After Old Homa left, it took Jiang Qi only a few minutes to finish repairing the energy cores.
That was just how absurd the efficiency of Synthesis was.
Out of the thirty-five energy cores, only one happened to be especially badly damaged.
It wasn't impossible to repair a core that damaged through synthesis, but it would require a three-into-one merge.
Naturally, Jiang Qi had no intention of wasting it. He simply took it home along with the ten energy cores that belonged to him and stored them in his chest.
Then Jiang Qi went straight to bed.
He planned to sleep until midnight, wake up, and make another secret trip to the dump.
Yes—even though he had already left the ranks of the scavengers, Jiang Qi still couldn't completely let go of the garbage mountain.
After all, he had only just repaired that night-vision helmet. Having used it once and then letting it gather dust felt like too much of a waste.
Of course, another reason was that the first time Jiang Qi had worn the helmet into the dump, he had found Glaxia.
That had given him the vague feeling that wearing the night-vision helmet to the garbage mountain meant finding big loot.
Deep down, he knew it was probably just an illusion.
But it was still very hard not to go try again.
As for the result...
All one could say was that finding another haul on the same level as Glaxia was, indeed, wildly unrealistic.
Still, with the help of the night-vision helmet, Jiang Qi's gains were genuinely quite good.
He found several damaged energy cores, along with some fairly decent metal blocks.
At the same time, he also came across the wreckage of several broken household appliances and dragged them back with him.
Repairing those appliances would be difficult, but if he dismantled them, he could salvage quite a lot of parts.
Jiang Qi happened to need a large number of components in order to synthesize the special parts required to repair Glaxia's energy bay, so he naturally welcomed such finds with open arms.
By the time dawn was approaching, Jiang Qi had hauled a full cartload of spoils back home. After tidying things up, he took some of the clothing he had picked up that day and synthesized a fresh set in exactly the same style as the outfit he was currently wearing.
He casually tossed the old clothes, now saturated with the smell of the dump, into the stove. Then, after heating some water and washing up, he finally headed out for breakfast.
But once he arrived at the restaurant, Jiang Qi found himself momentarily at a loss.
There were already quite a few people there. His first instinct was to head for the section where he used to sit—but he quickly realized that he shouldn't be sitting there anymore.
In the mornings, seating in the restaurant was taken very seriously. Scavengers could only sit in the section reserved for scavengers, or else squat on the ground and eat.
People of different status were expected to sit in different sections as well. Otherwise, they would attract strange looks.
For a place that was just a small town, its warped class system always seemed able to parade itself openly in every possible setting.
Just as Jiang Qi was still wrestling with where exactly he ought to sit now, he suddenly heard a somewhat familiar voice call out from inside the restaurant.
"Well, if it isn't Old Homa's new apprentice. Why're you standing there like an idiot? Come sit over here."
Jiang Qi turned toward the voice and discovered that the one calling him over was none other than the mechanic he had met yesterday—Bauer.
Seeing a familiar face, Jiang Qi let out a long breath of relief and hurried over with a quick trot.
The moment he sat down, he began to hear the murmurs around him.
"So that's Old Homa's new apprentice? Kid looks pretty spirited."
"Homa hasn't taken on an apprentice in ages, has he? I thought he'd stopped taking them altogether. This kid's really lucky."
"Yeah, but how come I don't think I've seen him around much before?"
"I think he used to be a scavenger, maybe? Heh—looks like the guy finally turned his life around."
Hearing the gang members talking around him, and seeing their curious gazes—gazes that now carried almost none of the contempt they once would have—Jiang Qi couldn't help feeling a little emotional.
At that moment, he felt with absolute clarity just how much his status in town had changed.
Still...
"Uh, Uncle Bauer," Jiang Qi asked in a low voice, "didn't Teacher Homa only take me in as an apprentice yesterday? Why does it feel like everyone already knows?"
Bauer was Black, with the short curly hair typical of Black men. He wasn't particularly tall, but his whole body was solidly built, and in a way he gave off much the same impression as his mech did.
Hearing Jiang Qi's question, he immediately broke into a broad grin, flashing a row of even white teeth.
"Haha, you didn't know? Old Homa was drinking here last night and told everyone about it. He even specifically told us to remember to look out for you."
The moment Bauer said that, Jiang Qi understood.
So Old Homa had already taken this into account and warned people in advance.
Deadwood Town was only so big. Gang members were generally idle in the evenings. A full night was more than enough time for news like this to spread throughout the town's middle and upper strata.
As for the scavengers...
They had to rush off to the garbage mountain as soon as day broke anyway. Who cared whether they knew or not?
"Uh, Uncle Bauer," Jiang Qi asked quietly, "what exactly am I allowed to order here now?"
"What can you order?" Bauer was briefly taken aback, then laughed. "Haha, why, whatever's on today's menu, of course. Sure, you're only an apprentice for now, but you're still one of the mechanics' people. You think this place is going to shortchange you? Right, Aifuli?"
"Mm." The restaurant owner, busy at work, answered without turning around. "Though the meat-sauce wraps are almost sold out. If you want one, you'd better order fast."
Jiang Qi's gaze swept across the menu.
Mm...
Damn it.
After drinking porridge for a whole month, now everything looked good.
Still, if he ordered one of everything, that would probably be far too conspicuous.
After hesitating for a moment, Jiang Qi ordered one meat-sauce wrap, one serving of fruit, and one bowl of mixed vegetable soup.
The food was brought out quickly.
The meat-sauce wrap seemed to be handmade, filled with canned meat sauce. It was fragrant, filling, and rich with meaty flavor. No wonder it was the best-seller.
The fruit was obviously canned fruit. Jiang Qi had no idea what kind it was—at any rate, it didn't resemble any fruit from his previous life. It tasted good enough, though it didn't look very appetizing and the portion was small. Even so, it was the most expensive of the three items.
Clearly, even canned fruit counted as an absolute luxury in the Wasteland.
Last was the mixed vegetable soup. It had beans, something like a radish-like root vegetable, and some mushrooms. The texture was a bit soft and floury, so they were probably canned ingredients too, but Jiang Qi still ate with great enthusiasm.
Watching Jiang Qi dig in, Bauer smiled to himself and lit a cigarette.
He had actually already finished breakfast, yet showed no sign of leaving.
As he smoked, he glanced around. When he noticed a few gang members continuing to stare in their direction, he even shot them a glare.
He stayed like that until Jiang Qi had finished eating. Only then did he speak up at the right moment.
"Oh, right, kid—Old Homa asked me to ask you something. Those energy cores you repaired yesterday, did you take them to the power station to recharge?"
"Huh? No." Jiang Qi scratched his head.
"Mm, not your fault. Homa forgot to mention that part," Bauer said, waving a hand. "The old man said if you haven't charged them yet, then don't bother taking them to him first."
"In a bit, go to the bookstore and pick up today's batch of scrap cores. Once you've repaired them, take those together with yesterday's batch to get charged."
"Then tomorrow morning, when you go to pick up another batch of scrap cores, you can bring the fully charged ones over at the same time."
"I see. Got it." Jiang Qi nodded. "Thanks, Uncle Bauer."
"What're you thanking me for? No need to be so polite. Get over to the bookstore already—don't keep Old Homa waiting too long," Bauer said. "And you don't need to pay for this meal. It's on me."
"Huh? No, I can't let you do that—" Jiang Qi immediately tried to refuse.
"There's no reason I can't." Bauer simply talked right over him and called out to the restaurant owner. "Hey, Aifuli—put this kid's meal on my tab."
"Got it," she replied without even turning her head.
Seeing that, Jiang Qi knew there was no point refusing anymore. So he stopped protesting, thanked Bauer again, and only then left the restaurant, heading straight for the bookstore.
As Bauer watched Jiang Qi's departing back, a trace of something complicated flickered in his eyes.
"Old man... so you finally remembered to leave yourself a way out, huh..."
He muttered the words under his breath, so quietly that only he himself could hear them.
"Let's hope this time, you haven't chosen the wrong person."
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 120)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 100)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 100)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter89)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter86)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter63)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter75)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 53
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 57
From Junkman to Wasteland 35
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 26
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 27
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 26
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 26
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