Chapter 419: Wealthy
As a matter of fact, Tang Ling was just overreacting.
The grand Floating Ice Black Market, which had many branches around the world and a large premise inside of Darkness Port, taking advantage of Tang Ling for a few thousand Black Sea coins? If the staff knew what Tang Ling was thinking, he might have laughed in his face and a.s.sumed that the kid was from some rural village.
Therefore, when Tang Ling submitted the mission, the staff at the reception did not give any reaction. Instead, he contacted the captain immediately for confirmation.
The results came back soon enough. The calculation of the profit was much more lenient than Tang Ling expected. Even that last whale that he bought for 5,000 Black Sea coins was added into The Great Peak’s profit. On second thought, it was only reasonable for the captain to add it.
A total of five Requiem Whales had been sold for 40,400 Black Sea coins. After deducting 530 Black Sea coins as the cost for s.h.i.+p maintenance, energy consumption, and payment for the crew members, Tang Ling helped The Great Peak earn a total profit of 39,870 Black Sea coins.
“That’s a decent number,” the staff praised Tang Ling with a smile. It was probably the only expression the staff in the Floating Ice Black Market could show.
On quite the contrary, Tang Ling replied with vigilance.
Why is he this calm? What should I do if they don’t want to pay up?
“The amount that the mission requires is 2,000 Black Sea coins. We have our own calculation method. If it’s just 2,000 Black Sea coins, you’ll get 3% of the profit as commission. With every increment of 2,000 Black Sea coins, you’ll get a 1% addition on top of the existing percentage. Excluding the first 2,000 Black Sea coins and the last part in which you didn’t meet the 2,000-mark, the total is 36,000 Black Sea coins, which means…” The staff was calculating quickly. A moment later, he looked up at Tang Ling and said, “Congratulations, you can get a total of 21% commission from the total profit.
“As a matter of fact, you are just 130 Black Sea coins away from reaching the last 2,000 to get another increment, but rules are rules, so all we can offer you is another 0.5%. Do you accept?”
Tang Ling was awestruck.
How much was it again? 21%? No, wait, it’s 21.5%! 21.5% of the 39K of Black Sea coins is my payment? Am I getting that much?!
“Mr. Tang Ling?” The staff saw Tang Ling freeze in front of him, so he had to call him again for confirmation.
“Oh, uh…I’m fine. Yeah, I accept. 130 short of the next 2K…oh well, what else can I do?” Tang Ling suppressed the urge to laugh maniacally and feigned calmness. He cleared his throat and acted like it was nothing.
The staff smiled and continued counting. In the end, Tang Ling could get a total of 8,572 Black Sea coins. As for the number behind the decimal points, no one cared anymore.
Tang Ling was dumbfounded by the unexpected happiness. He never thought that the mission that he simply accepted could reward him with such a huge amount of money. Initially, he expected to get around 1,000 Black Sea coins to cover his daily expenses which would have been good enough.
The money was soon calculated and transferred to him. However, since this kind of mission was a promotion, it had to achieve its promoted effect.
Soon enough, advertising slogans appeared at the mission lobby of the Floating Ice Black market. It was about someone clearing the mission and earning more than 8,000 Black Sea coins as a reward.
The news spread like wildfire since 8,000 Black Sea coins was not a trivial amount.
On second thought, the Floating Ice Black Market did not really lose anything because the advertising effect from the 8,000 plus Black Sea coins was certainly more valuable than the payout. For a long time in the foreseeable future, the missions in the Floating Ice Black Market would be the hottest topic in the city, and people would be swarming over to try and complete them.
Tang Ling did not want to care about all that since he got his money which boosted his total funds to 13,000 and more Black Sea coins. He should start thinking about how to convert the money into actual strength.
Should he proceed with the second layer of the spirit body array?
No, it was not practical. Where should he get his hands on more Level 9 vicious beast blood anyway? Would his money even be sufficient? He would have a better chance to get it at the Mysterious Store.
With the money, he had the option to use the best cultivation room in the cabin area. On top of that, he could try supplements other than food such as more effective pills or super-advanced serum. More importantly was the Purple Moon Combat Arts! With more than 10,000 Black Sea coins, he was more confident about getting a decent one.
“Mr. Tang Ling, is there anything else that I can do for you?
Tang Ling was daydreaming in his seat, so the staff had to call him again to wake him up.
“Oh, uh… it’s nothing. I just want to know where I can get the invitation card to the large black market auction?” Tang Ling asked. He could not get the Purple Moon Kombat Art out of his mind.
“The invitation card to the auction? Our Floating Ice Black Market does have a quota for that and looking at your criteria, we can probably give you one for free,” answered the staff with a smile.
Tang Ling replied with a bright grin as he felt like he seized another big advantage from the black market again.
The staff brought Tang Ling to another office and gave him a recommendation letter of sorts.
With the recommendation letter, Tang Ling soon got his invitation package for the large black market auction from a cute lady.
An invitation package? Other than the invitation card, the package also included a robe and a mask exclusive for the auction.
However, when the cute lady handed the package to Tang Ling, she asked politely, “Mr. Tang, what are you looking for at the auction?”
“Purple Moon Combat Arts.” Tang Ling did not keep it a secret. After all, combat arts were available in the black market, and as the biggest black market, the Floating Ice might have some decent recommendations.
As expected, the cute lady advised Tang Ling to take a look at the Floating Ice’s commercial district. Compared to the auction, the Purple Moon Combat Arts sold there were cheaper and there might be a chance for him to get something good.
Tang Ling found it reasonable. Since he already got the invitation package, taking an extra look at the goods was not a bad idea.
…
The Floating Ice commercial district was a lot bigger than the commercial district in Madame’s Black Market that he had once visited.
The market that sold books was inside another giant igloo with Purple Moon Combat Arts being one of the biggest genres. There was even an office inside the igloo and professionals were in charge of sales.
A box of USB drives was poured on top of the giant desk. The red-nosed old man that was standing opposite Tang Ling was in charge of selling the Purple Moon Combat Arts.
After a sip of alcohol, the old man pointed at the hill of USB drives. There were probably 50 to 60 of them. “These are all the Purple Moon Combat Arts that match your requirements. More specifically, you can insert the drives here and take a look at them. Take your time.”
50 to 60 USB drives? How long would it take Tang Ling to finish it all? Moreover, he was not an expert in this, so what if he missed something good?
Tang Ling did not pick any of the drives. Instead, he smiled and put 10 Black Sea coins on the desk.
“Mister, can I ask you to recommend some?” Without a doubt, Tang Ling had learned this kind of socializing technique from Boss Huang.
10 Black Sea coins was not an insignificant amount for a tip. The old man’s flush spread from his nose to all over his face as he seemed excited.
Tang Ling maintained his calm smile. He was somewhat of a wealthy person now, and he knew he should not be stingy on important occasions.
After taking the 10 Black Sea coins, the old man seemed a lot different. He quickly searched around the pile of USB drives and selected five drives for Tang Ling.
“The good stuff is usually sent to the auction. Both the large and small auctions have better products than us, but there are always some fish that escape the net. It’s not half-bad compared to the good stuff, but it’s incomplete in some ways.
“These five are the best of the bunch and they won’t cause you any trouble with their origins.” The old man looked delighted with his selection. After all, he was a professional.
After Tang Ling acknowledged the old man’s effort, he took the five USB drives and started to check them.
Half an hour later, he plunged into deep thought.
Judging from the contents, the old man did not lie to him, but as he said, all these Purple Moon Combat Arts were incomplete in some ways.
Three out of the five had incomplete contents, especially the one written by a guy named Lucar. There was only an ultimate and nothing else. What was that all about?
Another one was complete and was considered rare in the black market. Its origin should be clean as well, but the techniques were nothing stellar, making it a bit dull.
Tang Ling did not know anything about combat arts, but his instinct told him that this manual was only below average. While he might lack useful techniques, he would not compromise learning some below-average techniques.
The last one was much more of a joke. It had the basic techniques but did not have an ultimate, so was it even helpful?
Two minutes later, Tang Ling selected the manual with the complete content and pa.s.sed it to the old man. “Discard this. I don’t want it.”
“It seems like you’re a young man who doesn’t prefer steadiness. A lot of people chose this manual but failed to meet the price expectations.” The old man kept the USB drive away and did not offer any advice.
“Can you explain to me why you recommended this manual to me? It doesn’t even have an ultimate. I want to know why,” Tang Ling asked the old man after selecting the strange manual.
“It actually has an ultimate, but it’s been missed out. Even if it doesn’t have an ultimate, in my opinion, it’s still good,” replied the old man after another big gulp of alcohol.
“That’s because the contents provide the steadiest increase to your basic abilities and those who bought it are happy with their purchase. On top of that, even if it doesn’t have an ultimate, their techniques are quite interesting even though they might not act like an ultimate. For example, this Three-fold Punch is a special technique that can triple your punching force. The better your mastery is, the more you can amplify your strength. You can even triple your punching force by 100%…” The old man did not explain a lot about the complete manual but admired this incomplete one.
“Great. I’ve decided to take this!” Tang Ling made up his mind. He was always clear about what he needed. An ultimate might be good, but he believed that he grew too fast and lacked the basics.
Like what Boss Huang told him, he knew nothing about the technique to unleash his strength more effectively and the combat steps. Without all the sugar-coating, Tang Ling was just a savage in battle and had purely relied on Precise Instinct to make it to his current level.
“Very well. Since this manual doesn’t have an ultimate, it still costs 1,500 Black Sea coins, but believe me. If it comes with an ultimate, the price will spike to at least five times or more.” The old man was not boasting.
People usually looked for the ultimates in the Purple Moon Combat Arts. As for the basic techniques, having several manuals as a reference would be sufficient.
“Okay then. Who is Lucar?” asked Tang LIng.