Chapter 716: Black Market of Silver Wing
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
I didn't know that the previous leader of Black Spider Tower was the real Black King. No wonder Black Spider Tower and the Temple of Immortals cooperated so flawlessly and it worked so hard for the Temple of Immortals. As it turns out, the two of them are essentially the same thing. Black Spider Tower is a branch of the Temple of Immortals!
Black Spider Tower controls the intelligence and the money-laundering networks of the space pirates. Just like Luo Jinhu said, when Black Spider Tower is controlled, most space pirates are controlled. Other than the tough and ambitious guys like Bai Xinghe, common space pirates can only bend their knees and listen to the Temple of Immortals' commands.
Right now, Bai Xinghe is waging a war on Fengyu Zhong. However many trump cards he has, it seems to me that Fengyu Zhong, who is supported by the Temple of Immortals and Black Spider Tower, is on the winning side.
From the perspective of a Cultivator, naturally, I hope the war to be bigger and to last longer so that the strength of both sides will be more wasted. It will be best if both parties suffer heavy losses during their competition.
With that in mind, my strategy is to help the weak side.
For now, it seems that I should help Bai Xinghe.
However, Bai Xinghe is not an ignorant man. He is the brutal and cunning Pirate Potentate.
Although he seems to have strictly abided by the 'Ten Sword Rules' coined by Yan Xinjian, the supreme space pirate, I'm quite sure that he won't hesitate to kill anybody when it is necessary!
I need to think carefully as to how to help the brutal bandit.
But in order to intervene in the strife, I have to know the details of the strife no matter what and try to place myself in a relatively important position.
While Li Yao was pondering, a great explosion suddenly took place above his head. He looked up, only to discover that the buildings on the upper levels close to the ground were lit up with sparks. The next moment, countless tubes, shelves, and bridges rained down amid roaring noises!
Li Yao's pupils shrank violently. Like a blurred shadow that was blown away by wind, his body suddenly dispersed and condensed into a real identity in the pathway close to the edge of the pit.
Screeching noises were echoing behind him, as the objects from the sky smashed the corridor that he had been walking on. Many space pirates who were also passing by were crushed to a pulp.
In a moment, the corridor was cut off. Countless space pirates fell into the abyss in screams together with the broken bridge.
More than half a minute later, faint collisions came over from the depths of the black smoke.
"Another battle!"
"Damn it. I thought that I would have several peaceful days after I returned to Spider Den. But I'm now living in fear every day! It's even more dangerous than floating in the space!"
"Yesterday, Black Moon fought Senior Fungus. Who's fighting who today?"
"No idea. One of Fengyu Zhong's lackeys versus one of Bai Xinghe's lackeys, that's for sure!"
Many space pirates were hiding in a corner just like Li Yao did. They watched the sky with their bloodshot eyes hard, fearing that the debris might fall on their heads while they cursed in low voices.
Li Yao narrowed his eyes and maximized his vision. He could vaguely see several hundred crystal suits were jumping and attacking each other in the steel forest.
Every now and then, one of the space pirates would be struck on a critical point and fall down into the depths of the abyss, crashing into countless bridges, tubes, and tunnels during the freefall.
They would be surely dead when they fell into the bottom of the mining pit that was almost ten thousand meters deep, even if their previous wounds did not kill them.
Li Yao frowned and thought fast. In the past, there was only one king on Spider Den. His words were the truth. It was possible for order to be maintained. But now that a new king named Fengyu Zhong is rising, the stability in the past has naturally been ripped apart during their competition!
I'm now in a complicated environment. The most important task for me right now is to fill my Cosmos Rings with assets. Food, water, and materials are all necessary.
Also, I need to get a reasonably good crystal suit. My Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit and Hellsword's Black Horn Battlesuit are both too eye-catching and must not be revealed easily.
After thinking the matter through, Li Yao looked around and noticed a bunch of space pirates crouching in a corner.
There were three space pirates in the gang. Judging from their ragged clothes, they were not anything related to tough.
With a vague killing intent, Li Yao clutched the one in the middle who looked like their leader and slapped his face almost twenty times without saying anything. Then, he tossed the space pirate to the ground heavily and stomped on his chest, before he said casually, "Bastard, this is my first day in Silver Wing City. I need a crystal suit for self-defense. Where can I buy one?"
Those space pirates were just the shrimps of the shrimps. Seeing that Li Yao was so brutal, none of them dared fight back or attempt to reason with him.
The space pirate whose chest was stomped on, with detestation in his eyes, shrieked, "Go to Brother Yi! Brother Yi has the most powerful modified crystal suits in Silver Wing City. I'm sure you will be satisfied, senior!"
Half an hour later, Li Yao found the man who was referred to as 'Brother Yi' in the black market of Silver Wing City. The merchant's proper name was 'Niu Youyi'.
The black market of Silver Wing City was in the depths of a zigzagging tunnel.
In the dim lights, a lot of holes were dug out on the walls. Countless merchants of the black market were sitting inside them in boredom.
They were all carrying their mini crystal processors and would display their goods through light beams. When their customer was satisfied, they would go to somewhere secret for the real exchange.
Most of the goods were naturally magical equipment, Cultivation arts, and materials.
But many merchants also sold the latest information and introduced 'jobs' to different space pirates as intermediaries.
Niu Youyi was exactly such a merchant who sold magical equipment, information, and, when the price was good enough, his own wife, without batting an eye.
"I need a modified crystal suit, at least as powerful as the 'Fire Dragon Battlesuit'. Heavy firepower is preferred. Money is not going to be a problem!"
Li Yao retrieved a silk bag from his Cosmos Ring and opened a gap. Brilliance immediately darted out.
Inside the bag were high-purity crystals. One gram was enough for a high-level Cultivator to train for a long time. They were the best and most reliable currency anywhere.
Niu Youyi glanced at the bag, and his eyes were practically burning with greed. He grinned and said, "Not a problem. Definitely not a problem. Everybody in the black market knows that I have the best range of modified crystal suits. Come here. You are my big client today. Please follow me to the crystal suit warehouse at the back. You are free to choose anything you want!"
Niu Youyi rubbed his hands and bowed. He took quite a few turns and reached an abandoned tunnel far away from the black market.
He opened a rusted gate. A rather spacious room greeted them. It must have been the warehouse where the raw minerals were temporarily stored in the old days.
Right now, almost a hundred crystal suits were piled neatly in the warehouse.
Although most of the crystal suits were damaged and looked secondhand, Li Yao could tell as a professional that they had been repaired and maintained reasonably well. Moreover, practical modifications had been performed. They were definitely very helpful.
Creak.
Niu Youyi closed the gate of the warehouse and smiled. "One of your friends must have introduced you to my business. I am the most well-known trustworthy man in the black market of Silver Wing City. Since this is our first deal, price is not important. What is important is that you are satisfied! Just examine them and pick one. Take your time."
Li Yao put his two fingers on the surface of the crystal suit and touched it carefully, inferring the technology level of the crystal suits by the camouflage on the shell. He asked without turning back, "I'm told that you sell information, too? I've been doing business in space for two years. How is Spider Den so chaotic nowadays? It was not like this in the old days!"
Niu Youyi grinned. "You've got keen eyes, sir. Today is different from the past. Spider Den is now no longer the peaceful paradise for space pirates!
"Right now, everything is a mess. A minor battle every three days, and a major one every five. Many great space pirates were not killed in space but died uncanny deaths in their homes!
"Since it's been a long time since you were here, it is indeed necessary for you to learn the latest situation.
"Of course, mess has merits, too. The messier the world is, the more flourishing our business will be, and the more new pirates can replace the old ones, isn't that so? I can tell from your appearance that you are a capable one. I have a number of missions to introduce to you. The major pirate gangs today like the foreign space pirates best, those who are capable and do not have deep ties to Spider Den such as yourself. If you are willing to take the risk, it is not unreasonable to assume that you will soar into the heaven in just one leap!"
Li Yao snapped a blinging crystal the size of a bean to Niu Youyi's feet, while he said coldly, "Tell me the news first. If I'm satisfied, I'll give you another one.
"As for my choice of crystal suit, let's hear your story first.
"Common sense is unnecessary. Tell me the important things. I know that the Temple of Immortals supported Fengyu Zhong to be the new king of pirates and had a major conflict with Bai Xinghe. The two parties are in an intense relationship today and will start a total war at any moment.
"But I'm baffled why the Temple of Immortals did not deal with Bai Xinghe when it just revealed itself last year."
Niu Youyi picked up the crystal, observed it and whistled, before he replied unhurriedly, "The Temple of Immortals is indeed impressive, but Boss Bai is not a guy to be underestimated, either!
"When the Temple of Immortals first showed up, all the space pirates were shocked. Many people did not trust them. Boss Bai was one of them. He even cursed them in public many times!"
Li Yao raised his eyebrow. "And the Temple of Immortals did not take care of him?"
Niu Youyi smiled. "That was the first clue of Boss Bai's wisdom. As the saying goes, the dogs that bite don't bark. With Boss Bai's capability and personality, he was bound to be discontented about the Temple of Immortals either way. If he showed no response and even acted cooperatively when he learned of the Temple of Immortals' existence, there must have been something wrong with him, and he must have been planning something in secret. Isn't it so?"
Li Yao pondered and replied, "That's true."
"Boss Bai pretended that he was angry and yet had to cooperate with the Temple of Immortals because of their tremendous capability," Niu Youyi said. "As a result, the Temple of Immortals' suspicion was reduced a lot.
"Then, Fengyu Zhong rose under the support of the Temple of Immortals and swallowed a lot of other pirate gangs. Boss Bai bluffed and made quite a few declarations, but he never took any action.
"Right. He did take action once. Boss Bai attacked Fengyu Zhong one time, only to suffer a brutal failure and a heavy loss of soldiers because of the intervention of the Temple of Immortals.
"From then on, Boss Bai kept lying low and launched no counterattacks except cursing.
"At the time, everybody thought that Boss Bai was doomed and that Fengyu Zhong was about to suppress him.
"But we didn't know that everything was Boss Bai's plan!"