This is really not mechanical ascension
Chapter 653 - 341: Affiliation, Someone is Bringing Money Over_2

Chapter 653: Chapter 341: Affiliation, Someone is Bringing Money Over_2

Upon opening it, Li Ming glanced over to see two fist-sized cubic metal materials placed inside: Artis alloy, space supercrystal...

Li Ming’s eyes narrowed slightly, recognizing them at a glance as genuine S-level materials, with considerable value.

"I’m willing to raise the profit-sharing percentage to 10%..." Trevor glanced at Austin and said through gritted teeth.

Li Ming’s heart skipped a beat — typically, profit-sharing was around 5% of the net profit for affiliated services.

Given the scale of the other party, 10% was probably not low.

Li Ming was already interested, but the Azure Dragon couldn’t agree too readily. After pondering for a moment, he replied helplessly:

"My teacher told me, only Level Two affiliations are acceptable, not Level One, no matter who it is. The profit-share can be reduced to 5%."

Level One affiliation means that on the Mechanic Association’s page, it can be tracked down to be directly managed by the Azure Dragon, currently with only one Mechanical Court.

Level Two affiliation, on the other hand, is under the Mechanical Court, ostensibly managed by the Mechanical Court.

Level One affiliations are easily exploited by others in the name of the affiliated party, which must be guarded against.

Trevor hesitated a bit, then looked at Austin, who directly said, "Then let’s go with Level Two affiliation. The profit-sharing will still be 10%."

Trevor’s eyelids twitched, not daring to contradict, and was at least satisfied to have connected with this opportunity.

He actually had other options, but Austin had pointed him toward the Azure Dragon, which was an investment in itself.

The two signed an agreement and then performed the affiliation certification on the spot.

He roughly reviewed the other party’s financial statements from the previous year, with a turnover of 22 trillion Star Coins and a profit margin of about 20%. Roughly estimated, this income was around 400 billion Star Coins.

After understanding the details, Li Ming couldn’t help but admire; he was now interested in the business of affiliating.

After sending the two away, Li Ming did some checking and found that indeed there were Casting Star Mechanics who specialized in affiliations, not just one, and the profit-sharing rate for Level Two affiliations had been pushed down to 0.5%.

The most prominent Casting Star Mechanic had 16,000 companies affiliated under them, not turning away any suitors.

"Damn..." Li Ming was speechless for a long while, also realizing that the other party sought him out to solve their dilemma, and initiating a preliminary binding with him was also part of the reason.

Austin was cunning enough.

Li Ming muttered to himself, then picked up the materials on the desk, casually extended his field to inspect them. With the Life Levels he was encountering now, looking through walls was entirely trivial; more precautions were necessary.

After spending half an hour, he absorbed all the materials in these two pieces of metal, obtaining six million metal energy.

The amount surprised Li Ming; these two welcome gifts were worth a lot more than he had expected.

"That’s the advantage of fame..." Li Ming sighed. He could also lean towards the Sea of Stars using Trevor as a stepping stone.

The density and strength of civilization over there were beyond imagination.

He then picked up a Dimension Boundary Mark, and after gaining Control, followed the process to enhance and Upgrade it.

He directly Upgraded it to A-level, as the energy required for the upgrade wasn’t too high, and in the end, it cost just six million metal energy.

The [Exploration] ability was indeed enhanced; from scouting one Dimension World, it changed to four, and the amount of information obtained increased significantly.

Looking at his remaining metal energy, there was seventy million left; with a little savings, he could Upgrade a top-tier S-level item.

Next, he opened the [A Brief Description of Dimension Worlds] provided by Austin, produced by the Multi-dimensional Research Institute which specialized in researching Dimension Worlds.

"...One can imagine the entire Dimension World as a beehive, divided into three layers: the Shallow Dimension World, the Deep Dimension World, and the Eternal Abyss..."

"...The Shallow Dimension World is mostly dominated by a single Element and is also the main barrier supporting the real Universe..."

"...The Deep Dimension World is more complex, some of which are virtually indistinguishable from the environments of the real Universe..."

"...According to the levels, they can also be classified alphabetically, with E, F, etc., to simplify the division."

"But be aware, an A-Level Dimension World simply means it has a Life Form of up to A-level; it doesn’t mean there is only one..."

"Unknown dangers are always present in Dimension Worlds. Once you cross the dimensional barriers, you never know what level of Dimension World you will arrive at..."

Li Ming read with great interest.

...

Meanwhile, Robbin, who had returned to his room, was also full of expectation. He placed the Skull on the table, took a deep breath, and said, "Let’s begin..."

Green light screens emanated from the pupils of the Skull, scanning up and down Robbin. Soon, a voice announced, "Chosen one promoted to A-level, access increased."

"Upgrading..." In the void, strands of data-like silver light fell, gradually merging into the Skull, causing many silver patterns to appear on its surface.

"A-level Secret Treasure location marking in progress..."

A series of complex and lengthy sounds, Robbin had heard and seen many times before, quietly waiting for the Skull’s upgrade to complete.

In just over twenty minutes, all anomalies disappeared, and Robbin couldn’t wait to ask: "Butler, how do you feel?"

"Permissions have been unlocked, some of the previous issues, I can now answer for you," the butler responded.

Robbin shook his head: "I’m not talking about that, I mean how do you feel? Did you develop something like a soul...?"

"Soul..." The butler paused for a moment, then changed the subject: "Aren’t you interested in the A-level Secret Treasure?"

"Secret Treasure?" Robbin was indeed attracted, his spirits lifted as he glanced at the metal box by the wall, then dejectedly said: "Forget it, all those so-called secret treasures are placed in extremely bizarre locations, some have already been found, or excavated."

"Every B-level Secret Treasure, wasn’t it obtained after struggling through hell and back?"

With every upgrade, he would receive location details for three secret treasures, two weapons, and a set of Combat Armor.

Although it was dangerous before, he was still looking forward to it, but now...

He said solemnly: "Honestly, I’d rather go bootlick Li Ming."

The butler remained silent, and Robbin seized the moment to negotiate: "I’ve thought it over carefully; I can’t just leave without saying goodbye, that would be too ungrateful. Butler, I think staying by Li Ming’s side is actually not dangerous..."

The butler might be an AI system, but he always treated it as an elder and was used to discussing matters with it.

The butler interrupted: "Okay, let’s do as you suggested."

Robbin hadn’t finished speaking, his expression froze, then suspiciously he said: "You agreed?"

"Weren’t you the one who encouraged me to leave before? Why have you changed your attitude so quickly?"

"I was upgraded, and my abilities have improved somewhat," explained the butler.

Robbin couldn’t be bothered to think too much; as long as the butler agreed, it was fine. Immediately he asked eagerly: "Butler, about that stone, you can tell me now, right?"

"Some information has been unlocked with the permissions, I can tell you..."

...

When Robbin excitedly knocked on Li Ming’s door, he was still pondering ’A Brief Description of the Dimension World.’

"What’s up, you seem excited?" Li Ming looked at Robbin, guessing it must be about permissions unlocking.

"I just remembered some clues about that stone," Robbin said.

Suddenly remembered... Li Ming was speechless, what a lousy excuse.

But he didn’t mind, showing interest, he said: "Oh, let’s hear it."

"It’s like this..." Robbin placed his bag, containing the visage of the Skull, to one side.

Li Ming glanced at it and suddenly was taken aback, the Skull looked different?

"What happened to your butler..." Li Ming asked pointing at it, without any hesitation.

Robbin looked back, subconsciously feeling a bit guilty, but casually said: "Just a little repaint."

"It looks quite good," Li Ming reached out, and Robbin, not minding, handed it over.

As Li Ming took it, his expression suddenly became astonished; how did the Control Conditions go from thirty million to fifty million?

This Skull, can it actually get stronger?

Where did the materials come from to enhance it?

Li Ming suddenly recalled the other party mentioning super-dimensional information transmission, a method that ignores spatial distance, more advanced than quantum entanglement. Could this upgrade be using a similar method?

"Not bad..." Li Ming commented, keeping his composure and handed it back.

Robbin didn’t mind and continued: "The stone is called the Terrax Stone, you’ve mentioned it before, but Terrax is a civilization..."

"Is that so..." Li Ming feigned surprise, "It’s actually a civilization; I nearly found no clues about it before."

Robbin smirked: "Do you know where this civilization is from?"

Li Ming sat up straight, looking serious, and Robbin’s vanity was greatly satisfied, he immediately said: "It’s not from the Main Universe, but from the Dimension World."

"Dimension World?" Li Ming was slightly taken aback, this time truly surprised.