32: Chapter 32: Blueprints in hand! 1500 points of instant wealth!

The cold wind continued to howl, but a layer of fine cold sweat broke out on Manager Fernan's forehead.

That emerald-green cabbage leaf and that piece of top-quality Snow Bear meat firmly gripped his merchant's heart.

If he could bring these things back to the Merchant Alliance and present them to the higher-ups, let alone a promotion and raise, he might even be transferred directly to a higher-tier City-State-level Mobile City!

"Name your price, friend!"

Through the bulletproof glass, Fernan's tone no longer held any of its previous arrogance; it was even tinged with a hint of fawning urgency.

"Whatever you want! High-grade purified water filter cores? Tons of high-quality coal? Or the most advanced alloy armor plates? As long as it's in my caravan, I can trade it with you!"

The conditions he offered were enough to drive any wanderer from a miniature camp insane.

These were the most practical survival resources in the wasteland.

However, Lu Chen's eyes remained completely untroubled.

"Put away your scrap metal," Lu Chen said expressionlessly. "I don't lack coal, I don't lack water, and I certainly don't need your shoddily made armor."

Fernan was stunned.

In the wasteland, what else could one want besides these hard currencies?

"I only want one thing."

Lu Chen's face pressed close to the glass, a fanatical light dancing in his dark eyes.

"Rare scientific research blueprints from the Pre-Civilization, or any technological medium that you wasteland merchants cannot analyze. The more, the better; the higher the grade, the better."

As soon as these words were spoken, Fernan's face paled in shock.

Pre-Civilization blueprints?

Those were exactly the things the Merchant Alliance occasionally found when excavating ruins. But in today's era of severe technological gaps, the vast majority of those blueprints had become incomprehensible gibberish. Or, they lacked the corresponding industrial motherbeds for manufacturing, making them no different from scrap paper.

Only a handful of core scientific research fanatics within the Merchant Alliance would collect them.

What did this wanderer driving a battered tracked vehicle want with this useless scrap paper?

"What? Can the famous Winter Trade Alliance not even produce a few scraps of blueprints?"

Seeing Fernan's hesitant expression, Lu Chen applied pressure without mercy, making a move to close the observation port shutter.

"If you don't have them, the trade is off. I'll just keep this meat to feed the dogs."

"Wait! Wait!"

Fernan grew anxious. Seeing his chance for promotion and fortune slipping away, he slapped his thigh hard.

"I have one! I happen to have one in my private possession!"

He turned around and, with extreme caution, pulled out a flat, silver-gray metal code tube from the lining of his heavy mink coat.

"Our caravan excavated this six months ago from a frozen Pre-Civilization military underground bunker. The higher-ups said this thing records a forging manual for a Composite Memory Alloy."

Fernan said through gritted teeth.

"But the technological gaps involved are too severe, and the required energy threshold is too high; it simply cannot be analyzed. Within the Merchant Alliance, it was judged to be of little value, so it was given to me as a keepsake."

High-grade Composite Memory Alloy Manual!

Hearing those words, Lu Chen's usually calm heart skipped a couple of beats!

He knew the system's rules better than anyone. The more technical content a blueprint had, and the harder it was for wasteland civilizations to analyze the knowledge medium, the greater the density of truth it contained!

In Fernan's hands, such a thing was scrap metal, but before the Truth Tech Tree, it was an untapped gold mine!

"Drop the tube into the external collection slot," Lu Chen said, his voice stiff as he suppressed his inner ecstasy.

Click.

A small metal collection box popped out from the side of the vehicle. With a look of intense regret, Fernan placed the silver-gray code tube inside.

The box was quickly retracted into the vehicle.

The moment Lu Chen took the code tube, the silent system in his mind let out a piercing alarm!

[Ding! High-value knowledge medium detected!]

[Scanning target: Pre-Civilization Federation Medium-Level Secret: "Memory Alloy Forging Manual and Microscopic Molecular Arrangement Equations".]

[Status: Complete.]

"System, if this blueprint is subjected to high-dimensional degradation, how many Truth Points can it be converted into?" Lu Chen asked in his mind.

[Calculating...]

[This blueprint contains a moderate amount of relatively complete material science truth logic.]

[Estimated conversion: 1,500 Truth Points!!!]

One thousand five hundred points!

Lu Chen's breathing stopped completely.

He knew this thing was valuable, but he never dreamed that a blueprint considered useless by a wasteland merchant could yield such a terrifyingly high price!

It was more than just getting rich!

Overnight, the chasm between him and upgrading to Lv.2 was filled, and even began to overflow!

"Good goods."

Lu Chen forced his facial muscles to stay still, preventing himself from laughing out loud, and pushed the twenty-pound piece of top-quality Snow Bear meat and the emerald-green cabbage leaf out through a larger external tray without hesitation.

"The transaction is complete. Manager Fernan, it's been a pleasure doing business with you."

With that, there was a click. Lu Chen roughly pulled down the heavy shutter of the observation port, completely cutting off the outside view.

Outside the vehicle, Fernan held the top-quality beast meat and the precious cabbage leaf, trembling with excitement.

He was certain he had completed the most profitable deal of his life, trading a useless metal tube for a ticket to a high-tier city-state.

Inside the cabin, Lu Chen tightly gripped the silver-gray code tube, a fervor capable of melting steel in his eyes.

"System."

His voice became low and raspy from extreme excitement.

"Fully degrade this damn blueprint! Extract every single truth point for me!"

[Ding! Command received.]

An unprecedentedly brilliant pure golden light instantly erupted, filling the twenty-square-meter dim cabin of Polaris!

The blinding golden light even outshone the fire from the Primary Efficiency Boiler!

Golden ribbons of light poured down like a waterfall, completely swallowing the silver-gray code tube.

Countless phantoms of complex molecular equations and mechanical drawings flickered wildly in mid-air, eventually turning into a golden rainstorm that surged into the holographic panel!

[Conversion successful! Obtained 1,500 Truth Points.]

[Current account balance: 2,500 Truth Points!!!]

Looking at the golden numbers in the upper right corner that were about to burst the screen, Lu Chen took a long breath of the warm air inside the cabin.

He had not only met the requirements for upgrading to Lv.2 but even had an extra 1,100 points!

The moment when Polaris would shed its shell as a Miniature Snow Fortress and transform into a Camp-level Mobile City was now close at hand.