Smack!
As the Game Pod's lid slowly opened, the nutrient solution surrounding his body drained through the holes around him. Qin Ye exited the virtual interface and slammed a fist into the controller beside him.
"What a trash game. What the hell is this one-hour cooldown?"
Remembering how a suddenly spawned pack of Blood Corpses had mobbed him to death just as he was about to kill the level 10 Furyburst Bug, Qin Ye couldn't help swearing again.
He stood up and left the Game Pod, sat down on the sofa, and opened his bank account to start transferring money.
There were three transfers in total.
They went to the captains of the three squads that had provided him with finishing blows.
If he wanted to keep buying finishing blows in the future, trustworthiness was essential. He didn't want to cut off that avenue for himself.
For all his cursing, after experiencing it firsthand, he had fallen completely in love with the game.
Its incredible freedom, its scene modeling and physical feedback with 100% realism, its limitless map to explore... Of all these advantages, what hooked him most were the endlessly expandable combinations of abilities and the tangible effects of his enhanced stats after leveling up.
The physical prowess to leap several meters high and shatter rocks with a punch offered a joy he couldn't experience in reality.
But when he thought of its biggest drawback-entering a revival cooldown upon dying in the game-he still couldn't help cursing inwardly.
To him, this mechanic was purely a scarcity-marketing tactic by the Eclipse Race. There was absolutely no need to add it; it did nothing but frustrate players.
After completing the transfers, he went into the bathroom to wash up, changed his clothes, and stepped outside.
A magnificent underground space unfolded before him. Numerous burning energy torches hung from the rock ceiling overhead, illuminating the underground world.
Intelligent beings of all shapes could be seen walking around.
Green-skinned Steelbone Orcs, Abyssal Fishfolk with gill markings on their faces, Obsidian Folk whose bodies were made of rock... It was a mixed crowd. Besides humans like him, there were large numbers of other races.
These other races were all beings who had fled to Earth from other worlds.
Their worlds had all been invaded by some mysterious force, leaving them on the brink of collapse. Only a tiny number of their people had managed to tear open space and flee here.
Of all the factions that had fled here, the Eclipse Race was the strongest.
According to the first members of the Eclipse Race to arrive on Earth, when their world was facing collapse, they had opened eighteen spatial passageways connected to other worlds and fled to different worlds through them.
One group had arrived on Earth.
These members of the Eclipse Race were also the only Alien Races Faction to relocate to the moon after arriving on Earth and build a new city there.
The underground space he was in was called the Cavern Trading Market. Located on the border of the Human Federation's territory, it was a place where the Human Federation and other races exchanged intelligence, goods, and technology. It was administered by the Allied Races Council, jointly established by the various races.
There were eleven other trading centers like it on Earth.
He was a grade D administrator stationed by the Human Federation at the Cavern Trading Market. One of his duties was patrolling District D of the market and resolving problems between races.
Although they were all intelligent beings, the different habits bred by their different living environments and cultures made this place a mixed bag, with conflicts and disputes frequently breaking out.
"Move! You're in the way!"
Just then, a force came from behind and shoved Qin Ye aside.
He stumbled two steps before steadying himself and turning to look. A Stone Giant over three meters tall walked past him without looking back, heading toward the trading area.
"Damn you, take a good look at who I am!"
Hearing him, the Stone Giant whipped his head around and glared at Qin Ye with two enormous eyes like black gemstones.
When he saw the grade D administrator badge on Qin Ye's chest, his fierce expression instantly turned friendly.
"I'm terribly sorry, Administrator. Please don't hold it against me."
The humble apology came through the translator at the Stone Giant's neck.
"If I catch you causing trouble again, I'll blacklist you. Then you won't be entering the Cavern Trading Market anymore."
With the Stone Giant apologizing repeatedly behind him, Qin Ye headed into the market and began his patrol for the day.
The entire market resembled an intricate maze, divided into eight trading districts. He was responsible for the market in District D.
"Earth Spirit Stones from the Mogu World! Suitable for any equipment that needs charging! Extra-long battery life-one is better than six!"
"Rapid-Growth Grass, a specialty of the Abyssal World! Grows even in contaminated soil, matures every sixty-eight days! Buy some and never worry about food and drink again!"
"Spirit-Breaking Shield from the Mystic Cavern World! This is the very last one! Carry it with you to ward off unexpected attacks! Automatic defense-it could save your life when it counts!"
As he walked, stalls run by merchants of various races lined both sides of the road, their sales pitches ringing out nonstop.
Qin Ye stopped in front of a stall.
The stallholder was a green-skinned dwarf wearing the Iron Helm, its lights flashing in alternation. He barely reached Qin Ye's chest, and his body was adorned with numerous items covered in green runes.
"Old Black, you haven't been causing trouble lately, have you?"
"Of course not. We of the Green Goblin Race love peace more than anything." A shrill voice came from the translator around the green-skinned dwarf's neck.
Qin Ye couldn't help rolling his eyes.
The Green Goblin Race looked frail but was extremely aggressive, making it one of the Alien Races Factions that gave him the biggest headaches in the trading district he managed.
He crouched down, picked up a glowing green stone from the stall, and examined it closely.
"What's this? I haven't seen you selling it before."
At his question, the green-skinned dwarf immediately pointed at the green gemstone and introduced it.
"This is one of our race's cutting-edge core technologies. We call it a Psionic Bomb. It's made by altering the internal structure of energy stone, and it's incredibly powerful. We wouldn't be selling it if we weren't almost too broke to eat."
Qin Ye was startled to hear this.
"This thing isn't dangerous, is it?"
"It's not. Naturally, we follow the market's rules. We would never bring exceptionally hazardous items into the market. This Psionic Bomb is made from the lowest-grade spirit stone, and it won't explode on its own. You have to leave a mental imprint on it first, throw it, then trigger it with your mind. Only then will its internal structure break down and cause an explosion."
After hearing the explanation, Qin Ye breathed a sigh of relief.
"How much is it?"
"One hundred Earth Coins."
The hundred Earth Coins the green-skinned dwarf mentioned did not refer to the currency commonly used within the Human Federation.
Earth Coins originated over two hundred years ago as a new currency jointly established by the Eclipse Race, the Human Federation, the Great Barbarian Race, and other Alien Races Factions. They were also the common currency among Earth's various races and could be used to purchase needed resources and technology from them.
The Human Federation's own currency was called Credits and was used only internally.
"Is the technology available for transfer?" Qin Ye asked the crucial question.
Before becoming a grade D administrator, he had worked at the Federation Institute of Technology as an analyst of other races' technology.
Dispatched to the Cavern Trading Market by the Human Federation, he was tasked not only with keeping the trading district running smoothly but also with finding important technology for the Human Federation.
"As long as you pay, the technology isn't a problem."
"I need to test its power before deciding whether to buy it. Here's a hundred Earth Coins."
With that, Qin Ye pulled a silver card from his pocket.
The display on the front of the card had a field for entering numbers.
Qin Ye entered 100 in the field, then swiped the card across the machine on the green-skinned dwarf's stall.
Beep!
Accompanied by a crisp electronic tone, a payment-complete notification appeared on the machine.