Wu Xiong carefully considered what Lu Yuan had just said.
He seemed to have grasped the key point.
"Dr. Lu, did you just say that was the price if paid with money, meaning you'd also accept other forms of payment?"
"That's right."
Lu Yuan sat up straight, and the discussion finally got to the main point.
"I need a complete set of gene research equipment, from limb research to cell research and then to the most microscopic gene encoding devices, a full set of equipment."
Wu Xiong's face was expressionless, Sun Ying was stunned, Wei's jaw nearly dropped to the ground.
The three showed different psychological resilience according to their rank and status.
Lu Yuan: "As far as I know, the gene research equipment left over from the old era that your Starlight Group has control over is slightly more advanced than what Tianyu Group has."
"I'm not greedy, just one working set will do, you can set the price however you want."
Wu Xiong blinked and carefully asked, "Dr. Lu..."
"Are you conducting medical research that already extends to the field of genetics all on your own?"
Beside him, Wei gazed in shock, "The R&D personnel in our group's gene department haven't even--"
Wei didn't finish speaking before he felt two surges of cold intent converge on him.
Wu Xiong and Sun Ying glared at Wei full of killing intent.
He immediately shut his mouth.
Lu Yuan didn't directly answer the question Wu Xiong asked.
He just smiled without saying anything.
But in Lu Yuan's mind...
Hmph, extends to the field of genetics?
Hillbilly!
It would scare you to death if I told you the truth!
I'm already almost at the end of the genetics field!
Gene encoding!
Unlocking the human genome!
Lu Yuan didn't know what stage those medical groups on the outside had reached in their genetic research.
But he knew that they probably couldn't compare to him.
Otherwise, why would the Starlight Group value so highly the mechanical prosthetics he had devised three years ago?
Next, Wu Xiong made a phone call and came back. After nearly another hour of bargaining, the two sides reached a series of agreements.
The Starlight Group would trade a complete set of gene research equipment for 100 full sets of mechanical prosthetics from Lu Yuan.
The total value was about 2.6 billion.
Each would be responsible for their own loading and transport.
For the place of exchange, Lu Yuan and Wu Xiong tacitly chose a random location on the border between S Region and X Region.
The exact location would be determined later.
If the Starlight Group had further demand for prosthetics in the future, they would purchase them with cash payments of 3.5 million per set.
Both signed two copies of the contract, Lu Yuan imprinted his handprint, and Wu Xiong affixed the official seal representing the Starlight Group.
Given the lack of sufficiently authoritative law enforcement and judicial institutions in this era, signing contracts didn't have much significance anymore.
But the ceremonial cooperation passed down from the old era still gave some sense of security in most cases, especially when working with financial groups like the Starlight Group.
At the very least, big financial groups still cared about face on the surface.
The two sides exchanged contracts, and Wu Xiong casually remarked, "Oh right, Dr. Lu, don't forget to provide detailed installation videos and instruction manuals when we make the exchange!"
Lu Yuan stopped what he was doing and slowly said, "President Wu, let's keep things separate. The prosthetics are prosthetics, and the technology is technology. I don't provide it for free."
Wu Xiong stared and asked, "Dr. Lu, if I buy a piece of furniture, installation instructions should be included, right?"
Lu Yuan calmly replied, "President Wu, if I sell an airplane, do I have an obligation to provide pilot training? There's no such precedent, right?"
Wu Xiong: "Then at the very least you have to provide the service!"
"Of course the service is provided!"
Lu Yuan smiled again.
Wu Xiong immediately understood. He slapped the table in resignation and said, "Fine! Name your price!"
Lu Yuan seemed to have already prepared in his mind. His voice was slow and methodical: "I don't know if President Wu wants an exclusive regional distributorship or just a regular distributorship?"
Wu Xiong was stunned for three seconds as anger nearly burst out the top of his head.
To Wu Xiong, Lu Yuan's words were tantamount to "Do you want me to cultivate another medical financial group in S Region that possesses this technology?"
Beside Wu Xiong, Sun Ying helplessly held her forehead and mournfully said, "Dr. Lu, you're a doctor..."
"Can you please not calculate so shrewdly like a businessman?"
Lu Yuan took off his eyeglass frames that didn't have lenses and put them into his white coat pocket. "I'm sorry, doctors doesn't mean I have to selflessly dedicate myself to you."
"There may have been people like that in the old era, but now is the new era."
"The gap between financial groups in the new era and officialdom in the old era is also vast."
Lu Yuan's words left Wu Xiong and Sun Ying at a loss for rebuttal.
Sun Ying: "Passion, ethics, responsibility, commitment..."
Lu Yuan: "Hmm? What's up, do you want to become my patient?"
Sun Ying: "I didn't say anything."
Finally, Wu Xiong dispiritedly said, "Exclusive distributor, we want the exclusive distributorship."
"I really didn't expect that usually people plead for the distributor rights to our products. But now, there would come a day when our Starlight Group has become a distributor for someone else..."
Lu Yuan picked up his cell phone and typed "3.5" on it.
"3.5 billion, per year."
Instantly, deathly silence filled the conference room.
After a long while, Wu Xiong drank some water and slowly said, "Dr. Lu, it seems that gene research equipment isn't all that important to you?"
Lu Yuan smiled. He deleted the number on his phone and re-typed "2.6".
"That's the price I give others. Of course I have to show more sincerity when dealing with friends."
"2.6 billion, 3 years, can pay in installments."
Wu Xiong pondered briefly and held up a finger, "The price is fine, but there needs to be an added condition."
"You have to accept Starlight Group's invitation to become an unnamed external medical consultant for us."
"Every month, we can send you a case not limited to prosthetic replacement, and of course we will pay the medical expenses for that case."
Lu Yuan: "You can make things a little more difficult, no need to send one case every month. Just send me as many as you want whenever you want."
"And I guarantee the safety issues for your cases after entering X Region, including safety issues for you several during your departure this time."
Only then did Wu Xiong's expression improve slightly. He asked Lu Yuan at the end, "What about this prosthetic body of mine?"
Lu Yuan waved his hand. "That's just a little gift from me to President Wu. Please accept it with amusement."
Wu Xiong forced a bitter smile. "Please don't. Just give me a discount. Otherwise when the group investigates, I won't be able to withstand it. Let's redraw the contract..."
In the end, Lu Yuan gave Wu Xiong a 20% discount at 1.2 million paid on the spot by transfer.
When the two sides concluded negotiations, it was already 3 pm. Lu Yuan treated Wu Xiong and his group to a meal at Yun City Xia's Group's restaurant to fulfill his host duties.
After eating for over an hour, around 5 pm when it was almost dark, Lu Yuan and Liu Yuan returned to the clinic while Wu Xiong's group returned to their hotel.
But shortly after leaving the restaurant, Wu Xiong told Long who was driving, "Long, leave this place and return home through the night!"
This puzzled not just Long, but also Sun Ying and Wei.
Sun Ying: "President Wu, didn't Dr. Lu say to leave tomorrow and he would have people send us out of X Region?"
Wu Xiong looked at his new body and urgently said, "You don't understand shit!"
"It's more dangerous if we let that Lu follow us!"
"And I can't wait any longer, I have to hurry back and test out whether this body works well!"
Long had no choice but to turn the steering wheel towards the suburbs of Yun City.
As darkness fell, Wu Xiong's car soon disappeared into the pitch black night.
...Suburbs.
As they were about to leave the outskirts of Yuncheng, the several people in the car finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Whether it was the clown that had appeared earlier or the female ghost Long had spoken of afterwards, both had left considerable psychological shadows on everyone.
Sun Ying patted her chest and said, "Long, play some music."
"Sure."
The gentle, antique-style music soon rang out in the car, the melody languid, however...
Long subtly knitted his brows, because he did not remember putting this track in his in-car music player.
As a macho man, Long did not like antique-style music.
Suddenly, swish—
Long slammed hard on the brakes.
His action gave the other three people in the car a sudden fright!
No one questioned Long, with everyone first looking out the car windows.
In this already-dark suburb, fog had actually arisen.
"Why would fog come up this late at night?"
"This place really is freaking sinister!"
"L-Long, turn off the music, listening to it in this environment is p-pretty scary..."
Long did not move at all, staring fixedly at their surroundings, saying in a low voice: "Can't turn it off..."
"This music isn't coming from our car at all."

【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)

close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"

ine. During your journey, you save an abandoned baby girl and become her elder brother】 【You rely on each other, becoming each other's support】 【At the end of the simulation, you shield the now-grown girl with your life, sacrificing yourself to block numerous demonic cultivators. You die, and the light in the girl's eyes fades】 …… 【Second Simulation: You are transported to a world where steam and magic coexist】 【You immerse yourself in the study of magic, obsessed with its research. One day, while out, you encounter a half-blooded demon girl wandering the streets. You take her in as your student】 【You teach the demoness what it means to be human, show her the beauty of the world, and nurture her into a miracle that surpasses even the gods】 【At the end of the simulation, you die of old age in front of the nearly immortal demoness due to your mortal lifespan】 …… One simulation after another, one encounter after another. Xu Xi suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, you said you're coming to the real world to find me?"

esick Sect? Well, at least it's considered a respectable orthodox sect. Wait a minute— What kind of vibe are you all giving off? Shouldn’t this be a love-struck, romance-obsessed sect? Why does everyone here sound more like demonic cultivators? "Master, today he’s getting married. This disciple wishes to descend the mountain and crash the wedding, then toy with him to death right in front of his wife..." "Elder, I only got into your sect through connections, so why won’t you teach me anything?" "Because I also became an elder through connections." Thankfully, Su Ji was just an outer sect labor disciple. Surely, nothing too crazy would— "Junior Brother, you’ve broken through to Qi Refining. Once you sever your useless spiritual root, you can officially become an outer sect disciple." "The Great Dao is merciless. Don’t let a worthless spiritual root waste your essence and spirit, hindering your cultivation." Is this really the Lovesick Sect? ... Three years later, Su Ji sat in the seat of the Lovesick Sect’s sect master, sighing with emotion. His rise to this position all started when his junior sister adamantly insisted on preserving his "spiritual root." "Mmm... Senior Brother, what’s our relationship now?" "Stop talking. Keep going." "By the way, that newly promoted top-tier sect—didn’t they come to buy our Love Beans?" "One top-grade spirit stone per Love Bean—is that really so expensive?" "I suspect they’ve eaten too many Love Beans." "Now they’re lovesick." Well, this really is the Lovesick Sect after all.