After talking a bit more, the four of them walked further into the marketplace.
Wyntor knew the most about what Zephyx Extractors needed, and the three of them deferred to his judgment when it came to buying something.
As the three of them looked around, they noticed that most of the Extractors in the marketplace were from Gemini, Solace, and the Spartans.
Those three made up over 80% of all the Extractors that were present.
There were also a couple of Extractors from Ghosty's Lab, but most of them were, in fact, manning stalls instead of walking around and buying stuff.
Naturally, most of the sellers were also from the Manufacturers.
Creating equipment useful against Specters needed different kinds of specific Zephyx, and to get Zephyx, one needed a Specter. Because of that, most of the equipment was created by the different Manufacturers, and the equipment they didn't need, they sold in places like this.
With so many people in their company, Ghosty's Lab had an abundance of wares useful for Newbies and Johns.
However, there were also a couple of people with the standard uniform.
"What about the ones with the standard uniforms?" Jenny asked.
"Start-ups," Wyntor said emotionlessly. "They are like Dark Dream, except for one important difference."
"They don't have a Specter."
The three of them knew what Wyntor meant with that.
He meant that these companies were essentially worthless.
These Zephyx Extractors might have advanced in their levels and had even attained abilities, but they were Zephyx Extractors in name only.
After all, they weren't extracting Zephyx.
Without a Specter, a Zephyx Manufacturer practically didn't even exist.
There was no income.
There was no power gain.
There was nothing but a small group of people with a dream.
"Do none of them have a Specter?" Nick asked.
"Almost all," Wyntor answered. "If they actually manage to get one, the carrot and the stick will arrive."
"What's a carrot?" Nick asked.
Wyntor was taken out of his flow when he heard that question and slowly turned to Nick. "It's a vegetable. Something you want to eat."
"I know what a vegetable is," Nick said with a bit of annoyance.
Wyntor took a deep breath through his nose. "Anyway, it's a form of speech. It means giving someone a very enticing reward or offer while also threatening them with something horrifying if they don't follow and accept."
"If one of these companies manages to get a Specter, the first bigger Manufacturer that finds out will offer to purchase the Specter at a high premium while also offering all of the Zephyx Extractors jobs."
"The businessmen get the mountain of cash they were after, and the Extractors get the future they so desperately wanted."
"But if they don't accept, the Manufacturer will tell all the other Manufacturers that they are not willing to sell, at which point they will get suppressed into nothingness."
"Artificial light suddenly costs five times more. Containment Units cost an arm and a leg. Bigger businesses are not willing to do business with them. The guards start to watch all of their steps very, very closely. The banks have issues making payments. Their Zephyx only sells for very little money."
"Working with the Specter will essentially become more expensive than not working with it, making the Specter a liability and essentially worthless to them. They will slowly be bleeding money until they either sell their Specter or go bankrupt."
When the three of them heard that, they took some deep breaths.
That made it impossible to make any money!
"Even if the leadership persists, the employees, including the Extractors, most likely won't. Even more, those Extractors will quickly receive several offers from the big Manufacturers."
"In the end, the leaders are left with a Specter and no people to work with it."
The three just thought about Wyntor's words for a bit.
Sure enough, creating a new Manufacturer was extremely difficult.
Luckily, they had Wyntor, who had the backing of the Melfion family, and the Melfion family owned a big part of Kugelblitz.
Nobody would want to offend someone like that without an incentive.
"Wyntor, you said most earlier," Nick said.
"Most what?" Wyntor asked.
"That most of the people with the normal uniform don't have a Specter. What about the others?"
"Well," Wyntor slowly said as his eyes landed on a small group of four people who were currently looking at a couple of items. "There is one other new Zephyx Manufacturer, but they are not that important."
The three of them noticed that Wyntor was purposefully being vague, but they could tell that they shouldn't ask him.
"In short," Wyntor added, "don't be rude to the people here, and they will also not be rude to you, most likely. There are always exceptions, but we will deal with those on a case-by-case basis."
"Of course!" Nick said with a nod.
The other two also nodded in affirmation.
Wyntor let out a little smile and turned forward. "Let's get to the Barriers first. Extractors without Barriers are essentially naked."
The three of them nodded and followed after Wyntor.
The four of them passed by a couple of stalls, which offered various items.
Nick saw many different magical items, and he also saw a couple of weapons.
There were only about 15 stalls in the entire marketplace, and over half of them were staffed by Extractors from Ghosty's Lab.
Most of the people who looked at the three Zephyx Extractors seemed apathetic and uncaring, but when they saw Wyntor in front of them, their attitude changed.
Instead of seeming cold, they seemed more neutral.
In practicality, there was no difference between the two attitudes. In both cases, the other person wouldn't interact with the group.
The only difference was the opinion the other person had of the group.
After a bit of walking, the four of them stopped in front of a rather big stall near the end of the marketplace.
Just like most of them, this one was manned by a girl wearing a turquoise and red uniform, showing that she was a Zephyx Extractor from Ghosty's Lab.
Surprisingly, there was an emblem with three small ghosts embroidered on her uniform.
This meant that she was a Veteran, a level three Extractor!