[LoveEggFriedRice] and [BetterFryRiceNoodles] chatted excitedly as they walked off.
Liang Chuan, who had been listening from behind, was stunned.
Already?
Players were already thinking about making money off this "game"?
And—
What trading platform?
What credit points?
He felt like he was the rookie here.
He tossed the questions to the system.
The system's response appeared quickly:
System:
[The Trading Platform is the official marketplace of "Genshin: Start Up."
Credit Points are the universal currency.
Since players come from various parallel versions of Blue Star, the platform converts each world's currency into Credit Points based on its purchasing power.
Credit Points can also be withdrawn back into each world's cash at the same rate.
5% of all player-to-player transactions will be credited directly into your account.
You may also use Credit Points to buy items players list.]
"…Good lord."
Liang Chuan rubbed his forehead.
"You're telling me I go to sleep, and you've somehow built an inter-universe cash conversion system and a whole treasure-pavilion marketplace overnight?"
He opened the platform out of curiosity.
It was already packed with listings:
Wild boar meat
Sweet flowers
Mint
Sunsettias
Flaming flowers
Everything edible had terrifying prices.
Player-crafted gear—
[Wooden Armor], [Blunt Iron Sword], [Basic Control Collar]—
was also available, and those prices were surprisingly normal.
But the most outrageous listing?
Bio-Energy.
At the moment—
1 point of Bio-Energy = 1000 Credit Points.
And still instantly sold out whenever someone listed any.
Liang Chuan was speechless.
"So many rich players… amazing."
Just then—
Ding!
[Bio-Energy Terminal has met upgrade requirements!
Available for upgrade to Level 2!]
He immediately opened the data panel.
[Bio-Energy Terminal Upgrade Requirements]Accumulate 1000 Bio-Energy (Current: 5500 / 1000 ✔︎)
Materials:
Wood ×100
Stone ×100
Metal ×100
(Current inventory: Wood 213 / Stone 198 / Metal 100)
"Looks like a lot of players completed the base-upgrade tasks while I was busy. Materials are stacked pretty well."
Satisfied, he upgraded the Terminal immediately.
A rising chime echoed across the entire base.
And then—
Players erupted.
"WHAT THE—?! I only donated 50 wood and got 500 EXP and 50 silver?!"
"I turned in 20 stone—400 EXP, 40 silver!"
"Heh… I mined 10 metal until my hands bled—1000 EXP and a whole gold coin! I jumped three levels!!"
As their shouts spread,
the regret among other players spread even faster.
Many had materials in hand—
but chose to keep them rather than hand them in.
And thus, they got nothing.
At last, players realized the truth:
Doing missions = the fastest way to level + earn currency.
Instantly, hundreds rushed to dump their materials, forming a literal mountain of wood and stone outside the shelter.
Liang Chuan was shocked.
"Just turning in some resources gives THIS much EXP and money?"
A player needed to kill 1000 abyssal hilichurls to get 1000 EXP normally.
He suddenly froze.
"…Wait. If players got that much EXP—
where is my 99% of it?!"
He poked the system in disbelief.
System:
[Mission rewards are paid by the System, not included in the host's EXP share.]
"…Right."
He chuckled awkwardly.
Of course.
He already:
issued the missions,
obtained the materials,
and profited from the players' work…
Wanting 99% of the system-funded rewards on top of that really would be too shameless.
The New Level 2 Terminal
A stream of updates filled his mind:
[Bio-Energy Terminal — Level 2]Conversion Efficiency: 20%
Bio-Energy Stored: 1350
Players Summoned: 505
Players Alive: 500
Bio-Energy cost for new Level-1 player: 10
Next Upgrade Requirements (Level 3):
Convert 10,000 Bio-Energy (5500 / 10000)
Materials:
Wood ×500
Stone ×500
Metal ×500
Chaos Gears ×100 (drops from Ruin Guards/Graders)
Upgrade Benefits:
Conversion Efficiency → 30%
Can construct three player bodies simultaneously
Can create a third Bio-Energy Terminal
Liang Chuan frowned.
"Bio-Energy is easy. Only 4500 left."
"But the materials…
especially Chaos Gears…"
Chaos Gears only came from autonomous ruin machines.
And with players' current stats?
Sending them to fight a Ruin Guard was basically sentencing them.
They wouldn't even need to spin up—they could just missile-snipe the players from across the field.
He exhaled deeply.
"No way we can do Level 3 yet.
These guys need a major strength spike before considering ruin machines."
He looked back at the bustling base.
"For now…
let's push every Level-2 improvement we can do."
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