ctnovel Chapter 18 Black Market Faction
Chapter 18 Black Market Faction
"When did you start this?!"
The shopkeeper looked inward at his own tangled mess of vacuum energy, staring with extreme apprehension at the spirit pupa beside Jiang Yong. Professor Xu's expression also turned grim.
This expert-level person was an acquaintance of Professor Xu, but he himself was not an expert-level person. This is not surprising; sufficient knowledge is only one of the conditions for becoming a contractor; others include talent, resources, luck, and many other factors.
It's worth noting that these factors don't include "cultivation techniques." On Carlo Star, most expert-level cultivators can only rudimentarily utilize the vacuum energy within their bodies; cultivation techniques are a luxury that allows them to further enhance their strength. The three pursuers who chased Jiang Yong earlier possessed cultivation techniques provided by Tiandu City, making them far stronger than ordinary expert-level cultivators.
The one in front of Jiang Yong—not to mention cultivation techniques, he didn't even have a skill to remove weaknesses. One strike from the Spirit Breath Cocoon could deplete three bars of health.
"Oh."
Jiang Yong did not answer, but looked at the silkworm threads in his hand that were almost coiled into a marshmallow with a bit of a laugh—when do you think I made that move?
He had long guessed that the shopkeeper at the door must be an expert and was familiar with Professor Xu's personality, so from the moment he entered, he kept using spirit silk to trigger the characteristics of the spirit pupa and apply a weakening effect to the opponent, all for this moment.
Otherwise, why would he have released the Spirit Breath Cocoon in the first place? If he just wanted to prove his expert status, wouldn't it have been enough to just unleash his arrogance?
His conversation with Professor Xu had been going on for a while, and the shopkeeper's debuffs must be quite severe, almost as severe as -6 to all attributes. No wonder he was so frightened.
"No, he didn't use any skills at all. If there's anything wrong, it can only be these silkworm threads... Does his Pokémon have an ability?!"
Professor Xu's pupils contracted as he suddenly understood the key point.
Only high-level Pokémon can possess special abilities, and the expert-level Pokémon he invited this time is only at that level and doesn't even have any special abilities.
Then, he suddenly remembered that Xiao Fan had said that the person in front of him had just tamed a rare low-ranking Cortia today. But he hadn't seen him use it yet.
Could this unusual pupa be of a rare lower rank, or even higher?
With that kind of skill, you'd be good enough to be a secret agent in a major city-state! What the hell are you doing here, you bastard?!
Professor Xu gritted his teeth inwardly.
Having established his authority, Jiang Yong immediately withdrew the Spirit Cocoon and leaned back in his chair, appearing completely relaxed.
"I knew Professor Xu was a trustworthy person, how could he be greedy for the price of a mere piece of information?"
The smile on his face now looked particularly sinister in Professor Xu's eyes: "So, how much are you planning to pay for this intelligence?"
Oh no, I'm going to have a massive hemorrhage.
Professor Xu closed his eyes in anguish: "How much do you want?"
"Well..."
Jiang Yong's smile remained unchanged, and he deliberately paused for a moment before saying, "I think fifty high-quality gold coins would be quite good."
The exchange rate between Carlo Star gold coins and silver coins fluctuates occasionally, but it generally remains stable at around 1:20. Fifty high-quality gold coins represent an amount that most people cannot earn in several years, and can barely be considered a large sum of money.
However, Professor Xu was stunned. This number was beyond his expectations.
This price... doesn't seem too high?
Especially if the information this person brings is true, it's completely worth the price for him. If he were to sell it himself, he might even ask for a higher price!
Could it be that this person is actually an amateur?
Professor Xu's heart skipped a beat, then he looked up and saw Jiang Yong's meaningful smile, and suddenly realized—amateur my foot, I've been hit with carrots and sticks!
He initially intended to use this tactic to put Jiang Yong in a bad light, but he never expected that he would end up being the one to suffer the consequences.
……
Professor Xu's idea was correct; Jiang Yong was indeed using carrots and sticks. After all, his purpose in coming to Professor Xu was not to make money directly, at least not for this small amount.
His real goal, besides the resources Professor Xu possessed, was to leverage his connections and influence, and to use him as a springboard to truly integrate into the Yunqi Black Market circle and make it the main base for his future activities!
On Carlo Star, the "Black Market" can be considered an independent faction, as it is displayed in the "Faction Reputation" section, which also proves its systematic nature and completeness. Moreover, in addition to possessing massive resources and influence, the Black Market is naturally hostile to Tiandu City, which is a huge help to Jiang Yong's current main quest, "The Tragedy of Carlo".
In addition, there is a huge opportunity hidden in the Black Market faction - after you have accumulated enough reputation, you will have the chance to meet a hidden big shot, and that big shot has the second planetary main quest on Carlo Star!
Because the Carlo Star instance in the previous life would reset after a certain time, players could trigger this quest but never had the chance to complete it, so no one knew what the final reward was. But this time it's the real world, and the Carlo Star civilization will continue with Jiang Yong's help. He will also have the opportunity to glimpse the truth behind this quest that no one in the previous life could complete.
Jiang Yong knew that he would eventually reach the brilliant starry sky above him. Before that, the more mission rewards he could obtain, the better. And the resources from an additional main quest would undoubtedly be of great benefit to him.
This is the third of Jiang Yong's five purposes for coming here, and it is arguably the most important one.
Moreover, there was another reason why he chose to join the black market—there were no addictive drugs or human trafficking in the black market.
The drug problem was purely a matter of luck, entirely because the planet Carlo didn't have (or humans hadn't discovered) the natural materials of that nature; as for the human trafficking problem... with so many high-quality and inexpensive farmed elves, who would be crazy enough to use humans to do the work?
As a result, the trade and smuggling of elves became rampant, rendering the local elf industry protection policies of some city-states virtually ineffective.
Because the black market is relatively "clean," and because it breaks monopolies and is generally beneficial to the residents of the small town, joining the black market wouldn't negatively impact Jiang Yong's reputation within the entire confederation. Even in future interstellar societies, if anyone wanted to use his past involvement in the black market as a weapon, it wouldn't hold water—black markets also exist in interstellar societies, but they are infinitely more corrupt and unethical than the one on Carlo Star. In contrast, Carlo Star's black market is a legitimate market that doesn't require taxes.
"...You're thinking a bit too far ahead."
Jiang Yong couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle. He was only F-rank now, and even taking Tiandu City required such meticulous planning; yet he was already thinking about interstellar society.
He quickly came to his senses, his thoughts returning to the tea room.
After being subjected to a combination of kindness and pressure, Professor Xu's expression was somewhat complicated, but he felt better than before—he knew he was, after all, a top-tier expert, and he wouldn't lose face.
"I'll send the money over later. Besides that, is there anything else you want me to do?"
He realized that he was probably useful to Jiang Yong, so he simply asked directly.