Chapter 221: Finding A Bargain At The Deep Blue Black Market
The best Metal Coat in the world should be in the North American Alliance, and they export very few to the outside each year, with many Gym Leaders queuing up to wait.
“Ah? Hasn’t the Alliance ever thought of deciphering the recipe?” Lu Li asked in surprise.
“If it were that easy to decipher, there wouldn’t be so few Master Level Item Makers in the world.” Yao Yifei rolled her eyes at Lu Li.
She roughly knew why Lu Li had this idea, the classic case of assuming others are like oneself, but the problem is… do you think everyone is as perverse as you?
“Then can you get the recipe for Metal Coat? The more the better.” Lu Li continued to ask.
Pokémon Items are roughly equivalent to Artifact Refining in the Cultivation World, and the Artifact Refining level in the Cultivation World could outclass this world by several dimensions.
Even if he could only Pokémonficate some basics now, Lu Li was confident he could produce the best Metal Coat.
“This is a bit difficult. You know, I’m not a professional Breeder after all.” Yao Yifei looked helpless.
The recipe for ordinary Metal Coat isn’t hard to obtain, but recipes for various distinctive Metal Coats are much harder to get. People with that technology treat them like their lifeblood.
“Alright.” Lu Li knew he was putting her in a tough spot.
Yao Yifei’s main circle is the Coordinator circle, so it’s normal for her not to have access to Metal Coats.
“You can go find the Fairy Heavenly King. By the way… what exactly is your relationship with the Fairy Heavenly King? She seems…”
Yao Yifei stared at Lu Li with an inquiring gaze.
The Fairy Heavenly King is thirty-four this year, while Lu Li is only sixteen at most, and there’s no family relation between them—they’re practically from two different worlds.
Yao Yifei truly didn’t understand why the Fairy Heavenly King helped Lu Li so much. Forget a pretty boy; even a biological son probably wouldn’t get that kind of treatment.
Champion Pokémon as bodyguards.
Tsk tsk tsk…
“The relationship between investor and investee.” Lu Li spread his hands.
“Is that really it?” Yao Yifei stared hard at Lu Li, trying to spot any fishiness on his face.
Lu Li nodded firmly.
To be fair, he hadn’t even met the Fairy Heavenly King in person yet, and Yao Yifei suspected he was being kept by her—this was just too much.
“Fine.”
Seeing no flaws on Lu Li’s face, Yao Yifei didn’t pry further into the gossip between him and the Fairy Heavenly King.
“I’m not that close to the Fairy Heavenly King, so it seems I’ll have to trouble Ekaterina.” Lu Li said somewhat helplessly.
Yao Yifei teased, “She’s the Empress Your Majesty now. Are you sure she’ll still pay attention to you?”
“I’m quite confident about that.” Lu Li smugly raised his eyebrows. As long as Ekaterina and the others still believed he was the Ideal Messenger, they wouldn’t abandon him.
However, Ekaterina was probably still busy with her Ascension today, so Lu Li had no intention of troubling her at this time.
“Tomorrow is the start of the Trade Convention. Are you going?” Yao Yifei asked.
“Are you going?” Lu Li asked in return.
Yao Yifei nodded: “This is the grand event of the entire western region, of course I’ll go try my luck. What if I find a Pokémon Secret Treasure that matches my attribute?”
Lu Li said, “Then I’ll go too.”
“Let’s set off tomorrow morning.” Yao Yifei made the decision.
Lu Li went back into the Basement.
“Good thing I prepared the Materials early. Today I can rush and make some extra safety assurances for myself.” After muttering to himself, Lu Li picked up the Rune pen and began inscribing on Yellow Paper.
Teleportation Talismans go without saying—they’re essential for survival.
Next were Warning Talismans, in case he got one-shot before he could use one.
Finally, the most important one.
Void Breaking Talisman.
The Void Breaking Talisman is a Tier 2 Talisman. In the Cultivation World, its effect is to break Space Restrictions. In the Pokémon World, the Void Breaking Talisman has the same effect.
The reason Lu Li prepared this high-difficulty Talisman was to guard against those Deities who don’t play fair and start with Space Seals.
In this world, Divine Beasts hold World Authority. Even Ground Attribute gods can seal off a Space with Divine Authority.
Tier 1 Talismans are relatively easy to make, but Tier 2 Talismans’ difficulty jumps more than tenfold instantly.
Tier 2 Talismans consume the most Energy. Even with Lu Li’s current Energy, after four hours of high-intensity continuous drawing, he had to stop and do Meditation Cultivation.
When dawn broke the next day, Lu Li finally exited his cultivation state.
Yao Yifei was already waiting for him in the Living Room.
Seeing Lu Li come out, Yao Yifei teased, “I thought I’d have to come call you again this time.”
“Heh heh, let’s go.” Lu Li smiled sheepishly.
Yao Yifei nodded.
And so, the two rode their Pokémon toward Nandu again.
The Deep Blue Black Market is in the city next to Nandu. Deep Blue City is a first-tier city in the Southern Region, with its main Tax Revenue coming from the city’s various luxury Shops.
In Deep Blue City, consumers can even buy Brand Name items from all over the world.
Lu Li held Yao Yifei’s waist, listening to her introduction.
“The Deep Blue Black Market is really in Deep Blue City! So high-profile. Hasn’t the Alliance shut down the Deep Blue Black Market?” Lu Li asked in surprise.
“Without the Alliance’s permission, do you think those Black Markets could operate?” Yao Yifei asked in return.
Lu Li: “…”
“Don’t forget, the Deep Blue Black Market’s backer is the Fairy Heavenly King. She’s one of the Asian Alliance’s Four Title Heavenly Kings and the uncrowned king of the Southern Region.”
There was a hint of admiration in Yao Yifei’s tone.
A 34-year-old Champion Level Trainer—that’s a true monster.
The Dragon Champion, called the greatest genius in Jiuzhou Alliance history, only reached the Champion position at 40.
This shows how terrifying Qu Suxin’s talent as the Fairy Heavenly King is.
The two soon arrived in Deep Blue City. Without any fancy fanfare or Invitation, the Deep Blue Black Market was in the Northern Suburbs of Deep Blue Black Market.
To be precise, the entire Northern Suburbs is now the Deep Blue Black Market.
“No need to look at the ground level ones. Let’s go straight to the underground Black Market. The ground level is for clueless newbies.” Yao Yifei explained.
Lu Li asked in some surprise, “Have you participated in this Trade Convention before?”
Yao Yifei nodded, as if it were only natural.
Her Mega Stone and Key Stone were obtained here, and she attends the annual Trade Convention.
Led by Yao Yifei, the two entered a Hotel called Sylveon.
No need to say it—this chain’s Hotel is definitely the Qu Family’s.
From the Hotel lobby, they took the elevator down. As it kept descending, Yao Yifei explained beside him, “Here, almost every industry related to the Qu Family has an entrance to the underground Black Market.”
“Next time you come, just remember this, so…” Yao Yifei took out two masks from her Space Ring.
“No matter which Black Market you enter, masks that block Mental Probe are essential.”
Lu Li smilingly took the mask. He actually had such masks in his Space Ring too, but since Yao Yifei prepared them, he didn’t bother taking his out.
“Compared to other Black Markets, when trading in the Deep Blue Black Market, note this: try to trade at Black Shops with a front. Those Black Shops are backed by the Qu Family.
If you really buy fakes from a Black Shop, you can complain at the Deep Blue Black Market management. That’s the biggest difference from other places.”
Lu Li nodded.
This was pretty good—actually having consumer protection, though only for those Black Shops with a front.
The Deep Blue Black Market was very lively. Lu Li was stunned the moment he stepped out of the elevator.
The entire Deep Blue Black Market stretched as far as the eye could see.
Yao Yifei said beside him, “This is the first floor. There are six more below.”
“Hiss~”
Lu Li drew in a sharp breath.
That meant the Deep Blue Black Market was at least six times bigger than the Qing Mu Black Market! Qing Mu Black Market ranked sixth in the entire Southern Region.
“This is way too big.” Lu Li exclaimed.
Lu Li asked, “Is there any significance to the floors?”
“The Qing Mu Black Market’s seven underground floors are divided by Area. Like this first floor we’re on now—its main Shops are from all over Jiuzhou.
The second floor is from various parts of the Asian Alliance, third floor European Alliance areas, fourth North American Alliance areas, fifth South America, sixth African Alliance.”
Lu Li: “What about the seventh floor?”
“The seventh floor is the Auction House. You need an Invitation to enter.”
Lu Li continued, “Do you have an Invitation?”
Yao Yifei said with a dark face self-mockingly, “Sorry, with my strength, I can’t get an Invitation.”
Lu Li: “…”
Lu Li felt like he might have unintentionally poked her heart again, so he feigned surprise: “You as a Gym Leader can’t get an Invitation?”
Yao Yifei explained, “To enter the seventh floor, you need to meet one of these two conditions: either Heavenly King Level strength or sky-high Background.”
Heavenly King… sky-high Background.
Lu Li sighed.
This damned class barrier!
“Alright, let’s just browse around first.”
After Yao Yifei spoke, she led the way ahead.
Glancing over stalls back and forth, Yao Yifei casually asked, “What are you interested in? The Black Market is divided by areas.”
Lu Li looked left and right, searching for his target.
Lu Li asked, “How about we check the Pokémon Egg area?”
Currently, no Technology can detect a Pokémon Egg’s qualification, though professional Breeders can roughly guess from the Egg’s parents and Observation.
But that’s like gambling on stones—no one can be 100% sure.
Hatched Pokémon are different. Some expensive machines can check qualifications right at startup, and of course excellent Breeders can spot it too.
“I forgot about your Special Ability.” Yao Yifei realized suddenly.
“Then let’s go to the egg gambling area first. Follow me.”
After speaking, Yao Yifei led the way ahead.
After passing rows of stalls, they finally reached another area.
A huge Pokémon Egg icon hung above the area’s entrance, making it clear this zone was related to Pokémon Eggs.
After confirming the Instrument on his wrist was still running normally, Lu Li secretly formed hand seals with both hands, quietly activating Spiritual Vision Eye.
With Spiritual Vision Eye open, the world in Lu Li’s eyes instantly became brilliant. His vision was filled with colors representing various Fortunes.
In this endless, dazzling colorful world, Lu Li kept filtering out the colors of poorer qualifications.
Moments later, Lu Li exhaled heavily.
Feeling somewhat exhausted, Lu Li wiped the non-existent sweat from his forehead.
Sensing Lu Li’s fatigue, Yao Yifei supported him and asked, “You okay?”
Lu Li shook his head.
“Too much data to process at once. My Spirit couldn’t keep up.” Lu Li explained softly.
“As long as you’re fine.” Yao Yifei’s tone still held some worry.
You know, Lu Li was someone who could go seven days and nights without batting an eye, but he clearly looked tired now.
Lu Li didn’t explain further.
Spiritual Vision Eye doesn’t consume much ability; the issue was looking at too many Pokémon Eggs at once.
After recovering, Lu Li took the lead: “Follow me.”
Pokémon Eggs in the egg gambling area are priced based on their sire and dam Pokémon.
Soon, Lu Li arrived at a stall named “All Items 50% Off.”
“What do you two need?” the stall owner asked politely.
Stopping at the stall, Lu Li pointed to a Pokémon Egg marked 150,000 League Coins and asked, “Can you tell me about this Pokémon Egg?”
“Good eye, customer. This Egg’s sire is Poliwrath, dam is… wait, master weasel.” The stall owner quickly explained.
Lu Li continued, “And their strength?”
“I don’t know that.”
The stall owner spread his hands, rolling his eyes inwardly.
What a joke?
If he knew the strength of the Egg’s parents, it wouldn’t be in the egg gambling area. He put it here precisely because he doesn’t know.
“Wrap it up for me.” Lu Li didn’t haggle and said directly.
This was a Gym Level qualification Poliwrath Pokémon Egg, with one evolution left—meaning without Pokémon Secret Treasures, this Pokémon’s ceiling would be Heavenly King Level.
This Egg was quite suitable for Wei. If Wei didn’t want it, it could be a year-end bonus for the Wildfire Gang’s kids.
Yao Yifei had followed silently the whole time. After the Transaction ended and they left the stall, she quietly asked, “What qualification is this Egg?”
“Just a Gym Level Poliwrath.” Lu Li answered casually.
“Ah!”
Yao Yifei couldn’t help exclaiming.
Do you hear what you’re saying? Such a huge steal, and your reaction is so nonchalant?
“Um… little ion~”
Possessed by her dramatic side, Yao Yifei called out in an extremely sweet tone.
Lu Li shivered, his bones softening at the voice.
“Sister Yao, just say what you need.” Lu Li even used the respectful title.
Yao Yifei looked at Lu Li pitifully on purpose: “By the way, help sister find a high-qualification Eevee or Flying Type Pokémon?”
Lu Li looked through the mask at Yao Yifei’s pitiful expression, sighed, and Complained, “Why is Eevee ahead of Flying Type Pokémon?!”
