Sang Luoluo gave a slight nod. "Mm, we'll talk when I have more stock."
Sang Luoluo left, pulling her suitcase.
Not knowing whether anyone was following her, Sang Luoluo went to the pharmacy she had picked out and asked whether they had any genetic medicine.
Just as the general store owner had told her, it had to be ordered in advance. There was none in stock.
Sang Luoluo could only pay a deposit of 100,000 points. The owner would contact her when the medicine arrived.
Walking around the black market on crutches was inconvenient. Once her leg healed, she could come here more often. No one here would dwell on her real identity, and all transactions were conducted on the spot, so she did not have to worry about this and that.
Sang Luoluo took the elevator out of the black market and walked several streets on crutches before switching to her wheelchair and going home.
Now she only needed to wait for news of the genetic medicine.
In the morning, after Sang Luoluo left her space, her room felt particularly hot. She checked the weather forecast: radiation levels in the wilderness had risen, and going outside was not advised.
She did not want to go out in weather this hot anyway. She plugged in her wheelchair to charge and stayed in her space with Chuanchuan, making food. The kitchen's gas cylinder was empty, and the batteries were nearly depleted too. She needed to buy some.
By the time she finished cooking and came out, it was already five in the afternoon.
The messages on her wristwatch refreshed.
[Beep, beep, beep. Hello, Eating Expert. The genetic medicine you ordered has arrived. Please come to the night market tonight and present your pickup code to collect it.]
Sang Luoluo had not expected it to arrive so quickly. She would have to visit the night market again tonight.
Sang Luoluo left at seven thirty. The weather was so hot that even nightfall could not dispel the muggy air. She took out a cup of Spirit Spring water and gulped it down to her heart's content before speeding up toward the black market.
After finding her way inside with ease, she went to the pharmacy on crutches, showed her pickup code, and paid the remaining 200,000 points. Sang Luoluo successfully collected the genetic medicine, which was stored in a rechargeable refrigerated carrying case. She checked the code on the medicine. It was indeed produced by the base, with no problems.
She took her things and left.
Account holder: [Eating Expert] Balance: 410730. [Beep, beep, beep. Auction No. 1 begins at nine tonight. You are invited to attend.]
Sang Luoluo's wristwatch chimed. Auction No. 1? A black-market auction might have some good things. I want to take a look.
The message included an invitation, the exact location of Auction No. 1, and some of its procedures and rules. People could come here to bid on things or sell things.
Sang Luoluo read through them and found it quite interesting.
Of course, food was the most valuable thing in this world. It could also be used directly in trades, provided the price offered was right.
Sang Luoluo happened to have time, so she followed the navigation to Auction House No. 1, limping along on her crutches.
By the time Sang Luoluo arrived, more than a hundred people had already gathered.
Before entering, she had to scan her wristwatch to prove she had sufficient assets to participate in the auction.
"Hello, do you have anything you would like to auction?"
At that, Sang Luoluo pushed her suitcase over and said quietly, "It's all in here."
The staff member opened the suitcase and found it full of apples. Surprised, he weighed them, and his attitude immediately became even more courteous. "Based on market prices, we value zero-radiation apples at 155 points per jin. There are 121 jin here altogether, so the starting bid will be 18,755 points. Once the sale is completed, Auction No. 1 will charge a five-percent commission."
"No problem."
The staff immediately took the goods away to queue for auction. Sang Luoluo could view the specific auction details on the wristwatch registered to [Eating Expert].
There were two minutes left before the auction began. Sang Luoluo found an empty seat off to the side and sat down to wait.
"Now, please welcome tonight's first lot: a C-grade Crystal Core with an energy value of 5,000. The starting bid is 50,000 points."
Sang Luoluo's eyes lit up at the words "Crystal Core."
I can find Crystal Cores in the black market too? That's wonderful. I have to win it, no matter how high the price.
"60,000 points."
"70,000."
Sang Luoluo bid, "100,000!"
Some people turned to look toward Sang Luoluo. She had offered 30,000 points more than the last bidder, and that was no small sum.
The staff member looked toward Sang Luoluo. "Does anyone here wish to raise the bid? Three, two, one! Congratulations to this customer on winning this C-grade Crystal Core."
Someone immediately brought the Crystal Core over and presented it to Sang Luoluo. The moment she picked it up, that familiar pull returned.
Chapter 36: Laser weapons & an invitation: Are you willing to join the ex...
After confirming everything was in order, Sang Luoluo transferred 100,000 points under the staff member's watchful eye.
The second lot was already being brought out. It was a large item, and several staff members were busy carrying it up. Seeing this, Sang Luoluo tossed her newly acquired Crystal Core into her space.
Right before her eyes, a one-square-meter pool beside the Spirit Spring water unlocked inside her space.
The pearl mussels she had placed there were inside, and Sang Luoluo could reach in and take them out.
Nourished by the spring water, the pearls had particularly beautiful colors and were quite large. Before transmigrating, she had often harvested them and strung them together as gifts for her elders.
Thinking about her life before transmigrating made Sang Luoluo a little homesick.
While she was reminiscing, the staff began introducing the second lot.
"The second lot coming up now is the meat of an edible wild boar, with a radiation value of 57. The entire boar weighs 1,056 jin. At 66 points per jin, the starting bid is 70,000 points."
Sang Luoluo naturally noticed the boar's size. No wonder it had taken so long to carry it out. She recalled the mutated tiger the S17 Guard Team had killed the last time she went out with them. It had been even bigger than this mutated wild boar. Unfortunately, the larger a mutated animal was, the higher its radiation level and the worse its meat smelled. Edible mutated wild boars like this were hard to find.
Seeing how enthusiastically they competed for food, driving the bid up to 120,000 points in no time, Sang Luoluo had no interest.
Next came some low-radiation vegetables produced by the base, sold in separate lots of a dozen or several dozen jin. The starting prices were high, but plenty of people fought over them.
The wealthy did not care about spending those few points at all.
Sang Luoluo waited to see whether any suitable weapons would appear.
As the auction neared its end, weapons finally did appear.
They were two ordinary laser pistols that could be held in one hand, equipped with automatic red-dot sights. They were rechargeable and came with two batteries that could be swapped out. As long as the batteries had power, they could fire without limit.
There were two in total, sold together, with a starting bid of 1.5 million.
Sang Luoluo had finally found what she needed. One for her and one for her older brother.
The price was a little high, though. Sang Luoluo wondered what she should do, since she did not have enough points on her wristwatch.
Plenty of people were eager to get their hands on these, especially those with points to spare, who wanted weapons for self-defense even more.
Sang Luoluo beckoned to a nearby staff member.
The staff member immediately came over and bent down to listen.
Sang Luoluo asked, "I don't have enough points on my wristwatch, but I have supplies I can exchange for points. Could I pay the points later?"
The staff member had seen plenty of situations like this. "Of course. However, our auction has a time limit. You must settle the payment before the black market closes tonight. In the meantime, the points in your account will be frozen."
Sang Luoluo nodded, now clear on the situation.
She only needed to come up with that many points tonight.
If she missed these laser weapons, who knew when she would encounter any again?
She quickly calculated: 1.5 million points, at 150 points per jin of zero-radiation potatoes, would require 10,000 jin of potatoes.
The bidding had already reached 1.7 million.
Sang Luoluo joined in. "13,000 jin of zero-radiation potatoes."
Immediately, no one continued bidding.
What did 13,000 jin of potatoes mean? And zero-radiation ones at that. These were things even points could not buy.
The staff member urged the crowd, "Are there any further bids?"
"Three, two, one. Congratulations to this customer on winning this lot."
The staff quickly came over. Sang Luoluo discussed the situation with them, then immediately left.
The points in the [Eating Expert] account were temporarily frozen, so she could not use them.
She walked through the black market on her crutches, looking at the surrounding shops to see whether any were doing poorly.
She actually found one along the street. The owner was already clearing things out inside, and a sign hung by the entrance: [Monthly rent: 1,500 points. Fine shop for rent. Contact: xxxxxxxxxx].
Sang Luoli took a liking to this shop and went over to ask, "Owner, I'd like to rent your shop."
The owner had not expected someone to inquire so soon. His sign had been up for ages without anyone asking, and his business was losing money. He was nearly in tears.
"How long do you want to rent it for?"
Sang Luoluo said, "One month. Whether I renew afterward will depend on the situation."
"All right. If you decide not to renew, tell me seven days in advance."
Sang Luoluo immediately agreed. "All right. Can I pay with food?"
The owner froze for a moment. "Of course."
Was there any currency harder than food?
Sang Luoluo took ten jin of large, fresh potatoes from the suitcase she had been pulling along.
The owner weighed them and found they came to ten jin and three liang.
Sang Luoluo said, "You can have the extra three liang. I have one condition: move everything out within two hours."
The owner said, "No problem! No problem!"
Sang Luoluo found a spot nearby to wait, took out a bottle of water, and drank leisurely.