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Starting Cultivation in Wasteland

Chapter 974 - 840: Tough Stance · Oct 13, 2026

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Chapter List (1233)

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951 Chapter 951 - 819: Such Deep Hatred 2026-10-13
952 Chapter 952 - 820: Caught Off Guard 2026-10-13
953 Chapter 953 - 821: The Gathering Storm 2026-10-13
954 Chapter 954 - 822: An Overlooked Flaw That’s Not a Flaw 2026-10-13
955 Chapter 955 - 823: Refusing to Yield 2026-10-13
956 Chapter 956 - 824: Anticipation (First Update Requesting Monthly Ticket) 2026-10-13
957 Chapter 957 - 825: Warning Signs (Second Update) 2026-10-13
958 Chapter 958 - 826: Man Proposes, God Disposes 2026-10-13
959 Chapter 959 - 827: Glory 2026-10-13
960 Chapter 960 - 828: Here We Go Again! 2026-10-13
961 Chapter 961 - 829: So It Was You 2026-10-13
962 Chapter 962 - 830: A Game for the Clever 2026-10-13
963 Chapter 963 - 831: Skillful Coordination 2026-10-13
964 Chapter 964 - 832: Is It Difficult? 2026-10-13
965 Chapter 965 - 833: A Great Surprise [Celebrating Master He Meng and Scorpio Star Lord] 2026-10-13
966 Chapter 966 - 834: Cultivation Level Is Too Low – 835: Never Leave, Never Forsake (Two-in-One - , Asking for Monthly Ticket) 2026-10-13
967 Chapter 967 - 834: Cultivation Level Too Low, Chapter 835: Never Abandon or Give Up (Double - ) 2026-10-13
968 Chapter 968 - 834: Cultivation Level Too Low - 835: Never Abandon, Never Give Up (Double-length - ) 2026-10-13
969 Chapter 969 - 834: Cultivation Level Too Low – Chapter 835: Loyalty and Devotion (Double - ) 2026-10-13
970 Chapter 970 - 836: Man Proposes, God Disposes 2026-10-13
971 Chapter 971 - 837: I’m Here 2026-10-13
972 Chapter 972 - 838: Tough Stance 2026-10-13
973 Chapter 973 - 839: Drank Too Much 2026-10-13
974 Chapter 974 - 840: Tough Stance 2026-10-13
975 Chapter 975 - 841: Letting Go 2026-10-13
976 Chapter 976 - 842: Digital Battleship 2026-10-13
977 Chapter 977 - 843: Double-Edged Sword 2026-10-13
978 Chapter 978 - 844: Suicide and Murder 2026-10-13
979 Chapter 979 - 845: The Death of Balrog 2026-10-13
980 Chapter 980 - 846: There’s Always a Next Time 2026-10-13
981 Chapter 981 - 847: The Tree Wishes for Calm, but the Wind Will Not Cease 2026-10-13
982 Chapter 982 - 848: Clues and Traces 2026-10-13
983 Chapter 983 - 849: Ingenious Ideas 2026-10-13
984 Chapter 984 - 850: Homeland 2026-10-13
985 Chapter 985 - 851: Differential Treatment 2026-10-13
986 Chapter 986 - 852: The Great Net 2026-10-13
987 Chapter 987 - 853: That’s It? 2026-10-13
988 Chapter 988 - 854: Eat More 2026-10-13
989 Chapter 989 - 855: Remote Control 2026-10-13
990 Chapter 990 - 856: Calamity Out of Nowhere 2026-10-13
991 Chapter 991 - 857: What Attribute 2026-10-13
992 Chapter 992 - 858: Dilemma 2026-10-13
993 Chapter 993 - 859: Missing Contact 2026-10-13
994 Chapter 994 - 860: Not Fresh 2026-10-13
995 Chapter 995 - 861: Suspect 2026-10-13
996 Chapter 996 - 862: Letting Things Be 2026-10-13
997 Chapter 997 - 863: Financial Crisis 2026-10-13
998 Chapter 998 - 864: Uneasy 2026-10-13
999 Chapter 999 - 865: Such Nerve 2026-10-13
1000 Chapter 1000 - 866: Arrogance Before, Deference After 2026-10-13

Chapter 974: Chapter 840: Tough Stance

Qu Jianlei ignored the other’s explanation and spoke coldly again, ”State your name!”

What a joke, you get startled seeing just one starship, and now you’re intimidated by four?

The face of the Supreme is not so easily disregarded!

He strongly suspected that this faction also had a Supreme onboard, otherwise, how could they be so bold?

But honestly speaking, a formation of four company-level starships, if coordinated well, is definitely not something that adding up four one-ship crews could withstand—even eight combined would struggle.

Never mind defeating one Supreme, even two or three wouldn’t be a problem, and... doesn’t the Rhodiola rosea team have a Supreme?

At this moment, it was impossible for Qu Jianlei to generously let the other party go—there’s more than two factions on this star body.

When goodwill might be interpreted as weakness, you absolutely cannot show goodwill lightly.

The people on the other side fell silent, not wanting to provoke Qu Jianlei and others any further.

However, the Paranoid didn’t agree; he snorted coldly, ”Dare to speak but not to acknowledge... do you really think we can’t find out?”

He was used to being strong and understood Qu Jianlei’s intention very clearly—it’s crucial not to show weakness at this moment.

Otherwise, the other factions on the star body might unite to deal with them as ”outsiders.”

After a few seconds of silence, someone finally spoke up, ”We are willing to compensate five million as an apology.”

Clearly, they had heard about the Rhodiola rosea team extorting money from the Sanhe Company, assuming the other party valued wealth.

”Five million?” The Paranoid sneered upon hearing this, ”Who are you trying to insult?”

The face of a Supreme is priceless; five million is a fortune for ordinary people, but not even in the eyes of a Supreme.

”Forget it,” Qu Jianlei spoke to advise, his voice also channeling into the public frequency, ”There are many matters to attend to... the real business is important.”

As he spoke, the doors of the four starships opened, and six small ships flew out.

Seeing this scene, the public channel fell silent: with such combat power, even if a few factions united, they’d probably lose.

Just then, a person took off from the ground, wearing an astronaut helmet, hovering in place after reaching over a thousand meters high.

Then he cupped his hands towards the many starships, and a voice was heard on the public channel.

”Keynes from the Feiying Group, I’ve seen the Supremes of Rhodiola rosea and all the esteemed ones!”

Starships like 8384 were still tens of thousands of kilometers away from the star body but could still observe this black silhouette.

”So now they’re scared?” the Paranoid mumbled quietly but didn’t let it transmit over the communicator.

Qu Jianlei snorted lightly, ”Speak!”

”We also just heard about the Shelter Card incident,” Keynes spoke solemnly, ”Our prior investigation was lax, which is our fault.”

This was outright nonsense, no matter what faction, if they had such a card, wouldn’t they know how to play it?

However, Qu Jianlei didn’t bother pointing out the other’s mistakes—it wasn’t worth embarrassing them, he just quietly listened to the other’s sophistry.

Keynes paused slightly here, most likely waiting for the opposing side’s reaction.

Seeing no response, he continued, ”To show Feiying’s apology, we are willing to make appropriate compensation.”

As he finished speaking, the public channel once again entered a deathly silence.

Clearly, the Feiying Group was intimidated, but that was also understandable.

Aside from Sanhe’s outcome, facing four company-level starships and six small ships, there really was no reason not to admit defeat.

”Appropriate?” The Paranoid snorted again but said nothing more.

Qu Jianlei, however, lightly said, ”Continue!”

After hesitating for a moment, Keynes expressed, ”We are willing to offer one hundred million Silver Notes as an apology.”

Initially, he wanted to offer less... because he sensed from earlier that the other party’s appetite might not be large.

However, since they seemed sensitive to the word ”appropriate,” he decided to raise it a bit, as a gesture of sincerity.

”Are you trying to feed beggars?” The Paranoid muttered discontentedly, yet still didn’t continue speaking.

Keynes didn’t speak either, as the previous conversation showed that this irritable guy’s words didn’t hold much weight.

After seven or eight seconds, Qu Jianlei spoke deeply, ”One armed merchant ship, plus two hundred million Silver Notes.”

This was essentially half of what Sanhe Company compensated.

”That... that’s too much!” Keynes gasped at the words, ”That starship was not severely damaged.”

He also knew what Sanhe Company had compensated, but in his view, there was a big difference between heavy damage and minor injuries.

Bear in mind, the destroyed merchant ship resulted in many crew casualties, which is fundamentally different!

”This is notifying you,” the Paranoid spoke coldly, ”Accept, or refuse!”

”Sir, please listen to me,” Keynes still tried to justify—this person’s words were ineffective, so there was no need to pay much attention.

”We have no intention of coercing people, nor do we need them to exert themselves in battle, unlike Sanhe... they didn’t even have casualties.”

Feiying and Sanhe are opposing factions, referencing the other is more than normal.

Qu Jianlei coughed lightly, ”Accept? Or refuse! We will attack in one minute!”

This time coming to Gem Blue, he was extremely vigilant, unwilling to be distracted by unrelated matters.

When Keynes heard this, he immediately closed his mouth, not just because the other party was a person whose ”words carry weight.”

Sanhe Company had faced a barrage of bombings, and he had indeed heard about the losses in equipment and facilities – there were outsiders on the Tears Star Body!

It was said that the preliminary estimate put the losses at nearly 200 million.

Keynes didn’t quite agree with this statement. He had been there, and many constructions, if completed by the Awakened, would cost much less.

However, if it was ordinary humans and machinery building it... the cost was indeed uncertain, but it probably wouldn’t necessarily reach 200 million.

Sanhe promoting it like this might have something to do with the insurance company... Anyway, that’s not the point.

The point is that these facts also show that the Rhodiola rosea team’s argument is valid, Feiying hadn’t suffered an attack!

Since the person in charge on the other side had made a statement, Keynes truly didn’t dare to argue further.

So he backed down, ”Sir, this amount is a bit much. I can’t decide on this, could you give me some time to report it?”

”If you can’t make decisions, why did you come up here?” the Paranoid replied irritably.

Qu Jianlei pondered for a few seconds and then spoke in a deep voice, ”I can only give you half an hour.”

”Sir,” Keynes asked again, ”currently, we don’t have an Armed Merchant Ship on Gem Blue Star Body!”

”That’s your business,” Qu Jianlei replied lightly without saying more.

Keynes respectfully clasped his fists, swayed, and quickly fell towards the opposite side.

The Big Head Butterfly started spinning in Qu Jianlei’s mind, ”The five million just now... I’ve locked in the location!”

This guy might be a bit lacking in other areas, but when it comes to money, his subjective initiative is absolutely off the charts.

After receiving the news from that family, a small ship returned to 8384, and the Paranoid entered the starship, heading straight for them.

Twenty minutes later, he returned with a package in his hand, ”The five million is secured!”

Qu Jianlei casually asked, ”Does that family have a Supreme?”

”No,” the Paranoid shook his head, ”I was quite puzzled about how they dared to talk about satellites!”

At this moment, the Feiying Group sent a private communication request.

Upon connecting, Keynes on the other side said, ”Sir, the headquarters has already responded...”

In the end, Feiying Headquarters was unwilling to confront Rhodiola rosea head-on, especially after learning that the other party had many starships.

So they agreed to Qu Jianlei’s asking price, although there were some details to be discussed in the execution.

The first issue was the money. Feiying only had just over 20 million Silver Notes on Gem Blue – and Silver Notes were of limited use here!

Their reserve of Energy Blocks wasn’t much either, with currently over 50 million, but they needed to keep some for production and livelihood.

Currently, what Feiying could produce was 20 million Silver Notes and 20 million Energy Blocks, totaling 40 million.

However, Keynes also mentioned that they could issue an IOU like Sanhe Company and pay it back slowly in the future.

Qu Jianlei was noncommittal about this, instead asking, ”What about the starship? I won’t accept delayed payment in this regard!”

A starship can easily be converted to combat power; how could he tolerate arrears?

Keynes was troubled, explaining that even if the nearest starship were to rush here, it would still take about four days.

This answer was obviously a bit excessive, but he still mustered the courage to ask, ”Or... can you wait a little longer?”

Waiting any longer would lead to either Balrog... or the military! Qu Jianlei snorted coldly, ”I don’t have the time to wait, go and borrow!”

”With so many forces on Gem Blue, I don’t believe you can’t borrow one!”

”Borrow a starship...” Keynes was indeed distressed by these words. Such things, how easy are they to borrow?

Right now, calling it borrowing is practically lending without return, which would naturally raise the difficulty.

But at this moment, he had no choice but to agree, stammeringly expressing.

”I have to communicate with them first, striving to complete it in the form of an exchange, primarily considering the counterpart’s terms.”

The value of a starship... is hard to pinpoint accurately, not merely a matter of market price and cost but also users’ proficiency.

Many people are accustomed to a particular starship, enabling them to better unleash their capabilities.

Coupled with numerous factors influencing the second-hand market, most sellers tend to overestimate their items, while buyers do the opposite.

Especially with the component of insurance companies, so within the Asteroid Belt, transactions involving starships are not very active.

Qu Jianlei had even helped Wanmi Mining guard a mine for two years to sell a starship back then, illustrating the transaction challenges.

However, starship swaps have been much simpler. What both parties mainly discuss are the additional conditions involved.

Of course, Feiying choosing this critical juncture to negotiate would probably encounter some difficult conditions.

Qu Jianlei didn’t oppose, merely stating blandly, ”My patience is limited!”

He really wanted to set a time limit, but the most unpredictable aspect of negotiations is time.

He could pressure Feiying, but with other forces, it would be best to maintain goodwill.

Especially to guard against Feiying Group causing trouble, attempting to transfer hatred.

So, all he could do was issue a very vague threat.

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