Chapter 338: Zephyr Combat Boots
“Hmm?” Xia Fei huffed. The old man quickly scurried over to pick up his golden vase, as well as that transparent bracelet, while thanking Xia Fei profusely.
“Old man, do you mind letting me take a look at that bracelet?” Xia Fei asked.
“Have a look over here. I still have to tend to my stall.”
Xia Fei nodded, following him to where his stall was set up. The old man handed the bracelet to Xia Fei and sat back down on his seat, wiping the sweat on his brow.
“Do you recognize this thing?” Phantom curiously wondered.
Xia Fei pointed at the bracelet’s symbol and answered, “No, I don’t recognize the bracelet, but I do recognize this symbol. If I’m not mistaken, this ought to belong to a fairly decent equipment company from the ancient civilization, which specializes in the production of stealth products.”
“Do you mean to tell me that this is a stealth bracelet made by the ancient civilization!” Phantom gasped.
Xia Fei examined the bracelet carefully, but he could not find any activation switch. It appeared to be a very normal accessory.
“Old man, how much for this bracelet?” Xia Fei asked.
The old man lifted his face, glanced at the bracelet Xia Fei was holding, and smiled. “Young man, I won’t lie to you; I don’t really know anything about what you got there. That bracelet and vase are both what my father left for me. Now that I’m about to retire and since I have no child of my own, I plan to sell everything here and, afterward, find some place with a pristine scenery for me to live out my twilight years in peace.
“If you’re fond of the bracelet, you can have it with this vase for a price of eight million star coins.”
“Eight million? That’s very cheap!” Phantom exclaimed. “If that’s truly a relic of the ancient civilization, it’ll at least be worth two to three hundred million star coins. We should buy it.”
Xia Fei smiled with a shake of his head and handed it back to the old man. “You can keep it, old man.”
“What, is it too expensive?” asked the old man curiously, surprised by his answer.
Phantom was also chattering away, repeatedly mentioning how it was a worthwhile find and hope that Xia Fei would immediately buy it.
However, Xia Fei merely said, “No, it’s not about the price, but I simply don’t want it. Leave such tricks to the amateurs.”
The old man laughed. “You have a good eye, young man. Take it easy.”
Phantom was perplexed. “How were you able to tell that the bracelet is fake?”
Xia Fei nonchalantly replied, “I wasn’t.”
“What did you say?” Phantom’s eyes were wide.
Xia Fei chuckled. “The old man’s pupils suddenly contracted when he’s telling his tale, and that’s a trait of someone lying. Plus, while there’s nothing wrong with the bracelet in question, the vase itself is suspicious; I’ve scrutinized it closely, and it appears to have been made with a metal similar to bronze, weighing at least eighteen kilograms. Logically speaking, there’s no way a gust of wind could knock such a heavy vase over, which coincidentally holds a bracelet with a symbol of the ancient civilization engraved.
“That’s why I tried probing him a bit, and you yourself saw his response after.” Xia Fei shrugged with ease.
Phantom was speechless. It turned out that Xia Fei had only suspected it was a trick, and the old man ended up exposing himself.
“Looks like this emporium fair isn’t as simple as I first thought. Even I nearly got fooled,” Phantom mumbled to himself.
Turning a corner down the road, they saw a young man, who was hardly even in his twenties, behind a stall. He had short hair and was dressed very simply. A very unfamiliar badge was pinned on his chest.
He seemed to be very shy, having his stall set up next to a bush beside the road. His head was lowered and when Xia Fei laid his eyes on the young man, the latter actively averted his gaze.
Most people hawking their goods would hope to have more patrons, yet this young man appeared to be very afraid of interacting with people, and it was evident that he was just a thin-skinned newbie.
Xia Fei glanced over to see what items he had for sale and saw that they were mostly food, such as White Dew and other miraculous fruits, to replenish energy.
Xia Fei would often consume fruits like Snake Eye Berries and White Dew, all of which helped replenish his physical strength and detoxify his body. He had recently used plenty of them, so Xia Fei made his way over and was prepared to refill his stock.
That was when he noticed that the White Dews that this young man had on display were crystal-clear in color and even a size larger than the usual he had. His Snake Eye Berries were also plump to the point of ridiculousness.
“These are wild White Dews and Snake Eye Berries!” Phantom exclaimed. “Ever since the technology to plant these miracle fruits artificially was discovered, it’s become rare to find wild White Dews, and given how fresh these fruits all look, I do believe that they were produced on a planet filled with universal energy and are of much better quality than the artificially planted variants. I wonder where he got these.”
Xia Fei nodded and asked the young man, “How much for these?”
The young man turned to face Xia Fei and simply stated, “They are priced at 300,000 star coins a piece.”
“Same price for all?”
“Yes, same for all.”
Xia Fei secretly giggled. If these were fruits that had been artificially cultivated, 300,000 star coins would be extremely expensive, but if they were natural and grown in the wild, that would be a different thing altogether, and the key here being that wild fruits might be unable to be bought even if someone had the money.
“How many do you have?” Xia Fei very readily asked. “I’ll buy them all.”
This was the first day of the fair, and this young man had his stall set up in a secluded corner, which was why hardly anyone had visited it. If anyone who had an eye for such things were to see these fruits, it would most certainly set off a bidding war. That was why Xia Fei had decisively stepped up and bought out all his stocks.
“You want them all?” The young man was elated, believing he had come across a wealthy buyer.
Xia Fei nodded. “Yes. Everything you got.”
The young man stood up as if he had just been a.s.signed a task of utmost importance. A thin-skinned man like him was not suited to set up a stall by the roadside and hawk goods. No matter how upscale this road might be, he clearly considered selling his goods to be a very embarra.s.sing situation, so now that Xia Fei was planning to buy all his goods in one go, he was beside himself with joy.
“I have a hundred White Dews and a hundred Snake Eye Berries, with twenty Purple Silver Figs included. I originally wanted to sell them over a few days, so I only brought out half my stock today. The rest are still back in the hotel.”
Xia Fei laughed. “No worries. I’ll follow you and retrieve them all.”
“Sure!” The young man nodded, and he quickly packed up his stall and headed to the pier with Xia Fei.
“What a.s.sociation are you part of? This is the first time I’ve seen someone with a badge like yours,” Xia Fei casually asked.
His badge had a stubborn dog tail gra.s.s growing under two giant trees, and it looked very peculiar.
“I’m from the Nanming a.s.sociation. We are a medicinal research a.s.sociation, which focuses on medicine gathering, and not some warrior organization. I heard my dad telling me that the ancestors of our Nanming were once from The Brotherhood, which is why though our a.s.sociation is small, we are still able to join The Brotherhood in all sorts of activities.”
Xia Fei mused. “So I see. I wonder where you’ve gathered all these fruits of yours; the quality is top-notch, or else I wouldn’t have agreed to buy them all with the high price.”
Phantom pouted. Xia Fei always enjoyed doing this; these fruits were clearly being sold for cheap, yet Xia Fei was still heaping praises, all to make the other party feel as if they had benefited greatly.
“I can’t tell you that, but I can guarantee you that these fruits are all from legitimate sources, so you can rest at ease.”
Xia Fei got to know the young man on their trip, learning that his name was Sun Zhan. An a.s.sociation specializing in medicine gathering interested Xia Fei greatly. His speed ability had been stagnating at the Star River rank, and what Xia Fei needed was precisely such high-grade ingredients to rank up.
Besides, even if there were no high-grade ingredients, being able to provide wild White Dews and such fruits over a long time was helpful to Xia Fei as well.
“Is it possible for me to order the medicinal ingredients that I need for the long term—as long as the quality is good and the price is fair, of course,” Xia Fei said.
Sun Zhan shook his head, somewhat embarra.s.sed. “I’m afraid that’s not possible. I won’t lie, but we of the Nanming a.s.sociation have always only gathered medicinal ingredients and brewed medicines; few of us bother to practice martial arts, but my ability is a flame type called Blaze. It’s a combat ability, and I can’t accept not practicing martial arts with it. That is why I stole my father’s pa.s.s and came here to join The Brotherhood’s Carnival. These medicinal ingredients that I have now are just what I acc.u.mulated daily. Much higher-grade ingredients will have to go through the a.s.sociation’s storage.”
“This time, I’m just cas.h.i.+ng out what I have in hand to buy some equipment that I sorely need; I’m also using this opportunity when many major organizations have gathered to find one who’ll be willing to take me in and teach me some combat skills. I plan to become a warrior in the future, not a pharmacologist. Even if you offer me all the money you have, I won’t be willing to return and help gather what you need. My father’s going to break my legs if he ever learns what I’m about to do.”
Xia Fei nodded. “So that’s how it is. While it’s true that there’s plenty of equipment out here in the emporium, I don’t think it will be that simple for you to find some major organization to join. Many of these large warrior organizations won’t simply recruit anyone off the streets. One will have to go through selections and tests before they can get accepted.”
Sun Zhan was helpless. “Even a small organization will do. It’s fine as long as I can learn martial arts.”
The two continued to chat and soon reached the hotel Sun Zhan was staying in. He opened the door and invited Xia Fei in. “Take a seat; I’ll retrieve the fruits right now; they’re stored in a crisper to keep fresh.”
Xia Fei lit a cigarette and looked around the room. Sun Zhan had quite a lot of luggage, and it seemed that he did not have anything like a spatial ring to store his things, so he would have to carry everything he needed on his back.
That was when Phantom croaked, “Oh, my heavens! That’s a Zephyr—a real one.”
“What?” Xia Fei curiously asked.
Phantom pointed to a dirty pair of boots and said, “Look at the boots’ streamlined design and the carefully arranged function keys on their side. I dare guarantee that this pair of boots you see is the rumored Zephyr combat boots, the super weapon of any speed ability user.”
“Super weapon?” Xia Fei was startled. He set his gaze upon that completely muddy pair of boots, and noticed that it was strangely shaped. They were shaped like slender dolphins and of decent craftsmans.h.i.+p. Even the b.u.t.tons were well crafted, with each one placed in the most suitable position, allowing both easy access and them not to get in the way when running at high speed.
The combat boots were covered in mud and had been very casually tossed behind the door.
“What’s so good about these Zephyr combat boots? What has gotten you making such a fuss over it?” Xia Fei asked.
Phantom explained, “They’re not just good—they’re practically great! If you must know, this model of combat boots has been specifically produced for speed ability users, made with the already extinct twin claws soaring dragon leather. Today, be it the original materials used to craft the Zephyr combat boots or the fact that the skills to do so have already been lost to time, every pair of Zephyr combat boots is universally recognized as a rarity in the vast s.p.a.ce.
“Wearing it, your speed will increase by ten percent.” Phantom’s two eyes sparkled as he spoke seriously.