The rooms in the tiny inn were extremely non-soundproof. When they went down the corridor, they could even hear a woman's loud, high-pitched, fake, and coy voice coming from beyond one room's door.
In the corridor, they could hear people arguing, women's fake and pretentious sounds of stimulation, and men's low shouts when charging in position.
Lin Ke could only say…
What a mess!
What a huge mess!
The whole corridor was more like an orchestra of the various vicissitudes of life. Beyond the wooden doors, one could hear the joys, sorrows, partings, and reunions taking place within.
Lin Ke walked over to Room 505, the number indicated on the room card.
The room's door plate was missing a nail and hung askew on the door.
Lin Ke reached out and swiped it with his index finger. With the nail as the center, the door plate spun madly.
What?! A room where even the door plate is askew!
Lin Ke opened the door with the key. A strong, humid smell of mold drifted out from within.
Lin Ke covered his nose and walked into the room. Right away, he pulled the old, shabby curtains away and opened the windows to air the room.
When Sand Condor, who was circling in the sky, saw the windows being opened, it swooped down onto the windowsill and dove into the room.
Forbes closed the door, hung the backpack onto the clothes rack, and plopped his butt onto the bed.
Treasure Hunter Rat also jumped down from Lin Ke's shoulder and landed on the bed. The next second, its tiny little body was bounced back up.
Lin Ke stood at the window and played with Sand Condor. However, his gaze had already drifted into the distance as he thought about his plans and what he should do next.
"Boss, what are our plans after this? Are we going to stay here the whole time?" asked Forbes. Before this, his heart had been filled with conviction in coming to Sand City. However, Forbes suddenly felt like he had lost his goal and conviction now that he had arrived.
Lin Ke turned back and gave Forbes a deep, meaningful look. "Have a good sleep for now. I have a mission for you at night."
"A mission? Tell me about it, Boss!"
"I'm afraid that you'll be scared if I tell you now, so I'll wait until night falls to tell you instead."
"How can that be! I won't even bat an eyelid for Boss's sake, even if I have to go through hell and back! What won't I dare to do!" Forbes got up with a righteous aura all around him, his face filled with unswerving determination.
At night, neon lights and various forms of light pollution sources in the slums lit up after the sun had set. A cyberpunk atmosphere suddenly came over the whole city.
"Boss, will I really not die? I'm suddenly very scared…" Forbes whimpered as Lin Ke pushed him out the door.
Lin Ke patted Forbes on the shoulder. He guided him patiently and replied, "Don't worry! Just go there and sell the microchips normally. For the price… You can just follow the price I told you. I'll protect you from the shadows."
With pleading eyes, Forbes said, "But I'm not talking about selling the microchips, Boss. What I want to say is, can you not put army ants on me…"
With regard to Forbes's request, the understanding Lin Ke naturally rejected him.
"The place I'm currently taking you to is the underground black market. More than half of the prohibited goods in Sand City are transacted here. As long as you have the money, you can buy practically anything here. When you reach the destination later, act according to what I've told you earlier. The shopkeepers will definitely accept this price. After you receive the money, don't look back and come back immediately. You hear me?"
Forbes nodded repeatedly. He repeatedly went over Lin Ke's earlier instructions in his mind.
There were still crowds of people going about in the slums at night. After a day of labor, everyone went into the streets to enjoy a brief period of happiness in the evening.
The lights on both sides of the main street lit up the streets brightly. There were passersby and peddlers at the roadside, while all sorts of neon lights were inside the alleys. There were barmaids—skimpily dressed—soliciting customers, as well as top-naked women in the sex trade leaning out of old, run-down buildings' windows. They didn't feel the slightest bit of shame about their nakedness. They lit up cigarettes, constantly flirting and posing coquettishly at the crowds passing by below.
However, these sights existed only on the main street. In some tiny winding paths where light couldn't reach, various activities—not fit to be seen—were taking place.
In fact, during this period—when Lin Ke and Forbes were walking—they had already heard no less than four or five gunshots.
When Forbes—who was already very nervous from the start—heard the gunshots, he was so frightened that his fats trembled wildly. However, when he looked at Lin Ke and the passersby around him, no changes occurred to their facial expressions at all. They were completely unaffected.
Forbes couldn't help but ask, "Boss, why are all of you so unaffected when you hear the gunshots? Your reaction was like that, and so were the reactions of the passersby in the streets."
Lin Ke thought for a moment and replied, "In the slave camp, would you stop doing your chores to go out and watch if someone is being whipped?"
The fat on Forbes's cheeks quivered as he shook his head to express his negative response.
"Why wouldn't you?"
"Because slaves are whipped every day. What's so interesting to watch about that?" replied Forbes naturally.
"Then, do you understand why no one is surprised at gunshots now?"
Forbes nodded thoughtfully, seemingly having understood the mindsets of these passersby. However, Forbes' heart stopped beating for a moment the very next second, and he became somewhat panicked. If there are a lot of gunfights here, then wouldn't the probability of me being shot to death also increase?
"Boss, in that case, do we also run the risk of being shot if we stay here in the slums?"
Lin Ke cast a glance at Forbes, and meaningfully replied, "If you don't wish to be shot, I have two solutions for you."
Forbes's eyes brightened, and he thought to himself, Boss is still the impressive one, after all. He has come up with two solutions right away!
Forbes waited patiently and obediently for the explanation.
"The first is to kill all the bad guys. This way, no one will point a gun at you anymore. The second solution is to become one of them and become the most powerful person here so that they won't dare to point a gun at you."
Great! Saying that is no different from not saying anything at all. Forbes deflated like a balloon immediately.
However, this wasn't a joke to Lin Ke. He had already made his choice.
During their conversation, Lin Ke and Forbes had already entered the depths of the slums.
Their purpose in coming out tonight was to offload goods.
From the desert ancient ruins all the way to Weeping Valley, Lin Ke had looted a lot of things from the mercenaries and the Machinery Holy Cult fanatics. He didn't intend to sell the consumables like guns, ammo, and medical supplies. They also wouldn't fetch much.
However, the Machinery Holy Cult's basic microchips were in high demand in the underground black market.
If Lin Ke sold all five of them, they would bring him a hefty sum. He could also earn a bit of 'extra income' along the way so that it would be more convenient when he executed his upcoming plans.
"Boss, are we arriving soon?" Forbes was already nervous from the start. He felt even more jittery upon seeing that they hadn't reached their destination even after walking for half a day.
"Relax, we'll be there very soon."
After they passed the bustling main street, Lin Ke saw an old, broken-down signboard with 'Dark Shadow Alley' written on it at the roadside.
They had reached their destination.
Lin Ke brought Forbes with him and entered the mafia's alley.
The trash cans in the alley were filled with rubbish. Foul water dripped onto the floor at the edges, and annoying flies buzzed as they flew about the top.
The alley was dark; there weren't any lights there.
Forbes was somewhat fearful as he timidly followed after Lin Ke.
The scene looked rather strange. Lin Ke was small and skinny, but his gait was steady and even. Whereas Forbes—who was big and tall—had a timid look all over his face and cowered as he walked at the back.
Dark Shadow Alley was the entrance to Sand City's underground black market.
The portion of the alley closer to the outside was devoid of human presence. Neither could they hear any noise there. However, their field of vision suddenly broadened when they turned the corner.
A small, empty plaza sat amid the residential buildings. Along the walls were the homeless that leaned against the walls, their hair messy and all over the place as they puffed away on cigarette butts that they had picked up from the floor.
Lin Ke kept his eyes focused in front of him and walked straight toward a vending machine with blinking neon lights.
Forbes was actually looking left and right around him curiously. When he made eye contact with a homeless man's dark, dreary eyes, he was so frightened that he shrank back at once. These people look so creepy.
"Boss, are you intending to buy a drink? I have clean water in my bag…"
Lin Ke fished out a $10 coin, which he had exchanged in advance—from his pocket and tossed it into the lunch box of a homeless man lying beside the vending machine.
The coin landed in the metal lunch box and emitted clinks and clanks as it clattered.
The homeless man didn't say a single word, but he stretched out his arm and knocked against the black brick wall next to his hand.
Two seconds later, a door opened from the vending machine. A lackey with a mohawk and tattoos all over his body scrutinized Lin Ke and Forbes. He frowned slightly when he saw the flax clothing that the duo wore.
Lin Ke kept a straight face, and calmly said, "Offloading stuff."
The lackey glanced left and right. Then, he stretched out an arm and waved the two of them in.
They entered a dimly-lit corridor. It was then closely followed by deafening electronic dance music and blinding laser lights.
Lin Ke leaned over to Forbes and said, "Follow me closely and don't get lost."
Green, purple, red, and blue laser lights flickered and swayed madly, outlining the sensual and revealing figures on the dance floor.
Although it was incredibly dark, Forbes still managed to catch sight of several heart-racing and blush-worthy scenes. On the platform in the middle of the dance floor, only palm-sized fabric scraps covered the key areas on the bodies of the women there.
In Forbes's opinion, the fabric scraps wouldn't be enough to make a piece of clothing for Treasure Hunter rat, even if all of those fabric scraps were pieced together.
What made it even worse was that their key areas would become exposed if their movements were even just a bit bigger as they danced. When matched with the dim laser lights, their key areas appeared, disappeared, and reappeared, giving off an unusual kind of thrill.
Who's going to be able to withstand this!?
Forbes was just a pure-hearted little fatty from the desert countryside. When had he ever seen a scene like this? He hastily lowered his head and followed closely after Lin Ke, his cheeks flushed red and his throat dry.
The lackey brought them to a secret door. Then, he opened it and signaled to the duo to go in.
From the beginning till the end, Lin Ke didn't have much of an expression on his face. On the other hand, Forbes looked like a country bumpkin entering a city for the first time, finding everything new and novel.
Bam!
As the secret door closed behind them, the noisy, deafening music finally disappeared. Those scenes that made one's temperature rise also vanished along with it.
Forbes let out a long breath. The test of temptation was finally over.
"Alright, this is the underground black market." Lin Ke crossed his arms in front of his chest.
It was time for Forbes to perform now. If they were in luck, they would be able to earn a pretty sum today.
Forbes looked at the long flight of stairs—which led downward—in front of him, a look of stupefaction all over his face. The scene in front of him was somewhat different from the underground black market that he had imagined…
"Boss, this is the underground black market? Why isn't there anyone here?"
"We haven't reached the area where the people are yet. This is Sand City's subway operation line, as well as an underground shelter. This place was already abandoned before humans returned to living aboveground. Later on, it was turned into an underground black market by the forces occupying this place. Large transactions take place here every night."
"There are two sets of rules in Sand City. One of them is the rules for daytime, and the other is the rules for nighttime." Lin Ke spread his arms and motioned at the abandoned subway line in front of them. "This is the origin of the night's rules—the underground black market."
Lin Ke looked back and glanced at Forbes before saying, "You can change your clothes now. Do you remember the steps I taught you earlier?"
Forbes nodded repeatedly and repeated the instructions. "Maintain a distance of 20 meters from Boss. When Boss stops walking, look for a small stall named 'Dave's Watches.' Bring out the basic microchips after that and sell them at a fixed price of 11,000 coins. During this period, no matter what questions the other party asks, do not answer. Leave immediately after receiving the money."
Lin Ke snapped his fingers. "That's right. Change and get to work!"
Forbes handed the backpack over to Lin Ke. He then took off his flax clothing, revealing a fitting white shirt, straight-cut black suit trousers, and shiny black leather shoes underneath.
"Put on the sunglasses as well."
Forbes took out the sunglasses and propped them onto his nose bridge. He then put on a black vest and buttoned it, instantly transforming into a businessman.
As he touched the basic microchips in his shirt pocket, Forbes took a deep breath…