He pointed to the towering figure beside him in combat armor and introduced him.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Molo pointed at the heavy transport spaceship behind him and said, "The refined alloy steel worth twenty-four billion Star Coins is all here; please inspect the goods first."
Li Ming nodded; after all, these people were not from the Black Hole Network, so an inspection was still necessary.
Theo’s subordinates were well-prepared and quickly boarded the ship, moving and inspecting at the same time.
Alloy steel is a versatile material, not very valuable, which resulted in the cargo’s immense volume that took up half a day to completely unload.
On the vast plain in front of them, alloy blocks were piled up at intervals, spread out and arranged in rows.
"Total weight—eight hundred thousand and two hundred tons."
A captain among Theo’s men came to report, not only was there no shortage, but there was even an excess of two hundred tons. The company was quite capable.
Li Ming was satisfied, signed the delivery receipt, and settled the final payment at the Black Hole Hall, saying to Molo, "Looking forward to working together again in the future."
Molo nodded repeatedly; this was a top-level client. The company had already verified that with the support of Azure Dragon, a Casting Star-level Mechanic, it was important to maintain a good relationship.
The other party left in a hurry with their people.
"Prepare to shield this space from visibility," said Li Ming.
Ulrich nodded, slightly lifted his hand, and layers of soil flew up into the Heavenly Vault, forming a canopy that completely sealed the area off.
Then, under everyone’s watchful eyes, Li Ming took out a damaged metallic cube from his carry-on case.
When Ulrich saw this object, his breath hitched, followed by a wry smile.
Although he had guessed many times that this object was probably in the hands of Azure Dragon, actually seeing this scene gave him an indescribable feeling.
Sandro scratched his head while Monroe’s mechanical pupils rotated.
"This is the Material Reorganization Machine..." Theo looked at it, having not seen it many times before when it was in Monroe’s possession.
"Correct." Monroe nodded and murmured, "With this device, our plans can be done in half the effort required."
"It’s just unknown when Lord Azure Dragon sent it to him."
"You didn’t notice it either?" Theo was quite surprised, and Ulrich turned to look, feeling a sense of relief inside.
The Material Reorganization Machine couldn’t be placed in Folded Space; it must have been personally delivered by Lord Azure Dragon.
This showed that the latter was indeed following Li Ming all the time, in a way that they were completely unable to detect.
Could it have been hidden in the shadows? he muttered to himself, scanning over the shadows on the ground.
Meanwhile, Li Ming had already taken the Material Reorganization Machine and walked over to those alloy steel blocks, pressing the two together.
Soon, those alloy steel blocks began to disappear at a rate visible to the naked eye.
"He’s doing..." Ulrich was astonished and looked at Monroe, "Does the Material Reorganization Machine have such ability?"
"The Material Reorganization Machine has always had the ability to absorb metal materials and directly manufacture objects," Monroe frowned and said, "However, after its damage, whether it still has this ability, I don’t know."
"Wasn’t it always in your hands?" Monroe’s mechanical pupils swept across Ullrich.
Ulrich felt a chill inside and awkwardly said, "I couldn’t activate it after I got my hands on it."
"It might be Lord Azure Dragon’s doing," Monroe suggested, unconcerned.
The group quietly watched.
Of course, Li Ming wasn’t using the Material Reorganization Machine to absorb metal materials; he was absorbing metal energy himself.
Given the enormous scale of the amount this time, in full view of everyone, a plausible reason needed to be provided.
For three full days and nights, Li Ming didn’t stop for a moment, and only managed to absorb two-thirds, but even so, his metal energy balance reached a staggering figure of over 220 million.
If he had absorbed it all, he probably could have exceeded 300 million metal energy, a ratio of cost to effectiveness much higher than buying from the Black Hole Network.
"Whew..." He let out a long breath; he certainly wouldn’t have bought these ordinary materials just for the purpose of absorbing metal energy.
But this time it wasn’t just about metal energy; it was also about procuring the raw materials for base construction and the production line, and buying them in batches and different materials would not only extend the preparation time but also the delivery time.
"Please wait a moment..." Li Ming greeted the others and went back into the small spacecraft.
"What is he doing..." Ulrich was puzzled, "He absorbed so much metal material, why has he gone back in?"
"Perhaps he’s gone to make repairs," Monroe guessed.
Inside the spacecraft room, adjusting his mood, Li Ming couldn’t help but rub his hands together.
Firstly, to control the [Ascension Source Crystal], 60 million metal energy was lost.
This translucent and extraordinary crystal vanished in the palm of his hand.
Impatiently switching to the evolution system, placing the Ascension Source Crystal into the newly unlocked slot for ascending to an A-level life form.
Activating his power, he attempted to develop a Genetic Seed, and in an instant, elemental light burst forth from all around his body.
The cells within his body, sweeping away the stillness of days gone by as if stimulated, became lively and jubilant.
With the enhancement from the Ascension Source Crystal, the development speed was increased a whopping 224 times, reaching a terrifying level.
His body, once again warm and active, nearly made him groan, but after a moment, he slightly calmed down and couldn’t help but smack his lips.
"Indeed, indulgence after restraint is the most pleasurable; this development rate hasn’t reached the peak of the past, but it gives me an indescribable sense of satisfaction."
This direct increase of more than a hundredfold was stark compared to before, which required nearly twenty days to develop 1%.
Now, only eight or nine days would suffice, a qualitative leap compared to not long ago.
"At this level, hoping for a 1% increase per day is no longer realistic; I wonder if I could return to the peak when all have been upgraded to S-level Evolutionary Source," Li Ming pondered to himself.
It would take seven portions of S-level Genetic Essence to complete the metamorphosis of the evolution system, and absorbing S-level Genetic Essence takes too long; it’s basically catch-and-absorb unless it’s an unforeseen event like with Fusi.
Capturing an S-level life form alive is even marginally harder than killing one.
Setting this aside for now, he took out the [Material Reorganization Machine]; this device was also in a damaged state, its primary use being in its Controlled form; taken on its own, it could only manufacture trinkets.
"Wonder how much metal energy it will take to repair this..." Li Ming muttered; this device was an investment, with no short-term return, but certainly not a loss.
He took the metal cube, injecting metal energy into it, and the damaged edges soon emitted a faint glow, visibly growing at a pace detectable to the naked eye.
Soon, 30 million metal energy was depleted, and the missing part of the [Material Reorganization Machine] was replenished.
"Thirty million, that’s not too bad..." Li Ming breathed a sigh of relief, examining it carefully, the patterns on the surface becoming more intricate after the repair.
Li Ming pressed some sort of switch, and all faces of the cube began to rotate, emitting a mechanical, gear-like clack-clacking sound.
After the repair, the [Material Reorganization Machine] returned to its S-level rating.
It could manufacture items up to A-level, but the cost of materials is enormous, and it requires months of time; it’s clearly not intended for the production of cutting-edge technological creations.
This is its limit; its most significant use is in manufacturing mid-to-low-tier items. For more precious and rarer materials, the synthetic speed and efficiency would drop drastically, resulting in a loss not worth the gain.
Unless Li Ming upgrades it again, needing 3 billion metal energy and an undisclosed Special Energy, just glancing at it gives Li Ming a headache.
"It’s enough for now," Li Ming considered, with 110 million metal energy remaining, and then he thought of the soon-to-arrive Terrax Stone.
He had the materials, and he had enough metal energy.
"Hmm..." He pondered, undecided, flipping through the Controlled Objects.