CH 24.1

Seeming to think of something, Jin Mao suddenly asked, “An Ge, what is your mental power level?”

An Ge: “S level.”

Hearing his words, Jin Mao, the little fatty looked incredulous as he slapped his thigh fiercely, “Sh*t, you’re actually S level?

Do you know that there are less than 200 people in the entire empire with an S level or above in mental power level!

You, you hide too deep, right?”

An Ge lowered his head slightly, whispering, “I’m not like them, I’m a mutation.”

Although he belonged to the same S level, his mutated mental power was far less stable than the natural one and he didn’t have starcoins to buy the expensive Special Genetic Fluid. What’s more, it was possible that he might become sick in the future.

Jin Mao had on an expression of hating iron for not becoming steel as he looked at him: “So what if it’s mutated, it’s still the one in a million S level!

F*ck, I want to mutate too, but my mental power level is only B–”

For a moment, the entire hover car was filled with the sound of the little fatty’s unresigned roar.

Bai Jing duly brought the topic back, “…… Why did you just ask An Ge about his mental power level?”

Jin Mao returned to the conversation, “Oh, it’s because I’ve heard a rumor.

It is said that the higher one’s mental power level, the stronger one’s affinity for jadeite and that these people sometimes develop an intuition, just like An Ge, especially for higher-quality jadeite.

This is of course only a conjecture, and hasn’t been confirmed so far.”

Seeing that the two were listening intently, Jin Mao said mysteriously, “Anyway– I think the rumor is true!

Because within the Empire, almost all the mental powers of Senior Stone Gamblers are at S level or above, and Master Gu Liu Bai, who is a level 8 Stone Gambler has even reached the rare 3S level!

What does this mean? It means that there must be a correlation between mental power level and jadeite. What do you guys think?”

Bai Jing mused, “It’s possible.”

He had wondered before why there was a requirement of mental power level B or higher in the entry requirements for a gambling apprentice.

And had originally thought it was just a means of limiting the number of people, but now it seemed that the condition might have other implications….

“Right, Jing Ge, you just said you also have this intuition. Then what’s your mental power level?” Jin Mao asked curiously.

Bai Jing: “I’m A level.”

The little fatty froze for a moment, and then blurted out, “Huh? Then it seems the rumor isn’t too credible….

Ahem, ahem, Jing Ge, I didn’t mean that–“

Bai Jing: “I know.”

But, as Jin Mao had said, his mental power level wasn’t up to S level, so what was that extraordinarily distinct feeling he’d had at the sight of that piece of scrap?

His supernatural ability to perceive active objects within twenty meters of him didn’t include this intuition.

Perhaps he needed to take a closer look at mental power.

The hover car sped through the air and in no time reached the main town where the Imperial Rose Restaurant was located.

Bai Jing declined the little fatty’s offer of a lift, leaving him to see An Ge off as he returned home alone.

After dinner, Bai Jing went on to Starnet, and as his slender, white fingers swiftly glided over the light screen, he quickly browsed through the information related to mental power.

Interstellar history records:

After difficult research and exploration since the successful immigration of humans from ancient Earth, the energy source ‘jadeite’ was finally found.

But before they could rejoice, they discovered a fatal flaw: jadeite, the planet’s only energy source, couldn’t be used directly in machines, as the energy from it had to be extracted to meet demand.

But just when everyone was in despair, the upper echelons in the imperial hierarchy discovered the existence of mental power.

Mental power is an ability created by a genetic mutation triggered by cosmic radiation.

With the planet dependent on the jadeite for its energy, this power gave all humans the hope to survive.

Those with higher levels of mental power could use mental power to extract energy from jadeite and convert it into energy that could be used directly by machines, mechs, hover cars, etc.

And these people who could extract energy from jadeite had the same status as Stone Gamblers and were as respected. They were called Energy Masters.

Bai Jing, having read up on interstellar history, understood the origin and role of mental power slightly.

However, after searching through many sources, he still couldn’t find a specific connection between mental power and jadeite, as well as an explanation for the so-called ‘intuition’.

But he didn’t dwell on this issue, preferring instead to focus on the energy division mentioned in the preceding information.

The role of the Stone Gambler was to unravel and develop the jadeite in raw rough stone in its entirety, whereas the Energy Master’s role was to transform the jadeite into energy that could be used directly by people from all walks of life.

The two complemented each other and one couldn’t be without the other.

The energy fluid was the substance extracted from the jadeite by the Energy Masters and was divided into six grades according to the purity of the extract.

The better the seed water of the jadeite, the higher the transparency, the brighter the color, the higher the purity of the extracted energy fluid and correspondingly, the higher the grade.

First-grade energy fluids were mostly extracted from jadeite of lower quality like those of the dry green and white-on-green seeds variety and were used in robots, various machines, household appliances, etc.

Whereas energy fluids of grade five and above were extracted from high-grade jadeite of ice and glass seeds, used in high-grade mechs, space ships and other places of great consumption, which were expensive.

Similarly, the higher the mental power level of an energy master, the higher the purity of the energy fluid extracted.

Although he had a general understanding of the theory, Bai Jing still wanted to see the energy fluid for himself.

“Alpha 01, please come here for a moment.” Bai Jing summoned the white housekeeping robot over.

[Alpha 01 at your service. Master, what is your request?]

The white housekeeping robot was about half a meter tall, round and chubby, with its eyes narrowed into two horizontal lines; it was very cute.

Bai Jing: “Can I see your energy box?”

Alpha 01’s eyes flickered a few times: [As you wish, Master.]

Soon, two squares opened at its chest, revealing a rectangular space about ten centimeters long and five centimeters high with a white chip and a silver box stored inside.

This was the core of the housekeeping robot, and Bai Jing guessed that the silver box contained the energy fluid.

Unfortunately, the energy box was still inside the robot, making it difficult to be able to see it well.

Bai Jing’s pretty eyes were fixed on the silver box, “I want to take a closer look at your energy box.”

Alpha 01’s eyes flickered even more, and it took a while before it pushed the silver box out slowly.

Just as Bai Jing was about to pick it up, a pitiful electronic voice was heard.

[Master, are you sure you want to take Alpha 01’s energy box? Without the energy box, Alpha 01 would just be a scrap machine, woo woo–]

Bai Jing: “…… I’m really sorry, I’ll put it back as soon as I’ve seen it.”

Then his long, slender fingers moved quickly to pick the energy box up.

It was a silver metal box about the size of a Rubik’s Cube, and underneath it was written in small letters: Grade 1 Energy Fluid, Purity: 11.65%.

He pressed the touch button on the energy box and the lid at the top opened automatically, revealing a grey-green energy fluid inside with very little transparency and many tiny impurities distributed throughout.

The moment he saw this energy fluid, Bai Jing thought of the dry green seed jadeite. The energy fluid must have been extracted from that type of jadeite.

There were about two thirds of the liquid left inside, and based on the information he had just consulted, Bai Jing knew that this small box of energy fluid was enough for the household robot to use for ten years.

But for some reason, the moment he saw the energy fluid, a long-lost urge arose in his heart: the urge to feel the touch of the fluid with his fingers.

Without having time to think about it, his index finger immediately reached into the silver box and to his surprise, the moment it touched the liquid, two-thirds of the energy fluid that remained disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving only a ring of black impurities around the box.

!!!

Bai Jing immediately drew his finger back, and found that the originally white tip of his finger was also tinged with black.

He rinsed it with water and the impurities were immediately washed away by the current as if they had never existed.

What the h*ll?!

Bai Jing frowned slightly as he picked the silver box up and turned it over and over. It was empty, except for a layer of black impurities.

Where was the energy fluid that had been inside here just now?

It couldn’t have been absorbed by his body, right?

Sighing, he cleaned the silver box and put it back aside.