Universe Infinite Canteen

Stood up?

Ma Lu had waited for a while without seeing anyone else, so he kept walking, making a full circle and returning to the same entrance he initially came in through.

The middle-aged women who had been dancing in the square earlier had left in batches, with only one group left and packing up.

However, there was now a new team running in the park at night.

Ma Lu pepped up, eyeing the group of night runners—he felt that if the guy suspected to be Lao Hei was here, it would be most likely that he'd blend in with this crowd.

Yet, the night runners just jogged past him one by one, none of them stopping.

Could he have been played?

Ma Lu looked at the time on his phone again; it was now 9:44 pm, nearly 10 pm, over twenty minutes later than the originally agreed time.

Just as Ma Lu was hesitating whether to keep waiting or not, a voice suddenly came from behind him.

"Follow me."

Upon hearing this, Ma Lu turned around, his face involuntarily showing a hint of surprise.

The person approaching was none other than Old Man Zheng, who had been playing with a spinning top earlier!

Ma Lu had never suspected him, not just because he seemed to be a regular visitor of this small park with a good buddy, but there was also an important reason—Ma Lu had heard Old Man Zheng speak earlier.

The voice was not the same as the one who had called him earlier in the afternoon.

But in this day and age, even skeletons have voice changers, so a different voice doesn't seem to be a big issue.

Still, to be safe, Ma Lu asked an extra question, "Lao Hei?"

Old Man Zheng, upon hearing these two words, kept a stoic expression and simply repeated, "This isn't the place to talk, follow me."

"Alright then."

Ma Lu followed him deeper into the park, and they arrived at the small bamboo grove where the middle school couple had been displaying affection, though they were now gone.

This was about the darkest place in the entire park.
Experience more on empire

Ma Lu could only use his phone for light, while the shadow of Old Zheng wavered under the phone's light, resembling a black specter lurking in the bamboo thicket.

After walking a few more steps, Ma Lu stopped and said, "That's about enough; you've seen me before and didn't say hello. I'm just here to sell some extra ingredients, is there a need to make the atmosphere so tense?

"Stop already, let's have a look at the goods, give me a price, and then you can go back to spinning your top."

Old Man Zheng finally came to a halt and at last turned around, slowly saying, "Exceptional times call for caution."

"What exceptional times?" Ma Lu frowned.

"That's none of your business," Old Man Zheng replied sternly. He then looked around to make sure there was no one else nearby, and his expression softened slightly, "The goods, let me see them."

Upon hearing this, Ma Lu handed over the Collection Bag, but then he retracted his hand halfway through.

"Wait a minute, you haven't answered my question, are you really Lao Hei?"

"I am Lao Hei," Old Man Zheng admitted, "The call in the afternoon was also from me."

"How can you prove it?"

Old Man Zheng shook his head, "I don't need to prove anything. You're just here to sell goods to me. In the end, if you don't see the Star Currency, you don't have to give up the goods."

"Makes sense." Ma Lu opened the Collection Bag and took out each of the ingredients one by one.

At this moment, Old Man Zheng also put on his reading glasses, and the two of them squatted in the bamboo forest and began to inspect the goods.

"This is the Three-humped Wolf Camel? A 3-star ingredient, hmm, the quality's not bad, it looks like it was butchered not long ago... Snake-tailed Giant Eagle, and the Self-Destructing Jumping Mouse are also 3-star, oh, Lava Giant Lizard, a 4-star ingredient, interesting, this one is the Spiked Whip Spider Queen, also 4-star."

It was only when he saw the Earth Dragon Leg Meat that Old Man Zheng's gaze turned sharp, "Earth Dragon... This is a 5-star ingredient, highly favored by many chefs, I didn't expect to see it in this plane, it's quite rare... good, good."

"I've actually got some Energized Plants on hand, but I'm not in a hurry to trade them just yet, give me an estimate for these items first," Ma Lu said.

After thinking it over, Old Man Zheng said, "For 3-star ingredients, I'll purchase them at 30 Star Currency each, 4-stars at 75 Star Currency, and 5-stars at 199 Star Currency."

Ma Lu's eyes lit up upon hearing this, "199 Star Currency a pound?"

"What are you thinking, it's 199 Star Currency for a thousand pounds of course."

"Damn, that's robbery," Ma Lu complained, "Before coming here, I asked Yan Wu, and ingredients above 5-stars are quite valuable in the Grand Alliance too."

Old Man Zheng spread his hands, "You know that's in the Grand Alliance. If you put this stuff outside, the price could be ten times higher with no problem, but this here is Earth, you don't know how difficult it isn't to come here."

"Throw in a little extra for me," Ma Lu said, "As you said, this is Earth, and it wasn't easy for me to acquire these items either, your spaceship can't return empty-handed every trip, can it?"

"Who told you we return empty-handed?" Old Man Zheng replied, "Every time our spaceship comes, we have more goods to load than we can handle. If we take your goods, other items won't be able to get on the ship.

"That's why I must pick cautiously, to ensure the maximum profit from the cargo. And don't just look at how much we earn, the risks we take are high too, risking our lives for this; the Grand Alliance has been cracking down hard on smuggling, especially recently with their Iron Fist Campaign.

"They've deployed more personnel and set up a bunch of beacons, coming on strong. Quite a few of my peers have seen the signs and stopped their operations for now; our pressure is immense.

"Besides, the dangers of interdimensional travel are not limited to the Aviation Administration. If you're unlucky, you could get targeted by those damn Dimensional Pirates."

"Dimensional Pirates?"

"That's right, we at most deal in some gray-market business, but those guys are the real ruthless criminals," Old Man Zheng said with palpable trepidation.

"Then give me a bottom line, how much can you give me at most?"

"At most, I can add another 4 Star Currency for 4-stars and an additional 10 for 5-stars, not a coin more," Old Man Zheng stated resolutely.

Seeing that the negotiation had entered his area of expertise, Ma Lu also perked up and continued bargaining.

"You guys are dealing in big business, why do the purchase prices have to be in bits and pieces like this? It's also not easy to calculate, just round up the numbers for me."

"Fine, make it 80 and 210." Old Man Zheng grudgingly added a bit more, "And that's as high as I'll go."

"Alright, let's settle for that as the retail price for now. If I can provide a stable and substantial supply, there should be a discount, right?"

Old Man Zheng's eyes widened; in all his years of doing business, this was the first time he'd encountered such a negotiator. Shaking his head, he said, "No more, there are no more discounts, no matter how eloquently you argue, I won't add any more money."

"Done," Ma Lu agreed without trying to push further, seizing a good deal when he saw one.

"Just how much stock do you actually have?" Now that they had finally struck a deal, Old Man Zheng relaxed a bit and then asked.

However, he then saw Ma Lu stuffing the ingredients back into the plastic bag, "I don't plan to sell for now, the price is too low, it feels like it wouldn't be worth my while."

"......"

Just as Old Man Zheng's face began to show anger, contemplating whether this kid was playing him and whether he should turn hostile, he saw Ma Lu opening another plastic bag.

"We've settled on the price for raw materials, now let's talk about the price for processed goods. This piece of salted meat is crafted by a Cosmic Chef, that's the Cosmic Chef, you know. Think about how much Star Currency ordinary people would spend to dine once in a restaurant of a Cosmic Chef, come on, now tell me, how much are you planning to offer for this piece of salted meat?"

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