116: Chapter 116 Shocks All Sides
One million credits!
When those words came from Instructor Shi Yan's emotionless mouth, the entire intensive care unit fell into a strange, deathly silence.
Teacher Liu Qing's gentle and pretty face instantly froze. Her mouth hung open, and her beautiful eyes were filled with an indescribable, extreme shock.
One million?
Did she hear that right?
As an elite instructor at Xuanyuan University, even after a year of hard work including various bonuses and subsidies, she could barely scrape together a bit over a hundred thousand credits.
This kid Wang Pingan had been enrolled for less than a week and he already got a million credits?
This... this was faster than robbing a bank!
The high-ranking academy officials following behind Instructor Shi Yan had known about this decision for a while, yet hearing it again, they couldn't help but show a trace of stinginess and envy.
One million credits was definitely not a small sum even for Xuanyuan University. It was almost equivalent to the annual output of a small spirit crystal mine.
And now, this astronomical sum of money was about to fall into the pocket of this innocent-looking freshman lying in the hospital bed.
*Gulp.*
Liu Qing swallowed hard; she felt as if her throat was so dry it might catch fire.
She turned her head to look at the culprit.
She thought Wang Pingan would jump out of bed in excitement upon hearing the news.
However, she was disappointed.
Wang Pingan's face still bore that excessively calm expression. He just blinked and asked in a curious tone, "Um... Instructor, how many pay—*cough*, how many spirit crystals can one million credits buy?"
Liu Qing: "..."
Instructor Shi Yan: "..."
The academy officials: "..."
Everyone's mouths twitched in unison at that moment.
Good grief, here they were, utterly shocked by this massive sum, and all this kid cared about was how much stuff he could trade it for?
Was there something wrong with his train of thought?
"According to the academy's exchange rate, ten credits can be exchanged for one Low-Grade Spirit Crystal," Instructor Shi Yan's eye corner twitched as he patiently explained. "One million credits equals one hundred thousand Low-Grade Spirit Crystals."
One hundred thousand Low-Grade Spirit Crystals!
Wang Pingan quickly did the math in his head.
One Low-Grade Spirit Crystal could be converted into roughly 100 pay-to-win points. One hundred thousand of them would be... ten million pay-to-win points!
Ten million!
Wang Pingan felt his breath hitch for a moment.
His usually calm heart finally surged with a massive wave of emotion!
He'd struck it rich!
He'd really hit the jackpot this time!
He felt like he was the coolest guy in the entire universe right now!
He even felt an impulse to jump out of bed and immediately boost all his attributes to the limit of the Fourth Rank Peak!
But he ultimately held back.
No, I have to keep a low profile.
I can't let my persona crumble.
He forced down the volcanic eruption of joy in his heart, squeezing out a perfectly timed expression of realization that seemed to say, "Oh, so it's that much."
"That's... quite a bit," he said, nodding solemnly.
Seeing his "nonchalant" attitude, Instructor Shi Yan and the others felt even more stifled.
Was this kid really that thick-skinned, or was he just pretending to be cool?
"*Cough, cough.*" Instructor Shi Yan coughed heavily twice, steering the conversation back on track. "Wang Pingan, the value of the item you and Mentor Murphy brought back is immeasurable."
He carefully pulled a silver box made of special alloy from his robe, which looked very high-tech.
The box was tightly sealed by several complex energy locks.
Instructor Shi Yan placed the box on the nightstand beside Wang Pingan's bed and entered a series of complex passwords.
*Click.*
The box slowly opened.
An indescribable, supreme aura that seemed to belong to another dimension drifted out of the box.
The moment everyone in the ward felt this aura, they felt as if their souls were being gripped tightly by an invisible giant hand.
Their thoughts came to a brief standstill at that moment.
Inside the box, resting on a soft lining woven from special energy fibers, lay a dusty, unremarkable... stone.
It was none other than the "core of spacetime" that Wang Pingan had drained of its energy.
"This is it." Instructor Shi Yan's eyes became incredibly fervent. "A complete cosmic anomaly containing the power of the origin of spacetime!"
"Its discovery is enough to advance the Human Federation's 'Spacetime Physics' by at least five hundred years!"
"We have already reported its data to the Federation Academy of Sciences. Just now, the Academy's highest resolution was issued."
Instructor Shi Yan took a deep breath, his voice trembling slightly from extreme excitement.
"The Academy has decided to classify this 'core of spacetime' as an 'S-rank' strategic resource, the highest level in the Human Federation!"
"At the same time, with Xuanyuan University leading the way, a top-secret laboratory will be established specifically to study it!"
"And the person in charge of this laboratory..." Instructor Shi Yan's gaze fell on Wang Pingan once more, "besides Mentor Murphy, will be you."
"What?!"
This time, Wang Pingan really couldn't keep it together.
He suddenly sat up in bed, his face full of disbelief.
They wanted him to do scientific research?
What kind of joke was this!
He was just a fake "technician" who relied on a system cheat!
He couldn't even memorize the most basic energy formulas, and they wanted him to study the "core of spacetime"? Wasn't that nonsense?
"Instructor, this... isn't this inappropriate?" Cold sweat began to pour down Wang Pingan's face. "I'm just a martial artist; I don't know the first thing about scientific research."
"No, you do." Instructor Shi Yan's gaze was sharper than ever, as if he could see right through Wang Pingan. "Murphy has already handed over all the navigation logs from that junk ship of his."
"The god-like control and Mental Energy application techniques you displayed during the Subspace Storm have exceeded the scope of our understanding."
"After those old fogies at the Academy saw the footage of your operations, they all went crazy, clamoring to meet you."
"They say your brain and your spirit power model are themselves a priceless treasure worthy of in-depth study!"
Wang Pingan: "..."
He felt like he had... overplayed his hand.