Killing Intent Hidden in the Price Premium

Gan Ming's breathing remained steady,

but his heartbeat quickened slightly.

He raised the priority of the four words "Iron Arc Guild" several levels in his mind.

Fortunately, the bodies had been gnawed clean by the Hounds, leaving not even scraps behind, and the four identity cards had been ground into powder.

All the equipment was in his Storage Ring. Not a single piece had leaked out.

The bloodstained clothes had all been disposed of.

The security personnel at the outpost registration desk had only seen a filthy new independent Awakened. There were no flaws in his cover.

Still, he had to be more cautious.

For example, he could not sell their belongings through any traceable channels.

For now, he would seal everything away and not touch a single item.

He could deal with fencing the goods later.

This was getting troublesome.

"Sir? Sir?"

Zhou Sheng's voice pulled him back.

"Mm?"

"We're here."

Gan Ming looked up.

The twelve-story Awakened Association building was already ahead and to the right.

It was not even eight in the morning, yet scattered groups of Awakened were already lining up at the entrance for security checks.

"Wait nearby for me," Gan Ming said as he pushed open the car door. "I'll go in, finish my business, then we'll head to Tunnel Zone Seven."

"Got it!" Zhou Sheng nodded. "I'll park by the roadside. Just get in when you come out."

Gan Ming closed the car door and took two steps before suddenly turning back.

"Old Zhou."

"Here!"

"There's something you said before that I think was quite right."

Zhou Sheng froze. "Which thing?"

"The Association may be shady, but at least it's safe."

With that, Gan Ming turned and walked toward the Association entrance.

Inside the car, Zhou Sheng looked up and tried to remember.

"Did I say that...? I think I did."

He chuckled, reclined his seat, and pulled out his phone to browse the news.

A local news alert popped up on the screen.

The headline read: [Western Ruins Zone of City 61 Officially Cleansed This Morning. Invasion Progress Reduced to Zero. Area Enters Lockdown and Reconstruction Phase.]

Zhou Sheng glanced at the headline and swiped it away.

He swiped his card at the Association entrance and went through security.

Gan Ming went up to the third floor.

There were seven or eight people lined up at the counter in the materials recycling area, noticeably more than yesterday afternoon.

Gan Ming stood at the back of the line and glanced around.

Most of the Awakened in line were in teams of two or three.

Some placed their Storage Rings on the counter while muttering, "Pretty lucky today," while others whispered to their companions that material prices had gone up.

Gan Ming's ears twitched when he heard that.

Material prices had risen?

After waiting around ten minutes, it was finally his turn.

The middle-aged staff member with glasses from yesterday was still behind the counter.

Seeing Gan Ming, the man showed no reaction and picked up a handheld scanner.

"Put the materials here."

Gan Ming took eight Rustclaw Hound corpses from his ring.

Eight.

No more, no less.

In truth, his ring held far more than that.

Over a dozen Hounds, several Rust-armored Scorpions, a few Grayrock Giant Lizards, and an intact Red-armored Elite Giant Scorpion corpse.

The recycling price for that Elite Giant Scorpion alone was conservatively estimated at sixty or seventy Contribution Points or more.

But he had not taken out a single one.

The reasoning was simple.

The Ruins Zone had been sealed off today.

The Iron Arc Guild had searched the mountains overnight.

The Security Bureau had deployed more than a dozen vehicles.

At a time like this, there was no way to hide the fact that he had hunted monsters in the Ruins Zone.

After all, he had swiped his identity card when entering the Fallen Zone. The registration records were there in black and white.

So he could only sell a small amount of material.

An Awakened who had entered the Ruins Zone returned without selling any materials at all?

That was even stranger than selling too much.

Once they investigated, they would find that he had entered the Fallen Zone and killed monsters, yet there was no record of any sale at the Association.

Could a level-ten-something independent newbie have gone to the Civilian Commerce Association instead?

Or had he failed to kill even a single monster?

But... who would believe that?

Therefore, he had to sell materials, but not too many.

A black-market resident who had clawed his way out of the Lower District, on only his second day after Awakening, piled twenty or thirty monster corpses onto the counter at once?

Who would believe it?

Where had the monsters come from?

How could someone wearing crude basic gear possibly beat them?

Wasn't he supposed to have the Iron Wall Talent?

That strong?

Each question was harder to answer than the last.

Eight Hounds were just right.

No more, no less. It fit the output of an independent Awakened at level ten-something,

who had struggled alone in the Ruins Zone for an entire afternoon.

It would not draw attention at a glance.

The scanner beeped several times as it passed over the corpses.

The man with glasses looked up at Gan Ming.

"Rustclaw Hounds, level-eleven range, well preserved. Eight of them."

He tapped a few times on the terminal, and a number appeared on the screen.

"Ten Contribution Points each. Eighty total. Confirm?"

Gan Ming raised an eyebrow.

Ten Contribution Points?

Yesterday, in the outer Woodland,

he had sold more than ten Iron Bristle Wild Boars and two Withered Wood Treants

for only forty Contribution Points altogether.

Today, eight Hounds were worth eighty?

Of course, Rustclaw Hound materials were indeed better than those level-three boars from the Woodland, but there was no way they should be worth this much more.

"Why is it so high?" Gan Ming asked.

The man with glasses did not even look up as he placed the scanner back on its stand.

"The Ruins Zone was cleansed this morning. There won't be any new monsters there for a while."

"Once the inventory is used up, we'll have to wait for a new zone to open or transfer supplies from other cities, so recycling prices have risen somewhat."

He tapped the keyboard twice and pointed at the screen.

"Several production-type Awakened have been buying Rustclaw Hound hides and claws these past two days. Your batch is in good condition, all intact corpses with barely any damage. Ten points each is already today's standard price."

"You got lucky. If you'd sold them yesterday, you would've gotten six or seven points at most."

Lucky?

Heh.

Gan Ming nodded calmly on the surface, but sneered inwardly.

Ten Contribution Points for one Hound.

This price was not merely high. It was absurdly high.

The Ruins Zone had indeed been cleansed,

materials were scarce, and recycling prices had risen,

so there was nothing wrong with that logic itself.

But jumping directly from six or seven points to ten?

An increase of nearly fifty percent?

Just because a low-risk area had been cleansed?

There were so many Fallen Zones around City 61, and Rustclaw Hounds were not some rare species.

If materials were truly scarce, similar monsters could still be found in the South District Old Industrial Park and Tunnel Zone Seven.

Unless...

This price was not a normal supply-and-demand fluctuation.

Someone was pushing it from behind the scenes.

At that thought, Gan Ming felt a chill run down his back.

Lu Guangshan had searched the Ruins Zone overnight but failed to find anyone.

The Security Bureau had stepped in, and they had the entry and exit registration records.

What would they do next?

Investigate people.

How?

There were dozens of names on the list. Would they screen them one by one?

Too slow.

The fastest method was to see who came to sell materials from the Ruins Zone.

The Ruins Zone was now sealed.

So anyone who came to the Association after today to sell monster materials from the Ruins Zone

had either failed to sell them yesterday or stockpiled them while waiting for prices to rise.

No matter which it was, the more they had, the more worthy they were of investigation.

An independent Awakened selling dozens of Hounds, lizards, and an Elite Giant Scorpion?

That was no different from sticking a note on his own face saying, "I'm suspicious."

Gan Ming pressed his finger on the confirmation button, yet felt slightly relieved instead.

Eight. The number was just right.