The Interstellar Queen of Scavengers

Chapter 23: Chapter 23: Level 2 Weapon

Lea slightly disagreed, saying, ”This is a Level 2 energy weapon!”

Xie Lingzhi, hearing Lea contradict her, pouted and said, ”So what if it’s Level 2? Can you even use it? With your skills...” She said, her eyes sweeping over Lea’s body with a look of disdain and contempt...

Lea got a bit angry when she heard this; considering that she and Xie Lingzhi were both of D-tier in Physical Strength, with only her spiritual power being one level lower than Xie’s, where did Xie Lingzhi get such a sense of superiority from?

Just as Lea was about to speak up, Xie Chuanqiong quickly stepped in to mediate, saying, ”This energy weapon is a model from the year 1297, already an old model from 10 years ago. Hence, the internal components are a bit outdated. Even if it’s repaired, there might frequently be issues with the energy transfer port during use. Therefore, after the repair, the estimated price might be just under 500 credit points.”

Xie Lingzhi interjected with annoyance, ”A repair will cost 2 to 300, so might as well not fix it at all!”

Xie Chuanqiong said, ”If it’s sold directly to a secondhand store, it might not even fetch 200 credit points.”

Ji You gaped in astonishment, ”...That little?”

Xie Chuanqiong nodded, ”Mhm.” Having been accepted into the Military Academy, he was very knowledgeable about various types of weapons, and he knew the market value of these low-tier energy weapons like the back of his hand.

Hearing the price he quoted, nobody questioned it.

Spending 300 on repairs and then selling it would likely get you between 400-500 credit points, earning a net profit of about 200-250.

If sold without repairs, it could go for around 200 credit points.

This—

After so much effort, you wouldn’t make much money anyway, so what’s the point?

Hearing what Xie Chuanqiong said, Lea no longer insisted, ”If that’s the case, let’s just sell it and split the money among us.”

Ji You, hearing this, silently stretched out her hand and said, ”Brother Qiong, Sister Lea, Sister Lingzhi, how about selling this weapon to me? I’ll have someone fix it up, maybe it’ll be useful.”

When everyone heard her suggest this, Lea was the first to disagree, saying, ”You, I know you’ve wanted an energy weapon for a long time, but I really don’t advise you to keep this Level 2 machete. First, it’s already a 10-year-old model, and I guess the components are no longer in production. Even if you manage to repair it, if it breaks down later, finding replacement parts won’t be easy. Additionally, this weapon is very hard to wield, and it might not suit your physical condition—”

”And another thing—”

”Brother Qiong just mentioned that even if it’s fixed, it might still be prone to issues later on. Every time there’s a problem, you’ll have to spend money on repairs.” This is also why a Level 2 weapon wouldn’t sell for 500 credit points.

”You, don’t keep it. It’s not worth it,” Lea persuaded.

Ji You immediately looked distressed.

On one hand, she was eager to own an energy weapon, on the other hand, she was very short on money.

So, Ji You’s private desire was to save money for a secondhand weapon, preferably a used Level 1 energy dagger. She had already figured it out in her heart that she could accept a bottom line of around 200-300 credit points.

And now—

What she had in front of her was a Level 2 weapon! Even though it was a thing from 10 years ago, it was still Level 2! Its Combat Power was much greater than that of a Level 1, and with this machete, even if she were to go scavenging alone in the garbage dump, she wouldn’t have to worry too much about danger.

Ji You wanted it.

She wanted it very much.

As for the problems that Sister Lea and the others were concerned about, she had thought about them too. This Level 2 energy weapon might have potential issues, but what if it didn’t? Or, if it worked for a year or so before any problems arose, she would have already made a profit!

Seeing Ji You’s tempted expression, Xie Chuanqiong also said, ”You, I suggest you don’t use it because it’s not worth the cost. Plus, if you encounter issues while using it, it could be very dangerous if it fails at a critical moment.”

Especially during combat, if the weapon were to malfunction suddenly, it would significantly compromise your safety.

After Xie Chuanqiong finished speaking, Ji You became even more conflicted, because what everyone said was true.

Grandma Jenny also advised, ”You, let’s save up and buy a new one, this old one’s not dependable.”

Xie Lingzhi, who had been watching coldly, glanced at Ji You and said disdainfully, ”You, a good-for-nothing, still dream of owning a Level 2 weapon! Forget it, can you even use it?”

Just as she had mocked Lea earlier with these words, she now mocked Ji You with the same phrase, not changing a word or the tone of her voice.

Ji You: ”...”

Xie Chuanqiong said, ”Everything’s cleaned up, let’s leave this place for now.”

Although they had cleaned up, the lingering smell of blood in the air might still attract the attention of Star Beasts. The group didn’t dare to linger and quickly withdrew. About half an hour after they left, two scavenging vultures flew over, circling the area for a while. Finding nothing amiss, they finally left reluctantly.

All the way, Ji You was pondering whether to choose the Level 2 machete or to buy a second-hand energy dagger...

Soon, everyone found a new spot and resumed their gathering.

However, it was only a matter of minutes before the sharp-eared Xie Chuanqiong seemed to hear the sound of vultures. He looked up at the sky, his expression changed drastically, and he immediately gestured for everyone to hide and not make a sound.

Ji You found a bush with dense foliage and concealed herself within it.

Lea pulled Grandma Jenny to hide in a thatch bush.

Xie Chuanqiong and Xie Lingzhi both hid behind a tree stump, using the broad leaves to conceal themselves.

Time passed in silence—

After about half an hour, the vultures, having found nothing, finally left.

Once the vultures were gone, the group waited quietly for a moment more, making sure the vultures didn’t return before emerging from their hiding places.

Ji You patted her chest and said, ”That was terrifying.”

Never had they expected that killing just a long-eared rabbit would attract vultures, and two at that!

Two!

Vultures are a type of Star Beast but compared to those from the 21st century, they have become more ferocious, larger, and more dangerous—these large birds could be considered one of the most dangerous Star Beasts in the wilderness—

If luck wasn’t on your side and you encountered one, it’s likely that you’d stay there forever.

This is also why the materials from Star Beasts fetch a high price, yet not many dare to collect them; killing one could attract other larger predators, putting oneself in danger...

Of course—

There are teams with strong Combat Power who specialize in hunting Star Beasts, but such teams are very rare on Garbage Planet No. 101.

...

On this side, Xie Chuanqiong said, ”Hurry up and gather. The more we can collect, the better. We’ll wait for at most another hour before we need to go back.”

Ji You: ”Okay.”

Subsequently.

Everyone tried their best to gather as much Iron Pear Wood as possible. An hour later, Xie Chuanqiong promptly told everyone to stop, saying, ”Let’s contact Ryan first, and let him know that everyone will meet at the airship rendezvous point.”

Xie Lingzhi asked, ”Can’t we just wait for him here?”

Xie Chuanqiong frowned and shook his head, ”No, it’s too dangerous.”

The recent visit by the two vultures had put a lot of pressure on Xie Chuanqiong. If it were just him alone, it might have been okay, but there was his sister, his neighbors, and the girl he liked... He couldn’t let any of them face even the slightest danger.