Chapter 47: Wealth Surge!
The one answering Jiang Zhe this time was Alpha Dog, not Orianna.
A world with a diameter of ten billion kilometers?
Jiang Zhe mentally crunched the numbers.
Ever heard the phrase "Sit on Earth, travel eighty thousand miles a day"?
That refers to Earth's circumference—about 40,000 km.
So, this bracelet-contained world's diameter was 250,000 times the length of Earth laid flat!
Who the hell would waste that much space inside a world ring? Planning to go planet-shopping or something?
Oh… it's the Mechanical Race.
Okay, makes sense.
After all, their combat methods often hid entirely within world storage devices.
For a human cultivator, a world ring with a diameter of even 100 million kilometers would be more than enough. Cost? Just a few Hunyuan units of cosmic crystal.
Out of curiosity, Jiang Zhe asked, "Alpha, how much did this world bracelet cost to make?"
"Master, forging this world bracelet consumed nearly two million Yulan units, which is roughly one million Hunyuan units worth of cosmic crystals."
Roughly one-third of his teacher Huyan Bo's liquid assets?
Still, storage worlds weren't so different from mining ventures. Once you had the container, the rest was just time and labor—basically a profit-printing machine.
In that light, it wasn't such an absurd number anymore.
But damn!
Why mine from scratch when I can just dig up the cosmic crystals already stored in this world bracelet? That alone would cover all expenses until the Genius Battle starts!
"Master, allow me to give you a tour of the world's layout," Alpha Dog offered eagerly, circling Jiang Zhe's legs and gazing up at him with puppy eyes.
Jiang Zhe stared blankly.
He didn't know whether this was the dog's real personality… or Orianna just had a twisted sense of humor when programming it.
"Hold on," Jiang Zhe pressed a hand to its metal head. "Let me ask you something first. If your old master was just a typical Undying-level, what was he doing in human territory?"
"He was an undercover agent," the mech-dog replied. "He stumbled upon the severely wounded Huyan Bo and followed him, hoping to scavenge something… but then…"
Jiang Zhe frowned. "Shouldn't the Mechanical Race be extremely disciplined? How could a spy act on their own like that?"
"Master, what you don't know is… being posted as a spy isn't necessarily a death sentence. It's often a lucrative job. He'd siphon off a portion of treasures meant for bribing human high-ups and resell rare materials between the two factions."
As it spoke, the mech-dog lifted a paw and pointed at three areas on a holographic map.
Light and shadow twisted—revealing two and a half enormous mechanical planets.
"Master, those are the ones he built with his ill-gotten gains."
"Their full name is Zichen Realm, which is made up of six total planets when complete."
"With just four constructed, it can replicate the power of an Undying Military Lord. All six? It can rival a top-tier powerhouse—approaching Marquess-level!"
Jiang Zhe examined the half-finished mechanical planets without much surprise.
This was just how the Mechanical Race operated.
They'd deploy massive mechanical constructs like Zichen Realm, Thunder Prison, or Nine-Absolute Divine Nation—trapping enemies across regions that spanned hundreds of millions of kilometers. Then unleash tens of millions of puppet machines to swarm-kill the target.
Every Mechanical Race Undying was either dirt poor or disgustingly rich—no in-between.
After clearing Jiang Zhe's doubts, the mech-dog began its tour.
"Master, this is A1 Sector, storing 6,724 types of commonly-used Grade A metals. Total remaining weight: approximately 60 quadrillion tons."
"This is A2…"
"This is A3…"
"…And finally, A999 Sector, which holds 327 types of rare A9-grade metals. These are strictly off-limits to the Zvika Insects unless required for production. Guarded by 20,000 E9-class mechanical puppets."
That final figure snapped Jiang Zhe back to attention. He yawned—nearly dozing off from the overwhelming list of inventory.
Tens of thousands of metal types… dozens of quadrillions of tons… sounds scary, right?
Let's do the math.
Take A8 Xuan Iron. One ton is worth 0.0032 Heilong Coins.
The conversion rate from Cosmic Coin to Heilong Coin is 1 : 3,300,000.
Which means one Cosmic Coin = 10 billion tons of A8 Xuan Iron.
If you had 1 Hunyuan unit (which equals 1 trillion Cosmic Coins), you could buy more Xuan Iron than you could ever use.
The mech-dog moved on.
"This is B1 Sector…"
"This is C1 Sector…"
"This is D1 Sector…"
"This is E1 Sector…"
Jiang Zhe noticed a trend: from Grade C metals onward, both type variety and stock levels dropped dramatically.
Grade D and E metals were downright scarce—worth maybe tens of thousands of Hunyuan units in total?
And again, the Zvika Insects were banned from eating any of it, with E9-class puppets stationed at every location to prevent unauthorized consumption.
After the metal audit, the mech-dog led Jiang Zhe to the heart of the world map.
A colossal steel city rose from the ground like a fortress.
"Master, this steel city spans nearly 10,000 square kilometers. It is the core of the inner world—the Mechanical Factory!"
"It contains three full production lines of Grade C machinery, capable of building Grade C spaceships, mechanical guardians, and high-end laser weaponry."
"This was the previous owner's main moneymaker."
Jiang Zhe's first thought?
Jackpot!
Once I'm in Virtual Universe Company's core circle, the Jiang family can ride my name and use these factories to build a commercial empire…
We'll soar to the heavens.
But there's one crucial condition—I must not die.
Because if I do, the entire Jiang family would be torn apart by every Undying or higher who came sniffing for a piece.
Way too dangerous. Need to play it safe.
The mech-dog kept gesturing excitedly with its paw.
"Aside from that, there are maintenance lines for E and F-grade puppets. Just post-battle recovery gear—probably not something Master cares about."
"See the central tower? That's the energy core of the factory."
"The top floor was the old master's residence. Sometimes he trained there. It also contains his most important items."
"Master, that concludes the internal world report."
The mech-dog bowed its head respectfully, awaiting new orders.
Jiang Zhe frowned. "Wait a second—you didn't mention the mechanical puppets! Those are the true power of this world bracelet."
"Master, I'll take over from here," Orianna interjected with a slight bow.
"Perfect," Jiang Zhe nodded. "Go ahead."
Orianna waved her hand. The world map disintegrated into dust, replaced by the overwhelming image of millions of mechanical puppets.
Three scaled-down puppet models hovered beside Jiang Zhe.
She brought the smallest one forward.
A 12-meter tall humanoid mech, dark purple, carrying a sword the size of a door.
"Master, this is an E9-class puppet, forged from Void Thunder Copper Essence. There are nearly 7 million of these in the bracelet. Due to the Mechanical Race's cheap production process, their total value is around 500,000 Hunyuan units."
Next, she moved the second model.
15 meters tall, deep violet, same design.
"This is an F6-class puppet, made from Purple Star Copper Mother. There were 2,000 initially—half were taken, most likely destroyed by your teacher. Babata took the wreckage. 1,000 units remain, worth about 400,000 Hunyuan units."
Then the final, largest puppet.
20 meters tall. Bright golden-purple.
"This is an F8-class puppet, crafted from Purple Bing Iron Mother. Just 300 of these can entangle even an Undying deity."
"Only 300 were completed—most of the rest were destroyed. The remaining stock is valued at about 350,000 Hunyuan units."
Jiang Zhe's mouth went dry from all the numbers. He rubbed his hands together.
"So, all in all, I've got about 2.5 million Hunyuan units in fixed assets? I'm almost catching up to Teacher Huyan Bo!"
"Master, your teacher's wealth is all liquid. Ours is fixed assets. And please… don't sell them. I can use all of this! It'll give us a massive power boost!"
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Author's Note:
One more chapter coming—check it out in the morning.
All numbers have been checked repeatedly—no errors.
This is just how the Mechanical Race works:
If you don't burn money, you don't win fights. They're filthy rich.
(End of the chapter)