A Chemist's Interstellar Saga

Chapter 162: The Power of Money
Chapter 162: The Power of Money

As soon as Arix entered the eggshell, her mind linked with the psychic energy, leading her to the curled-up baby creature inside.

It was a Celesterror chick, almost fully developed. Normally, it should have hatched by now.

However, due to an issue with its psychic power, its consciousness had fallen into a deep sleep to slow down the loss of energy and life force.

This was just a temporary fix. If it didn’t hatch soon, the chick would suffocate and die, becoming a dead egg.

”Arix, do you need my help?” Vita asked, sensing Arix was using her psychic power.

”It’s alright, I got this,” Arix replied, shaking her head. She understood the problem: the flow of psychic power was chaotic and conflicting, causing the chick to lose life force. Fixing this meant adjusting the psychic flow. The process was simple but it’s gonna take long.

”Okay, just tell me if you need anything,” Vita said, feeling reassured.

”Thanks, Vita.” Arix began the delicate task of adjusting the chick’s psychic power. It was like untangling a knotted ball of yarn—tedious and intricate. But seeing the neat flow of psychic power in the end gave Arix a sense of accomplishment.

After thoroughly checking for issues, Arix exited the chick’s psychic world.

Looking at the now healthy chick, Arix smiled. Thinking about the challenges it had faced even before birth, Arix wished it well, ”Little one, I hope you hatch soon and live a safe life.”

Afterward, Arix left, not noticing a sudden golden light that appeared before the chick, forming an ancient emblem on its forehead. Anyone from the Moon Goddess Temple would have been shocked—it was a blessing from Sylvana, the Moon Goddess.

Returning to her body, Arix opened her eyes to several expectant faces. Handing the Celesterror egg back to Cirilla, Arix smiled, ”It’s fine now. It should hatch in a few days.”

”That’s great, Arix, thank you,” Cirilla said excitedly, clutching the egg.

”No problem. Did you get Drexel here?” Arix asked, looking puzzled.

Everyone’s expressions turned strange, and they all pointed behind Arix.

Curious, Arix turned around to see a pig-faced guy staring into a mirror, lost in self-pity.

Arix burst into laughter at Drexel’s bruised and swollen face. It looked terrible, but it was also pretty hilarious.

Drexel, looking annoyed, said, ”Arix, you’ll lose me if you keep laughing at me like that.”

”But seriously, why haven’t you used a healing potion yet? Why are you still walking around with a pig face?” Arix laughed so hard she could barely breathe.

”Dad said I could only drink the healing potion at dinner. I think he’s just jealous that I’m more handsome than he is,” Drexel replied, touching his face sadly while holding a mirror.

”Stop being so vain. You gave Mom that kind of book right in front of Dad. You’re lucky you’re still breathing,” Arix teased mercilessly.

Drexel winced, feeling the pain all over again. He then pulled out two books from his Space Button and, nearly grinding his teeth, threw them at Elio. ”Next time, don’t ask me to bring such nonsense.”

Everyone glanced at the book titles and burst into laughter. Elio quickly put the books away, coughing awkwardly. ”It’s not for me. My sister asked me to bring them since she knows I have classmates in the Empire.”

Drexel rolled his eyes at Elio, then held out his hand. ”Medical expenses, please.”

Feeling guilty, Elio promptly transferred 1,000,000 astrocredits to Drexel’s account.

Hearing the notification, Drexel swallowed hard, surprised to actually receive the medical expenses—and a full 1,000,000 astrocredits!

Instantly, Drexel’s pain disappeared, and he smiled brightly.

”Mr. Lasair, if you have more errands like this in the future, please do count me in! I’m a professional!” Drexel said, still with his swollen pig face, blinking his puffy eyes.

Elio shuddered, quickly pushing Drexel away. ”Let’s talk about that later. Now that everyone’s here, let’s get down to business.”

”Alright, Mr. Lasair, go ahead. We’re all ears,” Drexel said, switching to a fawning mode.

Arix shook her head, smiling at Drexel’s greed. Once everyone was seated, Elio began explaining the situation.

”Here’s the deal. My family discovered a Star-Class energy mining planet at the border of the Alliance and the Empire. While mining, the Dragon clan found out and claimed the planet is on their territory. After a lot of back and forth, my family, the Lasairs, and the Dragon clan agreed to each send a mecha team for a competition. Whoever wins gets the mining planet,” Elio explained.

As soon as he mentioend the Dragon clan, Arix and Drexel’s expressions turned sour. However, they stayed quiet and kept listening to Elio.

”The competition needs six people and is scheduled for next Saturday. It’s at the border between the Empire and the Alliance. Because we need mecha pilots from the young generation and the time is pressing, my family couldn’t find suitable mecha experts. So, I thought of you guys. I hope you are willing to help,” Elio said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

Drexel and the others had no objections. They were close friends with Elio, and the idea of facing the Empire’s warmongers made them eager to participate.

”Oh, right. If you agree to participate and we win, the Lasair family will reward each of you with 1 billion astrocredits. Even if we lose, each of you will still get 100 million astrocredits,” Elio added, almost forgetting to mention the reward.

Everyone’s eyes widened in surprise and excitement at the mention of such a generous reward.

When Elio dropped that bombshell, everyone froze. Even Zephyr, busy cleaning his gun, stopped mid-motion.

Ten billion astrocredits! Enough for Zephyr to snag his dream gun.

Cirilla couldn’t keep her cool. Ten billion astrocredits! Enough to buy her dream car.

Varden felt the pull too. Ten billion astrocredits! Enough to stockpile rare medical ingredients.

Arix gulped. Ten billion astrocredits! She could get all the materials she needed as a newbie mecha builder.

Drexel’s breath quickened. Ten billion astrocredits! He wouldn’t even know how to spend it all before graduation.

The lure of that massive amount of money made everyone’s eyes sparkle with greed as they stared at Elio.

”I’ll go,” Zephyr declared, his gaze icy and sharp.

”I’m in too,” Cirilla jumped in without a second thought.

”If everyone’s going, I can’t just sit out. I’m in,” Varden said, adjusting his frameless glasses.

”Let’s do this. Also, my physical power just hit Supergiant+. Can we get a bit more reward for that?” Drexel asked, winking at Elio.

”What! Supergiant+?” Elio was floored by Drexel’s strength, missing the rest of what he said. His eyes were wide with envy.

The others were equally stunned, all eyes on Drexel.

”Chill out, guys. Don’t follow my lead; I’m just a legend,” Drexel said smugly, flicking his hair with a crooked smile on his bruised face. It was a weirdly comical sight.

Elio rolled his eyes, deciding Drexel wasn’t worth the jealousy.

Turning to Arix, Elio asked, ”What about you, Arix? Last I checked, your physical power was Planet Class, right?”

”My psychic power’s at Supergiant+, and my physical power’s Supergiant-Class now,” Arix said nonchalantly.

Arix didn’t think much of it, but the others were shocked, except Drexel.