Sharp Edge

"300,000 Bits?"

Lin Qi frowned slightly, his expression turning a bit grim.

For him, 300,000 Bits was neither a lot nor a little at the moment.

He currently had about a ton of Crocodile Fang Rhinoceros meat left. Selling it directly would easily net him 600,000 Bits. However, selling a whole ton of Crocodile Fang Rhinoceros meat at once would attract too much attention from the Phosphor Fire Gang. Even selling half of it would still draw their suspicion.

After all, the quantity was too immense for an individual to handle.

"I told you, you should just pretend she doesn't exist," the three-eyed youth said sympathetically. "Luo Qi is indeed a good person, but getting involved in gang disputes in the wilderness is something we ordinary people can't do anything about."

While 300,000 Bits was easily affordable for the Azure Crystal Weapon Shop, it was an astronomical sum for residents living in the City of Light Chasing.

"Gangs?" Lin Qi took a deep breath, his gaze firming up. "If ordinary people can't do anything, then I won't be ordinary."

Even if it meant exposing the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, so be it.

He had to save her. Luo Qi was the first friend he had made who had risked their life for him since arriving in the High Martial world. As for the money, he couldn't just hand it over. Not unless the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall wanted to perish before winter, or risk the White Feather Gang discovering the source of the ransom and coming after him directly.

He had to admit, the White Feather Gang had a knack for crossing his path. Demanding 300,000 Bits from him, a wanted individual, without fear of choking on it.

Now, he only had one option.

Fight!

He truly didn't believe that with his "fourth natural disaster" ability, he couldn't outmaneuver a wilderness gang!

"Could you do me a favor?"

"What favor?"

"Since you know about this, you must be able to contact those people from the White Feather Gang. Tell them that in three days, it's cash for person. If anything happens to her, they won't get their money!"

"You can really come up with 300,000 Bits?"

The three-eyed youth looked at Lin Qi, whose clothes had a few patches, his face filled with astonishment. He couldn't understand how Lin Qi would gather 300,000 Bits.

"Just help me deliver the message. If you're unwilling, you can also give me their contact information, and I'll speak to them myself." Lin Qi had no intention of explaining. He glanced at the Outlander Gunslinger and Peerless One Shot, who were standing dumbfounded next to the Big Three-Wheeler. "Hurry up and move!"

"Yes!"

Hearing this, the two snapped back to reality, their faces filled with excitement and joy.

Big news!

Truly big news!

"Coming out this time was definitely the right decision," the Outlander Gunslinger said, his hands trembling slightly as he moved the ore. "I never expected to hear such news. Is this the prelude to a fight with the White Feather Gang?"

"Just as I guessed, the next step should be to trigger a combat instance through the Guild Master's storyline!" Peerless One Shot said excitedly. "I wonder if we'll have a chance to participate this time."

"I don't know if we'll have a chance, but I remember last time Brother Zhen and the others went to the new map, the mission had clear physical fitness requirements. I guess the upcoming combat instance will be the same," the Outlander Gunslinger thought for a moment, then said anxiously. "After we return from this mission, I must step up my breathing technique training and rapidly improve my physical fitness."

"In that case, I won't go offline until the instance opens. I'll just keep practicing the breathing technique," Peerless One Shot gritted his teeth.

While the Outlander Gunslinger and Peerless One Shot were frantically moving ore, the three-eyed youth also took out a piece of paper.

"My name is Kro. This is my contact information." The three-eyed youth, Kro, looked at Lin Qi, who was about to save someone, with admiration. "I'll contact the White Feather Gang. I believe they wouldn't want to offend the Azure Crystal Weapon Shop too much. Knowing there's a ransom, they probably won't do anything to Luo Qi."

"I really didn't expect Luo Qi to have a friend like you. This is truly her good fortune."

"Thank you for your trouble." Lin Qi took the piece of paper, looking at the three-eyed youth, Kro, with surprise.

At a time like this, when others would avoid the situation, Kro's willingness to step forward and contact the White Feather Gang showed that he was a decent person.

In less than an hour, Lin Qi had handed over all the transported ore to the Azure Crystal Weapon Shop, earning 600 Bits.

At the same time, he purchased twenty portions of food and water, along with twenty alloy shovels, spending a full 2,000 Bits. It could be said that he had spent almost all his money, leaving him with less than a thousand Bits.

"There are less than three days left. I must frantically improve the strength of the martial arts hall during this time."

The moment Lin Qi returned to the Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, he immediately instructed the system to start introducing players. All twenty slots were filled without a single one remaining.

Instantly, the official evaluation section of High Martial Descent exploded.

"What's going on? How did so many slots suddenly appear?"

"Twenty slots released at once? Is the developer planning a massive giveaway?"

"Nearly 100,000 people competing for twenty slots. Can't the developer make more money? Like opening a VIP channel for the top ten highest spenders to enter the game directly?"

"Developer, please! I'm a miner who's been digging holes for thirty years. If you let me in, I'll definitely dig out a grand underground world for you. I don't even want points."

"Dear developer! I'm a martial arts genius. As long as you let me in, you can test me however you want, and I guarantee you'll be satisfied!"

"Brother above, can you do the splits?"

"I'm ready. I've pre-ordered High Martial Descent for my parents and siblings, and I even sold a house we rarely live in. I'm just waiting to enter the game. Developer, please let me in, considering my sincerity!"

The official evaluation section of High Martial Descent, with the system's announcement of twenty slots, was more active than ever, even though it was late at night.

"What's going on with this game?"

Li Ranxing opened the evaluation section of High Martial Descent and was momentarily bewildered. He felt it wasn't a game evaluation at all, but a game forum. Players were using the reviews section as a discussion board. This kind of game situation was absolutely unprecedented in his gaming experience.

Moreover, the players in this game were either selling their houses or begging the developers to open a top-up channel. It made Li Ranxing suspect that these people were actually paid promoters for the game, deliberately creating artificial scarcity.

"One game is 4999, and a revival for a test is 198 each time?" Li Ranxing looked at the game description, suddenly wondering if Fang Zhen was a shill for this game, deliberately tricking him into playing.

However, Li Ranxing still thought about it and decided to give it a try. After all, he was stuck at a bottleneck, and Fang Zhen had been making rapid progress. Trying it wouldn't make things worse, not to mention he wasn't short on money.

While the pre-order players were going wild, Lin Qi, far away in the High Martial world, drove a Big Three-Wheeler to the Phosphor Fire Trading Market with Luo Wu Shang and six other players whose physical condition had reached Quasi-Apprentice level.

Xia Ling watched the six players, dressed in uniform attire, bring in a large metal box. Her gaze couldn't help but drift to Lin Qi beside her, a smile and enthusiasm she'd never shown before appearing on her face.

"Mr. Lin, I didn't expect you to be back so soon."

"My previous business with Miss Xia was very pleasant, and now that there's something good, I immediately thought of Miss Xia."

Lin Qi responded with the same polite enthusiasm as Xia Ling approached him.

This time, to deal with the White Feather Gang, he had no choice but to take a risk and sell all the Crocodile Fang Rhinoceros meat at once. Therefore, he brought all the players he could muster.

Although none of these players were Martial Apprentices, it could indirectly prove that he wasn't alone but had backing.

As for the size of this backing, he'd let Xia Ling guess.

If she guessed too high, he'd benefit. If she guessed too low, it would just be some wilderness gang, and he'd lose nothing. After all, any wilderness gang had over two hundred people, usually with an Apprentice in charge. The Phosphor Fire Gang wouldn't dare to directly confront a wilderness gang just for some Crocodile Fang Rhinoceros meat.

Xia Ling would never have guessed that he only had a small martial arts hall without even an Apprentice, with a total of only eleven people. The strongest group was all standing here.

"Is this transaction the same as before?" Xia Ling was even happier upon hearing this and couldn't help but want to confirm.

"Of course," Lin Qi nodded.

"Great! Please follow me!" Xia Ling clapped her hands and then led Lin Qi into the transaction room.

After Xia Ling clapped her hands, one of the two Half-Scale Race men in armor who had been following her led the other Half-Scale Race guards away. The other one followed them into the transaction room and stood guard at the entrance, not allowing anyone else to enter.

"How much does Mr. Lin plan to sell this time?" Xia Ling glanced at the large metal box and, without having it weighed, said with a smile, "If Mr. Lin sells a lot, I can offer a higher price."

"1282.6 kilograms," Lin Qi stated the total weight without hesitation.

He had to admit that the Crocodile Fang Rhinoceros was heavy. Even though most of it had been eaten by other monsters, the remaining portion still exceeded his expectations.

"So much?" Xia Ling's charming face showed surprise.

"Can Miss Xia handle it?" Lin Qi looked at Xia Ling and teased, "If you can't, I can talk to others."

"Although the quantity is large, it's not a problem for me," Xia Ling flicked her tail and smiled faintly. "Since Mr. Lin is selling so much at once, I will make sure Mr. Lin is satisfied. 670 Bits per kilogram, totaling 859,342 Bits. As I said before, a larger quantity means a higher price, so how about 860,000 Bits?"

"Good! Miss Xia is indeed straightforward!" Lin Qi nodded and then said, "Besides selling this meat, I also want to buy a signal jamming device, a used one will do."

Last time, due to good luck, the six members of the White Feather Gang had turned off their Smart Watches. Now, to deal with the White Feather Gang, a signal jamming device was essential. Otherwise, if the White Feather Gang called for reinforcements, his small group wouldn't be enough to even scratch their teeth.

"That's easy. How large a jamming range does Mr. Lin need?" Xia Ling wasn't surprised that Lin Qi needed a jamming device, as any gang in the City of Light Chasing needed one to conduct their business smoothly. "For a one-kilometer range jamming device, I charge 200,000. For a three-kilometer range, it's 500,000. If it's ten kilometers, it's 4 million. These prices are non-negotiable."