Before long, Mengmeng, still invisible, flew back in through the window.
It reverted to its white toy form and stood quietly on the desk.
Lin Ye picked up the toy and fell into thought.
If he had to carry this thing around with him in the future, it would be far too conspicuous.
As a boy, whether he hung it from his schoolbag or clipped it to his belt, he would definitely attract strange looks from passersby.
His classmates would mock him mercilessly, too.
What normal guy would go out carrying a Cute Cat plushie?
Lin Ye rubbed his chin and made up his mind.
Since Mengmeng could transform into a catgirl or Jiahao, turning into an inanimate object—even clothing—should not be difficult either.
Lin Ye issued a command directly in his mind.
The toy’s eyes flashed blue.
“Command received. Reconstructing exoskeletal armor.”
The next second, the toy transformed in Lin Ye’s hand into a dense stream of blue mechanical data.
The stream seemed like living liquid metal. It rapidly spread along Lin Ye’s arm, covering his entire body in the blink of an eye.
Lin Ye examined himself.
The battle suit covering his body had a cold, steel-like texture that closely followed his physique while remaining incredibly thin.
He tried moving around and did not feel the slightest restriction.
Moreover, Lin Ye could barely feel any additional weight from the suit. Yet the defensive capabilities of the metal exoskeleton were certainly nothing to scoff at.
Even more outrageous was the fact that, in this mode, Lin Ye could borrow Mengmeng’s magnetic levitation ability.
With a thought, his feet left the ground, and his entire body rose into the air inside the bedroom!
Lin Ye tried raising his right hand.
With a click, the armor in his palm split open, revealing a dark energy cannon muzzle. Deep inside the barrel, blue high-energy particles continuously gathered.
Lin Ye was delighted.
There wasn’t a man alive who could refuse an exoskeleton like this!
How was this any different from Iron Man’s armor in the movies from his previous life?
Lin Ye walked over to the mirror. But the moment he lowered his head and looked at his chest, the smile on his face froze.
At the exact center of the battle armor’s chest, where an energy reactor should have been, there was a huge pink Cute Cat face.
Even the cat’s whiskers flashed on and off with the flow of energy.
Lin Ye was speechless.
“Does this pattern really have to be there?”
Mengmeng’s voice rang out. “This is a visual identification design embedded in the base layer during production. It has been written into the core code and cannot be removed.”
Lin Ye sighed helplessly. “Then put the pattern on the inside…”
“Understood.”
The huge pattern on his chest disappeared and was transferred to the inside of the battle suit.
Lin Ye looked at his reflection in the mirror.
He really did look cool!
Of course, there was no way he could actually meet people while wearing a suit of armor.
With another thought, the battle armor once again dissolved into a stream of data and transformed into an ordinary jacket.
As for the socially embarrassing Cute Cat face, it was perfectly hidden inside the lining.
Lin Ye then turned his attention to the two Black Iron chests remaining on the desk.
A band of light appeared around his wrist.
Opening the Bronze chest earlier had consumed a large amount of progress. If he opened a Black Iron chest now, the progress displayed was 167%.
Lin Ye moved the cursor to the second band of light.
The band, which had originally been glowing with a rainbow of colors, instantly switched to orange.
The number above it also locked at 67%.
Lin Ye reached out, gripped the handle, and pulled hard.
The lid sprang open.
[Congratulations! You have opened a treasure chest and obtained the Emerald-grade item: Spirit Crystal Sapphire ×1, Buff Scroll ×1.]
Lin Ye looked at the two items inside the chest and cursed inwardly.
What the hell were these odds?
For low-level chests like Black Iron and Bronze, the chances of getting a skill book or class-change book were practically lower than winning the lottery.
Since things had turned out this way, he might as well inspect the rewards first.
Lin Ye picked up the stone radiating a deep-blue glow and checked its attributes.
[Spirit Crystal Sapphire]
[Grade: Emerald]
[Category: Unprocessed Gemstone]
[Description: An unprocessed top-grade Spirit Crystal Sapphire. After being cut and refined by a gem artisan, it can be imbued with a substantial increase to various attributes.]
[Required Processing Level: Third Class Change or higher]
[Available Processing Options: Spirit Enhancement, Spell Damage Enhancement, Healing Effect Enhancement]
Lin Ye’s eyes lit up.
This was a raw gemstone specifically meant to be processed by a gem artisan.
Its primary purpose was to be set into high-level equipment and provide attribute bonuses.
Although he had no idea how much it was worth, just the “Spell Damage Enhancement” and “Spirit Enhancement” options alone made it an excellent item.
He then picked up the parchment scroll.
[Buff Scroll]
[Grade: Emerald]
[Category: Consumable (Scroll)]
[Usage: Apply at least five buff effects to the members of a party or team of no more than twenty people.]
[The buffs are guaranteed to include increased defense and resistance. The remaining three effects will be determined by the users’ classes and combat preferences.]
[Dispel and silence effects of Grade Six or lower cannot affect these buffs.]
[Buff Duration: Seven days]
This was a good item as well.
However, since it was a one-time-use item, it was probably not as valuable as the sapphire.
…
The next day.
Lin Ye’s main body went to school as usual.
Meanwhile, in the bustling commercial district on the other side of Wanghail City, Mengmeng, disguised as Jiahao, walked through the doors of the Fudong Exchange.
The Fudong Exchange was an imposing establishment, and its lobby was packed with people.
Large numbers of professionals in all kinds of attire came and went, operating dozens of highly futuristic-looking trading machines.
All of the machines were self-service. Each one had a deposit compartment and a collection compartment, with miniature teleportation arrays engraved inside.
Lin Ye watched as someone ahead of him tossed a pile of materials into the deposit compartment.
After a green scanning light swept over them, a series of numbers immediately appeared on the screen, indicating their estimated value.
The person tapped “Accept,” and the materials were instantly teleported away. Moments later, more than a dozen copper coins fell from the coin dispenser beside the machine.
Purchasing goods worked the same way.
Search for an item, then pay by card or coin.
If the product was in a local warehouse in Wanghail City, it could be collected on the spot.
If it was not available locally, the machine would display the estimated transfer time. Customers could even schedule home delivery.
Isn’t this just online shopping with instant delivery?
It seemed that buying and selling goods in this world was remarkably convenient.
After the person left, Lin Ye stepped forward as well and took out the Spirit Crystal Sapphire, placing it in the deposit compartment.
A scanning beam passed over the surface of the gemstone.
“Beep!”
The machine suddenly emitted a short alarm, and red characters appeared on the screen.
“High-grade item detected. This model’s automatic appraisal authority has been exceeded.”
“Please wait… Contacting a professional appraiser. Please proceed to the VIP room.”
The commotion drew the attention of the professionals waiting nearby. They turned to look, their eyes filled with curiosity and envy.
If an item was valuable enough to prevent the machine from directly appraising and purchasing it, then it was at least a Gold-grade treasure.
Before long, a beautiful female attendant wearing a high-slit qipao hurried over.
She bowed deeply to Lin Ye, her attitude extremely respectful.
“Sir, please follow me to the VIP room.”
Lin Ye had completely entered Jiahao mode.
With a swaggering, devil-may-care stride, Lin Ye followed the attendant through the hall under the envious and jealous stares of the other professionals and entered a quiet corridor.
Before long, they arrived at the VIP room.
The room was furnished in extreme luxury, with a thick, handwoven wool carpet covering the floor.
A wealthy-looking, potbellied middle-aged man was already waiting inside.
He gestured for Lin Ye to sit down on an expensive sofa, then introduced himself:
“My name is Qian Wanli, manager of the Wanghai City branch of the Fudong Trading House.”
The middle-aged man extended his hand with a beaming smile.
Lin Ye did not shake it. He simply sat down with his legs spread, crossed his hands, and rested his chin on the backs of them. Beneath the hood, his eyes fixed on Qian Wanli as he spoke indifferently.
“Give me an estimate.”
Although Lin Ye’s dismissive attitude was practically shoved in his face, Qian Wanli did not mind.
He merely withdrew his hand naturally, put on a monocle appraisal lens, and lowered his head to examine the two items on the table.
At that moment, the graceful attendant in the qipao also brought over top-quality tea and pastries and set them on the table.
Meanwhile, the professional smile on Qian Wanli’s face instantly vanished, replaced by utter shock.
He abruptly raised his head and signaled to the attendant with his eyes.
Understanding immediately, she left the room and thoroughly locked the heavy soundproof door from the outside.
“Sir, both of these… are relatively rare jade-grade treasures!”
“Especially this gem. Among its available enhancement options are increased spell damage and increased mental power. It’s a graduation-grade gem that every spellcaster needs!”
“Although this scroll is slightly inferior in value, its effects are no less impressive. The rarest part is the attribute that grants immunity to dispels below the sixth tier. It can deal with all kinds of situations inside rifts.”
Qian Wanli took out an abacus.
His fingers moved swiftly across the beads.
At last, he placed the result in front of Lin Ye.
“Sir, I won’t beat around the bush. We can offer around 4,900 silver coins for these two items. I’ll round it up for you and make it an even 5,000 silver coins!”
“I dare say that only our establishment can offer this price.”
“It’s definitely more than five percent above market value. More importantly, we’d like to make a friend of you. If you have any good items in the future, perhaps you’ll think of the Fudong Trading House.”
“What do you think?”
When Lin Ye heard the figure, his heart still jolted despite having mentally prepared himself for the sale.
The currency he had dealt with before was mostly copper coins.
One silver coin was worth 10,000 copper coins.
Five thousand silver coins amounted to a full fifty million copper coins!
To any ordinary family, that was an unimaginable fortune!
Lin Ye nodded. “That works.”
Qian Wanli was overjoyed. He immediately used his tablet to transfer the funds.
Not long afterward, the female attendant returned with a smile and placed a silk money pouch embroidered with gold thread on a tray, presenting it to Lin Ye.
She then handed him a card with both hands.
“Sir, this is a membership card for the Fudong Trading House. It entitles you to ten percent off all purchases.”
Lin Ye accepted the membership card and picked up the money pouch from the tray. After opening it and glancing at the five silver coins inside—each with a denomination of 1,000—he nodded and rose to leave.
Back in the bustling trading hall, Lin Ye did not head straight out. Instead, he walked over to an unoccupied self-service trading terminal.
He inserted the diamond card.
The screen lit up, and he immediately entered the words “treasure chest” into the search bar.
In an instant, rows of search results appeared.
Lin Ye opened the filter menu, set the quality to Black Iron grade, and sorted the results by ascending price.
Information immediately appeared on the screen.
[Medium Black Iron Treasure Chest. Current listed stock: 214]
[Current lowest price: 46 silver, 3,378 copper]
[Current average price: 48 silver, 6,129 copper]
Looking at the price, Lin Ye quickly calculated in his head.
Based on the average price…
His profits from opening and reselling the chests had exceeded a hundredfold!
Now that he had so much money…
Should he take a look at some higher-grade treasure chests?