Chapter 699: The Unknown Upgrade Direction

The reason Chen Ye had used his smoke-body transformation ability to rush to the Silent Council Shop was mainly because he was afraid that bastard Chu Che would try to snatch the Wonder's Heart away from him.

Based on what he knew so far, the Silent Council seemed to have only this one Wonder's Heart.

Chu Che's modified off-roader was still just the most ordinary vehicle.

Who knew whether that bastard would also set his sights on the Wonder's Heart?

The process of exchanging for the Wonder's Heart went very smoothly, with almost no trouble at all. After Chen Ye handed his card to the black-stockinged young woman, she turned and went into the back room, presumably to fetch the Wonder's Heart.

However, the look in the black-stockinged young woman's eyes left Chen Ye somewhat at a loss for words.

It wasn't exactly a blatant expression of desire, but she had definitely cast a flirtatious glance his way.

The young women who worked as staff in the Silent Council Shop were all handpicked from the finest candidates.

Therefore, their physical appearances were beyond reproach.

According to rumors circulating at the base, several of the staff members here had been internet celebrities with tens of millions of followers before the apocalypse, and some had even been minor celebrities in the entertainment industry.

Before the apocalypse, these big influencers and minor stars had all been glamorous and dazzling, and ordinary people could hardly even catch a glimpse of them.

The apocalypse had stripped away everyone's halo, leaving only humanity's most basic essence.

These people had been working here for quite some time now. Due to the poor promotion of the Silent Gold Coins, not many people came to the shop every day.

Superhumans who could casually produce eight thousand gold coins were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

Therefore, Chen Ye, this wealthy big spender, attracted the attention of quite a few young women.

Some of them even deliberately walked back and forth in front of Chen Ye several times, their long, straight legs in black stockings truly dazzling to behold.

If one could have a superhuman boyfriend or girlfriend, it would absolutely greatly increase one's chances of survival.

In the apocalypse, love was a scarce commodity. Everyone was desperately fighting to stay alive.

But Chen Ye didn't have any messy thoughts whatsoever. He was just waiting for the Wonder's Heart to be delivered.

Even as those black-stockinged legs swayed back and forth in front of him like a rotating marquee, Chen Ye couldn't be bothered to give them a second glance.

When that Wonder's Heart, seemingly assembled from various mechanical gears and mechanical components, appeared before his eyes.

Chen Ye felt his own heartbeat quicken.

Just then, Chu Che walked into the shop with slow, unhurried steps.

Seeing Chen Ye looking at him with a wary gaze, Chu Che let out a cold sneer, wearing an extremely contemptuous expression.

Chen Ye didn't pay any attention to whatever look Chu Che was giving him.

After confirming the transaction, Chen Ye hugged the Wonder's Heart and transformed into a wisp of green smoke once again, exiting the Silent Council Shop.

Leaving behind only the black-stockinged young woman with the excellent figure and beautiful face, wearing a look of lingering resentment.

Originally, when Chen Ye had come in, she had been the one to receive him.

She had also been the one responsible for retrieving the Wonder's Heart.

All of it was to leave a good impression on Chen Ye.

And yet, that damn man hadn't even given her a second glance.

"*Cough, cough, cough*... Stop staring. That kid doesn't like women!"

Chu Che noticed the black-stockinged young woman looking somewhat disappointed and couldn't help but remind her.

What Chu Che said wasn't wrong. There were plenty of beauties in the convoy - Xu Lina, Zhou Xiaoxiao, and Sun Xixi were all top-tier gorgeous, and no one had ever heard any inappropriate rumors about Chen Ye.

Reminded by his words, the young woman's face flushed slightly. She quickly walked over to Chu Che's side and asked in a sweet voice, "Sir, is there anything I can help you with?"

Although Chen Ye hadn't paid her any attention, there was still this other gentleman here, wasn't there?

He seemed to know that previous person. It took money to know money, so this one was probably pretty capable too.

Even though he was bald and looked a bit old, that wasn't necessarily a dealbreaker!

So, the young woman's voice became especially saccharine.

Chu Che let out a gleeful chuckle. "Stop with the sweet talk. I don't like women either!"

The beauty across from him froze for a moment, at a complete loss for words...

Wait... were all superhumans this hard to pursue?

"Alright, stop spacing out. I want to..."

...

Setting aside what Chu Che exchanged for at the Silent Council Shop.

After getting the Wonder's Heart and returning to the convoy's camp, Chen Ye maintained his body-transformation-into-smoke state the entire way.

Once back inside the Monster Pickup Truck, Chen Ye immediately sealed the doors shut.

Only then did he carefully take out the Wonder's Heart.

Something worth eight thousand Silent Gold Coins.

Never mind others - even he himself, if he saw someone on the street carrying something like this, would definitely be tempted.

If not for the Silent Council's overwhelming strength, that shop of theirs would have long been looted clean.

After the apocalypse, morality and order were concepts few people still followed. Everyone was doing everything possible just to survive.

The Wonder's Heart before him looked like a meticulously crafted work of art.

Its entire body was silvery-white.

The Wonder's Heart was somewhat similar to the Heart Engine.

However, the Heart Engine was a product of flesh, blood, and machinery, while the Wonder's Heart was a purely metallic creation.

Of course, calling it purely metallic wasn't entirely accurate either.

Because the atrium formed by the Wonder's Heart seemed to pulse slightly with each breath.

It was as if this thing was alive - a living metal creature!!!

Two tentacles extended out from under the bed, seemingly quite curious about the Wonder's Heart as well.

One tentacle's tip gently touched the atrium position of the Wonder's Heart.

Then it snapped back as if it had received an electric shock.

After his excited emotions had calmed down a bit, Chen Ye found himself in an awkward spot.

Because he had been so excited and nervous, he had completely forgotten to ask how this thing was supposed to be used.

Was he supposed to go back and ask those black-stockinged women how to use it?

*Hiss*... that would make him look pretty stupid.

But just then, before Chen Ye could do anything, he saw one tentacle slowly probing its way over.

Then, right in front of Chen Ye...

The tentacle gently caressed the surface of the still-pulsing living metal creature.

The caution from moments ago had completely vanished.

Chen Ye narrowed his eyes slightly but didn't stop the tentacle's actions.

Then...

Under Chen Ye's watchful gaze...

The tentacle coiled around the living metal creature, and the suction cups on its surface all opened wide, latching firmly onto the Wonder's Heart's surface.

Then, it slowly dragged it toward the underside of the bed.

Yes, under the bed!

Because the Wonder's Heart was too large, the gap under the bed couldn't fully accommodate it.

The tentacle even lifted Chen Ye's bed slightly before finally managing to drag the Wonder's Heart underneath.

When Chen Ye crouched down to look under the bed.

The tentacle and the Wonder's Heart had completely disappeared.

Chen Ye was momentarily stunned. He looked around the vehicle's interior but found no changes.

This... this...

Wasn't the Wonder's Heart supposed to upgrade the sequence rank of a Wonder?

Chen Ye quickly checked the Monster Pickup Truck's basic information.

[Monster Pickup Truck, number ranking: 909 (upgrading in progress).]

Previously, the Monster Pickup Truck's number ranking had been 899, then it had been pushed down one spot by the Mobile Palace.

During this period, it seemed new Wonders had appeared, and the Monster Pickup Truck's number ranking had dropped another nine spots.

Chen Ye reviewed the Monster Pickup Truck's basic information. Most of it was unchanged.

It was just that after the number ranking, there were now five additional characters: "upgrading in progress"!

Chen Ye's face darkened.

He had thought the upgrade would complete instantly.

Who knew it also required upgrade time.

Chen Ye thought for a moment, summoned the System, and consulted it about the Wonder's Heart's upgrade mechanism.

The Wonder's Heart's upgrade method was completely different from the System's upgrade method.

With the System's upgrades, Chen Ye could at least grasp a certain direction.

He could even specifically upgrade a particular aspect of the Monster Pickup Truck.

Before the upgrade was complete, Chen Ye could at least predict what kind of vehicle he would end up with.

But with the Wonder's Heart, it was completely unpredictable.

No one knew what kind of vehicle the Monster Pickup Truck would become after the upgrade.

How much would its number ranking increase?

All of it was completely unknown!

Moreover, very few people had even seen a Wonder's Heart, let alone had any upgrade cases to reference.

Fortunately, the System wasn't completely useless.

At least it predicted the Wonder's Heart's upgrade duration for Chen Ye.

One week later, the Monster Pickup Truck would complete its upgrade.

Of course, all of this would consume Slaughter Points.