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Chapter 387: 387 Black Pearl (3rd update)

However, if exchanged into Earth’s currency, it would be 20 billion, which on second thought, also isn’t cheap.

After the secret manual chip was delivered, Lin Zhen left the Prince’s Mansion.

He might come to Jade Star to buy a residence in the future, but not right now. He still needed to return to Earth.

After leaving the Prince’s Mansion, he flew using Star Power. Chris guided Lin Zhen, live-streaming towards the Astronautical Commodity Museum.

The Astronautical Commodity Museum sold items needed for cosmic travels, with the main item being spaceships.

The technology on Earth could not compare to that on Jade Star. Lin Zhen urgently needed a good spaceship. Guided by Chris, he arrived at the museum’s entrance.

“Wow! What a huge entrance.”

The museum looked like a great mountain, its gate unimaginably large.

The width and height were ten kilometers each!

Moreover, it was a gate frame without a door leaf, to facilitate the entry and exit of spaceships. If the door were too small, some large spaceships would not be able to go through.

Even so, some super large spaceships couldn’t dock, such as certain cargo spaceships like the Red Rose, or certain war tools like Sky City heading to Earth. They couldn’t get in.

Those types of spaceships could only be docked in the open. Luckily, Lin Zhen didn’t need one of those monsters.

Upon entering the Astronautical Museum, an automatic scan quickly identified Lin Zhen’s identity.

“We welcome your visit, Count. Please feel free to look around.”

There was no need for a shopping guide here. Each person’s smart lifeform acted as one, knowing all the prices, performance, and discount policies of the spaceships.

“Master, a spaceship will be your biggest expenditure for now. I suggest you choose a medium-sized spaceship with advanced weaponry and defense systems. In the starry sky, if you encounter interstellar pirates and your spaceship gets destroyed, many experts may perish right then and there.”

Lin Zhen nodded in agreement. For cosmic travels, distances were often measured in light years. Depending on physical strength alone, even if you don’t die from exhaustion, you could get lost, or die in spatial turbulence or from a Galaxy Beast. You really needed a good spaceship.

“Apart from the weaponry and defense system, speed is also critical. The faster, the better. Don’t be afraid to spend.”

Lin Zhen walked between the gigantic spaceships, listening to Chris’s detailed introductions and helped Lin Zhen to pick the most suitable one.

When they arrived at a black spaceship, Chris said, “This will do. The latest Phantom X99 series, weighing 14 million tons in total, a small-size war fortress, equipped with orbital cannons and void missiles, with a maximum endurance of 800 years. It is a very top-end brand for civilian use.”

“How many people can it carry?” Lin Zhen asked, looking at the behemoth that was 500 meters tall.

“Maximum capacity is five thousand people, and it also has an energy block storage compartment. Maximum speed is thirty kilometers per second.”

Lin Zhen calculated quietly. This spaceship’s speed was similar to the flight equipment he had pillaged. Although it was more powerful, the speed wasn’t enough.

“Let’s keep looking, anything faster?”

“That might be difficult, master. The spaceship you’re currently using is considered pretty fast. Civilian spaceships reaching this speed is the result of technological advancement. Anything faster would be military grade, but that’s not for sale.”

“What about for a noble like me?”

“Master, although you are a noble, you are only a noble in name. You don’t hold any official position, nor do you have a territory, so… ”

Chris didn’t finish her sentence, but the meaning was clear. Lin Zhen was just a noble in name only.

Lin Zhen felt a little depressed. Although he didn’t want to take on any official role, having a territory would be nice.

Having a territory would provide a constant stream of money for a noble. If the Solar System were to be developed, carving the nearby star systems into one’s own territory would be pretty nice.

Just as he was thinking, Chris spoke again: “Master, there’s a spaceship up for auction up ahead.”

“An auction? Let’s go over and take a look.”

Lin Zhen quickened his pace and joined the crowd up ahead.

A dark spaceship was parked there. On it was a huge skull painting, it was especially eye-catching.

“What a shame, what a shame!” After exclaiming in surprise, Chris went on about what a pity it was.

“What’s a pity?”

“It’s a pity about this good spaceship, master. This spaceship is not a product of the Empire’s technology, but from the Sanjiang Star Federation. The technology level surpasses the Empire by one grade, belongs to the sixth-generation series of interstellar hunters and was originally a command ship for the military.”

“So the performance must be very good, right?”

“Indeed, it’s impressive. Four thousand kilometers long, two thousand kilometers wide, three hundred meters high, maximum crew capacity of thirty thousand, maximum endurance duration of a thousand years, maximum speed of a thousand five hundred kilometers per second. It’s also equipped with a large-caliber energy cannon, interstellar long-range missiles, and an A-level protection shield, etc.”

“That’s excellent. This ship is five times faster than the ship I pirated, so why hasn’t anyone bought it?”

“There are several reasons. Firstly, this spaceship consumes a lot of energy, the consumption of energy blocks is a major expense, ordinary people simply can’t afford it. Additionally, there’s that skull symbol, it’s the symbol of the interstellar pirates, which means that this ship was originally a pirate ship. The nobility despise purchasing pirate ships, it would lower their status and they also consider it bad luck.”

Lin Zhen raised an eyebrow, somewhat tempted.

He had just become a nobleman, and doesn’t feel much of a sense of nobility. Status or not, he really doesn’t care too much.

He also noticed that this pirate ship, especially the captured ones, is like a car that hit someone on Earth, no one wants to buy it no matter how much it costs, it’s disconcerting.

Chris noticed Lin Zhen’s thoughts and quickly said, “Master, don’t act impulsively. You are now a nobleman of the Empire, and there’s another disadvantage to buying a pirate ship. The pirates were definitely not just one person or a small group of people, but a large organization. If the original pirate owner of this ship still has friends, they will surely want to grab the ship back when they know it’s been sold. That would cause trouble, this is also one of the reasons people are unwilling to buy it.”

Lin Zhen thought for a moment: “What’s the original price of this ship? What’s the current price?”

“Originally, this spaceship was priced in Sanjiang currency, with a selling price of twenty million Sanjiang coins. If converted into Tianhe coins, it would be two hundred billion. But since this was a pirate ship captured by the Empire’s military and then auctioned off, the price was greatly discounted, only a hundred billion.”

Lin Zhen’s platinum membership card can loan a hundred billion, and since this spaceship is worth its cost, he decided to buy it.

As for the trouble with the pirates, Lin Zhen doesn’t think it’s a big deal. He is temporarily taking remote interstellar routes, it’s unlikely he will encounter pirates.

“I’ll go and handle the loan.”

Lin Zhen took action immediately, entering the Dimensional Universe to process a loan of a hundred billion at the bank.

With a repayment period of ten years, Lin Zhen wasn’t worried about not being able to repay the money in the future.

Upon receiving the money, Lin Zhen immediately went to the spaceship sales point.

“I want to buy this ship.”

“Ah! Count Lin Zhen, are you sure you want to purchase this Black Pearl?”

“The ship is called Black Pearl?”

“Yes, it’s called Black Pearl, look at the spray paint on the ship.”

The salesperson pointed at the hull. Indeed, the name ‘Black Pearl’ was sprayed in a universal language on it, very conspicuously and largely.

When Chris heard this name, she paused for a moment then hastily reminded Lin Zhen, “Master, I just found out, Black Pearl is notoriously known as a pirate ship. That spray paint is made of high-tech materials, unless the ship’s hull is dismantled, there’s no way to remove it. No wonder nobody bought it, you must not fall for it. Even if you want to buy, you must extort something extra out of them, otherwise they are unable to sell it….”

Lin Zhen nodded, then turned to the salesman: “So, it is the Black Pearl, no wonder no one bought it, it’s so expensive for a hundred billion. Nevermind, I’ll consider others instead.”

“Don’t leave Count Lin Zhen, the performance of this ship is top-notch, from the Sanjiang Star Federation. Our Empire-made ships are far behind in comparison. One hundred billion is already a floor price, besides you are a nobleman, you can enjoy a 10% discount, and can take it for just ninety billion.”

Lin Zhen seemed a little moved, but still shook his head: “Of course I know I can get a discount, but I still feel somewhat short-changed. This skull symbol and the words ‘Black Pearl’ can’t be removed at all. Walking around in the starry sky, people would think I’m a pirate. It would be embarrassing for me, the Count of the Empire.”

This spaceship had been on the market for two months. Although people praised its performance, no one had ever intended to purchase it. After all, one hundred billion is not a small amount, every intelligent life form would remind their master not to buy it.

The salesman was getting a bit anxious, and finally gritted his teeth: “Count Lin Zhen, if you agree to buy it, we will also gift you energy blocks of high quality worth three billion. These energy blocks are enough to support your spaceship’s voyage in the universe for fifty years, otherwise, you would have to buy energy blocks.”

Lin Zhen was moved. The number three billion was not small, energy blocks are like gas in a car, indispensable to everyone.

But he felt he could still haggle a bit more, so he deliberately hesitated there.

Seeing Lin Zhen was still not giving in, the salesman got anxious. He simply added more fuel to the fire: “Count, if you buy this spaceship, we will also give you ten slaves!”

“Ten slaves?” Lin Zhen was surprised, this wasn’t a slave market.

“Yes, ten slaves, and they are experts in spaceship driving and familiar with weapon usage. Among them, two have reached the Planet Stage, and the remaining eight are Satellite Stage. What do you think? You must spend at least two billion to buy these ten slaves from the slave market, and they will certainly not be as skilled in spaceship operation.”

“Deal!” Lin Zhen knew this should be their bottom line. Any more bargaining would be impossible.

The salesman was overjoyed, giving out ten slaves seemed like he got a good bargain. He cheerfully signed the contract with Lin Zhen, who had spent ninety billion. They immediately arranged for someone to add energy blocks to Lin Zhen’s Black Pearl.

During the waiting period, ten slaves were brought to Lin Zhen.

Lin Zhen looked up, the two slaves at the front had already reached Planet Eighth-level. Their strong momentum was palpable!