Chapter 30: Kong Dong Trading Market

Crack!

As the game pod lid slowly opened, the nutrient fluid wrapping his body drained out through the Kong Dong around him. Qin Ye, having exited the virtual interface, punched the controller beside him.

"What trash game, what's the deal with a one-hour game cooldown?"

Recalling the image of himself being swarmed and killed by a suddenly refreshed horde of Blood Corpses just as he was about to kill the level 10 Rage-Burst Beetle, Qin Ye couldn't help but curse again.

Standing up from the game pod and leaving, he went to the sofa, sat down, opened his bank account, and began transferring funds.

There were three transfers in total.

They were sent to the captains of the three squads that provided the finishing blows for him.

If he wanted to continue collecting finishing blows in the future, integrity was extremely important; he didn't want to cut off the path for collecting finishing blows later.

Curses aside, after experiencing it firsthand, he had completely fallen in love with this game.

Ultra-high freedom, 100% realistic scene modeling and physical feedback, an infinitely large exploration map... Among these advantages, what made him most addicted was the ability to infinitely expand his growth combinations, and the attribute feedback after leveling up and strengthening.

The physical fitness to leap several meters high and shatter stone with a single punch was a joy he could not experience in reality.

But thinking of the biggest drawback—that death in the game would trigger a resurrection cooldown—he still couldn't help but curse inwardly.

In his view, this setting was purely a hunger marketing tactic by the Moon-Eclipse Clan, completely unnecessary, simply adding to the players' frustration.

After completing the transfers, he walked into the bathroom, washed up, changed into a set of clothes, and walked out the door.

Presenting itself before him was a magnificent underground space; above, the rock walls were hung with numerous burning energy torches, illuminating the Underground World.

Various forms of intelligent life could be seen walking around here.

Green-skinned Steel-Bone Orcs, Abyss Fish-people with gill patterns on their faces, Obsidian-men whose bodies were made of rock... A chaotic mix; besides humans like him, there were countless alien races.

These alien races were lifeforms that had fled to Earth from other worlds.

The worlds they came from had all been invaded by some mysterious force, causing their worlds to face a crisis of collapse; only a tiny fraction of their clans managed to tear through space and flee here.

Among the forces that fled here, the strongest belonged to the Moon-Eclipse Clan.

According to the descriptions of the first batch of Moon-Eclipse Clan members to arrive on Earth, their world, facing collapse, had opened eighteen teleportation space channels connecting to different worlds, fleeing to different worlds respectively.

One batch came to Earth.

This group of Moon-Eclipse Clan members was also the only alien force to relocate to the Moon after arriving on Earth and establish a new city there.

The underground space where he currently stood was called the Kong Dong Trading Market, located on the border of the Human Federation's territory; it was a place for intelligence exchange and material-technology exchange between humans and aliens, managed by the Alliance Council jointly established by all races.

There were eleven similar trading centers on Earth.

He was a Class-D administrator of the Human Federation at the Kong Dong Trading Market; one of his duties was to patrol the Class-D area of the Kong Dong Trading Market and solve problems encountered between races.

Although they were all intelligent life, the different habits bred by different living environments and cultures made this place a chaotic mix, where conflicts and contradictions frequently erupted.

"Get lost, you're blocking the way!"

Just then, a force struck from behind, shoving Qin Ye to one side.

After stumbling two steps and regaining his stance, Qin Ye turned his head to look; he saw a Stone Giant over three meters tall walk past him without looking back, heading toward the trading zone.

"Damn it, do you know who I am!"

Hearing this, the Stone Giant suddenly turned around, glaring at Qin Ye with two huge eyes like black gems.

Upon seeing the Class-D administrator insignia on Qin Ye's chest, the Stone Giant's fierce expression instantly became kind:

"Truly sorry, my lord administrator, please do not hold it against me."

A humble apology came from the translator at the Stone Giant's neck.

"If I find you causing trouble again, I'll put you on the blacklist; don't come to the Kong Dong Trading Market in the future."

Amidst the Stone Giant's continuous apologies, Qin Ye walked toward the trading market, beginning his patrol work for the day.

The entire trading market was like a complex maze, divided into eight trading zones; he was responsible for the Class-D trading market.

"Earth Spirit Stones from the Magic Ancient World, usable for all equipment requiring charging, ultra-long battery life, one is better than six."

"Specialty Rapid-Growth Grass from the Abyss World, grows even on polluted land, matures once every 68 days; buy it and never worry about food and drink again."

"Spirit-Breaking Shields produced in the Profound Kong World; this is the last Spirit-Breaking Shield. Carry it to defend against unexpected attacks, automatic defense; it can save your life at a critical moment."

As he walked along, stalls selling goods from merchants of all races lined both sides of the road, with hawking cries never ceasing.

Arriving in front of a stall, Qin Ye stopped.

The stall owner was a green-skinned dwarf with an iron helmet on its head, where lights flickered alternately; its height barely reached Qin Ye's chest, and its body was decorated with numerous props carved with green runes.

"Old Black, haven't you been causing trouble lately?"

"How could that be? Our Green Spirit Clan loves peace the most," came a sharp voice from the translator around the green dwarf's neck.

Hearing this, Qin Ye couldn't help but roll his eyes.

This Green Spirit Clan, though appearing weak and fragile, was extremely belligerent; it was one of the alien forces in his managed trading zone that gave him the most headaches.

At this moment, he squatted down, picked up a glowing green stone from the stall, and examined it carefully:

"What is this? I haven't seen you sell it before."

Facing the question, the green dwarf immediately pointed at the green gem and introduced it:

"This is one of our clan's cutting-edge core technologies; we call it a Spirit Bomb. It is made by altering the internal structure of Power Stones. Its power is immense; if we weren't about to starve, we wouldn't be selling it."

Hearing this, Qin Ye was instantly startled:

"Isn't this thing dangerous?"

"No, we naturally abide by the rules of the trading market; we absolutely will not bring any specially dangerous items into the trading market. This Spirit Bomb is made from the lowest-grade Spirit Stones, and it will not explode naturally; it requires a consciousness mark to be left on it first. Only after being thrown and triggered by consciousness will the internal structure be destroyed, causing an explosion."

After hearing the explanation, Qin Ye immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

"How much does this sell for?"

"100 Earth Coins."

The 100 Earth Coins mentioned by the green dwarf did not refer to the currency commonly used within the Human Federation.

The birth of Earth Coins can be traced back over 200 years; it is a brand-new currency jointly established by the Moon-Eclipse Clan, the Human Federation, the Great Man Clan, and other alien forces, and is also the common currency among all races on Earth; one can use Earth Coins to purchase needed resources and technologies from all races.

Meanwhile, the currency within the Human Federation is called Credit Coins, used only internally.

"Can the technology be transferred?" Qin Ye asked the crucial question.

Before serving as a Class D Administrator, he had worked at the Federation Technology Institute as an Alien Technology Analyst.

Dispatched by the Human Federation to the Underground Market, his duties included maintaining the stability of the trading zone and were also tasked with seeking important technologies for the Human Federation.

"As long as there is money, technology is not a problem."

"I need to test its power first before considering a purchase; here are 100 Earth Coins."

As the words fell, Qin Ye pulled a silver card from his pocket.

The front of the card's display screen showed an input box for numbers.

After entering 100 into the number box, Qin Ye swiped it across the machine on the green-skinned dwarf's stall.

Beep!

Accompanied by a crisp electronic sound, the machine popped up a notification confirming payment completion.

(End of this chapter)