Chapter 65: Chapter 65: Baihe City, Home of Tros Machinery
White Tower Floating Land, Baihe City.
As one of the five major cities under the jurisdiction of White Tower Floating Land, Baihe City had developed for a longer time than Jiangyuan City, a fact evident from the respective population sizes of the two cities.
Now, with a total population exceeding twenty-five million, Baihe City was second only to Baita City among the five cities of White Tower Floating Land.
In the city center of Baihe City, Baihe Torch City, the medium-sized Blaze Market was the most prosperous commercial area. The number of merchant shops in Blaze Market far exceeded those in Dongjiang Mall. Struggling to squeeze through the crowd, Song Chi’s face bore a hint of helplessness.
After awakening the Seed of Torch, this was truly his first time experiencing the feeling of being packed like sardines. The key issue was that most of the people around him were practitioners of the Guidance Technique with not-low levels, possessing physical strength far beyond that of ordinary people, making the jostling truly a literal flesh-to-flesh experience, which was quite uncomfortable.
However, there was no helping it, as the mall’s official rules strictly prohibited the use of Spectral Energy inside the premises, so everyone had to comply.
Yet this suited his intentions perfectly. He specifically chose to come to Baihe City during the peak of the crowd and selected the highly popular Baihe Mall because this was the result he wanted.
The more customers there were, and the denser the crowd, the easier it was to sow confusion and make a quiet exit using the Ruins Market after selling off all his materials.
Instead of going to the top floor, Song Chi chose the middle and lower floors where people were more numerous.
Inside a medium-sized shop named “Tros Mechanical Home,” Song Chi summoned the Cang Qiong at the Torch Warship’s designated docking area. Its span had expanded to nearly twenty meters after being upgraded to a Spectral Airship, so he could load all the resources he purchased at the trade fair onto the ship in one trip, saving him quite a bit of trouble.
Fifty tons of Mithril + Ten tons of Zhenjin + Two hundred and fifteen millennium Ice Crystals + Two hundred tons of Uranium Ore…
As one type of material after another was unloaded from the airship, the shop’s staff quickly tallied the quantities of each resource. Once all the differentials bought in the Ruins Market were offloaded, an employee rapidly calculated their value and reported it.
“Sir, the market value of these resources you’ve provided is 2,480 strands of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin. Based on the seventy percent purchase price, that would be 1,736 strands. If you have no objections…”
Before the clerk beside him could finish, Song Chi cut him off.
“Seventy percent of the market value for purchase? Isn’t that a bit low?”
In his view, 2,500 strands of Zero Rank Floating Land Origin was not a small sum, and a reduction to seventy percent was excessively low.
However, the clerk didn’t seem to think so. He pursed his lips, and his smile remained unchanged, but Song Chi could see a hint of indifference in his eyes, showing that he did not take Song Chi’s words seriously.
Song Chi frowned, feeling inwardly displeased but not saying much else. He instead began to gather the Spectral Energy within his body at his throat. The mall’s regulations prohibited using Spectral Energy to fight, but using it to summon Torch Warships, amplify his own voice, or enhance his hearing was not restricted.
As he opened his mouth, a resonant shout suddenly rang throughout the entire shop:
“Is the manager here?”
Because he had deliberately altered his voice, the words he spoke sounded particularly hoarse, catching the attention of all the customers in the shop.
In front of him, the male clerk who had maintained a superficial smile until now suddenly looked stern, and his tone became elevated:
“Sir, please don’t disturb the shopping experience of other customers. If you cannot accept our store’s purchase price, you are welcome to try other shops!”
With a mask hiding his expression, onlookers could not discern Song Chi’s feelings, but his complexion visibly darkened.
Without saying anything further, he turned and headed toward the store exit. Given such poor service, he lost any desire to stay a moment longer.
What he had were Void Crystals, considered rare resources. Why bother insisting on trading here when he could go elsewhere?
As for showing off and putting someone in their place, sorry, but he had no desire to show off in front of someone who hadn’t even awakened their Seed of Torch.
However, just as he was turning away, he was called by the shop manager who had appeared unexpectedly. Judging by the manager’s dark expression, this was probably not the first time he had encountered such a situation.
Making such a basic mistake over and over yet still being allowed to stay suggested the identity of the young clerk—it was very likely that he was a relative, perhaps the manager’s nephew or grandson.
“Sir, I am truly sorry for our poor hospitality. To show our apologies, we are willing to purchase all the materials you have provided at market price, without any sort of discount!”
Upon hearing this, Song Chi paused. With market price purchasing, he could make quite a bit more, so there was no need to hold a grudge against money.
Moreover, the young clerk was already apologizing under the stern gaze of the manager.
Considering these factors, he decided to stop and stay.
In a guest room within Tros Mechanical Home, Song Chi and the manager were sitting together.
After a brief chat, Song Chi gathered some basic information about the white manager sitting beside him. His name was Rocke Tros and he was a member of the Tros Family from Baihe City. The earlier young clerk turned out to be his sister’s son, who was on vacation and said to be gaining life experience.
As expected, Song Chi thought to himself. He might not have known much about Baihe City, but he was familiar with several of the top forces there.
The Tros Family was indeed one of the several prominent forces in Baihe City, which explained the young clerk’s attitude.
After a brief chat, he got to the main topic.
Reaching behind him, he soon had a crystal the size of a thumb in his palm.
“Void Crystal…”
Upon seeing the crystal in Song Chi’s palm, Rocke Tros exclaimed, and even with his nearly a century of experience, he seemed a bit flustered.
No wonder, as Void Crystals were extremely rare. Though they had limited uses, seemingly required only for the enhancement of space-class warship components, their scarcity was the issue.
After verifying the Zero Rank Void Crystal, Rocke Tros asked in a deep voice:
“Friend, may I know how many Void Crystals you currently have in your possession?”