Technological advancement begins with devouring.

Chapter 71 Leaving Qiulong Star (Seeking First Subscription)

In the spacious reception room, a virtual projection appeared in front of Jiang Chen.

A large amount of information about slaves appeared before Jiang Chen.

It contains incredibly detailed information on various aspects, including appearance, strength, race, and more.

Of course, the price is also quite high.

Each fourth-tier Stellar Warrior costs 20 million Black Dragon Coins.

The number of fifth-order stars quadrupled, reaching 80 million.

However, the price for a mentalist is three times that of a martial artist of the same level.

If it is a race with a relatively high reputation in the universe, such as the 'Black Mong Clan' or the 'Dark Ga Clan', the price will also increase accordingly.

"Two fifth-tier Stellar Spiritual Masters and two fifth-tier Stellar Martial Artists. In addition, we need ten fourth-tier Stellar Spiritual Masters, half of whom will be Spiritual Masters and half of whom will be Martial Artists."

Jiang Chen calculated the amount of funds he had on hand and quickly made a decision.

With over 10 billion yuan in hand, Jiang Chen could have bought eighth- or ninth-tier stellar slaves.

However, for the sake of his future plans, Jiang Chen had to save every penny to the extreme and could only spend frugally.

“Mentalists all need to be from the Black Mongol Clan, and martial artists all need to be from the Darkga Clan. In addition, I also need a few slaves skilled in management, and a group of servants skilled in brewing.” Jiang Chen quickly stated his requirements: “This deal is worth several hundred million, there should be a discount, right?”

The slave trade was highly valuable and extremely profitable.

However, transactions worth hundreds of millions are not something that happen every day.

The person in charge was overjoyed and smiled, "Honorable guest, with my authority, I can offer you a discount of up to 9.8%. The price increases for the special races of the Black Mongol and Dark Ga clans will also be waived, and we'll calculate based on the normal slave prices. Four fifth-tier Star Slaves, ten fourth-tier Star Slaves, half Spiritual Masters and half Warriors, totaling 5.88 million. In addition, I can decide to give you up to one hundred slaves skilled in management and brewing, whose strength does not exceed the fifth tier of Planetary Slaves, as a bonus to this deal."

He could earn a large commission from this one deal alone, so he was naturally willing to help Jiang Chen secure benefits in minor, unimportant details to facilitate the transaction.

This discount is already quite substantial, considering that Jiang Chen is buying relatively little, unlike Luo Feng in the original novel who bought slaves worth billions at once. The discount is naturally different.

Jiang Chen thought for a moment and said, "Send me another batch of Planetary Rank 9 martial artists and mentalists, and this deal will be done."

The person in charge hesitated for a moment, while frantically calculating in his mind.

After a long while, he gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, I can give you one hundred planetary level nine slaves, including fifty mentalists!"

The package includes one hundred Planetary Tier 9 slaves, which, based on the original price, would be worth nearly ten million Black Dragon Coins. This is much cheaper than Stellar Tier slaves, but the quantity is large, so the total value is not low.

Of course, even so, as long as the deal goes through, the person in charge will still receive a large commission.

If Jiang Chen were to haggle over such a small amount of money, he could simply switch to another dealer or even a different trading company, and end up with nothing.

The person in charge knows very well which choice to make: earning less or not earning at all.

"Let's draft the contract. I'll pay a deposit first, and then you can complete the handover at the port of call at the time I request." Jiang Chen got what he wanted and couldn't help but smile.

The person in charge also smiled and handed Jiang Chen a tool that looked like a tablet computer, saying, "Sir, please choose your slaves first, and I'll go prepare the contract."

Jiang Chen nodded and took the tablet.

Although the price and type of slaves have been agreed upon, there are still some considerations when it comes to choosing which one to select.

Even though they are both 'Black Mongol Clan Stellar Fifth-Order Spiritual Masters', the secret techniques they master are different, so their combat power will naturally differ. In addition, age is also related to potential.

Having spent such a large sum of money, Jiang Chen naturally wanted to choose the best.

The slave trading company had a huge number of 'goods'. Jiang Chen carefully compared them and spent a lot of time finalizing the list of all the slaves.

After signing the contract and agreeing on the delivery time and place, Jiang Chen transferred a deposit of tens of millions of Black Dragon Coins into the other party's account and then quickly left.

After leaving the slave market, Jiang Chen arrived at a shop called 'Qibao Shop'.

"Sir, what would you like to order? Our Qibao store has all kinds of goods, very complete!" A woman with an exceptionally beautiful appearance stepped forward and asked politely.

"Why do these shops all seem to prefer using beautiful women to greet their customers..."

A thought flashed through Jiang Chen's mind.

"I need some 'Purple Light Dew' and 'Azure Wave Marrow'. In addition, I also need some special materials." Jiang Chen opened the personal terminal on his arm and brought up a list.

The shop assistant was quite surprised to see the quantities marked on Jiang Chen's list.

The items Jiang Chen wanted to buy were all inexpensive individually, but the quantity was astonishing.

For example, Jiang Chen bought 10,000 tons of 'Purple Dew', a popular beverage among nobles.

Jiang Chen ordered ten kilograms of 'Bibo Marrow,' which is usually sold by the gram.

Even if the value of the other items is low, these two items alone make up a large order.

"The price of Purple Light Dew is 10 Black Dragon Coins per kilogram, so 10,000 tons would be 100 million. Azure Wave Marrow is a bit more expensive, at 9000 Black Dragon Coins per gram. If you want 10 kilograms, that's 90 million. Add to that all the other materials, and after discounts and rounding down, the total is 200 million." The shop assistant quickly gave a quote, his smile widening.

Jiang Chen did a quick mental calculation. According to the original prices listed in Qibao Store, the total cost of the items he wanted to buy was approximately 2.09 million. The discount of less than 10 million was already quite generous.

After all, the prices of these products are very transparent, and the profit margin is not particularly high. Making money mainly depends on sales volume.

"Okay, let's go with this price." Jiang Chen nodded and asked, "Can we get the goods today?"

Such a large quantity of supplies may not be in stock at the store; we might have to source them from elsewhere.

The pretty shop assistant smiled and said, "Of course, no problem. Our Qibao store has plenty of stock. Please wait a moment, it will be ready in ten minutes."

Jiang Chen nodded slightly, "Okay, then I'll wait here."

A moment later, a burly man in uniform with sharp horns on his head walked out from a passageway inside the shop and handed a spatial ring to the beautiful shop assistant.

The shop assistant took the spatial ring and handed it to Jiang Chen, saying respectfully, "Sir, please check your purchase. The spatial ring is a free gift."

A standard-sized spatial ring isn't worth much, but using it as a free gift to win over customers is a common tactic used by Qibao stores or similar shops.

Jiang Chen took the ring and pretended to check it, but actually had Babata scan it.

After all, Jiang Chen didn't recognize things like 'Purple Light Dew' and 'Azure Wave Marrow'.

A moment later, after receiving a message from Babata, Jiang Chen smiled and said, "The goods are fine, and I've transferred the money. The transaction is complete, and I'll take my leave now."

-

A silver-gray spaceship stands in the harbor.

“Sir, my name is ‘Pachia,’ and I’m responsible for delivering this shipment to you.” A short man with a vertical eye on his forehead and less than a meter tall respectfully said to Jiang Chen, “Please show me the contract number for the slave purchase to verify my identity.”

Behind the one-eyed dwarf were more than two hundred slaves of varying builds, more than half of whom exuded a powerful aura.

One hundred planetary ninth-order slaves and twelve stellar fourth-order and fifth-order slaves.

In addition, there were one hundred 'ordinary' slaves who were skilled in areas other than combat.

If this group of people were placed on Earth or other similar lower planets, they would be enough to slaughter the entire planet.

"This is the contract." Jiang Chen opened his personal terminal and pulled up the contract he had previously signed with the slave trading company.

The one-eyed dwarf also produced a copy of the contract to prove his identity to Jiang Chen.

After confirming that everything was correct, the one-eyed dwarf bowed again and said, "Identity confirmed. Sir, please stand here. I will now transfer control of these slaves to you. The whole process will take a few minutes."

“Okay.” Jiang Chen nodded, standing still and waiting for the other party to proceed.

The one-eyed dwarf took out a peculiar device and began scanning Jiang Chen.

As the machine operated, the more than two hundred slaves fell into a drowsy state, their consciousness becoming blurred.

Time passed second by second, and gradually, the slaves' eyes regained their sparkle, as if they were coming to their senses again.

A dozen minutes later, the machine in the one-eyed dwarf's hand emitted a notification.

"Owner!"

More than two hundred slaves bowed to Jiang Chen in unison.

"Sir, everything is done. Control of these 212 slaves is now in your hands."

The one-eyed dwarf took a safe from one of his men and handed it to Jiang Chen, saying, "Inside are the microchips for the control terminals of 212 slaves. Each chip corresponds to one slave and can be directly connected to the auxiliary computer for control. The specific usage instructions are in a memory card inside the box."

The one-eyed dwarf then explained in detail the methods for controlling slaves.

"Understood." Jiang Chen had Babata check it and, after confirming that everything was correct, said, "Then I'll transfer the money now."

After a few simple steps on the computer, the remaining balance was deposited into the account specified in the contract.

The one-eyed dwarf smiled and said respectfully, "Sir, it is an honor for our trading company to cooperate with you. We hope to have the opportunity to continue our cooperation. I won't bother you any longer. Here is my contact information. If you need to purchase more slaves in the future, please feel free to contact me. I guarantee to provide you with the best goods and the most favorable prices."

With that, the one-eyed dwarf handed over a business card, and then, quite tactfully, took his leave with his men.

After the one-eyed dwarf left, Jiang Chen glanced at the 212 slaves and ordered, "Follow me."

With that, he turned and walked toward the spaceship's hatch.

"Yes, Master."

One by one, the slaves followed Jiang Chen into the spaceship.

Some of the slaves, who knew each other, were still talking in hushed tones.

"It's really tough to be bound to a master for the first time; it gives me a headache for days. I don't know if this master will be easy to get along with, but I hope I'll have a good life from now on."

"No matter what, we're all following our master now, so we can only do our jobs well."

Biochips exert extremely strong control over slaves, making resistance virtually impossible.

Rumors circulate that this technology originated from the Machine Race, but the truth is probably known only to a small group of people.

In short, it is certain that over the countless years, no slave controlled by biochips has ever been able to break free of control unless they break through to the level of a domain lord.

-

The spaceship started up, but its destination was not Earth, but another planet in the Milky Way with low-level life, Bailan Star.

Under Jiang Chen's orders, most of the slaves stayed in the lower cabins.

Only four fifth-tier slaves and two other slaves with low strength but special abilities remained in the control room where Jiang Chen was located.

“The four of you, I don’t care what your names were before, from now on you will be called number one, number two, number three, and number four in order.”

Jiang Chen first looked at the four fifth-order stellar slaves.

When selecting slaves, Jiang Chen had looked at their information, which included their names.

However, both the 'Black Mongols' and the 'Dark Garudas' had very long names, so Jiang Chen, too lazy to bother with them, simply had them use code names instead.

Number one and number two are mentalists, and numbers three and four are martial artists.

The slaves were quite helpless, but under the control of the biochip, they dared not show the slightest thought of objection and hurriedly replied, "Yes, Master."

"From now on, you and the other slaves skilled in combat will be divided into two groups, with the strength of the two groups being roughly equal. Number One and Number Three, you will be in charge of Group A. Number Two and Number Four, you will be in charge of Group B. The mission of Group A is to protect my base on White Orchid Star. As for Group B, you will follow me back to my home planet. I will send you the specific mission details later."

Jiang Chen distributed the newly purchased slaves.

Earth is relatively safer because of Hu Yanbo's spatial secret technique, but Jiang Chen will spend more time on Earth, and some people that Jiang Chen cares about are also on Earth.

So although Earth is not as important as the base on White Orchid Star, Jiang Chen allocated just as many people and resources to the Earth group.

"Yes, Master," Numbers One through Four replied respectfully.

"As for you two, you'll be called 'Butler,' and I'll call you 'Brewer.' All slaves of your type will be under your command." Jiang Chen turned to look at the other two slaves.

According to the information provided by the business, one of the two men, an old man who looked like a goblin from a fantasy novel, less than a meter tall, with long pointed ears and green skin, was the most skilled in 'personnel management' and was a very good managerial talent.

Another slave, equally short but with a muscular build and a long beard that almost dragged on the ground, was an extremely skilled brewer who claimed to be able to make incredibly mellow wine with any ingredients and spices.

The former was for managing the base on White Orchid Star.

As for the latter, it was to satisfy one's own appetite.

Jiang Chen originally wanted to buy a slave who was good at cooking, but after thinking about it, he realized that Earth alone had developed countless cuisines, and the variety of 'food' in the universe would only be more abundant. Not every kind of food would suit Jiang Chen's taste.

What some races might find delicious might be more inedible than the most terrifying culinary concoctions in Jiang Chen's eyes.

With this in mind, Jiang Chen decided that after returning to Earth, he would recruit a chef instead of buying one from space.

Even if you want to buy it, you have to wait until you've tried it in the virtual universe and gained some understanding of the food in the universe before choosing one that you like.