Chapter 112: Cramps Are Painful

Sleeping until naturally awake, counting money until your hands cramp—this is often used to describe the pinnacle of happiness.

Once upon a time, Alpha Ji believed this saying to be the ultimate truth. But when the day actually came, she realized it was complete nonsense, especially the latter half!

After an hour of inventory, Alpha Ji was still excited;
After two hours, faced with the towering piles of electronics that showed no sign of diminishing, she began to calm down;
After three hours, she started to cry...

A whole warehouse filled with second-hand electronics worth millions—how could she possibly mark each one? No, just trying to count the quantity was enough to cramp her hands painfully!

This was a simple math problem.

The first transaction involved goods worth over a hundred thousand, taking three minutes to perform on stage. But before that, Alpha Ji had spent nearly two hours following and marking each item.

The second transaction, with goods worth over three hundred thousand, saw some improvement. Ye Chao had downloaded part of the Fire Seed Weapon database, speeding up the marking process, but due to the wide variety and models, it still took a full three hours.

On average, just over a hundred thousand per hour.

This round of transactions involved goods worth tens of millions! Even if she became faster, it would still take over a hundred hours. There was a limit to how much speed could improve—four days just to spin the axles, twelve days under an eight-hour work schedule.

Heavens! Someone save me! I don’t want to count anymore! I’m about to throw up!

But if she didn’t count, it wouldn’t be possible to digitize the data, move the items into the virtual space, upgrade the space, or allow Ye Chao to enhance himself.

After conquering the entire Jiang City, able to take whatever he wanted, do as he pleased, Alpha Ji once thought they had reached the pinnacle of life, or at least were halfway there.

Next, all they had to do was keep purchasing and delivering on time, like rolling a snowball! Ye Chao would rise from three stars to four, five, six, then seven stars; the virtual space would likewise climb from a fake space to a semi-real space, then to a truly super-powerful space...

But what they never expected was that the bottleneck limiting asset growth wasn’t income, methods, or even capital—it was her speed of counting money!

As for her arranged encounters, Alpha Ji could only endure the pain, nausea, and cramps to finish the ordeal.

Of course, after crying for three hours, Ye Chao had genuinely spent three solid hours enhancing himself.

Battery count doubled, total power doubled, hard drive capacity doubled, CPU computing power increased by 60%...

Compared to Alpha Ji’s mixed pain and joy, Ye Chao was simply brimming with happiness—

The newly launched 2.0 holographic helmet received rave reviews, and orders flooded in!

Although the production line needed some adjustments, it wasn’t troublesome because with continuous self-learning, the NPC in the virtual space, though still somewhat dim-witted, had at least become a bit stronger... His workload hadn’t changed much.

Moreover, the endless supply of pacifiers, while unable to improve his extremely poor physique, was like coffee without side effects—one big sip could keep him energized for an hour.

His once regular sleep schedule had been compressed to two hours, yet he remained alert and wide awake.

With abundant materials and energy, he finally achieved a breakthrough in battle suit manufacturing!

“Ha ha ha! This is your battle suit!” Ye Chao pulled it out excitedly, and Alpha Ji, full of anticipation, burst out laughing the moment she saw the design.

“This is clearly... clearly...” She pounded the ground several times, yet couldn’t come up with an appropriate metaphor.

Calling it a battle suit was generous—it looked more like battle armor, much bulkier than clothing, standing over three meters tall, nearly four, broad-shouldered and thick-waisted;

Calling it battle armor was even more of a compliment, as it lacked the precision and high tech of real armor, more like a bunch of tin cans welded together, especially the back of the head, whose curves looked oddly familiar...

Rather than a technological creation, it resembled the clunky, unattractive robots from movies made fifty years before the apocalypse, when special effects weren’t up to par; or it was like a super, super, super... super failed cosplay!

Ye Chao wasn’t surprised by Alpha Ji’s reaction.

“This is the defense mode. Once I activate it, no one will be able to blow my head off again!” His words were filled with shadow and fear.

Come to think of it... it was true.

If the arms and legs folded in, it looked like a turtle shell... Oh! The curve on the back of the head was like the Turtle Hermit with a turtle shell! Alpha Ji suddenly understood.

“But you’re seriously planning to wear this thing for the college entrance exam?”

The college entrance exam forbids Fire Seed Weapons.

In the chaotic world after the apocalypse, Fire Seed Weapons were an extension of one’s abilities!

For those with enhancements, they were practically natural Fire Seed Weapons. Would they really weaken themselves just to take an exam?

Relying on the existence of virtual space and Alpha Ji’s marking ability, Ye Chao’s total marked weight reached a staggering several tons, with output power at 16 horsepower—beyond what anyone else could hope to achieve.

Yet, with all this, he made himself a turtle shell...

An utterly suffocating move!

For exams, it’s fine to bring a dagger, or even a hammer or a gun, but a tank...

“Isn’t that a bit much?”

“Not just a bit, it’s way too much! An absolute AC count, Fangcao Tianya!” Alpha Ji gave a thumbs-up.

Ye Chao didn’t get the joke and didn’t bother to ask.

No one could catch Alpha Ji’s humor—those who could were already dead.

“Now look at the movement mode!” With that, Ye Chao folded away the turtle shell armor.

Alpha Ji expected him to reveal another bizarre design, but he didn’t. Instead, he spoke as he did a stationary standing jump.

He didn’t seem to exert much effort, but the jump height was about two meters—four times his usual performance, twice the average of the three middle schools. It was already close to the passing line for the college entrance exam.

Then he took a couple of steps, not exactly moving like a startled rabbit, but his steps were light and agile, his gait steady. If he could maintain this form, no one could say for sure about a ten-kilometer mountain run, but he would certainly pass the 100-meter sprint and obstacle race.

“How did you do that?” Alpha Ji widened her eyes as if she were witnessing a paraplegic walking or seeing the national football team enter the World Cup again.

The key was, Ye Chao said he was wearing the suit, but she couldn’t see it at all!

Ye Chao lifted his shirt to reveal an inverted triangle—of course, not his own, as he’d never have one—this was an inverted triangle-shaped close-fitting armor with a belt.

“Basic three-star operation: remote control. These days, I’ve experimented with various materials, shapes, densities, and structural combinations, finally finding the optimal configuration. When I concentrate and activate it fully, I can reduce the weight by 73%.”

In other words, Ye Chao, weighing 120 jin, wearing this suit and activating the ability, only felt like 32.4 jin.

Basically, only his legs bore the weight.

No wonder he could sprint like the wind and jump three feet high!

“That kind of technique exists too?” Alpha Ji felt suffocated once again.