Translator: AnubisTL
"What does 'zero' mean?" Li Shiji asked, looking up at the man across from him with confusion. "Does this mean that none of my life experiences have any commercial value?"
"Even Brother Biao has ten memories. How can I have zero?"
"The instrument doesn't make mistakes. That's the truth."
"Can I see what Brother Biao's remaining nine memories are?"
"The instrument has already been destroyed. It's impossible to check."
"What about another test?"
"Each person gets one free test. Additional tests cost 100,000 points each."
"Huh?"
Hearing Li Shiji's words, Biaozi suddenly grew curious about his own remaining nine memories. He had glanced at them earlier and noticed that the most expensive one was only worth 10,000 points, so he hadn't bothered to examine them further.
He had assumed everyone had similar memories.
Now, he was shocked to learn that Li Shiji had no memories with any value at all.
"..."
Chen Mang leaned back in his chair, silently observing the scene before him. Both Biaozi and Li Shiji likely shared a most precious memory: their arduous survival during the apocalypse.
But since Li Shiji's memories with commercial value were zero, it proved that this particular memory held no value.
In other words, such events had occurred countless times, rendering the memory of surviving the apocalypse so commonplace it was worthless.
Although the woman on the fourth floor of the entertainment city claimed her database contained no records of the "apocalypse," the information here easily led to the conclusion that their planet wasn't the only one to have suffered such a fate.
Rather,
countless planets had endured similar cataclysms.
"Try mine," Chen Mang said calmly after a long silence, extending his arm. "See if I have any memories worth selling."
"Very well."
The man skillfully tossed the discarded instrument into the waste bin and retrieved a new one, connecting one end to Chen Mang's arm.
A minute later...
Thirty-seven garbled memory fragments appeared on the screen, the most expensive of which was priced at:
73,900,000,000.
Insufficient funds in account. Transaction cannot be completed.
...
...
The group at the table froze in stunned silence. Biaozi stared at the number in disbelief, counting aloud, "Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands, millions..."
"No need to count," Li Shiji muttered in a daze. "It's seventy-three billion nine hundred million."
Li Shiji's eyes widened in shock as he looked up at Chen Mang, his voice trembling with disbelief. "Grandpa Mang, have you met King Yama himself?"
The sheer magnitude of the number left everyone speechless.
Across the table, the man showed little reaction, merely smiling and saying, "Since your mental power is insufficient for Memory Stripping Surgery, would you like to purchase some memories?"
The man was just a robot, albeit a more advanced one. He operated strictly according to his programming, devoid of genuine emotion.
Unless the program was specifically designed with keywords to trigger certain emotions during input.
"73.9 billion divided by 380,000..."
Biaozi, looking somewhat dazed, was hunched over, trying to calculate how many goblins Lord Mang's memory was equivalent to. The numbers were too large for him to handle.
"..."
Chen Mang showed little reaction, merely gazing quietly at the self-destructed device. Though he hadn't opened the scrambled data, he knew what those memory fragments contained: the memories of his two lifetimes, from when he first transmigrated to this world.
This was... problematic.
The rarer the memory, the higher its price. Such an exorbitant price meant that the event it recorded was extremely rare in the vast cosmos.
In other words,
he likely had no hope of returning to his previous world in this lifetime. Fortunately, he harbored no particular attachment to his original world; otherwise, he might have felt a pang of disappointment.
However, seeing the expressions on Biaozi and the others' faces, he decided to offer an explanation.
After a moment of silence, he smiled and said, "Just some minor matters. How to put it... hmm, let me think."
"I saw a Dragon before the apocalypse."
"I believe it!"
Biaozi nodded with unwavering conviction. "And it must have been the Cosmic Dragon King, otherwise it wouldn't be worth this price."
"Just seeing it isn't enough, though," Li Shiji shook his head. "At least you'd have to... you know... do something with it. Then maybe it would be worth this much."
Meanwhile, the man continued his explanation with a smile: "Memory Deletion primarily helps clients erase painful memories, allowing them to lead more positive and optimistic lives."
"The procedure is identical to Memory Stripping Surgery, just like when we acquire memories."
"However, this surgery requires clients to pay, and the stripped memories are permanently destroyed rather than retained."
"Memory Printing involves extracting specific memories and encapsulating them into pills. When ingested, these pills vividly replay the memories in the user's mind without erasing the original memories. This service is typically used to preserve important memories."
"For example, elderly people with Alzheimer's often forget their families from time to time."
"The Memory Bank extracts a customer's most important memories and stores them here for safekeeping. This ensures that no matter what torture or interrogation methods they endure, they will never reveal a word, guaranteeing the absolute security of their memories."
"Of course."
"Currently, all memory surgeries require the full cooperation of the patient. Forced extraction is impossible. Moreover, whether it's forced extraction or memory implantation, a person can't undergo these procedures too many times, even after complete restoration in a Medical Pod."
"Repeated procedures risk trapping the patient in their consciousness space, leading to a vegetative state."
Chen Mang led Biaozi and the others out of the shop.
Standing on the street, Chen Mang lit a cigarette and gazed up at the neon-lit skyscrapers. Above the city, blue skies and white clouds stretched endlessly. He didn't know where this city was located, but he knew one thing for certain: there was something he absolutely had to buy at the Mechanical Train Parts Store.
[Special Item]: Neon City Free Entry Ticket, priced at 100,000 points.
[Item Effect]: An entry ticket to the fortuitous encounter map 'Neon City'. Crushing this ticket at any time grants immediate access to the map. The train conductor must be present and can bring up to 10 train crew members.
He had to buy this item.
This city was worth visiting a second time, and before returning, he would prepare thoroughly. For instance, he would have Biaozi increase his mental power to 16.0 as soon as possible, or ask Li Shiji if he liked green-skinned women.
This city wasn't just the [Mechanical Train Parts Store].
It also housed many shops with special functions, which would undoubtedly prove crucial one day.
The special item that had brought him to this fortuitous encounter map was the [Neon City Entry Ticket], a free entry ticket sold in the shop.
The difference between the two was that the former required a sufficient number of people to enter together, while the latter allowed entry at any time simply by crushing the ticket.
Most importantly...
Chen Mang silently exhaled a pale blue puff of smoke, gazing at the distant skyscrapers. He murmured, "Biaozi, that woman from Sun City said they've been asleep for nearly 5,000 years, right?"
"Over forty million hours... that's about five thousand years, right?"
Biaozi continued counting on his fingers. He hadn't even finished the last math problem, and now he had to tackle this one. Why were all these numbers so huge?
"So, this city should be unclaimed territory," Chen Mang murmured, his eyes narrowing.
"Even if it's a fortuitous encounter map, it's still an unclaimed city. Unlike the Sky Piercing Tower and the Geocore Nuke, this map can be entered repeatedly."
"All the robots in the city operate according to pre-programmed routines."
"They might have had masters once."
"But they definitely don't now."
"Do you think... there might be a central core, the heart of this city? If we controlled that core, could we claim the entire city?"
"That makes sense!" Biaozi's eyes suddenly lit up, but then he scratched the back of his head, puzzled. "Lord Mang, even if we control the city, we still can't restock our supplies. Many items in the Mechanical Train shop are out of stock."
"And the monetary system is different here."
"We also don't have the energy stones needed to power the entire city. Without customers, the city seems to be grinding to a halt."
"No rush," Chen Mang said with a smile, flicking his cigarette butt into a nearby trash can. He strode toward the "Mechanical Train Confessional" shop next door. "The important thing is knowing this city is temporarily without a master."
"Next time I bring Xiao Ai, we'll see if we can reprogram the chips in these robots."
"This city is a lost cause for now."
"But I've already reserved it."
"I'm going to make the stellar coupon the city's official currency. This place will become the Stellaris's backyard. The situation is clear."
"No problem," Biaozi nodded solemnly, though he didn't quite understand everything. He sighed, "Before the apocalypse, the Federation never detected any extraterrestrial intelligence."
"Now that the apocalypse has come..."
"We realize our planet is just a tiny corner of the vast cosmos."
"First, we must climb to the highest point of our world, and then we'll see farther."
Chen Mang didn't share these sentimental reflections. After transmigrating, his first thought was, "Why the hell are so many aliens speaking Mandarin?"
Mechanical Train Confessional
The shop's interior was starkly black and white, devoid of staff except for a single meditation cushion. A screen beside it displayed information about the establishment:
[When your conscience is burdened by guilt over past actions, come here to confess.
Confession is divided into three tiers:
Standard Confession: 100 points per minute.
Advanced Confession: 1,000 points per minute.
Extreme Confession: 10,000 points per minute.
The higher the tier you choose, the greater your sincerity, making it easier for the Machine God to forgive your transgressions.]
Biaozi remained silent for a long moment before finally blurting out, "Lord Mang, this has to be a scam, right? What's the difference between this and selling indulgences?"
"That's not quite right," Chen Mang replied. "Indulgences at least had some practical use. This has none whatsoever—it's purely for those who are willing to take the bait."
"Is starting a business in the Mechanical Civilization really this easy?"
"..."
Chen Mang frowned slightly. He was tempted to try it out. He couldn't believe the [Mechanical Train Confessional] would be so rudimentary. How could anyone fall for such a simple scam? Perhaps there was some kind of reward after the confession.
Chen Mang immediately turned to the group.
"Anyone have something they need to confess? Try the standard confession. I'll cover the bill."
"I do," Li Shiji volunteered, raising his hand and stepping forward.
Soon after—
Li Shiji knelt on the prayer cushion, his hands clasped together, his lips moving in silent prayer. To ensure sincerity, he confessed to genuine pre-apocalypse regrets, maintaining the confession for a full five minutes.
"Lord Mang," Li Shiji said quietly as he stood up. "I've finished confessing, but I don't feel any peace. In fact, reliving it in detail has only made the pain worse."
"..."
Chen Mang remained silent, standing patiently. After a full minute passed with nothing happening—except for a 500-point deduction from his wrist-mounted account—he turned and left the so-called confessional without a word.
Absolutely nothing.
A complete fucking scam!
Emerging from the Mechanical Train Confessional, Chen Mang stood by the roadside, gazing down the deserted street. He took several deep breaths, trying to calm his emotions. He had never imagined he would be swindled in his lifetime.
The main reason was...
He simply couldn't believe this was a scam. It was far too crude. Who would fall for such a rudimentary trick?
No, he hadn't been scammed.
This was called trial and error.
He'd better not find out who ran this place later. If he did, he'd drag them here and make them kneel in repentance for 24 hours a day until they earned this Grandpa Mang's forgiveness!
With that, Chen Mang climbed back onto his off-road motorcycle, twisted the throttle, and sped down the street toward another entertainment city, occasionally glancing at the shops lining the road.
He was looking for any place worth stopping at.
Biaozi, following behind Chen Mang, was already looking forward to the return trip. After experiencing so much, he couldn't wait to brag to Old Pig about it all.
Especially the Memory Bank.
Over seventy billion! That was absurd!
What kind of memory could possibly be worth that much?
Just seeing a dragon wasn't enough—you had to eat one!
Soon...
Chen Mang stopped in front of a convenience store that was still open. While there wouldn't be any special opportunities inside, the place exuded a strong sense of daily life. By examining the products on sale, he could glean a lot of information about the Mechanical Civilization.
"Welcome!"
As soon as he stepped inside, the girl behind the counter, dressed in a short-sleeved shirt and denim shorts, greeted him with a bright smile.
Chen Mang glanced around before heading deeper into the store. She was the most modestly dressed woman he'd seen in this city—a rare sight indeed.
This city might as well have been named "Depravity."
"Red Heart Nuts?"
His eyes narrowed slightly as he noticed a box of nuts on the shelf. The packaging was attractive, priced at 200 points per box.
Red Heart Nuts are a goblin specialty, aren't they?
Yet they're here too.
A thought struck him, and he turned to the girl at the counter. "Do you need a new supplier? For example, someone to provide Red Heart Nuts?"
"No, thank you."
"Don't you need to restock?"
"No one buys them. You're the first customer to step into this store in ages. We don't need to restock."
(End of the Chapter)
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