The Ultimate Evolution
chapter-1115

To compete with Paul financially was indeed a very disgusting thing.

He had just made a lot of profit from his spacecraft remodelling project before they departed. One could also tell from this impromptu business endeavor that he must be someone who was pretty good at doing business. Thus, he must have amassed an astonishing amount of wealth.

In truth, Sheyan disapproved of the idea of amassing wealth. Wealth could only truly be called wealth if it was spent and converted into combat power. One would own nothing if one died.

But the realm was a large place. There might actually be some insane people who were Grandet reincarnated, who were motivated by the desire to see a large number in their account and would burst out with great power to defend their fortune to the death....

(TL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugénie_Grandet )

The final transaction price of the Crystal of Darkness was 380,000 utility points. Paul, being the buyer, naturally had no share of the money; it was divided between Sheyan, Ronnie and Aldaris. At that time, more exciting news came from Cyborg No. 1.

After the military robot was repaired, it naturally became their free mover. A small pile of precious ores were found in its trunk. These objects were probably geological specimens collected by those who survived the crash landing, and they had now become the property of the contestants.

Sheyan found a red ore and a purple ore among the small pile of rare minerals which the liquid metal life-form appeared to be very interested in. Sheyan purchased them without delay. The others knew better than to bid against him, so he only spent 10,000 utility points on them.

Sheyan chose to give up on the other rare minerals. He knew that since he had eaten the meat, he must at least leave the soup for others. To maintain the stability in the team, he had to be fair, at least on the surface.

Six unknown mysterious items appeared among the rare ores, the most valuable of which could be exchanged for 15 achievement points. Even the rare ores which did not make the cut could be sold for at least 300% profit on the Universe E-Bay, according to the cyborgs' offline database.

Sheyan asked for some time alone so that he could perform a closer inspection on the two ores he just got. The red one was identified as a Flame Gem, while the purple one required utility points to identify. Sheyan had no plan to pay.

He first carefully knocked away the stone fragments on the ores, then removed dust and other impurities with a brush. Finally, he fed them to the picky eater, the liquid metal life-form.

Without even waiting for Sheyan to call for it, the liquid metal life-form took the initiative to separate itself from the gloves and turn into a pool of silver liquid that wriggled like a slime. It's surface would shine with a brilliant silvery-white light from time to time.

Sheyan threw the two pieces of gems together with the Lacrimal Stone at the liquid metal life-form, who was visibly impatient. Before the Lacrimal Stone and the sparkling gemstones could even come into contact with the liquid metal life-form, it had extended two tentacles to grab them and stuff them into its body.

The absorbing process this time seemed different from the last time. Previously, the liquid metal life-form greedily gorged on the 'Pineal Gland of the Ant Queen' like a hungry wolf, but it was a lot more gentler this time. It took the minerals in bit by bit, almost like a boy licking his beloved lollipop. From time to time, small bubbles would pop up and burst on the silvery-white surface of the liquid metal life-form. No impurities were ejected from the bubbles, so it was probably just doing this for fun. This guy was evidently in quite a good mood.

Sheyan sighed and could only wait patiently. He watched as the three minerals shrunk, melted and disappeared little by little.

After it finished its meal, the liquid metal life-form climbed back onto Sheyan's hands. The Nightmare Imprint then sent Sheyan some notifications:

[ Mission Note: The liquid metal enhanced life-form has consumed the relevant key mission item and absorbed some strange metal components which will be of great help to its growth. ]

[ Hint: Your liquid metal enhanced life-form has grown. Mission completion rate has increased to 78%. Please continue your search for Lacrimal Stones or other similar items to increase the completion rate. The higher the completion rate, the better the reward will be. ]

[ Hint: Because you have fed the liquid metal enhanced life-form with extremely rare and valuable metal ores, your liquid metal enhanced life-form has gained a side ability and is now friendlier towards you. You have reached the first milestone and will receive the first bonus. ]

[ 'Suck' - Whenever the enemy (or their weapon) comes into contact with the armour/weapon the liquid metal enhanced life-form is attached to, the liquid metal enhanced life-form will analyse the enemy and commit the information to memory. After seven times, the liquid metal enhanced life-form will be able to calculate the trajectory of the enemy's attack, thereby rendering the enemy's next attack obsolete. ]

　　***

"There's this kind of effect?" This sure came as a pleasant surprise to Sheyan. He suddenly felt like he was feeding a baby. It seemed like the more types of food he fed the baby, the more balanced the nutrition, and the stronger the baby would grow.

At that moment, he could hear footsteps approaching. It turned out to be Cyborg No. 1. The cyborg bowed and said respectfully, "There seems to be a problem which requires your attention, master."

"What kind of problem?" asked Sheyan with a frown.

The cyborg maintained his bowing posture as he answered, "It's the native humans, master. It seems like their companions who were made hosts by the Xenomorphs won't survive. The Chestbursters have simply grown too big. Another thing -- you should probably know that every living Chestburster is a source of profit."

At this point, Cyborg No. 1 paused for a while before he added, "Very significant profit."

Sheyan nodded. "I'll be there in five minutes."

But Cyborg No. 1 showed no signs of leaving. He remained standing where he was. Sheyan thus turned back around and asked, "Is there anything else?"

"There is, master," answered Cyborg No. 1. "To be honest, I'm actually keeping a lot of secrets from you. This is due to the high-level authority imposed upon me, and not by my personal choice."

Sheyan was a bit stunned. After a momentary pause, he replied, "I know, so I've never really trusted you either. Why do you suddenly tell me this?"

"A piece of information that you have is actually incorrect. When we landed on planet Uplos, the communication with the base was not completely cut off. In truth, there's a way for the Kitty Hawk to break through the blockade to gain one-way access to the camera in my right eye, but at a huge price." Cyborg No. 1 gave Sheyan a serious look as he answered.

"What kind of price?" enquired Sheyan.

"All seven reactors on the Kitty Hawk have to be overloaded. By doing so, the new fortress warship, which has only been in service for less than three years, will break down completely in three months."

"I see. Go on." Sheyan started listening very carefully to every word Cyborg No. 1 will say.

"I can sense the overloading operation starting right after you captured the mushroom rock, and...it's lasted until now."

The muscles on Sheyan's face couldn't help twitching after he heard what the cyborg said. He immediately thought of a crucial problem.

'What kind of unexpected occurrences have to happen to drive those guys crazy enough to do this at the cost of a warship?....Have they been forced into a situation so desperate that they have to do anything they can regardless of the cost?'

Sheyan's mind was in turmoil, but he maintained a calm facade. He stared at Cyborg No. 1 and asked a crucial question.

"Since many of your actions are subject to high-level authority, I think there must be rules in place prohibiting you from divulging secret information like this, right? So why can you tell me this now?"

Cyborg No. 1 straightened up and stared back at Sheyan, telling him word by word, "Because someone has broken the Constitution of the great Empire and remotely lifted the restriction code in my brain! If this matter is leaked, I, together with his descendants, the spouses of his descendants and the relatives of his descendants will all be put to death! Because this is blasphemy to the sacred prestige of the Empire!!!"

Sheyan turned as rigid as a block of granite, his breathing and his heartbeat seemingly stopping at that moment. All the energy in his body poured into his brain to support the spike in its activity. His blinking eyes were the only parts of his body that were moving.

After a long time, Sheyan breathed out slowly and said, "I understand. It seems like someone is betting everything on me and is sending me a message through you. Damn it.... You and him are already facing an alarming crisis! Am I about to face a crisis too?"

　　***

Five minutes later, Sheyan came back onto the surface. The humans captured to this planet by the Predators were all there, their expressions extremely gloomy. In front of them were two flat rocks, on which lay the two humans who were hosts to Xenomorph infants. Unfortunately, it seemed that the Chestbursters were still alive.

Sheyan calculated the time and instructed Cyborg No. 1. "Go and check if Lord Dardanian has recovered."