novelhk Chapter 18 We're Rich Now, Let's Get Armed
Chapter 18 We're Rich Now, Let's Get Armed
As Yan Shuo walked into the secret warehouse along the gravel path, Zheng Fei was leading two brothers from the Black Knife Group, piling the "harmful goods" they had selected into a corner—the opium was wrapped in coarse linen, emitting a pungent, fishy-sweet smell; the bottles of fake Western medicine were covered in ash, and the words "sulfonamide" on the labels were printed blurry; the inferior fabric was piled up to the side, feeling rough like sandpaper, and carrying a strange smell of chemical dyes.
"Brother Jie, everything has been divided up as you said." Zheng Fei wiped the sweat from his brow and kicked the opium bin at his feet. "If this stuff gets out, I don't know how many families will be ruined."
Yan Shuo frowned and glanced around. He picked up a porcelain bottle labeled "Whitening Cream" and opened it to smell it—a pungent mercury odor hit him. He casually tossed it back into the box: "Move everything to the abandoned warehouse in the west. You guys evacuate first, I'll lock the door."
After his brothers had all left, he was the only one left in the warehouse. With a thought, Yan Shuo's mind flashed, and the opium, fake Western medicine, and inferior cloth on the ground were all put into his spatial ring, leaving only the flour, rice, and a few bolts of decent fine cloth that he had previously hidden away.
He dusted off his hands and called his brothers back: "Take away these edible and usable ones, send some to the ambush points of each group, and hide the rest in the textile factory in Zhabei."
After seeing everyone off, Yan Shuo found a secluded corner and called out in a low voice, "Xiao Zhi, Xiao Zhi!"
"Present!" The system's mechanical voice rang out precisely on time, devoid of any emotion.
Yan Shuo rubbed his hands together, his eyes shining brightly: "Look at the 'good stuff' I brought you, quickly exchange it for emotion points!"
「烟土（品质中等）：4万银元；无效西药：1.6万银元；劣质布料：1万银元；含铅/汞日用品（适配魔法种族）：6万银元。合计12.6万银元。」
"Change it! Change it all to emotion points, and pay off the loan first!" Yan Shuo said decisively.
"126,000 silver dollars can be exchanged for 12.6 million emotion points. After deducting the 1.9 million loan, 10.7 million emotion points remain; combined with the original 122 million emotion points, the current balance is 1192 million emotion points." The mechanical voice paused, then suddenly added a slight "electronic notification" tone, "Congratulations, host! Your emotion point balance has exceeded 10 million, and you have achieved the '10 million emotion points' achievement within one month. Reward: 10 Golden Treasure Chests (can contain gold-level agent items, without deducting from your balance); new shop items and supplies added, and some item functions upgraded!"
Yan Shuo raised an eyebrow and leaned forward: "Item upgrade? Give me an example."
Example: Voice patch (originally required 3 days to adapt to a fixed tone) - Upgraded price remains the same. After application, you can directly select any tone from the first 30 sentences and lock it, covering the entire vocal range of men, women, and children, without any adaptation period.
"That's interesting." Yan Shuo stroked his chin. "Are there any more practical upgrades?"
Example: Emotionless Substitute Doll (originally a disposable item that only executes a single command) - after upgrading, it can receive complex commands and supports rapid skill learning; it can be used indefinitely as long as it gets 1 hour of sunlight per day, with no lifespan limit (it can be used permanently unless severely damaged); it can reliably perform basic housekeeping tasks for 50 years.
"Learn quickly? How long does it take to learn a language?" Yan Shuo's eyes lit up even more.
「需消耗对应『语言学习卡』：熟练掌握一门语言（含官方发音+地方 dialect），按每日6小时学习量计算，40天自然日需1张10天卡（240小时）；精通需1-2年学习量。1张10天卡定价3万情绪值。」机械音平铺直叙，「以日语为例，精通需7张卡，合计21万情绪值，可达到『当地人无法分辨真伪』的地道程度。」
"What a bargain! It's fucking a bargain!" Yan Shuo clapped his hands. "Give me the whole package: Japanese, French, German, English, Cantonese, Portuguese, and Spanish—all at an fluent level!"
「法语18张（2年）、德语16张（1年10个月）、英语7张（1年）、日语7张（1年）、粤语5张（8个月）、葡萄牙语18张（2年）、西班牙语18张（2年）。合计99张卡，297万情绪值。是否立即使用？」
"Use it! We absolutely must use it!" Yan Shuo exclaimed urgently. "Otherwise, if we go to high-level settings and deal with foreigners and traitors, we won't understand what they're saying, and we'll miss out on intelligence!"
"After deducting 297 million emotion points, the current balance is 895 million. The language pack has been activated, and the host can now use the target language fluently."
As soon as the mechanical voice finished, Yan Shuo tried to speak fluent German, his pronunciation as perfect as a native German. He smiled with satisfaction: "Let's improve my physical fitness next. Constitution Strengthening Pill (long-lasting), 1 pill/week, effective in 3 weeks, permanently +1 to Strength/Agility/Endurance. Give me 9 pills, max it out at 9 points!"
"Nine pills are priced at 900,000 emotional points, leaving a balance of 8,050,000. The system has been scheduled to automatically administer the pills on time."
Yan Shuo rubbed his hands together, his tone urgent: "Open those 10 golden treasure chests now! Let me see what good stuff they have!"
"Golden Treasure Chest Opening... Congratulations, Host, you have obtained: Enhanced Night Vision, Advanced Medical Skills, Advanced Piano Performance, Advanced Directing Skills, Advanced Singing and Composition, Advanced Cantonese Cuisine Cooking, Advanced Sniping Skills, Advanced Code Decryption, Advanced Telecommunications Anti-Locking, and a Space Bracelet (1000 cubic meters)!"
Yan Shuo's face fell: "Why aren't there hand-to-hand combat and pistol skills? Those two are essential for espionage!"
"The Diamond Treasure Chest (a reward for achievements with hundreds of millions of emotion points) can yield advanced combat/gun skills; if needed, you can directly purchase 'Training Cards': Combat Skills (Proficient → Master) requires 10 cards for 10 days, and Gun Skills (Proficient → Master) requires 10 cards for 10 days; the matching 'Nano Body Armor Set' (can be integrated with the skin, providing full protection except for the head, and is immune to fatal wounds from non-headshot attacks) is priced at 15 emotion points."
"Buy! Buy them all!" Yan Shuo said without hesitation. "Twenty training cards and one set of bulletproof vests!"
"20 training cards, 60 emotion points; nano bulletproof vest, 15 emotion points, totaling 75. After deduction, the balance is 730 million. The training cards have taken effect, and the host's combat skills and pistol skills have been upgraded to the Grandmaster level; the nano bulletproof vest has been automatically fused."
Yan Shuo stretched his arms, clearly feeling the improvement in strength and reaction speed. He grinned: "Eleven more stand-in dolls! One secretary who speaks German, six who speak Japanese, one secretary who speaks Portuguese, one secretary who speaks English, one driver, and one telegraph operator!"
「11个替身娃娃定价165万情绪值；技能卡：德语18张、日语18张×6、葡萄牙语18张、英语18张、司机1张×11、收发报2张×1。合计技能卡165张，495万情绪值。扣除后余额730-165-495=70万。」
"Wait, can these dolls change gender?" Yan Shuo suddenly asked. "Are they set to be female, or is the gender fixed?"
"Supports gender/appearance reset: Male to female conversion deducts 5 emotion points per instance, female to male conversion deducts 3 emotion points per instance; initial settings can directly select female (including the 'Top Beauty' template), no extra charge, and comes with a replaceable human skin mask, suitable for scenarios such as espionage, seduction, and drinking companionship."
"Make them all beautiful women!" Yan Shuo decided. "Also, all the dolls must know how to drive trucks, cars, and motorcycles, and they must know how to fix them! I'll also learn driving and repair skills myself!"
「驾驶技能卡：卡车1张×12（11个娃娃+宿主）、小车1张×11（10个娃娃+宿主）、摩托1张×12；维修技能卡1张×12。合计47张卡，141万情绪值。当前余额70万不足，是否申请贷款？」
"Loan! Loan 100 million!" Yan Shuo gritted his teeth.
"The loan of 1 million has been received. After deducting the skill card fee of 141 million, the current balance is 100. Today's loan interest of 29 has been deducted, and the final balance is 28."
"Prepare five more sets of medications and instruments for major trauma surgeries for me," Yan Shuo added.
「5份开胸级手术药品（10万/份）、1套可重複使用器械（10万）、5份耗材（1万/份）。合计5×10+10+5×1=65万。当前余额28万不足，是否追加贷款？」
"Add another 40!" Yan Shuo rolled his eyes, cursing inwardly.
"An additional loan of 40 yuan was added, and after deducting 65 yuan in fees, the current balance is 3 yuan. The total loan amount is 1.4 million yuan, and the interest tomorrow is 140 yuan."
"That's all!" Yan Shuo waved his hand, his tone tinged with regret.
"Service complete. Xiao Zhi is ready to respond at any time." The mechanical voice disappeared without warning.
Yan Shuo stood there, touching his skin which was now incorporating the bulletproof vest, and then tried out the Cantonese he had just learned, muttering to himself, "This system is a real vampire... It's all smiles and concern when it has money, but when it doesn't, it doesn't even say a word."