Chapter Seventy-Nine: The Divergent Money-Making Plan

With a sigh, Zhuang Xiaoyuan clicked into the subcategories of the Singularity Web. Novels appeared one after another, formatted as forum posts scattered throughout the site’s categories. Some required payment, but most were free.

She randomly selected a free novel titled “Storm of Magic and War,” which had already reached two million words. Yet it was still free—the author must be truly persistent, though she wondered about the quality. Opening the novel, she began to skim through it. Thanks to the eidetic memory she’d gained after her divine power training and the additional gift from the trial space, Zhuang Xiaoyuan finished reading the two-million-word story in just a few hours. Afterward, she immediately abandoned her ambition to become an online fiction star.

The writing was simply too good. The content was gripping, and it bore traces reminiscent of the web fiction master Spirit God from her previous life. Such a brilliant novel was still available for free. Her own writing skills could not compare, and even if she plagiarized the classics from her former world, she would barely reach this level, not surpass it.

She browsed through some paid novels as well—some were exciting, others mediocre—but they shared one common trait: their view counts were abysmally low. In this perilous era, currency was precious; some people could barely afford to eat, let alone spend money on novels. Those with a bit of spare cash preferred to invest it in personal protection and cultivation. No one was willing to pay for fiction.

Only now did Zhuang Xiaoyuan truly understand: in this era, writing novels led nowhere. To make money from writing, one would first have to eliminate all the demons and put an end to the chaos of war.

“Ah, it’s over. The path of writing is blocked. What now?” She turned over and collapsed onto her bed, smacking her army-green quilt in frustration. The neatly folded military blanket was instantly flattened into an irregular shape.

“As expected, if I want to make money quickly, I’ll have to rely on my Guardian Spirit abilities.” Thinking back to her chef’s wages from the past few days, Zhuang Xiaoyuan touched her chest, as if she could feel the cards swirling within the nebular vortex inside her. She muttered to herself.

“Erina Nakiri’s culinary skills are superb, but there’s no chance of a head chef position opening up. Last time was just a fluke; I can’t count on that. If I open my own restaurant, not to mention the startup capital… Business probably wouldn’t be good anyway, since most people just drink nutrient solution. Xiaoyan Huang… How would a violent loose immortal make money? As for the newly acquired one… Should I use her to make shaved ice? If even restaurants don’t do well, how could a cold drink shop survive—especially now that it’s autumn… What should I do? Should I try a random draw again?”

Mumbling, she began listing her current transformation abilities. In the end, she realized—none of them could make money. Unless the blank card she’d won from the Guardian Spirit trial could generate a character who could easily earn money, that was likely her only hope.

Zhuang Xiaoyuan lacked any special money-making skills. The education from the military academy was focused on combat and defeating demons, with only a smattering of basic cultural subjects. Her sole unique talent came from the character Erina Nakiri, whose culinary arts were difficult to monetize in the current era.

“No choice, I’ll have to try. But what’s the best way to generate a new one? For medium-based summoning, both Xiaoyan Huang and Erina Nakiri are out. In Xiaoyan Huang’s original world, everyone’s either a clown or a maniac—no one’s wealthy or good at making money. Even the protagonists, Ye Yan and Demon King Che Yongtai, had to sell themselves. Erina Nakiri’s world is full of chefs; more duplicates are useless. The new character’s world… Most of them are freeloaders… Looks like I’ll have to rely on a random draw.”

She had considered trying out the new character-linking generation ability, but after recalling most of the characters from her three existing worlds, she gave up. As for restricted-range generation, the opportunity was too precious to waste on mere profit. Even if the randomly generated character couldn’t make money, she would surely find a use for them later. After all, not every anime girl is just a pretty face. (For the record, being cute is not just being a vase; cuteness can save the world.)

But the odds for the random draw were terribly slim, and there didn’t seem to be any characters—whether from Japanese or domestic comics—known for their money-making prowess.

Despite her doubts, Zhuang Xiaoyuan had no other recourse. She retrieved the black blank card from the nebular vortex. No point in saving for tomorrow—she’d have to be reckless for once. She finally had a backup card, and now she had to use it. Tormented by indecision, she gritted her teeth and chose the random generation.

As the ability activated, a parade of various anime heroines flashed rapidly across the black card. After a few seconds, the images stopped. The card depicted a silver-haired, dark-skinned girl clad in a revealing yet highly mobile red-and-black battle suit.

“It’s really her? Well… possibly, maybe, probably, usable.” Recalling her powers and those of the person from whom her abilities originated, Zhuang Xiaoyuan’s eyes glinted with excitement. This character could definitely help her make money.

“Ding-dong.” Just as she was celebrating the arrival of this lucrative fourth character, a notification sounded from the planetary notebook she’d left open.

Only then did Zhuang Xiaoyuan realize she’d forgotten to shut down her computer. Heart pounding with anticipation, she sat down at her desk to close it—only to be confronted with a top-banner announcement on the Phoenix Web.

[Urgent Announcement: The Research Institute is offering a reward. The fourth-generation propulsion system for the Powered Armor is stuck at a bottleneck, unable to achieve the desired response speed, resulting in a momentary reaction delay. We hope that experts among the public can provide effective suggestions. Reward: 100,000 yuan. See attached diagram.]

“…A hundred thousand. What on earth was I doing just now? The timing couldn’t be more perfect.” The reward amount was the first thing that caught her eye, and below it, a problematic schematic of the propulsion system. Zhuang Xiaoyuan realized her earlier worry had been unnecessary.

She could easily solve this propulsion system’s issue—because after completing the Guardian Spirit trial, her mind was filled with countless pieces of knowledge from Zhuang Xiaosi. While the weaponry in the Machine Maiden World lacked creativity, they had nevertheless elevated human arms to an extraordinary level.

Compared to the propulsion systems in the Machine Maiden World, those of her own world were truly behind. At that moment, Zhuang Xiaoyuan realized what she should do: upload all the rapid-combat technologies from her memories. Perhaps this could dramatically increase humanity’s fighting strength and prevent more casualties.