There were four other people standing in front of the stall, and they were looking at the different round objects for sale.
Naturally, these round objects were Barriers.
Yet, the atmosphere in this stall was also a bit tense.
After all, who wouldn't be respectful in front of a Veteran?
One had to remember that Veterans already belonged to the top 20% of Extractors.
There were not even 200 Veterans in the entirety of Crimson Fungus City.
Every single Veteran was at least a hundred times as powerful as a normal person.
This meant that even the weakest Veteran could lift something weighing over eight tons above their head!
This young woman could grab any random person in here and literally tear them in two like they were a piece of paper!
She was also the only Veteran in the marketplace.
The other stalls from Ghosty's Lab were all manned by Johns, and most of the other stalls were manned by Newbies.
As for the customers, there were maybe one or two Johns present, and they were only here to help their younger colleagues find something good for their money.
This meant that this person was, by far, the most powerful one in the entire marketplace.
But that was to be expected.
After all, Barriers were the priciest items here since they represented a Zephyx Extractor's life.
The Veteran was probably carrying over ten million credits worth of wares with her.
The three Extractors from Dark Dream felt some pressure emanating from the young woman.
The Veteran wasn't aggressive or anything. It was simply the feeling someone weaker felt when they were in front of someone much stronger.
Wyntor just put on a friendly smile and walked up to the Veteran.
"Good morning, we're from Dark Dream, and we're interested in purchasing Barriers for our three Zephyx Extractors," Wyntor said.
"Dark Dream?" the Veteran repeated in confusion as she turned to Wyntor.
She had never heard of Dark Dream before.
But when she saw Wyntor's suit, her eyes lit up, and she understood.
'There might be some money here,' she thought.
"Of course," she answered with a polite smile. "If I may be so rude, what is your budget?"
Wyntor just chuckled. "No worries, we already know what we are looking for, and it should just be within our budget."
Nick and Trevor didn't notice it, but the Veteran's eyes very slightly hardened for just a split-second.
However, Jenny and Wyntor noticed.
"Great!" the Veteran said with a friendly tone. "What do you have in mind?"
"First, we want a Barrier with a two-to-one conversion rate that can block all physical attacks and almost all force attacks," Wyntor said.
The Veteran nodded. "What about mental attacks?"
"Not necessary," Wyntor answered.
"What about the form and color?" she asked.
"Color is not important, and I'm fine with a sphere or spheroid for form."
"What about the activation mechanism?" she asked.
"Manual," Wyntor answered.
The Veteran sighed unnoticeably.
The guy in front of her had perfectly dodged all the pitfalls and all the items that put a premium on the Barrier.
He was searching for something ugly and cumbersome but cheap and effective.
"Based on the specifications, I think 250,000 credits should be just right," Wyntor said before the Veteran could say anything.
The Veteran looked deeply into Wyntor's eyes.
About two seconds passed.
"Sure, we have just the perfect model for your specifications and budget," she said with a forced, polite smile.
Wyntor smiled back.
The next moment, the Veteran crouched to look under the stall, and a couple of seconds later, she put a grey and round plate on the counter.
In the center was a tiny gem with grey and bronze colors swirling inside of it.
The plate itself seemed basic and unnoticeable.
Compared to all the Barriers on display, it looked like junk.
Yet, when Nick saw it, he immediately fell in love.
It looked sturdy and reliable!
The next moment, Nick took out his bank card and took a deep breath.
250,000 credits.
That was around 70% of what he had saved up!
The next moment, Nick took another deep breath and put his card on the table.
When the Veteran saw Nick pulling out a bank card, she threw a smile at Wyntor. "It's rare to see an Extractor pay with their own credits for equipment."
Jenny and Trevor threw a look at Wyntor when they heard that.
Naturally, this was the Veteran's revenge for buying the stuff with low margins.
Yet, Wyntor just chuckled. "They get 10% of the Zephyx they extract as payment at a wholesale rate. They can afford to pay for their own equipment," he said.
When the Veteran heard that, her eyes widened in disbelief.
She didn't say anything.
10% of the Zephyx they extracted at a wholesale rate?!
Then, wouldn't she be earning over a million credits a month instead of the measly 200,000 credits she was earning right now?!
Instead of getting some satisfaction out of making Wyntor uncomfortable, the Veteran got annoyed.
"Understandable," she answered in a polite voice without putting much energy into it while grabbing Nick's card.
When Trevor and Jenny saw the Veteran's reaction, they realized that they were being paid very well.
If even a Veteran looked that surprised, they probably earned a lot of money!
This only increased their loyalty towards Wyntor and their thankfulness.
"Here you go," the Veteran said as she handed the card and the Barrier to Nick.
Nick just looked at the Barrier in wonder while Wyntor started to request another Barrier.
This one only had a one-to-one ratio, but it could also block most attacks.
In the end, the price was only 50,000 credits for that one, and it went to Jenny.
The next one was identical to the second one and went to Trevor.
Since Trevor was still pretty new, Wyntor paid for it.
Wyntor would simply dock Trevor's payments until he had cleared his debt.
"Thank you," Wyntor said politely.
"Sure," the Veteran answered, not even putting up an act of being friendly.
Naturally, the Veteran was not very happy.
She hadn't even made 20,000 credits in commission from these trades.
The three Barriers they bought had extremely low-profit margins.
In the end, she could only sigh and continue waiting for other customers.