Chapter 83: Purchasing Information
“I want to buy information.”
Zhou Ming, wearing a mask, spoke in a low voice, stating his purpose.
“Please wait a moment.”
One of the masked burly men guarding the tent entrance glanced at Zhou Ming a few times before telling him to wait.
Zhou Ming nodded to show he understood.
From the looks of it, there were already people inside the tent buying information.
A moment later, two masked men exited the tent. After briefly sizing up Zhou Ming, they silently left.
“You can go in now.”
Hearing the guard’s voice, Zhou Ming withdrew his gaze, turned, lifted the tent flap, and bent down to enter.
Inside the tent, a dim incandescent lamp illuminated the surroundings.
A figure cloaked in black sat hidden in the shadows, exuding an air of mystery.
“Guest, what do you need?”
Seeing Zhou Ming remain silent, the cloaked person asked in a hoarse voice.
“I need information on the ruins in the Northern Wasteland. How much will it cost in Alliance Coins?”
Since he had already come this far, Zhou Ming saw no reason to hesitate and directly stated his request.
“Very well. I have three tiers of information, each priced differently.”
“The first tier costs thirty thousand Alliance Coins, the second one hundred thousand, and the third three hundred thousand.”
Hearing the other party’s explanation, Zhou Ming felt puzzled.
The gap between the first and third tiers was tenfold—was the difference in information really that great?
“What’s the difference specifically?”
Although he had enough money to buy the third tier, he still wanted to know the distinction between them.
The cloaked person, seemingly experienced in answering such questions, began explaining smoothly.
“The first tier mainly records the location of the ruins and a general introduction.”
“The second tier, in addition to that, contains details about the large Dimensional Rift nearby and the hidden dangers around the ruins.”
“As for the third tier, besides all of the above, it also includes an approximate structural map of the ruins, records of hidden valuable resources—currently the most comprehensive information available.”
After hearing the brief explanation, Zhou Ming understood the difference between each tier.
He thought for a moment and decided to confirm whether the ruins contained what he sought.
Otherwise, if it turned out to be a purely technological research base, he would be duped again.
He didn’t want to relive the incident that happened in the Hunter Market square.
“I want to confirm first—are there any records related to Class Advancement or research on Class Advancement in those ruins?”
Upon hearing this question, the cloaked person sitting cross-legged raised his head to study Zhou Ming.
His face was covered with black cloth, only a pair of narrowed eyes visible.
“This information I can tell you for free. Those ruins were once a base for researching Class Advancement and improving Beast Tamers’ realms.”
Hearing that, Zhou Ming finally felt relieved.
He knew the other party only offered this tidbit for free to encourage him to buy, but he didn’t think the man was lying.
After all, this organization had been selling information in the Black Market for a long time, and Zhou Ming had never heard of them selling false intel.
“I’ll take the third-tier information.”
Knowing that the ruins contained what he needed, Zhou Ming didn’t hesitate.
The Northern Wasteland would surely attract many forces, and the ruins would undoubtedly be dangerous—he had no intention of gambling with his life.
“This is a memory card containing the third-tier information. You can view it using any computer.”
Accepting the memory card handed to him, Zhou Ming took out his Gold Card and paid the three hundred thousand Alliance Coins.
“Guest.”
Just as Zhou Ming was about to leave, the cloaked person called out to him.
“What is it?”
Zhou Ming turned his head, watching the man’s movements carefully. Though he sensed no hostility, he still remained alert.
“I just want to remind you—how you use the information is none of our concern, but please do not resell it.”
“The consequences?”
“There were people who did that before. They no longer exist.”
The man didn’t explain further; his tone alone conveyed the result.
“I understand.”
After replying, Zhou Ming lifted the tent flap and left.
Since it was still too early to leave the Black Market, he wandered among the stalls without intending to buy anything.
He had already bought firearms. During the Cunning Fox mission, after tossing his used gun into the sewer, he soon purchased two new pistols.
One Thunder Type-2 Revolver, and one Blood Hunter Type-1 Handgun—Zhou Ming was already accustomed to using these two models.
As for other resources, he didn’t plan on buying any. His Spiritual Power had reached its limit, and he didn’t need to worry about meditation for now.
The resources needed by Inkband and Vermilion Jade were either useless if ordinary or too expensive for him to afford.
After purchasing the information, he had about five hundred thousand Alliance Coins left.
As for books on Beast Tamers, there were still several in his residence he hadn’t finished reading, so there was no need to waste his limited funds.
Moreover, when heading to the Northern Wasteland, he would need to prepare a lot of supplies, so he had to reserve enough money for the expedition after the new year.
Thus, for the next two to three hours, Zhou Ming simply strolled around to broaden his horizons—after all, strange things often appeared in the Black Market.
Clang, clang...
With the sound of the bronze gong, the Black Market was about to close. Zhou Ming didn’t linger and left directly.
The journey back went smoothly; no one tried to cause trouble. Perhaps they thought he was too poor to bother with.
Back at his residence, Zhou Ming immediately checked the information stored in the memory card.
“Half-beastmen?”
Naturally, he focused on the part concerning Class Advancement. He quickly located and opened the related information.
According to the data, the ruins in the Northern Wasteland had once mainly researched the path of fusion between Beast and Master—a new form of Class Advancement.
As for its later development, one term came to Zhou Ming’s mind: Human Pillar Force.
In the final stages, the base’s research aimed to refine the contracted beasts into the Beast Tamer’s own bloodline, completely breaking free from the constraints of the beast.
The report also explained why the base lost contact with the Alliance.
The current theory suggested that an experiment had gone wrong, creating something terrifying that led to the base’s destruction.
Such cases weren’t unheard of—ignorance bred fearlessness. Back then, in pursuit of extraordinary power, the humans of Blue Star had few taboos.
After the Doomsday Era, with satellites destroyed and positioning lost, and the fledgling Blue Star Alliance still too weak to penetrate ferocious beast territories, bases vanishing into history like this had become commonplace.