Chapter 36: Exchanging Treasures

Inside the reception hall of the Temple of the War God, Jiang Chen met with Jia Yi.

“Councilor Jia Yi, the reason I asked you here today is to settle the final payment for the first batch of ‘Boxer’ orders,” Jiang Chen stated directly, making his intentions clear.

Jia Yi nodded slightly and replied, “As per your requirements, the special treasures will be provided jointly by our eight major factions. You may choose freely within the allotted quota, and for anything else, we will coordinate among ourselves.”

As he spoke, Jia Yi waved his hand, and a screen appeared between them, displaying a list.

According to their previous agreement, a portion of the payment for the ‘Boxer’ mechas purchased by the eight major factions would be made with rare treasures—items of great value that could not simply be bought with money.

After several subsequent meetings, they had signed a supplementary agreement: Jiang Chen’s list of desired treasures would be supplied collectively by the eight factions, allowing him to select freely while they handled any compensation or adjustments among themselves, sparing Jiang Chen the trouble of negotiating with each faction individually.

Of course, the preliminary list had already been confirmed by Jiang Chen when the contract was signed; the settlement was only delayed due to the delivery schedule.

“You have a quota of 3.51 trillion Huaxia credits. Within this amount, you may choose any treasures from the list,” Jia Yi reminded him.

The 3.51 trillion represented the total value offset by special treasures for the first batch of ‘Boxer’ mechas purchased from Jiang Chen by the eight major factions.

Naturally, this applied only to the first batch. For the second and third batches, although contracts were signed and deposits received, the remaining payments would only be settled upon completion of delivery.

With 3.51 trillion credits, Jiang Chen could acquire precious treasures within the quota, but anything exceeding this amount—even if offered double the price—would not be sold by the factions.

Receiving Jiang Chen’s approval, the treasures on this list were all exceptionally valuable, each worth a fortune.

And their prices reflected that.

The cheapest item, ‘Jade Marrow’ provided by the Thunder Martial Hall, was priced at a staggering thirty billion Huaxia credits.

Some of the more expensive items far exceeded Jiang Chen’s available quota.

For example, a weapon called the ‘Titan Blade’ offered by the HR Alliance was priced at a full five trillion credits—Jiang Chen’s quota didn’t even cover a fraction.

Clearly, these items were intended to entice Jiang Chen to continue signing orders for the ‘Boxer’ mechas, perhaps even to persuade him to yield some profit in exchange for a larger treasure quota.

“I’ll take a copy of ‘Mental Mastery Basics.’”

“I want one ‘Spatial Ring.’”

“I’ll also have one ‘Ancient Civilization Super Brain.’”

Jiang Chen had already reviewed the list and made up his mind about what he wanted before the meeting, making his selections swiftly.

The number of treasures he chose was not large; the least expensive was the manual ‘Mental Mastery Basics’ from the Extreme Martial Hall, yet even that was priced at 240 billion.

The most expensive was a ‘Spatial Ring’ from the Huaxia military, containing a storage space of ten meters in length, width, and height, priced at two trillion.

Ten meters in each dimension was negligible compared to the ‘World Rings’ found in the cosmos, but in reality it was a vast space—enough to fit hundreds of ‘Boxer’ mechas.

Effectively, Jiang Chen could carry an entire mechanical army with him.

Adding other items like the ‘Ancient Civilization Super Brain’ and the ‘Spirit of Flora,’ Jiang Chen spent most of his 3.51 trillion quota, leaving only a few hundred billion for future use.

Though these treasures would not directly enhance Jiang Chen’s strength by much, they would certainly provide significant assistance.

“Some of the treasures are located on other continents, and the journey is rather long. The latest they will arrive is within three days,” Jia Yi noted the items Jiang Chen requested, then asked about a matter of personal interest: “I heard the second ‘Boxer’ production line has already started?”

Jiang Chen nodded. “The main equipment is installed; after some debugging, we can begin trial production. If all goes well, the efficiency should match the first production line.”

Jia Yi probed further: “Given your available funds, you could easily expand with more production lines at once. As for sales, rest assured—no matter how much capacity you produce, our eight factions can absorb it all.”

With the ‘Boxer’s’ performance in battle, if there were tens of thousands of mechas, Jia Yi could even boast about reclaiming Asia from the monsters.

The other factions felt the same.

At least until the monsters were eradicated, no one would consider these powerful, relatively low-cost war machines too many.

“My funds aren’t as abundant as you imagine. The ‘Boxer’ is expensive to produce, and a large portion of my capital is tied up acquiring these costly special treasures,” Jiang Chen shook his head gently and continued, “Moreover, expanding production too quickly would strain raw material supplies. Ordinary mineral resources are manageable, but sourcing rare metals is difficult in the current environment.”

Vast territories had been seized by monsters, affecting humanity in every way.

Especially the mineral veins in the wilderness, which could not be mined at all.

Present-day mining zones were either protected by the military presence of base cities or established as small forward bases for extraction.

Regardless of the method, mining operations were far less extensive than before the Great Cataclysm.

“Resources are indeed a problem…” Jia Yi nodded thoughtfully, pausing before he spoke again. “At the last combat meeting, someone suggested we reclaim several major mineral resource areas first, but most favored retaking key cities. When I return, I’ll discuss this further with the staff experts.”

“Currently, the ‘Boxer’ production line is granted priority access to all kinds of resources, and the other factions are willing to support resource needs. But if we want to further expand capacity in the future, controlling several mineral sites will be crucial.”

Jiang Chen considered this and said, “I have a mecha squad at my disposal—I can clear out an area.”

“You want my support to establish your own base city?” Jia Yi saw through Jiang Chen’s intentions.

Jiang Chen made no attempt to conceal it. “The northern grasslands, the southern Golden Triangle, or the mountains of South America—all are rich in mineral resources. I intend to take possession of one and build a base focused on heavy industry.”

Jia Yi did not give an immediate answer. After some contemplation, he replied, “I need to discuss this with the others before I can give you a response.”