Chapter 82: Heading to the Black Market
“It seems my feeling wasn’t wrong.”
Wearing a bathrobe, Zhou Ming stood before the mirror in the bathroom, carefully examining his own eyes.
At this moment, he wasn’t wearing contact lenses. Instead, he revealed his serpentine pupils.
From the moment his eyes began to change after consuming the Serpent Saliva Fruit, to commanding hundreds of Ironthread Snakes in the Green Mist Jungle, and now to training the Beast King Body using the serpent blood of Inkband and Vermilion Jade — Zhou Ming’s serpent pupils had undergone a significant transformation.
The first time, it could only be described as having the feeling of serpent eyes.
The second time, when he displayed them on the arena stage, they were about seventy to eighty percent like real serpent eyes. But now, Zhou Ming’s eyes had completely transformed into true serpent pupils.
Their color was primarily dark gold, and if one looked closely, countless fine golden patterns seemed to form around the iris.
“If I can’t use the Shepherd’s path during class advancement, it seems I’ll have to rely on these serpent eyes I obtained by chance.”
Zhou Ming had never stopped thinking about advancing to a professional-level Beast Tamer. Because of his own situation, he had been planning for his future path for a long time.
When he used Inkband and Vermilion Jade’s serpent blood to practice the Beast King Body, and later bought the New Martial Arts – Beast King Body from the Hunter Market, a thought of experimentation had already formed in his heart.
If a normal class advancement couldn’t work because of his unique Spiritual Seed, then how should he resolve his problem?
Unlike Blue Star, Zhou Ming’s previous life had been a society of information explosion. Though it lacked supernatural powers, imagination about the extraordinary filled novels, movies, and anime.
Combining those fantasies with the reality of this world, and the knowledge Zhou Ming had acquired, some ideas were pure nonsense — but some actually made sense.
A few even suited his current circumstances, and the knowledge and materials required also existed here.
Although the idea of creating a new profession might sound ridiculous, professions such as Phantasmal Tamer and Beast Knight also began as mere concepts.
Moreover, Zhou Ming was fully aware of his own abilities. He hadn’t strayed from reality, since what he envisioned already had a research foundation in this world.
All he needed now was to try. But this risk, he had to bear himself.
After all, he wanted to conduct experiments shrouded in darkness, and there was no one else with the same condition as him to serve as a test subject.
Looking at the serpent pupils reflected in the mirror, Zhou Ming picked up his contact lenses and put them on again. His plan would only begin in earnest if he confirmed he couldn’t undergo normal class advancement.
For now, his main goal was still to enhance his Beast Taming strength and obtain the Class Advancement Ritual.
After all, the difficulty of pioneering a new path was self-evident. Even if he successfully became a professional-level Beast Tamer, beyond that awaited the Transcendent Master and the Legendary Saint.
And with no precedents to follow, Zhou Ming could only treat himself as an experimental subject. The risk was as high as walking on a tightrope.
He didn’t even dare to think too deeply about it — afraid he might lose his resolve.
If there were already a well-paved road to follow, who would willingly tread a thorn-covered path filled with danger and hardship?
Zhou Ming could only set those thoughts aside for now. He still had other matters to attend to tonight.
Tonight marked the opening time of the monthly Black Market, as announced in the Qinshan Evening News.
Zhou Ming planned to gather intelligence about the base that had appeared in the Northern Wasteland.
In the past few days, rumors about that underground base had spread throughout the entire Qinshan Base. Zhou Ming didn’t need to confirm whether they were true or false.
What he needed to do was to determine whether the base contained anything he needed.
Putting on his clothes and taking Inkband and Vermilion Jade with him, Zhou Ming slung a backpack over his shoulder and drove toward the southern district under the cover of night.
Most of Qinshan Base’s factories for daily necessities were located in the southern part of the city, which also housed the majority of the base’s lower-class residents.
The public security there was worse than in other districts, and many abandoned factories remained — perfect for the Black Market to operate.
According to Zhou Ming’s knowledge, the Black Market almost always opened in the southern district, rarely elsewhere.
He speculated that the Black Market’s owner must have some connection with the southern district’s higher-ups — or perhaps such shady dealings could only take place in an underdeveloped area like this.
Before long, Zhou Ming stopped his car about one or two miles away from the Black Market. He would walk the rest of the way to avoid being noticed because of the vehicle.
Under the faint glow of dim streetlights, Zhou Ming approached an abandoned factory.
This time, the Black Market wasn’t held in an underground garage.
Standing beneath the shadow of a large tree, swarms of Ironthread Snakes surged out from Zhou Ming’s side like a tide. Under his command, they quickly dispersed in all directions.
The snakes swiftly hid in the corners around the derelict factory, setting up a Radar Sensory Domain.
Zhou Ming always placed his own safety first. He would never entrust it to others.
After probing the surroundings for a moment and finding nothing unusual, Zhou Ming put on a mask and a baseball cap, then slowly walked toward the factory’s main gate.
As for the scattered Ironthread Snakes, he wasn’t worried about them.
They were small, their strength hadn’t reached the Ferocious Beast level, and their faint aura would hardly draw attention.
Serpents were, after all, masters of concealment.
In a way, being weak was an advantage — they were less likely to be noticed.
Moreover, since Zhou Ming’s Spiritual Power had reached its current limit, the distance at which he could control his beasts had doubled. His farthest reach now extended to about one kilometer. If centered on himself, his Radar Sensory Domain could cover a circular area of about two kilometers in radius.
The snakes were spaced far apart, ensuring that if one Ironthread Snake encountered trouble, the others would have enough time to react.
“Knock, knock-knock, knock.”
Following the secret rhythm, Zhou Ming knocked on the gate before him.
The person who came to receive him was the same middle-aged man with a face full of scars.
After verifying the password, Zhou Ming entered the factory and saw, as usual, several guards inside armed with Storm-series rifles.
Zhou Ming said nothing more, following the man like a regular customer into the building.
As always, he paid the entrance fee in advance to the man before being allowed inside the Black Market.
“No wonder they chose this place.”
Compared to his previous visits, there were noticeably more people this time.
Zhou Ming guessed it was due to the commotion caused by the Northern Wasteland base.
The place was bustling, almost noisy, with most conversations centered around that base.
Fortunately, the surrounding windows were tightly sealed; otherwise, the noise would surely have drawn attention in the dark.
Zhou Ming didn’t linger on that thought. He wasn’t here to buy resources this time — his goal was to purchase information.
Entering the factory and glancing around, he walked directly into the crowd.
Having been here a few times before, Zhou Ming knew exactly where to find those who dealt in intelligence.
In one corner stood a black tent about two meters tall. Two masked burly men stood guard at its entrance.
That was precisely the place Zhou Ming was looking for.