Chapter 368.1: Dr. Method

"Selling the replaced parts?"

Upon hearing Irene’s suggestion, Ample Time was completely stunned.

What kind of outrageous behavior is this?

"... Exactly! If we don't sell them, they'll just be buried somewhere, what a waste! Think about it, these are organs from awakeners, charging 3 times the price of normal ones isn't unreasonable, right?"

Over the phone, Irene vividly described the business plan he learned from Gugu Bro.

Leaning on the couch, Ample Time pressed his finger to his forehead, thinking deeply for a while before speaking. "But... Don’t you need to be compatible with the donor for the organ transplant?”

Irena chuckled and said, "I know, but this is a game, not reality. We've managed to create bionic organs, so solving the issue of rejection shouldn’t be impossible, right?"

Ample Time was struck speechless. "..."

What?

That... That actually makes some sense?

He had initially brought his real-world experience into the game.

However, they were in the game world, and it was set in the year 2341!

It was far beyond 2077... Perhaps compatibility isn’t really an issue?

Reviving every 3 days...

Earn 2,000 to 3,000 silver coins each time.

What kind of business could be more profitable?

The only limit, perhaps, was just that there weren’t enough tycoons in Boulder Town.

The more Ample Time thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. He decided to discuss the matter with the black market merchant. "I’ll ask around and see."

Irene, energized, responded, "Great! I’ll have them freeze the kidneys first!"

After hanging up, Ample Time got up from the sofa and without another word left the New Alliance office in Boulder Town. He herded straight for the residential area on the edge of the industrial zone.

The familiar alleyway.

The mannequin hidden in the shadow of the window continued to startle unsuspecting passersby as usual, but Ample Time was already used to it and walked directly into that dubious clinic without even acknowledging it.

Lifting the curtain, he entered the deepest room where he saw the balding middle-aged doctor pacing back and forth, seemingly troubled about something.

When he saw Ample Time, Gracie’s eyes lit up, and he approached with a enthusiasm, unlike his usual demeanor. "You’ve come at just the right time, my friend."

Ample Time looked at him curiously. "What's up?"

"Nothing much, just saying hello," Gracie said sheepishly, glancing over Ample Time’s shoulder, "Where’s that young girl, what's her name? Why didn’t she come with you?"

"She’s at work right now..." Seeing Gracie obviously had something else he wanted to discuss, Ample Time snapped, "Just spit it out."

Realizing his intentions had been seen through, Gracie no longer beat around the bush and chuckled, "I have a somewhat awkward request to ask of you."

Anticipating a possible quest trigger, Ample Time inquired, "What’s the request?"

"You know the Enterprise’s delegation recently arrived in the northern suburbs, right? One of my major clients wants a bionic kidney produced by Ideal City, but he has no way to obtain it."

As he spoke, a fervent light appeared in Gracie’s eyes. "Do you have a way to get that item?"

"Bionic organs from Ideal City... Those aren’t cheap," Ample Time remembered the price he had seen. A kidney cost 600,000 silver coins.

From a cost-effectiveness perspective, it was completely unjustifiable. At least 50% of that came from the ‘brand premium’.

Yet Gracie seemed unconcerned, still looking at him eagerly. "I know, but aren’t you a resident of the shelter? Don’t you guys get some kind of internal discount?"

"How could there be such a thing?" Ample Time rolled his eyes while sighing.

A discount... Heh.

They would thank their lucky stars if the developers didn’t mark up the price on them!

To address late-game inflation issues and prevent too large an economic disparity between players, the developers were indeed relentless.

However, if he had to address the issue objectively, it wasn’t too bad.

After all, if they didn't do things like that, having millions of silver coins in everyone's inventory wouldn't make the game any more fun, it would just completely devalue the currency.

"Alright... Even if it's expensive, name your price." Gracie asked.

"A million silver coins," Ample Time said without batting an eye.

"A million?!" Gracie's eyes widened in disbelief, "Are you joking?"

Anticipating his reaction, Ample Time continued, “Don't get so worked up, I mean in silver coins. That will only cost you 500,000 chips.

Gracie calmed down.

500,000 chips... That seemed somewhat acceptable when he thought about it.

After all, a bionic liver produced by Boulder Town alone costs tens of thousands of chips.

A bionic liver produced by Ideal City...

Considering the journey across the vast wastelands, a 50x price increase actually seemed cheap. Even at a million chips, there would likely be someone interest.

Gracie no longer hesitated and nodded. "Deal!"

"But I have one condition: cash on delivery. I want to see the goods before paying!"

Gracie’s readiness to agree made Ample Time wonder if he had priced it too cheaply.

Unfortunately, he was the person who named the price and he couldn’t go back on his word. Anyway, he could just raise the price next time.

"No problem. Oh, and I have a proposal for you, are you interested?" Ample Time asked.

"What's the proposal?" Gracie asked.

Ample Time smiled and revealed his purpose for this visit.

"The bionic organs produced by Ideal City are expensive, not everyone can afford them. I also have a batch of... Uh, organs from awakeners, are you interested?"

"Organs from awakeners?" Gracie paused, his expression turning strange as he looked at the man standing before him.

"Yes, whether it's eyes, livers, kidneys... Whatever you need, I can get them. They may not compare to bionic organs, but they're definitely normal organs."

Gracie sighed and interrupted Ample Time. "Those things won't fetch a good price."

Ample Time frowned. "Why not?"

Gracie succinctly explained, "While solving rejection issues isn’t hard, those who can afford bionic organs won’t consider using live parts. A human is a precise machine, but the parts of this machine aren’t designed for efficiency."

"Moreover, live organs are much easier to produce than bionic ones; just create a spiritually castrated clone and harvest at will. It’s no problem to handle live organs." Gracie stated the astonishing fact rather casually.

Actually, harvesting organs wasn’t rare in the wasteland.

Things forbidden in the Prosperity Era were feasible in the Wasteland Era. Cloning itself wasn’t a complex technology, and the trade in slaves and organs had long formed a mature industry chain in Boulder Town.

Ample Time stared blankly at him.

He suddenly realized that them players weren’t the only ruthless people out in the wasteland. The NPCs were pretty ruthless too.

Seeing that Ample Time didn’t respond, Gracie paused and continued, "... However, if you can get some kidneys with strong metabolic functions or eyes with exceptional sight, I might buy them. There might be mercenaries interested... But the price might disappoint you."

Ample Time immediately asked, “How much can you pay?"

"For a kidney..." Gracie gestured with 2 fingers. "2,000 chips would be reasonable."

"2,000?!" Ample Time looked at him in astonishment and turned wary all of a sudden. "You’re not trying to cheat me, are you?"

Gracie laughed. "Cheat you? You can sell it to someone else then, see if anyone else wants it."

𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

His enthusiasm was clearly not as high for the parts of awakeners.

Seeing that he didn't seem to be lying, Ample Time didn't say much else. Mainly because aside from that dude, he didn't know who else would buy organs.

Nevermind... Even a mosquito can be considered meat.

2,000 chips could be exchanged for 4,000 silver coins, which they could then add a zero when converted to RMB.

Going offline for 3 days could earn them 4,000 silver.

There had to be some brothers with strong physical attributes willing to cooperate.

Ample Time eventually sighed, "I'll get you the bionic liver produced by Ideal City, as well as the organs of awakeners. Get your chips ready, and we'll do a cash-and-carry deal in a week."

"No problem, by the way, how many parts from awakeners do you have?" Gracie asked crisply.

Ample Time smiled faintly. "As many as you need, this will be a long-term cooperation."

Gracie was stunned, looking dumbfounded at the man before him, his expression indescribable.

He thought it would just be a few, so he didn’t take it seriously, but he didn’t expect the guy before him to be able to get as many as he needed.

And he's planning for long-term cooperation?

Are awakeners chives growing from the ground?

Where is he going to get so many awakeners from?!

"Then prepare 20 kidneys for me first." Gracie said jokingly.

He expected the man before him to feel troubled, but instead, he agreed without a word.

"No problem. It’s just 20, right? Too easy.” Ample Time slapped his chest and agreed.

...

"Aren’t they going a little too hardcore?” Browsing the forum through VM, Chu Guang revealed a wry smile.

Good grief.

Those clowns were already soliciting for parts on the forum.

Of course, they were talking about in-game body parts.