147: I can't afford it, just take care of it

"What kind of place is this you're at? I've been circling for ages and haven't seen any buildings!"

The Old Professor deliberately turned on the speakerphone.

From the other end of the line, an anxious voice immediately came through.

"It's right inside, just keep walking and you'll find it."

"Stop dawdling! Send me your location!"

The other party hung up the phone.

The Old Professor held up his phone and examined it for a moment, then opened WeChat and looked at it for a long time, his brows slightly furrowed.

"Professor, let me do it."

The Balding Senior Apprentice took the phone and quickly sent the location sharing information to the other party.

Immediately, the Old Professor breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's a good thing I brought you guys along this trip, otherwise Old Ren would have laughed at me. As a researcher, I can't even use the latest tech products, you tell me..."

The Old Professor smiled faintly, speaking with a hint of self-deprecation.

"Old Professor, mobile phones iterate too quickly, and you're usually busy with work, so it's normal not to be familiar with some functions."

Xiao Yun smiled faintly, exchanged a simple pleasantry, and then quickly got to the point.

"So, Old Professor, what do you think about this Highly Classified Server?"

As soon as he said this, the group fell silent.

A Highly Classified Server was indeed what they needed right now.

However, the price was much higher than a blade server.

The annual rental fee for a blade server was already as high as 1.5 million.

And a Highly Classified Server, with its more powerful computing power, would cost at least two million or more per year.

It wasn't that the Academy of Sciences couldn't afford this money, but mainly that the cost was too high, and they wouldn't be able to earn back that much profit.

It was the same principle as running a knife in a restricted zone.

If an ordinary operative entered the map naked, their extraction rate would be infinitely close to 0, but if he spent 100,000 yuan to wear a set of three and carry a gun, his survival rate in the restricted zone would significantly increase.

And the 100,000 yuan spent could be earned back by searching for more supplies in the restricted zone.

However, if he wore a set of five and used a fully modified gun, although it could also increase the extraction rate, it would become very difficult to earn back the cost.

A set of five combined with a fully modified gun would cost at least a million, and bullets also cost money. At this point, if he only brought out some blue and green items from the restricted zone each time, it would take more than ten runs to earn back the cost.

And the problem the researchers were considering now was the same.

The cost of a blade server and the benefits it brought were absolutely worth it.

But if they added another Highly Classified Server, the cost would become high. Besides the server rental fee, they would also need to equip specialized researchers, at least a team dedicated to debugging and management.

And now, researchers' salaries are also high. A team of twenty people would cost at least 400,000 yuan per month in salaries, which is almost five million a year.

In other words, the cost of renting this Highly Classified Server is not just the rental fee of 2 million a year, but at least 7 million, or even tens of millions.

And the benefit it brings is merely accelerating the progress of the current project.

"Professor, if you're going to consider this for so long, then what am I going to do with the rest of my big red items?"

Just then, Xiao Yun also sighed helplessly.

He hadn't expected that trying to rent out all his big red items wouldn't be as simple as he'd imagined!

Currently, it seemed that the researchers in front of him were all shocked to see the big red items he displayed, but that was just shock.

When it came to renting them, they started to consider many things.

"Xiao Yun, how many red-quality items do you have in total?"

After much deliberation, the Old Professor also asked with a frown.

"Quite a lot, they're all piled up in the warehouse gathering dust."

Xiao Yun didn't reveal the exact number, after all, he couldn't remember how many big red items he had found.

Moreover, besides the tech-category big red items, there were also many big red items that were art and collectible items, which the Academy of Sciences probably wouldn't need.

"How about this, we'll sign the blade server contract first this time, and then when Old Ren arrives, let him see if he needs that carbon fiber board. Once we go back, we'll hold a meeting at the Academy of Sciences, after all, we're just one of the groups, and there are many other teams. At that time, we'll formally invite you to visit, and also let the members of other research groups see your other big red items."

After careful consideration, the Old Professor proposed this.

In his opinion, renting another Highly Classified Server was unnecessary for his research.

However, top-tier materials of this caliber would definitely be needed by other research groups.

"Alright, then we'll talk about the other big red items later."

Xiao Yun sighed, feeling a bit helpless.

He had originally wanted to rent out all the big red items in his secure container in one go today, but he hadn't expected these things to be so troublesome to deal with.

Given this situation, if he were to rent out big red items like smoothbore guns or infantry fighting vehicle models, he would have to negotiate with places like the Museum or art galleries.

How troublesome!

"Or, should I just entrust it to Liu Shihhan then?"

Xiao Yun thought to himself.

He didn't trust others, but he trusted Liu Shihhan.

Although she had no real strength in the restricted zone, always following him around picking up small scraps, she was definitely more capable than him in real society.

Just as Xiao Yun was contemplating, a panting figure finally walked in through the doorway.

"Aiya, aiya, I say Old Qian, why is the place you found so luxurious? The garden at the entrance alone is almost as big as our residential complex!"

The Old Professor named Ren had finally arrived. He looked to be about the same age as Professor Qian, but his hair was already gray, and even the sparse beard on his chin was completely white.

However, unlike Professor Qian, he seemed to have come alone and hadn't brought anyone else.

It was evident that although he was older, he was much better than Professor Qian both physically and mentally.

"Stop complaining. I thought of you first when something good came up, you should be content."

"Alright, alright, hurry up and let me see what it is!"

Professor Ren quickly sat down next to Xiao Yun, not asking any questions, just staring intently at him.

Xiao Yun raised an eyebrow, not expecting him to be such a direct person.

He didn't even bother to say hello, just immediately asked to see the item.

"Xiao Yun, take that thing out and show it to Old Ren."

Professor Qian also smiled mysteriously at this moment, as if to show off.

"I bet you've never seen this thing in your life."

"Alright, alright, stop bragging. I don't believe there's anything in this world I haven't seen!"

Xiao Yun didn't say much either and once again pulled out the dark, reinforced carbon fiber board from his backpack.

"This is... a carbon fiber board? How do you, a young man, have something like this?"