After that, Xi Ye and the others spent the entire day browsing the market. The dazzling array of goods made Xi Ye want to buy this and that, but every time he looked at the prices, they gave him the most realistic warning possible: You're a ****. You can't afford it... That kept him from sinking in.
Reluctantly, Xi Ye eventually led everyone toward the Private Lord market.
As one of the Federation's three largest markets, it naturally had some affordable, high-quality goods besides the premium exhibits, all of them supplied by Private Lords from various places.
Although they had not received official Federation certification, if one had a good eye, one could often find excellent products there—and at very reasonable prices.
Official certification required a hefty processing fee, and the requirements for putting technological products on the Cosmic Federation market were extremely high. Most of those with the necessary strength were Great Lords. By comparison, products made by Little Lords lacked trademarks. Aside from circulating within their own star domains, they could only be traded in free markets like this one, so their prices were much more affordable.
However, as one of the few major markets, Proxima had extremely expensive stalls. This was also one of the planet's major sources of income. The Lords who could afford to set up stalls here were all fairly powerful. It was much more expensive than some Level Two or Three free markets, but the chances of buying junk were correspondingly much lower.
Under the guidance of a Panda Man guide, Xi Ye and the others soon arrived at a shop that looked extremely plain.
Its strong rustic style was completely different from the dazzling splendor of the mecha market they had visited earlier. However, the shop assistant left Xi Ye somewhat astonished...
"Why is it you again?"
Several players were also stunned. Wasn't the shop assistant who had come out to greet them the same panda from the mecha shop?
Thinking of Grandpa Lu's corpse, which had not even gone cold in his pocket, Xi Ye's expression darkened. He would never buy anything from a shop belonging to someone who had killed one of his citizens, even if the shop had lost money over it.
"Oh, respected Lord, please don't misunderstand!" The Panda Man guide hurriedly explained. "That one just now was Da Pang. This is Er Pang. They aren't the same Panda Man. Look, he only weighs three hundred and seventy-two kilograms, a full forty kilograms less meat than his brother Da Pang. His fur isn't as well maintained, either. After all, his brother works under a Great Lord."
Xi Ye said, "Is... is that so? Now that you mention it, they do feel somewhat different..."
"What would you like to buy, customer?" Er Pang asked with a foolish grin as he chewed on a stalk of Green Bamboo. "Whoa... I smell Elf Jerky. Are you here to buy seasoning? We have excellent pickled seasonings. Do you prefer garlic flavor or Fruit Oil Refining? The garlic products here are made by High Elves, without any genetic modification...!"
"I'm here to make a major purchase!" Xi Ye glared at the Panda Man and cut him off.
"Oh, is that so..." The Panda Man shopkeeper's eyes narrowed into slits, and his grin became even more honest-looking. "I could tell the moment you walked in that you were an important Celestial God Lord. Are you looking to buy large-scale Interstellar Weapons, or perhaps a chain of interstellar transmission stations? If you're interested in terror biological weapons, we can provide those as well. We have dragon-class terror star beasts up to Rank Sixteen for sale, with pure bloodlines and formidable combat power. Here are the detailed model specifications. If you want to see the actual specimens, you'll have to visit our Home Star. We can provide free transmission services..."
"Uh... it's not that major a purchase..." Xi Ye's imposing air weakened considerably.
"Oh... I see..." The Panda Man remained enthusiastic. "Then what would you like to buy? Just tell us without worry. Our shop is a direct-sales store under Wine Immortal Lord. We've already opened more than a dozen branches, and we have an excellent reputation here. As long as it isn't an extremely special item, we can usually provide it."
"Wine Immortal Lord?" Xi Ye was taken aback. "You mean that Wine Immortal Senior, the only Panda Man to become a Celestial God Lord?"
"So you've heard of the old lord!" Both the shopkeeper and the guide wore proud expressions.
"'Heard of' is putting it mildly. He's practically a legend! Celestial Group Academy uses this story in its advertisements every year: 'See? Our academy's high-quality education is worth all those tuition fees. Even lazy Panda Men can be trained into elites. What is there that we can't accomplish?'"
"But hasn't this senior developed a little too quickly?" Xi Ye remembered that this Panda Man senior had only become a Lord around ninety thousand years ago. Yet he had already developed to the point of setting up a stall in a first-tier free market. He really was a role model for their generation!
"Customer, you see..." Er Pang rubbed his hands and grinned.
"Do you have molding machines?" Xi Ye asked expectantly.
"Molding machines?" Er Pang was startled, then looked troubled. "Customer, you know that those things... are rarely sold to outsiders..."
"I know, I know!" Xi Ye nodded. "But Senior Wine Immortal has developed so quickly. He must have plenty of discarded molding machines, right? They're useless to him anyway, so why not sell them to me? In return, I can give Senior priority access to finished Grade D Energy Mine."
"Energy Ore? Your planet has Energy Ore? How large are its reserves?" Er Pang asked, his eyes lighting up.
"The reserves are plentiful. They should last for four hundred years of development. Once the operation there reaches a sufficient scale, I'll be able to provide at least a million tons of refined source stones every year!"
"I see..." Er Pang hesitated, then raised his head and said with a foolish grin, "This matter is too important for me to decide. I'll have to report it to the boss. Please sit for a moment..." He then turned to the guide. "Chen Pi, please entertain the customers and pour them some tea!" With that, he scampered into the shop.
Xi Ye's father calmly found a seat and sat down, while the players and Nicole eagerly gathered around to examine the shop's displays.
The guide hurriedly served Xi Ye and his father brewed green tea. The tea leaves were top-quality Snow Peak, and their quality clearly showed that they were genuine Snow Elf products. Even a single liang would cost at least a thousand God Coins. Back when Xi Ye's father had still been clan chief, he had rarely gotten to drink it even once.
His father leisurely savored the tea with satisfaction, while Xi Ye was somewhat absentminded, worrying about whether this deal would go through.
This procurement was mainly meant to resolve the four most urgent problems at the base: energy, housing, basic material consumption, and the large-scale expansion of agriculture.
With the Fire Ant Mine, Xi Ye had to admit that the energy problem had saved him a great deal of effort. The energy generated by Grade D Energy Ore combined with refining technology was tremendous. At least for a newly developing Level 8 Planet, it was absolutely more than enough!
In this regard, all he needed was to purchase enough refining equipment and compressed mining factories, and he would soon be able to collect vast quantities of energy.
The housing problem was not particularly difficult, either. The people of Planet D had an excellent reputation for hard work and endurance, so there was no need to buy high-end housing. Ordinary Black Iron Dwarf compressed apartments should be enough to make do.
Agriculture was the same. Since the crops he planted were highly adaptable and high-yielding, their seeds were fairly cheap. He only needed to expand the planting scale. Before long, he would no longer have to eat canned food and Nutrient Solution.
Only the basic supplies were relatively troublesome!
The base was developing rapidly. According to the intelligent projections, it would soon reach a population of one hundred thousand. Mining Energy Ore required fine mining picks, followed by minecarts, ore-sorting points, and various basic tools. All of these would soon be in severe shortage.
Buying finished products would consume too many resources, while importing them over the long term would risk exposing his location. He couldn't exactly use the school's free transmission channel every time, could he? Where would that leave his dignity?
Xi Ye's best plan was to hire several experienced blacksmiths and mechanics, then purchase a batch of molding machines and take them back. Excellent blacksmiths and mechanics were not difficult to hire. Molding machines, on the other hand, were much harder to obtain. Most Private Lords preferred to sell finished products and rarely sold the machines themselves. Even when they did, they usually sold discarded models. Finding molding machines of decent quality would take some effort, and even if he managed to buy them, after-sales service and expanding the number of machines would be difficult problems to solve.
The best solution was to cooperate with a High Lord and acquire their outdated technology. This would save costs while greatly increasing the base's development efficiency, allowing them to avoid many unnecessary detours.
Everyone understood this principle, but very few new Lords could obtain such favorable cooperation terms. As the saying went, people in the same trade were enemies. If they did not deliberately suppress you, that already meant they were showing consideration because you were an alumnus. Everyone was a competitor. No matter how vast the universe was, no one wanted to see more people competing for their share of the food—even if the other party was an honest Panda Man.
Hopefully, his Grade D mine would be enough to move them...
Xi Ye thought anxiously.
After a long while, Er Pang ran out from inside, drenched in sweat and panting heavily. "Respected customer, our Lord wishes to meet you!"
Xi Ye's eyes lit up when he heard that. It looked like there was hope after all!!
Before you continue