Chapter 110

Saitalei left.

When she left, her expression was very complex.

What Luo De said was not wrong.

She indeed believes in fate.

And now.

An opportunity that could be called a heavenly one lay before her eyes; whether she wanted to seize it was up to her.

As for whether she would tell this to the Great Sage.

Luo De wasn't worried at all; he even hoped she would tell the Great Sage about this.

As long as one helps the desert, there is a chance to obtain the god's knowledge.

To the Great Sage, this temptation is huge.

Once he confirms this is true, he will spare no effort to build the desert.

This leak actually turned out to be a good thing.

But it's a pity.

Saitalei did not tell this to Azhaer.

This made Luo De inevitably feel a bit disappointed.

However, disappointment aside, having made contact with Saitalei was ultimately settled.

As for whether Luo De truly obtained the god's knowledge from the Red King.

Saitalei was very curious.

Therefore, in her spare time, she often came to Luo De to ask about desert construction.

Luo De answered everything he knew.

By the way, he showed Saitalei many image materials he had left from A Ru Cun.

Buildings rising from the ground, lush date palm forests, newly constructed nutrient-rich sand using grass slime, modern-style chicken coops and pigsties, and the villagers who were always beaming with happiness.

These scenes gave Saitalei a great shock.

Not only did it change her impression of the desert, but it was also the knowledge Luo De used to build A Ru Cun.

All of this greatly shocked Saitalei, who had never gone back.

At the same time, regarding Luo De's claim that he had once received the Red King's favor, her belief in the truth of this matter grew stronger.

Aside from making contact with Saitalei.

Luo De's life at the Academy was relatively dull.

Basically, every day followed the same three-point routine.

In the morning, he got up and went to attend the main class with other students; after lunch and a short rest, he went to study with Nafisi or Jules; in the evening, he returned to the dormitory and followed Nadixa to study.

Life seemed mechanical and boring.

But it was incredibly fulfilling.

Moreover, Luo De's knowledge also satisfied the two sages greatly.

Saying 'apply one thing to three' is an understatement.

Often, as soon as the sages finished explaining a knowledge point, Luo De could immediately expand on it with his own ideas.

Some ideas sounded wildly imaginative, yet they had theoretical practicality.

Such extraordinary wisdom naturally made Nafisi and Jules exclaim they had found a treasure, and further convinced them that Luo De's knowledge was genuine, not obtained through abnormal means.

Then the open and covert struggle between them over which discipline Luo De should major in would become even more intense.

Besides the not-too-heavy coursework.

During the vacation.

Luo De would leave the Academy and go to Huma Yi's home for a rare get-together with Dixiya.

Every time this happens.

Dina Zeda would generously say she'd rest at home today, letting Dixiya go play with Luo De worry-free.

Well, today is vacation time again.

After strolling through the grand bazaar, the two went to Lanbard Tavern to rest a while.

Tugging at Luo De's clothes, Dixiya laughed and teased: "It's been a month already; seeing you in this outfit, I almost didn't recognize you."

Luo De is wearing the Su Lun faction's attire today.

Actually, the Academy's uniforms are standardized; the difference is the badge on the hat of each college.

The badge of Xiban Duo Mo College is dark red, shaped like an ancient tree's meridian.

Dixiya is right.

Such attire, with Luo De's skin tone, makes him look from afar like a scholar from the rainforest region, not a student who came out of the desert from the Academy.

Hey.

That's exactly the effect we want.

Luo De gave a hehe smile, stretched out his hand, hooked his finger, and said: "The thing I asked you to do earlier, any results?"

Clearly, he's asking.

But Luo De's demeanor was certain that Dixiya had definitely completed that commission.

Smack—

The response to Luo De was a hard slap on his hand.

"You're not being polite."

"For your commission, the brothers didn't go home, eating sand in the desert for several months."

Hand over the reward.

You said it yourself, even blood brothers need to settle accounts clearly.

We haven't even reached the level of blood brothers, so we need to be even clearer about the accounts.

In an instant, the offense and defense switched.

Dixiya directly reached out to Luo De for money, implying that without payment she wouldn't hand over anything.

Pfft—

Seeing her serious expression, Luo De burst out laughing, then took out a voucher that could be used to withdraw money at Duo Li's shop and handed it to her.

Upon seeing the amount written on it.

Dixiya's expression froze, then she frowned and asked, "Where did you get so much money?"

Back when we were in A Ru Cun.

Luo De's money had pretty much run out.

If it weren't for later earning a sum by selling sandworm pupae, he probably couldn't even scrape together a hundred Mora now.

Dixiya was aware of his situation.

Actually.

Luo De isn't actually that poor.

He still has quite a bit of money on him; a rough estimate puts it at several hundred thousand Mora.

But that's the research funds Duo Li invested in him.

Luo De said this money must be used properly and not embezzled.

As for Duo Li's mushroom chicken breeding base, it has just begun the breeding work, and dividends are expected at the earliest in two years.

Due to the lack of steady income and constantly overspending on projects, Luo De occasionally still needs Dixiya's financial assistance.

So how did he suddenly come up with five hundred thousand Mora as payment?

Funds.

Luo De lightly uttered the two words.

Funds?

Dixiya blinked.

Those two words gave her a sense of unfamiliarity.

In her impression.

Only those bookworms would constantly have those two words on their lips, always complaining that the funds are too little, nowhere near enough for this research.

Now these words came from Luo De's mouth.

It suddenly made her feel as if she were back in the desert.

Hmm.

"A research project with Professor Ju Le Shi successfully secured a grant."

Luo De laughed: "The Academy really is rich; even my application as an Ordinary Citizen could secure such a large grant."

In fact.

If it weren't for Professor Ju Le Shi personally speaking up, Luo De really wouldn't have been able to secure this grant.

The Academy's grant applications for research projects are very strict.

Not only are there requirements for the project, but also for the applicant.

The grant that an Ordinary Citizen can obtain is very limited.

Luo De being able to secure such a large sum is due to two factors: first, this project passed review and was deemed highly feasible, worthy of funding; second, it's because Professor Ju Le Shi personally requested the money.

As for what this project is:

"Feasibility study of a mechanical construct bearing a Vision?"

"What the heck is this thing you're researching?"

Dixiya laboriously repeated Luo De's words.

Individually she knows these characters, but put together they become obscure and hard to understand.

"It's simply a mechanical device that can mount a Vision and then be activated."

"It mainly studies the direction of elemental flow."

Luo De gestured a mechanical shape, eyes shining, and said: "I'm going to try to see if I can make a device that can mount multiple Visions and drive them; who knows, there might be some unexpected effects."

Dixiya felt a bit dizzy listening, and couldn't help complaining: "After just a few days of study, your speech is nothing like a normal person's; can't you accommodate those who don't understand these technical terms?"

Having said that.

She then pushed Luo De's grant back to him: "Take this money back and use it; I'm not in a hurry, you can give it to me later when Sangge Mahabayi's dividends come through."

However, just as she returned the money, Luo De shoved it back at her: "Take it; I don't need this money right now."

?

Dixiya, bewildered, said: "What do you mean? You're supposed to be doing research; how can you not need this research fund?"

"Because someone else is covering this money."

Luo De hehe laughed: "Actually, I didn't expect there to be a senior sister in the Academy also preparing to research this topic; we ended up with overlapping projects, and she said that as long as I'm willing to help her, she can cover all the expenses."

This is no joke.

Qi Na Te.

This is the name of that senior sister Luo De mentioned.

Quite a coincidence, really.

The topic he applied for happened to collide with Qi Na Te's.

Moreover, because he reported the time a day early, Qinate's application was rejected.

In order to continue his own research, he did not want the topic he had painstakingly prepared to go to waste.

Qinate specifically sought out Luo De and told him the exact words he had just said to Dixiya.

There is such a great opportunity.

Luo De naturally agreed.

This way, not only did the academy's funds not have to be returned, but someone also helped carry out the research result he had envisioned.

If one had to mention the sole drawback.

that is, when the topic is completed, the authorship must list Qinate as the first author.

But this is hardly a drawback at all.

Luo De simply doesn't care about such so-called honors; as long as he can obtain some money and, incidentally, achieve the results he wants, that's enough.

After hearing the full details of this matter,

Dixiya couldn't help but laugh and cry.

Such a coincidence could also let Luo De catch up; I really don't know how to evaluate it.

However, since Luo De has said that.

Then she accepted the money.

"Speaking of which, don't let me catch you up to no good with ulterior motives, or I won't let you off."

Before handing Luo De the things he wanted, Dixiya gave him a solemn warning.

"Oh, I remember."

"Just rest assured."

Luo De nodded heavily.

"Hmph, if you could really put my mind at ease, that would be great."

Dixiya muttered a sentence, then returned a small box and a thick document bag to Luo De.

Next.

She then asked: "Do you have confidence in this outing?"

"Hmm."

"Rest assured, there will be no problem."

After putting the small box back into his pocket, Luo De drew out the papers from the document bag and began to read them carefully.

This is the information about the Tanite Tribe that he had initially asked the Flaming Light Hunters to collect in A Ru Cun.

As for that small box.

Inside it are his Pyro Vision and Dendro Vision.

While at the Academy, he had entrusted both of these Visions to Dixiya for safekeeping.

And the reason he is retrieving these two items now is

because after making preparations for so long, Nafis is finally going to act against Hafusai.

Before he needs to use himself.

Luo De must first go and settle the affairs of the Tanite Tribe, lest complications arise.

Coincidentally, Diliye Xi is an exchange student, and it also happens that the topic Juleshi had applied for him has been taken over by Qinate.

Then, taking advantage of this exchange student identity.

Luo De therefore prepares to make good use of this time to go to the Tanite Tribe and properly conduct his first 'exchange study'.

(End of chapter)