Chapter 31: Lightchaser Black Market
“Three hundred thousand Bit?”
“So much?”
After hearing this, Lin Qi could not help but open his mouth wide. He had not expected the two sons of the Vice Gang Leader of White Feather Gang to be worth so much, or rather, that the vice gang leader was that rich.
In this neon-lit City of Light Chasing, among those who could climb to become senior officials in a gang, which of them did not have more than a dozen children, even dozens, all about spreading branches and leaves, more children, more blessings.
As for the reason, it was very simple.
Martial artists could change fate. As long as one child became a martial artist, it was like winning the lottery.
In addition, more children meant the family’s faction would grow, obtaining more resources. For someone who could rise to the position of vice gang leader in White Feather Gang, normally he would not care too much about the life and death of his children, let alone offer such an astronomical bounty.
Unless a child had extremely strong martial artist talent. But if they really had such talent, they would have long been sent to a key high school in the city for cultivation, and would never be roaming the wilderness.
Now that the vice gang leader of White Feather Gang was willing to spend three hundred thousand on a bounty, it was truly beyond expectations.
“Yes, normally they definitely wouldn’t offer such a high price. I heard White Feather Gang suspects some faction is targeting them and specifically robbed their goods,” Qin Mu said with a smile. “This three hundred thousand, rather than saying it is to find the killer, it is better to say it is to find the faction targeting White Feather Gang and completely wipe them out. After all, if they can rob once in the wilderness, there will definitely be a second and a third time. That is something White Feather Gang absolutely cannot tolerate.”
“Indeed.” Lin Qi also nodded, expressing his agreement.
He really had thought about it like that before.
Robbing once had already yielded more than a hundred kilograms of Blood Essence Rice, worth more than forty thousand Bit. Compared to planting it himself, this was undoubtedly much faster.
But this time had been pure accident. If he deliberately went to rob, that would be seeking death.
Under normal circumstances, if those six from White Feather Gang were robbed, they would definitely use their smart watches to notify nearby members, which could confirm identities at the first moment. But those six had wanted to swallow the Crocodile Fang Rhinoceros Beef alone, so they blocked their smart watches to prevent any insider among the six and to keep others in the gang from stealing the benefits. Only then did Lin Qi and the others get their chance.
Otherwise, at this moment, White Feather Gang would not be sending people out to post bounties, but would have directly come to attack.
And White Feather Gang had their reasons to suspect other wilderness gangs.
Normally, equipment that could block smart watch signals was not something ordinary people could afford. Usually only gangs would buy it, specializing in black-on-black robberies, so White Feather Gang suspected this time it was done by a gang.
“I wonder which gang it is. They’re really bold, daring even to rob White Feather Gang’s goods,” Qin Mu said with some admiration. “No matter what, among the many wilderness gangs, White Feather Gang ranks in the top hundred. Although they have no quasi-martial artist, they have several Limit Apprentices. Without sufficient strength, no gang would dare provoke them.”
“Yeah.” Lin Qi nodded again and again, with an expression of this-has-nothing-to-do-with-me. “I wonder which gang is that strong.”
Although he had long known White Feather Gang was not to be messed with, he had not expected them to be this strong, with several Limit Apprentices, equivalent to several Qin Mus. If they were discovered, he would definitely be doomed.
“When you go out these days, all of you need to be careful. Your new gang was probably just established not long ago. Do not touch the brows of those other wilderness gangs. If you go too far, I am afraid I will not be able to protect you,” Qin Mu said, nodding while looking at Lin Qi and lowering his voice.
“We? A gang?” Lin Qi was full of surprise when he heard Qin Mu say that.
“Isn’t it Iron Shovel Gang? Or Shovel Gang? Gray Robe Gang?” Qin Mu asked suspiciously. “I usually see all of you wearing uniform clothing and carrying alloy shovels, and you even went to the wilderness together yesterday, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, right! I didn’t expect Big Brother Qin Mu to notice.” Lin Qi smiled bitterly and nodded.
He had not expected the players’ actions together to be mistaken by Qin Mu as a newly formed gang, but thinking about it, it was normal. In the so-called gangs of the City of Light Chasing, they were just teams formed by groups of weak people.
But Qin Mu’s misunderstanding was quite good. This way, when players from Obsidian Martial Arts Hall appeared later, and with all kinds of player activities, the other vagrants in the Abandoned Area would not become suspicious. It would make things much easier.
“You little ones still have to be careful in the wilderness. Staying alive is the first priority. Don’t throw your lives away for some Bit, or you will end up with nothing,” Qin Mu said as he patted Lin Qi’s shoulder, looking gratified now that Lin Qi had admitted it.
“Only if you are alive do you have opportunities. When you grow in the future, you might even bring some benefits to our Abandoned Area.”
After speaking, Qin Mu turned and left, going to check other places.
“Looks like selling that Blood Essence Rice won’t be easy.”
Looking at the White Feather Gang members posting bounties all over the street, Lin Qi understood that it would be impossible to sell that Blood Essence Rice any time soon. Otherwise, it would easily arouse suspicion. After all, the deaths of the six White Feather Gang members were only suspected to be the work of another gang.
But if unregistered nomads suddenly sold a large quantity of Blood Essence Rice, it would not be hard to imagine a connection with the deaths of those six from White Feather Gang.
However, selling the Crocodile Fang Rhinoceros Beef was also not easy. After all, a Crocodile Fang Rhinoceros could only be killed by a martial artist. How could an unregistered vagrant possibly have such meat?
“Seems I can only take the risk and go to the black market.” Lin Qi thought for a moment and decided to disguise himself and head to the black market.
The City of Light Chasing was very, very large, with a population of more than ten million. But because there were so many unregistered nomads, there were also many shady trading markets in the suburbs.
These trading markets were all in charge of major gangs in the suburbs. They were called markets, but in truth they were just places to trade with those big gangs. And there were two main advantages to trading in these markets.
First, they would not ask about the origin of the items for sale.
Second, they would not ask about identity. Settlement was done on the spot, goods and money exchanged and that was it.
Because of these two reasons, many unregistered nomads and gang members went there privately to trade, making items and identities harder to track. But there was one major drawback: the prices for sold items were generally much lower, essentially paying money for safety.
City of Light Chasing, Phosphor Fire Trading Market.
Although it was already very dark, with only a bright moon hanging in the sky, for ordinary residents living in the City of Light Chasing it was long past their sleeping time. But in the Phosphor Fire Trading Market, lights blazed and crowds bustled.
Phosphor Fire Trading Market was run by a major gang of the Half-Scale Race, and as the Half-Scale Race had recently risen in power, the market had become even more prosperous.
“Buying or selling?”
At the market’s front desk, a woman with golden vertical pupils, more than two meters tall, with a long black tail swaying back and forth and a few scales on her cheeks, swept a cold gaze over Lin Qi, who had walked in wearing a metal mask and with a petite figure.
“Both buying and selling.” Lin Qi was used to this and directly stated his needs.
In a high martial arts world, the strong were respected, and many times body size was a kind of external sign. Even though his stats now were those of a normal person, his physique had not changed.
“What are you buying? What are you selling?” the Half-Scale Woman asked calmly.
“I want to buy a battery for a tricycle and three sets of repair tools. Second-hand is fine,” Lin Qi said, then put down the large metal box on his back. “Inside is the Crocodile Fang Rhinoceros Beef I want to sell.”
“Crocodile Fang Rhinoceros Beef?” The Half-Scale Woman looked at Lin Qi with some surprise, not expecting him to have this kind of meat for sale.
The meat of wilderness monsters was a treasure for improving qi and blood. Martial artists even ate such monster meat daily to accelerate their improvement. It was always in short supply. Even if ordinary people obtained some, they would keep it for themselves to eat slowly, as improving one’s own strength was the foundation.
“You can weigh it. If the price is right, I will sell it all,” Lin Qi said without explanation, opening the large metal box.
The big metal box was filled entirely with the meat Lin Qi had painstakingly carved from the Crocodile Fang Rhinoceros. Originally, he had planned to bring people and push a tricycle over to sell it, but considering the need to hide his identity, it was better to act alone.
Though he could only carry a smaller quantity each time, it had the advantage of secrecy.
As for letting players do it for him, that would definitely expose many game-related price issues, so in the end it was best for him to do it alone.
“It really is.” The Half-Scale Woman looked at the mass of meat filled with dense energy and called over a Half-Scale guard. “Go weigh it.”
A Half-Scale Man wearing blue battle armor walked forward, picked up the large metal box with one hand, and went to weigh it as if it were just a toy.
“An A6-grade battle armor?” Lin Qi looked at the guard’s armor with envy.
Battle armor was different from ordinary armor. The protective gear Qin Mu and the others used in battle only had simple defensive effects, while battle armor could not only protect the whole body, but also provide some support, like Iron Man’s suit, enhancing the wearer’s strength and speed.
An A6-grade battle armor could roughly let a Limit Apprentice possess the strength and speed of a Limit Quasi-Martial Artist, and it was very difficult for a quasi-martial artist to damage an A6-grade armor.
“Not bad.” The Half-Scale Woman nodded, then smiled. “Let me introduce myself properly. My name is Xia Ling. If you like, little brother, our Phosphor Fire is not unwilling to sell this model of battle armor.”
“How much?” Lin Qi asked curiously.
“Eight million Bit for a brand-new one. If it is second-hand, only six million,” Xia Ling said with a smile, not caring at all whether Lin Qi could afford it.
“A fine item. If I have the chance in the future, I will consider it.” Lin Qi watched the Half-Scale guard come back with the heavy box. To say he did not want one would be a lie.
With something that let a Limit Apprentice suppress a Limit Quasi-Martial Artist, if he had one, it would not be impossible for him alone to face the entire White Feather Gang.
“It weighs 3 kilograms in total,” the Half-Scale guard reported.
“More than a hundred kilograms?” Xia Ling nodded, then looked at Lin Qi. “Here’s the deal, little brother. On the market, one kilogram of Crocodile Fang Rhinoceros Beef is 670 Bit. You are selling a decent quantity, so I can offer 650 Bit per kilogram. I will round it for you at 109,000 Bit. How is that?”
“Deal.” Lin Qi was a bit surprised that Xia Ling offered such a fair price. You would have to be a fool not to take that profit, and the weight was about what he had estimated. “What about the things I want?”
“I will give you the three sets of repair tools for free, little brother. As for the tricycle battery, how about 19,000 Bit?” Xia Ling said with a smile. “If you agree, I can transfer 90,000 Bit to you right now. Or you can take cash.”
“Cash. I feel more secure with it.” Lin Qi chose cash without hesitation. Electronic transfers were easy to track, but cash could not be traced.
“Alright.” Xia Ling looked up at the guard beside her. “Go get what he wants.”
The Half-Scale guard did not hesitate and went to fetch the items and the Bit for Lin Qi.
Only after Lin Qi left the trading room with everything did the Half-Scale guard beside Xia Ling speak.
“Miss, Crocodile Fang Rhinoceros Beef is rare. Why don’t I go investigate that kid’s background properly?” The Half-Scale guard watched Lin Qi’s departing figure, his gaze turning sharp.
