"What does 'zero' mean?"
Li Shiji looked up in confusion at the man sitting across from him: "Does this mean that none of my life experiences have any commercial value?"
"Even Biao Ge has ten. How can I have zero?"
"The instrument doesn't make mistakes. It's accurate."
"Can I see what the remaining nine memories of Biao Ge are?"
"The instrument has already been destroyed. It's impossible to check."
"What about testing again?"
"Each person can only test for free once. If you want to pay, it's 100,000 points per test."
"Huh?"
Hearing Li Shiji's words, Biao Zi also became curious. He had glanced at his remaining nine memory fragments earlier, and the most expensive one was only worth 10,000 points, so he didn't bother to check further.
He thought everyone should have something.
He never expected that Li Shiji wouldn't have a single memory fragment of value.
"..."
Chen Mang had been leaning back in his chair, silently observing everything. In truth, both Biao Zi and Li Shiji should have one most valuable memory in their minds—the memory of struggling to survive during the apocalypse.
But since Li Shiji's memories with commercial value were zero, it proved that this memory wasn't worth anything.
In other words.
This kind of thing had happened countless times, making memories of surviving the apocalypse so common that they were worthless.
Although the woman on the fourth floor of the entertainment city said that the term "apocalypse" didn't exist in her database, the information here easily led to one conclusion: it wasn't just their planet that had suffered an apocalypse.
But
countless planets.
"Try mine."
After a long while, he stretched out his arm and said calmly, "See if I have any memories worth selling."
"Alright."
The man skillfully threw the discarded instrument on the table into the trash can, then took out a new one and connected it to Chen Mang's arm.
A minute later.
Thirty-seven memory fragments with garbled names appeared on the screen, and the most expensive one was priced at
「73,900,000,000.」
「Far exceeds the store's balance. Unable to complete the purchase.」
"..."
"..."
Everyone sitting at the table was stunned. Biao Zi stared at the string of numbers in disbelief, starting to count them one by one: "One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, hundred thousand, million..."
"Don't bother counting. It's 7.39 billion."
Li Shiji looked up at Chen Mang with wide eyes, his voice trembling in disbelief: "Lord Mang... have you met the King of Hell?"
The number was simply too exaggerated, so much so that everyone present was completely dumbfounded.
The man sitting across from them, however, didn't seem too fazed. He just smiled and said, "Since your Mental Strength isn't sufficient for memory extraction surgery, would you like to purchase some memories?"
This man was just a robot. Although he appeared more intelligent, he was still just following his programming and didn't have much emotion.
Unless certain keywords were programmed to trigger specific emotions.
"7.39 billion divided by 380,000..."
Biao Zi was still dazedly bending over, trying to calculate how many Goblins Lord Mang's memory was equivalent to sleeping with, but the number was too large for him to figure out.
"..."
Chen Mang didn't react much, just quietly gazed at the instrument that had self-destructed. Although he hadn't opened the garbled code, he knew what that memory fragment was—it should be the memory of him just crossing over to this world, the memory of living two lives.
This was a bit troublesome.
The rarer the memory, the more expensive it was. Such a costly memory indicated that the probability of this happening in the vast universe was extremely small.
In other words.
He probably had no hope of returning to his previous world in this lifetime. Fortunately, he had no attachment to going back to that world, otherwise, he might have felt a little disappointed.
However, upon seeing the looks in Biao Zi and the others' eyes, he decided to explain.
After a moment of silence, he smiled and said.
"Some small matter, how should I put it... let me think."
"I saw a dragon before the apocalypse."
"I believe it!"
Biao Zi nodded with extreme determination: "And it must have been the Dragon King of the Universe, otherwise, it wouldn't be worth this price."
"Just seeing it isn't enough," Li Shiji shook his head: "At least you have to do something, then it might be worth this price."
At this moment.
The man continued to explain with a smile: "The remaining deleted memory mainly helps customers erase some painful memories, thus leading a more sunny and cheerful life."
"The surgery is also a memory stripping surgery, just like acquiring memories."
"However, this surgery requires the customer to pay, and the stripped memories are not retained but permanently destroyed."
"Printing memory is about printing certain memories into capsule pills. When the pill is taken, the memory will clearly reappear in the mind without erasing the original memory, usually used to print important memories."
"For example, elderly people with dementia often forget their families from time to time."
"The memory bank strips some important memories from customers and keeps them with us, ensuring that no matter what severe interrogation they face, they won't speak, guaranteeing absolute safety of the memories."
"Of course."
"Currently, all memory surgeries require the full cooperation of the customer; forced stripping is impossible. Moreover, whether it's forced stripping or memory implantation, a person cannot undergo it too many times, even after complete repair through the 'Medical Pod'."
"Too many times might lead to sinking into the consciousness space, commonly known as a vegetative state."
Chen Mang led Biao Zi and the others away from the store.
Standing on the street.
Chen Mang lit a cigarette, looking up at the skyscrapers filled with neon lights, the city sky was blue with white clouds. He didn't know where this city was located, but he clearly understood one thing: in the 'Mechanical Train Parts Store', there was something he must buy.
-
'Special Item': Neon City Free Admission Ticket, priced at 100,000 points.
'Item Effect': Admission ticket to the Fortuitous Encounter map 'Neon City'. Anytime this ticket is crushed, you can directly enter this Fortuitous Encounter map. The Train Conductor must go, and can bring up to 10 Train Crew members.
-
He must buy this item.
This city is completely worth a second visit, and before the second visit, he would make all necessary preparations, such as having Biao Zi quickly increase his Mental Strength to 16.0, or asking Li Shiji if he likes green skins.
This city is not just a "Mechanical Train Parts Store."
There are also many shops with special functions, and one day, these shops will play a decisive role.
The special item that brought him into this Fortuitous Encounter map was the "Neon City Ticket," a freely sold admission ticket in the shops.
The difference between the two is that the former requires a certain number of people to enter together, while the latter allows entry at any time as long as it is crushed.
Most importantly...
Chen Mang exhaled a faint blue cloud of smoke in silence, gazing at the distant skyscrapers, and softly said, "Biao Zi, that woman from Sun City just said they've been asleep for nearly 5,000 years, right?"
"She said over 40 million hours, which should be about 5,000 years."
Biao Zi continued to count on his fingers, still stuck on the last arithmetic problem he hadn't finished. Now he had to calculate this one too. Why were the numbers always so big?
"So, this city should be ownerless."
Chen Mang narrowed his eyes and murmured.
"Even though it's a Fortuitous Encounter map, it is indeed an ownerless city. Unlike the 'Tower of Heaven' or the 'Geocentric Nuclear Bomb,' this is a map that can be entered repeatedly."
"All the robots in the map operate according to pre-set programs."
"They might have had owners once."
"But now, they definitely don't."
"Do you think... there's a place that could be the heart of this city? If we control that heart, we could completely own this city?"
"That makes sense!"
Biao Zi's eyes suddenly lit up, but then he scratched the back of his head in confusion. "Lord Mang, even if we control this city, we can't restock it. Many items in the 'Mechanical Train' store are out of stock."
"And the currency system is different too."
"We don't have the Energy Stones to sustain the entire city's operations, and we don't have any customers. It seems like the city can't function properly."
"No rush."
Chen Mang smiled as he tossed the cigarette butt into a nearby trash bin, then strode toward the "Mechanical Train Confession Room" shop next door. "As long as we know this city is temporarily ownerless, that's enough."
"Next time, I'll bring Xiao Ai and see if we can figure out how to change the permissions on these robots' chips."
"For now, this city is out of reach."
"But I've claimed it."
"I'll make sure the city's future currency system is Stellar Coupons. This city will become the backyard of the Stellar Train. The situation is clear now."
"No problem."
Although Biao Zi didn't fully understand, he nodded seriously, then sighed, "Before the apocalypse, the Federation had never detected any alien intelligent life."
"But when the apocalypse came..."
"We realized that our planet is just a tiny corner in the vast sea of stars."
"If we strive to reach the highest point of our planet, we'll naturally see further."
Chen Mang didn't share these sentiments. After all, when he first crossed over, his first thought was, "So many aliens speak Mandarin, huh?"
"Mechanical Train Confession Room."
The shop was decorated in black and white, with no staff in sight. There was only a meditation cushion, and a screen next to it introducing the shop's information.
"When you feel guilty about something you've done, you can come here to confess."
"Confession is divided into three levels."
"1. Ordinary Confession: Costs 100 points per minute."
"2. Advanced Confession: Costs 1,000 points per minute."
"3. Extreme Confession: Costs 10,000 points per minute."
"The higher the level of confession you choose, the more sincere your heart is, and the more likely the God of Machinery will forgive your wrongdoings."
Biao Zi remained silent for a while before he couldn't help but speak up: "Lord Mang, isn't this just a scam? It must be a scam, right? What's the difference between this and selling indulgences?"
"Not quite."
"Indulgences at least have some practical use. This has none at all. It's just preying on the willing."
"Isn't this too simple for a startup in the mechanical civilization?"
"..."
Chen Mang frowned slightly. He was tempted to try it because he felt that this "Mechanical Train Confession Room" couldn't possibly be so crude. Such a simple scam wouldn't fool anyone. Perhaps there would be some reward after the confession.
He immediately turned to the others.
"Do any of you have something to confess? Go try the ordinary confession. I'll pay for it."
"Me."
Li Shiji raised his hand and stepped forward.
Soon—
Li Shiji knelt on the prayer cushion, clasped his hands together, and his lips kept moving. To show sincerity, he specifically confessed things that truly made him feel guilty before the apocalypse. He confessed for a full five minutes.
"Lord Mang."
Li Shiji stood up again and said softly, "I finished confessing, but I don't feel any peace inside. Instead, because I went through it in detail again, I feel even more pain."
"..."
Chen Mang didn't speak. He just stood there patiently, waiting. After a full minute passed and nothing happened, except for the deduction of 500 points from his wristband balance, he turned around expressionlessly and left this so-called confession room.
There was really nothing.
It was truly a pure scam!
Chen Mang, who had walked out of the "Mechanical Train Confession Room," stood by the roadside, looking at the empty street. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down as much as possible. He had never imagined that he would be scammed in his lifetime.
The main thing was...
He simply didn't believe it was a scam. It was too crude. If it really was a scam, who would fall for such a crude trick?
Wait, he wasn't scammed.
This was called trial and error.
If he ever found out who opened this shop, he would definitely catch them and make them kneel there for 24 hours a day, confessing until they received Lord Mang's forgiveness!
Then Chen Mang got back on his "Off-Road Motorcycle," twisted the throttle, and drove down the street toward another entertainment city, occasionally glancing at the shops on both sides of the street.
To see if there was any shop worth stopping by.
Biao Zi, who was following Chen Mang, was already starting to look forward to the return trip. After experiencing so many things, he had to brag to Lao Zhu when he got back.
Especially about the Memory Bank.
Over 70 billion, that's just insane!
What kind of memory could possibly be worth that much?
Just seeing the dragon isn't enough; you have to eat the dragon.
Soon—
Chen Mang stopped in front of a convenience store that was open for business. There wouldn't be any opportunities inside the store, but the place had a strong sense of everyday life. Through the products sold there, he could learn a lot of information about the mechanical civilization.
"Welcome!"
As soon as he stepped into the store, a girl wearing a short-sleeved shirt and jeans behind the cash register greeted him with a bright smile.
Chen Mang glanced at her and then continued walking deeper into the store. She was the most fully dressed girl he had seen in this city, which was quite an achievement.
This city might as well have been named "Decadence" outright.
"Redheart Nuts?"
He narrowed his eyes slightly, noticing a box of nuts on the shelf. The packaging was quite attractive, priced at 200 points per box.
"Redheart Nuts" are a specialty of the Goblins, right?
They have them here too.
But he soon thought of something and turned his head to look at the girl at the cash register: "Do you need a new supplier? For example, someone to provide you with Redheart Nuts."
"No, we don't."
"Don't you need to restock?"
"No one buys them. You're the first customer to step into this store in such a long time. No need to restock."
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