She wasn't sure about the exact locations of other Newbie Planets, but as long as she could get her hands on the Star Map of the Edge World and input it into the game's map system, she could deduce the routes to the other Newbie Planets based on their relative positions on the map from Ancestral Origin Star and Edge World. With that, she could fly her spaceship there to "harvest" new players.
In the matter of "harvesting" players, she was never behind any NPC in the game.
Bai Fu, accompanied by An Ya, Julia, and Black Fu, entered a trade distribution center not far away.
This trading hub, set up in an abandoned heavy industrial complex, was shockingly large—it spanned over twenty levels, and the topmost level was even capable of docking small spaceships. The walls, forged from black metal, emanated a dangerous aura amidst their robustness.
A trading center established in such chaos was no place for ordinary people.
A glance from Bai Fu told her that even the most inconspicuous vendor by the walkway had a Total Level of 25, while those either in Power Armor, sporting special outfits, or augmented with mechanical prosthetics had even higher levels.
"This NPC's main profession is Level 54; from what bystanders say, he is an A-Level Superpower User, but some of his attributes are still inferior to mine, though he has more exclusive Skills than I have."
Bai Fu understood. Her previous guess was not wrong. Although she had not completed her third Transferring Professions, her power had already matched some of the weaker A-Level Superpower Users.
It was a reassuring discovery.
The overall Level of people in the Star Map of Star Sea was significantly higher than that of the Newbie Planet, but the ordinary people in Star Sea did not necessarily have better combat abilities than those on the Newbie Planet. In Star Sea, most Superpower Users were stuck at Rank D and C, while the B-level and A-level Superpower Users, whether placed in the Edge World or in star zones governed by the three major civilizations, could all be considered elites.
As for S-Level Superpower Users, when they burst forth with all their power, their intimidating presence could rival humanoid walking nuclear bombs, making them the real tough guys of the Star Sea.
Bai Fu didn't dare think too far ahead yet. She wandered around the trade distribution center, mainly looking at Advanced Knowledge, Star Maps, and guides on practicing Spiritual Abilities.
The good news was that this trading hub had what she wanted. The bad news was that the cheapest course on "Methods of Constructing Spiritual Energy" cost 5,000 Credit Points, while a complete Star Map of the Edge World was valued at 100,000 Credit Points.
It was really quite lamentable. On Ancestral Origin Star, she had already become the richest woman, and now here she was, so poor that not a hair lined her pockets.
Fortunately, she still had players—her money was her money, and the players' money would eventually be her money, too.
"The total cost for three advanced knowledge books is at least 23,000 Credit Points. I hope the players can blow up more Gold Coins from the NPCs here, especially that NPC who had his eyes on me earlier..."
Speaking of that NPC, Bai Fu's eyes suddenly brightened.
Here it was—little Bai Fu she had sent out finally had some results!
Mining Area 3, Sector D, an abandoned drilling platform.
After Driss cleared the identity verification at the entrance, he walked into a circular house with a "Flame" flag hanging outside, all smiles.
This was a temporary base for the Fire Transmission House.
Fire Transmission House might sound proper and was indeed quite known in the Light Curtain Star Port, yet its actual business was the trade of slaves, a vile act strictly forbidden by the Star Network Community.
Founded twenty years ago by Molten Rock, who was once an enforcer in a well-known Interstellar Pirates Group Organization, he left to start this new business with a group of followers after leaving the pirates. He was tall with a barrel chest, not filled with fat, but terrifying muscles as strong as steel armor. This was a Talent of his Race, where his hard skin allowed him to wield the fire-type Martial Arts True Qi without burning his own body.
"Boss, I made contact with those people you mentioned. They seemed very cautious, but judging by their speaking habits and the way they behaved when they disembarked, they are most likely bumpkins from some minor civilization," Driss said obsequiously to Molten Rock.
Molten Rock was chomping on some unidentified grilled meat, "Without even an Interstellar pass, they are either bumpkins or wanted criminals from somewhere. There are nearly a hundred of them, and they have an old freighter that looks in pretty good shape. The leader's looks would be top-class among any Cosmic Race. If we manage to capture them, we should make a big profit this time."
The other thugs in the house burst into laughter when they heard Molten Rock's comment.
They were in this business to make money, and now the money-making opportunity had come knocking at their door—how could they not be happy?
Just then, Molten Rock's communicator suddenly rang.
Molten Rock checked the virtual screen that popped up; the caller was a scout he had sent out.
"Boss, those bumpkins that Driss has been watching suddenly came over to borrow money from us. How should I handle this—are we capturing them directly, or..."
"Yes, they were fearful that I would refuse to lend them money, flattering me non-stop and promising to pay back soon. They even said if I didn't trust them, they could use their bodies as collateral."
Hearing the scout's explanation, Molten Rock was stunned for a good moment.
Bodies as collateral?
He was just thinking about selling these bumpkins for money, and this was just perfect—it was hilarious.
"Lend them the money. I still need to gather more men, and we shouldn't alert them prematurely. If we scare them away, it'd waste a lot more time to capture them again. As long as we catch them, the money we lend will come right back to us."