Chapter 162: An Order for Divine Domain Cores
Upon hearing the news of Fang Xinglong and others being demoted, Xu Luo sat alone in a coffee shop, sipping his coffee and quietly watching the endless stream of flying cars passing by outside the 182nd-floor café window.
In this era, being able to sit in a coffee shop and drink coffee was truly a luxurious affair.
However, Xu Luo understood that life is short, and one should enjoy it when possible.
Previously, when he had no money, he felt he shouldn't squander his parents' money. Moreover, his Divine Domain was in a rapid development period, so he was reluctant to exchange faith power for credit points. He was tough on himself, enduring hardships and fatigue, believing it would pass.
But times have changed. Now, his Divine Domain produced a significant amount of faith power, and he had monthly income from the Umbrella. Disregarding the tenfold time flow in the Divine Domain and considering real-time, it was an astronomical figure. If converted to credit points, it was enough for him to live comfortably for a lifetime.
So now he didn't lack money. He also had the seed student subsidy from the Education Department, rewards from ranking first previously, and a share of tips from reality and online viewers. It was no small sum for him, enough to live a slightly more luxurious life.
Drinking a cup of coffee here cost 100 credit points. If he added some pastries or other items, the consumption could easily reach several hundred. Previously, he thought it wasn't worth it, but now it seemed fine. Life is short, so enjoy it while you can.
Regarding Fang Xinglong and others, Xu Luo actually felt quite emotional, without any joy.
These people weren't corrupt officials. They were dismissed because they made wrong choices, harming the interests of the vast majority of students. However, their original intention was to strive for more benefits for other students; they just went about it the wrong way.
Putting oneself in their shoes, the misappropriated resources weren't used for themselves.
Ultimately, it was because humans were still too poor. If every school had complete facilities and equipment, how could such things happen?
Slowly stirring the coffee in front of him, he ignored the gaze of the pretty waitress secretly observing him.
[You have a call request] his personal assistant's prompt sounded.
Xu Luo casually accepted.
Then Zhong Tianyue's image appeared before him. Xu Luo directly used the projection function, enlarging Zhong Tianyue's image and projecting it in the air.
"Teacher, what's up? I don't need to participate in the competition now. It's rare free time!" Xu Luo said lazily, looking at Zhong Tianyue's virtual image with a light smile.
"You little rascal! Can't I call you when nothing's wrong?" Zhong Tianyue said angrily, his mustache quivering.
"Alright, alright. You're my teacher, of course you can call me. But you wouldn't call me for nothing. So just tell me directly, what's the matter?" Xu Luo smiled, not taking his tone to heart.
"I won't beat around the bush. You know about what Fang Xinglong and the others did. The results are out now, but the subsequent pacification work isn't going smoothly," Zhong Tianyue sighed.
"Hasn't the matter been dealt with? Those students have received compensation. Although they indeed lost some time, given the circumstances, this is the best solution," Xu Luo said, puzzled.
The students had received compensation. Although it might not be much, it could at least alleviate their predicament, especially for those whose Divine Domains were destroyed. This could be said to be giving them a chance to start over. How could there still be problems?
"The students are no longer the issue. Now the problem is inventory," Zhong Tianyue sighed.
"You should know our inventory is limited. Why is there a quota limit for Divine Domain High school admissions each year? It's based on our existing Divine Domain quota. The total number is fixed. Now using inventory for compensation, do you know what this means?"
"Inventory," Xu Luo frowned. "Are you saying next year's Divine Domain High school admission quota will be reduced? It can't be that serious, right?"
"It is that serious," Zhong Tianyue nodded. Of course, he wasn't exaggerating about this matter.
The fact was, suddenly taking out 5,000 quotas for student compensation meant next year's quota would be 5,000 less.
Every year, the Divine Domain student quota was usually officially determined just before the school year started. Sometimes, even on the first day of school, a certain number would be added, because they obtained some quotas through various channels.
People from all walks of life, or other students, would go around in God's Domain to grab, compete for, or seize Divine Domain cores, or trade with alien races to purchase login qualifications. Or the Pioneer Corps would bet among themselves to obtain a certain number.
This was the source of human civilization's Divine Domain student quota each year. Now taking out 5,000 would naturally mean 5,000 fewer quotas later.
"But what does this have to do with me? I can't solve this at all," Xu Luo was confused.
He was just an ordinary student, with no say in this matter. Moreover, he couldn't produce 5,000 quotas.
"Previously, I indeed didn't expect anything from you, but after seeing your outburst earlier, I realized your strength had developed to that level," Zhong Tianyue's gaze was piercing.
"Now I'm not representing myself, but officially representing Tianhai City's Education Department to discuss with you, or perhaps issue a notification, to make a deal with you."
"What deal could the Education Department have with me?" Xu Luo didn't think he had anything worth coveting and couldn't understand what deal the Education Department could make with him.
Now, although he had a group of underlings, to command them to do anything required benefits. Otherwise, although he could force them, doing this too often would cause problems.
"We need Divine Domain cores, as many as possible. I know you can get them. However many you have, we'll buy them all at market price," Zhong Tianyue looked at him.
"This is the content of this deal. Don't you have a virtuous organization? And now you have a complete fleet yourself. Relying on this strength, you can snatch them from alien races.
If you have any difficulties, you can tell us. Whether you need units, resources, or faith power, or if you have any real-world difficulties, you can tell us. As long as we can do it, we'll try our best to satisfy you."
"Buy Divine Domain cores from me," hearing this, Xu Luo finally realized what they needed.
Now with 5,000 fewer quotas affecting next year's admissions, the urgent matter was indeed to solve this problem.
"5,000 is not a small number. I can't get that many in a short time."
"However many you can get is fine. We didn't expect you to produce 5,000. You're not the only one we're asking," Zhong Tianyue said irritably.
"If we were relying solely on you, what would we be here for?"
If only he could enter the Novice Divine Domain, Zhong Tianyue would want to go get them himself.
As for the Continent of Gods? Sorry, those were basically all Divine Kingdoms. As for Divine Domain cores, by that time they had all been integrated into the Gods' true bodies, impossible to snatch.
Divine Sparks could be snatched, but those were useless for newborns.
"I see, casting a wide net to catch more fish! Alright, I accept this deal," Xu Luo said. Then he curiously asked,
"By the way, hasn't the Governor's Office solved this problem? It can't be that bad, right?"
Xu Luo couldn't believe that a planet with over 12 billion people couldn't produce 5,000 quotas.
"The Governor's Office provided the compensation this time, but with such an incident, Tianhai City's Education Department bears inescapable responsibility, at least for lax supervision. They provided the money, but the quota needs to be supplemented by this side. If it affects next year's admissions, the reduced quota can only be borne by ourselves. This is also the price that Old Wen and the others need to pay," Zhong Tianyue explained.
"Alright, then I'll go back and make some preparations. Wait for my news later," Xu Luo chatted idly with Zhong Tianyue for a while. Seeing him start to lower his head to deal with documents, Xu Luo took the opportunity to end the call.
Honestly, he hadn't expected the Education Department to set their sights on him.
This was probably the trouble he had to face after exposing his strength. Previously, those in charge hadn't paid attention to him. Even though he was already a four-star seed, for those above, they valued his future development potential, not his current strength.
But unexpectedly, he not only had potential but also had strength. Since that was the case, having enjoyed the treatment and benefits, he naturally had to bear the corresponding obligations.
Xu Luo didn't have any complaints about this point.
Truthfully speaking, this seed identity had brought him many conveniences, not just in God's Domain. Many resources that ordinary people couldn't access, he could easily buy. It was just because he didn't need them that he didn't buy them. As for buying with his qualifications and then selling at a high price to be a middleman, he wasn't interested in doing that. The small profit earned wasn't as much as invading a Divine Domain himself.
And in reality, whether it was a gun license or killing authority, although he hadn't used these things, they provided him with a guarantee, something that could save his life in future emergencies.
Xu Luo felt this was the most important thing for him.
Now that those in charge needed him, making some contributions was acceptable. After all, invading alien races was something he needed to do anyway.
In this process, collecting Divine Domain cores was just a side task.
He drank the coffee in front of him in one go, smiled at the waitress, and left after facial recognition payment.
In this era, it must be said that payment was really convenient. You only needed to use facial recognition or use your personal assistant to connect with the store's payment information to complete the payment.
Like how he just used facial recognition to leave, it was the most convenient, with nothing else to worry about. As for the bill, it was generated when ordering, and payment was based on this.
The bill was confirmed by oneself before payment, and if there was a problem, it could be negotiated with the store. This wasn't a big issue.
After returning home and lying in the game pod, Xu Luo began his days of dominating the Novice Divine Domain again.
Now he didn't need to participate in the competition. The following days had nothing to do with him. He only needed to quietly wait for the end of this regional league, then participate in special training, waiting for the start of the global competition in the second half of the year.
Now he was a free man, so he could have enough time at home.
Students didn't just compete every day and do nothing else; they still needed to attend classes.
However, for someone like Xu Luo, general cultural courses were few. In the elite class, most cultural courses were self-study.
Zhong Tianyue basically only taught key points, and then students would ask him if they didn't understand something. So now Xu Luo rarely went to school. What he could learn, textbooks could no longer teach him.
He was different from others. He had already fully acquired practical experience and such. Moreover, the general methods of cultivating species and developing Divine Domains weren't suitable for him.
As for becoming a God?
That was really too far away. Not to mention waiting for the final ten-year deadline like others before completing the God ascension ritual, but at least not now.
Regarding this, Xu Luo's plan for himself was very clear: to increase the members of the Umbrella as much as possible, adding more foundation for himself, then doing his utmost to cultivate more legendary Zerg, trying to directly ascend to become a True God at that time, skipping the intermediate stage from Celestial God to True God.
After all, the Zerg's evolution path was just to eat, eat, eat, and grab, grab, grab. Like now, just kill, seize, and eat everything.
Collect more evolution points, faith power, and then enrich his gene bank, nothing more.
This was something without any technicality, just needing long-term accumulation.
So in this matter, no one could help him.
What Xu Luo needed to consider was finding enemies, destroying them, conquering them, and assimilating them.