Calculating Cultivation
Chapter 124: Spending Units

“Welcome! Welcome!” A massively obese man greeted us while shoveling food into his mouth as we entered the dining room. Servants were constantly bringing forth more food for this massive blob to shovel down his throat. I noted he just tossed the bones from the meat he had eaten on the floor, letting the servants clean up.

“Cultivator Yuan Zhou, this is Coordinator Lung, who is handling this transaction,” Yang Zi introduced us as we took our seats across the table from this man. He didn’t have any cultivation as far as I could tell.

“Give me a moment.” I saw the man’s face scrunched up and a defecating sound came from him. I noted he didn’t move his mouth while speaking. Some kind of mental connection to a speaker, so he could eat and speak at the same time.

“We can come back later if you are too busy,” I calmly suggested. Thankfully there wasn’t a smell. I did hear the spray of water cleaning this man’s massive rectum under his chair.

“I am always eating. It is my vice. Eat and work, I say. I used to do one than the other, but then I combined both. Now work is much more enjoyable,” he said through his speaker while picking up a sandwich and shoved it into his mouth, some of the toppings fell onto his shirt and the table.

I was starting to feel sick watching this. If it was a business tactic, it was an effective one. “Well time is money, and I normally don’t meat with people in person. But a black market trade like this, well it isn’t simple and I am sure you have questions. First, your financials. I know you are a bit strapped for liquid units at the moment Yang Zi,” Coordinator Lung said through his speaker

“We are more than capable for this transaction,” Yang Zi said and pulled up my pad to send a confirmation to Coordinator Lung that I had at least a hundred million units available. A servant handed him a large jug of some fizzy drink, half of which ran down his face. Once he was done he tossed the jug to the side where it bounced off the floor. Servants continued to rush about to bring more food and drinks while cleaning up after this man.

“You have the funds. Quite a bit for a new arrival. Clearly capable. Seems like you found a good partner Yang Zi. Well, we can talk business then.” A platter of some kind of large crustacean that looked like shrimp, but wasn’t shrimp went into his maw. It was a maw not a mouth, since he was just inhaling food and drink non-stop.

“I was told you have miniaturized and stealth energy pumps for sale,” Yang Zi said.

“Got a batch from some defector from the Mind Lords. Idiots are always trying to expand and control everything, but that much repression and torture is just stupid. Still, they have good stuff that works. The defector tried to sell without going through a Coordinator. A shame he had an accident. Luckily there were no buyers yet,” Coordinator Lung said. Such a statement meant the man Yang Zi had originally wanted to deal with had been killed and the murder had gotten past the Administrator. He was also giving us a warning.

A Coordinator was someone who handled high level transactions for others. How much of what he said was true was hard to clarify. But I had no doubt he was giving a kick back up to the Administrator, or some kind of protection fee. The original seller, might not be dead, but there was no way for us to know. The Free Port was stupidly large and with enough units, the Administrator was happy to give you a new identity.

This kind of person was the kind of individual who would take hot deals in bulk, and then break them out to individual buyers. Yang Zi hadn’t wanted to deal with a Coordinator since we had no leverage and there were certain risks involved. The chance of betrayal was much higher.

Coordinator Lung continued talking after a brief pause. “Everyone and their family wants these things. Top quality, stealth, miniaturized. You couldn’t ask for anything more for an inspiring entrepreneur.”

“No strings?” Yang Zi asked. I was letting him take the lead during the first part of the discussion.

“I have dabbled in the past, but the risk is high. One mistake and a super organization will catch you. Off to a torture pod for all eternity. But the original dealer was generating waves and attention he shouldn’t have. Since he was in my area, I took possession of his knowledge he kindly handed over. The Administrator doesn’t like such transactions public,” Coordinator Lung said. That was all the confirmation I needed in my mind that this wasn’t someone we could go up against. Even as small spherical vegetables escaped his mouth and rolled off his body onto the floor.

“That isn’t an answer. If we purchase these energy pumps, will we have confidentiality there won’t be information leaks?” Yang Zi asked.

“No. The knowledge about the energy pumps for sale isn’t hidden unfortunately, which is why I stepped in. The Mind Lords are asking questions as well. I won’t seek to chain you down or request fees, but this information will get out there eventually,” Coordinator Lung shoveled in food off a skewer into his mouth before flicking the skewer away.

“Then would it be possible to see the technical specifications before purchase?” Yang Zi asked.

“Nope. If you are going to dance around, I will find another buyer. They work, I guarantee that. I have done a sweep for trackers already. But that just catches the most obvious stuff. Anything more you will have to do yourself,” Coordinator Lung replied while more food was sprayed everywhere and consumed.

That was when I realized that this man probably wasn’t even Coordinator Lung. It was probably some poor idiot who liked eating too much put here to distract us. He didn’t even close his mouth while chewing and there half chewed food dripping down his massive triple chin waiting to be washed away by the next jug of liquid.

Thankfully Yang Zi had enough experience to not be phased by such a tactic. I was disgusted but kept my focus on the discussion as much as possible despite the incredibly distracting scene in front of me. If I ever became rich and powerful, I would do this in the future while doing business with people less important than me to throw them off their guard and distract them.

It made me wonder how much this man was being paid to eat himself to death. There were body sculpting services available in the Free Port and the medical services would ensure that this man in front of us wouldn’t die from morbid obesity.

At a certain point, there was a limit to calories consumed to how big a person’s body could become even while constantly eating. It was such a spectacle that it was honestly hard to look away and focus, no matter how much I told myself.

“How much?” Yang Zi asked. That was the real question that needed to be answered.

“Ten million each, no discounts. I have a hundred and three ready for immediate sale.” Why was he even eating bones? They had a crunch to them that was incredibly disturbing to the ears. I knew asking why he was eating like this in front of us would be a loss on our part. Admitting we were uncomfortable, this deal needed to happen. Perhaps that was how this Coordinator Lung knew we were desperate, that we would put up with this nonsense.

Yang Zi looked over at me. “You know our budget and I will put my trust into you for this deal,” I told him. We could afford ten. Since the rest needed to be used for supplies and a vessel. I also spoke loudly so there would be no confusion. Yang Zi was handling the negotiation. While I was tempted to jump in and ask questions, Coordinator Lung didn’t seem willing to cooperate. “Still, everything should have a price. Do you have the production specifications for sale?”

Buying was one thing, being able to produce on our own was another. “Nope. You can try and reverse engineer, but that isn’t easy.” Some sort of eel looking creature was slurped up.

“You won’t be selling us out to the Mind Lords?” Yang Zi asked. I didn’t know how much a threat that Super Organization would be.

“Selling you out? To those crazies? Not worth the hassle. But if they come with units, well, I won’t say no, but I won’t advertise either. They are persistent about revenge and payback. Now enough wasting time. How many do you want to buy?” Coordinator Lung asked.

“Seems like you need to move them quickly, before the Mind Lords show up and make trouble. Remote assassins are always annoying. Ten for ninety million units,” Yang Zi countered. I was glad he was willing to push back on this Coordinator Lung, even if it was only a little bit.

“Trying to rob food from my mouth. I am interested in unloading them quickly. But if you want to make a deal, I have one for you. I found an interesting piece of information. A high-level golem from the Soaring Star Society. Listed for a billion units,” he was clearly addressing the golem I had and that meant I should probably speak up.

“I do have such an item, up on the network for an exchange,” I replied as the obese man in front of me began slurping up some kind of slushie through a straw. I noted bits of food falling out of his mouth into the massive slushie cup.

“Keep your units. I will trade you 50 of the energy pumps in exchange for such an item. You aren’t going to sell such an item without going through a Coordinator any time soon, and you clearly have other plans. Better to sell it before you get yourself killed and the Administrator picks it up for free,” Coordinator Lung replied. Yang Zi looked over at me and gave me a nod. Since this was my item, he would let me handle this part of the negotiation.

“It is worth a billion. The Soaring Star Society is gone forever. This is one of the last examples of their technology and cultivation. Also, the chain of causality on the golem in question has been disrupted, making it much lower risk. I would take 80 of the energy pumps,” I countered. It was a bit aggressive, but the man in front of us shoveling food and other stuff into his maw was pissing me off. In addition Coordinator Lung would not have brought up the golem unless he really wanted it.

“Now you are really trying to rob food from my mouth. I would sell you 52 energy pumps,” he replied. Now I had to make a power move. If we remained seated we would just be scammed going forward. We were desperate, but I handled more intense situations than this. Now that I knew about energy pumps and becoming a criminal, it would only be a matter of time before this chance came up again.

“You wouldn’t be interested in the golem if you couldn’t turn around and sell it quickly. Only 52 energy pumps is insulting. We can wait until your price drops a bit, you can sell one by one to all those other interested people,” I replied and got up. Yang Zi got up as well. Coordinator didn’t say anything until we reached the door.

“I will go 55,” Coordinator Lung said just as the door opened. I looked over at Yang Zi who didn’t give an indication how he felt. This was my golem, so it was my decision. I was appreciative of his trust. I also knew I shouldn’t make an enemy out of this Coordinator.

“I will agree with 55, but we are going with my partners stipulations for the transaction,” I said and turned back around. This kind of large black market deal had to be handled carefully.

“A life contract, three cycles. Penalty five billion units,” Yang Zi instantly jumped in.

“You are likely to fall and trip in that time. One cycle is the longest I can put up that kind of insurance. No more,” Coordinator Lung said as we sat back down. The eating mannerisms hadn’t changed, which confirmed in my mind that the obese person in front of us was only meant as a distraction.

Yang Zi looked over at me. “I can accept that,” I told him with a nod. We had discussed things like a life contract beforehand. There were devices that could be connected to us for one cycle and linked back to a health monitoring station here in the Free Port. Coordinator Lung would put up 5 billion units into a secure account. If our life monitoring stations went dark before the cycle was up, he would lose that much money.

It was better than threatening his life. If he wasn’t using proxies to hide his real identity, we might have gone with a mutual life contract, but clearly, he valued his life more than 5 billion units. It would also prevent him from quickly selling us out for a small number of units. The Mind Lords would likely hesitate at such an expense that far exceeded the value of goods that they lost.

Once that cycle was up, then we would be fair game and there was no doubt that Coordinator Lung would be selling the information to put the heat onto us for the energy pumps. He was probably hidden deep in the Free Port, where it would be impossible to target him.

The Administrator allowed all of this, since it was the ultimate beneficiary of such transactions. There would be a fee for the life contract of ten million units each. Then there would be the follow up transactions to buy a vessel, supplies, and other equipment. Also, the transfer of the golem would have a fee attached to it, since it would just be handed off. While the energy pumps wouldn’t pass through the Free Port, all the other transactions would, generating more wealth for the Administrator.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“As for the golem a one cycle delayed transfer, jointly held, token release,” Yang Zi stated.

“Annoying, but also acceptable. But I don’t want to hear that you are unable to pick up the goods. In a tenth of a cycle, I will have the location in the Firmament you can pick up your 55 energy pumps and the golem transfer confirmation token,” Coordinator Lung replied through the speakers.

“You have our information, send us both the details,” Yang Zi stated. I nodded at this.

“Touching to see such a true partnership. You get me the life contracts and the transfer token. I will handle half the fees,” Coordinator Lung replied. Yang Zi looked at me. This would be money out of our pocket, but the question was how much we wanted to argue over a couple of million. Half seemed like a reasonable compromise, but it was all a matter of how much each side was willing to push.

“Since it is only a cycle, you will cover all the fees,” I countered.

“Fine, fine. Stealing food right from my mouth. I will cover them, just get it all set up and quickly,” Coordinator Lung said. With that verbal agreement we got up and left the meeting room. After getting a ride we stopped at café that had private rooms and got one.

“What was that?” I asked.

“Hmmm?” Yang Zi said as we sat down.

“That eating and drinking?” I asked.

“It was meant to throw us off guard. Coordinator Lung wouldn’t dare hurt us. But are you okay with trading away your golem?” Yang Zi asked me.

“If we are going to succeed, we can’t half ass this. While I am probably being scammed, we need units more than I need a golem. Especially if we are going to get a vessel. Our budget just opened up by a hundred million,” I replied. Coordinator Lung had been right about that point. Having that golem just sit around waiting for a buyer wouldn’t do me anything.

If I was going to go down the path of getting energy directly, then I might as well go all in. There really was no point of leaving the golem back here at the Free Port, when I could easily die out in the Firmament. Better to leverage everything I had to save my life.

“That leaves us with several options. The stealth, spatial compression, scanners, are all systems that we can upgrade,” Yang Zi said.

“How do we rate compared to other groups with the vessel we have planned?” I asked.

“In comparison to what the Administrator is offering, we are probably in the upper twenty percent based on what is offered. We can get in the top five percent for one of those systems if we spend an extra hundred million units. All three are good options,” Yang Zi said.

They were good options. We had looked at vessels and he had a design picked out already. It was mostly just finding the best options from a massive catalogue. It wasn’t just how good each component was, but how much energy or technology was part of the design. What technology or energy system they were based off of.

Yang Zi had familiarity with certain systems, and he would be in charge of maintaining the vessel. He also had a good idea how certain specifications translated into real world applications. While a more intensive energy system might be better for spatial compression and cost effective, it would not be stealthy in the slightest.

Then there were issues of reliability, how easily things could be repaired, and a host of other factors that one needed to dig into. I had looked over his choices and questioned them, and he had a lot to stay on the subject. The fact he was able to talk at length was more than enough to convince me he had done his research. What little I had looked into, showed he hadn’t picked the most popular options, but the ones with the lowest energy profile.

All scanning at range was done by sensing disturbances or bursts of energy. That was why I would have to purchase the highest grade energy dampener for a million units to hide my presence on board the vessel.

The stealth system was all about containing energy fluctuations that the vessel might release. Since I had the units, he insisted on a special energy absorption material for the hull. “How would stealth even be improved I asked?”

“A spatial dispersal array for eighty to ninety million units. It will make tracking us much harder. Making sure our trail blends into the background energy. A nifty device that normally isn’t for sale, but I know someone who would be willing to part with one for the right price,” Yang Zi said.

“Don’t we have one?” I asked.

“I do, but having two is better. Mixes things up more. Most people don’t bother since it is a pain to get such things working in tandem, but once you do, finding someone is incredibly hard. You can shift both dispersal arrays at the same time, really messing up the wake. The trick is to balance them properly.”

“What about scanning and the spatial drive?” I asked.

“Upgrades to sensitivity and speed. About a hundred percent improvement in both areas if could spend the units. It is a big jump, but the expense is equally large,” Yang Zi replied. That was a big jump. I wanted to purchase all three if I could, but we had to compromise unfortunately.

“And about a fifth will be better than us,” I replied.

“Except in stealth. We are already investing heavily in that area. We were in the top five percent before, now I would put us in the top one percent or higher with a second dispersal array in the mix. As for defense and weapons, we are at the very bottom.”

Unfortunately, being stealthy and hiding energy fluctuations meant we had to give up on most weapons and defense systems. Having such systems be made of stealth material as well was unbearably expensive. If I had ten billion units, I could have purchased a dream vessel, but then I wouldn’t have needed one in the first place.

“What about size? Will we be able to handle 55 energy pumps?” I asked.

“That will be a headache, but we can do it. Worst case, we disassemble everything we can and put it in SSC,” Yang Zi said. SSC stood for stealth storage containers. Spatial storage raised the profile of the vessel and the possibility of detection. That was why such specialty containers were needed. I would be moving my personal items over to one and selling my personal spatial storage items.

Reducing one’s energy profile was key to remaining hidden. Since we would be setting up energy pumps to steal energy from super organizations’ territory, stealth was critical. “Stealth would be my choice. But the scanning system would help us pick up traps,” I complained. There was a knock on the door. Yang Zi released the lock, and a waitress brought us drinks to our private room. She then left. I picked up mine and took a sip, still feeling a bit sick after watching Coordinator Lung’s proxy eat.

“Stealth is never a bad choice. I will reach out and we can make the trade for the spatial dispersal array. I need to rest mentally for a bit after Coordinator Lung. Good job not saying anything. He clearly wanted to put us on the back foot,” Yang Zi said.

“It was unprofessional and needlessly hostile,” I replied.

“That is the point and why I was hoping to go right to the source. We could have gotten a better deal, but you wouldn’t have been able to trade your golem. A bit of a mixed bag really. The important thing is that we have more than enough energy pumps. Hopefully make 50 million units worth of energy per cycle. We will mark down the energy pumps as ten million units in terms of repayment,” Yang Zi looked at me and I nodded.

“That is fine. That was their original price anyways. You think Coordinator Lung will betray us, and those Mind Lords?” I asked.

“He won’t risk anything for a cycle, which is for sure. After that, well we will be on their list. But they were never friendly to begin with. The fact they don’t have any members of their species controlling a sector in the Free Port, just goes to show how unlikable they are. Stupid to make yourself a brain in a jar.”

“Really a brain in a jar? They must be dependent on technology then,” I replied.

“Slave labor. Unlike creating mindless drones like the Heavenly Alliance, they enjoy suffering. Complete waste of time, resources, and effort, but apparently, they feed off the suffering of others. Creates a unique blend of energy they use to empower themselves. One of the more nasty super organizations out there. On the kill list,” Yang Zi said.

“Then they are allowed to trade here?” I asked.

“Ah, no one is banned unless they break the Administrator’s rules. The kill list is the list factions you should kill yourself before you are captured. The Mind Lords might not have made the torture pod, but they definitely perfected it. You threaten someone with a Mind Lord torture pod, all bets are off. Despite their cruelty, they are also super smart. I guess that comes from being giant brains,” Yang Zi said.

I could only shake my head at that. “Well, let us toast, to a success trade. May we make lots of units going forward,” Yang Zi said. I brought up my glass and we knocked our glasses togeather before taking a drink.

“A shame we couldn’t get all the energy pumps,” I replied.

“That is too risky. If anything, Coordinator Lung will spread out the rest and create false trails for the Mind Lords to chase after, wasting their time and energy. Too much of a good thing can drag us down. Same reason why I don’t want to bring in anyone else.”

We had discussed this option. Yang Zi knew people who were questionable, but they had useful equipment and contacts. Nowhere close to either of us, which was why he had been hesitant. I had agreed with him, better to keep the operation as small as possible.

There was trust between us, for the simple reason we were both investing quite a bit into this operation. Yang Zi’s knowledge was mostly in regards to vessels and their operations. The energy pumps were a unique technology that depended on arrays to function for the most part. While there was technology, it tended to be limited and highly complex.

Having a two-way split of the energy produced was fine. Splitting into more shares was a bit too much. While we both could go without sleep for a while, me due to my cultivation and Yang Zi due to his implants, having to manage everything would be incredibly exhausting. It would still be incredibly exhausting with two people, but it wouldn’t be impossible like it would be for just a single person.

“I won’t know if I can replicate the energy pumps until I see them,” I replied.

“That is fine. With 55 of them, this operation is a lot more cost effective. Almost too much. Once we get set up and get energy, we need to seriously consider investing everything into upgrades. Both our shares, and your reimbursement,” Yang Zi said.

“The risk is that high?” I asked.

“I would like better spatial compression drives. The faster we can move about, the less chance of detection. There is also a physics leveler that can be purchased for stealth. There are some production processes that use it as well, so it isn’t restricted. Just insanely expensive.”

“How expensive?” I asked.

“Half a billion. But there is a trick I know, where it can be tied into a vessel to make it blend perfectly in with the background. After all the stuff we have to suppress our energy signature, that would be the next upgrade we would need to get.” This was the kind of information that wasn’t listed publicly or easy to find. One needed to have experience and knowledge, which was why I needed to work with Yang Zi and didn’t want to go off on my own. Getting past this kind of learning curve would take a lot of time and carry a lot of risk.

“Expensive. What about the energy pumps? You don’t need something for them?” I asked.

“I know some tricks that can be used to hide them. It won’t be perfect, but it will work for the most part. You pick up some things while traveling about and talking to others. As for more equipment, it is better to get more energy pumps and just abandon the ones that are compromised, rather than trying to hide them. Better to sink money into our vessel than the pumps,” he replied.

“Hopefully we can make more,” I said. That was a major concern going forward.

“The hardest part is the core technology. The arrays and formations that are used. As long as they can be replicated safely, the rest shouldn’t be too bad. If we can make our own energy pumps, that is a license to print units,” Yang Zi said with a grin. I just nodded slightly at that and sipped my drink.

While he was hopeful, I wasn’t as hopeful. There was bound to be unique materials and other crafting processes. There were a lot of factors that I couldn’t comment on until I was able to see the energy pumps in person. I felt like I was out of my depth in everything, but I wanted to move quickly and only took time to confirm information that Yang Zi had told me, not learn everything myself. Still, the manufacturer of energy pumps was something I needed to focus all my efforts on.

As long as I could make energy pumps, then our relationship would have a much stronger foundation moving forwards. I noticed that the components of the vessel we had in mind lay more in the technological direction than the energy direction. While there was a stealth reason, it was also what Yang Zi was experienced with.

Most of the stuff in the Free Port worked on technological principles, not energy ones which were inherently more expensive. At least the goods that were available to the masses. That was why even my limited knowledge of how arrays and formations worked was invaluable. Being able to generalize what various components did was incredibly important and a very rare skill for someone not attached to a super organization.

Most of the energy-based components on a vessel were just replaced as modules. No need to work out the core technology of a spatial compression system when you would just replace the main motivator module itself. The Administrator tended to lock its energy systems up like this to make it much harder to reverse engineer. As for technology, it didn’t care that much except for highly destructive weapons.

There were no plans for nuclear weapons on the network. I had checked and while there were references, nothing specific about how they worked or design schematics. All of this was just more proof of how clever the Administrator actually was.

Purchasing a vessel from it, we could only purchase components to repair the core systems of the vessel form the Free Port. This ensured we had to remain in good standing with the Administrator and brought back wealth in the form of energy. There was no other bulk raw resource that was required. Sure, individual items could be exchanged, but for the most part there was only a single resource that was needed, energy.

That was also why I was taking this kind of risk and endured Coordinator Lung. There were no other options for the amount of wealth I needed with the Administrator blocking almost every avenue for accumulating wealth. While I could explore and just fly about, that kind of exploration had soured for me with Yang Heng in the Mechanical Layer. While the Mechanical Layer and the Firmament were different, I didn’t want to bother with exploration like that. It was to hit or miss, and the risk was too high. Even more so in the Firmament with super organizations claiming territory.

That was why I was going to become a criminal towards most of the super organizations. Or maybe a parasite in their view, stealing energy from their territory. The risk was high, but I could see my goal almost in sight. I knew there would be more after reaching immortality, but I would have time. It just felt like I had more to lose after putting in all the work I had.

Risk taking was all subjective. Back when I had been a child in the Yuan family, the risks I took seemed so much easier to take. Death was still a possibility, but I had been much more willing to accept them. After centuries of tempering, I wasn’t so willing to put my life on the line once more. I could only attribute my hesitation to my understanding.

If I knew everything I knew right now back when I had been just starting off, then I might have never started. Learning more about reality helped inform my decisions, but it was also a burden. That was the problem with too much knowledge. Well the risks were a bit higher this time. Instead of just death there would be torture pods for a very long time.

I vowed I would not allow myself to be captured alive no matter what. The depravity of these super organizations was no joke, once they put their mind to something. There were probably some that set up individuals in torture pods on their boarders just to make a point to interlopers. With the Firmament being infinite, anything that was possible would eventually happen. Now to sort out my own small infinitesimally small corner. We had a vessel to get and energy pumps to inspect.

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