"This is... a Honkai Crystal?" Raven looked at the object, finding it very familiar, and even instinctively took a step back.
Raven knew about this thing. Although she wasn't a researcher and didn't pay much attention to this area, she knew it was quite dangerous.
"Correct, and it's a custom-made Honkai Crystal. I specifically tailored it based on these children's Honkai energy tolerance. This Honkai Crystal will continuously leak Honkai energy into the surroundings, but the concentration is not high—just enough to meet the children's Honkai energy needs."
"I also specially enhanced the battery life of this Honkai Crystal. One crystal can last for at least a year. Additionally, it can absorb trace amounts of Honkai energy from the air to sustain itself. If the local Honkai energy concentration is slightly higher, it can basically last for two years without replacement."
Under the effect of Furniture Mastery, Chen Luo had performed custom modifications on the Honkai Crystal he had been creating along the way.
Strictly speaking, Sora and the others didn't need much Honkai energy. The Honkai Crystal condensed by Chen Luo in just about 10 minutes could sustain their needs for nearly a year.
"Sora, come here for a moment." Chen Luo called out to the oldest child in the group.
Sora, who was followed by a miniature robot, walked over upon hearing Chen Luo's call.
"What is it, Teacher?" Sora asked after approaching.
Unlike Raven, who taught them basic survival skills as their survival class teacher, Chen Luo was the medical class teacher.
Although Raven had also taught Sora and the others some first aid techniques, it was ultimately different from Chen Luo's highly specialized expertise.
After obtaining Mobius's scalpel, Chen Luo's medical proficiency had increased significantly.
Even if it were just ordinary medical mastery, it would still be slightly better than Raven's.
During his free time over the past few days, Chen Luo had taught them some common medical knowledge, so he was also called "Teacher."
Even though Chen Luo was still a high school student.
"Here, put this on and come with me inside." Chen Luo found a necklace, threaded the Honkai Crystal onto it, and placed it around Sora's neck. Then, he opened the bar door.
"Huh? Teacher, didn't you say minors can't drink alcohol?" Sora asked curiously, peering through the open door at the bar's interior.
"Today is an exception." While leading Sora into the bar by the hand, Chen Luo also glanced at Raven.
After hesitating for a moment, Raven followed Chen Luo into the bar.
Raven wasn't foolish; she naturally understood what it would mean if this Honkai Crystal could function normally.
It would mean Raven could take these children out of this crisis-ridden and dangerous Nagazora City.
"This bar of mine, as you know, Raven, can isolate any external forces. If Sora can stay in the bar for a long time wearing this, it also proves that she can stay in the outside world for extended periods," Chen Luo explained to Raven, who had followed them in.
"Sora, is there anything you'd like to eat? Order anything."
"I want ice cream!" Sora raised her hand and said.
[Ding! You have a new commission!]
"Don't eat too much ice cream; cold things aren't good for your health," Raven instinctively advised.
"Okay~" Sora replied dismissively.
...
Ten minutes later, Sora left the bar carrying 11 servings of ice cream and ran toward the other children.
Setting aside the fact that Sora had eaten one serving inside and then ran outside to have another, she indeed had a strong sense of camaraderie, knowing to bring some for her companions.
Perhaps this was because Sora was the oldest among these children.
"It actually works," Raven said, stroking her chin.
"Do Honkai Crystals have this kind of function?"
"No, ordinary Honkai Crystals certainly cannot, but this is a custom-made Honkai Crystal," Chen Luo shook his head and said.
In this world, probably only Chen Luo could modify Honkai Crystals at such an almost free price. Whether other organizations could achieve this, Chen Luo didn't know, but even if they could, it would likely cost them dearly.
"You mentioned purchasing earlier. How much do you want to sell it for?" Raven asked.
However, while asking, Raven knew she had already lost to Chen Luo.
As a mercenary who had done all sorts of jobs, Raven naturally knew that showing desire for a product first would put her at a disadvantage. But after such a long period of interaction, Raven didn't think she could hide this emotion.
Raven wanted to buy this thing, and she needed to buy it.
Both Chen Luo and Raven knew this well.
Chen Luo didn't speak but raised one finger.
"$100,000?" Raven's heart skipped a beat.
But if it was only $100,000, that was still acceptable. After all, she had earned $5 million from Chen Luo; spending over $1 million was within her tolerance range.
Anyway, the wool comes from the sheep's back.
But Chen Luo shook his head, stubbornly keeping his index finger raised.
"$1 million?!!" Raven looked at Chen Luo in disbelief.
Was this guy blatantly taking advantage of the situation?
"What nonsense are you thinking? I meant one dollar." Chen Luo retracted his index finger and then raised his middle finger.
"With your bargaining skills, I really doubt you're actually a mercenary. The fact that you haven't starved to death is simply a gift from heaven," Chen Luo said disdainfully.
Why did Raven immediately jump to $100,000?
This made Chen Luo briefly doubt whether his ability was really that profitable.
Or had Chen Luo always misunderstood the value of Honkai Crystals?
Was it possible that this thing was actually really valuable?
"One dollar? Are you sure?" Raven blinked.
One dollar for one Honkai Crystal? How was that any different from giving it away for free?
"Of course, if you insist on raising the price, I'll accommodate you," Chen Luo said after some thought.
"No, this price is just fine. But, may I ask why it's so cheap?"
"Emmm, in your impression, have I always been some unscrupulous merchant? Come on, I helped you build this base. Half of these people were rescued by me. Would I cheat you for their sake?" Chen Luo rolled his eyes at Raven.
"...Thank you. If possible, I'd like to buy 11 of them," Raven said, feeling somewhat strange.
Raven truly felt that Chen Luo was a type of person she had never encountered before; you could never quite figure out what was going on in his mind.
[Ding! You have a new commission!]
[The Nest - Continued]: Sell enough custom-made Honkai Crystals to Raven so she can take the children here out of the crisis-ridden Nagazora City.
Reward: (Number of Honkai Crystals × 20) Primogems (capped at 600 Primogems) + Random Item
Difficulty: 3-Stars
So, how could US dollars compare to the allure of Primogems? Can US dollars be used for gacha? No.
Can US dollars be exchanged? Also no.
Then what's the point of having so many US dollars?
"Eleven isn't enough; I'll give you thirty!" Chen Luo said.
For a commission with an upper limit like this, why not just max it out? After all, these are pure, white Primogems.
It takes 10 minutes to condense one custom-made Honkai Crystal. 300 minutes can produce 30 crystals, which is about 5 hours to complete the commission.
And most importantly, condensing Honkai Crystals doesn't interfere with Chen Luo's other activities.
If this were a permanent commission, Chen Luo could make 1000 Honkai Crystals.
One Honkai Crystal for 20 Primogems, 1000 would be 20,000 Primogems.
"Thirty Honkai Crystals? Why give me so many?" Raven asked in surprise.
In her heart, Raven had already defined these one-dollar Honkai Crystals as "gifts."
"Of course, it's so each child has at least one backup Honkai Crystal. What if they lose one? You can immediately replace it with a new one. Otherwise, without a Honkai Crystal, wouldn't it be a slow death?"
"But even with two crystals per person, we wouldn't need thirty," Raven said, instinctively wanting to save Chen Luo some effort.
"But the problem is, it can't be just these eleven people. Aren't you going to search for survivors tomorrow? What if you find a few more? Would you tell me to rescue them or not?"
"...Thank you." In the end, Raven could still only express her gratitude with these two words.
After hesitating for a moment, Raven lifted her hood.
"Let me reintroduce myself. Natasha Cioara." After removing her hat, Raven extended her hand to Chen Luo again.
"Chen Luo." Looking at the serious Raven, Chen Luo shook her hand.
"Raven, no, Cioara. Can we discuss something?" Chen Luo looked at Raven with anticipation.
"Mm, go ahead, as long as it's not too excessive." Seeing the sincere and expectant look in Chen Luo's eyes, Raven nodded.
Is he going to say something important?
"So, can I... touch that ahoge of yours?" Chen Luo clasped his hands together, making a request to Raven.
Following the direction of Chen Luo's gaze, one could see a short but stubborn strand of hair sticking up on top of Raven's head.
This cute ahoge created a huge contrast with Raven's mature figure, making one can't help but feel drawn to it.
"...No." Raven refused decisively.
Typical Chen Luo!
Never disappointing when it comes to being disappointing!
Touch my ahoge? Touch your own head!
"Please?"
"No."
"I'll pay."
"Be careful, or I'll hit you." Raven clenched her fist.
"Tch, fine, if you don't want to, you don't want to." Chen Luo said discontentedly.
"And you're unhappy?" Raven looked even more displeased at this jerk in front of her.
I was finally feeling a little moved, and then you pull this?
"By the way, Raven, come here. I have a map for you." Chen Luo said to Raven.
"Huh? What map?" Raven hesitated for a moment, making sure he didn't just want her to come over so he could desperately try to touch her ahoge, then leaned in.
"This is a survivor map I drew over the past few days. Through special means, I detected that there are still a few survivors left in Nagazora City. Tomorrow, you might want to check it out and pick out a few survivors worth saving. Of course, these survivors are all children." After handing a map to Raven, Chen Luo explained.
"When did you create something like this?" Looking at the map of Nagazora City with only a few marked points, Raven was surprised.
"I just finished it today, or rather, just now." Chen Luo said.
On the map Chen Luo drew, there were only four points in the entire Nagazora City. This didn't mean there were only four survivors in the whole city.
It meant that only four survivors met Raven's requirements and didn't harbor much malice in their hearts.
Perhaps it was precisely because there were four suitable candidates that the upper limit in Chen Luo's commission task was thirty Honkai Crystals—two crystals per child, one to wear and one as a spare. Thirty crystals would exactly be enough for fifteen people.
The more commissions Chen Luo accepted, the more he felt his talent seemed almost prophetic, always providing the most appropriate commission limits and requirements.
Perhaps it was fate that those four children would enter The Nest.
And thinking about it carefully, in the original storyline, The Nest was described as having over a dozen children, not just eleven.
Inside the survivor base, Raven sat next to Chen Luo, looking at the map while also pondering other matters in her mind.
Should I tell Chen Luo about the World Serpent's invitation to warn him?
After what just happened, Raven had almost completely abandoned the idea of kidnapping Chen Luo and taking him to World Serpent.
But now the problem wasn't whether to say it to warn Chen Luo.
Raven had a feeling that Chen Luo's relationship with World Serpent was somewhat subtle, especially with Gray Serpent.
"That... Chen Luo, what... are you looking at?" After wrestling with indecision for a while, Raven finally made up her mind and turned to look at Chen Luo.
As soon as she turned her head, she saw Chen Luo staring intently at that strand of ahoge on her head.
"..."
Suddenly, I don't want to tell him about this. What should I do?
To hell with it. It's not me who'll die anyway.
"Ah, sorry, it's just that your ahoge is too tempting. Don't you think?"
"...Let's talk business. Actually, a few days ago, I received a task."
"Huh? What task?" Chen Luo asked while still looking at the ahoge on Raven's head.
"...Do you know Gray Serpent?" Raven asked, barely restraining the urge to punch Chen Luo.
"Oh, Gray Serpent? Well, he should know me, but I don't know him." Chen Luo thought for a moment and said.
At least not yet.
But Chen Luo found it quite normal that Gray Serpent might know him.
After all, he was a defective product created by Mobius, and Chen Luo indeed might have gone to the Previous Era.
If that were the case, it would be normal for Gray Serpent to know him.
Gray Serpent might have known Chen Luo for tens of thousands of years, but Chen Luo genuinely hadn't met Gray Serpent yet.
"Gray Serpent wants to invite you to World Serpent." Hearing Chen Luo say this, Raven spoke.
"This is also a task I received."
[Ding! You have a new commission!]