The good news from Li Dafu lifted Chen Pingchuan's spirits.
"Bro, you're a real one. When I make it big, I'll definitely treat you to a feast."
He had expected a few polite pleasantries, but as it turned out, he was overthinking things. Upon hearing Chen Pingchuan's promise, Li Dafu, on the other end of the communicator, was not moved in the slightest. Instead, he let out a cold sneer.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. So you've got money for Energy Crystals but not enough to treat your brothers, huh?"
"Brother Dafu, listen to me."
Chen Pingchuan felt a bit awkward and was about to explain, but Li Dafu didn't give him the chance.
"Alright, I know you're not the stingy type. Like I said before, there's no need for formality between brothers. Tonight at 8:30, go to Wang Mazi's Second-Hand Repair Shop at No. 98 Kanghua Street in the south of the city and find the manager. If he asks who sent you, say Li Shunlong sent you. If he doesn't ask, don't say anything. Oh, and the most important thing: bring enough cash."
"Those guys recognize money, not people. If you don't bring enough..." Li Dafu paused. Even through the communicator, Chen Pingchuan could sense his fear of those people. "In short, just bring enough money. If you don't have enough, you can get some from me. After all, that thing you want costs eighty-eight thousand, eight hundred a pop. They make money faster than robbers."
The moment he heard eighty-eight thousand, eight hundred, Chen Pingchuan finally relaxed. He had never bought Energy Crystals before, and it would have been a disaster if his eight hundred thousand-plus Federation Coins weren't enough. In that instant, Chen Pingchuan had forgotten that he had been here for three years. If he hadn't made a huge haul from the Purple Bird Gang in the simulation, he wouldn't have been able to scrape together eight thousand, let alone eighty-eight thousand.
"Brother Dafu, is there a passcode? Should we meet somewhere crowded or secluded? Will they try to double-cross us...?"
Before Chen Pingchuan could finish, Li Dafu chuckled at his words.
"Hahaha, bro, where do you get these wild ideas? You're overthinking it. In this outer district, no one dares to target that shop. You should know, the backer of the shop is a big shot from the Inner City District..."
Li Dafu quickly cut himself off, realizing he was getting carried away. Matters involving big shots from the Inner City District were not for a market security guard like him to gossip about.
"Alright, alright, that's enough talk. I'm exhausted. One last piece of advice: don't speak, ask, or look around needlessly. Once the business is done, leave quickly."
With that, Li Dafu let out a huge yawn and hung up before Chen Pingchuan could respond.
The dial tone droned in his ear. "Thank you," Chen Pingchuan said anyway, his voice soft. At first, he hadn't felt any sense of belonging to this world. Yet, the people around him, in their own inadvertent ways, always managed to show him a trace of life's warmth.
The process of exchanging the Energy Crystals was surprisingly smooth. The other party didn't even ask about his background, likely assuming he was just an errand boy for some big shot, which suited Chen Pingchuan just fine.
Outside, the pitch-black canopy of the sky was already dotted with stars. Chen Pingchuan gazed at the night sky. After living here for so long, there was one thing he still couldn't figure out. Why isn't there a moon in this world?
Chen Pingchuan adjusted himself into a comfortable position, leaning against the headboard and weighing a small black cloth bag in his hand. He poured the contents onto his palm. Several crystals, resembling the large diamonds from his past life, appeared before his eyes.
[DING! Energy Crystal (White) detected. Can be used to recharge simulation energy. Proceed with recharge?]
Chen Pingchuan's lips moved slightly. "Recharge!"
[DING! 400 simulation points have been credited.]
Watching his simulation points climb to a healthy number, Chen Pingchuan felt an overwhelming sense of security. A doomsday apocalypse? A death simulation? Nothing to fear!
Exhausted from the day, Chen Pingchuan had planned to sleep early, but he couldn't fall asleep and felt particularly energetic. He might as well start his third simulation.
[Enter simulation?]
[Yes]
[This simulation consumes 10 simulation points. Remaining points: 398]
[Remaining simulation attempts: 7]
[Simulation start]
[Detected host currently possesses talents: Strength Doubling (Green), Heavenly Dao Rewards Diligence (Green)]
[Random talent drawing. Please choose the amount of simulation points to invest: 0 points for a White talent, 10 points for a Green talent, 100 points for a Blue talent. All options have a chance to yield talents of a lower or higher grade.]
[You have invested 10 simulation points. Drawing talent!]
[DING! Congratulations, you have acquired the White talent: Hunger Resistance]
[Hunger Resistance]: White Talent. Those who possess this talent can endure hunger better than their peers. PS: You only need to starve a few days later than everyone else. Will finding food still be a problem then?
The moment Chen Pingchuan saw the white flash, his heart sank. Had he known this would be the result, he wouldn't have invested even those 10 simulation points. Although this simulation was just a trial, he was still incredibly frustrated!
Chen Pingchuan gritted his teeth and continued the simulation.
[For reasons unknown, you are not in a good mood, but you still firmly believe you are destined to become a god.]
[In your rental apartment, you were too excited during the day and didn't fall asleep until three in the morning.]
[One of life's greatest dreams is to sleep until you wake up naturally. Having unlocked this achievement, you feel refreshed and begin jotting down your thoughts in a notebook.]
[You remind yourself to strictly follow the plans in the notebook for the next month.]
[You spend the month wooing Xia Qingxue with grand visions of the future, eventually winning her over and becoming intimate.]
[In your spare time, you haven't been idle. You hired two underlings, one fat and one thin, gave them some money, and set them to running errands for you.]
[You have completed prerequisites one and two of the ultimate god-making plan in your notebook.]
[Satisfied with your progress, you decide to begin the official plan.]
[One: Rent a sufficiently large site. Requirements: sturdy, remote, and capable of supporting a simple ecosystem...]
[Your first underling finds you a cement plant two kilometers from the outer district. Though long deserted, it perfectly fits your requirements and is extremely cheap.]
[Your second underling finds extremely low-cost compressed food and drinking water. He also rents a truck from a freight company to transport all the supplies to the cement plant.]
[You inspect the cement plant with pride. You've finally become a property owner! If anyone dares say a factory doesn't count as a house, you'll give them a big punch!]
[Clearly, your ambition doesn't stop there. You issue the next set of work orders.]
[The subsequent work is even more tedious, including an independently operating power system, a water purification device, a vegetable and fruit garden, an animal breeding area, and a training ground.]
[Your funds cannot keep up with your ambitions. You are forced to abandon some ideas from your notebook, carefully selecting only the most important projects to entrust to your underlings.]
[After supervising for a month without incident, you begin to let your guard down. You become hopelessly captivated by her beauty and fail to personally oversee the final stages of the work.]
「Two months later, on a dark and windy night, in a dim and deep alley.」
[You were assassinated!]