Having roamed the marketplace for several hours, he witnessed many instances of obsessive mech designers forced to pay an exorbitant amount of money because they insisted on buying a specific exotic! The more interest they showed, the more the shopkeepers ripped them off! It actually amazed Ves that so many mech designers made the same mistake. Obviously, these mech designers had never operated their own businesses! For this reason, Ves did not immediately demand to buy the ugly lump of rock that reacted to his senses. Instead, he leisurely browsed the wars of the neighboring stalls, showing a vague amount of interest for random chunks of ore and radioactive fluids contained in protective containers. "What’s this?" Ves asked as he picked up a transparent cube that encapsulated honeycombed rock. "Ah, we call it the ancient larva hive." The bushy-bearded man behind the stall responded with a grin. "Our company found it on an uninhabited planet in the Independent State of Pillis. It immediately caught our notice when some of our sensors went fritzy as we were establishing a mining operation on the surface. Once we’ve recovered the samples, we’ve analyzed them to the best of our abilities and haven’t been able to find a match with existing exotics. This is likely because it consists of fossilized residue of an ancient hive that belonged to an extinct insectoid species." The merchant blabbed on for a bit before Ves raised a hand. "How much?" "For that little sample? Seventy million cols." Ves would have nothing left if he paid that sum! "Twenty million cols!" "Haha!" The merchant laughed. "Seventy million and no less. There’s nothing else like it! We’ve scoured the entire planet for additional samples and only found a handful of remnants! You won’t find anything similar in the star sector!" Although the stall operators were open to bargaining, they only did so for well-known materials. They always held their ground when it came to selling rare and extremely unusual exotics! Even if their effects weren’t all that strong, their rarity was enough of a reason for them to charge a higher price! They were not afraid of being unable to sell their merchandise! Eventually, a mech designer desperate to achieve some progress would come and detect something promising in the goods. These unfortunate saps would empty their entire pockets in order to acquire an opportunity to progress their careers! Naturally, Ves did his best not to appear this desperate. He wasn’t even interested in the alien larva hive in the first place. He put the item back after his failed bargaining attempt and turned his gaze towards other items. After picking up several other samples and inquiring after them, Ves eventually shook his head. "Sorry uncle, but your goods aren’t worth it to me. Half of the so-called exotics you’re offering is literal space trash!" The bearded merchant unapologetically shrugged. "One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. That’s enough of a reason to price them all accordingly." Ves simply waved at the man and hovered over to the next stall. After performing the same routine several times at three more stalls, he finally strolled over to the stall with the rock that reacted to his senses. Even then, Ves first picked up a couple of other samples while he chatted with the woman who was seated behind the stall. "Meow." Lucky made a grabbing motion to a fingernail-sized rock with a bloody red exterior. "What’s this? You want this little exotic?" "Meow!" Lucky wasn’t putting on an act. He was definitely interested in the blood-red rock. Even so, Ves only showed a vague amount of interest in the object, as if he saw it as nothing more than a curiosity. "What is this rock?" "Personally, I call it the scarlet rock. It’s proper designation is a serial number that is way too long for me to repeat." "Where does it come from?" "In the periphery of the Hegemony. That’s all I’m willing to say." "Any remarkable properties?" "It can slightly enhance the sensitivity of sensor arrays. I’ve heard that one mech designer managed to increase the effectiveness of the sensors of his mech by two percent using this material." "That’s not a lot." "Two percent can make a huge difference. Besides, no one knows what this material is fully capable of. Maybe you can obtain a twenty-percent boost if you manage to crack its secrets." "That sounds unlikely." Despite her claims, the merchant didn’t really value it all that much. After a quick round of bargaining, Ves managed to obtain it for the modest price of 800,000 cols, which was way too much for a volatile material that could only boost the sensor performance of a mech by a tiny bump! Still, for something that Lucky really wanted to it, this price was actually a steal! His gem cat never made a mistake when it came to judging the attraction of different materials. In fact, Lucky was squirming with his grasp as soon as Ves closed the sale. The cat couldn’t wait to munch on the blood-red rock! "Quite a frisky mechanical pet you have there, customer." The woman noted. "Why don’t you sell it to me? I can make sure it will make some cute young girl happy! How about a thousand cols?" Ves smiled at the merchant. "You have a good eye. Sadly, he isn’t for sale." "Shame." He browsed a few other goods, showing vague interest but not quite enough to open his wallet. Each time he put back a sample, he came tantalizingly closer to the odd grey rock that kept tingling his senses! The closer he drifted to it, the calmer he acted. Finally, his fingers reached the rock. It was a little too big and unwieldy for him to pick it up with his hand, but that didn’t prevent him from touching its surface. "This looks like a random meteorite." He casually commented. "What makes it exotic?" The woman shrugged. "We’re not quite sure. Aside from a slightly-elevated energy level, the rock also caused a few people to become dizzy when they came into contact with it. It’s not dangerous or anything, but we can’t explain why some people reacted that way." "How many people suffered this reaction?" "A dozen or so." "Out of how many?" "I can’t say." "That doesn’t sound like a lot." Ves chit-chatted with the merchant. The woman really couldn’t tell him anything more about the odd rock. As far as they could tell, it was a meteorite that crashed into a planet and laid inert for several hundred million years. "While it’s applications aren’t much, it’s an interesting puzzle. How much are you asking for this rock?" "100 million cols, on account of its potential." The merchant replied. "That’s a ripoff! A rock that can make one in a thousand people or so feel dizzy for a second is hardly worth that much money! 1 million cols!" "As I said, the rock may be useless, but who knows what mech designers like you can make of it. Maybe you’ll be able to create a new weapon system that can make an entire crowd faint from a distance. 80 million cols!" "Do I look like a Senior? If your best scientists haven’t been able to figure out its secrets, I probably won’t be able to figure out anything! 10 million cols!" "Well, you’re asking for it, right? Maybe you can defy the odds. 70 million cols!" After several minutes of bargaining, the merchant agreed to hand it over for the sumptuous price of 35 million cols. This was almost equivalent to 3.5 billion bright credits, which was a very small price to pay for a material that reacted to his spiritual senses! While he didn’t necessarily have to keep up his act, Ves nonetheless maintained the same pattern. He walked over to a couple of other stalls and curiously perused the exotics on offer as if he hadn’t purchased the most valuable item in the marketplace! "Value is relative anyway. One man’s treasure is another man’s trash." He muttered. Once the energy shielding above the sky began to fade to an evening setting, Ves finally emerged from the marketplace. He walked a few streets over and sat at a plaza. "Here you go, Lucky!" He said as he passed on the scarlet rock. "Meow!" Lucky immediately snatched it with his maw and slowly crunched it with its teeth, savoring the taste of the bloody exotic. Ves smiled as his cat began to purr. "Do you forgive me now?" His cat didn’t squirm away or tried to jump from his grasp, which was a good sign he guessed. As Lucky eagerly enjoyed his latest treat, Ves turned his attention to the hovering box that contained the grey rock. This was what he set out to buy in the first place. Although this wasn’t the best place to examine it, Ves couldn’t contain his curiosity! "Let’s see what makes you special!" Just as he was about to open the box, someone suddenly coughed. "Who?" Ves turned around, only to see that a strange robed figure crept up behind his back! "Heavens!" "Mr. Larkinson, I presume?" "That’s me." Ves narrowed his eyes in suspicion as he recognized the man’s outfit. "You’re a Shadow Courier, right?" "Correct. I am tasked with conveying a message to you from the Skull Architect." Ves almost jumped from his seat. "Don’t mention that name here! In fact, why the hell did you show up in Centerpoint at all?!" The shadow courier smirked behind his hood. "Your concerns are ill-founded, Mr. Larkinson. Even underneath the gaze of the MTA, we are still able to maintain discretion." Indeed. A small and subtle interference field emanated from the Shadow Courier. However, that still didn’t ease Ves’ concerns! "Your interference field is way too weak!" "It is sufficient enough for our purposes. Do not underestimate our technology. The MTA may be powerful, but they aren’t in the habit of placing their best sensors on a planet that caters to space peasants. Besides, do you think we don’t count the MTA as our customers? We guarantee absolute discretion and reliability in delivering your messages or your money back!" 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦 Ves quietly cursed. In any case, the deed had already been done. Since none of the nearby security bots had approached them, Ves would just assume that the MTA’s monitoring system hadn’t caught the Shadow Courier mentioning the nickname of one of their fugitives. "Pass me the message quickly and leave!" "Very well. The Skull Architect wants to convey a single message to you. Hurry up with your task and send back the work he expects from you as soon as possible!" "I still have more than half a year before I reach the deadline!" Ves protested. "That isn’t good enough for the Skull Architect! He expects more from you!" Ves wanted to wring the demanding mech designer’s neck. Was the Skull Architect his father or something?! "Tell him that I’ll finish my work within the deadline." "The Skull Architect has promised to offer you an incentive if you can deliver your work in half that time." The Shadow Courier said. "Of course, the quality of your work cannot be any less!" "What kind of reward is in store if I meet this demand?" "You will satisfy the Skull Architect and obtain his appreciation." The Shadow Courier flatly replied. "GET OUT!" Ves grumbled as the Shadow Courier faded away and left the plaza. What kind of stupid reward was the Skull Architect’s gratitude? The pirate designer was a nutjob! The sooner Ves fulfilled his promises, he would cut ties right away! "Who the hell hires a Shadow Courier just to convey a few words?!" Shadow Couriers did not come cheap! For the Skull Architect to make use of them just to tell Ves to turn in his homework early was very weird! "Is he in a hurry?" Ves speculated. What could make him feel so urgent? Did the Skull Architect reevaluate his work or something? Whatever the case, Ves would hand over his work when he finished it, and not before! He still had two more variants to complete, and who knows how long it would take for him to reach the end!