This is really not mechanical ascension
Chapter 418 - 223 The Role of Genetic Essence

Chapter 418: Chapter 223 The Role of Genetic Essence

Due to the angle, Feder couldn’t see Asimara’s facial expression and could only hear the other party’s voice which was devoid of any emotional fluctuations, "Understood, I will send you the coordinates later."

Putting away the smart terminal, Asimara didn’t say a word and walked out of the room.

Bang!

The door made a resonating sound, its frame deforming. Prince Bai Jiang’s expression stern, yet equally without emotion, he shook his head and said, "You better watch your own back."

Feder was surprised, then he sighed, feeling somewhat disheartened. After this incident, his father had started to sense that there might be big trouble associated with him and began to deliberately distance himself.

Nevertheless, he murmured, "Well, that’s actually rather..."

...

On the other side, within the steel castle, Li Ming returned to his room.

He had already gained control over the Quantum Cluster Cannon, and had used the Material Reorganization Machine to create a metal iron rod of the same length and weight and had placed it inside.

He was reviewing the instructions, [Energy Gathering Burst: Charge consumption increased by 100%, firepower increased by 50%].

Simple and crude - just how he liked it.

Half an hour later, the smart terminal on the side vibrated slightly. Li Ming’s movement was like a Phantom, instantly seizing it as though he had been waiting for a long time.

Upon opening the page, sure enough, it was a friend request from the Black Hole Network.

After accepting, the other party immediately sent out a message—

"I am Cessi, a representative of the Borneost Civilization—may we video chat?"

Li Ming waited a moment before replying, "Okay."

Almost the instant the message was sent, a communication request popped up from the other party. After connecting, an individual who looked not too dissimilar from Tiago appeared on the screen.

Dressed in attire that emphasized his racial traits, which seemed to be their formal wear, his attitude was very polite.

"Lord Azure Dragon." Cessi began, "I am glad that you took the initiative to contact us for this conversation."

Li Ming interrupted, speaking indifferently, "No need for all this chatter, fifty billion Star Coins, transfer via the Black Hole Network. Once it’s received, I will release the captive."

"If you’re worried, we can use a bounty mechanism with the Black Hole Network’s endorsement."

Cessi’s expression changed slightly, his gaze flickering, and then he spoke in a grave tone:

"Lord, in the half hour since we received your message, we have checked all the public redemption records for A-level life forms in the interstellar space in recent years. The redemption prices for A-level life forms with development progress below 30% are mostly around thirty billion Star Coins."

Can one buy an A-level life form for thirty billion? Not really.

That’s the redemption price; for captive A-level life forms, there’s hardly a method to guarantee their obedience or that they’ll join one’s ranks—either kill them or let someone buy them back.

It’s practically a fixed market transaction; otherwise, the only choice is to kill.

"We can add another five billion Star Coins, how about that?" Cessi further proposed.

"Thirty-five billion?" Li Ming shook his head, "For an A-level life form of your civilization to venture this far and attack, they must have gained quite a bit. Only thirty-five billion?"

The value of Black Hole Network’s currency also had to be considered after depreciation; this price was far from Li Ming’s expectations.

His metal energy was running low, and he was counting on cashing in on this big haul.

Cessi’s brows were tightly knitted, "The price you’re asking is too high."

As an intermediate civilization, Borneost had its own monetary system, not using Star Coins.

The benefit of this practice was maintaining their own civilization’s economic stability; the disadvantage was that Star Coins became foreign exchange reserves.

Without unique civilization-specific goods to export in exchange for Star Coins, their reserves weren’t really that affluent; they didn’t want to play the fool.

"Then there’s nothing more to discuss," Li Ming said, his expression indifferent.

Cessi also solemnly stated, "You can kill him, then he’ll have no value at all. Thirty-five billion is already quite a lot."

Li Ming glanced at him, "You think I don’t dare to kill him?"

Cessi had just opened his mouth to speak when he saw Li Ming raise his hand to stop him, looking down and manipulating something. Cessi also glanced down, somewhat astonished.

An account prompt popped up; the other party had added him to a temporary discussion group.

Immediately, the huge screen in front of him split from the center, and another video window emerged. After seeing the newcomer’s appearance clearly, Cessi’s face turned unsightly.

"Lord Azure Dragon, what is the meaning of this!?"

"Cessi?" The newcomer, who appeared similar to an Insect Race with two large compound eyes atop its head and four grey arms, had a sharp voice.

A member of the Duke Insect Race, being in extremely close proximity to the Borneost Civilization, they had engaged in years of friction, fighting over a newly discovered resource-rich star system, harboring over a thousand years of enmity.

Even Yitelan Civilization’s personal intervention had been unable to make them cease hostilities.

"Lord Azure Dragon, I am Langna. I did not expect you to reach out to them as well."

Li Ming smiled, "After all, Tiago is a life form of civilization A-level, how could I not notify the concerned party?"

"Alright, Lord Cessi, this Langna also seems to have interest in Tiago. Interestingly, their offer is the same as yours."

"This puts me in a difficult position. There’s only one Tiago; I can’t exactly split him in half to give each of you a piece, so, who among you will willingly back out?"

Despicable, shameless!

Cessi’s face turned ashen green, this bastard was clearly setting up an auction. The Duke Insect Race detested them to the core and would definitely bid higher just to spite them.

"Alright, you two can talk. I’ll go have a chat with Tiago." Li Ming directly ended the communication.

"Langna, you should be able to discern his intent, this person is cunning and shameless. Even if you pay a high price to take Tiago back, it will be of no use to you; he will not serve you," Cessi analyzed clearly and logically.

"If you were faced with this situation, I absolutely would not participate in the malicious bidding."