"Eleven-point-two kilos total. At today's rate... let me do the math. I'll give you four kilos."
The bald man, his face full of coarse flesh, had a hand-rolled cigarette hanging from his mouth. Puffing out smoke, he lifted the piece of cardboard off the scale and shoveled several scoops of metal scrap onto it.
Jiang Qi watched the number on the display flicker before settling at 3.82 kg. The bald man jerked his chin and said, "Take it."
Jiang Qi's expression darkened at the sight. "Hold on. Hasn't the exchange rate always been two to one? If I brought in 11.2 kilos, shouldn't I be getting 5.6? At the very least, you could round it up to five."
"Huh? What, you think you're the only one who knows math?" The bald man shot him a look and snorted. Then he slammed his right arm—fitted with a mechanical exoskeleton—onto the tabletop with a bang, making even the scale pan jump. "The rate changed. It's ten for four now. That's all you get. Take it or leave it."
A vein twitched at Jiang Qi's temple. He understood now.
He'd run into trouble again today.
He looked up.
Not far away, a man in black clothes, wearing golden goggles and white gloves, was chatting and laughing with others while holding a scantily dressed woman in his arms.
As if he had noticed Jiang Qi's gaze, the man glanced over, curled his lips into a faint smile, then looked away without saying a word.
In these parts, that man was known as White-Claw Crow—the local boss, and the bald man's superior.
Seeing Jiang Qi glance in that direction, the bald man sneered. "What, you think I'm cheating you? This order came straight from the boss. Don't believe me? Go ask him yourself."
"No need," Jiang Qi said with a grim face.
At that point, he understood the situation.
Whatever the reason, the exchange rate probably had indeed been changed.
White-Claw Crow likely knew people would be unhappy about it, so he had given the bald man temporary authority to handle the matter.
And this bastard had seized the chance to skim off even more for himself.
The whole act about being bad at math was a lie. Once Jiang Qi left, the guy would definitely calculate the exact difference with perfect accuracy, then quietly pocket the remainder.
Jiang Qi stole another glance toward White-Claw Crow and noticed an unfamiliar face seated opposite him. He let out a quiet sigh.
White-Claw Crow might be the local tyrant, but he was probably also the most rule-abiding man in this place.
If Jiang Qi insisted on making an issue of it and brought the matter directly to him, then at the very least, getting the bald man to spit back the skimmed portion probably wouldn't be a problem.
But White-Claw Crow seemed to have a guest right now. If Jiang Qi disturbed him at a time like this, then even if he got his loss compensated, a grudge would still be quietly recorded against him.
White-Claw Crow might follow rules, but that didn't mean he was generous.
Jiang Qi still remembered how, just last month, an old scavenger had accidentally interfered with one of White-Claw Crow's deals. Nothing had happened on the spot—but a week later, the man had turned up dead in the junkyard for no apparent reason.
And besides, if Jiang Qi dragged this in front of White-Claw Crow, then he would completely offend the bald man standing right in front of him too.
There was a saying: the King of Hell was easy enough to meet, but the little devils beneath him were the real problem.
If he did this, he'd be offending both the King of Hell and the little devil in one shot. Life would be hard from then on.
After turning it over in his mind, Jiang Qi realized that whether he liked it or not, he had no choice but to swallow the loss today.
All he could do was sigh over one truth:
When you live under someone else's roof, you have to bow your head.
In silence, he swept all the bits of metal off the scale and into his backpack, turned around, and left without another word.
"See ya. Same time tomorrow," the bald man said, then took another long drag from his crude cigarette, looking utterly pleased with himself.
At the far edge of town stood a tiny shack patched together from sheet metal and plastic tarps, with a worn old lock hanging on the door.
That was Jiang Qi's home.
It looked filthy from the outside, but in truth it was solidly built. Every corner had been reinforced. The outer sheet metal was wrapped in three layers of rubber cut from discarded tires, enough to block sandstorms and soften impacts. The lock core had been salvaged from an abandoned vehicle, and the keyhole was hidden behind a rusty metal plate—impossible to spot unless you looked carefully.
Jiang Qi took out his key, opened the door, and stepped inside.
He sat down at a long table cobbled together from wooden planks and metal supports, then dumped the contents of his backpack onto it.
In this wasteland, where power was fractured and scattered, there was no such thing as legal tender. Instead, certain commonly used resources served as a general medium of exchange. Things like metal scrap and rubber fragments were the lowest-grade currency around—but also the most commonly used.
"Man... scavengers really do have it rough," Jiang Qi muttered with a sigh as he began sorting through the pile.
Some of the metal pieces were intact components, like screws, nuts, or gears. Others were nothing more than raw chunks of metal.
The former were worth a bit more than the latter.
Of course, White-Claw Crow's men had already picked through this scrap once before. There were very few complete parts left, and even the ones that remained were in poor condition. After sorting for quite a while, Jiang Qi managed to pick out only a small pile that was barely acceptable.
After setting that portion aside, he swept the rest of the metal scrap together and dumped it into an iron box beneath the table. Then, from a corner under the table, he pulled out a strangely shaped helmet.
The helmet wasn't especially large—about one size smaller than a motorcycle helmet. Its lightweight shell made it clear that protection was not its primary function.
The visor section looked especially odd, like a pair of custom goggles made for someone with laser eyes. The mask area also had an obvious gas-mask-like design.
As Jiang Qi focused his attention on the helmet, an information window appeared out of thin air in his field of vision.
[Gelong D3.2 Multifunctional Industrial Helmet]
[Status: Damaged]
[Integrity: 96%]
[Night Vision Function: Normal]
[Air Filtration Function: Usable · Damaged]
[Protective Function: Usable · Damaged]
[Protection Rating: Civilian Grade C]
[Missing Parts List…]
Jiang Qi casually picked up three screws and lined them up in a row. Then he snapped his fingers.
With a cheerful "good" sound effect ringing out in his head, the three rusty, worthless screws instantly melted together, becoming a brand-new metal component in the shape of a ring.
In terms of sheer size, this new part was probably smaller than a single screw. But anyone could tell at a glance that the workmanship, condition, and even the material were all vastly superior. If he tried to sell it, five or six broken screws might not even be enough to trade for this one piece.
He set the ring aside, then lined up three nuts and clapped his hands together.
Accompanied by a "nice" prompt in his mind, the three nuts fused into another brand-new metal component.
As Jiang Qi repeated the process, that small pile of junk parts on the table was soon transformed, piece by piece, into an array of delicate, pristine components.
After matching each part against the list in the information window, Jiang Qi finally let out a breath of relief.
His calculations had been right.
The parts he had brought back today were just enough to synthesize the last few missing components.
It really hadn't been easy.
He had found this helmet a month ago, but because it had been so badly damaged—and because the metal parts he could get his hands on were so limited—it had taken him an entire month to finally repair it.
And that was with the help of his cheat ability as a transmigrator.
Otherwise, in a godforsaken place like this, fixing a helmet like this would have been completely impossible.
After all, this wasn't the kind of thing that should even exist in the wasteland...
Carefully, Jiang Qi dismantled the mask section and installed the missing parts one by one. Then he inserted an old battery he had charged in advance, put the casing back on, and turned his gaze once more to the information window.
[Model: Gelong D3.2 Multifunctional Industrial Helmet]
[Status: Complete]
[Integrity: 100%]
[Night Vision Function: Normal]
[Air Filtration Function: Normal]
[Protective Function: Normal]
[Protection Rating: Civilian Grade C]
"Finally..." Jiang Qi let out a long breath.
A whole month of scraping by and living frugally had finally paid off.
He gently stroked the helmet before him as though it were some priceless treasure.
His only hope of turning his life around rested entirely on this helmet.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 120)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 100)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 100)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter89)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter86)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter63)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter75)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 53
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 57
From Junkman to Wasteland 35
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