96: Collecting Information

Sweet Honey Bar.

Since it was still daytime, no one was interested.

Bars usually open in the afternoon and operate until the early morning.

Lin Ye’s entry attracted the attention of the bartender; it was five in the afternoon, just as the bar was opening, so guests arriving this early were uncommon.

“Sir, what would you like to order?” This bartender was not a Seventh-Level, but a Fifth-Level specially permitted to enter.

“I have something to discuss with your boss.” Lin Ye got straight to the point, tossing two gold coins to the bartender.

The bartender smiled, not moving, and Lin Ye thought to himself, as expected of a bartender from a pleasure den, his appetite is truly big.

He tossed out two more gold coins.

The bartender’s smile deepened. “Please wait a moment.”

Lin Ye found a place to sit down.

The boss seemed to be a very nostalgic person; the bar’s name was Sweet Honey, and its decor was also quite retro.

There were many bartenders around, none of them Seventh-Level, most were Fifth-Level.

Based on the bar’s style, he secretly speculated that the boss’s personality should be that of an old-fashioned person.

After a while, the bartender brought an old man over.

“What do you want with me?” This old man was very thin and looked like he would fall over with a gust of wind, but sharp lights occasionally flickered in his cloudy eyes.

“Qin Old Man, I have some information I’d like to consult you about, and the remuneration is negotiable.” Lin Ye got straight to the point.

Qin Old Man scrutinized Lin Ye, who was completely covered in armor, so he couldn’t make out much.

Lin Ye’s battle armor, after being disguised, was unremarkable.

“A minimum of one thousand gold coins per hour, and if the information is valuable, it will be calculated per item.” Qin Old Man quoted, as many people sought information from him.

Lin Ye secretly clicked his tongue, that’s truly expensive.

However, it’s just an initial investment, and it still needs to be made.

Thus, Lin Ye prepaid for one hour.

Qin Old Man led him to a private room, allowing him to inquire.

Lin Ye wanted to inquire about a lot of information.

Surrounding resource output.

Faction distribution.

Industry development.

Dangerous areas.

Beast clusters.

These were all basic pieces of information, and people who had been there for a long time would know some of them.

But to understand everything thoroughly and save time, he still chose to inquire carefully with Qin Old Man.

Qin Old Man knew from the questions that Lin Ye was new.

None of the information was valuable, so he answered them one by one.

“Qin Old Man, I wonder if a star core has ever appeared nearby?” Lin Ye asked about the basic situation, then decided to ask more important questions.

Qin Old Man was not surprised; a star core was basically information that everyone with a bit of ambition would pay attention to.

“There was once an earth-attributed star core produced nearby, but unfortunately, the resource point produced very few star cores, and they were quickly collected.”

Lin Ye’s heart stirred; this information wasn’t bad.

He carefully inquired about the production location.

Qin Old Man knew it was another person who wouldn’t give up on getting rich, so he wasn’t surprised and didn’t remind Lin Ye, just stated the location.

After asking a few more questions, he had a relatively comprehensive understanding of White Stone City.

After paying, “Qin Old Man, I wonder what you think about the business of transporting fine wine from Blue Star?”

“The questioning time is over, kid, I won’t answer your question.” Qin Old Man chuckled.

Lin Ye said nothing, grabbing into the void, a kettle of water appeared in his hand, then with another wave, the kettle disappeared.

Qin Old Man’s eyes widened, “Spatial ability, good heavens, so you came with sincerity.”

“Of course, one doesn’t undertake a task without the necessary skills.” Lin Ye crossed his arms.

Qin Old Man sighed, “It’s a pity, if your ability was ten years ago, you could have made a fortune, and I would have had to rely on you, but now commercial operations are taxed. Although your transportation cost from outside is very low, the taxes that should be collected are indispensable, it’s not as good as me brewing it myself.”

Lin Ye was dumbfounded, alright, alright, so strictly regulated, huh.

Qin Old Man reminded him: “Let me give you a heads-up, do not privately sell things brought from outside in White Stone City. After White Stone City got on track, they severely punish such smuggling. It’s fine to use it yourself.”

“Also, let me remind you, that resource point has been searched countless times, don’t hold anyLuck mentality.”

Lin Ye understood this much and realized that he probably couldn’t make money through illicit means.

If he paid taxes properly, the tax department would definitely give him certain preferential treatment, after all, he was a talent who could fill the market’s lack of external resources in White Stone City.

Lin Ye, with his portable space, could transport more than just wine; he could transport common external goods that were rare in the Star Realm.

But since it was legalized, there certainly wouldn’t be much money to be made.

Lin Ye decided to keep this as a backup plan and first go see how that resource point was.

Although Qin Old Man said that place had been searched countless times by others and it was impossible for a star core to still exist.

But others are others, and Lin Ye has Star Eyes.

Even if the abilities configured by other production-type ability users were professional, were their ability levels as high as his Lin Ye’s?

For example, a production-type ability user who explores mines, at most, can explore a few kilometers, because their ability level is not high enough, and their proficiency is not enough, they are only strong in specialization.

However, Star Eyes is Star Level, with superb proficiency, which can enhance Lin Ye’s vision a hundredfold, even achieving X-ray vision to penetrate several kilometers underground, naturally much stronger than ordinary professionals.

So Lin Ye still held considerable anticipation.

He exited White Stone City.

The target location was on a mountain peak north of White Stone City.

The mountain peak was quite dangerous.

First, there was the climbing issue.

For a Seventh-Level, it was naturally not a problem; they could fly, but Lin Ye couldn’t.

Secondly, there was the danger.

The beasts on the mountain were more agile than humans, and their hiding abilities were excellent.

Fortunately, he had Star Eyes.

Activating Star Eyes was like having a full map hack.

Naturally, there was no need to worry about being ambushed or uneven paths.

But it still took a lot of effort.

When encountering a cliff, he would teleport.

It didn’t affect the climbing progress.

Halfway up the mountain, Lin Ye discovered a pleasant surprise.

“Such a strong energy cluster, it seems promising.” Lin Ye was incredibly excited.

Star Eyes is very sensitive to energy.

Within his field of vision, a strong energy cluster appeared about three kilometers deep inside the mountain.

He was very familiar with this type of energy cluster.

The only object Star Eyes currently cannot see through is a star core.

Indeed, others were limited by their abilities and simply could not detect at such depths.

According to Qin Old Man’s words, the people who previously obtained star cores acquired medium-grade star cores.

And according to Lin Ye’s judgment, those star cores should have been produced by this resource point due to geological changes.

However, most of the star cores at the resource point remained in their original location.

Most of the star cores at this resource point were medium-grade, with only a small portion being high-grade.

“However, these beasts are a problem.” Lin Ye sensed the beasts inhabiting around the star core.