Steam Era: The Lord of 'Puluo'

Chapter 1055 554: Dark Energy User (2)

Li Banfeng laughed, "Have you ever slept under a bridge?"

Chu Zikai shook his head, "It's just a metaphor to express my loyalty to Snowflake Beach."

"I still don't understand. Snowflake Beach can mint Puluo State's coins. From any perspective, you shouldn't lack money."

Chu Zikai retorted to Li Banfeng, "Do you know what the Quantity Theory of Money is? Do you know what the Theory of Money Demand is? Do you know what the Monetary Equation is?"

Li Banfeng shook his head, "I really don't understand these things."

Chu Zikai said, "I don't understand these either. I only know that money cannot be minted casually. It must conform to economic laws. The economic situation of Snowflake Beach cannot be saved by coining money; it must be saved by us, the members."

Li Banfeng said, "So you sold all your magical treasures and spiritual objects, sparing no cost?"

"Those weren't all magical treasures and spiritual objects," Chu Zikai did not explain further, "It's my loyalty to Snowflake Beach, unwavering and without regrets."

"What did Snowflake Beach give you to warrant such loyalty?"

Chu Zikai said, "Do you know my past?"

"I've read some online. It's said you were born in a regular worker's family, and achieved your current success in the music industry through your own efforts."

Chu Zikai said, "That's half-right. Indeed, my parents were ordinary workers who did everything they could to let me learn music. However, when I applied to the music academy, I failed three times."

"I thought it was my incompetence, only to later find out I had skipped one prep class before the exam; just the fee for a single session made my father tremble all over."

"I took a total of ten sessions and didn't learn much, but I did recognize a master. With this master, I succeeded in getting into the music academy."

"After graduating from the music academy, I worked at a music company. It wasn't large, and I held many positions. Yet, whenever I asked to sing, I was refused. They said my voice lacked texture."

"So I went to the black market, bought a Guidance Agent, and became a singer. When I sang in front of them, they still said my texture was lacking, even if I used techniques. They insisted I was no good."

"I began to doubt the whole thing: was it the song that was bad, or was it me, or was it that the company had determined I was no good?"

"So I turned to a friend, who was even worse off than me. He was very talented, and he wrote the song 'I Am Your Pot Helmet'."

"Needing next month's rent, he sold me the song for three thousand bucks. I hired people to make the accompaniment, recorded a single, and released it in a small online community."

"In this community of people with some music literacy, they could tell it was a good song. With their recognition, I felt sufficient."

Li Banfeng frowned, "What does this have to do with Snowflake Beach?"

"A lot!" Chu Zikai said, "In this small community, there was a member from Snowflake Beach. He pointed out it was an excellent song."

"He was willing to pay, to fund my operations. This procedure I understood; it was quite simple, just money-burning like paper."

"I couldn't afford it, but he said he would cover it for me. He promised to push me to the top of the charts, with just one condition: to join Snowflake Beach."

"Did you know what Snowflake Beach was doing at the time?"

"No, and I didn't want to know. I agreed. To me at that moment, this opportunity was too rare, and I had nothing to lose."

"That person kept his promise, got me to the top of the charts. I became famous, released my first album, held my first solo concert, experienced unprecedented glory, met people I never dared to aspire to meet, and obtained unimaginable wealth."

"But pop music is like this: the popularity of 'Pot Helmet' lasted for a while, then gradually faded. People still remembered my name, waiting for my new songs, but I couldn't produce better works."

"'Pot Helmet' wasn't written by me, and I couldn't write better songs because I realized I'm not good at creating."

Li Banfeng said, "Then go find someone good at creating! What about the one who wrote 'Pot Helmet' for you before? Give him more money; surely he has good songs to sell to you."

Chu Zikai shook his head, "He returned to the north, had no money to buy coal in winter, and froze to death hugging his guitar."

"Yet Snowflake Beach didn't abandon me. They employed a number of lyricists and composers to somehow maintain my popularity."

"Meanwhile, they also provided me a new path. They hoped I would become an outstanding cultivator, not a Dark Energy User, but a true cultivator."

Li Banfeng was stunned: "What's the difference?"

Chu Zikai said, "There's a big difference. You don't think Wanderers are Traveling Cultivators, do you? Do you think singers are Sound Cultivators?"

"Aren't they?" Li Banfeng found it very strange. Essentially the same, just different names. Dark Energy Users and cultivators are cognitive differences between Puluo State and the Outside Provinces; this is the most basic common sense."

Chu Zikai laughed, "Of course not. You've been in the Outside Provinces too briefly to deeply understand Dark Energy Users here. At low levels, there's already a certain gap between Dark Energy Users and cultivators."

"Make a few more attempts, and you'll discover where the gap is. Dark Energy Users' overall abilities are far less comprehensive than those of cultivators."

"Reaching a certain level, Dark Energy Users will hit a bottleneck, unable to advance further. This bottleneck is usually the seventh layer. In the Outside Provinces, people always say the limit of Dark Energy Users is the seventh layer; you must think they're lying, but they're actually telling the truth."