Trading Suppressors, the Meaning of the Code

Jiang Mian only stayed in the hospital for a few days, basically "recovering" her ability to move, before she left.

The reason was simple: the lunches in this world's hospital... were simply too outrageous.

Never mind the strangely colored vegetables, why was there also a lump of unidentified paste mixed into the rice?

These past few days, she either relied on Lin Yun to bring her food or slipped out to solve the hunger problem herself.

Jiang Mian had reason to suspect that if she stayed a few more days, she'd probably starve to death there—and that would be too embarrassing.

So she just bailed.

The battered phone she had could still be used, but it really hurt the aesthetic, and it might fail at a critical moment.

So on the way back, she stopped by a secondhand market and spent a few hundred to grab one that looked decent, along with a few new pairs of glasses.

This time, though, the frames were much lighter and looked better than before.

Back at her somewhat empty rental house, Jiang Mian didn't rush to wash up. Instead, she turned on the new phone and accessed a hidden little website.

This was the encrypted communication channel she'd gotten from that scalper last time, used to get in touch again.

Jiang Mian organized her words, then sent him a message:

[Still got stock? Also, do you sell info on your end? I want to ask about something—paid, of course.]

After the message was sent, there was no response from the other side, only the cursor blinking steadily in the input box.

Jiang Mian waited patiently. Dealing with these people, patience was the most basic requirement.

After about a few minutes, the other side finally replied with two messages:

[Got stock, but the price went up. Eighteen thousand a pop. They've been cracking down lately, less stuff in circulation.]

[What info do you want? Send it over, I'll price it.]

Jiang Mian was prepared and directly sent out that string of numbers.

This time, the reply came back surprisingly fast.

[Where did you see this thing?]

Jiang Mian narrowed her eyes slightly. This kind of reaction... why did it feel a bit reluctant?

[Heard about it from someone else. Don't worry about the rest. Just tell me how much to sell it. Also, that last suppressor only lasted a little over a week before it failed. Is it...]

She planned to test the waters. Selling it so expensive with such poor results made it hard for her to willingly fork over the cash.

The other side seemed to think Jiang Mian was trying to haggle and quickly replied:

[Impossible! My goods are rock-solid in quality. It's definitely a tolerance issue or your own sequence rank is high!]

[Tell you what, I'll give you a discount. Seventeen thousand a pop, plus the info, twenty-two thousand total.]

Jiang Mian snorted coldly. Who was he trying to fool? Not saying anything and asking for over twenty thousand?

[Money's not the issue. But you've got to at least give me a hint about what this code roughly refers to, right? Otherwise, how do I know if it's worth the price?]

After she sent the message, the other side's silence lasted longer than any time before.

The price for the code's info wasn't high, yet the answer was hesitant. Jiang Mian guessed it was either worthless or would affect the other side's profits.

She had speculated before that it might represent an address or contact method, but she had no one to confirm it with.

After a long while, the reply finally came, slow and late:

[Fine, if you're serious about buying. I can only say it's a communication address. If you want to find your 'same kind,' you can go check it out.]

As expected!

If that was true, for hidden mutation carriers, the actual value of this info would be equal to or even exceed that of a suppressor.

But for Jiang Mian, she'd have to think it over.

After all, she had successfully disguised herself as an Awakened now. Going to a place like that could easily expose her.

Soon, Jiang Mian made her decision.

She could choose not to go, but she couldn't afford not to know.

Buy it!

As for the price... she could still squeeze a bit more.

Seeing that she hadn't replied for a while, the other side seemed a bit anxious and sent another message:

[So? This info's worth the price, right? The exact location and entry method, I'll give them to you during the transaction.]

Jiang Mian steadied herself. She couldn't let the other side see her real thoughts, or she'd lose her leverage.

She could easily switch to another dealer instead of going through this scalper.

[Just an address, and you're making it sound so mysterious. Who knows if you just made it up.]

[No way, sis, I gotta have integrity in business. If you buy from someone else, it'd be at least five thousand...]

He's panicking, he's panicking.

A faint smile tugged at Jiang Mian's lips as she continued typing:

[Suppressor thirteen thousand, address info counts as two thousand, total fifteen thousand. Take it or leave it, I'll find someone else.]

The other party seemed worn down by her repeated haggling, or perhaps there was still profit to be made at this price, so they relented:

[Fine, fine, fifteen thousand it is. Tomorrow night at ten, North City old industrial zone, Huan Dun Construction Materials Co., Ltd., next to Warehouse No. 4. Same transaction method as usual.

The address and precautions will be sent together.]

[Got it.]

Logging off, Jiang Mian lay back on the bed, setting her phone aside as she instinctively tallied her meager finances.

Most of the money from selling her family's old house had been sunk into that slim-hope Awakening Potion.

What little remained had been largely consumed over the past month, running around to buy Suppressors and cover basic living expenses.

Counting what she'd scraped together from odd jobs, she had maybe twenty thousand left, mostly in cash.

Black market deals always ran on cash, so Jiang Mian had gotten into the habit of withdrawing her wages every time she got paid.

After tomorrow's transaction, she'd be down to less than five thousand in savings.

It looked like it could sustain her for a while, but... how long would the next Suppressor last?

Half a month? Or a week?

If the effect still wasn't ideal, she'd soon be facing Spiritual Erosion again.

Money was manageable—with her "Awakened" status, Jiang Mian could apply for a probationary position at the Public Security Bureau or City Defense and pick up some subsidies on the side. The amount wouldn't be small.

But that Training Program... that was a bit troublesome.

She hadn't heard any rumors about it before; it seemed like a hasty decision, known only to the leadership of Base City No. 144 for now.

For a normal Awakened, it would be an unmissable stepping stone upward.

But Jiang Mian's first reaction upon hearing about the program was wariness.

The official control there was the strongest, with experts gathered in droves—she might run into a high-tier Awakened just walking down the street.

And she, with a [Doom] core buried inside her, a "Calamity" mingling among a crowd of true Chosen Ones—just thinking about it was a nightmare scene.

If all five vertex sequences of the Awakened were present, one against five... she'd be minced into meat paste, wouldn't she?

In a relatively fringe place like Base City No. 144, she could still maneuver carefully.

But there, without a stable source of Suppressors, she'd be exposed sooner or later.

"Too risky. Can't go. Absolutely can't go..."

But how could she reasonably refuse, or stall?

According to the file's description, the training camp was set to start shortly after the college entrance exams, less than a month away now.

In that time, she had to figure something out.

Can't find the book by title? Try searching by author—maybe it just got renamed!