'I don't want to be here.'
'Why was I being so irrational, having such thoughts?'
'I can't afford to waste my salary like this!'
'This is completely relying on luck!'
'A gambling addiction!'
No wonder Charlotte said that.
It's just that the requirements for these resources…
Just listening to it, Charlotte felt her heart trembling.
One hundred kilograms minimum of steel.
Hmm, understandable.
Since Asher didn't specify that it has to be special steel with extraordinary power, that means ordinary steel is acceptable too.
One hundred kilograms.
Generally between 800,000 to 1,000,000.
A bit expensive.
But Charlotte's salary can support that.
But the next two things…
Whose energy crystals are calculated by weight instead of by count?
One kilogram of energy crystals?
One energy crystal weighs between 80 to 200 grams.
One energy crystal starts at 100,000, with no upper limit.
Gathering one kilogram?
If it's all low-level ones, it's not impossible.
But even casually, that's another million gone, and that's on the low end.
Lastly, one kilogram of various other resources…
Charlotte felt like she needed CPR.
She couldn't breathe anymore.
Even using the cheapest materials for everything, it would still start at three million.
But here comes the problem.
If everything is made with the cheapest materials, will the mechanical attribute beast produced by the Heart of Machinery have high level and potential?
If it's not strong, why waste three million for nothing?
Does money grow on trees? Is it worthless or what?
Charlotte waved her hand, feeling like she had to say goodbye to Asher.
"Actually, not necessarily," Asher rested his chin on his hands, smiling at the fat sheep delivered to his doorstep.
Aiya~
How could he let such a plump fat sheep run away?
"The potential of the mechanical attribute beast made by the Heart of Machinery is not fixed."
"The better the materials, the higher the upper limit, and the lower the chance of producing a low-quality beast."
"But that doesn't mean a creature made from cheap materials will definitely be trash."
"It's just that the lower limit is a bit lower, but the upper limit isn't affected much."
"So who knows, maybe you'll use cheap materials to create a super high potential mechanical attribute beast?"
As he spoke, Asher winked at Charlotte.
Wink gesture.
Charlotte: "..."
Listening to Asher's words, if you said you weren't tempted at all, that would be a lie.
Dokidoki!
"Want to give it a try?", Asher smiled at Charlotte.
If it were someone else.
Even with Asher's persuasive tongue, they'd still have to consider the probability and investment cost.
'Is it worth it?'
That's a very serious question.
Unless you're truly wealthy. Otherwise, a three million expense must be thought through carefully.
After all, on the market, a low-level mid-grade beast is about three million.
Choose the right breed.
Evolve it, and it might become a mid-grade beast.
If the mechanical creature from the Heart of Machinery is worse than that?
They'd rather go for other beasts with confirmed grades.
But for Charlotte, who wanted to make up for something… three million wasn't an outrageous expense for buying an beast.
Think of the dragon lizard.
Casually costs thirty-four million.
Three million isn't even a fraction of that.
"As long as you get a mid-grade beast, it's a huge win," Asher's tempting voice continued.
"Even if you do ten draws at once… okay," As Charlotte's glare grew more furious, Asher skipped ahead.
Ten draws at once.
Even if each is only three million, that's thirty million.
And three million is just the floor price.
Get it?
Minimum.
If market prices for materials fluctuate, this floor price will also change.
"Ten draws is a bit much, but I think three or five draws should be no problem for you," Asher said seriously.
"And as a member of the Alliance, don't you have a reimbursement quota for buying pet beasts?"
Charlotte was even more tempted.
Her salary.
Plus some degree of reimbursement…
She hadn't used the Alliance channel to buy pet beasts for years, so her quota was still quite large.
Just like Asher said.
She could handle three draws.
Five draws was also worth a try.
"…Let's not talk about this for now," Charlotte suppressed her eager heart with difficulty and made a timeout gesture at Asher, meaning: stop talking.
If he kept going, she'd really lose control.
Losing control means mistakes.
"Let me check on Little Machine's condition first," Charlotte picked Thousand Machine up from the top of her head and held it in her palms again.
Sitting across from Asher, Charlotte cupped her hands and held them out toward Asher.
So Asher could better observe Thousand Machine's condition.
Because he was holding the "angel" in his arms, Asher didn't reach out directly.
He just used his eyes to carefully examine Thousand Machine.
'Hmm! Nothing abnormal on the surface.'
But because of the innate skill, Asher could sense some emotion from Thousand Machine, 'Slightly tired? Slightly happy?'
Hmm…
He thought for a moment.
Asher still activated his innate skill to examine Thousand Machine's condition more deeply.
Then, Asher fell silent.
Asher began recalling what he has read in books.
Asher looked uncertainly at Charlotte, "Does Thousand Machine have a gender distinction?"
"Huh?", Charlotte blinked in confusion at the sudden question.
"Uh… theoretically, yes?", After thinking for a bit, Charlotte answered Asher.
"But since we don't know how Thousand Machine as a species reproduces, we can't tell the difference between males and females."
"Visually, they all look almost identical."
"So there's always been talk of Thousand Machine being hermaphroditic or genderless."
Charlotte believed Asher wouldn't ask a meaningless question.
She looked seriously at Asher.
"Did you see something?"
Asher nodded.
"Hmm… how should I put this?", Asher paused.
Then he casually dropped a bomb, "This Thousand Machine seems to be pregnant."
Charlotte: "???"
Charlotte: "!!!"
Charlotte's expression rapidly shifted between disbelief, distortion, and wild joy.
'Pregnant?'
'Really?'
Charlotte quickly looked at Asher and asked, "Professor Asher, how did you see that?"
"Thousand Machine can actually reproduce?"
"You didn't just look at…", She didn't finish the last part and swallowed it back with difficulty.
Since she came to Asher, she couldn't doubt Asher's authority.
Besides, is Asher the type to speak nonsense?
No, Asher is trustworthy.
Even if Asher said "seems like."
Those who know him know he doesn't say such things lightly.
Asher must've found something. And it's probably very likely. Otherwise Asher wouldn't say it at all.
Faced with Charlotte's question, Asher rubbed his hand on the round "angel" in his arms.
'Hmm, still not a good texture.'
But maybe because he was getting used to it, Asher was starting to get addicted.
'Kind of comfy.'
The data panel Asher saw looked like this:
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
[Pet Beast: Thousand Machine]
[Attribute: Electric + Special]
[Species: Mid-grade, Low-tier]
[Level: Tier 3, Advanced]
[Skill: Datafication]
[Evolution Path Temporarily Locked*] [Pregnancy Status]
[Innate Skill: Not unlocked]
[Hungry, sleepy, and wants to sleep… mm mm mm, smells something delicious and yummy!]
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Asher: "?"
It was his first time seeing an beast in a pregnancy state.
Also the first time learning.
An beast in pregnancy will have its evolution path temporarily locked.
But that also meant Thousand Machine still had room to grow.
As for the hungry, sleepy, wants to sleep…
"These negative states you see on Thousand Machine are very likely caused by the pregnancy," Asher said.
Charlotte: "..."
A bit absurd.
But if she had to argue, she didn't know where to start.
Human pregnancy is also uncomfortable.
Why wouldn't a rare beast like Thousand Machine feel the same? Isn't that totally normal?
No matter the species, pregnancy is never easy. Unless you can self-divide.
Thinking of this, Charlotte looked down at Thousand Machine in her palm with a complicated gaze.
"Little Machine, Little Machine, I really didn't expect this. You're going to be a mom…", Charlotte paused, "Well, maybe a dad too, right."
Asher chuckled.
Charlotte seemed to think of something and looked at Asher, "Now that Little Machine's pregnant, does she need nutritional supplements?"
"Wait," She showed a pained expression, "How am I supposed to give Little Machine nutritional supplements."
This was a very, very, very serious topic.
Thousand Machine doesn't have normal digestive organs.
She absorbs discarded bytes she encounters while roaming the local network.
So Thousand Machine is truly a miraculous beast.
Humans have long studied and wondered.
Before the internet existed, how did Thousand Machine survive?
Charlotte messed up her own hair with one hand.
She gave Asher a pleading look.
"Professor Asher, save me, help me."
Pride and dignity… didn't exist in front of Professor Asher.
Standing before her wasn't Asher.
It was Professor Asher.
It was Asher.
Asher: "..."
"Take back the nickname in your head, or I'll kick you out right now," Asher said coldly.
"Hehe," Charlotte didn't ask how Asher knew what she was thinking.
Explaining was pointless.
Because she truly meant it from the bottom of her heart.
"As for your Thousand Machine…", Asher sighed.
'Thousand Machine could be considered a protected species among beasts, right?'
Besides, encountering a miraculous pregnant Thousand Machine, Asher was very curious.
'How did this happen?'
'If Thousand Machine can reproduce easily, its numbers won't be declining internationally all these years.'
This particular Thousand Machine was extremely valuable for research.
"Stay here for the next few days," Asher looked at Charlotte, "You might need to stay even longer."
"Huh?", Charlotte hesitated a little.
It wasn't because of staying longer.
'But my rare vacation. Just like that, it's all ruined?'
Charlotte was heartbroken.
But in the end, she still nodded and agreed to Asher's request.
The vacation was ruined, but also extended. Charlotte said, "I'll call the Alliance first, and send Elder Cavendish a message too."
The news of Thousand Machine's pregnancy had to be shared with Elder Cavendish.
It was Elder Cavendish who approved her to contract Thousand Machine first and explain later.
You have to know, back then, there weren't just one or two or three high-ups who objected and even wanted to forcibly break the contract between her and Thousand Machine.
But if they'd really done that…
Charlotte would've been hurt.
Thousand Machine too.
And how Thousand Machine's pregnancy would be affected, no one could say.
Luckily, Elder Cavendish stood firm.
Charlotte couldn't wait to share it with him.
"Good, good, good!", Receiving the call and hearing Charlotte's news, Elder Cavendish was very happy.
As the president of the Beast Tamer Alliance Headquarters.
Elder Cavendish cared about every person and thing that could make beast tamers stronger, big or small.
'Thousand Machine pregnant?'
'Thousand Machine can reproduce...'
'This is definitely good news!'
["All five Thousand Machine currently in the Alliance were all found one after another in the wild back then."]
["But in the past few decades, we have not discovered a single Thousand Machine in the wild."]
Elder Cavendish's voice came from the other end of the phone.
["Although Thousand Machine seems to have no talent in combat, not all pet beasts are meant to be put into battle anyway."]
["Pet beasts that can play an important role in clerical work are also core and pillars that the Alliance values."]
["Professor Asher, the research on Thousand Machine will be entrusted to you."], Elder Cavendish sincerely instructed Asher, as if he knew Asher was listening on the other end of the phone.
Asher smiled, "Alright, Elder Cavendish, don't worry."
Then Asher said again, "But it's best if I can observe the condition of the other Thousand Machine."
Charlotte glanced at Asher.
["No problem, that's only proper, I'll have someone arrange it,"] Elder Cavendish agreed without hesitation.
After saying a few more sentences, the call ended.
Charlotte put away his phone and gave Asher a thumbs-up, "You kid really don't hold back at all."
Asher supported Angel, let it fly on its own, stood up, patted the wrinkles on his clothes with quite an expression and said, "Be polite?"
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