Starry Sky Professional Directory 27
Chapter 27: The Black Market (Seeking Recommendations)
June 29, 2024
“I’ll drink to you…”
Liu Wei raised his soda again: “We bio-humans have it too rough, like weeds in the cracks, struggling for every drop of sunlight and rain… After today, I’m going all-out for the college entrance exam. After that, we won’t be friends, but competitors.”
“Yeah, to our competition!”
Fang Xing also raised his glass, but felt somewhat surprised.
This kid Liu Wei, actually had the intention of cutting ties with him.
‘Male friendships…’
He fell silent for a moment.
Liu Wei left quickly, as if this gathering was a final farewell to the past.
In the end, only Fang Xing remained, finishing all the barbecue: ‘This was pretty expensive, can’t waste it…’
He went home as usual, only showing a serious expression after closing the door: ‘Liu Wei…’
He had only suspected it before, but judging from today, this original owner’s close friend was probably truly involved with certain forces.
But from the other party’s initiative to cut ties with him, his character seemed pretty good.
As for the arena competition? There shouldn’t be any talk of friendship there; it’s not a matter of life or death…
‘If I had the ability, I should still help… Unfortunately, I’m barely able to protect myself…’
Fang Xing sighed and went to bed.
…
The next day.
Fang Xing carried a shoulder bag and boarded the maglev train.
Aquila Star was huge!
99.99% of it had achieved road access and network coverage. Only some areas with chaotic magnetic fields, ruins, or wilderness remained as scars on the planet’s civilization.
And the black market was located in these places!
“Outside Maple Leaf City, there are urban ruins… resulting from an attack by an Evil God’s followers, leaving the original city half-destroyed, and even many dangerous pollutants and radiation remain…”
“The Federation could clean it up, but it’s more expensive than building a new city, so it’s not worth it. They built a new Maple Leaf City, and the original ‘old city’ was gradually abandoned, becoming a haven for scavengers and those without identities, eventually giving rise to the black market…”
“Thinking darkly, did the upper echelons of Aquila Star deliberately leave these ‘scars of civilization,’ perhaps intentionally creating the soil for the black market?”
Fang Xing held onto his wristband while thinking to himself.
“Passengers, we are arriving at the final stop. Please remain seated and hold on, and disembark in an orderly manner…”
After an unknown amount of time, the maglev train reached its final stop.
Fang Xing got off and found himself at the edge of Maple Leaf City.
He started walking, gradually increasing his speed, then evading surveillance cameras and slipping into the back streets.
For this trip to the black market, he had left all his electronic devices at home.
As he moved through the darkness, the muscles and tendons in his face bulged as he underwent a quick disguise, then put on a black mask.
By the time he emerged from the alley, Fang Xing had even changed his clothes, transforming into a strange figure in a leather jacket, a baseball cap, and a dark mask, diving into the boundary between the new and old city districts.
Whoosh!
The old city district, neglected and decaying, was littered with ruins.
A slight breeze stirred up dust.
The roads were severely damaged. Originally a commercial street, the signs were mostly shattered.
Crack!
Fang Xing stepped on a poster of a faded female star, the sound startling a few hyenas lurking in the shadows.
Upon closer inspection, these hyenas were different from ordinary dogs; some had two heads, others four eyes and eight legs…
“Mutated creatures…”
Fang Xing recalled relevant information.
This was the result of a mixture of Evil God pollution and radiation causing nearby creatures to mutate, leaving behind deformed offspring.
Although far from reaching the standard of a low-level servant, they might possess some strange abilities.
The leader, a three-headed hyena, let out a low growl, perhaps deeming Fang Xing troublesome, or already full, and turned away, leading its pack away.
Fang Xing walked past the commercial street to a residential area, gazing at the mostly collapsed buildings. After a look around, he found a convenience store.
Amidst the ruins, a convenience store that was still barely operating was quite conspicuous.
[Beep!]
As he entered the convenience store, a green light flashed, emitting a mechanical sound.
“Good, very clean, you’re not carrying any tracking or communication devices.”
Behind the counter, a round-faced young man smiled.
He wore a convenience store uniform, his hair half-brown, holding an old comic book.
He slowly put down the book: “Welcome to the ‘Carefree Convenience Store,’ what can I get for you?”
“A communication device first.”
Fang Xing scanned the row of communication devices on the counter and nodded.
The communication devices in the black market were naturally unregistered accounts or others’ accounts, making contact safer.
“No problem. How will you pay?”
The young man picked up a black wristwatch, smiling: “Ten thousand Star Coins, only cash or equivalent goods.”
“They’re really ripping people off, no, where does a black market make more money than this?”
Fang Xing glanced casually and saw a beginner-level nano protective suit on the shelf.
It was priced at one hundred thousand here!
Obviously, a normal nano protective suit wasn’t worth that much, but one without the manufacturer’s backdoors was.
“Do you accept gold?”
Fang Xing took out a fist-sized gold nugget from his shoulder bag: “Give me an appraisal. Transfer the extra money to the new account…”
“Alright.”
The convenience store owner took the gold and checked it: “Purity is not high… The net weight of gold is 2340 grams, the price of gold is 176 Star Coins per gram, so it’s 411,840 Star Coins.”
“A 20% service fee, minus ten thousand Star Coins, leaves 319,472 Star Coins. It’s been transferred to the communication device account!”
…
After receiving the communication device, Fang Xing added the owner’s contact information and went to the back of the convenience store.
There was a dilapidated street there.
Although desolate, occasional figures moved among the ruins, each exuding a menacing aura.
‘This feels a bit like the independent cultivators in Qinglinfang City…’
Fang Xing felt a sense of familiarity.
This gold was obtained by exchanging spirit sand in a cultivation market, exceptionally easy.
Conversely, exchanging a large amount of gold for spirit stones would be difficult, and he might be severely underpaid.
“Weapons, potions, an assassin’s guild, entertainment venues…”
He took a quick look around and had to admit, the shops were quite complete.
“Over three hundred thousand Star Coins, I’m rich now.”
With a surge of excitement, Fang Xing entered a weapons shop.
The owner was an intimidating-looking strong man wearing external skeletal armor, at least a fourth-tier strength.
Seeing Fang Xing enter, he ignored him, engrossed in cleaning a gun barrel.
Fang Xing casually glanced around and saw the Xunlong brand laser gun he had always wanted.
Under the silver-white gun body was a small label:
[‘Xunlong’ class Laser Gun, second-hand, 90% new, usable against people, 2,000,000 Star Coins]
“Two million?”
Fang Xing’s pupils shrank, then he looked at other firearms and discovered that this laser gun was actually one of the cheapest in the store.
“Sorry, I’ll leave…”
He stepped back and left the store.
“I was careless. The prices in this black market are truly insane. Three hundred thousand Star Coins is just pocket change…”
Thinking this, Fang Xing entered another store.
Half an hour later.
Following directions bought with his Star Coins, he entered a half-collapsed ruin.
Inside the ruin, there was only a wooden table. A woman, her head and face covered, only her hands visible, sat behind the counter.
Fang Xing glanced and noticed that the woman’s hands were covered in dense green tattoos.
‘The atmosphere here isn’t good either, it feels dangerous…’
He muttered to himself, walked to the woman, and pulled up a chair.
Creak!
The old wooden chair emitted a groan of strain. The tattooed woman suddenly laughed: “Did you come to my shop seeking solutions?”
“Yes, I want to launder money!”
Fang Xing said seriously.
He didn’t want to abandon his bio-human identity, Fang Xing, so he couldn’t be too reckless.
But he didn’t want to suppress his martial arts progress, so he would need an explanation when high school started.
Without an income source and sufficient nutrient solution, how could his cultivation level improve so rapidly?
Therefore, he needed to launder the black money into legitimate income and buy a batch of nutrient solution through formal channels!
“How much?”
The tattooed woman’s eyes lit up.
“Hundreds of thousands…”
“This small amount…” The tattooed woman sat back down, looking bored: “Turn left at the entrance, go to the casino and gamble, the service fee is 30%…”
“I can’t use the casino!”
Fang Xing was speechless. He was a minor, so this route was obviously impossible.
“This amount of money, starting a company and making some transactions is excessive…” The tattooed woman laughed: “You’re just a small client.”
She thought for a moment and replied: “We acquired a gambling company. We can make you win a small prize. Hundreds of thousands of prize money won’t attract attention, as long as you pay your taxes properly, the Federation won’t care…”
“That could work.”
Fang Xing stroked his chin.
The Blue Star Federation prohibited gambling for minors, but it was more lenient towards lotteries.
And his money was too small, a nobody, no one would investigate.
“Let’s do it that way.”
He breathed a sigh of relief.
At least, this way he could make rapid progress in his second and third years of high school without being conspicuous.
Even if it blows up later, as long as he gets into university and becomes a certified Professional, a member of the privileged class, this little matter would be nothing.
“Good, the service fee is 50%!”
The tattooed woman smiled, revealing a set of black teeth, causing Fang Xing to feel a sudden pang in his heart, almost bleeding: ‘Such a rip-off!’
(End of Chapter)
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