Chapter 75: The Black Merchant
Weini's Paradise Coins were backed by a temporary contract, so there was no possibility of default. Otherwise, Weini wouldn't have refrained from even sending a reminder email. Among contractors, verbal agreements simply didn't exist. In the Reincarnation Paradise, a realm filled with slaughter and survival of the fittest, oral promises had no room to survive.
Su Xiao's stall prices were fair, so half an hour after setting up, only two items remained.
[Super Destructive Punch (Dark Purple Skill Scroll)]
Price: 300,000 Paradise Coins.
[Bian's Dagger (Gold)]
Bid Price: 365,300 Paradise Coins.
The price of Bian's Dagger was steadily climbing, increasing by about 10,000 Paradise Coins per minute.
Seeing that most items had been sold, Su Xiao began checking his remaining Paradise Coins.
Aside from 'Super Destructive Punch' and 'Bian's Dagger,' the items on the stall had sold for a total of 216,800 Paradise Coins. Adding the 49,406 Paradise Coins in his Reincarnation Mark, the total came to 266,206.
Subtracting the 100,000 Paradise Coins he had repaid to Weini, Su Xiao had 166,206 Paradise Coins left.
160,000 Paradise Coins was no small amount, and his two most valuable items hadn't even been sold yet.
After Su Xiao had been 'surrounded' for an hour, the market's mechanism kicked in: if contractors gathered around a stall without making a purchase for too long, they were forcibly teleported away. Thus, the crowd around Su Xiao changed batch after batch.
Most contractors came just to admire the Gold-quality dagger's stats. After feasting their eyes, they left. So, after a full three hours, the number of contractors gathered near Su Xiao's stall had noticeably decreased.
Su Xiao let out a sigh of relief, took off his headphones, and put away his tablet.
He scanned the area. Dozens of contractors were still there, looking impatient.
"Everyone, sorry for the wait."
Seeing Su Xiao speak, the surrounding contractors stepped forward.
"I can offer at most 150,000 for Destructive Punch..."
"This Gold dagger, our leader wants to talk to you..."
"400,000 Paradise Coins for the Gold dagger. That's my highest offer."
As it turned out, dozens of people talking at once was quite noisy.
Su Xiao picked out the contractors who seemed genuinely interested in buying, then got up and left his stall. The remaining contractors looked visibly confused.
Su Xiao found a quiet café and ordered a fruit drink. He didn't like the bitterness or burnt taste of coffee; he came here only for the pleasant atmosphere.
After sitting in the café for a few minutes, Su Xiao returned to the trade market stall.
Sure enough, only about a dozen people remained in front of the stall. Even if contractors passed by, they were only briefly attracted by the Gold dagger before moving on.
Under the resigned gazes of those dozen contractors, Su Xiao sat down behind the stall. The dozen or so people exchanged glances.
"You go first."
"No, you go first."
It seemed they had chatted while waiting, and now they were actually being 'polite' to each other.
"Tch, just say you want someone else to be the 'cannon fodder.' I'll go first."
A burly man with rolled-up sleeves stepped forward. The moment Su Xiao saw him, he judged that this man was a Nen user. Having fought the Phantom Troupe for an entire derivative world, this was easy to discern.
Nen abilities were tied to personality. Straightforward people were usually Enhancement-type, while fickle ones were generally Transformation-type, and so on.
Clearly, this burly man was 80% likely to be an Enhancement-type.
"What are you looking at? I am Enhancement-type."
Su Xiao raised an eyebrow. The man looked rough but wasn't stupid. A straightforward personality and stupidity were not the same thing; stupid people often had many unrealistic ideas.
"300,000. No haggling."
Su Xiao didn't need to ask what the man wanted to buy. It had to be Destructive Punch. With the man's height of over two meters sixty, the Gold dagger would be like a toy knife in his hands.
"Why no haggling? Whether you sell or not is your problem. Whether I haggle or not is mine."
The burly man picked up the dark purple scroll from the stall, thought for a moment, and said, "This thing is powerful, and the cost isn't high, but..."
He changed his tone and looked at Su Xiao.
"Using this ability requires a two-second charge. Those two seconds could mean life or death. Forget two seconds, among all my abilities, even if it's my main class skill, I'd abandon any that take more than 0.5 seconds to charge."
The burly man wasn't belittling the scroll. He had a point. The two-second charge was Super Destructive Punch's biggest weakness. In intense combat, even a fraction of a second could be fatal, let alone two seconds.
Su Xiao shook his head. What the man said seemed reasonable, but that wasn't actually the case.
"You have a point, but the skill scroll's description is for LV.1. Leveling up Destructive Punch could very well reduce the charge time. For a dark purple scroll, getting it to level 30 shouldn't be a problem. That's three reward opportunities. With some luck, the charge time could be shortened significantly."
Su Xiao's words made the nearby contractors nod in agreement. The burly man grinned, showing his teeth.
"You've got good eyes, brother. That's exactly why I want to buy this scroll and take a gamble."
The burly man seemed to really like the Super Destructive Punch ability. With his fist-sized fists and powerful Nen, if he upgraded Super Destructive Punch in the Reincarnation Paradise, his fists would definitely be stronger than Uvogin's.
"290,000. That's my final offer."
The burly man fell silent. Su Xiao nodded. 290,000 was a sincere price. But just as he was about to complete the transaction with the man, a hooded figure walked over quickly.
Seeing this hooded figure, Su Xiao raised an eyebrow. He couldn't sell Destructive Punch anymore. He needed to keep it as a 'troublemaker.'
"If I trade with you, I won't accept Paradise Coins."
"Of course. As agreed, it's barter. Also, my apologies for being an hour late."
The man in the black hood let out a low chuckle. When he looked up, everyone saw that his face was covered with a black mask. The mask had a skull pattern, with crossed bones beneath it, like a pirate flag.
"Black Sail Merchant Guild?"
The burly man in front of the stall looked displeased. He clearly didn't like these black merchants who swindled people in derivative worlds.
"I'm Black Merchant 24K. Mr. White Night, a pleasure to meet you. Consider this a belated gift."
The black merchant handed over a card. This was a way to contact the Black Sail Merchant Guild, or more precisely, to contact Black Merchant 24K.
The Black Sail Merchant Guild had many black merchants. Their clothes, height, and voices were all similar. The only difference was this card.
"Did you get what I asked for?"
"I did."
Three blades appeared in the black merchant's hands. Seeing their quality, the surrounding contractors gasped. Three dark purple-quality blade-type weapons. Such a sight was rare.
"Excellent."
Su Xiao closed his stall. If he could reach an agreement with the black merchant, there was no need to keep the stall open. Trading with the black merchant would save him a step.
If Su Xiao had successfully sold 'Super Destructive Punch' and the 'Gold Dagger' in the trade market, he would have only gained a large amount of Paradise Coins. The chance of bartering with other contractors was very slim.
After getting the Paradise Coins, Su Xiao would have to search everywhere for the items he needed.
But trading with the Black Sail Merchant Guild bypassed that process. He could directly obtain what he needed. A guild's material reserves were not something a lone wolf like Su Xiao could compare to.
Moreover, the Black Sail Merchant Guild specialized in business. Their material reserves even surpassed those of large adventure groups.