Forbidden Zone of the Human Race

After purchasing a bike, Xiang Ning came to the central tower at the center of the commercial area and read the signs. There were so many shops for battle armor, weapons, beast parts, and even places to modify and forge weapons. 

The place for beast parts was six levels underground. 

Xiang Ning hadn’t given the place much thought, but when he arrived, he was stunned. It was completely different from the modern shops aboveground; it had a worn, traditional look to it. He read a sign on the side and discovered that it used to be a black market before the Great Disaster that sold expensive contraband. But now it had been modified to become a legitimate place of trade. The place was spacious, with ten-meter-tall ceilings and was at least ten thousand square meters wide. There was a bustling crowd, too. 

He had just begun walking around when a child of about seven or eight years old ran over. “Hello, would you like me to show you around? Just thirty dollars per hour. I know every shop here, so just tell me what you want to buy and I can bring you to it within the shortest time.” He confidently patted his chest. 

Xiang Ning looked at the vast floor, thought for a moment, then nodded. 

The boy was overjoyed to see Xiang Ning nod, showing him his payment code. “I’m Xiaoyou, at your service!” He grinned, showing his missing front tooth. 

“What’s the highest tier beast sold here?” 

“Uh, usually up till tier four and five, tier six beasts are less common but you’ll still find them. As for tier seven, we have it but it’s extremely expensive. They’re usually sold in auctions only. There’ll be a whole tier eight beast sold to the highest bidder today!” 

Xiang Ning grew interested. “When will the bidding start?” 

“Let me check the time…. It’ll start in five hours, at eight in the evening,” said the boy, wiping his dripping nose. 

Xiang Ning asked the boy to bring him to the auction house. He looked around, but didn’t enter, then had the boy show him around, stopping every now and then. Every time he stopped, the boy would ask if he wanted to go inside, but he never did, merely touring like a tourist. Very quickly, one hour passed. 

The boy bowed slightly, then left. 

Watching the boy leave, Xiang Ning shook his head. Although the boy had brought him to places according to his requests, very often, the boy would bring him to a specific shop despite the fact that there were many others selling the same thing down the road. It was a very old trick in the book. 

Xiang Ning didn’t stop after the boy left. He went to a shop named Pearl Pavilion, which didn’t have many patrons, though he observed that every person that entered was at least tier five and above. They often dragged something inside with them, and based on the faint smell of blood in the air, they must be bringing in beast parts. 

“Good day, how may I help you?” A salesgirl with a professional smile approached. All the girls in the shop, including this one, were beautiful in both looks and figures. 

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Sometimes that was an indicator of the business’ capabilities, too. 

“I’m just looking. Do you sell beast cores?” 

“Yes, please follow me.” She led Xiang Ning up to the second floor. On the way up, he observed his surroundings and found that the first floor was filled with beast parts like sharp claws, bones, dried flesh, and so on, which were materials for weapon-making. 

There was a huge disparity between the cheapest and most expensive goods, too. The cheapest was a piece of tier four Thunderhowler bone, whose bone marrow could be extracted to make weapons. The particles in it were very active, meaning that a low charge of electricity would be enough to activate the entire weapon, turning an ordinary weapon into one with a lightning effect. The effect also came with the ability to heat up to extreme temperatures, like how Xiang Ning’s Devourer could heat up after devouring the Magmaggot. 

It was sold for three million dollars, which was several times more expensive than other places. Even the cheapest bone sold at Pearl Pavilion was worth three million; it was no wonder that the shop attracted powerful martial artists as patrons. 

The salesgirl brought Xiang Ning up to the second floor and said, “Sir, this is where the beast cores are displayed. Call me if you need help.” Then she went aside to wait. 

Xiang Ning took the entire shop in. There was a larger collection of rare beast cores there than in regular shops, and to his surprise, they were even selling bioweapons. 

The cheapest one was selling at a billion dollars. That was because a hundred beast cores might not even make one bioweapon. This price was astronomical, and the fact that there was more than one model on sale was enough to impress him even more. 

Beast cores of tier four to five were worth about ten million dollars, while tier five and six were just too expensive to even consider. Xiang Ning was already choking when he saw that the cheapest tier four beast core was priced at fourteen million dollars. 

There were many other customers on the floor as well. He walked the entire floor but still didn’t know which beast core the Devourer needed, so he called for the salesgirl and asked, “Can I take out my weapon?”

“What?” The girl paused, thinking she had heard him wrongly. 

Xiang Ning asked again, “Can I take out my weapon?” 

Then, much to his shock, the salesgirl quickly pressed a button on her watch, and a shrill alarm sounded across the entire Pearl Pavilion. Doors and windows shut tight with iron shutters while more than ten armed fighters burst in, each at least tier five. 

“Put your hands up! Get down!” 

Xiang Ning was in a daze. “What is it? What’re you doing?” He frowned. What’s the meaning of this?

Seeing as he had no intention of raising his hands, one martial artist rushed forward. Xiang Ning coldly huffed and kicked so fast that the person flew out before anyone could react. 

“What’s the meaning of this?!” An aura of violence burst from Xiang Ning’s body, accumulated from his experience killing fearsome beasts. 

To everyone else, he was a volatile, dangerous character!