All Things Are Contracts

“Consciousness crystal, a one-day one, and the cheapest at that. You’re so damn stingy,” the shopkeeper grumbled as he went into the store, then brought out a purple crystal the size of an egg. “Ten star coins.”

“So expensive? Why don’t you just rob me?” Old Bug was speechless.

“This is a consciousness crystal. Even the worst consciousness crystal is still a consciousness crystal. Ten star coins, not a penny less. Take it or leave it,” the middle-aged shopkeeper said calmly. He was a legal resident of the star ship, running a legitimate business. His status was much higher than the stowaways. But this Old Bug was a bit different, having quite a high status among stowaways. It was said he even had some connections with people from the upper levels, so ordinary people didn’t dare to provoke him.

“Fine, ten it is. Eat so much, hope you choke on it,” Old Bug painfully took out a fingernail-sized strange metal from his bosom. This was the universal currency on the star ship, star coins. It was said that only the Ink Sea Lord knew where these came from, and only he could issue this currency, so the total amount of star coins circulating in the market was fixed, and the prices on the star ship were very stable.

“Here, take it. These ten star coins are considered an advance from me. Remember to pay me back when you make money,” Old Bug handed the consciousness crystal to Zhanyue.

“Use your mind to communicate with it, and it will speak for you. This way, we can communicate more easily. Your nodding and shaking head was making me anxious,” Old Bug explained.

“There’s such a method?” Zhanyue curiously held the not-so-large consciousness crystal, activating it with his mind. A muffled voice came from the crystal, not loud and not very pleasant to hear, as this was the lowest quality type.

“Can you hear me speaking?” Zhanyue was startled by the sudden voice from the crystal.

“I can hear you. But let me tell you, this crystal can only be used for one day. After all, such a divine artifact can’t be too cheap. Those eternal crystals are something we can’t even dream of. Even this costs ten star coins. Do you know what ten star coins can do? That’s enough to have a good time at the Snow Wind Tower for a whole night. Consider this money as a loan from me. Remember to pay me back when you earn money,” Old Bug continued.

Zhanyue looked at Old Bug, knowing that this guy’s unsolicited kindness must have an ulterior motive, though he didn’t know what Old Bug was planning to do yet.

“Don’t look at me like that, why are you so dumb? Come with me, I’ll introduce you to a money-making business. If you’re lucky, you might catch the eye of someone from above, and that would be your chance to soar. I can see that you want to go up, though I don’t know why,” Old Bug observed carefully.

Every sentence Zhanyue received needed to be translated by Baizhi, so his reactions were naturally a few beats slower, making him appear somewhat slow and dull-witted to others.

“I got a language crystal before, so I instantly learned this world’s language and writing. I exchanged it for pills,” Baizhi said.

“Does this world have pills too?” Zhanyue asked curiously.

“Yes, but their effects are generally very average. They’re just a bit cheaper than ordinary medicines,” Baizhi explained.

She and Zhanyue shared the divine ability space. The combat pills in the space were basically used up, but there were still some healing or auxiliary pills.

“Can you check if there are any low-grade pills left in the space? I want to exchange them for some money. It seems we need money on the star ship too. It’s too troublesome to always have you translate, I’m afraid of giving ourselves away,” Zhanyue asked.

“There should be some,” Baizhi answered. They both knew that high-quality pills would arouse suspicion, but some low-grade pills would be fine.

“Um… I have some medicine, can you help me sell it?” Zhanyue asked Old Bug beside him. The consciousness crystal was indeed useful, allowing them to communicate instantly.

“Medicine? What kind of medicine?” Old Bug asked, puzzled.

Zhanyue took out two jade bottles, each containing thirty pills. “These pills can sober you up. After eating them, you can quickly regain consciousness without worrying about passing out drunk.”

“?” Old Bug looked at the two jade bottles with a furrowed brow. “What use are these pills? Sobering up? How much alcohol do we even have to drink?”

The shopkeeper, who had been paying attention to their conversation, became interested and interjected: “Old Bug, you know nothing. Young… big brother, come here, let’s talk?”

“Oh? Are you interested in them?” Zhanyue asked. He had taken out these low-grade pills because he saw alcohol earlier and knew people in this world also liked to drink. But as Old Bug said, people at the bottom couldn’t afford alcohol, so sobering pills naturally had no meaning.

“Hehe, big brother, you don’t know. We may not be able to afford alcohol, but some people can. Those young masters from the upper levels like to have drinking contests. This thing can be used to cheat. How could those face-conscious young masters not be interested? How many pills do you have? I’ll take them all. Of course, we need to test if they’re effective first,” the shopkeeper said.

Soon after, the shopkeeper verified the effectiveness of these pills in his own way and bought all sixty pills at the low price of three star coins each.

“Cheap is cheap, but without some connections, it’s not easy to sell these things,” Zhanyue thought. Then he spent another hundred star coins to buy a language crystal. These were usually bought for children at home, allowing them to quickly master this world’s language and writing.

“Here, I’m paying you back,” Zhanyue handed ten star coins to Old Bug, not wanting to owe any favors.

“Good brother, you’re really something, getting so much money in the blink of an eye. I underestimated you. Come on, I’ll take you somewhere. At that place, you might find someone who can take you upstairs,” Old Bug said.

Old Bug led him through several streets and down for a long time, perhaps already down to the lower levels of the star ship.

“Let me be direct. The place I’m taking you to is an underground arena. I’m a middleman there, often introducing some fearless and strong fighters to the bosses, and taking a commission fee. I see you have extraordinary skills, so I want you to give it a try. Many big shots from the upper levels often come to watch the underground fights. It’s their favorite entertainment. If you perform well and catch the eye of someone from above, being taken up as a house slave or bodyguard would be like a fish leaping over the dragon gate. So the underground arena never lacks contestants. However, to make the fights exciting, they’re all life-and-death battles, quite dangerous. What do you say? Want to give it a try?” Old Bug said.

“Fighting?” Zhanyue hadn’t expected Old Bug’s purpose was to introduce him to fight. With his strength, wouldn’t that be like dynamite fishing in a pond? Strong people probably wouldn’t appear in such a place.

However… Zhanyue eventually nodded. He wanted an opportunity to go to the upper levels and slowly approach the so-called Ink Sea Lord.

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