The next day, nighttime.
The Altera shop was already packing up while the others were still hawking. They closed much earlier than others because they easily sold out the stocks they had within 2 days, several days faster than others.
During the first day, they already sold a bulk of their stuff. With word of mouth, they became even more popular and it bordered on chaos. All the Aborigine guards had to be utilized to guard and keep order rather than help them organize and sell stuff, which was a hassle.
A wonderful, fun, and satisfying type of hassle though.
Anyway, the early sell-out was a very good thing because that would mean they had more time to train and investigate instead.
It still felt pitiful to waste good market space they rented for the event. So they decided to increase the stock in whatever way they could. For now, they could only get the carpenters Semi and Furong to do what they could (like bowls, chopsticks, hangers, and the like). As for the other things, they had to come from Altera.
They also promised their avid customers that they would set up a permanent shop in the territory so they could have ready access to these resources whenever.
Speaking of this, they took down a number of fences in their property, turning them into small buildings to use as roadside shops.
Of course, it was still undergoing construction but they were in no rush. The next stocks would arrive in a couple of weeks anyway.
"Ah, so much gold…" Sammy mumbled, his dark skin reflecting the goldish shimmer of their wins.
They really made a killing in those sales and Eagle was writing on the logbook with a very happy smile—which was so scary that it actually made a few of them flinch.
Eagle was a softie, but his aquiline features made him look like a villain.
Gill looked at the team who were gathered around, also with smiles, they were eager to know how much they made.
"Now we shall proceed to part 3 of our mission here," he said, and immediately the others' backs straightened up as if they were about to hear orders.
The mission this time was actually a four-part mission. Part 1 was to keep their training, Part 2 was to gather information, and Part 3 was to sell out for good prices to regenerate the team treasury as well as their own pockets.
For the final part, they were tasked to maximize this annual event and get exposed to the products of other territories, making sure to take note of the characteristic product(s) of each one.
Of course, this also meant to purchase what they needed. They were also instructed to buy necessary resources back to Altera, if there were any.
Hence, on the third day of the event, the group was set to be buyers. The captain specifically told them that if they found any useful resources in whatever form, they could buy it with the earnings from the sale.
The team was divided into three in order to maximize the event.
The first group was Gill, Knauf, Kleid, and a few other aborigines.
The second group was led by Eagle, Chris, Mao, Roana, and others.
And the last group had Sammy, Luis, Pipa, Plaridel, Madon, and the rest.
Eagle's team walked along the eastern side of the market, though not really seeing anything remarkable for a while. It was mostly food, and who among them would want the indigenous food?
Altera spoiled people's taste buds to an unprecedented degree.
However, they soon came across a huge booth about two to three hundred square meters large. It was selling domesticated animals like Gugu birds and another creature called Broat, at a lower cost than the former.
Eagle observed it and saw that it was a little taller than the Gugu bird. However, it was a bit thinner and had less meat. It looked similar to a wild goat, but a little larger, and instead of horns they had small antlers.
"Can you say more about this?" He asked Thorance. Salespeople weren't a common practice here because service wasn't a thing. Not to mention, territories tended to have anti-theft alerts within their walls, so theft wasn't an issue.
Hence, as long as the creatures didn't get out of their corralled, the person watching wouldn't care much, especially if the item didn't need much selling.
"This is called a Broat, raised by some territories as source of meat. But because it had lesser amount of meat than Gugu bird, along with its hard-to-chew meat no different from the violent monsters, their costs is much lower."
Eagle nodded pondering, whether to buy it or not. Anyway, they could handle the tangy monster meats, Broat meat wouldn't be a problem.
However as he walked around the animals, he couldn't help but notice the obvious females among them. He realized that they had a large udder and teats!
His eyes widened and his feet moved to it.
These characteristics were something from dairy cows and other milk-producing animals in Terran!
Milk! Would they finally have milk after so long?!
But… they seemed to not be popular? It was sold only for its little meat!
Eagle's eyes widened and he turned to the person selling. "Does this produce milk?"
"Milk?"
Mao and the others beside him perked up at this.
"The white liquid that comes out of that," Eagle asked the shop owner patiently.
"You mean the White Juice!" The person looked at him like he was an idiot, while his Aborigine teammates looked at him worriedly, obviously worrying for his brain. "It's no good. You'll get sick."
The man just rolled his eyes and went to the other customers already purchasing. Seeing him left alone, Roana stepped forward and explained. "People only drink that thing if there's no water. Though everyone gets sick afterward."
Eagle paused for a bit in thought. Even in Terran, raw milk was indeed risky if consumed untreated.
However, another concern was that their bodies were obviously much better than their Terran counterparts. If the improved bodies were affected, then the bacteria from this milk were probably much more potent than what they were used to.
Eagle hesitated a bit. What if he bought it and it was useless?
If it could still make people's improved bodies sick, then could it still be consumed?
But he calmed down soon after. He still believed in the knowledge and ingenuity of Terrans. They'd find a way to treat it. Even if they didn't, an alternative source of meat shouldn't be a loss.
He looked at the stocks and at the price. The mercenary team captured nineteen, ten of which were female. As for the cost, a small part of the profit yesterday was more than enough.
Of course, how could he not bargain?
"Hm… little meat and gives out poison juice… why would you sell it for so high?" He said, taking advantage of the innate intimidating factor of his facial features.
The shop owner flinched. "High? That's not—"
"It is," he looked around, "It's already the third day, how many have you sold?"
The man's shoulder slumped down and Eagle's eyes sharpened. From his reaction, he knew it probably wasn't much.
The two stared at each other for a while, one frowning, while the other apprehensive. Eagle let the silence brew for a moment before sighing, and then he looked at the man.
"How about this, give me half price and I'll take them all." He said so as if taking pity. The salesman flinched.
"What?"
"I'll buy all of them," Eagle repeated.
"H-How many?" The shop owner asked, just in case the potential idiot couldn't count.
"Nineteen," Eagle said, manifesting a few gold as he was starting to get impatient.
At this, the shop owner's stance softened and he looked at Eagle very kindly.
"Well, but half-price is a bit much…"
"A third off at least. Otherwise, I'm not interested—"
"Ah, yesyesyes, a third off it is!"
While all this was happening, the aborigines couldn't help but stare at Eagle in worry, especially Roana.
Mao elbowed Roana when he saw the middle-aged woman pale. "Don't worry too much, he knows what he's doing."
"Ah, yes, but…" "Actually, I know someone who drank that liquid when they found a broat in the wild. There was no water and he had no choice. His stomach hurt not long after and he was almost killed the monsters due to his distraction.
She paused, looking at all of them in concern. "He lost an arm."
She said so as if they'd lose an arm if they drank the 'white juice'.
The Terran's lips twitched, and Luis smiled comfortingly, "Well, we will take special care. But don't be so dismissive. There are so many food that just need to be handled correctly to be consumable," he said comfortingly, and many other Terrans nodded. "You'll see. You won't be able to imagine the food you could cook with this!"
Roana looked at the young man with a complicated expression. She really couldn't imagine it.
She wouldn't be asked to cook poison, would she?