Chapter 38: Chapter 38: Black Mountain Gold Shop (Seeking Votes)
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After this exchange, Song Chi started a new round of shopping, or more accurately, procuring goods.
No need to mention the Tungsten Gold War Shields and Tungsten Gold Lances; they were exceptionally popular at the last trade conference. This time he bought 10,000 of each, spending a total of 1,000 strands of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin. He no longer needed the all-purpose Starry Sea translator device, having bought one previously.
The Basic Gene Optimization Liquid? He took 1,000 vials of that too, using another 1,000 strands of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin, plus he took 10 vials of the intermediate gene optimization liquid, costing him 100 strands of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin.
He didn’t buy any Life Cores this time. At the last Ruins Market transaction, he found that the currency these Zero Rank aliens used for trading was primarily Life Cores. Once the trade conference ended, most of the resources he had earned were these things, so there was no need to stockpile them in advance.
Besides these, he also bought five sets of basic model civilian exoskeletons, each equipped with ten durable batteries, which would be enough for several months of overuse, costing him 110 strands of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin.
This exoskeleton equipment was mainly for testing; after all, it’s quite a complex mechanical creation. Without mastering the usage techniques, it would not only fail to augment one’s abilities but could also hinder their movement. Whether or not it would be popular still needed to be tested based on the specifics of subsequent transactions.
All of the above cost him a total of 2,210 strands of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin. Considering the funds left over from the last Ruins Marketplace Exchange and the gains from his exploration of the Alien Star Domain, he was now completely out of resources. Even the Floating Land Origin he acquired from selling Electrum on the black market had all been spent in this Eagle Machinery Store.
Of course, he hadn’t touched the 32 strands of First Rank Floating Land Origin that he had exchanged for the Peak First Rank Gold Devouring Vine’s Crystal of Life, planning to save it for later to enhance the “Dark Matter Energy Shield Generator”.
As a generic enhancement resource for First Rank Torch Warships like the “Spectral Airship”, First Rank Floating Land Origin is considered a relatively common resource but still far exceeds the value of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin.
Don’t be fooled by the official exchange rate set by the Chenxing Principality of 1 to 10; such resources often have no set market price.
Only in the various black markets is there a stable sale of First Rank Floating Land Origins, with exchange rates usually at 1 to 14, 1 to 15, and there have even been transactions at the extremely high rate of 1 to 20 in some individual black markets.
And in this Eagle Machinery Store, the price given by the counterpart was also 1 to 10, so Song Chi naturally would not make a losing deal.
While Song Chi was buying extensively, at the southern outskirts of Jiangyuan City, the East Mountain Forest Park, Jiangyuan Black Market.
Heishan Gold Store is a shop on the periphery of the black market that specializes in purchasing all kinds of metal and mineral resources. The shop buys these unmarketable, full-category mineral resources at 65% of the market price and then transfers them to large machinery stores through special channels at 75% of the market price. Relying on this ten percent margin, Heishan Gold Store’s annual income is quite substantial.
The main reason is the large volume. With a population of over 20 million in Jiangyuan City and tens of thousands of Torch Warships, plus the private goods diverted by the basic employees of the Floating Land mining companies each month, the amount of mineral resources flowing into the black market every year is extremely astonishing.
Even for Heishan Gold Store, just an outer-periphery purchasing store of the black market, the annual profit is extremely lucrative.
Of course, the main reason is the strong backing of Heishan Gold Store. As a business of the underground force “Heishan Society” of Jiangyuan City, ordinary forces dare not provoke them, and those who could provoke, don’t bother to suppress it.
Today, however, is different. In a corner of the street, several figures quietly observe everything inside and outside of Heishan Gold Store.
These people have been targeting Heishan Gold Store for nearly ten days, yet the entire Heishan Gold Store and the backer Heishan Society have not noticed them at all, showing the power behind these watchers.
In a corner at the back, a man wearing a black hat suddenly received a transmission from his communicator. The next moment, his lazy expression transformed, with a look of deep respect surfacing in his eyes.
“Target confirmed, right in Heishan Gold Store. Go!”
“Acknowledged!”
After this command, the several figures scattered around the street acted at once, releasing their First Rank presence and Pressure. A flash of Ghost Light flickered across their foreheads, and then ten formidable Soldier Figurines emerged out of thin air around each figure.
Indeed, these four individuals were actually First Rank Torch Ship Captains, and their flagships uniformly carried special components known as “Soldier Figurine Trees”.
With such actions, the commotion caused was naturally not small. There was also a First Rank Spectral Airship Captain stationed in the Heishan Gold Store who sensed something wrong immediately.
However, this Heishan Society’s First Rank Torch Ship Captain clearly didn’t have a Soldier Figurine Tree or any other special component in his flagship. Moreover, the internal space of the gold store didn’t support the direct summoning of a Spectral Airship, so he had to rush outside as quickly as possible.
At this moment, his only thought was to summon his flagship as soon as possible. As long as he boarded his Spectral Airship, even if he couldn’t defeat the enemy, they wouldn’t be able to capture or kill him quickly, and as long as he could hold on for a while, the black market patrols would arrive.
Although chaotic, the black market was officially recognized by all the forces in Jiangyuan City and naturally had its own patrol system.
But the shadows outside the street were clearly well-prepared. How could they let him have his wish?
Once the forty First Rank Soldier Figurines appeared, they immediately sealed off the entire Heishan Gold Store watertight. No matter where the Heishan Gold Store’s First Rank Torch Ship Captain tried to break out, he would at least be attacked by three or more Soldier Figurines.
It was forty against one, with the initiative in their hands. The outcome of this battle was decided from the start.
In less than ten seconds, that high-ranking member of the Heishan Society, who had also undergone Life Sublimation and reached Level 14 in their Guidance Technique, was already controlled by a few Soldier Figurines, just like a dead pig.
Having done all this, the figures on the street quickly retreated, showing no interest in the thousands of tons of mineral resources inside the Heishan Gold Store.
Two minutes later, when those who acted had long disappeared, the black market patrols arrived tardily in their energy-powered vehicles. After a search yielded no leads, they had to leave regretfully; the subsequent reaction of the Heishan Society was no longer a concern for the black market.
The Heishan Society wasn’t weak, but compared to the major powers of Jiangyuan City, it ranked far behind; otherwise, its businesses could not be limited to just the outskirts of the black market.
It’s important to know that the core area is the essence of the entire Jiangyuan Black Market, with over 90% of the resources flowing in each year transacted there.
One basic criterion distinguishing first-tier from second-tier forces in Jiangyuan City is whether a force has its own ventures in the core area of the black market.