165: Prepare

Ran Quan arrived at the Black Market.

Once upon a time, he came here just to buy some drinking water and food, or to find some odd jobs to do...

There was no other way. People like him simply couldn't find a decent job to sustain themselves. He could only rely on coming to the Black Market to find odd jobs, working wherever there was a need.

He worked a lot, it was tiring and hard, and the pay was meager. It was truly exploitative.

But there was no other way; to survive, he could only do this.

Moreover, he also had a younger sister...

But now... Ran Quan was all alone... there was no need for him to do those things anymore.

People came and went in the Black Market. Most of them didn't wear masks or hoods to conceal their identities. These people were clearly from the lowest rung of society.

They typically came here to trade for 3rd level drinking water or to find odd jobs.

So, generally, people wouldn't 'pay attention' to them.

More attention was focused on those wearing masks or hidden beneath hoods.

Of course, taking advantage of a 'fat sheep' was something only done after extensive consideration and planning. After all, no one knew if the other party was 'fishing' or was an unyielding opponent.

Overall, the Black Market was actually much safer than imagined.

More dangers stemmed from 'human nature' and 'trust'.

Ran Quan quickly found a Black Merchant who sold such items.

This type of 'protective' merchandise, whether in official channels or the Black Market, wasn't actually very popular, so finding it was quite difficult.

It was usually the kind of item sold as an 'add-on'.

"Hello! How much for this?" Ran Quan, following the 'mainstream' at the moment, wore a half-face mask and pointed to a half-face respirator placed in the corner of the stall. Its full name was an Air Purification Conversion Respirator. Judging by the model, it seemed to be a product from five years ago.

"600 yuan!" The Black Merchant glanced at Ran Quan and spoke directly.

??? Ran Quan looked at the Black Merchant with a bewildered expression after hearing his words. Good heavens! You really dare to name your price!

The latest model was only between 1800-2200 yuan. You're asking for 600 for a five-year-old model that doesn't even look new, at least it's second-hand?

"What about this one?" Ran Quan pointed to a protective suit nearby, also a five-year-old model.

"800!" The Black Merchant said. He could tell at a glance that Ran Quan intended to go to The Ground, so he naturally quoted an exorbitant price.

"You won't sell anything like that. Let's be realistic. For these two, as a package, plus two purifiers (which go inside the respirator and need to be replaced; for this model, one purifier lasts two hours), I'll give you 600." Ran Quan said, directly slashing more than half off the combined 1400 price.

... The Black Merchant looked at Ran Quan with a speechless expression: "You're cutting the price a bit too much! You won't be able to buy anything like that."

"If I'm cutting the price hard, isn't it because you're asking for too much?" Ran Quan raised an eyebrow slightly and said to the Black Merchant. In the Black Market, you must never be subservient or let others see you as easy to bully or lacking confidence.

"1000!" The Black Merchant countered.

"500!" Ran Quan continued to bargain.

"800! No less! It cost me a lot to acquire this. You can't expect me to lose money, can you?" The Black Merchant said.

"600! And include two purifiers. If you don't sell, I'll go check other stalls." Ran Quan shrugged, looking completely indifferent.

After all, there weren't too many or too few people selling this in the Black Market. If he searched a few more places, there would be plenty of sellers. After all, if it remained in stock, it would definitely depreciate more and more with technological advancements and the passage of time.

What's more, very few people were willing to go to The Ground in the first place... this kind of item was inherently difficult to sell.

"Alright, alright! Seriously! You really know how to bargain!" The Black Merchant conceded, reluctantly agreeing to Ran Quan's price.

Ran Quan paid 600 yuan and acquired a respirator, two purifiers, and a protective suit.

He could stay on The Ground for at least four hours or more.

If he could get a monster... tsk tsk, everything would be recovered. Forget one set, ten sets would be enough.

Monsters were practically 'money' from head to toe! Their blood, meat, bones, tendons, etc., could all be sold for money.

Whether for scientific research or various other purposes, they were needed and in short supply.

Of course, you couldn't process them yourself. These all required 'technology' to handle, then to be formulated and made into other things, such as some special nutrient solutions, which contained monster blood or meat.

Ran Quan bought what he needed, still having over two hundred yuan left. He didn't need anything else at the moment; he had enough food from the 'novice gift pack' reward for two or three days.

So, Ran Quan put this money into his system space.

"Phew~" Ran Quan was a little nervous. He thoroughly checked the respirator and protective suit. Although he had already checked them when buying, he checked them again to be sure... No problem.

He was about to go to The Ground... This was his first time going to The Ground, and Ran Quan was quite nervous. Regarding everything on The Ground, he had only heard some news about it from the news or from others' mouths at most.

Each area had multiple passages to The Ground. These passages opened at fixed times and closed at fixed times every day, open for only eight hours a day.

Of course, this situation was certainly for 'ordinary people'.

For example, when 'upper-class' individuals or 'search teams' dispatched by the authorities went out, if they wanted to return, the passage gates could be opened for them at any time.

After all, privileges! In any world, any place... as long as there is intelligence and society... then this phenomenon will definitely exist.

In other words, it is class! It is inevitable.

Of course, this had nothing to do with Ran Quan.

The passages were open from 10 AM to 6 PM.

So Ran Quan planned to wait for the passage to open promptly at ten, then go out. He could only stay for about four hours, so he had plenty of time to return.

No need to worry about the passage closing.

With one thought, Ran Quan took his equipment, returned to the abandoned pipe cluster, and then put the equipment into his system space. Afterward, he took out a bag of drinking water for himself, plus a bag of premium floss bread.

Hmm, time to eat!

This was his dinner for today.

Mmm~! Delicious! Ran Quan took a bite of the premium floss bread, and his mouth was filled with fragrance!

Compared to the inferior nutrient solutions or other low-quality foods he had always eaten, which merely filled his stomach and provided some nutrition, the taste of this premium floss bread from the system was truly... exquisite!

Ran Quan felt as if he had reached the pinnacle!

This was definitely the best thing he had ever eaten in his life!

With one thought, his eyes welled up with tears... He wasn't moved, but rather thought of his younger sister... who didn't even have the chance to eat such food...

Ran Quan cried for a while, his eyes red, and his sorrowful gaze suddenly changed, filled with killing intent.