City of Light Chasing Black Market

"Three hundred thousand bits?"

"That much?"

Lin Qi's jaw dropped. He hadn't expected the White Feather Gang's deputy leader's two sons to be worth so much, or perhaps the deputy leader was just too wealthy.

In this dazzling City of Light Chasing, high-ranking gang members typically had over a dozen children, some even dozens, focusing on spreading their lineage and multiplying their blessings.

The reason for this was simple.

Martial artists changed their destiny. If even one child became a martial artist, it was like winning the lottery.

Furthermore, more children meant the family's influence would grow, leading to more resources. For someone who managed to become the deputy leader of the White Feather Gang, they wouldn't normally care too much about their children's lives or deaths, let alone offer such a sky-high reward.

Unless they had exceptional martial artist talent. But if they truly had such talent, they would have long been sent to the city's key high schools for training and wouldn't be roughing it out in the wilderness.

For the White Feather Gang's deputy leader to be willing to spend three hundred thousand for a bounty was truly beyond expectations.

"Yeah, normally they wouldn't offer such a high price. I heard the White Feather Gang suspects a faction is targeting them and specifically intercepted their shipment," Qin Mu said with a smile. "This three hundred thousand isn't so much about finding the culprits as it is about finding the faction targeting the White Feather Gang and eradicating them completely. After all, if they can intercept it once in the wild, they'll definitely do it a second and third time. This is something the White Feather Gang absolutely cannot tolerate."

"Indeed." Lin Qi nodded in agreement.

He had indeed thought about it before.

One interception yielded over a hundred kilograms of Blood Essence Rice, which was worth more than forty thousand bits. Compared to growing it himself, this was undoubtedly much faster.

However, this time it was purely accidental. If he were to actively try and intercept, it would be suicidal.

Under normal circumstances, if the six White Feather Gang members were intercepted, they would definitely use their Smart Watches to notify nearby members, allowing their identities to be confirmed immediately. But those six were planning to hoard the Crocodile Fang Rhinoceros meat for themselves, so they had disabled their Smart Watches to prevent any internal betrayal and to keep the benefits for themselves. That's how the opportunity arose.

Otherwise, instead of the White Feather Gang posting bounties, they would have already attacked.

There was also a reason why the White Feather Gang suspected other gangs in the wild.

The equipment capable of blocking Smart Watch signals wasn't something ordinary people could afford. It was usually something gangs could afford, specifically for double-crossing. That's why the White Feather Gang suspected a gang was behind this.

"I wonder which gang it is. They're really something, daring to intercept the White Feather Gang's shipment," Qin Mu said with some admiration. "The White Feather Gang, after all, is one of the top hundred gangs among the wild gangs. Although they don't have any Quasi-Martial Artists, they have several Limit Apprentices. If it wasn't a gang with a certain level of strength, they wouldn't dare to provoke them."

"Yeah." Lin Qi nodded repeatedly, putting on an expression of detachment. "I wonder which gang is so powerful."

Although he had known the White Feather Gang was not to be trifled with, he hadn't expected them to be so strong, with several Limit Apprentices. That was equivalent to having several Qin Mus. If they were discovered, it would be certain death.

"Be careful when you go out recently. Your new gang probably just established itself. Don't provoke the other gangs in the wild. If you overstep, I might not be able to protect you," Qin Mu said softly, looking at Lin Qi.

"Us? A gang?" Lin Qi's eyes were filled with surprise at Qin Mu's words.

"Isn't it the Iron Shovel Gang? Or the Shovel Shovel Gang? The Grey Robe Gang?" Qin Mu asked curiously. "I usually see you all wearing uniforms and carrying alloy shovels. Didn't you all go into the wild together yesterday?"

"Yes, that's right! I didn't expect you to notice, Brother Qin Mu," Lin Qi said with a wry smile and nodded.

He hadn't expected the players' coordinated actions to be mistaken by Qin Mu as a newly formed gang. But thinking about it, it made sense. The so-called gangs in the City of Light Chasing were just teams formed by the weak.

However, Qin Mu's misunderstanding was actually good. This way, the players who emerged from the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall in the future, and the actions of many other players, wouldn't be viewed with suspicion by the other vagrants in the abandoned areas, making things much more convenient.

"You youngsters need to be careful in the wild. Survival is paramount. Don't throw your lives away for a few bits, or you'll have nothing," Qin Mu said, patting Lin Qi's shoulder with a look of fond satisfaction after Lin Qi admitted it.

"Only with life do you have opportunity. When you develop in the future, perhaps you'll even bring some benefit to our abandoned district."

After speaking, Qin Mu turned and left, going to check other places.

"It seems those Blood Essence Rice won't be easy to sell."

Lin Qi looked at the White Feather Gang members posting bounties everywhere on the street. He realized that selling the Blood Essence Rice anytime soon would be difficult, as it would easily attract suspicion. After all, it was only suspected that other gangs were responsible for the deaths of the six White Feather Gang members.

But if unregistered vagrants suddenly started selling large quantities of Blood Essence Rice, it wouldn't be hard to imagine it being linked to the deaths of the six White Feather Gang members.

However, the meat of the Crocodile Fang Rhinoceros was also not easy to sell. After all, the Crocodile Fang Rhinoceros was a creature that only martial artists could kill. How could an unregistered vagrant possibly obtain it?

"It seems I'll have to take a risk and go to the black market." Lin Qi thought for a moment, planning to disguise himself and head to the black market.

The City of Light Chasing was vast, with a population of tens of millions. However, due to the large number of unregistered vagrants, there were also many clandestine trading markets on the outskirts of the city.

These trading markets were controlled by the major gangs in the suburbs. While called trading markets, they were essentially trading with these major gangs. There were two major benefits to trading in these markets.

First, they wouldn't inquire about the origin of the goods being sold.

Second, they wouldn't ask for identification; transactions were settled on the spot, with goods and payment exchanged immediately.

For these two reasons, too many unregistered vagrants and gang members conducted private transactions, making it harder to track goods and identities. However, there was a significant drawback: the prices of goods sold were generally much lower, essentially paying for peace of mind.

City of Light Chasing, Phosphor Fire Trading Market.

Although the sky was already very dark, with only a single moon overhead, and it was a time when ordinary residents of the City of Light Chasing were already asleep, the Phosphor Fire Trading Market was brightly lit, bustling with people.

The Phosphor Fire Trading Market was a trading market controlled by a major gang of the Half-Scale Race. As the Half-Scale Race had become increasingly dominant recently, the trading market had also become more popular.

"Buying, or selling?"

At the market's front desk, a woman with golden vertical pupils, over two meters tall, a black tail swaying back and forth, and a few scales on her cheeks, glanced at Lin Qi, who had entered the building wearing a metal mask and a petite figure. Her voice was filled with indifference.

"Both buying and selling." Lin Qi was accustomed to this and directly stated his needs.

In a high-level martial arts world, the strong reigned supreme. Often, physical size was an outward manifestation. Even though he now had the stats of a normal person, his physique hadn't changed at all.

"What are you buying? What are you selling?" the Half-Scale Race woman asked plainly.

"I need to buy batteries for a Big Three-Wheeler, and three sets of repair tools. Second-hand is fine." After speaking, Lin Qi put down the large metal box he was carrying. "This contains the Crocodile Fang Rhinoceros meat I want to sell."

"Crocodile Fang Rhinoceros meat?" The Half-Scale Race woman looked at Lin Qi with some surprise, not expecting him to have such meat to sell.

The meat of wild monsters is a treasure that enhances qi and blood. Even martial artists eat the meat of these monsters daily to accelerate their improvement. It has always been a highly sought-after commodity, and ordinary people, even if they obtained it, would save it for themselves to consume slowly, as improving one's own strength is fundamental.

"You can weigh it. If the price is right, I'll sell it all," Lin Qi didn't explain, simply opening the large metal box.

This large metal box was filled entirely with the meat Lin Qi had painstakingly cut from the Crocodile Fang Rhinoceros. Lin Qi had originally planned to bring people and push a Big Three-Wheeler over to sell it, but considering the need to conceal his identity, he decided it was better to act alone.

Although the amount he could carry at once was small, it had the advantage of being discreet.

As for letting players handle it, that would currently expose too many game-related pricing issues. Ultimately, it was best for him to handle it himself.

"It really is." The Half-Scale Race woman looked at the mass of meat brimming with potent energy and called over a Half-Scale Race guard. "Go weigh it."

The Half-Scale Race man, clad in a dark blue battle armor, walked forward and, lifting the large metal box with one hand, proceeded to the scale, as if it were a mere toy he was handling with ease.

"A6 Battle Armor?" Lin Qi looked at the battle armor worn by the Half-Scale Race guard with envy.

Battle armor was different from protective gear. The protective gear worn by Qin Mu and others during combat only offered simple protection. Battle armor, however, not only provided full-body protection but also had certain auxiliary functions, much like Iron Man's suit, enhancing the wearer's strength and speed.

An A6 Battle Armor could allow an elite apprentice to possess the strength and speed of an elite quasi-martial artist, and it would be difficult for a quasi-martial artist to damage an A6 Battle Armor.

"Not bad," the Half-Scale Race woman nodded and said with a smile, "Let me reintroduce myself, my name is Xia Ling. If you like it, little brother, it's not impossible for us at Phosphor Fire to sell this model of battle armor."

"How much?" Lin Qi asked curiously.

"Eight million Bits for a new one. If it's second-hand, it's only six million," Xia Ling smiled, not minding at all whether Lin Qi could afford it.

"Good stuff. If I have the chance in the future, I'll consider it." Lin Qi watched the Half-Scale Race guard return with the heavy scale. To say he didn't want one would be a lie.

This was a good item that could allow an elite apprentice to suppress an elite quasi-martial artist. If he had one, confronting the entire White Feather Gang alone wouldn't be impossible.

"It weighs a total of 167.3 kilograms," the Half-Scale Race guard replied.

"Over a hundred kilograms?" Xia Ling nodded and looked at Lin Qi. "How about this, little brother? The market price for Crocodile Fang Rhinoceros meat is 670 Bits per kilogram. Since you're selling a considerable amount, I can give you 650 Bits per kilogram. I'll round up the total for this meat, how about 109,000 Bits?"

"Deal." Lin Qi was a bit surprised by Xia Ling's generous offer. If he didn't make money from this, he'd be a fool. The weight was also about what he had estimated. "Then, what about the items I want?"

"Three sets of repair tools, I'll give them to you as a gift. As for the battery for the Big Three-Wheeler, how about 19,000 Bits?" Xia Ling said with a smile. "If you agree, I can transfer 90,000 Bits to you now. Of course, you can have cash too."

"Cash, please. I feel more at ease with cash." Lin Qi chose cash without hesitation. Electronic transfers could be easily tracked, but cash could not.

"Alright." Xia Ling looked up at the guard beside her. "Go get the items."

The Half-Scale Race guard didn't hesitate at all and went to retrieve the items Lin Qi wanted and the Bits.

It wasn't until Lin Qi left the trading room with all his belongings that the Half-Scale Race guard beside Xia Ling spoke.

"Miss, the meat of the Crocodile Fang Rhinoceros is rare. Perhaps I should go investigate that young man's background right now?" The Half-Scale Race guard looked at the departing Lin Qi, his gaze becoming sharp.