Chapter 121: Taking You To See The Darkness Of The World
Lu Li pretended to look puzzled at Ekaterina, then complained somewhat disdainfully: “What depth could Linmu City have? It’s just a third-tier city that’s even worse than Qingmu City.”
“Since you don’t know, I’ll take you to get a deeper understanding.” After saying that, Ekaterina opened the car door and got back in.
“Get in.”
Lu Li had just wanted to sit in the back seat when he found the back door locked.
“I think you should sit in the passenger seat.” Ekaterina reminded him faintly.
Lu Li: “…”
Lu Li sat in the passenger seat depressedly.
“You really don’t know about Linmu City?” Ekaterina continued to ask.
“I really don’t know.”
Lu Li answered pretending to be helpless.
Ekaterina didn’t probe Lu Li further, but smiled and teased: “Linmu City has the black market ranked seventh in the Southern Jiuzhou Region. You, a commoner, actually don’t know about this? I remember Linmu City should be right next to Qingfeng City where you live, right?”
“Now what I’m curious about is why you, an outsider from another alliance, know more about Linmu City than I do.” Lu Li looked at Ekaterina curiously.
“That Marco who was defeated by you yesterday is my cousin. Though the family relation is a bit distant, his dad is the mayor of Qingfeng City.” Ekaterina said casually.
Lu Li: “…”
Lu Li tried his best to act like an ignorant hot-blooded newbie, then pretended to be indignantly and questioned: “Then why hasn’t this black market been shut down?”
“Because that black market has a background.”
“What background? Could it be bigger than the alliance?”
Lu Li, pretending to be hot-blooded and worked up, had an indignant look.
“The backer of that black market is Yu Zhonggang, who is your current sponsor.” After saying that, Ekaterina gave Lu Li a meaningful look, her eyes full of teasing.
Lu Li: “…”
Since Ekaterina knew about this, the mayor of Qingfeng City definitely knew too. Since the mayor of Qingfeng City knew, the Asian Alliance definitely knew as well.
So…
This world is really fucking dark!
He had originally thought Ekaterina wouldn’t know about this.
Seeing Lu Li’s deeply struck appearance, Ekaterina, thinking she had seized the opportunity, comforted: “Unless it’s factional struggles, the higher-ups generally turn a blind eye to this kind of thing. It’s like that in any alliance.”
Lu Li didn’t continue the conversation along her lines, but countered: “So what are you going there for?”
“To broaden your horizons and let you see the darkness of your Jiuzhou Region.”
Hearing this, Lu Li felt speechless inside.
Do I, young master, need you to take me to see the darkness of this world?
Lu Li chose silence.
Ekaterina didn’t speak again either, as if to let Lu Li properly digest the news he had just received.
They rode in silence, and the red sedan soon arrived at the western suburbs of Linmu City.
It was almost unimpeded the whole way, with no identity checks or inspections in between, and they soon arrived at the so-called black market.
Most here were wilderness adventure trainers coming to trade items. At least on the surface, it looked pretty clean.
“Stop looking. This is for ignorant newbies. The real black market is underground.” After saying that, Ekaterina led Lu Li to a bar called Flame House.
Ekaterina, walking to the bar counter, said coldly: “Two Black Flames.”
The bartender looked at Ekaterina in some surprise. Although this was the black market ranked seventh in the Southern Region, foreign alliance faces were rarely seen here.
“Alright, please wait a moment.”
The bartender pushed over two glasses of red wine, with two red cards soaking in the wine glasses.
The bartender respectfully wished: “Wish the two honored guests have fun.”
After getting the ID cards, Ekaterina led Lu Li into a restroom marked as third gender.
This so-called restroom was actually an elevator. After card verification, the elevator began to descend.
Lu Li, coming to a black market for the first time, asked somewhat nervously: “Don’t we need to cover our faces with something?”
After all, novels always wrote it that way—whether protagonists or side characters, they hid their identities when going to black markets.
“Can you find materials that isolate Psychic Type Pokémon from peeking?” Ekaterina looked at Lu Li in surprise.
Lu Li shook his head honestly.
“Then what will you use to cover your face? Or do you have a Ditto?”
Lu Li: “…”
“No.”
Lu Li, feeling somewhat speechless inside, shook his head.
“That’s right then. What the black market official prepares the most are Psychic Type Pokémon. And who among the stall vendors here doesn’t have a Psychic Type Pokémon? Even ten masks wouldn’t help.” Ekaterina complained.
Soon the elevator stopped.
Ekaterina stepped out of the elevator first, and Lu Li followed closely behind.
“Is this the black market?”
Lu Li looked in surprise at the prosperity before him.
People of all sorts coming and going, and vendors with all kinds of stalls.
No wonder this was the black market ranked seventh in the Southern Jiuzhou Region.
“The black market is the best place for finding a bargain, because most of the stall vendors here are wild-road trainers without formal education.
Their knowledge reserves are insufficient, so they can’t identify the value of certain precious items. If you’re interested, you can browse around. Maybe you, as a breeder, can pick up a big bargain.” Ekaterina encouraged from the side.
Lu Li nodded.
Even without Ekaterina saying it, he would do so.
After all, having come to the black market with great difficulty, it would be such a waste of the opportunity if he didn’t make good use of it.
Lu Li quietly formed hand seals with both hands, activating his Spiritual Vision Eye quietly.
Lu Li, single-mindedly thinking of finding a bargain, continuously scanned the surrounding stalls.
Most vendors seemed to know the value of what they were selling, some even priced a bit high.
Seeing this, Lu Li felt speechless inside.
Just like the Fire Stone.
This thing’s market price was about 100,000, but here it was 110,000.
If someone really needed a Fire Stone, wouldn’t they know to buy from a regular store?
“Why are the prices here all a bit inflated.” Lu Li complained speechlessly.
“The low ones are over there.”
Ekaterina pointed to that darker area and said.
“Those with high prices have clean origins. If you pursue cost-effectiveness, you can only go there. The stuff there has shady origins—cheaper prices, but buying it might bring disaster.” Ekaterina explained from the side.
Lu Li nodded, then headed curiously toward that dark area.
Watching Lu Li’s back, Ekaterina’s mouth curved up slightly, then she took out a special instrument from her pocket.
Looking at the energy fluctuation displayed on the instrument, with the core red alert, Ekaterina’s face was full of excitement.
“It really is… Arceus truly favors me.” Ekaterina whispered excitedly.
