Who gave you permission to travel through time with Earth?

Chapter 44 The Scavenger

"..."

Jiang Chan's intention was to flatter and mock, but seeing Fang Jin tapping his temples thoughtfully, she almost choked on her next sentence, and it took her a long time to continue.

"To make an example of someone, we need to choose the right target. Their strength can't be too low, and we must make enough profit from eliminating them... After all, we are businessmen."

"Who should we choose? The information I've gathered shows that seventeen companies are eyeing the shop..."

"Not seventeen, there are forty-six organizations in total. Is the Red Sentinel Gang's intelligence gathering still limited to asking around on the streets and chatting with women?"

Jiang Chan sneered at Guo Shi, who returned the gesture with a sweet smile, giving her the middle finger. Clearly, if Fang Jin hadn't been there, those two middle fingers would already be stuck up Jiang Chan's nostrils...

"You little slut, I'll strip you naked and hang you on the city gate sooner or later... cough cough. Without considering your strength, the only organizations I can offer with sufficient weight are three options."

"Firstly, the Liquor Club, a subordinate organization supported by the leading liquor club in the East City, has more than thirty players within it, and its leader is a level 27 martial artist..."

"Change!"

Guo San and Guo Shi shouted in unison, "The West Market doesn't have a leader, but the former owner of the Ark Shop and the president of the Distillery Association are the strongest people in the West Market!"

The former achieved a stalemate through sheer strength, while the latter relied on its background as a liquor club. Currently, the liquor association is undoubtedly the strongest business association in the West Market... This guy who comes knocking is just asking for trouble.

Fang Jin clicked her tongue in regret. Although it was obvious that this person was not someone she could touch right now, she still felt a little regretful that she hadn't been able to try.

"The second option... is those scavengers active on the border," Jiang Chan said calmly, leaning slightly forward, her emerald eyes flashing with a dangerous light, as she chuckled.

"In terms of sheer numbers, that group of lunatics is more than enough. Besides the dozen or so players, there are nearly a hundred desperados. They have always been a force to be reckoned with in the West Market."

"Wait a minute, according to our investigation, although the scavengers had conflicts with the liquor company and the Ark Shop in the past, they chose to lie low this time. Would attacking them be effective?"

Guo Shi interrupted, adding that she personally did not want to deal with scavengers. The madness was only one aspect; those who spent years near the undead in the dungeon did indeed possess some special abilities that ordinary people did not have.

"Otherwise...they wouldn't even deserve to be on my list."

Jiang Chan sneered, her fingers tracing the broken diamonds together to form an uneven human head shape, resembling a dented or even rotten apple.

"Their restraint is not due to a change of heart. The scavengers hate your father to the core, but they have temporarily eased their oppression of you because there are greater interests to be realized."

"...Why would a scavenger hate the old shopkeeper?"

"Because you guys are driving down prices too hard, scavengers need a channel to sell whatever they find, good or bad. Ark Shop pockets at least 70% of the profits during the transfer process."

In an instant, all eyes in the room focused on Fang Jin, who remained expressionless and unwavering, spreading her palms and saying to Jiang Chan:

"Please continue."

"……hehe."

"But those guys might have salvaged something incredible from the ruins. The corpses, as they contract, would spit out relics from the dungeon, and this time... it seems they really struck gold."

"The scavengers chose to lie low, even thinking they were hiding well, but when have those outlaws ever kept a low profile in the past few decades? Their unusual behavior actually exposed the possible treasure."

"They have a long-standing grudge against the Ark Shop, and the special nature of the treasure has attracted considerable attention. Whether considering cost-effectiveness or pure effect... it's quite substantial."

"..."

"What is that treasure?"

Fang Jin asked, his only concern was this matter: whether the rare treasure extracted from the corpse in the instance was related to the planet itself, and whether it could... serve as a snack for his heart?

After all... he's a "Star Eater".

"Nobody knows, otherwise the scavengers would already be under attack. Everyone knows it's valuable and understands the limits of its power, so why don't they just rob it?"

Jiang Chan stretched lazily, her beautiful curves causing the men present to silently swallow their saliva. She placed the two bags of diamond fragments into a drawer of the worn table, then asked...

"Have you decided yet? Your time to buy is almost here. If you make up your mind now, you can still buy the scavenger team's detailed information. Of course, the treasure's special properties are not included."

"Okay, this is basically the one we've chosen."

Fang Jin concluded that, whether it was to stabilize the shop's position or to explore the effects of the detached star on the heart's recovery, he clearly had no choice but to go to the scavengers' camp.

"But one last question, what are the final options for the three companies? I remember there aren't many in the entire West Market that can rival their influence."

"..."

"...Of course it's me, Luoqianfang. Is that enough to be your stepping stone to fame and fortune?"

The proprietress smiled warmly, but behind her gold-framed glasses, her mottled pupils, like those of a viper, held no trace of calm or joy as she squinted and said...

"Come."

"Try cutting off my head."

……

Within the collapsed ruins, the group of scavengers that Fang Jin and the others had seen earlier had now slowly left the center of the sinkhole, trudging through the soft white sand as they climbed towards the outer ring.

They wore black tarpaulins covered in large, fish-scale-like metal, a standard accessory for scavengers to avoid decay and radiation, but clearly not all of them possessed them.

This scavenging operation is now complete, and the harvest is much better than before. The number of dead bodies in Taipei has been reduced to its limit, and they will probably disappear along with the radiation in three to five years.

During this period, the remaining items and even equipment inside will gush out. Although most of them are still defective, it is undoubtedly a feast for scavengers.

"So even something like this could happen."

At the very back of the scavenger line was another young man draped in a black robe, but his face was covered in black, decaying spots, and blood seeped from it as he gave an exaggerated, ferocious smile.

In his hand, he held a transparent chess piece, its texture as smooth and round as crystal, shimmering with a spiritual radiance in the sunlight.

[The Novelist's Piece] This is the treasure that the scavenger obtained half a month ago. The effect of the equipment is even more special than the legend. It will attract attention, which does not seem strange to the young man.

"...But how could we possibly let you steal it?"

He smiled, bent down and knelt in the sand, burying the chess pieces deep under the gravel until that pure radiance... completely disappeared from this desolate land.