Chapter 14: Piece of Shit Merchant from Boulder Town
Fortunately, Chu Guang didn’t encounter any danger along the way that he wasn’t able to handle. Not only that, but when he walked near Baker Street, he happened to see the caravan from Boulder Town unloading their goods at the entrance.
The old man, Walter, was carrying a shotgun while standing at the side, smoking his homegrown tobacco.
Old Charlie was talking happily with the leader of the caravan while the scavengers beside him were unloading cargo under the supervision of the gunman.
The leader of the caravan was called Mr. Li, whose full name was unknown; Chu Guang only knew that he was from Boulder Town. He had eight gunmen and owned twenty mutated yaks. Now and then, he would bring his men and his animals to Baker Street to sell supplies while buying away local specialties.
Especially in urban areas, cars weren’t as reliable as beasts. The roads were full of abandoned cars and remains of collapsed buildings, and most of the roads weren’t maintained. The surface was severely damaged, and even the roots of plants had sprouted out of the concrete. Most wheeled vehicles couldn’t drive in such conditions. Donkeys, cows, and horses were much better at navigating through those areas. Although they couldn't walk fast, they could walk on almost any road. Most importantly, they were cheap and easy to maintain. They only needed thirty kilograms of grass to walk a hundred kilometers.
Technology was not always reliable, at least in the wasteland. It would only be a different situation if a long journey across provinces was required. Chu Guang once saw a half-wheel and half-track truck vehicle with a chimney on top. It looked like something straight out of a steampunk movie. Such bulky trucks generally didn’t drive into the city. Usually, they would unload their cargo outside the entrance, trade with small and medium-sized caravans active in the nearby areas, and leave when they were done.
Chu Guang noticed that this time, there was a woman wrapped in a robe included in the supplies sent to Baker Street. She had shackles on her hands and feet, and a striped code printed on her ankles. Her delicate white skin was unlike a wasteland survivor’s; more like a fairy from a movie. She was a type of commodity cultivated in a petri dish.
"A clone?" Chu Guang had only heard of the slave trade in Boulder Town, but it was the first time he’d seen it with his own eyes. This kind of luxury was something that could only be consumed by the mayor.
Chu Guang didn’t step forward immediately, but quietly waited for the transaction to be completed from the shadow of the ruins. Those cowboys were very busy and wouldn’t stop there.
After loading the goods, Mr. Li put his hand through his sleeves, took out a few white chips, and threw them to a group of scavengers like he was throwing money to beggars. Then, with a compliment he had been given, he drove the mutant yaks full of bags back onto the road with his gunmen.
Chu Guang followed far behind and walked for some time before the man who sat next to Mr. Li suddenly stopped and looked straight at him. Chu Guang was surprised he was discovered. There were at least a hundred meters between them, how had he been noticed?! Having been discovered, there was no point in continuing to follow them. He might as well reveal himself.
Chu Guang walked out of the ruins, raised his hands to signal that he bore no malicious intent. He then walked over with a black plastic bag.
When he was ten meters away, he stopped under the slanted sign of a cafe.
It was the safest distance for both parties. If a conflict should break out, the carbon nano body armor he wore was enough to buy at least five seconds for him to escape, as long as he didn’t get shot in the head.
"I have no ill intentions, I just want to make a deal with you." Chu Guang yelled.
Mr. Li squinted his eyes and put away the shotgun in his hand, "Are you a scavenger of Baker Street?"
"Yeah, I’m Chu Guang."
"I don't care what your name is. We don't do small business," The man looked at the plastic bag in Chu Guang’s hand with a mocking look. "It's better for you to throw that to old man Charlie."
Chu Guang didn't speak and opened the plastic bag, revealing the goods inside. The man, having recognized what was in the bag, felt his expression growing stiff. Clearly, he had expected the bag to contain used parts and batteries, not something as valuable as those mushrooms. Chu Guang noticed an imperceptible flash of greed in his eyes.
"Where did you find that?" The man asked.
Chu Guang looked at him and calmly said, "The sewer, next to a mutant leech nest. But even if I tell you where it is, do you really want to go there yourself?"
"Don’t get angry, I was just asking." The greed in his eyes faded a bit, and he handed his shotgun to someone in his entourage before walking toward Chu Guang. "How much are you asking for?"
The price of the mushrooms at the Baker Street Recycling Station was a single chip for every fifty grams, but they were worth far more than that!
Chu Guang went silent for two seconds before taking a gamble and starting the negotiation at five times the price.
"There are two thousand grams here. I want two hundred chips!"
"Deal."
Seeing how the other party agreed without any hesitation, Chu Guang immediately realized that his offer was still too low. The town mayor definitely sold them for much more!
Damn that town mayor! He’s just like those man-eating leeches!
Chu Guang cursed the mayor and his family in his heart, hoping that douchebag couldn’t get himself hard that night.
"Let’s be friends. My name is Liszt." The man stretched out his right hand. His attitude was no longer condescending. With a smile on his face, he continued, "I rarely do business directly with scavengers, but you’re an exception. I am very interested in you."
Chu Guang was neither overbearing nor sycophantic, and shook his hand. "Thank you, my name is Chu Guang."
"I know, you just told me." Releasing his hand, Liszt stared at Chu Guang and continued, "First off, I hope that old man Charlie will not know about our transaction today."
Chu Guang said, "He won’t. I don't want to cause any trouble."
"Haha, you’re a smart man." Satisfied with Chu Guang's answer, Liszt nodded with a smile and continued, "I can pay you two hundred chips right now, but you’re just going to use these chips to buy things anyway. You may as well buy them directly from me. You’ll save a lot more chips that way. There are some leftover materials here and I can give you a 20% discount. What do you think?"
Chu Guang didn't believe his nonsense about a so-called 20% discount, and it was impossible for him to know how much the same goods were sold for in Boulder Town. That being said, as long as the prices were cheaper than Baker Street, he had no reason to refuse.
"I need a weapon, do you have one?"
"Of course, what kind do you want?"
"A gun."
"A gun?" Liszt touched his chin. "How about a 9mm bolt-action iron-barreled rifle? It only costs two hundred chips, and I can give you thirty rounds. If you want more, it will be one chip per bullet. This is absolutely a fair price."
"What about the 20% discount?"
"That’s with the 20% discount. If you think it’s too expensive, there are of course cheaper ones available. I have a 5mm iron-barreled pistol worth one hundred chips. Still very useful against marauders, but I don’t recommend using it against mutants."
Is that already 20% off!? I’d be an idiot to believe you.
Chu Guang stared at him and said, "A 9mm bolt-action iron-barreled rifle plus sixty rounds of ammunition. On top of that, I need twenty… No, twenty-five chips to buy food and other supplies." Looking at Liszt, who shrugged, Chu Guang continued seriously, "There are more than two kilograms of mushrooms in the mutated leech nest, but I can only pick the ones close to it… Do you understand what I mean?"
"Do you want me to invest in you?" Liszt looked at Chu Guang with a strange look in his eyes, "Interesting."
Chu Guang continued, "Why not? I bet that even at this price, you can still make a lot of money. If you invest in me, I can bring you ten times the amount next time! Are you not tempted by this offer?"
Liszt was truly tempted. If he was honest, it was indeed a very good proposal. If he successfully brought twenty kilograms of Blue Umbrella Mushroom to Boulder Town, never mind one bolt-action iron-barreled rifle, he could buy ten of them!
Those hillbillies living in the outer suburbs had no idea what anti-radiation agents and radiation-reduction agents meant to the people living in cities. The best treasures were all hidden near those nuclear craters!
"Very few people can earn my chips…" Liszt gave his assistant a wink and asked him to grab an iron-barreled rifle and sixty rounds of ammunition from the mutant yak next to him. "... but you are an exception."
Counting out twenty-five white chips from his pocket, Liszt handed them to Chu Guang along with the goods.
"Twenty kilograms of Blue Umbrella Mushrooms… Fine. I’ll just treat it as an investment. I await your good news."
"I’ll come here again at the end of the month, and if nothing goes wrong, it should be the last time I’ll be here this year.” Mr. Li muttered.
Chu Guang replied, "I hope to see you then."
Mutant leeches. No one wanted to provoke something like that. God only knew how many disgusting bugs were hiding in that lair, the most terrible part being that ordinary firearms weren’t effective in dealing with them. Their terrifying regenerative ability and vitality could even allow them to split into two new leeches after being cut down the middle. What could a few small holes in the body even do? As for fire… Whether the creature could be lit, or even be set on fire, valuable loot would be burned alongside it. The losses clearly outweighed the gains!
"For twenty kilograms of Blue Umbrella Mushrooms, I’ll give you two thousand chips. You can go ahead and place an order with me ahead of time. There’s no need to pick up scraps they don’t want." Liszt reminded Chu Guang of this after seeing him fiddle with the weapon in his hand.
Chu Guang stopped moving, and he stared at Liszt while asking, "How would I know what you have?"
Liszt snapped his fingers and the person next to him handed over a square tablet computer. "There are photos on this. Swipe left and right to select… Oh, you already know how to use it. In that case, I don’t need to teach you. I can guarantee that the products will be decent, but I can’t guarantee that what you receive will look exactly the same as the photos."
After taking the tablet, Chu Guang glanced briefly and found that there were a number of useful items on it, especially when he saw the things he needed most.
"Have you chosen anything?" Liszt urged, looking at Chu Guang who seemed to be taking his time.
"Mhm," Chu Guang said after returning the tablet, looking at him, "10 kilowatt firewood generator and a KV-1 powered exoskeleton."
"You have sharp eyes. Although the KV-1 is a basic model, it’s also the most durable… But why do you want a generator? If you are worried about running out of electricity, it's better to just buy a few more batteries. I provide a trade-in service, which is very cheap."
Generators were not cheap; they cost one thousand two hundred chips. In comparison, the KV-1 powered exoskeleton only required eight hundred chips. A compatible chemical energy battery was only one hundred and fifty chips. No matter how expensive it was to replace a battery, it would still cost less than a thousand chips.
Besides, even if he bought everything, where was he going to put it? The exoskeleton could be hidden under his clothes, but a generator wasn’t something that an ordinary scavenger could afford.
Seeing through Liszt's concerns, Chu Guang said, "Don’t worry, I won't take it back to Baker Street."
"I was just asking. How you deal with it has nothing to do with me. Anyway, even if you say that I sold it to you, I won’t admit it. In the end, you’ll be the only one getting in trouble." Liszt shrugged and glanced at the sky in the distance, "It’s getting late. See you next time."
Chu Guang stopped him. "Wait. I wanted to ask, is there a 20% discount on the items I just ordered?"
Liszt laughed and waved his hand without looking back. "The price you saw is after the discount."
Chu Guang: "Motherfu…"
Motherfucker! Just you wait, I’m going to bleed you dry in the future!
Watching the caravan leave, Chu Guang turned and left with an ugly expression.
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