Chapter 124: Treasure Exchange Conference

“It’ll probably take about three days. But we do charge a bit more. Actually, the original owner of this bone hammer came to us, but our technology wasn’t mature enough at the time, so we turned him away.” The supervisor smiled. It was a good sign that as soon as their technology matured, someone came knocking.

“Alright, we’ll talk about it when the time comes.” Yang Bo nodded as he spoke.

Upon hearing this, the supervisor asked, “Is the General planning to attend the Grey Ash Organization’s Treasure Exchange Conference?”

“Hmm?” Yang Bo’s heart stirred, but he just grunted impatiently.

“Hehe, does the General have any plans for what you’re going to create?” The supervisor chuckled nervously after sensing Yang Bo’s impatience. These mutants had strange personalities.

“A sword?” Yang Bo asked tentatively.

“Sorry, our technology isn’t there yet. Right now, we can only optimize, but we can’t restructure… meaning the shape will largely stay the same,” the supervisor explained, perhaps realizing he’d made it too complicated, so he simplified it.

“Then make it a hammer. Flat on one side, pointed on the other,” Yang Bo said, recalling the hammer he’d most often used in his past life. It fit well in hand.

The supervisor smiled and nodded. “Sure, no problem.”

However, the supervisor thought to himself, “These mutants really have poor taste in aesthetics.”

After Yang Bo left, two people wearing biological mechas came to move the bone hammer inside. The supervisor watched Yang Bo’s back and murmured, “General Black Blade can lift this bone hammer with ease? What kind of attribute does he have?”

Mutants were very secretive about their strength attributes, especially the leaders. So, the supervisor had no idea.

Yang Bo, now invisible, returned and watched as the two in biological mecha carried the bone hammer inside. He was suspicious, “Is it really that heavy?”

The bone hammer was placed into a large container. Two people in protective suits manipulated it for a bit before sealing the container.

The two then entered the control room and removed their protective helmets. One of them said, “This bone hammer came back a second time?”

“Yes, last time they wanted us to work on it, but we couldn’t.”

“Shall we analyze the data?”

“No, it’s pointless. We’ve analyzed lots of bones from mutated beasts. Even though we know their composition, we still can’t restructure them. It’s like energy metal; all we can do is dig, dig, dig. Artificial ones are just junk.”

“That’s the wonder of materials science. The same materials, but different processes produce different results.”

“It’s not just materials science. It involves genetics, too. Some even suspect it’s related to what the creatures eat or the environments they live in.”

“What type of attribute does this have?”

“No idea. It’s like energy weapons—without the same-origin energy trigger, there’s no way to tell the attribute. Otherwise, the guys selling energy weapons would’ve struck gold long ago.”

“What a shame…”

Yang Bo listened from the side and thought it made sense. But he still decided to keep watching. If this was an enemy base? Heh, he’d be ready!

After some more manipulation, one person asked, “How should we shape it?”

“Their aesthetics are awful—one side pointed, one side flat.”

“Isn’t that just a basic tool hammer?”

“Haha, yeah. Their sense of aesthetics is truly lacking.”

“Alright, let’s go with that.”

Yang Bo watched them operate the equipment, but he couldn’t see clearly. They were using wired virtual goggles, and Yang Bo suspected some unknown energy radiation was involved. Otherwise, it could’ve been wireless.

“Are you going to the Grey Ash Organization’s Treasure Exchange Conference? Last time, a researcher swapped for a piece of rare energy metal and was immediately promoted to supervisor when he returned.”

“Might as well check it out. Though in recent years, these mutants are harder to trick. They ask for outrageous prices.”

“Also, our people raise the price whenever they see something good.”

“Can’t be helped. Some things just need constant replenishing with new resources.”

Yang Bo didn’t plan to retrieve the bone hammer right away. He decided to follow these guys to see how they scammed the mutants at the Treasure Exchange Conference.

As for why he was going? Of course, to gather insight. First, for personal experience, and second, to see if his enemy, the Gene Serum Company, had a branch there. If they did, well, they shouldn’t blame him for being ruthless.

Yang Bo wasn’t one to kill unnecessarily, but for his enemies? Get rid of those dogs!

Yang Bo also took a closer look at the biological mecha. It wasn’t that impressive.

So-called biological mechas were, in fact, cultivated parts of mutated beasts. These parts were grown independently and nourished with different nutrient fluids. Without a mind of their own, the cultivated parts were reprocessed and then used.

In the end, a completed biological mecha was essentially a living puppet without self-awareness, fully controlled by mutants.

As for the attributes of the biological mecha, they were tied to the nutrient fluids. The quality of a biological mecha was judged by its energy conversion rate.

A biological mecha with over 90% energy conversion was considered top-notch. This meant the mecha would consume part of its user’s energy.

“It’s similar to mechas. Mechas also consume some energy in their conversion,” Yang Bo analyzed.

“The difference is that mechas run on batteries, while biological mechas consume the mutant’s own strength.” Yang Bo quickly understood why biological mechas hadn’t caught on among humans.

Yang Bo also discovered that biological mechas could be customized. Submit a biological sample, and a bio-mecha could be tailored based on the sample’s genes. Custom bio-mechas were obviously more effective, which was why tribal leaders often had them made for their subordinates.

Yang Bo finally confirmed that this company was not the Gene Serum Company, his sworn enemy, but a mecha manufacturer. Their research here mostly focused on bio-mechas, and they’d occasionally exchange them for rare materials like energy metals.

Yang Bo also learned that most of the energy metals couldn’t be manufactured by humans yet. They could only be collected from nature, and estimates indicated Green Demon Planet had massive energy metal reserves.

Moreover, Green Demon Planet emitted strange energy waves, which confused many human detection devices. Only some surface areas could be roughly explored, while certain subterranean zones were completely undetectable.

One organization even drilled a multi-kilometer-deep exploratory well here but gathered no data. All the scientific equipment and probes they used found absolutely nothing.

But Yang Bo didn’t remain idle. He began practicing his abilities within a safe distance from the base.

He channeled a flame into his left hand and casually tossed it out. The fireball instantly flew dozens of meters and rolled into a nearby small passage.

Inside, a rat’s eyes widened before the sudden burst of flames engulfed its body in an instant.

“Compressed fire energy can ignite the target,” Yang Bo said, feeling quite satisfied.