Chapter 262: Oasis Seizure, Reward Selection
As he scrolled through the messages on his phone, the corners of Zhang Yu’s mouth curled up unconsciously, and his mood instantly brightened.
“What are you looking at?” Bai Zhenzhen asked from the side. “Why are you smiling so creepily?”
Zhang Yu replied faintly, “Just looking at this beautiful world.”
But in the next moment, Zhang Yu’s brow twitched as he saw a flood of messages demanding compensation.
“What the hell…” Zhang Yu said, annoyed. “They’re actually charging me for the damage to the battle site from yesterday?”
“I just smashed a few walls and crashed into a couple of buildings. They want me to pay ten million? Have they lost their minds?”
Bai Zhenzhen, who was eating breakfast on the other side of the room, heard him and said, “It’s the company that owns that abandoned factory from yesterday. In any case, we were acting as part of the patrol team this time. Any compensation should be covered by the righteous gods.”
“Yu-boy, hurry up and finish your food, then contact Officer Deng and tell her about this.”
“Also, she just called. She said she wants our opinion on how to handle the Oasis Group and the distribution of their assets.”
“Is this about dividing the spoils of war?” Zhang Yu’s eyes lit up at the thought. Remembering what True Person Starfire had said yesterday, he sent him a message.
True Person Starfire replied, “Go to the Oasis Group and discuss it with her first. Hear what she has to say, but don’t agree to anything before I get there.”
So, after finishing breakfast, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen headed out the door.
The moment they stepped out of the apartment building, Zhang Yu was surprised to see a large crowd of people standing outside the main gate.
The area immediately surrounding their building was clean and tidy, a stark contrast to the nearby streets littered with burnt-out cars, rising plumes of smoke, and piles of garbage and debris.
Zhang Yu then remembered that he had apparently never turned off his Foundation Establishment Domain.
Because of his domain, the apartment building had become a safe zone overnight, a refuge for many people from the surrounding streets.
It was clear that the people in the crowd had watched the livestream or seen videos, as they recognized the two of them.
Under their awestruck gazes, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen flickered, disappearing from the street with a series of sonic booms and a flash of electric light.
When Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen arrived at the Oasis Tower, they found the entire building under the control of the Divine Ministry, with members of the patrol team on guard everywhere.
They made their way to the top floor and entered the office, where they saw Deng Bingding overseeing the situation.
“You’re here?”
A ripple of divine power emanated from Deng Bingding as she projected an avatar of herself that walked over to Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen.
She smiled at them. “You two have performed a great service in stopping the Oasis Group.”
“I’m already aware of the property damage claims. I’ll have my people contact them, so you don’t need to worry about it.”
“Regarding your dispute with the Oasis Group, in addition to unfreezing the funds in your accounts, they had originally agreed to pay each of you four million a month for the next nine months, until the college entrance exams.”
“That comes to a total of… thirty-six million in compensation for each of you. I will help you recover that as well. It should be in your accounts within a week at most.”
Hearing Deng Bingding’s words, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen’s spirits soared, their hearts leaping with joy.
Seeing their delighted expressions, Deng Bingding thought to herself, After this operation is over, I should be due for a promotion.
A position has already been arranged for me in a region under the jurisdiction of Myriad Laws University.
These two will probably attend Myriad Laws University as well. I might even run into them there.
These two, especially Zhang Yu, must have powerful backers. This is a good opportunity to use some first-layer resources to build goodwill with them before I leave.
A quick review of Zhang Yu’s rise was enough for Deng Bingding to sense the support of a high-level entity behind him.
First, there was the support from Zhang Pianpian, followed by his astonishing progress from the competitions all the way to Foundation Establishment.
That was one thing, but before his battle with Wang Yin, the higher-ups had even provided the Flood Dragon Spirit Pivot and the Nine Heavens Cloud-Sky Force.
The Nine Heavens Cloud-Sky Force, in particular, was not only a former military-grade cultivation technique but was also in the same lineage as the Limitless Cloud Hand that Zhang Yu had learned. And on top of all that, he had received guidance from True Person Starfire…
It’s all too coincidental. They’re not even trying to be subtle.
But that’s fine. Building a good relationship with them should be beneficial for my career after the promotion.
As these thoughts flashed through her mind, Deng Bingding looked at the two beaming cultivators and spoke again.
“The rewards for the previous mission have already been distributed.”
Zhang Yu nodded slightly, knowing she was referring to the interest-free loan and the three Foundation Establishment cultivation techniques.
Deng Bingding continued, “However, due to the Oasis Group’s illegal activities, which caused you significant losses, we have decided that the Oasis Group will compensate you.”
Zhang Yu’s heart stirred. He knew she was just finding an excuse to give them more rewards.
Bai Zhenzhen’s eyes lit up as well, her mind already racing to guess how much the compensation would be.
But Deng Bingding changed the subject. “You may already know that the university uses spirit coins. The first layer’s currency is almost worthless on the second layer.”
“And if you want to exchange currency when you go to the second layer by yourself, the maximum you can convert is five spirit coins. At the current exchange rate, that’s about 50,391,800 in first-layer currency.”
“So, my advice is… keeping first-layer currency is pointless. You should spend as much of your money as possible and convert it into useful resources.”
“The same goes for the compensation from the Oasis Group this time. I would recommend you choose some of the unique resources from within the Oasis Group instead of taking cash.”
“For example, some of the cutting-edge products from their labs, or some of the spare bionics that Wang Yin left behind…”
Hearing this, Zhang Yu couldn’t help but be tempted. “Wang Yin left spare bionics?”
Deng Bingding smiled slightly. With a thought, a sweep of divine power created a light screen that appeared before Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen.
“These are three bionic sets that Wang Yin didn’t have time to take with him. You can each choose one as compensation from the Oasis Group.”
“Oh, by the way,” Deng Bingding added, “the Flood Dragon Spirit Pivot and the Soul-Wounding Brick are property of the Divine Ministry. Since the operation is over, you’ll have to return them in a bit.”
Zhang Yu sighed in resignation, thinking what a shame, and focused his attention on the light screen.
He saw that the bionics Wang Yin had left behind were a pair of eye bionics, a set of calf tendon bionics, and a heart bionic.
“All three sets are top-tier, enterprise-grade bionics,” Deng Bingding explained.
Zhang Yu nodded. He knew bionics were categorized as instructional-grade, professional-grade, enterprise-grade, and military-grade. Since he and Bai Zhenzhen didn’t have clearance for military-grade, top-tier enterprise-grade was the most suitable for them.
“Eye bionic—the Time-Lag Demon Pupil. It offers powerful performance, allowing for a smooth, lag-free connection to the Spirit Realm, and it can also deconstruct visual images into 128 frames for slow-motion playback.”
“Wait a minute,” Zhang Yu asked curiously. “What do you mean by a ‘lag-free connection to the Spirit Realm’? Are there ones that lag?”
Deng Bingding replied as if it were obvious, “Isn’t lag normal?”
“For a mortal body, encountering something incomprehensible or seeing an unclear image is a form of lag. It’s a limitation of physical performance.”
“Naturally, eye bionics have performance limitations as well.”
“This is especially true in highly developed areas of the Spirit Realm. For instance, the spiritual fluctuations from a Nascent Soul expert’s outing—well, you haven’t seen it, but you can think of it as custom special effects that the powerful create in the Spirit Realm.”
“The special effects of a Nascent Soul True Monarch could cause low-performance eye bionics to lag. Not only would you be unable to see clearly, but you might also experience delays or even freezes, requiring a reboot to perceive things again…”
What the hell… Zhang Yu cursed internally. So when I go up there, even the poor people’s vision won’t be smooth? A rich person’s special effects can make my eyes lag? I can’t even look at them directly?
Deng Bingding went on to introduce the other two sets. “Calf tendon bionic—the Formless Wind Demon. It allows for jet-propelled acceleration while generating optical afterimages…”
“Heart bionic—the Blood Pump Core. It can function as a second heart, enhancing blood supply throughout the body. Its internal Heart-Burning Mode allows the user to enter a state that transcends their limits…”
Just as Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen were buzzing with excitement, trying to decide which set to choose, True Person Starfire’s voice echoed in their minds.
“Sorry, I’m late.”
His long, fiery hair drifting gently, True Person Starfire floated into the office.
He glanced briefly at the three bionic sets on the light screen and then sent a mental message to Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen. “Zhang Yu, you choose the Time-Lag Demon Pupil.”
“Bai Zhenzhen, you take the Formless Wind Demon.”
Bai Zhenzhen had already set her heart on the Formless Wind Demon.
Zhang Yu, however, had been torn between the Time-Lag Demon Pupil and the Blood Pump Core. Upon hearing True Person Starfire’s message, he looked at him with a puzzled expression, waiting for an explanation.
True Person Starfire patiently elaborated via voice transmission, “Eye bionics are essential for studying and cultivating up there. Without them, you’re half-blind. You can’t even see the rankings and titles above people’s heads or recognize anyone.”
“The Time-Lag Demon Pupil’s performance is excellent. It will be more than sufficient for you all the way through your undergraduate studies, and you’ll have no problem looking directly at a Nascent Soul expert.”
“As for the Blood Pump Core, that bionic requires at least 150 units of magic power to maintain. The burden on you would be too great.”
“Besides that, there’s another reason. I hope that after you enter the university, you will refrain from transplanting any bionics other than the eye bionic for the time being.”
While working overtime the previous day, True Person Starfire had been reviewing Zhang Yu’s file, rewatching his battles, and using his vast experience to determine the path that would best suit him.
And now, he had reached a conclusion.
True Person Starfire explained to Zhang Yu, “Zhang Yu, you’re different from others. Your physique is incredibly powerful. It would be a terrible waste to replace parts of it with mass-produced bionics.”
“First, go to the Civil Engineering department to temper your body and earn cultivation resources.”
“Then, transfer to the Artifact Refining department and gradually forge your tempered body into bionics, or even a magical treasure. That is the most suitable path to power for you.”
“To walk this path, you must use as few bionics as possible.”
“Otherwise, for every bionic you install, you’ll have one more replaced organ.”
“And that replaced organ won’t be able to keep up with the progress of your body tempering.”
“In the future, even if you transfer to Artifact Refining, those replaced parts will be of little value.”