Chapter 47: Business Ethics X Fruit of Longevity -3

Yang Zicang continued, “President Wang, I feel quite ashamed to say this, but could you lend me some Chrono?” I will repay you as soon as possible.”
“Sure, is five thousand enough?”
Yang Zicang let out a surprised sound from his throat.
“That quickly?”
“Of course. Just return it to me before the end of the normal month.”
“Wow, President Wang, I’ve underestimated you. If there’s anything I did wrong before, please bear with me.”
“Interest is also five thousand years, how about that? It’s not high overall, or you can help me stabilize a few B-tier Intersections, and give me all the Chrono harvested from them.”
Yang Zicang lowered his hand, smiled apologetically, turned around, and walked away.
Wang Yu’an turned his head to stare at his back and said, “You’re really short on Chrono, aren’t you? Let’s go lower: how about stabilizing four Intersections before the end of the year?”
Yang Zicang turned his head and squinted slightly.
President Wang suddenly felt a bit uneasy.
“I’ve suddenly realized you know me very well.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Weren’t you targeting me before? Why did you suddenly trust me during this leap across the canyon?”
Yang Zicang pointed at the towering and interlocking sharp stone pillars outside the cliff.
“You killed King Li. You’ve proven your strength.”
“Is that all? Hah, then you just said I was very short on Chrono. How did you know?”
“Well… you yourself said you wanted to borrow Chrono from me.” Wang Yu’an said guiltily.
Yang Zicang turned his head to look.
Luo Bin had run far away.
He let out a cold laugh.
“Sure enough, ‘Everyone is struggling to get stronger!’”
Wang Yu’an sensed trouble, but Yuan Zicang said, “What’s the highest amount of time-order you can control while possessing it?”
“You, what are you trying to do?”
Noticing the tense atmosphere between the two, Wang Chijian walked over.
“What are you up to?”
“Don’t misunderstand—I haven’t done anything.”
Yuan Zicang took a deep breath and looked at the tree. The model on his chest lit up, rapidly spreading into the void.
“What do you want to do?!” Wang exclaimed in shock.
“What do I want? Naturally, to earn the time-order I desperately need.”
[This is Yuan Zicang. I have here a fruit that permanently extends life by ten years; it can make people rejuvenate! That’s practically gaining time-order equivalent to an entire lifespan out of thin air.]
Mental transmission reaches faster and more precisely, allowing many to directly grasp the deeper meaning of the words.
“You bastard!”
[Limited quantity, rare opportunity. Act fast for those who want it—group purchases welcome!]
Furious and anxious, Wang Yu’an hurriedly continued, “Cancel your damn broadcast! I’ll lend you five thousand years of time-order right now!”
“I don’t want to borrow anymore. I’m going to earn it myself.”
“Earn your damn head off—with my fruit?”
{What the heck is this?}
{Yuan Zicang, what are you up to now?}
“Get lost, you damn jerk!”
[Ladies and gentlemen, please take a look. These are my first batch of customers—old-timers sheltered by the ‘Golden Group’—who have immediately regained their youth after eating the divine tree’s fruit, and their lifespans have extended beyond before.]
Many outsiders outside began to mull over what benefits this could bring.
{YangZicang, you’re a coward, sure, but I trust your judgment. As far as I know, you’ve never had a dud in your hands. Just say it, how many cycles does this thing cost?}
“You’ve missed your chance.” YangZicang said this time, directly shouting it out loud.
{Damn it!}
“Stop now, we can still negotiate.” CEO Wang ran over to calm things down.
The people nearby initially wanted to come forward, but they quieted down once the young man shot them a glare. After all, they couldn’t eat another fruit anyway, and it wasn’t worth offending someone who’d gone so crazy for money that he even dropped the Century Weapon.
The only one who was truly anxious here was this so-called CEO Wang. A voice entered the mental Connect.
{Wait, Brother Yang, if it’s really true, I can offer 1,000 cycles for 30 slots.}
There were at least 300 to 400 leaves left on the tree.
“1,500 cycles, and I’m only selling 200 shares.”
{Alright, deal.}
Wang Yu’an approached and muttered through gritted teeth in a low voice.
“YangZicang! You don’t need to reveal your abilities just for some cycles like this. Stop now. I’ll compensate you with 1,000 cycles of full-authority time, and don’t bring anyone here anymore in the future.”
“I’ve already closed two deals.”
“You!”
“But you do have a point though. Even so, any full-authority time you invest in me will have to be repaid, you think that’s reasonable? I won’t ask for much—3,000 cycles as a rebate, and after that, I won’t touch this damn tree.”
“You have absolutely no business ethics!”
“My ethics are about the same as yours. Take your time considering it. Don’t think I don’t know what you bought from Luo Bin.”
Wang Yu’an was momentarily lost for words.
[There are less than a hundred portions left now.]
YangZicang broadcasted within his mind almost without pause.
{What, so fast.}
{Didn’t you just sell fifty-two shares?}
Wang Yu’an quickly said, “Alright, alright, it’s settled then.”
YangZicang turned to look at the man beside him, a smile spreading across his face. “A pleasure doing business with you.”
In the dream of over two thousand years, apart from a few wise individuals, most of those primitives were still pouting like gorillas.
Now with so many time-sequences, [note: units of a ‘timeline resource’] he could finally set his mind somewhat at ease to continue the development of civilization.
Wang Yu’an also breathed a long sigh of relief—that damn bastard had finally given in.
YangZicang cleared his throat lightly and announced in a loud voice, “My guest says he’s taking the rest. Everyone, that’s all for today. The previous two, please contact me separately later.”
{YangZicang, wait, I was just contacting my friend.}
{I’ll offer sixty years per share, save three spots for me.}
{You liar, don’t listen to someone who goes back on their word like that.}
Those who hadn’t been in a hurry moments earlier instantly exploded into an uproar, but the Mental Link quickly faded and severed.
YangZicang accepted no further investments, to avoid the possibility of being monitored for yet another day.
“I’ll go pick up the people.”
“Wait.” Wang Yu’an called him to a halt. “YangZicang, I want to tell you something seriously. I’m paying you this thirty-millennia this time, even for a B-grade crossing site [Note from Glossary: Interlaced zones/areas – likely with different time densities or stability]. But later, once you’re stronger, help secure an A-grade crossing site for me.”
“You’re still dreaming of getting something for nothing. Ask anyone you like—an A-grade crossing site can’t be settled for 3000 N.” [Note: likely reference to 30,000 years or similar time unit – it’s ambiguous in the story].
Wang Yu’an’s expression flickered for a moment.
By the time they finished again, it was already several hours later.
On the way back, Yang Zicang and Liang Xi walked at the end of this team of seventy or eighty people.
“Brother, you earned so much timestream all at once, I’m so envious.”
The two teams had paid him 1500N and 1100N, which everyone nearby witnessed, making the group immensely jealous. He had effortlessly earned over two thousand years of extra timestream. More business-savvy than the unlucky Mr. Wang.
Yang Zicang was, of course, overjoyed. He said, both secretly pleased and somewhat regretfully:
“It will probably be hard to encounter another good opportunity like this next time. Besides, this might not even be enough.”
The more you earn, the more you spend. The Complete Stamp Emblem world is a big consumer of timestream.
Liang Xi shook his head and said: “But brother, your mid-air turning and acceleration abilities are already well-suited to these special terrains. In the future, these people ahead will seek you out for similar needs.”
It wasn’t just the boy who could see this; everyone in the team had reached that consensus. In such complex terrain, this ability was practically a divine skill.
At this moment, Yang Zicang was already thinking about what to bring into the Stamp Emblem world. Weapons, tools, daily necessities—preferably high-tech items, but unfortunately, those things easily give rise to nightmares.
Just as he was thinking, a dashed line suddenly shot over.
[Chu Qiang wants to invest in me.]
[Chu Qiang invested 1N in me.]
“Hey, Chu Qiang, how did you all get in?” Yang Zicang said with a chuckle to himself as Liang Xi looked over.
{YangZicang, Mu Xiaoyu was almost captured by Ma Chao while on her way to find you.}
The smile on YangZicang’s face froze, and his gaze turned icy in an instant.
{But don’t worry too much. A person from headquarters happened to pass by and rescued her. However, she was severely injured and will likely struggle to face the dangers ahead.}
[Well, I guess I should thank that person then. Why did Xiaoyu come over?]
Chu Qiang stood in the darkness on the other side, accompanied by two people.
{Three people came last night, saying they met you on the road and you directed them to come here. It seems those three knew the route you were taking, so the worried Mu Xiaoyu followed them.}
YangZicang thought of the three people he had encountered on the road. Was it them?
How could this happen?
Those scumbags! He wished he could immediately trample those three ungrateful beasts underfoot and give them a good beating.
{She heard that people had snatched away your newly acquired weapon and that many were looking for trouble with you. Xiao Yu, afraid you might run out of temporal sequence points, wanted to enter this sped-up area.}
YangZicang’s heart ached deeply.
He couldn’t quite define any special feelings for this girl he had known for only a short time, but who else would be willing to rush recklessly to help him based on mere rumors, if not her?
[Her… how badly is she injured?]