Li Qinwu waved a hand.
"Nothing like that. Hurry up and pay me!"
Black Merchant Nipall still could not believe it.
"But my informant said some naked idiot charged into the Chemical Gang's compound and blew himself up. He said that naked idiot was you!"
Li Qinwu said, "No, no. If it were me, wouldn't I be dead? How could I be here? Hurry up and pay me."
The Black Merchant said, "But... but..."
Li Qinwu's face darkened.
"Right, right, right, that was me. A 35-kilogram bomb blew me into molecules, then the old God-Emperor reached down and scooped me up. AUV, guess what happened? I came back to life!
"Now hurry up and pay me!"
Black Merchant Nipall fell silent. He stared at Li Qinwu as his mind raced wildly. In the end, he gave up trying to satisfy his curiosity about Li Qinwu. Considering the practical reality, he handed over 10,000.
Li Qinwu took the money and counted it himself, utterly unconcerned about any secrets being exposed.
This was the world of Warhammer 40,000. All kinds of damn monsters and freaks ran rampant here, and bizarre things were everywhere.
What was so strange about someone who had died one second showing up to demand money the next? Maybe they were two people who looked alike. Maybe he was a clone. Maybe he was a Perpetual.
In any case, in a world where Daemons walked the streets and world-ending technology flew through the skies, everyone had their own little secrets. Those secrets did not matter. What mattered was the real-world calculation of benefits.
Black Merchant Nipall shook the chaotic thoughts from his head. Watching Li Qinwu rapidly count the money, he figured this guy had made nearly seventy or eighty thousand from him already. He had to get some of it back.
After clearing his throat, he said, "My kind customer, after so many collaborations, our friendship has grown stronger. Perhaps you should take a look deeper inside my cozy little shop. I have many novel items that may interest you~"
Ding! Black Merchant Nipall's favorability has risen from Lv. 1 to Lv. 2. A large number of products have been unlocked!
Li Qinwu's eyes lit up. "Quick, show me!"
The two entered the deeper part of the Black Merchant's shop. It was filled with large equipment and all kinds of miscellaneous junk, apparently scavenged from who knew which dump.
Among the large machines, several items immediately caught Li Qinwu's attention.
High-Temperature High-Pressure Hydraulic Press: This was the core piece of equipment for upgrading the Workbench to Lv. 3. It could be used to press armor, shell casings, and DIY firearm components.
Ammunition Powder Mixer: Used to press ammunition and produce large-caliber rounds with high armor penetration.
Ceramite Powder Purification Mixer: This was used to make ceramite armor. It crushed and purified Ceramite Powder, mixed it with metal powder, and fed it into the High-Temperature High-Pressure Hydraulic Press to press ceramite armor.
As for the prices, the High-Temperature High-Pressure Hydraulic Press cost 120,000, the Ammunition Powder Mixer cost 30,000, and the Ceramite Powder Purification Mixer cost 80,000.
The Black Merchant also had different grades of ammunition powder for making different grades of bullets, as well as Ceramite Powder of different specifications for making different grades of ceramite armor.
When Li Qinwu saw that everything needed to upgrade the Fabrication Station to Lv. 3 was available from the Black Merchant, he was quite happy. But once he saw the prices, his face instantly fell.
He had worked himself half to death and only had 85,000 in his pocket. The damn total was 230,000. He could not afford any of it!
The Black Merchant laughed when he saw Li Qinwu's bitter expression.
He knew Li Qinwu had taken the bait. His precious treasures had firmly hooked this mysterious man's heart. From now on, he would work like mad to earn money and buy these entertaining items that had been sitting in storage for far too long~
Li Qinwu sighed. "Do you have any more work for me?"
The Black Merchant smiled and shook his head.
"Not for the time being, but you can come back and check later."
Li Qinwu looked longingly at the three machines and asked timidly, "Could I..."
"No credit!"
The Black Merchant refused before he could finish.
"Ah!"
Li Qinwu let out another sigh. The Black Merchant asked with a smile, "My kind customer, would you like to buy something?"
Li Qinwu said gloomily, "Give me a gas mask."
After taking the item and paying, he walked out of the Black Merchant's shop and returned to the Hideout in a daze.
He felt awful. He wanted money! But where was he supposed to get it?
By the logic of a looter-shooter game, there were two ways to make money: enter maps, kill people, do missions, search for loot—or resell goods.
But his Hideout was too low-level. It barely produced anything valuable enough to sell, so he felt miserable.
Still, it was not entirely true that he had no high-end products. The Holy Oil produced by the Emperor Shrine was something extremely valuable.
Not only was it valuable, it was even a little overpowered!
It could remove Chaos Corruption. Eating one Holy Biscuit made from it immediately made a person feel purified, and it even increased mental power.
This stuff was utterly ridiculous, but in a trash heap like the Lower Hive, it was truly a pearl buried in dust!
If he could get a Holy Biscuit to the planetary governor or an Imperial Cult priest, he should be able to open up a market.
But the problem was that he could neither reach people of that stature nor protect such heaven-defying wealth. What was he supposed to do?
After lamenting on the bed for a while, Li Qinwu could only tidy himself up and get ready to do a mission.
He was going to do Reno's mission for the Clean Water Guild, and while he was at it, bring some food oil back from the Safe Zone to make Holy Oil.
Li Qinwu began preparing. He put on a PDF helmet, then wrapped two iron plates around his arms and calves.
He stuffed six poison gas grenades and two smoke grenades into his backpack, then tucked his pistol into his waistband.
Finally, he picked up a water pipe as long as two arms, weighed it in his hand, and found it very handy.
He had found this water pipe in the ruins. It was a standard Clean Water Guild model. One end was very sharp, apparently cut off from something before, and could be used for stabbing.
The other end had a 90-degree connector fitted onto it, making that end heavier like a hammer and easier to swing.
The 90-degree connector bore the Clean Water Guild's logo. If he hit hard enough, he could stamp that logo right into someone's flesh.
Li Qinwu wrapped a strip of cloth around the pipe, picked up his gas mask, and strode toward the Safe Zone.
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