Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Wen Wan City was a street that ended with an iron gate.
After opening hours, all the lights along the street were off, only the neon lights flickering on the entrance plaque that read “Wen Wan City” remained. It was in line with the urban lighting policies which obliged shops to keep their signs on at night.
At this moment, Lu Shu was still a tad hesitant to enter due to the large amount of magical stones in his possession. How much could a black market consume? In fact, he would rather give it to his comrades in the Heavenly Network, so long as they quoted a reasonable price.
After careful consideration, Lu Shu dialed Zhong Yutang’s number. “Sorry, the number you are dialing is unavailable…”
What the! Lu Shu’s face darkened. Had that old boy blocked his contact?!
Upon second thoughts, he called Nie Ting. “Sorry, the number you are dialing is powered-off…”
“Ha. It’s better this way. You better not regret it later.” Lu Shu sneered. He had full confidence in selling out all the magical stones through the black markets!
The possibility of overseas customers had also occurred to him, but the price was higher in China due to the restrictions imposed by the Heavenly Network on the availability of stones. Thus, it would not be as profitable to sell them abroad.
Lu Shu was unwilling to sell them at a lower price…
He had put in great effort to obtain the 92,000 plus magical stones. Besides pillaging the storeroom, he had picked up a few from the blood formation…
In the meantime, Zhong Yutang, who was busy marking official documents in Yuzhou, hesitated for a long moment while staring at the incoming caller ID on his phone screen. In the end, he did not pick it up until the screen dimmed again… Actually, he did not block Lu Shu. Instead, he had changed his ring tone to “Sorry, the number you are dialing is unavailable” after being repeatedly disturbed by Lu Shu’s phone calls…
On the other hand, sitting in the control room situated on the lowest level below Lingjing Lane, Nie Ting suddenly muttered as his eyes scanned through thousands of screen panels simultaneously, “He has found the black market. It seems that he’s really in a hurry to sell something he got from the Collection of Gods.”
Shi Xuejin flipped a thin page of his thread-bound book and asked, “Aren’t you worried he may cause some big trouble by selling out so many resources in one shot? Are you sure you don’t have to interfere?”
“There’s nothing to worry about. He won’t have too much in his hands, even if he has some,” Nie Ting said, rubbing his brows, “The Collection of Gods has strict protocols. With Takashima in the fortress that time, he wouldn’t have had the chance to take advantage of them.”
Shi Xuejin gave him a brief glimpse. “Hopefully.”
…
Quietly Lu Shu walked inside and knocked on the iron door. The knocking sound was particularly jarring in the silence of the night.
A small window on the door was pulled open with a clang. Lu Shu met the eyes of a skinny, cunning-looking man with a mustache, his torchlight shining out of the window. The man asked as he studied the visitor, “The Lord’s place. Who are you?”
Lu Shu was stunned. The Lord’s place? Which Lord?
Before he could answer, the skinny man was losing his patience. “Who are you?”
Lu Shu mused. He probably could not get in without a holy name. Thus, he decided to test the water. “I am Kasyapa 1 .”
“From Wang Zhe’s distress, +199.”
Wang Zhe was displeased. “The Lord” was meant to be an honorific title instead of a holy name, unlike your “Kasyapa”. Immediately he closed the window, but it did not budge a little under Lu Shu’s fingers…
“I’m a seller,” Lu Shu said.
Wang Zhe eyed him sideways. “Who referred you here?”
That caught Lu Shu’s attention. Instead of asking what he was selling, the man asked his referrer first. That was vastly different from other black markets Lu Shu had visited last time, as this one placed heavier emphasis on security and secrecy, while the others were more interested in getting the goods into their own hands.
A professional business group. This was precisely the kind of black market Lu Shu was looking for.
But how could he enter without a legitimate referrer?
Wang Zhe said in a condescending tone, “Pay a deposit if you have no referee. 300,000 bucks for the entrance fee. You can claim it when you leave. You’ll be considered an old customer of ours after three successful deals.”
That was unexpected. Thus, Lu Shu passed a magical stone into the window. Given the current market, the price of one stone had been driven to above 300,000 yuan.
As a matter of fact, this price was not too high considering the amount of annual supply, which was lower than twenty thousand.
But cost-effectiveness had to be taken into account. For Practitioners, one stone could only assist them in their completion of one cycle.
There were attempts to increase the price of the stones, though unsuccessfully. On one hand, there were strict restrictions imposed by the Heavenly Network and on the other hand, people were not blind. They were conscientious customers who only bought goods at reasonable prices.
The iron door was pulled open. Wang Zhe took a glance outside and warned him, “Behave yourself in the Lord’s place. Otherwise, you won’t get out alive. Violence, conspiracy and counterfeits are prohibited. You may lose an arm or a leg if the Lord catches you. Do you know the Lord’s name?”
“… Nope.”
“From Wang Zhe’s distress, +299!”
“Country bumpkin.” Wang Zhe seemed to have gotten the cold shoulder. “You’ve never even heard of the Lord’s name. How can you call yourself a Luo City resident?”
Lu Shu was unhappy too. He’d better check who he was talking to! Lu Shu thought. His face darkened. “Do you know Lu Shu?”
“Of course! The national hero Lu Shu! The entire Luo City knows him!” Wang Zhe laughed scornfully, as though Lu Shu was insulting his intelligence…
Lu Shu took a deep breath. “… Then do you know Lu Xiaoyu?”
“… Yes!”
He had wanted to rebut using the fact that he did not know Lu Xiaoyu, but the man’s reply was totally unexpected!
“Wait a moment. Why do you know Lu Xiaoyu?” Lu Shu was confused.
“Haish, who in the Wen Wan City does not know Lu Xiaoyu? Last month, several idiots offended her and now they can’t even gather their lives together!” Wang Zhe grinned.
“I see.” Lu Shu seemed to have understood what was going on. “Then who’s stronger? Your Lord or Lu Xiaoyu?”
“The Lord, certainly. Lu Xiaoyu seems powerful only because of her magical pets and her elder brother’s comrades. With her ‘Heavenly’ network, we’ll be just fine so long as we don’t offend her. But if she causes us trouble, our Lord has networks in the Heavenly Network too!” Wang Zhe gestured Lu Shu to enter.
Lu Shu could not differentiate whether he was telling the truth or not. He smiled coldly with malice written all over his face. “Bro, you won’t live till the third episode if you were in a TV series. Wanna know why?”
“Why?”
“You know too bloody much.”
