Becoming the Wasteland Overlord With My Harem System!

Chapter 315: Negotiating with a Machine

Roamer guided them through the complicated, high-tech-looking pathways, heading for somewhere they could talk peacefully.

The corridors were wide and immaculately clean, lit by strips of pale blue light running along the floor and ceiling like veins carrying electricity instead of blood. No dust, no scuff marks, no sign that anything biological had ever passed through here.

It had the feeling of a place that had never needed to accommodate the mess of being alive.

And along the way, Axel noticed that there were no living beings present in the vicinity. He even used his senses, spread them far and wide, but couldn’t find even a single thread of life

Everything in this dimension consisted of living machines, not biological beings. The realization settled over him quietly. An entire civilization of them, running an Imperium, trading weapons across the multiverse—and not a single heartbeat anywhere in earshot.

After a while, they arrived at a suitable location.

It looked like an ante-room, with walls decorated with beautiful pieces of gems and abstract metal artworks shimmering under bright, shifting light.

A deliberate consideration—something designed to please as many races as possible while carefully avoiding imagery that might provoke or offend. No figures. No symbols that could carry unintended meaning. Just form, material, and light.

True, metal and gems were beautiful to anyone looking, regardless of race. It was a fitting display. Thoughtful, even, in its own mechanical way.

However, Axel looked left and right, but found nowhere they could sit.

Not a single chair, not even a ledge. Just as he was about to ask, Roamer shifted slightly from within Ria’s embrace, and the floor trembled underfoot.

The next moment, the entire floor morphed, reshaping itself smoothly and without sound into a full set of table and chairs—enough for everyone. On top of the table sat a small raised platform, circular and precisely sized, clearly built for exactly one purpose.

[Please take a seat. I have called for someone to deliver beverages fit for human consumption, so please wait patiently. They should arrive in 17 seconds.]

Roamer announced this with the casual confidence of someone who had never once been wrong about a countdown.

As they sat down, Ria begrudgingly set Roamer on the little platform, where the machine’s body fit perfectly. Then everyone settled and looked to the host, waiting.

Exactly on schedule, the table suddenly opened up.

From below, glasses containing fragrant drinks rose smoothly into place, carried on a mechanism so quiet it was nearly silent.

"Ohh! What is this? It smells so wonderful!"

"This... is wine? But this level of scent... It’s no cheap thing, that’s for sure."

"Thanks for your consideration, Roamer. But we don’t plan to get drunk here—"

[Ah, don’t worry. These are non-alcoholic beverages. Don’t worry and take a sip. If you are wary, I can test it for poison first too. Humans easily die to such minor things, after all.]

"...No need."

Although Axel was sure the living machine before him meant well, he couldn’t help but hear the words as faintly sarcastic. He took a deep breath, calming his mind, and picked up the glass.

Ria and Eve watched as Axel took a sip, his Adam’s apple moving as he swallowed.

"Mmm!"

He opened his eyes wide. "This... is so flavorful! I haven’t drunk anything like it!"

The flavor was extraordinarily complex—a mix of various fruits that somehow didn’t interfere with each other at all, instead lifting each other higher, layering into something that landed on the palate like a conversation rather than a noise.

A flavor that not even a five-star restaurant in his past life could have dared to match.

Curious, the two girls grabbed their own cups and took a swig.

They didn’t put them down again until every single drop was gone. Their faces were overcome with quiet, helpless emotion as they sat with the aftertaste, smiles melting into something that could only be described as bliss.

[Looks like it was to your taste.] Roamer observed. [I’ve already ordered another serving so just drink it if you want. But before that, shouldn’t we move on to the main topic?]

"Ah, right."

Axel nodded quickly, his mind switching into merchant mode with the ease of flipping a switch.

"Regarding the ship from Trismus—I can’t just show it to you here and now. As a machine life, you must know how important information is."

He kept his voice clear, level, and calm.

"If I take the ship out here, you could get all the data you need before the deal is even closed. So forgive me, but I can only show you the real thing after the price is settled and the transfer is confirmed."

Roamer let out a short sequence of beeps, the sound of a mind running rapid calculations.

Then, a few beats later:

[Of course, I understand your concerns. Even if I promise I won’t, there’s no compelling force—it’s not as if going back on my word would be difficult for someone like me. It’s fine. So, regarding the price. How much are you willing to sell it for?]

"That’s..."

Axel paused.

He had already checked the shop beforehand for market comparisons, but nothing there came close to a Trismus private vessel.

The most expensive and advanced ship publicly available was worth 50 Quintillion Colts. Trismus’ ships’ specs were beyond that by a significant margin—but restricted, proprietary, and not supposed to exist on any open market.

With that in mind, Axel had originally posted at 1 Sextillion. Obviously too much for a secondhand vessel. But after running the numbers more carefully, he had estimated the ship’s realistic value at around 200 Quintillion. He wasn’t going to open there, though.

"Let’s start at 600 Quintillion." He said. "The ship is loaded with the most advanced tech Trismus has. Computers, weapons, the whole package. I’m sure its value in your hands is more than that. Correct?"

[That’s true.] Roamer responded flatly. [But that’s still far above what I’m willing to pay. How about 25 Quintillion? It’s secondhand, and there’s visible damage from what I saw. This should be a fair price.]

"Do you even plan to use it as a ship?" Axel tilted his head. "I think you’d just scrap it—take the rare metals, reverse engineer everything Trismus built into it." He shrugged. "So what about 450?"

[You’re sharp. Yes, we only want the technology and the materials, so the ship’s condition doesn’t matter much. But still—too expensive. 50 Quintillion.]

Axel grinned.

Just selling one ship he had effectively stolen was already more than enough to clear every debt he owed to the big corporations. But there was no reason whatsoever to settle early.

He could feel that there was still room to push.

After that, for a full fifteen minutes, Ria and Eve sat back and watched as Axel and Roamer went back and forth with the focus of two people who had entirely forgotten anyone else was in the room.

Numbers rose and fell.

Roamer beeped.

Axel shrugged.

Neither of them blinked.

And at long last, they locked in at an agreeable spot: 250 Quintillion Colts!