Monster Synthesis Master - Chapter 24
Chapter 24: Dog Eat Dog
Lin Ke had specially ‘invested’ a large sum of money to tailor-make these clothes for Forbes.
Should both of them go in wearing the same simple, worn-out flax clothing, people would be able to tell that they were partners with just a glance.
Forbes had previously mentioned his family business of being pallbearers to him, so Lin Ke had procured this set of clothes for Forbes.
“Now, treat this place like where you carry coffins and conduct rites as you wear your favorite battle robes. This way, you won’t be nervous anymore.”
Forbes took a deep breath. He had only just mustered up his courage when he deflated and looked back at Lin Ke. He pleaded, “Boss, I won’t be nervous at all if you can take the army ants off me.”
“If you still don’t cut the crap, the army ants inside the metal box are going to wake up.” Lin Ke glanced at Forbes’s shirt pocket. Very soon, a concentrated string of vibrations caused by metal bits swaying and colliding was produced from the interior of the metal box.
Forbes’s countenance changed drastically at once, and his scalp turned numb and tingly. A chill surged out from his spine, and he shivered.
The metal box returned to silence.
Lin Ke went down the stairs as though he had done it countless times before.
Forbes watched him closely. When he estimated that they were roughly 20 meters apart, he stepped forward in his brand-new, shiny, black leather shoes and hastily followed after him.
Clip-clop, clip-clop…
Footsteps echoed in the empty, spacious subway station.
After they entered the subway station, they could vaguely see a few people leaning against the walls in a distant area of the corridor. Apart from all sorts of products—which hung on wire mesh grills on the walls—there were also stalls with goods spread out on the floor.
The deeper they went, the more packed together the stalls became, especially as they continued down the passageway. Soon, they reached the underground shelter connected to the subway station.
The moment they descended the stairs, loud, vivacious sounds of discussion spilled out from inside.
The space inside the shelter was very big. The commercial stalls in the middle were like the slum’s wide expanses of partitioned spaces that connected with each other. Several individual storefronts and small stalls also surrounded them.
On various signboards were the most shocking contents, written in the most dramatic and exaggerated fonts. When matched with extreme colors, they were extraordinarily expressive.
In particular, when hundreds—close to a thousand—signboards were crowded together, the sight bedazzled people’s eyes.
A large cubic screen also hung at the domed roof above the shelter. Several promotional ads played in real-time on all four screens, and it looked just like the large screens at the top of basketball courts.
Lin Ke strolled leisurely in front. He occasionally stopped to take a look at products in the stalls, also glancing at the slightly nervous Forbes behind him with his peripheral vision.
A mix of crooks and honest folks was in the shelter.
Sloppy and slovenly ruffians, wicked and savage criminals, people from upper-class society dressed in tuxedos, trouble-making rebel force insurgents, and Sand City’s defense troops—all of them were actually able to stay in the same room harmoniously without whipping out their guns and pointing them at each other.
This was the might of the underground emperor.
The moment anyone created trouble and fired their guns here, they would be blacklisted for life and lose their right to enter the underground black market.
In Sand City, several things were prohibited on the surface and could only be purchased in the underground black market.
Should one lose their right to enter the black market, it would be no different from cutting off their own limbs.
At the same time, the underground black market was also a platform for money laundering, stolen goods disposal, dealings, and information circulation. Its smooth and steady operations played to the benefit of many forces.
Lin Ke walked all the way to his destination. He went past Dave’s Watches and stopped at a nearby military firearms stall.
When Forbes came forward in a simple-minded and naive manner, he noticed Lin Ke—who had stopped at a stall. Then, he looked around and found the place Lin Ke had told him about—Dave’s Watches.
Dave’s Watches was a mobile food truck-style storefront with a signboard. Various styles of watches were displayed on the shelves in the food truck, including old analog watches and outlandish-looking digital watches.
Inside the stall was someone’s head. He wore a pair of mechanical goggles with variable optical magnification on his head and was currently bent over and fiddling with something with the tools in his hands.
Forbes took a deep breath, walked up to him, and said, “I’m here to sell something.”
The guy’s head looked up abruptly. Under the optical zoom goggles’ effect, his eyes were magnified by several times their original size and looked ferocious and terrifying at first glance.
Dave impatiently replied, “What is it? Hurry and take it out!”
Forbes was surprised—this wasn’t what he had imagined. I’m here to sell something. Shouldn’t he be talking nicely and politely to me? Why is he so fierce and harsh?
However, Forbes didn’t waste any time on details like this for the sake of completing the mission Lin Ke had given him as soon as possible. Forbes fished out one of the basic microchips in his pocket and placed it in front of Dave.
In Dave’s mind, a fledgling like Forbes couldn’t possibly have anything great to offer, but he was completely stunned when he lifted his head.
“Hey, how can you hold something like that with your bare hands?!” Dave felt as if a knife was twisting about in his heart when he saw how Forbes held the basic microchip in his hands directly. Dave hurriedly dug out a clean handkerchief and carefully took the microchip from Forbes. Even his facial muscles were twitching as he did so.
This damn fatty is practically wasting God’s gifts to humans!
Dave’s optical zoom mechanical goggles zoomed in and out as he scrutinized the microchip carefully. He was so excited that he was trembling. “This is the scout module microchip from the Machinery Holy Cult’s Individual Range Joint Combat Type 1 Processing Chip set, and it’s in undamaged and intact condition. Where did you get this from?”
Machinery Holy Cult’s fanatical followers usually only appeared in the Desolate Gobi’s depths. It was indeed rare for someone to get their hands on a microchip in such good condition.
Only bounty hunters out on missions would have the opportunity to go deep into barren lands like the Desolate Gobi and get their hands on these things from the Machinery Holy Cult. Even so, one only came across basic microchips in such great condition less than a few times a year.
Forbes didn’t bother with what Dave said. His mind was filled only with the lines Lin Ke had taught him.
“My asking price is $11,000.”
Dave lowered his head and considered it for a moment. Then, he gritted his teeth and answered. “Deal!”
The market value of basic microchips usually ranged from $8,000 to $10,000, but those in good condition could fetch a maximum of $12,000.
Although the little fatty looked simple-minded and naive, he was clear on the market rate. He also didn’t say any superfluous rubbish. It was evident that he had an expert guiding him.
Dave didn’t bother with any superfluous talk, either. He took out a brand-new stack of cash—amounting to $10,000—from the safe and separately counted another $1,000. Then, he passed them through a bill counter in front of Forbes.
“Take a good look! Here’s $11,000. Cash and goods are to be exchanged simultaneously!”
When Forbes took the money, his eyes swept left and right, and he just so happened to see Lin Ke’s figure leaving in advance. He hurriedly stuffed the money into his shirt’s inner pocket, causing his chest area to bulge.
Forbes felt like he was in the clouds at the moment. He had never seen this much money in his whole life. Nor had he ever thought that a microchip not much bigger than a fingernail could actually sell for this much.
The shopkeeper didn’t even bargain with him!
Dave pressed his hands against his workstation and leaned forward toward Forbes. “You also have other basic microchips on you, right? State a suitable price. I want them all!”
Machinery Holy Cult fanatics usually operated in teams of five; every microchip had its own particular function.
It was highly likely that this fat guy in front of him had wiped out a whole team and obtained the other microchips since he was able to get his hands on a scout module basic microchip.
Forbes shook his head madly. “I don’t have any more. I only have this one microchip.” After speaking, he turned around and left quickly.
Dave watched as Forbes left. Then, he stuck his head out of the food truck’s window and looked around, but he didn’t discover any suspicious-looking people. After that, he broke into a grin and began to study the basic microchip, immersed in his joy.
Forbes followed the instructions he had been given previously, left the shelter, and returned to the subway station.
Next to the secret door at the subway station was a mechanical elevator with a manual scissor gate. This was the entryway to the underground black market.
Forbes entered the elevator impatiently. He wanted to leave and share his joy of sudden wealth with Lin Ke as soon as he could.
He was just about to shut the gate and go up when three people suddenly appeared, stretched out their arms, and held the elevator’s gate.
The three of them wore black leather tops and skintight trousers. Each of their hairstyles was more outlandish and wilder than the other’s; their appearances were exactly a ‘Why don’t you understand me?’ kind of non-mainstream image.
Tattoos, lip piercings, gold teeth—all the elements were there.
Forbes hastily hid in a corner of the elevator like a harmless hamster.
The three men glanced at Forbes before they turned around, chewing on gum as they waited for the elevator to go up.
Forbes’s heart settled slightly. It was fine as long as they weren’t looking for trouble with him.
The creaks from the old, worn-out mechanical elevator could be clearly heard. As it traveled upward, the elevator constantly shook, giving the illusion that it might fall anytime.
A brief moment later, the elevator’s indicator light turned from red to green. Forbes finally heaved a sigh of relief.
The three non-mainstream men exited the elevator first, while Forbes followed closely behind. However, Forbes was stunned the moment he walked out because he didn’t see Lin Ke waiting for him outside.
In the alley, there was only a dim lamp at the elevator entrance. All the other areas were shrouded in darkness.
In addition, this alley evidently wasn’t the same path that he had taken when he came here.
Forbes was at a loss for a while, but he could only brace himself and walk to the alley’s outside anyway. He had only taken a couple of steps when he heard a series of mocking laughs behind him.
“Little brother, aren’t you going to bring your big brothers here to become rich with you when you have money-making connections?”
The moment those words reached his ears, Forbes’s heart immediately sank to the very bottom. He subconsciously held his hands over his chest.
As it turned out, the three of them had already set their eyes on Forbes a long time ago in the underground black market. They saw Forbes stuffing a thick wad of cash into his pocket at Dave’s Watches with their own eyes.
The underground black market prohibited people from fighting inside the market, but the restriction no longer applied once they exited the elevator.
Forbes was rather flustered. He saw the pistols the three men deliberately displayed at their waists. The threat in their actions was awfully strong.
“I don’t have any money on me! I don’t have any money-making connections, either!”
“No money? Hehe…”
An extremely nervous and terrified Forbes watched the few of them come forward. Suddenly, he turned and made a mad dash for the outside of the alley. He couldn’t care about much else at the moment anymore. The only thought on his mind was that he couldn’t let them take the money.
“Damn, he actually dared to run…”
The three men brandished their pistols. The crisp snap of guns being loaded resounded in the alley.
Forbes’s heart skipped a beat; he knew that the other party was about to fire. He hastily bent over and moved in an erratic, zigzag motion. As for whether he could evade the bullets or not, he had no confidence about that at all…
Just as the three men were about to fire, they suddenly discovered that the triggers on their guns had disappeared!
Why did the triggers on our guns disappear?
Without the triggers, how are we supposed to fire?
The three men were still perplexed when they discovered something even more horrifying.
Under the elevator’s dim, yellowish light, they saw a swarm of tiny silver insects moving about on their bodies, eating away at their clothes.
“These are… army ants!”
The three men’s hair stood on end. They hastily discarded the guns in their hands and started to smack at the Silver Army Ants on their bodies.
At this exact moment, Lin Ke slowly walked out from the shadows at a wall corner like a phantom. He held up the Glock 17 pistol in his hand.
Whiz, whiz, whiz!
The gunshots sounded like soft whistling—there actually weren’t any of the usual violent explosions.
Blood spurted from the three men’s foreheads one by one. By the time they noticed Lin Ke, they were already dead.
[You’ve killed a Level 5 Ruffian and gained 250 EXP] x3
Forbes wasn’t struck, and he even heard strange-sounding gunshots. He subconsciously turned and looked behind him…
… And suddenly stopped in his tracks.
“Boss!” Delight filled Forbes’s eyes, and he looked much like he had just been reunited with someone after many years of separation.
Those that heard him would know that he was calling out for his Boss, but those that didn’t would’ve thought that he was calling out for his husband[1] upon seeing the excitement in his facial features…
[1] The Chinese terms for ‘Boss’ and ‘husband’ share the same first character
