Jiang Ye thought she was joking and couldn't respond, so he asked about the important matter, "I'm going to make some food, do you want any?"
"I haven't eaten for many years, I don't need to eat. Ten years ago, I had chloroplast implantation surgery and can store energy through photosynthesis," Sophia said in her usual indifferent yet polite tone. "Don't mind me, just pretend I don't exist."
"Chloroplast implantation surgery?" Jiang Ye looked as if he had seen a ghost. "You... can really do photosynthesis?"
He held back a question: Aren't you a vegetable then?
"Come here," Sophia said.
Jiang Ye walked over and stood beside her, twisting his head away from her.
"Come closer and look at the surface of my skin, but don't touch it. I hate skin contact with humans," Sophia's tone was casual, as if being seen through by Jiang Ye was a trivial matter.
Jiang Ye no longer pretended to be a gentleman and turned his head to stare at her skin.
There was indeed a faint layer of green, shining shallowly beneath the skin's surface, even quivering as if countless green fish were darting beneath shallow water.
"Do you believe me now?" Sophia said. "I replenish energy through photosynthesis. On sunny days, I often lie in the sun for at least two hours every day, so don't be surprised. I'll be like this often for the next three days."
Jiang Ye's face turned red. "Do whatever is convenient for you, I don't mind. You... have a good figure."
"Thank you," Sophia looked at him. "If I told you the truth, you might not be as excited as you are now."
Jiang Ye was confused, not understanding what she was saying.
"My body is not my own. Twenty years ago, I served in the army and was injured more than thirty times in combat, each time with a serious wound. The battlefield medical system was not developed back then, so to heal my injuries, military doctors transplanted organs and tissues from dead people into me. All my internal organs have been replaced, my skin is artificial, and even my skull has been filled with organic materials."
"People like me were called 'corpse people' in the past, meaning people pieced together from corpses. This body I have now comes from at least forty different dead bodies."
"If you want to look, then admire it to your heart's content. I don't mind, it's all corpses anyway."
Jiang Ye imagined the surgical scenes and immediately felt a wave of nausea, completely losing interest in the beauty before him.
"You went through so much hardship in the line of fire, why are you involved in smuggling now? You should have good benefits after retiring from the army?" Jiang Ye stood up, no longer looking at her body, and asked, staring into her eyes.
"If you retire from the army, you will naturally have good benefits. But people like me are just discarded pawns, used and then thrown away."
Sophia closed her eyes after speaking.
Jiang Ye was tactful and didn't press further, but his feeling grew stronger that this Sophia had many secrets.
"Alright, you photosynthesize. Call me if you need anything."
Jiang Ye went upstairs, made himself a table full of food, and ate slowly.
While eating, he took out his phone.
He checked the ranking information.
He originally thought that with the expansion plan being hindered, the development index wouldn't change much, but he never expected it to surge!
[Jiang Ye Autonomous Region / Development Index 4250 / Rank 8640]
Jiang Ye was overjoyed. It had increased by over a hundred points, and this surge was incredibly timely!
Perhaps the number of merchants was included in the colony, or perhaps the large amount of gold spent by the merchants on renting houses had an effect. Besides the promotion by the merchants, he couldn't think of any other reason for the surge in the development index.
Jiang Ye was very satisfied. Although last night's exploration operation didn't go as planned, at least the objective was achieved.
He scrolled through the rankings, looking for Ice Green Star.
He looked upwards for a long time but couldn't find it.
Then he looked downwards, and after a brief scroll, Ice Green Star popped up:
[Ice Green Star / Development Index 4190 / Rank 8705]
Ice Green Star had also increased significantly today, but unfortunately, the increase wasn't high enough, and the gap with Jiang Ye's colony had widened!
Jiang Ye smiled. There were still ten hours left, and if nothing unexpected happened, he was sure to win this bet.
He didn't go out all afternoon and went back to his room to sleep soundly.
The sunlight grew dimmer, the red sunset bloodied the room, and then came the night.
Ten o'clock, eleven o'clock, twelve o'clock!
The agreed time arrived!
Li Nannan jumped out on time and posted a screenshot in the group, which was the colony ranking, with two columns circled in red:
[Jiang Ye Autonomous Region / Development Index 4253 / Rank 8640]
[Ice Green Star / Development Index 4197 / Rank 8704]
Li Nannan: "Jiang Ye won. Those gamblers who made the bet, honor your word! Do as you promised."
High Priest of Harl Star: "I knew I would win a week ago. I was a casino queen back then, dealing all the cards!"
Commander of Leng An Star: "Lost, lost, lost. As I said before, a hospital for eight hundred people. In three days, the construction team will arrive at your place on time, @Commander of Jiang Ye Star."
Jiang Ye: "Thank you, thank you! You're too kind!"
Governor of Ice Green Star: "Oh, I'm so angry! I just opened the gold mine half an hour ago. The ore bed was buried too deep. If I had one more day, I would have definitely won. You got lucky this time."
High Priest of Harl Star: "Alright, as long as you don't pay taxes, anyone can brag. Go to sleep!"
The people in the group chatted for more than ten minutes and then quieted down again.
Jiang Ye was relieved. His colony was about to end its history of not having a proper hospital, which was a great relief.
He got into bed, ready to sleep.
Just as he was about to sleep, a buzzing sound approached from afar, and the cleaning robot entered the room.
"The room is very clean, you can rest," Jiang Ye said, raising his eyelids.
"I'm not here to clean the floor. You have one unread message," the cleaning robot said.
"Let me see."
The robot immediately projected the holographic display.
Li Nannan: "Do you know Cen Yemeng?"
Jiang Ye suddenly sprang up from the bed, almost pouncing on the cleaning robot, and replied by voice. "Yes! What about her?"
Li Nannan: "This girl found the military headquarters, looking very resentful. She said her boyfriend is the commander of a colony planet and she hasn't heard from him in a long time, so she wants us to help inquire about him. Jiang Ye, this girl is the one you met on Nexus Star, right? She looks familiar, I think I've seen her."
Jiang Ye: "I really want to contact her! But my conditions here are not good. The network can only connect to this planet, and I don't have interstellar transport tools to go to Nexus Star. Commander, could you help me contact her! Thank you so much!"
Li Nannan: "I'm not your nanny! Build a rocket launchpad yourself and buy a ticket to Nexus Star to find her. A rocket launchpad isn't expensive, only about six billion."
Jiang Ye transferred twenty million to Li Nannan without a word.
Temporarily, he really had no way to contact Cen Yemeng. The only way was to ask Li Nannan for help, as she was on Nexus Star.
Li Nannan: "Oh? Spending so much money for her? You're really generous! Alright, you have some conscience. I thought you were a scumbag who would forget about someone after getting what you wanted."
Jiang Ye's forehead was covered in black lines. Do I look like a bad person? I look very kind!
Li Nannan: "Tomorrow morning, I'm going with the army on an expedition and will be away from Nexus Star for a long time. You can write a letter, and I'll deliver it to Cen Yemeng before I leave. Just this one letter, seize the opportunity! Don't miss it, hurry, hurry."
Jiang Ye: "Thank you, Commander! I'll write it now!"