After Qi Xinzhu agreed to help Lu Luo, he imdiately left the church district without another word.
Bai Yuetong stood by the window in her room, watching Lu Luo’s retreating figure, and made up her mind. She fetched paper and pen and began to draw in seclusion.
No one knew what exactly she was drawing, and in this place, no one would pay her any mind anyway.
Lu Luo then took Qi Xinzhu, and they first hailed a cab to Circle Studio.
"Brother Luo!"
"Brother Luo!"
The people at Circle Studio still held Lu Luo in considerable awe. Seeing him hurry by, they quickly made way for him.
Lu Luo simply nodded at the employees on either side and rushed into Zhou Kai’s office downstairs.
At this mont, Zhou Kai, a cigar dangling from his lips and his hair slicked back, cut a very stylish figure.
Seeing Lu Luo arrive, he gestured with his mouth to a salesperson who was giving a report.
"You can step out for now. We’ll talk later."
"Okay, Brother Kane, Brother Luo."
After nodding to Zhou Kai and Lu Luo respectively, the person left the office.
Lu Luo closed the door and sat down opposite Zhou Kai. Zhou Kai quickly leaned forward, whispering,
"Brother Luo, do I look cool?"
"Cool, cool, cool, you’re the most handso in the whole village! Alright, enough chit-chat. I’m in a hurry. Where are Qi He and Brother Fat Ding?"
"They’re out on a mission and haven’t returned yet. What’s up?"
"It’s fine if they haven’t. Brother Kane, the money from the equipnt those two sold last ti—has it been deposited into our account?"
Zhou Kai knew Lu Luo was referring to the last ti he and Gu Fangyi had gone beyond the wall and brought back that particularly troubleso batch of Blue Sky equipnt—a matter only a few of them knew.
"It’s been deposited. Including the previous equipnt, the Corrosive Items, and so of the miscellaneous plants and materials you brought back, it totals $95,000."
"That much?" Lu Luo was startled; the figure far exceeded the price You Xiaoqi had ntioned before.
Zhou Kai bead. As the company’s financial officer, what could be more delightful than seeing the company flush with cash?
"Yes, this is our biggest inco so far, even more than when we went to Qian Ming’s place."
"So, how much did the company already have on its books?"
Lu Luo’s persistent questions about money gave Zhou Kai a bad feeling, but he answered honestly.
"A little over $60,000. What’s wrong, Brother Luo?"
Hearing this, Lu Luo was even more astounded than by the $95,000.
"Over $60,000? The company has over $60,000 on its books? Are our business skills really that formidable?
In such a short ti, you’ve made over $60,000 finding cats and dogs and investigating extramarital affairs?"
Zhou Kai waved his hand, looking sowhat nonchalant.
"It has little to do with business. Last ti, during a company team-building event, we bought so lottery tickets, one for each person, and one of them won $50,000.
There were too many people at the ti, so that lottery ticket was... requisitioned by the company."
"$50,000 from a lottery ticket? Who won it? Such amazing luck!"
"," Zhou Kai said, tilting his head up proudly.
"You, with your kind of luck, actually won sothing?"
"Fuck! Can’t an unlucky bastard catch a break sotis? Alright, alright, just tell , what do you want? What do you need the money for?"
Zhou Kai knew that every ti Lu Luo asked like this, his purse strings were about to snap, but he wasn’t ready to give in!
"Give $150,000. I need it urgently."
"What the hell are you in such a hurry for? This is the second ti! We’re talking $150,000, not fifteen bucks! Have you lost your mind?"
Lu Luo pointed at Qi Xinzhu.
"Circle Studio is currently lacking a reliable funding channel. Now that Qi Xinzhu is here, it’s as if we have a genuine one.
Therefore, I need to quickly and steadily increase my own strength to ensure this channel’s security."
Zhou Kai’s eyes narrowed slightly. He understood Lu Luo’s aning without needing nas and quietly tapped the glass on the table.
"Is this the channel you’re referring to?"
"Indeed, Brother Kane knows well."
Zhou Kai’s hand trembled slightly. Lu Luo’s idea was audacious—like snatching food from a tiger’s mouth.
However, if this really succeeded, it would be Circle Studio’s first true pot of gold.
Thinking this, Zhou Kai took out his bank card.
"I’ll talk to Brother Gu about this later. And you, be careful."
Lu Luo snatched the company’s bank card and, with Qi Xinzhu in tow, turned and left the studio.
"Thanks, Brother Kane. I’ll treat you to a al later."
"Treat my ass! Every ti you say you’re treating, I end up paying!"
Zhou Kai picked up his shoe, tempted to throw it, but then reconsidered. The shoes were expensive; it wasn’t worth it for that bastard Lu Luo.
「...」
"The money from selling the equipnt last ti? Was it really as much as $150,000?"
Coming out of the bank, Qi Xinzhu looked curiously at the money in Lu Luo’s hand. Although she had never lacked money growing up, she had never personally handled such a large sum as $150,000.
Her weapons and equipnt were very valuable, but they were all provided by the Church and accounted for on the Church’s books, so they cost her nothing.
She had previously lived her entire life in the Church, where, aside from occasionally buying feminine products or pretty clothes and shoes, she hardly spent any money.
Qi Xinzhu, from her wealthy background, had no clear concept of money until she ca to the Fourth Ring and t Lu Luo. Only then did she begin to understand its importance.
Clutching the money to his chest, Lu Luo felt like everyone around him looked like a thief, including Qi Xinzhu.
"Who told you $150,000? Didn’t I just say the equipnt sold for $95,000? Part of it is company money."
Qi Xinzhu tilted her head, a thought seemingly striking her.
"Then, out of that $95,000, shouldn’t I get a share? After all, we went outside the wall together.
And now I’m technically part of Circle Studio, so... yes, if I got a share, it would make sense."
Lu Luo suddenly stopped and looked at Qi Xinzhu earnestly, beginning to counsel her with great sincerity.
"Sharing the money... logically, there’s no issue. But Xinzhu! You must understand, money is an worldly possession. You can’t bring it with you at birth, and you can’t take it with you in death.
It’s useless for people to have so much money; more money only brings trouble and pain.
You’re a Believer of Light; what do you need so much money for? Can money make your faith more devout? It cannot.
If you need anything that costs money, you can just ask . We at Circle Studio are all one big, loving family; helping each other is what we do."
[Observer’s translation: Don’t even think about the money; at most, I’ll let you use so of it.]
Qi Xinzhu had, in fact, already sensed that this was just Lu Luo’s twisted logic. If money was useless, why was he always so desperately trying to scrounge it up?
Still, Lu Luo had a point. She was a Believer of Light; money didn’t hold much real importance for her.
"Alright then. Where are we going now?"
"Buy materials, then find Han Shiyu to concoct potions."
This ti, Lu Luo and Qi Xinzhu moved quickly and directly.
With Observer’s help, they went on a shopping spree in the Siping District market. For just over $100,000, they bought the materials needed for fifty-two portions of the small red vials.
Without stopping, Lu Luo took the materials straight to Han Shiyu.
Upon seeing them, Han Shiyu was sowhat surprised by their arrival.
"Shouldn’t you two be at Qiao Xing’s learning swordsmanship? Why are you here?"
Without a word, Lu Luo dumped all fifty-plus portions of materials in front of Han Shiyu.
"Professor Han, I need your help. Desperately."
Han Shiyu glanced at Lu Luo with surprise, then at Qi Xinzhu, and asked pointedly,
"You agreed to him?"
Qi Xinzhu didn’t know if Han Shiyu was asking if she had agreed to join Circle Studio or if she had agreed to help Lu Luo concoct potions.
However, she had agreed to both, so her answer was simple.
"Yes, I agreed."
Han Shiyu’s beautiful eyes arched slightly, an almost imperceptible movent, yet she seed pleased about Qi Xinzhu joining Lu Luo’s side.
"Alright then. Preparing all fifty-two portions of small red vial materials might take so ti, probably a little over an hour."
"No problem. When it’s done, I’ll treat you to a al, Professor Han."
"By ’a al,’ do you an the school cafeteria?"
"I’ll throw in two extra chicken drumsticks."
Lu Luo gritted his teeth. Fifty-two Type I small red vials... at the black market price of $6,000 each, that would be over $310,000. Subtracting the $100,000 material cost and $60,000 for the blood bags, that was a net profit of over $150,000. Then he’d have a fortune of over $300,000. Over $300,000, plus the more than forty grams of Dark Spirit Stone he already had, and his Devourer talent, already enhanced to 120%... Such abundant resources were definitely enough for him to break through to the second Qi He ridian, maybe even the third. However, the specifics still depended on the Fusioner’s optimization of the Second Tier form. With three ridians supporting him, his Qi He recovery speed and total Qi He capacity would undergo a qualitative leap. Then, enchanting his sword for practice would be doubly effective with half the effort.
Just having the potions isn’t enough; I need money too. I have to find soone who can buy this batch.
Thinking this, Lu Luo left Han Shiyu’s laboratory, found a public phone booth, and first dialed Ludie’s number.
"I have a batch of small red vials. Do you have any connections to help offload them?"
Ludie, on the other end, sounded groggy and annoyed, as if he’d been sleeping.
"Didn’t I tell you last ti I’m in a really tight spot? If you don’t want dead, stop dragging into this kind of illicit business."
"Alright, got it."
Hanging up, Lu Luo imdiately called Circle Studio and asked You Xiaoqi about channels for selling goods.
The response was similar to last ti: the Hunter channel could move them, but it would take ti.
It wasn’t that the Hunter channel wasn’t large enough. Rather, there weren’t many rchants brave enough to handle Hunter goods.
Because "Hunter" was practically a forbidden word in the black market, and many Hunters acted without principles, their reputation was poor.
The problem was, Lu Luo didn’t want to wait. Every second at Qiao Xing’s place was precious.
After mulling it over, Lu Luo thought of soone else. He took out the business card Quan Pu had given him earlier and dialed the number.
"Quan Pu?"
A number starting with 0044, clearly a public phone, Quan Pu thought as he looked at the incoming call. Usually, calls like this, asking for by na, an dirty business. That was his assumption. What he didn’t realize was that Lu Luo was using a public phone simply because he was too poor to afford a mobile one.
"Hello, this is Quan Pu from Huimin Comrce & Trade. May I ask who is calling?" It was always necessary to get a na.
"This is Lu Luo," his voice was a bit low.
"Uh, Brother Luo?"
Quan Pu seed sowhat surprised Lu Luo would contact him. When he’d given Lu Luo his card, he’d just seen it as making another contact, another potential avenue.
He knew of Circle Studio, called the Circle Hunter Agency. To dare use such a na without being troubled by Hunters ant they had incredibly powerful backing.
Lu Luo had Hunter connections, so Quan Pu had never expected Lu Luo to do business with him. Besides, the Hunters’ black market reputation...
Double-crossing everyone, legitimate or otherwise—in short, Hunters had done all sorts of outrageous things.
But Quan Pu was a black market salesman, after all. He quickly composed himself.
"Brother Luo, do you have so business? Go ahead."
"I have a batch of small red vials. Clean. Not Hunter goods. No manufacturing date, no serial number, but I guarantee their effectiveness. Can you take them?"
Lu Luo was genuinely afraid Quan Pu would refuse. He knew Hunter goods were hard to move, so he specifically emphasized this.
On the other end of the phone, Quan Pu frowned slightly. Not Hunter goods? Isn’t that an unnecessary and suspicious clarification? From his tone, these small red vials must be completely illicit. Did the Hunters rob Blue Sky Pharmaceuticals or sothing? This is a huge ss... should a small-ti black market operator like even get involved? Everyone loves to jump to conclusions, and Quan Pu was no different.
"May I ask how many vials, Brother Luo?"
"Fifty-two vials. $310,000 will do."
"..."
Quan Pu on the other end fell silent again. Fifty-two vials. If I mark them up and sell them all, making $100,000 on this single deal would be a piece of cake. Small red vials like these were always in demand, with few sellers. Anyone trying to survive outside the walls would want a life-saving asure, and that’s what small red vials were.
To be honest, in all his ti as a black market trader, he’d mostly handled small deals. He’d never taken on sothing this big. The total sum of all his previous transactions probably only amounted to this one deal. Hunter business was incredibly risky, but on the other hand, if this deal went through, his position in the company would be secure. It wasn’t just about making a huge profit; it was also about establishing a connection with Lu Luo and the Hunters. Quan Pu steeled his resolve to proceed but decided he first needed to consult with his brothers.
"Brother Luo, wait a mont. This deal is too big. I need to discuss it with my brothers."
"Fine. I’ll wait here, but only for ten minutes."
"Okay."
Quan Pu quickly hung up and turned to his partners. His mood was heavy, yet he was trendously excited.
This tangled mix of emotions made Quan Pu appear quite strange—twisted and agitated.
"Brothers, a big deal has co our way."
"Brother Quan, how big a deal?"
"A $310,000 deal. Fifty-two small red vials."
"Holy shit, Brother Quan, you’re aweso! Fifty-two small red vials! We’ll make at least $100,000 profit from that! We’re gonna be rich!"
His brothers were all thrilled, but then Quan Pu added,
"However, it’s business from the Hunters."
Hearing it was a $310,000 deal involving the highly sought-after small red vials, Quan Pu’s brothers had initially been ecstatic.
But after hearing the last part, they all fell silent.
What were Hunters? Perhaps Hunters weren’t much in the eyes of the Inner Ring’s elite, but to ordinary people, Hunters were still one of the Wasteland Alliance’s three major ard groups.
The ’rules’ of that lawless place outside the walls were themselves established by the Hunters; the significance of this was self-evident.
No one scraping by in the underworld of the Fourth Ring would ever consider Hunters to be a group of kind-hearted philanthropists or guardians of justice.
In the Fourth Ring’s territory, Hunters were the overlords who dealt with everyone, legitimate or not, and had connections everywhere.
Doing business with others might involve so semblance of reason, but doing business with Hunter-affiliated lines in the Fourth Ring carried enormous risks.
Huimin, the company backing Quan Pu, wasn’t particularly powerful.
Unlike giants like Blue Sky Pharmaceuticals or Grand Map Martial Power, which had Council backing and dared to challenge Hunters, Huimin was different.
If Quan Pu and his group got into trouble, Huimin would most likely turn a blind eye; they wouldn’t dare utter a peep in front of the Hunters.
In other words, if Quan Pu dealt with Lu Luo, they might just get double-crossed by Lu Luo. That was what worried the brothers.
"Brother Quan, perhaps we shouldn’t take on Hunter business? A small-ti operation like ours can’t withstand such turmoil."
"Yeah, Brother Quan. We’re doing pretty well right now. There’s no need to get involved with the Hunters."
"I agree. You know the Hunters’ style. It’s not that they don’t follow rules; it’s that they *are* the ones who set the rules.
How can you play a ga with the person who designed it? You can’t win."
All his subordinates disagreed with him getting involved with the Hunters, which made Quan Pu’s expression darken. He also knew the Hunters were difficult to deal with, even dangerous. But risk and reward went hand in hand. Plenty of companies handled Hunter goods; if others could do it, why couldn’t he, Quan Pu? To grow bigger and stronger, this small-ti approach wouldn’t cut it. He needed bigger clients, a bigger platform. If this had been when he first joined Huimin, he might have passed on this chance. But after all this ti, he understood one thing: take a chance, and a bicycle could beco a motorbike; take a gamble, and a motorbike could beco a Land Rover. In the Fourth Ring, people looked down on poverty, not on how you made your money. Making money itself wasn’t shaful.
"Since none of you are willing, let’s dissolve our partnership today. From now on, I, Quan Pu, will go my way, and you will go yours.
Let’s not hinder each other’s fortunes. People have their own paths, and tricksters have their own tricks. If we et again, we’ll still be friends."
Their short-lived alliance of convenience could no longer be sustained.
Because their philosophies had diverged, it was better to make a clean break. Now was the optimal ti to part ways.
"Brother Quan? There’s no need for this, right? It’s just one deal. No need to make things so tense."
"Yeah, Brother Quan, we still respect your leadership. But business with the Hunters is genuinely tough."
Quan Pu waved his hand dismissively. He had been considering going solo for a while. Originally, if they had still been like-minded, this group might have continued.
But now, there was no longer any need.
"No need. I’ll handle this deal myself."
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