Chapter Ninety-One: The Bargain, Part One
The next day at noon, while Fang Mu was happily tucking into a meal in the restaurant, he received a call from his consultant, Li Wenbin.
“Mr. Yang, it’s done. There are three warehouses in all, all medium-sized. I chose locations that match your requirements, relatively remote ones. They’re located at... Is there anything else I can do for you?”
Li Wenbin’s voice was gentle, but there was an unmistakable briskness beneath it.
“Thank you for your hard work,” Fang Mu said with a satisfied smile. “There’s nothing else for now. If I need anything, I’ll contact you right away.”
“All right. Then, until next time.”
The call ended.
Fang Mu let out a soft breath.
Two days. Everything was handled.
A chime sounded from the communicator he had just bought. He glanced down and smiled.
It was the warehouse information and the gate codes Li Wenbin had sent over.
The three warehouses had cost 320,000 in total, rented for one year.
Adding Li Wenbin’s commission of 180,000, plus 100,000 for Yang Lin’s identity chip, bank card, fingerprints, iris scan, and the rest, he had spent more than 600,000 in just two days.
Fang Mu did not feel the least bit sorry, because it was necessary.
This time he had hunted down more than 400 sawtooth hyenas, but that was clearly not the end. In the days ahead, he would hunt even more battlefield creatures. At a time like this, having a company as a shell... would make him far less conspicuous.
And to handle all of this under his own identity would be far too foolish.
It would only invite trouble to his door in no time at all.
So Fang Mu could only think of ways to hide himself.
Fortunately, even though he had no experience in this area... this was the age of the network. There were plenty of people who did.
And among them, there was never a shortage of those eager to teach others.
At least for now... that post seemed quite reliable.
After skimming the information, Fang Mu calmly put away the communicator and continued enjoying his meal...
...
...
In the blink of an eye, the hour had grown late, and midnight had arrived.
The Information Plaza was as lively as ever. There were simply too many evolved people here. Whether leaving the city or entering it, at the very least those coming in would not wait for daylight.
In fact, the night could be even livelier.
Because besides the stream of evolved people coming and going, there were even some who spent the whole night here in revelry.
Lights flashed, music thundered, and a band had set up a temporary stage. Frenzied rhythms shook the air.
Led by a voluptuous female DJ in wild attire, crowds of evolved people below the stage swayed their bodies recklessly, shouting themselves hoarse and laughing at the top of their lungs, turning the place into a wild, makeshift dance club where the air seemed to burn.
The battlefield was dangerous; death could come at any moment. Evolved people passed through life and death every day, so how could they not feel a little oppression in their hearts?
A proper release allowed that pent-up emotion to be relieved to some extent, and so they indulged themselves without restraint.
This was not Fang Mu’s first time coming to the Information Plaza at night, but seeing so many evolved people swaying freely amid the music and lights still brought a smile to his face.
After watching for a while out of curiosity, Fang Mu exhaled softly. Remembering what he had come to do, he headed off in one direction.
Soon, rows upon rows of massive containers appeared before him.
The steel containers were large and small, stacked neatly on a vast open lot, five or six tiers high, each level with stairs leading up.
Fang Mu checked the information, then searched for the numbers on the containers. Very quickly, his eyes narrowed slightly, and he walked to the third tier of one container cluster.
Matching the number, he entered the code into the lock beside it.
With a metallic clatter, the doors swung open.
Fang Mu peered inside. It was completely empty.
The entire container was about twenty square meters, long and narrow. After a brief look, Fang Mu nodded.
Then he glanced around. A few workers were patrolling under the floodlights, but no one was paying attention to him.
He stepped inside, shut the doors, and then, with a wave of his hand, a pungent smell of blood instantly filled the container...
One after another, the charred corpses of sawtooth hyenas appeared inside.
In total... twenty-three of them.
They were piled in the middle of the container, nearly filling it completely.
Fang Mu reopened the doors, and before they were fully open he had already slipped out.
He then quickly shut them again.
Once the doors were fully closed, he looked around and, confirming that no one was watching, moved on.
After walking a short distance, he found the next target and repeated the same method.
This time, he placed only nineteen sawtooth hyenas inside.
A little farther on, he found the third warehouse, and this time he put in twenty-six...
All three warehouses were filled, holding a total of sixty-eight sawtooth hyena corpses.
After finishing, he let out a soft breath and left.
The warehouses were still very safe. Although there were many evolved people around, the warehouses were in Battlefield City, and no one dared make a move here.
Make a move?
Hadn’t they seen what happened to Chen Ting?
So what if someone was of Gold rank?
If they dared to violate the law, a warrant would be out in no time.
For most people, the laws of the Federation were not just empty words.
Passing through the Information Plaza once more, Fang Mu lingered there for a while before finally boarding a hovercar back to his rented room, fully satisfied.
After opening the door and looking at the cramped little room, Fang Mu exhaled.
“After I sell this batch of sawtooth hyenas, I’ll move to a different place.”
As he thought this, he began to plan tomorrow’s actions in his mind.
There was no way he could sell all 400 sawtooth hyenas at once... that would only invite suspicion.
He had plenty of time. There was no need to rush.
...
...
Another night passed.
Early the next morning, Fang Mu got up, washed himself, and sat down at the table. In front of him lay a sheet of paper. After thinking for a moment, he let out a soft breath, took out Yang Lin’s communicator, and dialed a number.
After a moment.
“Hello.”
A voice came from the other end.
“I have a batch of fresh sawtooth hyenas. Interested?”
Fang Mu got straight to the point.
The other side paused. “A batch? How many?”
“Twenty-three,” Fang Mu said calmly.
“Twenty-three?” The other person was clearly taken aback. The number evidently surprised him.
Bronze-rank sawtooth hyenas were already rare. A whole twenty-three at once? Of course that would come as a shock.
“Are they intact? Where are they?”
“They were all killed by Blaze. They were killed three days ago, so they’re very fresh. But the pelts are all burned. They’ve already been transported back to Battlefield City.”
Fang Mu answered directly.
The other side fell silent for a moment before saying, “I’ll take them, but the exact price will depend on the quality.”
“Of course.”
“When?”
“I’ll contact you again once I’ve settled the details. Prepare on your side.”
“All right.”
The call ended.
Neither side asked for the other’s identity or name.
Fang Mu thought for a moment, then dialed another number.
“Hello.”
“I have a batch of fresh sawtooth hyenas. Interested?”
“How many?”
“Nineteen...”
...
...
“Hello.”
“I have a batch of fresh sawtooth hyenas. Interested?”
“How many?”
“Twenty-six...”
...
...
He made three calls in a row. The process was much the same as the first call. No one asked for names or identities, and all of them said they wanted to inspect the quality before deciding on the price.
After letting out a breath, Fang Mu’s eyes flickered slightly.
Finding three black-market dealers was, admittedly, a necessity. Fang Mu could not be sure whether there was any connection between them... but there was no helping it. The goods had to be sold.
Still, this was better than finding only one black-market dealer.
After running through the plan in his head once more, Fang Mu stood up and went out.