“Wow, so many things!”
Tu You flew back and forth excitedly as she watched Sang Chu construct the spatial layers and organize the items.
After the contract between them, their vision was shared, and Tu You could see everything inside Sang Chu’s space.
“These can regenerate. Not bad at all. I have wood-type powers, so when we get back, I’ll try to see if I can accelerate the growth of these plants.”
Tu You urged her: “Then let’s hurry back!”
“No rush. I’ll buy some clean water first.”
Sang Chu stood up from the steps and walked toward a nearby water-source shop.
The owners of the shop were a young married couple. The moment they saw Sang Chu, their eyes lit up.
“Looking for a water source, miss? Come take a look at our water storage devices—they’re all premium goods. This—this—this one here is our newest storage unit made with the latest energy stone. It can regulate water temperature, and it holds about 140 cubic meters of water.”
Seeing Sang Chu frown a little, the young woman quickly pulled her hand and said, “If you don’t like that one, then take a look at this. It’s an old-style storage device. Cheap and practical, although it can’t hold as much water. But it’s cheap! If you run out, you can just buy more water!”
Sang Chu resisted and pulled her hand back. “How much is the new-energy one, and how much is the old-style one?”
The husband and wife exchanged a look and answered in perfect sync:
“The new-energy storage device uses the latest photo-energy mineral. Hard to come by. And don’t be fooled by its small spherical size—there’s a 140-cubic-meter reservoir inside. Even though it’s that good, it’s only 880,000 star coins. A bargain, right?”
“And the old one?” Sang Chu asked.
The wife smiled brightly. “The old-style one isn’t as large as the new-energy unit, but it still holds 20 or 30 cubic meters. It just can’t regulate water temperature. But it’s very cheap, only 100,000 star coins.”
Sang Chu didn’t respond and searched for other water-source shops on her light-brain device. It seemed this was the only one in all of City A.
Tu You flew to the counter, invisible to others, and peeked inside. Hah! A scam shop for sure!
“Ah Chu, this shop is shady! They’re scamming you! They don’t actually sell those new-energy water devices at all!”
Sang Chu frowned slightly. “What did you see?”
“I saw their inventory sheet. They only have three new-energy units in total, but they’ve supposedly sold more than a dozen. The goods don’t match the orders!”
“So the new-energy units are real?” Sang Chu asked.
Tu You nodded. “Yes, that part is true.”
Sang Chu fell into silence.
They replaced the new-energy units with something else and no one caused trouble, yet this was still the only water-source shop in City A. They likely had backing.
As expected, there were disgusting people everywhere.
When the owner’s wife saw Sang Chu remaining silent, she urged: “Little sister, are you buying or not? I only have a few of these new-energy units left! If you don’t buy now, you won’t get one!”
“Boss, I don’t have much money. I’ll just take an old-style one.”
“All right, no problem! Wait here, I’ll get it ready. Husband, take her payment.”
The husband quickly led Sang Chu to the counter on the right. The owner’s wife unlocked the storeroom, slipped inside, and shut the door.
She pulled out a barrel from a dark corner and rummaged through it.
“Tch, another poor sucker. I’ll give her the oldest junk I’ve got!”
Tu You’s ears twitched with anger. “Ah Chu! She’s not even giving you an old-style unit. She’s giving you one that probably doesn’t even have clean water storage!”
Hearing Tu You’s furious voice, Sang Chu replied calmly:
“It’s fine. Didn’t you say you have a small storage space after forming our contract? The 100,000 star coins are basically the price to enter the storeroom. Just fill your space instead. It doesn’t matter if the container looks small on the outside. Give it to me afterward.”
Tu You clapped her paws in excitement:
“Right! Why didn’t I think of that? Since the barrel is full of trash, I’ll just take everything from the shelves!”
“Yes. The old junk can be useful too. I can wash it in the mercenary dorm’s reservoir connection. Take all their new-energy units as well.”
Tu You snickered. “I thought you were a good person.”
“Good is relative. If they were honest, I would pay properly. But they try to scam me buying the cheapest thing? Then I’m justified in stealing from them.”
“Good point! I’ll wait until you’re far enough so they don’t connect this to you.”
“Mm.”
As they spoke, the husband finished processing payment. When Sang Chu reached for the device to inspect it, the wife grabbed her hands tightly.
“Don’t check it, dear. It’s getting dark and we have to go pick our child up from the Mercenary Academy. The container is absolutely fine. We’ve run this shop for years—would we scam you over a few coins? Come now, we’re closing.”
She pushed Sang Chu out and quickly shut the doors. Then the couple walked away hand in hand.
Expressionless, Sang Chu returned to the mercenary dorms. She inspected the storage unit—moss all over the reservoir, bugs floating in the water—who knew how long it had been abandoned. Her face darkened.
“Tu You, don’t take the discarded units. They’re full of moss and filth. Take only the clean ones.”
“Unbelievable! They actually sold you a unit that can’t even be cleaned!”
Dead water. Completely unusable.
“All right, Ah Chu, give me a moment—they’re coming back! I’m stuffing everything now!”
“I’ll return to the dorm first. Come find me when you’re done.”
“Okay!”
Not long after, the shop owners returned.
“Honey, when do you think that girl will realize she bought a useless water container? Hahaha!”
“Who cares? We got our 100,000 star coins. We’re eating well tonight!”
“Right? And that idiot actually thought she could buy a proper unit without government certification? Since we already sold something, why don’t we really close up and go home?”
“Sure, give me a moment.”
The moment Tu You heard that, she stuffed everything from the shelves into her space and slipped away unseen.
(End of Chapter)