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Chapter 18: The Ruin Market Opens
Chapter 18: The Ruin Market Opens
The only headache was the 600 tons of purple copper. Such a large quantity would require several trips to move, and selling it without leaving a trace was a significant challenge.
If he sold it normally, it might go unnoticed at first, but any future investigation would raise major suspicions. A student who had just awakened two days ago, returning from their first interstellar exploration with over 600 tons of purple copper? It was worth noting that a single dark energy shuttle could only carry around 100 tons at most.
To avoid exposing the Ruin Market, Song Chi needed to find a way to handle this.
Once again, he visited the Dongjiang Spark Mall, not far from the Dongjiang residential area, and made his way to the Eagle Machinery Store on the top floor.
"10 tons of mithril, 34 tons of refined gold, 11 tons of cryo-iron, 15 tons of mercury crystals, and 45 tons of purple copper. At 70% of market value, that's a total of 177.8 strands of zero-grade Floating Land Essence. I'll round it up to 178 strands."
The salesgirl smiled politely.
Song Chi, however, argued his case.
"Miss, 70% is really too low. Most other stores offer 80%..."
The salesgirl's smile remained, but she didn't respond, clearly indicating that if he couldn't accept it, he should find another store.
In short, there was no room for negotiation.
Seeing this, Song Chi proposed an alternative.
"How about this: you buy it at 80%, and I spend all the Floating Land Essence I get from this transaction in your store. What do you say?"
The Eagle Machinery Store eventually agreed. Song Chi, as promised, spent the 203 strands of Floating Land Essence on various items from the store.
- 1000 tungsten war shields
- 1000 tungsten longspears
- A Star Sea Universal Translator
- 100 vials of basic gene optimization serum
After these purchases, he had to pay an additional 17 strands of zero-grade Floating Land Essence.
...
In the southern suburbs of Jiangyuan City, there was a well-known forest park called Dongshan Forest Park. During holidays, it was a popular spot for hiking. What many didn't know was that behind this scenic area, hidden from view, lay the largest black market in Jiangyuan City.
Of course, the higher-ups in Jiangyuan City were well aware of its existence. The city needed such a place, and it wasn't just Jiangyuan City. From the White Tower Floating Land to the entire Spark Civilization Domain, every life-floating land had its own black market. It was like the dark underbelly of a city—the more polished the surface, the larger the hidden black market.
Song Chi knew about this place because he had visited it with his father, Song Chao, a few years ago. That experience had revealed this hidden part of Jiangyuan City to him. He had visited it a few times on his own since then, so he was quite familiar with it this time around.
He disguised himself, set his dark energy shuttle's name to be invisible, and sold the 500 tons of purple copper in several batches to different shops in different areas of the black market.
The entire process was smooth and seamless.
The prices in the black market were notoriously low, with acquisition rates at just 65% of market value. But there was no other choice. As a new Spark Captain, he lacked his own distribution channels. To avoid exposure, he had to take this loss.
Over 550 tons of purple copper, worth 110 strands of zero-grade Floating Land Essence at market value, netted him only 71 strands, a loss of nearly half.
Gritting his teeth, Song Chi returned to the Spark Mall. He exchanged all 90 strands of Floating Land Essence he had for zero-grade and first-grade Life Nuclei, vowing to himself to make up for this loss in the Ruin Market.
After securing the 700 zero-grade and 20 first-grade life cores, totaling 720, Song Chi completed the necessary preparations for the opening of the marketplace. Without lingering outside any longer, he returned home.
Upon arriving, he briefly explained to his parents that he was mentally exhausted and needed a deep sleep for a day or two. With their consent, he quickly retreated to his bedroom.
He didn't rush into the Multiverse Marketplace to initiate his first trading session. Instead, he immediately entered a deep sleep. The mental strain from the breakthrough was no small matter, and he was already extremely fatigued. If not for the need to finalize everything, he would have collapsed much earlier.
Twenty hours later, Song Chi awoke from his deep sleep. Though not fully recovered, he felt significantly better than the previous day.
...
After half an hour of bustling activity, Song Chi arranged all the items he had purchased the previous day into the ten shops. Once everything was in place, he strode toward the "Ultra-Long-Range Spatial Gate Random Deployment Platform" at the far end of the marketplace.
Behind him, ten Fire Kui Warrior Statues, each radiating a red glow, followed in two neat rows. After a full day, the Fire Kui Warrior Statue components had completed their buffering period.
At the Ultra-Long-Range Spatial Gate Random Deployment Platform, Song Chi lightly tapped the activation button. Just as he was about to activate it, a notification sounded.
[Detected that this is your first activation of this marketplace within the last ten thousand years. You can specify a specific deployment area for one spatial gate.]
Hearing this, Song Chi's heart stirred.
The words "Mechanical Civilization Realm" quickly surfaced in his mind and soon filled his entire consciousness.
Before obtaining the Grade 1 Floating Land Essence Core Fusion Body, he might not have reacted so strongly. But now, with this Grade 1 Floating Land Essence Core Fusion Body, it was like a power-generating divine artifact for the mechanical beings, making its value incomparable.
Opening his communication bracelet, he accessed the already downloaded and network-independent encyclopedia of exotic star domain civilizations and life forms. Song Chi found the recorded locations of several mechanical civilizations, selected one, and then activated the Ultra-Long-Range Spatial Gate Random Deployment Platform.
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
The deployment platform emitted a strong vibration, and ten beams of light shone from it.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The ten beams of light shot out in rapid succession, piercing through the semi-circular protective shield surrounding the Multiverse Marketplace and vanishing into the vast, silent void.
After several dozen seconds, ten swirling spatial gates quietly appeared at the entrance of the Multiverse Marketplace. Song Chi immediately had the ten Fire Kui Warrior Statues guard these spatial gates. He also placed the "Star Sea Universal Translator" at the marketplace entrance.
Given that the beings entering afterward were likely to be from entirely different races, and some might be so primitive that they didn't even know the Star Sea Common Language, the Star Sea Universal Translator would be crucial for ensuring smooth communication.
After completing these tasks, Song Chi used his authority as the marketplace owner to create a light screen at the entrance, inscribed with the various trading rules of the Multiverse Marketplace.
This light screen was formed from the laws of the Multiverse Marketplace's secret realm space, allowing any being to instantly understand the meaning of the rules listed, no matter their origin.
(End of Chapter)
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