CH 41

TL: Moonlit

Although rejected by Shu Shuishui, Yu Jin, who had roasted four grasshoppers for Shu Shuishui without harming any mice, patiently asked, “Why does Shuishui say that he is very poor?”

Shu Shuishui, feeling a little guilty after refusing Yu Jin’s request to be taken care of, honestly and obediently answered his question. “I want to purify the energy stones into high-grade spirit stones through a purification array. Then, using those high-grade spirit stones, I plan to set up a protective array on the small hill I was assigned1In case you forgot, it was the fengshui treasure land. This way, it can not only prevent winter snowstorms but also allow for crop cultivation inside. Your trees are too unappetizing, but I can make delicious food for you.” After speaking, Shu Shuishui, in an attempt to comfort Yu Jin, who was squatting on the ground, jumped up and patted his knee.

The way Shu Shuishui comforted him was something Yu Jin hadn’t expected. What he couldn’t figure out was what Shu Shuishui had just rambled on about. But the last sentence, Yu Jin understood. Thinking about the roasted grasshoppers he could smell but couldn’t eat, Yu Jin’s face lit up with anticipation. “Shuishui wants energy stones?”

Shu Shuishui earnestly nodded his little head. “Mhmm, at least seventy-two, and they have to be the top-grade energy stones, and they have to be this big!” Shu Shuishui extended his tiny arms and tried to draw a large circle, then tilted his little head back, his watery eyes filled with anticipation, looking at Yu Jin.

“Alright, no problem, it’s a small matter!” Yu Jin felt himself being charmed once again and readily agreed.

Satisfied, Shu Shuishui happily went back upstairs to continue writing his plans. Yu Jin, who remained on the first floor, watched the little dormouse struggle to climb the last step, disappearing from his view. It was only then that he realized what he had agreed to.

Seventy-two top-grade energy stones. The quantity wasn’t exactly huge, but when combined with the top-grade ones, it did sting a bit.

Well, the Cang Star System did have abundant energy stone resources, but for planets like Cang Zhan Star that could be classified as prisoner planets, their mineral reserves were always in a somewhat awkward position. The reserve of energy stone ore was determined through comprehensive testing and calculations by the Star System Alliance.

Of course, these results were not 100% accurate because energy stones themselves had a property called antimatter fluctuation. The higher the purity and level of the energy stone, the less likely it was to be detected by instruments. Especially for those top-grade energy stones deeply buried underground, even with the most advanced detection equipment available, it was impossible to detect the energy waves emitted by the energy stones. They seemed to be like non-existent matter, completely integrated into the surrounding environment.

When the top-grade energy stones are exposed to the air, a simple touch can cause energy waves to appear on the surface of the stones, even radiating visible energy particles into the surroundings. However, when detected with instruments, they appear as ordinary rocks, and sometimes the instruments detect nothing at all, as if the materiality of the energy stones themselves disappears in the detection equipment.

In contrast, lower-grade energy stones are easier to detect. Although they cannot emit visible energy particles into the surroundings, they can be captured by instruments.

This illogical characteristic of energy stones is known as antimatter fluctuation. To this day, there is no reasonable explanation for it. Although the highest-grade energy stones cannot be directly detected, the Star System Alliance has developed a set of calculation methods and detection means based on the study of the surrounding environment of energy stones and numerous resource-rich planets. While not 100% accurate, these methods have become an important basis and authoritative means for determining planetary resources.

Cang Zhan Star is such a planet that has been tested and determined to have mining value but not high value. Although the planet has top-grade energy stones, the reserves cannot compare with those of higher-resource planets. It seems impractical to invest manpower and resources, so it is simply used as waste, strictly regulated, and becomes a prisoner planet where nothing goes out.

On Cang Zhan Star, large veins are controlled by powerful forces, and energy stones can be considered the default universal currency. Major forces also store energy stones and exchange them for essential supplies through regular recovery programs by the Star System Alliance. This is one of the important sources of supplies.

Of course, there are limitations to the regular recovery. The Star System Alliance will release one-time non-living teleportation devices at designated locations, which only accept the teleportation of ore-like items. However, the volume of transactions is enormous.

There is also a very special situation regarding the teleportation of living organisms, which is the previously mentioned teleportation of mutant creatures. However, the latter situation is more complex and requires many additional requirements, and the frequency is extremely rare. At least on Cang Zhan Star, there has never been a teleportation of mutant creatures. The teleportation of living organisms is also extremely rare on other prisoner planets.

At this moment, no one, including those on Cang Zhan Star, knows about the terrifying future and energy eruption that this prisoner planet, transformed by the Star System Alliance, will have. One day in the future, it will illuminate the entire Cang Star System with a dazzling radiance that people cannot directly face.

However, at this moment, Yu Jin is still slightly pained by the thought of acquiring seventy-two top-grade energy stones. Feeling the pain, Yu Jin counted seventy-two energy stones from his small treasury, then turned around to leave. However, after taking a few steps, he turned back and counted out twenty-eight top-grade spirit stones, making it a complete set.

Yu Jin knocked on the door of Shu Shuishui and Gu Langu’s room with the spirit stones in hand. Since Gu Langu was not in the base, it was Shu Shuishui who opened the door. The small dormouse carefully dodged to the side to avoid being stepped on.

Entering the bedroom, Yu Jin noticed that Gu Langu’s usually neat room had become slightly messy. For example, there was a notebook lying on the floor, a green bedspread added to the bedside table, and a pile of… simulators stacked in the corner.

Yu Jin: “…”

He couldn’t believe that he had simply believed Shu Shuishui’s words about being poor. He was furious, trembling as he pointed at the pile of simulators. “You… you… you just leave the simulators like this?”

The small dormouse scratched his head. “It’s a bit messy, huh?” Suddenly, his ears twitched as if he had come up with a good idea. He quickly ran over, picked up one simulator, found a suitable spot to place it, and continued to transport the next one.

A few minutes later, the pile of simulators in the corner was neatly arranged. Shu Shuishui had formed a rectangular shape of 10×5, leaving nine extra simulators on the side.

Yu Jin was still unsure of what Shushuishui was doing when the small dormouse gestured for him to sit on the simulators.

Seeing Yu Jin hesitate, Shu Shuishui wondered, “Don’t you like simulators? Isn’t this chair good enough?”

Yu Jin didn’t want to talk. He had never thought of sitting on a simulator before. So he coldly took out the spirit stones he had brought with him and placed them in front of Shu Shuishui. “Here are the top-grade energy stones you wanted, a total of one hundred. You’re welcome.”

Shu Shuishui’s eyes lit up, and the small dormouse curiously looked at the small box in Yu Jin’s hands. The pile of energy stones had been taken out from there. When they were first taken out, they were the size of rice grains, but they quickly returned to their normal size. Shu Shuishui pointed at Yujin’s small box and asked, “Is that your spiritual storage device?”

The principle seems to be similar to how Shu Shuishui retrieves and puts items from his mouth. However, Shu Shuishui can also retrieve items from his spiritual storage without using his mouth; it all depends on his mood.

“This is a space folding compressor, not easy to come by…” Yu Jin explained the compressor to Shu Shuishui. Shu Shuishui learned that the small box had a 100-cubic space inside, but each storage had to be of the same type of item. It seemed that the folding force of the space compression was singular, and there was a risk of space tearing if different items were put together.

Upon hearing this, Shu Shuishui no longer envied the 100 cubic space and felt that his spiritual storage was still more convenient. Although he couldn’t store living things, he could store plants, seeds, and spirit stones without any restrictions. Shu Shuishui scratched his little chin and his ears twitched. “Since I can’t repay you for the gift of the energy stones, how about I give you a storage ring? But you’ll have to wait until I grow a bit more.”

“A storage ring? And you have to grow more?” Yu Jin didn’t know what to focus on anymore. What was a storage ring? Was it the literal interpretation? Yu Jin felt a bit fantastical, and could the small mouse still grow bigger? “Shu Shuishui? How big will you grow? You won’t be taller than me, will you?”

Shu Shuishui looked at his claw tips and pondered what he would look like when he transformed into a human form. He would definitely be tall and mighty. So he nodded without hesitation. “I should be taller than you.”

Yu Jin: !!! A mouse that tall? And still soft and squishy? Yu Jin imagined the scene of the small mouse running and jumping onto Gu Langu’s palm with a thud. Then he imagined a mouse that was over 1.8 meters tall dashing and leaping onto Gu Langu, slapping him. He couldn’t help but shudder. No wonder the small mouse confidently claimed that he could do farming. Shu Shuishui was actually a large-scale mutant creature.

Shu Shuishui fantasized about his tall and upright appearance. After all, Shu Bao was so tall, and as fellow mice, it wouldn’t do if he wasn’t tall enough! At this moment, Shu Shuishui completely forgot that he and Shu Bao were not even the same species, despite both being mice.

The little dormouse grinned foolishly for a moment, then shifted his attention back to the energy stones. He looked at the simulators and extended his paw to pat the neatly arranged 5×10 simulator seat. “I don’t know how to refine tools yet, so you can have these simulators. I just want those extra few.”

Yu Jin, who had just snapped out of his daze caused by the 1.8-meter-tall mouse, was once again dumbfounded. “What?! What did you say?” Yu Jin had thought about exchanging a few simulators from Shu Shuishui, but he never expected that he would give him the neatly arranged fifty simulators while keeping the remaining nine for himself.

“Previously, it was two grasshoppers for one simulator, and now it’s two energy stones for one simulator. It’s fair,” Shu Shuishui said.

Yu Jin helplessly massaged his forehead. “Shu Shuishui, promise me that I’ll be present whenever you make deals in the future, alright? I’m afraid that one day you’ll lose yourself in the process.”

“Me?” Shu Shuishui was greatly puzzled. “How is that possible? I’m only forty grams, and I’m not worth much.”

Yu Jin: “…” No, you have no idea how valuable you are. Yu Jin didn’t forget the enticing act Liu Du put on before he left, trying to lure the little mouse. “It’s alright. Didn’t Shuishui say that he will grow taller than me in the future?”

Shu Shuishui thought for a moment and nodded his little head. “That’s right.” He was supposed to grow into a 1.8-meter-tall dormouse—or no, a 1.8-meter-tall human. In the future, he would definitely weigh more than just forty grams.

In the end, a friendly trade was reached between Yu Jin and Shu Shuishui. Yu Jin didn’t take the stool made of fifty simulators but instead took nine of them. Although it was only nine, Yu Jin still made a big profit.

The little dormouse could only pat his chest and promise that once he grew to 1.8 meters, he would quickly refine a storage ring for Yu Jin.

Yu Jin thought for a moment. “When you grow to 1.8 meters, can I lean on you for a while?” That would surely feel great.

Although Shu Shuishui didn’t understand, he agreed and patted his own shoulder. “I’ll let you lean on my shoulder then!”

Both of them were unaware that this wish could not be fulfilled. First, Shu Shuishui couldn’t grow to 1.8 meters. Second, Gu Langu was still alive.

TL’s note: Yu Jin, Gu Langu would kill you HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHA XD