Chapter 125: Old Soy Sauce, Aged Vinegar, Broad Bean Paste, Thirteen-Spice — Exchanged for Top-Tier Weapons

The next day, Ye Heng indeed arrived outside the walls of the Tenth Special Zone.

This expedition consisted of five people; venturing into the dangerous zone had an extremely high mortality rate, and not everyone had this courage.

Besides Ye Heng, the other four were all awakeners from the Bi Hu Suo, and before setting out they had signed a life-and-death contract.

"Team Captain, Deputy Team Sun didn't come this time; among us four, should we temporarily select a deputy?"

At that moment, a well-built young man said to Ye Heng:

Ye Heng looked at him, thought for a moment, and said:

"Then you'll be this deputy; I'll go in alone later, and you lead the other three to scout around."

The young man named Zhang Chaoran immediately expressed his attitude to Ye Heng upon hearing that.

"Thank you for your trust, Team Captain; I, Zhang Chaoran, will surely do well as deputy and share your burden!"

Ye Heng nodded, still quite pleased with this young man.

In the entire Bi Hu Suo, there are actually few young people capable of handling matters; most older folks have long been eroded by the environment, their bodies not in good shape, so for tasks requiring going outside, only the young can be entrusted.

As for Zhang Chaoran, he can be considered quite clever within the team.

Although he is lively and sometimes seems rash, his actions are steady and solid, making him a reliable young man.

Ye Heng had a letter of introduction from the Thirteenth Special Zone, and he smoothly entered the high walls of the Tenth Special Zone.

This time he specially changed into his finest clothes, mingling among the upper citizens, and indeed looked the part; no one noticed he was a dust civilian.

Inside the Arms Trade Fair, Ye Heng quickly learned about all the weapons on offer, and finally selected one displayed by a merchant association.

From melee swords and shields to long-range pistols and sniper rifles, even small high-explosive emplacements, this association's selection was the finest.

But it was obviously also the most expensive.

Because at that moment, the area around this association's booth was already crowded with people; many generous buyers were turned away by the association's staff.

"As everyone knows, our Floating Light Merchant Association spans the entire human-occupied zone, with branches in all major special zones."

"Our association has plenty of resources and channels; we don't lack your commonplace goods—we want scarce resources, understand?"

The steward of the Floating Light Merchant Association had an arrogant attitude, completely looking down on the materials offered by those who came to trade weapons.

"If your Tenth Special Zone lacks even this bit of discernment, then I can only take these newly developed weapons to trade in other special zones."

Upon hearing this, the surrounding upper citizens were all indignant.

Most of them came from exploration teams within the Tenth Special Zone, risking life and death in dangerous zones to bring back supplies, which the Floating Light Merchant Association's steward deemed worthless.

But if they tried to refute, they could not immediately think of a convincing reason.

For, as this steward said, even materials truly brought back from danger zones are not considered genuinely scarce to the Floating Light Merchant Association, which stands at the top tier of wealth and power.

Ye Heng watched the commotion for a while and roughly understood.

Ye Heng had heard of the Floating Light Merchant Association's name; they were wildly rich, and it was no surprise they looked down on ordinary resources, given they sat atop the resource pyramid of the Wasteland World.

After thinking, Ye Heng squeezed through the crowd and stepped forward.

His gaze settled on several weapons he needed, and then he said to that steward:

"I want to trade these five weapons; do you have specific requirements for the trade goods?"

The other party's steward was a man in his sixties; having risen to steward in the association, his living conditions were good, so he looked much healthier and younger than an old dust civilian.

He stared at Ye Heng for a while; judging by appearance, he didn't seem to come from any major power, his aura wasn't particularly strong, yet he was quite confident, making it hard for him to tell.

Thus the steward smiled and said:

"Don't bring out things like crystal cores and stones to embarrass yourself; even daily goods purchasable with crystal cores at the Special Zone Exchange are all forbidden."

"Young man, is this your first time in such a free trade zone? Use your brain—would our Floating Light Merchant Association's standards be low?"

Ye Heng: "……"

Forget it, let him have a look.

"Then, can you take a look at these?"

Having spoken, Ye Heng took out a small paper box from his space and pushed it forward.

The steward eyed Ye Heng suspiciously, muttering as he opened the paper box.

At the sight of its contents, the old man's eyes widened, and he seemed momentarily unable to react.

When he finally came to, his expression had changed.

Only then did the steward hastily close the paper box, hold it, turn away, and lower his head to examine it carefully.

The paper box contained four items total: a bottle of old soy sauce, a bottle of aged vinegar, a can of broad bean paste, and a small box of thirteen-spice—these were all seasonings from the civilized era!

After decades of apocalypse and wasteland, the consumables left from the civilized era have long become exceedingly rare.

These seasonings all have a shelf life; after a few years they will spoil.

But these in the box, although they only have name labels and no other information visible, the old man could be certain the seasonings inside were fresh!

He abruptly turned to look at Ye Heng, his tone much more urgent.

"Kid, where did you get these things from?"

He didn't know what thirteen-spice was, but he recognized old soy sauce and aged vinegar as brewed condiments.

These days, where could one obtain such precious seasonings? Not to mention their Floating Light Merchant Association—probably the whole world couldn't find a few bottles still edible!

Ye Heng frowned, then answered decisively: "That's not to be disclosed; the trade fair's rule is no probing each other's bottom line—can we just say whether it can be sold?"

The steward's eyelid twitched; he realized he had been too hasty, forgetting this rule.

This person appeared not to be from the Tenth Special Zone, and wore no family crest, indicating he was not from a major power.

After thinking, the steward's attitude immediately softened, and he said with a smile:

"It can be exchanged, naturally it can be; as you said, you can take away those five weapons."

Ye Heng nodded satisfactorily upon hearing that, immediately stowing the weapons into his space and turning to leave.

Who would have thought the steward suddenly had another idea; after ordering someone to watch the booth, he brought two bodyguards and followed Ye Heng.

Ye Heng had walked out two streets before noticing he was being followed.

He frowned, suspecting it was someone from the Floating Light Merchant Guild.

Although he had torn off all the labels from the seasoning he took out, its quality was still evident.

The other party seemed to have harbored ill intentions, wanting to strike at him covertly.

Ye Heng hesitated not, and immediately made a decision.

He, with a little tail in tow, wound through the special zone, picking crowded places, and finally turned into a narrow alley.

The next second, Ye Heng unleashed his mental power, condensing an independent space large enough for one person to enter and exit around himself, and slipped inside.

The steward, with two bodyguards in tow, watched Ye Heng turn into the alley ahead; upon catching up, they found the long alley empty of Ye Heng's silhouette……