Volume 3, Chapter 12 – Don’t You Have Any Self-Awareness at All?

“Little girl, this isn’t a place you should be.”

No. 123 Qiuyang Road, the research center, was a strange domed building surrounded by a ring of bright white steel-framed fencing. Beside the double doors stood a listless middle-aged man.

This was the guard speaking to Anran through a yawn.

Little girl?

What the hell…

Anran instantly bristled.

Who are you calling little?!

Forget it. She did not have time to argue with him.

Anran took out the badge Gray had given her.

The absent-minded guard’s eyes flew open the moment he saw it.

Whoa, a golden legend!

Whoa, isn’t this one of the two badges the director always wears, the gold one?

This was the symbol of the director’s strength in his younger days!

Could it be…

“Could it be that you’re the director’s granddaughter?” the guard guessed. If that were true, then stopping the director’s granddaughter at the gate would mean he was totally GG.

No, he had to build a good relationship with her immediately. Even if she was not the director’s granddaughter, anyone who could get hold of this badge definitely had no ordinary status.

The guard was just about to speak when another possibility suddenly occurred to him. What if this girl had simply picked the badge up somewhere?

The guard was still hesitating.

Anran was helpless.

He was the director, after all, so why did it feel like Gray was not doing all that well?

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She had already taken out the badge, yet the guard still would not let her in.

To be fair, this was not really Gray’s fault. He had already informed the guard, but the person on duty today had been changed at the last minute.

There was one thing Anran had not guessed, though. Gray really was not doing very well in the increasingly declining research center.

The standoff continued. Just as Anran was about to leave, Gray came out of the domed building.

“Oh, you’re here!” Gray’s eyes lit up.

Anran immediately shot back, “Your badge is completely useless. I can’t even get through the front gate with it.”

The guard’s expression instantly froze when he heard their exchange.

Uh…

Anran followed behind Gray into the research center.

The guard let out a sigh. Maybe this was why he had always been nothing more than a lowly gate guard.

Still, it was not a big problem. The director would not be around much longer anyway. Who knew when the research center would change hands?

“The research center is divided into several areas. I won’t bother introducing the floors above ground. Basement Level One is Research Division One, and Basement Level Two is the workshop. With my badge, you can move around those two floors freely,” Gray said as he walked.

Anran was walking down a long corridor. On the right were rooms partitioned off by glass, apparently a rest area.

“As for the other floors, you’d better stay away from them. Even with my badge, it would still be troublesome.” Gray’s buoyant tone suddenly turned a little subdued. “If you want to use a workshop, Room 03 is usually empty. You can use it as you like.”

Anran nodded.

Gray was acting like a tour guide.

“Well now, Director, is this a relative of yours?” A tall young man walked toward them. He wore metal-framed glasses and held a cup of coffee.

“Something like that,” Gray replied.

Anran kept quiet and did not refute Gray’s words. Better one less problem than one more.

She had no idea what the situation was. If she ran her mouth a little too much, she might offend someone for no reason. There was no need to make enemies out of thin air.

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Especially after she had somehow ended up on Morningstar’s radar. Even now, her favorability with Morningstar was still at -100.

What did that mean?

It meant that even though she had wrecked that bunch, there were still people in Morningstar who bore her ill will.

That ill will was neither especially great nor especially small.

Judging by personal favorability, -100 was already the level of irreconcilable enmity.

But when applied to an entire faction, it did not stand out all that much.

“The people above are rushing us. If the research center still can’t produce results, next half-year’s funding will be cut even more.” The young man sighed, shaking his head in worry.

Gray frowned slightly. “Research isn’t something where results appear just because you demand them. All we can do is try our best.”

“Director, do take care of your health. Don’t overwork yourself.” The young man smiled and left.

Something was off.

Anran secretly glanced at the silent Gray.

Their conversation had sounded harmonious enough, but she could not shake the feeling that there were barbs hidden underneath.

Even as a long-established director, Gray seemed to be facing quite a few difficulties.

Every family had its own hard truths.

Anran said nothing.

No gain, no trouble.

Gray led Anran around the routes on Basement Levels One and Two.

“If I want to make something, what about materials?” Anran asked.

“You buy them with money. I’ll sell them to you at ten percent below market price!” Gray answered immediately.

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What the hell.

Anran’s eyes widened. “Are you money-mad?!”

Gray looked at Anran disdainfully. “And you’ve got the nerve to say that to me?”

The meaning was clear enough: Do you seriously have no self-awareness at all?

“What did I do?” Anran shot back.

“They’re just a few blueprints, and you actually asked for 500,000 Bilu!”

“Is 500,000 Bilu that expensive?”

“You tell me,” Gray sneered.

Anran suddenly said, “Can you make it cheaper?”

“Isn’t ten percent off already cheap enough?”

“Half…”

Gray cut her off. “How about I just give them to you for free?”

“Sure!” Anran said without the slightest hesitation.

“Keep dreaming. In dreams, you can have anything. Ten percent off, not a cent less. Use it or don’t.” Gray glared, beard bristling.

“So stingy…” Anran muttered under her breath.

“…”

Gray was speechless. Her skin was seriously thick.

He changed the subject, gave Anran a few more instructions, and specifically warned her not to wander around before leaving to take care of his own business.

Anran curled her lip. Her time was precious. She had no extra energy to play some exploration game inside the research center.

Even if Gray had not said all that, she would not have bothered running around everywhere.

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Still, this problem of money…

It really was a huge problem.

Anran could not help sighing.

A powerful Mechanic was built on a mountain of money.

That money could come from someone else, or it could be earned by yourself.

But without money, a Mechanic simply could not develop at all.

In a sense, Mechanic was basically a pay-to-win class.

She had to find a way to make more money off the players.

Boom.

She pressed the button beside the door to Room 03, and the iron door immediately slid open to the left. Soft white lighting let Anran clearly see what the room looked like inside.

This small workshop was far larger than she had imagined.

It was an automated workshop. Just from the appearance alone, the various machines were far more advanced than the temporary workshop Eudora had set up at home.

And it could save her a great deal of time, while also giving her finished products a much better yield rate.

Anran was tempted.

When would she have a workshop like this, or better yet, one even more advanced?

Anran took a breath.

The air was dry and carried that distinctive metallic scent.

She had now saved up 4,730 points of Free EXP. She still needed 5,270 more to level up, which meant 27 mechanical switchblades.

In this workshop, once she set the program, it would probably take only half a day!