi choked, looking at Nikita:

"It seems everyone is aware of the star gate on this planet."

"Tch! What a shame." Nikita clicked his tongue, "A star gate represents a retreat route, especially those from the age of gods. The surroundings have already been scouted by deities, with no extreme weather. If you find a few divine artifacts, the historical value alone would exceed the auction price..."

"Maybe they have their own information channels." Li Aozi didn’t get discouraged, "Let’s keep looking."

"Sotrey Star, priced at just two million! Buy, buy, buy! There are shape-shifting robotic species on it, a surefire profit!"

Nikita urgently called out.

Before Li Aozi could raise a bid, the price had already ten-folded.

"Glacial Star, with abundant magic crystal fuel, only nine million, this must be acquired..."

"Wind Moon Star, the civilization is actually about to leave their mother star, and it’s only priced at 1.2 million, my goodness, not buying this would be foolish!"

"Darya Ring Region—this planet comes with a super-strong geomagnetic shield. Buy it, and orbital bombardment becomes a joke. Only ten million, haha, the officials have no vision, let’s snag it!"

......

After the auction continued for an entire morning, both Li Aozi and Nikita’s expressions grew increasingly serious.

"Nikita," Li Aozi said in a grave voice, "Something’s off with this situation."

"It looks like the cheap planets are all getting snatched up." Nikita rubbed his head, puzzled, "Could it be that... these people have more worldly experience than me, an old mercenary?"

Several times they saw treasure planets, priced cheaply, ready to snag them, only to find everyone knew their value.

"Once or twice is fine, but an entire morning of over two hundred auction items with no successful purchases, that’s no longer a matter of luck."

Li Aozi squinted his eyes.

"Though you have no concrete evidence, do you?"

"I kept a minor record."

Li Aozi casually switched screens, bringing up a table:

"360 participants in this auction, we’re number 077. Since it’s an online auction, we know nothing about the identities of other participants."

Li Aozi looked at the bid instances, eyes gleaming:

"Whenever we bid, numbers 016, 190, and 122 always outbid. Otherwise, they remain silent, only bidding on these ’snag deals’ planets."

"Number 014 is decent, knowing to occasionally call out. Number 262 alternates between genuine and fake bids, actually purchasing a few regular planets. Number 355 is genuinely dumb, not even bothering to disguise, always buying at the highest price in one go."

"From this perspective, it’s not just us being targeted, but all the bargain and high-value planets are pre-booked by someone."

"But whether they know about us... that’s another question."

"You’re suspecting the officials of intentionally colluding and leaking buyer information?"

Nikita was taken aback:

"It’s still an interstellar civilization; they shouldn’t resort to such underhanded tactics, right?"

"The Philosopher King of the Empire once said, ’Never underestimate the upper limits of civilization, nor overestimate its lower limits.’"

Li Aozi quickly did the math:

"The auctioned goods total about 12.2 billion Ammonium Gold. For a third-rate civilization like the Crystal Tower, which isn’t a member of the Interstellar Alliance, that’s 16.8% of their foreign exchange reserves. If I were the Crystal Tower, I’d do the same to scrape foreign exchange from my people."

"No wonder... even important planets like Flame Demon Star are on sale. The Crystal Tower Civilization aims to boost its interstellar market credit through massive holdings of Ammonium Gold?"

"Considering the ongoing war, it might be more about stabilizing the internal economy by increasing currency reserves."

Li Aozi crossed his hands and legs, resting them on the desk as his thoughts became increasingly clear.