Super Spender

“I’ll take it!” declared Finn Lewis resolutely, “and get me ten of those things I saw earlier,” he quickly added, pointing to something nearby.

“Alright” the store clerk nearly passed out from sheer joy. Little did he expect to meet such a big spender here. The Dimensional Ring, which was currently more of a gimmick, was barely bought by anyone due to its high risk of stored items disappearing.

According to an official survey, there was a fifty percent chance of items disappearing or the space inside the Dimensional Ring collapsing. This explains why they’re sold at a relatively low price despite their high functionality.

Who would buy something that could lose items at any moment? Dunn Monty was helpless, but knowing Finn Lewis’s nature, he decided not to argue. After all, all they had to do was ensure Finn Lewis’s safe arrival in the Milky Way Star region.

As long as Finn Lewis had enough money, he could squander it at will since it was his own money. Soon, the supposed “ring” was placed in front of Finn Lewis by the clerk. However, upon seeing the “ring”, Finn was ready to burst out in complaints. Damn, this was a ring? Was it designed for dinosaurs?

The item was large enough to be a bracelet. Regardless, its functionality was authentic. Finn Lewis quickly dismissed any negative thoughts. He had purchased the item merely as a decoy. Only a moment ago, Zero, his faithful robotic companion, had told him that there were better alternatives available for exchange, and Finn saw no reason to doubt Zero; none of the items he had exchanged from Zero have so far proven to be faulty.

“Ask them if they have a restroom, I need to use it,” said Finn to Dunn Monty after collecting his items. The clerk promptly lead Finn to the facilities. Once inside, Finn turned on the scanning system of his Kaemiya Protective Suit. If it was as advanced as it claimed, it should be able to detect any surveillance systems.

After confirming that there were no surveillance systems installed, Finn spoke: “Zero, I want to exchange for the Dimensional Ring. How long until I get it?”

“Fifteen minutes,” Zero responded promptly.

“Okay, how much do the points for this item cost? I reckon it’s over 500,000, else you would have told me beforehand.” Finn asked out of curiosity.

“1 million for 0.5 cubic metres of storage space. For every additional 0.5 cubic metres, the price increases by 120%,” Zero straightforwardly replied.

“So, 1 cubic meter is 2.2 million?” Finn Lewis widened his eyes in disbelief. Indeed, he has 140 million points at present, but that price seemed too high!

“Correct, 1 cubic meter is 2.2 million; 1.5 cubic meters is 3.64 million,” Zero told Finn the conversion points, and the price was indeed much higher compared to what he had just paid at the store. Zero gave an detailed explanation, making Finn understand how the 120% added cost was calculated.

A 0.5 cubic meter increase from the base points meant an additional 120% cost added to the previous points. The first 0.5 increase was 120% of one million, equalling 1.2 million. The second increase would be 120% of 1.2 million, summing up to 1.44 million. The third increase again adds 120% to 1.44 million, and the process continues.

Finn did a rough calculation and figured out that a storage space of 5 cubic meters would cost him several tens of millions of points. His one hundred and forty million points, which he used to think was a lot, was simply insufficient to exchange for a large amount of storage space. As such, the storage space was not meant for storing large quantities of objects. It was ideally suited for storing valuable items instead.

“Alright, exchange 5 cubic meters for me,” said Finn after a moment’s deliberation. It seemed extravagant, but it was sufficient. It did, however, cost him over 25 million points!

“Arrival in 15 minutes,” Zero said, leaving behind only a time estimate. Finn didn’t mind as he had grown accustomed to Zero’s manner. Meanwhile, he used the communicator given to him by Jasmine Davis on the spaceship to inform Dunn Monty and the others outside that he would need about fifteen minutes.

After waiting in the restroom for 15 minutes, a tiny, dark cavity appeared in front of Finn – much like a miniature wormhole. A peculiar black object that looked similar to a wristwatch fell out from the cavity. Curious, Finn picked it up and asked Zero, “how do you use this thing?”

“It’s simple. Drip your blood onto it, and it will automatically match with your genetic code. Then it can be controlled accordingly. Remember, it needs energy to open the compressed space. The energy consumption isn’t massive, but it isn’t little either: approximately, you would need to recharge it after a thousand uses. It costs 1 million points for each recharge,” Zero explained.

Finn thought it sounded straightforward. He swiftly dripped a drop of blood onto the device. The peculiar patterns on the device started to flash, and soon the compressed storage space, akin to a wristwatch, was activated. Finn quickly learned how to use it, thanks to its simplicity.

The device created a mini blue light curtain, similar to the one used during spaceship transitions. Any item that touched the light curtain would be transferred inside, as long as it didn’t exceed the space within. If an item was halfway through when the space was filled, it could not be transferred anymore. The device would excessively drain energy if an object was stuck in the light curtain.

It wasn’t as convenient as anticipated as the blue light curtain was rather conspicuous. However, its small size allowed for easy concealment. On the whole, Finn was satisfied. Most importantly, it allowed the transport of restricted items without being detected.

After exiting the restroom, Finn headed straight to the payment counter without saying a word. The store clerk, who was waiting excitedly for his large fortune, beamed at him. “Sir, your total cost is 16 million black coins. Will you be doing a direct transfer, or paying with cash?”

Though it was quite clear that Finn did not have enough cash with him, the clerk still went through the protocol of asking. Black coins, also known as Death Star coins, were made from black material. Given that the place was virtually a sinners’ paradise, Death Star coins were colloquially known as black coins.