The Crooked Merchant from Boulder City

Chu Guang was lucky. He hadn't encountered any danger he couldn't handle along the way.

Not only that.

When he reached the area near Bette Street, he happened to see a caravan from Boulder City unloading goods at the entrance to Bette Street.

Old Walt, carrying a hunting rifle, stood nearby smoking from his homemade dry tobacco pipe. Old Charlie was chatting pleasantly with the caravan's leader, while the scavengers working as hired hands unloaded cargo under the watch of gunmen.

The caravan leader was called Boss Li. Chu Guang didn't know his actual name; he only knew that he came from Boulder City and had eight gunmen and over twenty mutant yaks under his command.

Every so often, he brought his people and livestock to Bette Street to sell supplies while taking away the local "specialties."

In the wasteland, especially within city limits, vehicles weren't as reliable as beasts of burden.

The roads were littered with broken-down vehicles and collapsed ruins. On top of that, most roads had gone unmaintained for so long that their surfaces were badly cracked, with plant roots even pushing through. Most wheeled vehicles simply couldn't get through.

By comparison, donkeys, cattle, and horses were all excellent. They might not move quickly, but there was almost no road they couldn't travel.

Most importantly, they were cheap, easy to maintain, and only ate thirty catties of grass per hundred kilometers.

Technology wasn't reliable all the time. At least, not here.

Of course, it was a different story when it came to long-distance travel across provinces.

Chu Guang had once seen a half-wheeled, half-tracked cargo truck with a cannon barrel as thick as a chimney standing on top of it. It had a distinctly punk aesthetic.

But those bulky cargo trucks generally didn't enter the city. They usually unloaded outside and traded with the small and medium-sized caravans active in the surrounding area before leaving.

Chu Guang noticed that among the goods being delivered to Bette Street this time was a woman wrapped in a long robe.

Her hands and feet were shackled, and a barcode was printed on her ankle. Her delicate, pale skin made her look less like a wasteland survivor and more like an elf who had stepped out of a movie.

Or rather, a "commodity" cultivated in a vat.

"A clone?"

Chu Guang had only heard that Boulder City had a slave trade before. This was his first time seeing it with his own eyes. Still, a "luxury item" like this was probably something only the mayor could afford.

Chu Guang didn't approach immediately. Instead, he waited quietly in the shadow of the ruins for the transaction to finish.

The "cowboys" were all busy and didn't linger.

After the goods were loaded, Boss Li reached into his coat, took out several white chips, and tossed them to the scavengers working as hired hands as though he were tossing alms to beggars.

Then, amid a chorus of grateful flattery, he and the gunmen set off, driving the mutant yaks laden with bundles and bags down the road.

Chu Guang followed from a distance, crossing two streets.

However, at that moment, the man walking beside Boss Li suddenly stopped and looked directly in Chu Guang's direction.

Chu Guang, having been discovered, was slightly startled.

There had to be at least a hundred meters between them. How had this guy spotted him?!

But since he had already been discovered, there was no point in following them anymore.

Chu Guang stepped out from the ruins. He first raised both hands to show that he meant no harm, then carried a black plastic bag over.

Keeping a distance of ten meters, he stopped beneath the tilted sign of a café.

For both sides, this was the safest distance.

If a conflict broke out, the carbon-nanotube bulletproof vest he wore beneath his clothes would buy him at least five seconds to escape.

As long as he didn't get shot in the head...

"I mean no harm. I only want to make a deal with you."

The man called Boss Li narrowed his eyes and slung the shotgun in his hand over his shoulder.

"You a scavenger from Bette Street?"

"Chu Guang."

"I don't care what your name is, and we don't do small deals." The man looked mockingly at the plastic bag in his hand. "You'd be better off tossing that little bit of stuff to that old man of yours named Charlie."

Chu Guang said nothing. He opened the plastic bag, revealing the goods inside.

The man clearly knew his merchandise. His expression froze, as though he hadn't expected the bag to contain something this valuable instead of scrap parts and batteries.

Chu Guang noticed a flash of barely concealed greed in his eyes.

"Where did you get it?" the man asked.

Chu Guang looked at him and replied calmly.

"In the sewers, beside a mutant leech nest. But even if I told you where it was, would you dare go there?"

"I was just asking. Don't mind me."

The greed in the man's eyes receded somewhat. He handed the shotgun to his attendant and walked over to Chu Guang.

"How do you plan to sell it?"

Bette Street's purchase price was one chip per fifty grams, but this stuff was worth far more than that!

Chu Guang was silent for two seconds, then decided to take a gamble and quote five times Bette Street's recycling price.

"There are two thousand grams here. I want two hundred chips!"

"Deal."

Seeing the man agree immediately after only a brief hesitation, Chu Guang instantly realized that he had priced it too cheaply.

Sure enough, that bastard of a mayor had to be selling this stuff to these merchants for much more!

A bunch of bloodsucking leeches who ate people alive!

Inwardly, Chu Guang cursed out the mayor and his whole family, wishing that the man wouldn't be able to get it up that night.

"Let's be friends. My name is Lister."

The man extended his right hand. The arrogance from before had vanished, and he now wore a smile. "I rarely do business directly with scavengers, but you're an exception... I'm very interested in you."

Neither servile nor overbearing, Chu Guang took his hand and gave it a shake.

"Thanks. My name is Chu Guang."

"I know. You said it earlier."

After letting go, Lister stared at Chu Guang and continued, "First of all, I hope Old Charlie doesn't find out about our transaction today."

Chu Guang said,

"Of course he won't. I don't want trouble either."

"Haha, you're a smart man."

Very satisfied with Chu Guang's answer, Lister nodded with a smile and continued.

"I can pay you two hundred chips right now, but... you're going to use those chips to buy things anyway. Why not buy directly from me and save yourself the middleman's markup? I still have some supplies left. I can give you a twenty percent discount. What do you say?"

Chu Guang didn't believe his nonsense about a twenty percent discount. In any case, there was no way for him to know what the goods on those yaks sold for in Boulder City.

Still, as long as Lister sold them cheaper than Bette Street, he had no reason to refuse.

"I need a weapon. Do you have one?"

"Of course. What kind do you want?"

"A gun."

"A gun?" Lister rubbed his chin. "How about a 9mm bolt-action pipe rifle? Just two hundred chips, and I'll throw in thirty rounds. Extra bullets are one chip each. That price is absolutely fair."

"With a twenty percent discount?"

"That is the discounted price. If you think it's too expensive, I do have cheaper options. For example, a pipe pistol worth one hundred chips, 5mm caliber. It's pretty useful against raiders, though I wouldn't recommend it for dealing with mutants."

So that was already the discounted price.

Yeah right. Like I'd believe that bullshit!

Chu Guang stared at him and said,

"One 9mm bolt-action pipe rifle and sixty rounds. Besides that, I want twenty... no, twenty-five chips to buy food and other supplies."

Seeing Lister shrug with an unconcerned look, Chu Guang continued in a serious tone.

"There's more than just two kilograms of mushrooms in the mutant leech nest, but I can only gather what's near the nest... Do you understand what I mean?"

"You want me to invest in you?" Lister looked at Chu Guang with interest. "Interesting."

Chu Guang remained unmoved.

"Why not? I'd bet that even at this price, you can still make quite a profit. And if you agree, the goods I bring you next time will be ten times what I have today! Aren't you tempted?"

Lister was tempted.

Honestly, it was indeed a good proposal.

If he took these two kilograms of blue parasol mushrooms back to Boulder City, forget one bolt-action pipe rifle—even ten of them would be affordable.

These country bumpkins living in the far outskirts had no idea what radiation resistance medicine and radiation-cleansing medicine meant to people living in the city.

The good stuff was all hidden near those nuclear craters!

"Generally speaking, few people ever get chips out of my hands."

Lister signaled to his assistant, telling him to take a pipe rifle and sixty bullets from one of the mutant yaks nearby.

"You're an exception."

Lister counted twenty-five white chips from his pocket and handed them, along with the goods, to Chu Guang.

"Twenty kilograms of blue parasol mushrooms, right? Consider it an investment. I'll wait for your news."

"I'll be back here at the end of the month. Unless something unexpected happens, it should be my last trip here this year."

"I hope I'll see you then."

Mutant leeches.

No one wanted to provoke those things.

Only God knew how many disgusting bugs were hidden in their nests. Worse still, ordinary penetrating firepower was useless against them.

Their terrifying regenerative ability and vitality meant that even if they were cut in half, after a brief struggle, they could split into two new individuals. A few small holes in their bodies were even less of a problem.

As for setting them on fire...

Leaving aside whether they could even be ignited, burning them would destroy the valuable stuff too.

It simply wasn't worth it.

"Oh, right. For twenty kilograms of blue parasol mushrooms, I'll give you two thousand chips. You can order goods from me directly. There's no need to pick through what others have left behind."

Watching Chu Guang handle the weapon in his hands, Lister reminded him.

Chu Guang stopped what he was doing and looked at him.

"How would I know what goods you have?"

Lister snapped his fingers.

The man beside him understood and handed over a square tablet.

"There are photos on it. Swipe left or right to choose... If you know how to use it, I won't bother teaching you. I guarantee the quality of these goods, but I can't guarantee that the items you receive will look exactly like they do in the photos."

Chu Guang took the tablet and glanced through it roughly. There really were quite a few good things on it.

In particular, he saw exactly what he needed most.

"Have you picked?" Lister urged as he watched Chu Guang make his selection.

"I have." Chu Guang handed the tablet back and said, "A 10KW wood-fired generator, and a KV-1 powered exoskeleton."

"You have good taste. The KV-1 may be an entry-level model, but it's also the most durable. But what do you need a generator for? If you're worried about running out of power, why not buy a few more batteries? I offer battery trade-ins here. They're very cheap."

Generators weren't cheap. One cost twelve hundred chips.

By comparison, a KV-1 powered exoskeleton only cost eight hundred chips, and one matching chemical battery was only one hundred and fifty chips.

Even replacing a battery wouldn't cost more than a thousand.

Besides, where was he planning to keep that thing after buying it?

He could wear an exoskeleton beneath his clothes, but a generator wasn't something an ordinary scavenger could afford.

Seeing through Lister's concerns, Chu Guang said,

"Don't worry. I won't take it back to Bette Street."

"I was only asking. How you deal with it has nothing to do with me. Even if you say I sold it to you, I won't admit it. You'll be the one in trouble in the end." Lister shrugged and glanced at the sky in the distance. "It's getting late. Until next time."

Chu Guang called out to stop him.

"Wait. I want to ask whether the things I just ordered get a twenty percent discount too."

Lister laughed and waved without looking back.

"The prices you saw were already discounted."

Chu Guang: "...%￥#￥%"

Damn you!

Just wait until I figure out how to fleece you crooked merchants!

Watching the caravan disappear into the distance, Chu Guang turned and left as well, his face dark.