90: Chapter 89 Black Market Main Street

"It's over. The boss seems a bit too addicted to killing monsters."

Tang Lin on the opposite side thought Wang Ting was just picky about his food, but the few people by Wang Ting's side didn't think so. They clearly knew that this meant Wang Ting was going to personally wipe out mutant monsters.

They had never seen anyone so eager to kill monsters, never.

Ren Chuan looked at Tang Lin and even felt a bit worried that they might blow their cover.

Hearing Tang Lin say that the price of a live Silver-Scaled Perch-Toothed Fish might double, Wang Ting didn't give up at all; instead, a pensive look appeared on his face.

This left Tang Lin opposite him somewhat guessing: "Could he really want live ones shipped over?"

If Wang Ting could afford the price, that wasn't out of the question.

However, this was her first contact with the Outpost Camp, and also the first time she had seen someone make a strict demand for live fish.

"Are there many fish species like the Silver-Scaled Perch-Toothed Fish?"

Seeing that Wang Ting's expression wasn't fake, Tang Lin smiled broadly and said, "There are about three kinds of low-level abnormal fish discovered so far, and none of them are easy to deal with.

Their strength is immense; if you're not careful, they can bite off a person's arm or even overturn a small boat.

Moreover, in the reed marsh, there are also water ghosts, abnormal monsters that specialize in ambushing and killing fishermen.

Every capture is extremely difficult.

If you really want them, I'm afraid you'll have to carefully calculate things, and we require a deposit."

Hearing this, Wang Ting's eyes lit up. There were other abnormal monsters?

He could catch live monsters without running around aimlessly.

Even if it required double the transcendent materials, it would still be an incredible value.

"A deposit is no problem. I want all three kinds of abnormal fish.

About when can I get my hands on them?"

He paused slightly, then asked, "If I need a living water ghost, what price do you think should be paid?"

"A water ghost?"

Tang Lin's expression changed slightly, showing a stunned look, and she quickly said, "Although a water ghost is also an abnormal monster, it can't be eaten.

Its meat has an extremely foul stench and possesses a certain degree of toxicity.

Aside from fish, no one likes to eat this kind of thing."

Wang Ting's face darkened, and he explained, "I just want to catch one to see it and do some research."

Tang Lin was stunned for a moment: "Although a water ghost is also a low-level abnormal entity, it's stronger than ordinary individuals, especially in the water where it's already close to an elite individual.

Slightly stronger ones are directly elite individuals, and the capture difficulty is simply too great.

As for the three abnormal fish species, if Brother Wang truly wants them, we can talk about it later."

Wang Ting knew that Tang Lin's tactful refusal was to leave room for him to think, fearing that if things were said too conclusively right now, both sides would end up in an awkward position.

Whether he should buy them or not, and whether they were willing to catch live fish to trade with him—both sides probably needed to ponder it for a while.

After all, this was their first contact, and they weren't familiar with each other yet.

Wang Ting smiled: "Since that's the case, how about giving me one of each of the abnormal fish species on your truck?"

Tang Lin shook her head: "That won't do.

The Withered Leaf Chamber of Commerce booked them first; I can't possibly give them all to you."

Tang Lin's trucks also carried one Silver-Scaled Perch-Toothed Fish, as well as another scarlet-red fish species called the Man-eating Red Piranha.

This time, she had transported a total of three low-level abnormal fish.

But the people from the Withered Leaf Chamber of Commerce had specifically named and requested this Man-eating Red Piranha, so it definitely couldn't be given to Wang Ting.

As for the other Silver-Scaled Perch-Toothed Fish, it wasn't needed.

The two chatted for a few more minutes.

Wang Ting ordered his men to move the Silver-Scaled Perch-Toothed Fish he bought back to their vehicle encampment, and only then did they part ways.

Seeing Wang Ting walk away, Jiang Shan lowered his voice and asked Tang Lin: "Deputy Leader, what's the background of this group on the opposite side? They're actually willing to spend money to buy this kind of fish."

"I don't know."

Tang Lin gazed at Wang Ting's departing back, looking pensive: "However, with them being so lavish with their spending, it's not a bad outlet for selling goods, at least we won't have our prices beaten down too harshly by the Withered Leaf Chamber of Commerce."

"Then what if he insists on live fish?"

"If he truly wants them, it might not be impossible, but let's wait and see for now.

Gather some intelligence.

I find his second-in-command a bit familiar; send someone to ask around."

"If the boss directly buys monsters back, it might be a bit too eye-catching."

If buying live fish was due to a special dietary preference, that could still be understood.

But directly proposing to buy a water ghost was a bit beyond the scope of a normal person.

Considering this, Ren Chuan couldn't help but speak up to remind Wang Ting.

"Haven't other camps done this before?"

Wang Ting asked in return.

Ren Chuan thought about it: "Most of the time, it's people from large Shelters or Jumu City who specifically request to purchase a certain kind of monster for research.

Ordinary camps don't do that."

In other words, the scale of the Outpost Camp was still too small.

It didn't look like research, yet they were precisely acquiring monsters—this kind of anomaly easily attracted other people's attention.

Wang Ting's expression remained unmoved.

He knew that acquiring live monsters was indeed easy to attract the attention of others, but he had no intention of stopping.

On the contrary, he wanted to do things on an even larger scale.

Huangyan Town established such a black market, and various Shelters were willing to come here to trade.

Food, weapons, monster materials—a massive amount of resources gathered here.

If he also built a powerful hub market, and other Shelters were willing to hand over their hunted items here for trade, then the speed at which he collected monsters would increase exponentially.

The more monsters recorded, the more massive the monster points obtained, and the more abilities and creations he could exchange for.

Only then would Wang Ting be truly fearless.

Giving up eating for fear of choking was certainly not what he wanted.

As for possibly drawing other people's attention right now, he just needed an excuse to brush it off.

"Is there a transcendent path for beast taming?"

A bold idea rose in his heart.

Since there wasn't a sufficient reason to acquire monsters, he would just manufacture a reasonable one.

Among the exchange items for every monster, there was always an essential option—servant beasts.

Right now he lacked monster points, and not every monster was worth exchanging, so he had no way to exchange for servant beasts.

But once his monster points were sufficient, sooner or later, he would exchange for a large number of servant beasts to form his powerful assistance.

By that time, he would definitely need an excuse to explain how he controlled monsters.

If all causes could be attributed to a transcendent path, then everything would form a closed loop.

Wang Ting carefully pondered the feasibility and thought to himself: 'I can plan this out well, combining the illusory with the real so others can't figure out my trump card. I just don't know if there is a similar transcendent path.'

He didn't hand this problem over to Ren Chuan, because Ren Chuan probably didn't know whether such a path existed.

The best method might be to scout for news in this black market first.

The black market was mixed with good and bad, and the Infinite Buildings from various places were all different.

It might just bring some surprises.

"Let's go. We'll go to the main street first, and when we come back tonight, I'll personally process this fish."

The three of them crossed the trading plaza and walked into a dim alley.

There were quite a few people in the alley peeping at their figures.

The moment those people cast their gazes over, they were glared back fiercely by Fu Xing and Ren Chuan.

Both of them could survive in the apocalyptic era and were not easy to bully.

The ferocity emanating from them indeed deterred quite a few people.

They walked through these alleys, straight ahead, covering a distance of over two hundred meters, and the view suddenly opened up before them.

Wang Ting raised his head to look.

This was a long street about 300 meters long, with the end visible at a glance.

At the end of the street was a tall, circular building.

The perimeter wall was about 3 meters high, and the top of the wall was covered with barbed wire.

Just looking at it from the outside, it was impossible to tell what kind of place it actually was.

The main street of the black market was about three to four meters wide, wide enough for vehicles to pass through, and there were a few dim, yellowish street lamps alongside the main street.

Saying they were street lamps, the shades actually contained kerosene lamps that needed to be lit manually.

Huangyan Town indeed had generators, but obviously, precious electricity wouldn't be used for street lighting.

Having kerosene lamps could already be considered a form of charity by Huangyan Town towards the management of the black market.

On both sides of the street were shops that had been built up.

These shops looked sturdier than the shacks in the outer nest slums, with walls built from rammed earth bricks and roofs covered with sheet metal or tiles.

The storefronts were relatively neat, more or less hanging some signboards, though they weren't obvious.

One could faintly see twos and threes of people inside each shop, either doing things or keeping a pair of falcon-like eyes open, constantly sizing up the people coming and going.

The three of them were just preparing to walk into the main street of the black market when suddenly two dark figures darted out from the alley beside them, heading straight for the box in Fu Xing's hand.

Their speed was extremely fast, and their objective was clear—to snatch the box in Fu Xing's hand.

However, the moment they got close, a large hand suddenly grabbed one of them by the neck, and the other person was directly kicked flying away.

With a cracking sound, the man whose chest was kicked by Wang Ting had his entire chest cavity cave in, his fractured sternum piercing his lungs, and he coughed up large mouthfuls of bloody froth, practically unable to survive.

"I'm sorry, please, let me go."

The young man whose neck was pinched by Wang Ting was filled with panic in his eyes.

"Go find your companion."

Wang Ting raised his hand, and that person was lifted directly into mid-air.

With a gentle pinch and a cracking sound, his neck was snapped directly by Wang Ting.

The sudden situation caused the gazes of many people on the main street of the black market to concentrate over.

Snatching things like this was not uncommon on the black market, especially for those newly arrived at the black market who accidentally got their things snatched.

Those snatchers would hide in the nest slums or other places, and wanting to find them was practically impossible.

Even if they were found, the snatchers would have long since separated from the stolen goods.

If anyone wanted to settle accounts, they would first have to see if the forces standing behind these little fellows agreed.

But now, catching the thief with the stolen goods—before they even succeeded, they had already been grabbed by the neck, and begging for mercy was already too late.

No one expected Wang Ting's strike to be so ruthless, easily killing the snatcher on the spot just like crushing a stinking bug.

Wang Ting gave a flick of his hand, and the corpse fell to the ground with a thump.

Without even looking at it, he just said to Ren Chuan: "Let's go, let's buy what we need first."

"A ruthless character has arrived."

Some people inside the shops looked at the remains on the ground, then watched the gradually departing backs of Wang Ting and the others, unable to help uttering sighs of emotion.

Wang Ting followed Ren Chuan and the others to a shop in front of which were written the two characters "Withered Leaf".

They walked inside.

A man wearing black clothes and sporting a small mustache came up and asked: "Three of you, what would you like to buy?"