49: Chapter 49 Let's start with a hundred million.

"Ding—" The bracelet vibrated, and the crisp notification sound of the housing contract officially taking effect rang out, interrupting Mo Yufei's train of thought.

He turned his head and saw Wang Chen leaning against the smart pillar nearby. Seeing him look over, Wang Chen immediately straightened up from his relaxed posture and tapped the surface of the pillar.

"Alright, the housing matter is completely settled. The subsequent move-in procedures and smart home debugging will be automatically synced by the system. You can just scan your face to enter tomorrow; you won't have to worry about a thing."

As he spoke, his gaze fell on Mo Yufei's still-lit holographic screen. Suddenly remembering something, he leaned forward a step: "By the way, didn't you mention to me several times before that you wanted to exchange for raw energy stones? Now that your place is settled, we can just have logistics deliver the stones directly to your new apartment, saving you a trip to the Energy Center."

Wang Chen's tone carried a hint of familiar concern. He raised a hand to touch his chin, his eyes becoming serious: "You can calculate properly now just how much you need. I have internal channels here; I can lock in the inventory directly and even apply for a three percent discount below market price for you, and arrange for dedicated personnel to track the delivery, ensuring it's both fast and secure."

Upon hearing this, Mo Yufei unconsciously rubbed the edge of his bracelet with his finger.

He had actually already decided. The energy required for the secret realm upgrade far exceeded the consumption of ordinary cultivators. Rather than exchanging in bits and pieces, it was better to get it all at once to avoid any subsequent complications.

"Then let's start with one hundred million credit coins' worth of raw energy stones."

As soon as these words were spoken, Wang Chen froze on the spot, his face full of disbelief. His pupils contracted sharply, and his face was etched with extreme shock.

He instinctively sucked in a breath of cold air, hurriedly leaned closer to Mo Yufei, and lowered his voice, his tone betraying a hint of losing his composure.

"You, how much did you say? One hundred million?!"

He was completely unable to stay calm, looking at Mo Yufei in horror, terrified that people around them might overhear such an exaggeratedly large transaction.

"Do you have any idea how many energy crystals one hundred million credit coins can buy? Ordinary cultivators only use a few hundred thousand a year. Even those with some family wealth would at most hoard a few million. You ask for one hundred million right off the bat? That's enough to last a small family ten years!"

Wang Chen's voice was noticeably agitated. He stared fixedly at Mo Yufei, trying to find a trace of a joke on his face, but the other party remained as calm as ever, not even moving an eyebrow.

His heart was in turmoil. Energy crystals were strategic resources, and the amount circulating on the market was limited. An amount of one hundred million, even going through internal channels, would require mobilizing inventory from three storage points and notifying the person in charge of the Energy Center. This was a magnitude that ordinary people simply couldn't touch.

"Are you crazy?" Wang Chen lowered his voice, his tone tinged with anxiety. "What do you plan to do with so many raw stones? Even if you turned your entire apartment into a cultivation room, you wouldn't be able to use them all! If people find out you've hoarded so many, someone might target you..."

Wang Chen really couldn't understand it. Clearly, a small amount of raw stones would be enough, yet Mo Yufei insisted on investing such a huge sum of money all at once. He was full of suspicion and truly couldn't guess what he intended to use them for.

Mo Yufei's expression remained unchanged, his tone calm and waveless: "I have my own special uses; it won't be wasted. Just help me exchange the full amount at this scale and have it all delivered to the duplex apartment I just bought."

Seeing that his attitude was firm and he didn't seem to be joking, Wang Chen, despite being shocked, knew that Mo Yufei had his own plans. He could only suppress his overwhelming astonishment and stop trying to persuade him, preparing to help him proceed through the internal bulk exchange channel.

Wang Chen added seriously: "Let me be honest with you, one hundred million credit coins' worth of energy crystals converts to about 16 tons."

He raised his hand to gesture a huge area: "If they were all unpacked and piled on flat ground, they would take up several hundred square meters. The living room of your duplex apartment is only eighty square meters in total; it couldn't even fit the remainder. So, there's no other way. Either you go to the Energy Center's dedicated warehouse to pick them up yourself, using the encrypted security channel, or you choose a hidden, safe designated location, and they will arrange an armed transport convoy to deliver them to you, protected by energy shielding throughout the journey. It definitely won't be a problem."

Mo Yufei thought for a moment and quickly made up his mind: "No need to go to the Energy Center for self-pickup. Just have it delivered to a warehouse near the property I just bought; it'll be convenient for picking up."

Wang Chen nodded and immediately took out his terminal to quickly connect to the backend. He first contacted the warehouse supervisor at the Energy Center to confirm the stock of 16 tons of raw energy stones, then registered the route and delivery address for the armed transport convoy. The whole process took less than five minutes.

Once he finished, he transferred the huge energy crystal exchange order directly to Mo Yufei's account, and a red "Pending Payment" icon popped up on the screen.

Mo Yufei didn't hesitate at all. He pulled up his credit account and tapped the confirm button with his fingertip. With a soft "beep," the account balance instantly decreased by eight digits, and a transaction success notification popped up. Now, all that remained was to wait for the armed transport convoy to deliver the sixteen tons of energy crystals to the designated warehouse.

The moment the cooperation order was successfully finalized, Mo Yufei's nerves, which had been tense for a long time, finally relaxed completely.

At the same time, his empty stomach let out a faint sound at the wrong time, and a distinct feeling of hunger swept over him.

Wang Chen, who was accompanying him for the processing, saw all of this. Seeing Mo Yufei's slightly weary expression, he immediately stood up with a smile, reached out to pat his shoulder, and spoke in a familiar and thoughtful tone.

"Mo Yufei, the order is finally settled. You've been busy for most of the day; you must be starving, right? Let's go, I'll take you to eat something good and properly reward yourself."

As he said this, he picked up the coat on the table and signaled for Mo Yufei to follow him outside. The two walked out of the sales office side by side, the warm yellow light spilling onto them, dispelling some of the fatigue.

While walking, Wang Chen enthusiastically introduced dining options to Mo Yufei, his tone full of sincere recommendation: "There's a high-end star-rated restaurant nearby called 'Cloud Realm'. The chefs inside are all masters with over twenty years of experience who specialize in traditional handmade dishes. Their signature dish, 'Spirit Rhyme Risotto', is made with Tianzhou spirit rice paired with ten kinds of rare mushrooms, slow-cooked for six hours, with every grain of rice absorbing the umami of the broth. There's also 'Starlight Steak', which uses Wagyu beef supplied directly from the Star Universe Ranch, slow-cooked at low temperature for seventy-two hours; it melts in your mouth. Pair that with the chef's special black pepper sauce, and the taste is superb. The environment is also quiet and elegant, with independent viewing platforms in the private rooms where you can see the night view of the entire city. It's especially suitable for 'nouveau riche' like us to celebrate properly."

As he spoke, his eyes were full of approval for the star-rated restaurant. Clearly, he felt that with such an important order concluded, they should celebrate in such a stylish place. He had expected Mo Yufei to gladly agree, as he himself didn't often get to eat such handcrafted delicacies, let alone eat his fill.

But Mo Yufei shook his head slightly. In his mind flashed memories from Earth—watching web dramas where people dined at a leisurely pace in star-rated restaurants, waiters whispering introductions to dishes while holding trays, guests holding knives and forks and tasting in small bites, a meal taking two hours. Thinking of his own famished state at this moment, he instead yearned more for a lively and free atmosphere.

More importantly, he harbored a lingering curiosity in his heart. He had previously heard Wang Chen mention that in today's buffet restaurants, there was a magical machine capable of synthesizing various delicacies out of thin air—the food synthesizer. It didn't require a chef; one only needed to select a recipe on the screen, input the corresponding ingredient base, and it could conjure up steaming hot meals, a dazzling array of desserts and snacks, and even adjust the saltiness and texture according to the guest's taste preferences within minutes. To Mo Yufei, who came from ultra-modern technology, this was nothing short of a fantasy. In his understanding, food required complex cooking processes to be made; how could a cold machine create delicacies with warmth? This desire to explore unknown technology outweighed the instinct to fill his stomach and became the sole reason he insisted on choosing the buffet restaurant.

Stopping in his tracks, Mo Yufei looked up at Wang Chen, his eyes filled with straightforward curiosity and anticipation, and he spoke earnestly: "What star-rated restaurant handmade dishes? Those are everywhere in our era. Let's go to the buffet restaurant; I want to see that machine you mentioned."

The two walked on a street paved with translucent smart materials, with flowing starlight and data streams appearing under their feet from time to time, as if stepping on a galaxy. On both sides of the street, the buildings were not cold reinforced concrete, but breathed and grew like living organisms, their outer walls covered with nano-coatings that could automatically adjust light transmittance based on light and temperature, sometimes crystal clear, sometimes cold and metallic. Anti-gravity vehicles shuttled along invisible magnetic tracks like flexible ribbons of light, weaving a complex three-dimensional traffic network between the buildings. Occasionally, huge holographic advertisements unfolded between the buildings, the gorgeous images almost within reach, yet turning into specks of light dust when passed through by fingertips.

Not long after, the two arrived at the buffet restaurant. The transparent shielding door made of energy fields opened automatically, and a warm breath mixed with the aroma of various delicacies rushed towards them. There was the rich milky fragrance of bread and butter, the charred aroma of grilled meat, and deeper inside, a hint of the salty freshness unique to seafood and the sweetness of tropical fruits.

The interior of the restaurant was more spacious and bright than imagined, with uniquely styled lamps hanging from the high ceiling, and soft light spilling evenly into every corner. Although it was bustling with noise, the conversations of diners, the crisp sound of cutlery clashing, and the occasional notification sound from the food pickup area intertwined, yet it didn't feel noisy, instead creating a lively and vibrant atmosphere.

What attracted Mo Yufei the most was that the place exuded a sense of convenient and trendy technology everywhere. At the entrance, smart robots were politely guiding guests. In the food pickup area, holographic menus floated in the air, clearly displaying dish information and real-time inventory, and even the dining tables were equipped with smart ordering screens; with a light tap of a finger, one could summon a waiter or adjust the table lighting. All of this instantly caught Mo Yufei's gaze, making him marvel at the convenience and novelty that technology brought to life.