Chapter 799: Conversations of the Star Interstellar Merchants

As she spoke, Fenisi sighed softly.

"Mr. Tailong, gambling always has its wins and losses, and this accident truly caught everyone off guard. If it has caused you any losses, the Star Alliance's gift package will provide some compensation."

She first stabilized the issue of losses.

Then, her finger pointed toward the unstoppable Vulkan in the display.

"But sir, what you truly care about is likely more than just Bode Coins, isn't it? It is power! It is that power which crushes everything and dominates the battlefield!

That kind of power is currently inside that 'Black Box'! Do you not wish to see its final outcome with your own eyes? Will it continue to shine, or... fall?"

Fenisi's voice carried a seductive tone.

"The new handicap has very high odds. Betting on the status or life and death of the Xiuluo Holy Indigenous... isn't that more exciting than simple wins and losses? Besides,"

She took a step closer, her pale green pupils looking at Tailong, her voice dropping even lower.

"If... I mean if, you had the opportunity in a future 'game' to face such power yourself, or even... had the chance to end such a legend with your own hands, that would be a warrior's true glory and stake, wouldn't it?"

Tailong's single eye contracted sharply, and his breathing became heavy.

Fenisi's words precisely struck his pride as a warrior and his thirst for power.

The annoyance of losing money was replaced by a more intense emotion, mixed with battle intent and greed.

He stared fixedly at Fenisi, and finally, squeezed a word out from his throat: "... Fine!"

Bode Star System, Feng Qi Xing Alliance Entertainment Plaza, Arena 40 - Secondary Viewing Platform Bar Area.

Waves of cheering and betting sounds came from the arena's viewing area; this was a relatively quiet corner.

Several Star Interstellar Merchants of various forms sat around a floating energy table, on which were placed strange energy drinks and holographic star map projections.

Unlike those fanatical gamblers, their eyes held more shrewd calculation and the exhaustion of long-distance travel.

Galu, an insectoid merchant whose body was covered in dark purple chitinous armor and who possessed compound eyes, tapped the tabletop with a slender appendage, making a crisp clicking sound, and lowered his voice, which carried a hissing tone.

"Hey, have you noticed? The Feng Qi Xing Alliance's move this time... is a bit too 'focused'."

His compound eyes swept across the surroundings, confirming there were no listening devices.

"Focused? You mean regarding that indigenous planet called Xiuluo Holy?"

The one who replied was Gelumu, a fat, gelatinous creature with six soft tentacles; he used two tentacles to curl up a cup of bubbling, viscous liquid to sip, while his other tentacles operated rapidly on a small trading terminal in front of him.

"Gelumu just scanned quite a few derivative handicaps for 'indigenous unknown status', the odds are tempting! Forget whether they're focused or not, as long as there's money to be made!"

"Gelumu, you greedy slime, you only see these petty gains right in front of you!"

The third merchant, Shiluoke, looked like a pile of weathered rocks barely stacked into a human shape, and he let out a dull laugh.

"Galu is right. The Feng Qi Xing Alliance has even moved the 'Dark Eye' array over to watch an indigenous planet; this is not their style.

Their appetite has always been huge; keeping their eyes on hundreds of 'game fields' at once is the norm."

Galu's compound eyes flickered with a ghostly light, his chitinous head tilted slightly forward, and his voice dropped even lower.

"I often run the route near the 'Cross Corridor'. Half a month ago, I heard that the Feng Qi Xing Alliance and the Canaan Star Alliance almost came to blows at the edge of the 'Silent Valley' nebula over the mining rights to a newly discovered high-purity 'Spirit Element' ore planet!

The Canaan patrol fleet locked onto a Fengqi survey ship directly, and they stood off for several days! In the end, it was only because the big shots above stepped in to mediate that they didn't fight, but a grudge was definitely formed."

"Silent Valley? That's not close to here."

Gelumu's sipping motion paused, and the tentacles operating the terminal also slowed down.

"Spirit Element ore? No wonder..."

A few bits of gravel fell from Shiluoke's body, as if he were nodding.

"It's not just Canaan. My last stop was the 'Rust Belt' space station, where the news is even more mixed.

I heard that over in the 'Ash Star Belt', the border patrols of the Feng Qi Xing Alliance and the Ash Star Alliance have also had several frictions.

Those war-mongers from the Ash Star Alliance aren't as easy to talk to as Canaan.

There are rumors that at the end of last month, small patrol boats from both sides exchanged fire near the K-78 Asteroid Belt, with losses on both sides! Although they both kept it quiet, it couldn't be hidden from the old hands who run this line."

Gelumu's tentacles twisted uneasily.

"Canaan Star Alliance... Ash Star Alliance... hiss... has Fengqi offended two tough nuts in the vicinity this time? No wonder... no wonder they've concentrated all the 'heavy hitters' they could pull from the Bode Star System here to Arena 40!"

Gelumu suddenly realized.

"They're afraid of their backyard catching fire, so they have to keep a tight watch on their 'cash cow'! With pressure mounting outside, they can't afford any trouble here!"

Galu's compound eyes turned toward the giant holographic screen in the center, which was looping highlights of exciting battles, and then looked at the frantically jumping odds table next to it.

"So this so-called 'energy flow interference' this time... hmph, I think the water runs very deep.

In that place called Xiuluo Holy, something might really have emerged that even makes the Feng Qi Xing Alliance nervous.

Otherwise, they wouldn't be this tense, even going so far as to use the 'Dark Eye', and coming up with this 'Suspense Handicap' to stabilize the field."

He tapped the trading terminal with a chitinous appendage and continued.

"Gelumu, the risk of those 'unknown status' handicaps you scanned might be greater than you think. What if... Fengqi plays it too far this time, or those two star alliances outside take advantage of the situation..."

"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey! Galu, you crow-mouth!"

Gelumu's tentacles slammed onto the table, splashing a few drops of mucus.

"My Bode Coins are all invested! The Feng Qi Xing Alliance has such a massive foundation, how could they play it too far so easily?

Even if Canaan and Ash are fierce, they wouldn't dare to directly smash Fengqi's field, right? At most, they'll just annoy each other at the border. Besides..."

A flash of cunning crossed his mung-bean-sized eyes.

"If things really get chaotic, isn't that the perfect time for 'flexible' merchants like us to fish in troubled waters and flip scarce supplies? For example... certain 'non-standard' Energy Cores that star alliances are in urgent need of? Or... 'intelligence'?"

Shiluoke let out a dull, rumbling sound, as if he were laughing.

"You slippery fellow... but Gelumu's words also make some sense. Risk and opportunity coexist.

The Feng Qi Xing Alliance is currently tightening its strings; they cannot afford internal chaos.

They are more afraid of trouble in the arena than we are.

So this 'Suspense Handicap', in the short term, is actually one of the safest gambling tables. As for the outside..."

His fingers, composed of weathered rock, traced across the star territories of the Canaan Star Alliance and the Ashes Star Alliance on the star map.

"Let the big shots of the Star Alliance worry about it. As for us... we should be ready to weigh anchor and run at any time, and while we're at it... listen more, and watch more."

The three traveling merchants exchanged a tacit look, temporarily ceased their discussion regarding the Star Alliance conflict, and turned their gazes back toward the boisterous Gladiator Arena and the frantically fluctuating odds board.