Fatal Shot

Collapsed walls, old buildings, and yellow sand were everywhere. Modified SUVs or commercial trucks had been turned into stalls parked beside the road. This was the supply point that players called the “Withered Desert Flea Market Stall.”

Supply points were unique inevitabilities that appeared due to the needs of the players. They were not set up by the system but were created and developed by players. Since there was a limit to the storage capacity of the anti-grav backpacks of the players, and because the consumption rate in War when leveling was so high, it was common for players to run out of supplies or space in their backpacks. At times like these, returning to towns or cities to replenish supplies would be a waste of time under certain circumstances.

It was important to know that maps in War were very large and wide—even bigger than the real world. For example, the Withered Desert was over 200 miles long. To travel from one end to the other, even with Feng Luo’s SCV-Type One, would have taken at least an hour.

There was no need to even mention the pain and suffering that one had to endure under the searing heat of over 50 degrees while hurrying through a journey. Although the biochip inside players’ body could regulate heat and allow players to endure this type of high temperature, the body would still be fairly uncomfortable.

Thanks to Feng Luo’s double regulation through his SUA combat uniform and the biochip, he was able to travel as if the heat was nothing. Ordinary players could never have done that. As such, many Merchant players would use transportation tools registered through the Merchants Guild and set up shops and stalls near hot leveling zones to purchase and trade items.

The Withered Desert was not considered a hot leveling zone, but the location was close to Storm City, which housed more than 10 million players. Plus, the desert produced special materials that could not be found anywhere else, so although the supply point was not large, the number of Merchant players staying there was anything but small.

A bearded Merchant’s eyes locked on Feng Luo. He greeted Feng Luo as he got off the science fiction-looking Land Bullet, put away the energy motorcycle, and dusted off the sand and dust from his body. He put the combat uniform into the backpack before taking it out again.

“Hey!” said the Merchant. “Brother, what do you want to buy? Come and take a look! I’m not exaggerating, but my shop has everything!”

As a Merchant who spent a lot of time around supply points, this type of player was very sharp—especially when the target’s combat profession was also the same as his. A Gunner. At a glance, he knew that the combined value of the equipment on Feng Luo’s body, along with the Land Bullet, was no less than 500,000 credits!

Tycoon. Whale. Can’t let him past!

This thought went through the head of the smiling Merchant with a stubble of a beard.

One could not deny the fact that in games, the equipment on a person’s body provided “details” about that person—especially the most obvious combat uniform.

For example, during the city-clearing mission earlier, Lin Aotian had thought that Feng Luo was a “normal player” (In his eyes) because the combat uniform that Feng Luo was wearing at the time was just an Excellent product that he’d gotten from the Exchange. However, the moment he switched to the Rare Level-40 SUA combat armor, which was highly recognized among professionals, anyone who knew quality products would know that this was a “top” player.

Furthermore, Land Bullet, which was valued at 180,000 credits, was also an extremely attractive transport vehicle in the eyes of motorcycle lovers. After all, not everyone could be as rich as Lin Aotian or Sister Rui, to view a couple of million credits as nothing but small change.

In truth, the equipment worn by most players was a mixture of Normal and Fine-grade equipment. Owning an Excellent-grade weapon meant that someone would be considered an elite player. This was because, after the update, more and more players were above Level 45, so that the amount of high-quality Level-40 equipment kept increasing. Otherwise, Normal-grade white equipment was mainstream.

The reason Feng Luo’s previous equipment seemed behind was that the teammates who surrounded him were either tycoons or top players. For example, Red Queen, the group of VIP customers from Nightless City, and even Sha Lang and Lin Aotian were among those who had the best weapons in all of War. Then there was his lower level, which made Feng Luo’s equipment seem inferior.

If Feng Luo’s equipment was compared to the rest of War, it would have definitely beaten 99 percent of other players, and if the Eye of the Thunder and the Barrett were also included, then another two-ninths would have needed to be added behind the decimal point. That was why the Merchant with the sharp eyes and the stubble was so friendly with Feng Luo.

Feng Luo walked over, walked in front of the stall made up of an energy truck specifically used to set up shop, and looked over the products set up as “display items” before asking, “Yeah, I need the Crystallized Spit of a Desert Rock Lizard and a Desert Fire Ant Egg. Do you have those here?”

“Crystallized Spit of a Desert Rock Lizard and a Desert Fire Ant Egg...” Upon hearing the items Feng Luo had requested, the stubble-bearded Merchant was shocked. His eyes rolled as he changed the topic. “Two Rare materials, huh...? Brother, you’re using them for a mission, right? Heh. Let me tell you—”

“If you don’t have it, I’ll head to another shop.” Feng Luo did not fall for it and turned to leave.

“Ah. Wait a minute!” the Merchant said loudly, seeing that Feng Luo was really leaving. “Brother, let me tell you the truth. Even if you go elsewhere, you won’t find it. You came at the wrong time, brother. The stockpilers just came by, so a lot of rare materials were already bought, and this includes these two materials!”

“Stockpilers.” Feng Luo frowned as he heard this word.

In War, it was, in fact, supposed to be quite easy for players to purchase materials. That was because the entire Exchange was directly connected to the virtual network of the Federation. As such, after they purchase an item, they could send the item straight to the corresponding Exchange through the Exchange in the city they were in. After that, they just needed to collect the item.

But this was limited to Common materials or Rare materials that were not in high demand. Some low-output Rare materials or incredibly valuable Rare materials would be targeted by large guilds or Merchant organizations, who would purchase those materials in bulk directly from the production location. Then they would put a high price on them in the Exchange and even use all kinds of methods to increase the price or control it.

These methods were commonly seen in “futures exchanges” in the real world, and it was just as effective in the game. However, the ones who paid the price were, without a doubt, the ordinary players. When they needed these materials, they would have no choice but to buy them at that price, or they would have to grind for them themselves.

Even more detestable was the fact that to manipulate the price, some Merchant organizations would stockpile all the materials for a certain period and only start selling them after the price rose to a certain point.

It was impossible for Feng Luo not to dislike this kind of behavior, but he did not hate it since it was also a way to play the game. Most players had stockpiled before. The only difference was that these Merchant organizations did it so thoroughly.

The only thing was, the incident he had encountered today would cause him a lot of problems.

The original mission Lin had assigned him was to collect six rare materials. It did not limit the method of acquisition or require them to be dropped while hunting monsters, so Feng Luo initially thought that he could purchase them through the Exchange. But upon further inspection, he had discovered that all three materials were nowhere to be found. As a result, he could only hunt the Swamp Rock Crocodile in the Dusk Swamp before personally heading here, to the supply point in the Withered Desert, to see if he could buy them.

Upon hearing the Merchant’s words, that these materials were indeed targets of stockpiling, and that he’d even missed the crucial time...!

Looks like I really have no choice but to grind for them myself in the desert! Feng Luo thought.

He knew that the stubble-bearded Merchant in front of him could, at best, tell him the contact information of those stockpilers. But he wasn’t prepared to ask yet because buying materials from this kind of person always made him feel uncomfortable and annoyed!

Feng Luo did not like those feelings.

If worst came to worst, he would hunt for the materials by himself. With his current preparation, Level-40 maps like the Withered Desert were not really that hard.

Feng Luo thought for a bit, turned around, and prepared to leave.

“Hey, don’t leave. Brother, although I don’t have the Crystallized Spit of the Desert Rock Lizard or the Desert Fire Ant Egg, I still have other good items. Take a look! There might be something you need!”

The stubble-bearded Merchant was feeling a little anxious. A fat whale like this did not come around very often.

“No, thanks!” Feng Luo shook his head and prepared to go past the stall.

“Brother, really! Let me tell you. I have a lot of good stuff here. They’re all rare equipment. The energy core crystal of the Desert Fire Ant...”

As he watched the business in front of him turning to smoke, the stubble-bearded Merchant became anxious. He immediately clicked something on his personal terminal and opened a silver safe on his energy truck in an attempt to attract Feng Luo’s attention.

“No need...” Feng Luo stopped mid-sentence and suddenly stopped walking. He looked at his wrist oddly.

On his wrist, the hidden pet space bracer appeared, and the screen displayed an image of 24K, who was stored inside. It was flapping its wings and “dancing” around with its six golden claws as if it wanted to be let out immediately.

At the same time, a mental link broke through the bracer’s limit and was transmitted to Feng Luo’s brain. It carried a sense of urgency and desire.