Chapter 2758 - 2750: All Are Ruthless

Chapter 2758: Chapter 2750: All Are Ruthless

Chen Jiu didn’t think Feng Jun’s asking price was excessive at all. The effects and influence of the Life Potion are indeed significant, but it depends on who’s asking for the cure—when using the Life Potion stops being effective, and someone else can help you extend your lifespan, shouldn’t you be a bit more sincere?

As for the claim that the widespread use of the Life Potion would destabilize the Federation’s rule, he acknowledged that notion, but what if the individuals don’t belong to the Federation’s power?

Chen Jiu had no doubt that Feng Jun was not aligned with the Federation’s power because the Federation simply couldn’t do what he did.

Moreover, Feng Jun never settled accounts using Federation currency; he always used energy stones. Initially, he thought the other party might be with the Rebel Army, but clearly, there was no way that anyone in the Rebel Army could live to be five hundred years old.

The Human Federation’s understanding is that anyone who surpasses 150 years old is living on borrowed time.

Of course, individual differences do exist objectively; some people can indeed live a little longer, but throughout the Federation’s history, no one has ever lived past 180 years old.

While the Life Potion extends life expectancy, it also diminishes individual differences. It raises humanity’s overall lifespan, which offsets the longevity advantages some people had—there’s no choice, life potion is developed for the whole, not individuals.

To put it simply, the Life Potion indeed adds years, but the ceiling is set; it’s 180 years.

Beyond that lies not science but metaphysics.

Chen Jiu knew that Robert had great influence and probably knew who backed him—at almost 150 years old, with the end of life approaching, would you still care about the outflow of the Life Potion?

Yet Robert’s reason, albeit having some truth, left him with no choice but to smile wryly and explain, "They could give you the Life Elixir Production Line, but prolonging life requires more than words; there has to be a validation process upfront."

"Now that’s interesting," Feng Jun laughed, "I’m afraid this validation process couldn’t be sorted out in less than several decades... What if I don’t agree to this validation process?"

The process of verifying life extension is too bullying. Not only does it take a long time, but who knows how many of those years were actually gained through life-extending means?

This thing cannot be measured by any standard, so Feng Jun found it quite humorous.

"What you say makes sense," Chen Jiu, originally inclined towards Feng Jun, also took Feng Jun’s perspective into consideration, "as long as one feels it out at the initial stage and the trend seems normal, a deal could be made."

"That’s not how things are done," Feng Jun shook his head and asserted earnestly.

"Lao Jiu, if this is how you operate, then I must consider enlisting someone else to help with this... You know? Xuan Gao mentioned this to me too, and I outright refused him."

"I understand your point," Chen Jiu expressed his distress, "The production line for the Life Elixir must be bought first, but they think you should first prove your capability of extending others’ lives, considering the Life Potion is already proven."

Feng Jun laughed, finding Chen Jiu quite amusing, "Haven’t they already determined that we can have long lives? Now they suddenly have doubts. Is it me they don’t trust? Or do they not believe life can be longer?"

"This..." Chen Jiu hesitated and then confessed honestly, "I think it’s you they don’t trust because long life has validation results supporting it, and everyone hopes that this validation result is real."

Feng Jun smirked, lighting a cigarette, and nonchalantly blew out two smoke rings, "You’re straightforward, so let me be frank too. If they don’t trust me, then don’t trust. It’s all the same to me."

Chen Jiu fell silent. He knew exactly what that meant. After a long pause, he sighed, "But you still want the production line, don’t you? Wouldn’t this result in a stalemate?"

"It’s fine, I can wait," Feng Jun answered with a smile, "There are plenty of people eager for longevity. If this one won’t cooperate, I can wait for the next one. It doesn’t matter to me... they want to live longer, I’m just securing some benefits for my own people."

Chen Jiu blinked and couldn’t help but ask, "So don’t you need this Life Potion yourself?"

"If I can extend the lives of the Federation’s people, who cares about the Life Potion?" Feng Jun smiled, "I’ve told much of this to Xuan Gao, and I’m not inclined to repeat it. Let me tell you this... the warrior you tested, I can live to that age."

After pausing, he added, "Of course, assuming I don’t die in battle."

Chen Jiu was stunned and couldn’t resist asking, "Did you also partake in the battle against the Insect Race? Uh, I thought you handled business."

"We’re all capable of fighting," Feng Jun casually replied, "That unfortunate soul hit by the main cannon of the warship was me... You’ve heard about it, haven’t you?"

"Oh, that’s how it is," Chen Jiu nodded thoughtfully, "No wonder you can freely transport supplies. But there’s one more thing you should know... Only a few people can decide on selling the Life Elixir Production Line."

Pausing, he emphasized again, "Those who can make a decision with a single word are less than ten people... maybe even fewer."

"That doesn’t matter to me," Feng Jun puffed out another smoke ring and then smiled, "I’ll wait for them to die off and let a new batch take over... My people may just die of old age; do you think I care?"

The words were brutally cold, and even someone as ruthless as Chen Jiu couldn’t help but shiver: these high-ranking individuals truly didn’t regard ordinary lives as lives.

Yet, on reflection, weren’t the lofty figures of the Federation just like that? So, he nodded and sighed with a wry smile, "True, it’s the lives of those big shots that are worth more."

Hearing this, Feng Jun gave him a deep look and then nodded, "At the end of the day, they need me... Although I have needs as well, I’m not in a hurry."

Chen Jiu sank back into silence. After a while, he said, "But if I pass these words back verbatim, it’ll probably anger those big shots. Alas, this is futile."

"I’m quite curious about who would openly dare to blow a fuse at us," laughed Feng Jun, "Our abilities may lack in other areas, but to put it bluntly, our headhunting capability is very strong."

Decapitation? Chen Jiu thought it over before understanding what that implied, prompting another wry smile, "It’s not that they’d dare get angry at you; they’d be more concerned about targeting me... and even against you, they’d only use righteousness as an excuse."

Feng Jun didn’t want to discuss "decapitation" further as it would imply a strong urgency for the Life Potion.

Thus, he casually remarked, "We saved the heroic instructor anyway, which shows our sincerity, to be honest. If not for wanting to avoid sharp confrontations between two civilizations, do you think... I really couldn’t take away one or two Life Elixir factories?"

You probably really can’t take them away! Chen Jiu knew that the planets with the Life Elixir factories were essentially enormous military camps, surrounded by many natural or artificial satellites, as well as ultimate weapons.

Moreover, each production line had self-destruct mechanisms, impossible for ordinary folks to tamper with.

But he kept this knowledge to himself, seeing no need to argue, and wasn’t even sure if they indeed couldn’t remove the production lines, so he said nothing more.

He only offered a wry smile, "I truly sensed your sincerity but could you possibly delay leaving for a bit? I need to relay your words to those big shots, so if they have any ideas, they can communicate with you promptly."

"Do I care about their ideas?" Feng Jun scoffed, yet seeing Chen Jiu’s face turn a bit pale, he pondered and spoke, "I was just about to meet up anyway; to spare you the difficulty, I’ll stay another day. Is that enough?"

Chen Jiu dared not say "it’s not enough," nodding repeatedly, "I’ll hurry, hurry... Could you use a Quantum Handset?"

"I already have a Quantum Handset," Feng Jun produced a pair of Quantum Handsets, handing one to him, "The frequencies are all set up, call me if anything arises."

Then he disappeared, taking advantage of the monitoring blind spots, which was, in fact, deliberately left by the other side.

When he eventually met up with Yi Jue and the others, Xuanyuan Buqi complained, "Feng Xiaoyou, you’re still too polite with them. Just teach these self-important folks a lesson a couple of times... How dare they bargain with us?"

Indeed, it wasn’t just the Xuanyuan Family’s inherent arrogance but the natural superiority cultivators felt towards mortals.

"It’s customary to show politeness before resorting to force," Feng Jun replied with a smile, "Besides, this is an encounter between two civilizations. I’m only responsible for showcasing the etiquette of our civilization, not for instigating disputes... that I dare not do."

Qian Zhong and Yi Jue both seemed unimpressed, but they said nothing. Instead, Xuanyuan Buqi added, "You call that showcasing etiquette? Ha, if it gets back to Tianqin, do you think... someone might think... you disgraced us cultivators?"

"To each their own," Feng Jun was nonchalant, having been deeply influenced by Huaxia’s culture since childhood. It might not align with other human civilizations’ perceptions, but being kind never hurts.

If anyone mistook kindness for weakness, he wouldn’t mind showing them that the rabbit’s coat couldn’t cover anymore.

Meanwhile, on a certain planet within the core area of the Human Federation, inside a sprawling estate covering thousands of acres, a middle-aged man was having a fit of rage, "Damn it... How dare they make such excessive demands?"

(Updated to late May. Has anyone seen a new monthly ticket?)