Chapter 73: Fatty Lei Was Stunned
Chapter 73: Fatty Lei Was Stunned
Squid Bruce gasped softly. His shocked expression made Fatty Lei a bit uneasy.
“Brother Bruce, what is it? Can we discuss cooperation?”
“Yes! Of course! Absolutely!” Bruce replied excitedly. “I never imagined, Brother Odin, that the energy from your world would be so dense even when dispersed in the air.”
Fatty Lei did not fully understand what was going on, but seeing Bruce’s reaction, he knew he could start another business.
“This way I won’t have to die! With energy like yours, I can sell it at a very good price. It will be enough to pay the System’s Tax, so I won’t be eliminated by the System!”
As Bruce said this, he seemed very emotional. His entire body, including his tentacles, trembled slightly.
But it was not surprising. He had been waiting to die, and suddenly there was hope. Anyone would be excited in such a situation.
After all, life was the most precious thing. If possible, who would want to die?
“Brother Bruce, let’s discuss the details of cooperation.” Fatty Lei knew Bruce was excited, but time was precious.
“Oh—yes. I got a bit carried away thinking about not being eliminated by the System. Please don’t laugh at me.”
When Fatty Lei mentioned it, Bruce seemed a little embarrassed.
“Hey, what are you talking about? If it were me, I’d probably be even more excited than you.” Fatty Lei smiled at Bruce.
Bruce calmed down and became serious.
“So, how do you want to cooperate?”
For Bruce, this energy trade was like a lifeline, so he needed to take Fatty Lei seriously now.
He even used respectful language, showing that Fatty Lei’s standing in his heart had risen significantly.
“You will provide the energy collection and conversion equipment. The Credit Points for transporting it will be your responsibility. I will collect the energy in my world, and you will purchase it…”
In short, Fatty Lei would not spend a single Credit Point or provide any equipment for his cooperation with Squid Bruce. All the initial investment would have to be covered by Bruce alone.
Bruce listened to Fatty Lei’s proposal silently.
“For the final Energy Crystals, you can pay me twenty percent of each unit’s selling price. I’ll take the smaller share, and you keep the larger one. But you should know, the initial investment on your part might be substantial.”
Fatty Lei quickly finished his proposal and sat there, waiting for Bruce’s response.
If Bruce had not heard the full proposal, he might have thought he was being exploited.
But after listening, Bruce did the math and realized that if the cooperation succeeded, he could earn a lot of Credit Points.
In fact, Special-Grade Energy was in high demand among goods traded across Dimensional Planes.
It was even more sought after than giant cannons and Warships.
So Bruce was not worried about selling it. The problem was the initial investment, which troubled him deeply. After all, what Bruce lacked most now was Credit Points. If he had enough, he would not be afraid of System Elimination.
The energy collection and conversion equipment was not small, and the Transmission Fee alone would cost a huge number of Credit Points. So Bruce was very troubled.
Considering this issue, Bruce felt he had to be honest with Fatty Lei.
“Ahem—”
After coughing, Bruce said to Fatty Lei, “After hearing your proposal, I think the cooperation model is quite fair. But there’s one problem. If it isn’t resolved, we can’t proceed with the cooperation.”
“What problem?” Fatty Lei asked quickly.
“The problem is this.” Bruce organized his thoughts and said, “As you probably know, the System charges very high fees for Interdimensional Teleportation.”
Fatty Lei nodded. “Fifty Credit Points per cubic meter is indeed expensive. Who knows how much it would cost for large items?” Fatty Lei was well aware that Interdimensional Teleportation was costly.
“After all, it’s Interdimensional Teleportation, and the System isn’t a charity. We have to accept it. Even though it’s expensive, it’s for transport to an Alien Plane.” Bruce sighed and then added, “This leads us to another problem—the cost of Interdimensional Teleportation.”
“Hmm—”
“Does Bruce not want to pay the fee?” Fatty Lei thought to himself. “If he doesn’t want to pay, then this cooperation is impossible. My own Credit Points aren’t enough to cover the Transmission Fee either.”
Thinking about his account, which only had 2,500 Credit Points, Fatty Lei felt a bit guilty.
Whether it was his cooperation with Andrew or the upcoming cooperation with Bruce, Fatty Lei was essentially operating on a “zero investment” model.
Of course, unlike a pure scammer, Fatty Lei did have something to offer.
Bruce continued with difficulty, “The energy collection and conversion equipment is too bulky, so the Transmission Fee will definitely be very high. But as you know, I’m worried about being eliminated by the System precisely because I don’t have enough Credit Points…”
He did not need to say more. Fatty Lei understood the problem.
“Brother Bruce, are you saying you’re short on Credit Points right now?”
Bruce’s large head nodded up and down like a chicken pecking at rice. “Yes! I’m a bit tight, so the Interdimensional Teleportation fee is really troubling.”
“Oh, I’m just a newbie. I don’t have many Credit Points either. If I did, I wouldn’t mind advancing them.” Fatty Lei spread his hands and openly admitted his low rank.
Bruce had no choice but to accept it. It was common knowledge that low-level Merchants didn’t have many Credit Points. Besides, Fatty Lei was only rank one, so Bruce knew he was telling the truth.
“What should we do? Is this lifesaving business impossible?”
Bruce had just felt hope for survival, but now it was stuck because of insufficient Credit Points. He was so upset he almost cried. It was incredibly frustrating.
“Don’t worry yet. Let me think.”
Fatty Lei also hoped the cooperation with Bruce would succeed, though he wasn’t as anxious as Bruce. After all, Fatty Lei had enough Credit Points to pay the Tax and didn’t need to worry about System Elimination.
Squid Bruce blinked his big eyes and quietly watched Fatty Lei.
His hopeful gaze made Fatty Lei squirm uncomfortably. “Really, this look gives me the creeps. I’m not into that sort of thing,” Fatty Lei complained silently to himself.
After thinking it over, Fatty Lei asked Bruce, “Do you have any friends who could lend you some Credit Points temporarily?”
Bruce shook his large head. “That’s impossible. No Merchant would lend out Credit Points.”
Fatty Lei nodded and said, “Oh—” Then he added, “If you can’t borrow Credit Points, there’s only one last option.” Squid Bruce quickly asked, “What option?”
Fatty Lei raised his hand and stroked the beard on his chin. “Find someone to join us!”
“Hmm—???”
“Find someone to join us?”
Fatty Lei nodded seriously. “Since neither of us has enough Credit Points to pay for the Interdimensional Teleportation fee, why don’t we find someone with plenty of Credit Points to partner with us?” After hearing Fatty Lei’s suggestion, Bruce thought it over carefully and found it to be a good idea.
“But I don’t have any friends.”
Bruce’s words immediately deflated Fatty Lei.
“Really, bro? You’ve been a Dimensional Merchant for so long and don’t have a single friend?”
Bruce looked very embarrassed and rubbed his head with one of his tentacles.
“You know how Merchants are—they only care about profit. The ones I’ve dealt with are already avoiding me. If I go to them, they might think I’m trying to scam them or something.” Bruce spoke haltingly to Fatty Lei.
“Sigh—Brother, no offense, but you’re really a failure.”
Squid Bruce lowered his large head in embarrassment.
“Alright, let me try contacting someone to see if it helps. You calculate roughly how many Credit Points the Transmission Fee will cost, and I’ll talk to this person.” At this point, Fatty Lei had no other choice. He could only think of asking Andrew. After all, this guy was a rank one, level 80+ Merchant. Fatty Lei refused to believe he didn’t have any Credit Points.
“Wangcai, try contacting Mr. Andrew. Maybe he’s at the gathering right now.”
Fatty Lei turned and instructed Wangcai.
“Okay, Master. I’ll contact Mr. Andrew right away.”
Wangcai then walked to the side. The skin on his arm split open, and a metal device extended from it…
“Who is this beside you?”
Bruce was a bit curious about Wangcai’s presence.
“Intelligent Butler, given by the System.” Fatty Lei replied casually.
“Lucky you.” Bruce said enviously, then began calculating with Fatty Lei how many Credit Points would be needed for the teleportation and the sale of Energy Crystals.
“According to my plan, I want to send ten energy collection and conversion devices to your side. Based on the energy density in your world, each device can convert about three Special-Grade Energy Crystals per day. Each Energy Crystal can sell for about ten million Credit Points in the Dimensional Trade Market. So, one machine could bring in around thirty million, and ten machines could bring in about three hundred million.”
By now, Fatty Lei’s mouth was hanging wide open, unable to close. He never imagined that Energy could sell for such a high price in the Dimensional Trade Market.
“And that’s just the daily income…”
Bruce continued explaining tirelessly to Fatty Lei…