Xia Fan took the elevator to the lobby and saw Tony's chauffeur cum bodyguard. He was more than two meters tall and had dark skin. His name was Jay.
In fact, Xia Fan and Fo You did not need any bodyguards, but they did not want to expose their identities. Usually, merchants who came to the Outer Realm would hire a few bodyguards. Xia Fan was just going with the flow.
Jay had a dilapidated hover car. It was pieced together with discarded parts from the Inner Realm. Every year, the Inner Realm would sell a large amount of trash to the Outer Realm at a low price through merchants.
Even though it was just a piece of trash that the people of the Inner Realm didn't want, it was very valuable in the barren Outer Realm. Tony said that he had worked hard for many years to save up enough money to buy this car. Among his neighbors, Tony was the first to own a private car.
"Let's park the car here. Let's go to the market," Tony said to Jay.
The tanned and muscular Jay nodded. He found two street kids and threw them some money. He asked them to look after the car and clean it. The two skinny teenagers quickly agreed.
"Actually, I used to run errands outside the hotel and clean cars for a living. Later, I saved some money and became a guide for the Outer Realm people in the market, just like them." Tony pointed to a group of men and women squatting on the ground by the roadside outside the market.
These people were also guides, but their rank was much lower than Tony's, who had a private car. Once the Outer Realm people approached, they would swarm around them like flies, trying their best to sell themselves.
Having Tony as a guide really saved Xia Fan a lot of trouble.
When they walked to the main entrance of the market, none of the guides who were waiting to attract customers came up to them. They must have recognized Tony and Jay.
Not far away, an Outer Realm merchant who did not bring a guide was in a terrible situation. He was surrounded by hundreds of people. In the chaos, someone tore his clothes and stole his wallet. He stood by the side of the road and cursed. Unfortunately, there were no police in the Outer Realm, so no one would do him justice.
Tony smiled and said, "Look, another one fell for it. Wild guides are like this. When there's work, they work. When there's no work and they're hungry, they steal and rob."
Xia Fan nodded. "So, you've done something like this before?"
Tony said straightforwardly, "Yes, I did. I would do anything when I was hungry, but I won't do it now, because I'm a man of status now. I have a wife and two kids at home. I have to work hard to earn money, but I can't embarrass my kids."
Xia Fan smiled. Tony's values were quite good, and his personality did not make Xia Fan dislike him.
Tony must have suffered a lot to be able to climb up from the lowest rung of society in the wild outskirts. But there were many more people who were still suffering from hunger. That was the reality. Although Xia Fan felt that it was not easy for the people in the outskirts, he was not a charity organization after all. He could not care too much about it.
The four words "Fire Beacon Grand Market" appeared in front of him. The brass signboard was very old and had a lot of dirt on it.
More than a dozen people who looked like security guards stood outside the door. When they saw people from the outskirts like Xia Fan, they would bow and greet him. If the street children and poor people approached, the security guards would fiercely chase them out.
The market was made up of many two-story terraced buildings. Many of the buildings' concrete structures were cracked, and the merchants used cement to cover up the cracks. The ground was also full of cracks, and some of the potholes still had last night's rainwater accumulated in them.
Larger businesses would rent a few terraced buildings and renovate them meticulously to show off their strength and reputation. Smaller businesses would be like street vendors, casually placing their goods at the entrance and shouting when someone passed by.
The scale of the shops near the entrance was generally larger. The deeper they went, the more dirty and low buildings appeared.
The market still used the old public toilets, and there were people in charge of cleaning. But the smell was not something Xia Fan and Fo You wanted to go in.
In this way, it was already a first-class trading market in the Scorching Star Region. It was incomparable to the outskirts.
However, this place sold everything. From tanks and spaceships to mechanical parts and rations, there was almost everything. These foreign merchants even dared to sell large-caliber cannons. It was said that one could even buy biochemical weapons that were strictly forbidden by the three alliances here. It could be said that this place was a paradise for criminals.
Of course, things like biological and chemical weapons would not be sold publicly. One would need to have some means to do so. Tony promised that even if Xia Fan wanted to buy a few nuclear bombs, he would be able to get them. Xia Fan and Fu You were tempted. After all, they were talking about nuclear weapons. It was a bit exaggerated to think that one could buy nuclear bombs with money.
The drug trade was in the 17th and 18th districts.
Xia Fan and Fo You spent about half an hour strolling all the way to the market. There were many rickshaws in the market. If one didn't want to walk, they could spend some money to take a ride. But Xia Fan and Fo You wanted to see the whole black market, so they chose to walk.
They sat at a table outside a cafe in the 17th district. Tony ordered a few cups of coffee and said to Xia Fan, "Let me use the thing I'm looking for."
Xia Fan was slightly stunned, but he still gave the metal can with the Heaven Wings logo to Tony.
Tony entered a shop and came back with a stack of photos after a while.
Returning the metal can to Xia Fan, Tony said with a smile, "It's too troublesome to ask each shop. I'll get some people to help."
Then, he waved his hand and shouted.
Whoosh ~
More than a hundred sallow and emaciated boys and girls gathered around. Tony sent them the photos that he had just printed. Then, these youths ran off with the photos in their hands, rushing into the shops in the market and asking them from door to door.
"These are all your men?" Fo You asked curiously.
Tony smiled and took a sip of coffee. He shook his head and said, "No, they're just a group of poor kids trying to make a living in the market."
"Don't you need to give them money?"
"We will, but only those who help us find things can earn money. This has always been the rule in our place. If you want to eat, you have to run more and be smart."
Xia Fan nodded slightly. The labor in the outer region was really cheap. In the inner region, children of this age were all little emperors in their families, living a comfortable life. They would not wander the streets like this.
Half an hour passed, and the children who ran errands still had not returned.
Tony frowned and said to Xia Fan, "It seems difficult. I'm afraid there's nothing you want in the market."
Xia Fan had expected this, so he was not too surprised.
Tian Yi slaughtered his way into Cang Yue. This was something that happened forty thousand years ago. So much time had passed that there weren't many people who remembered this matter, let alone finding any clues about Tian Yi.
But Xia Fan was not willing to give up. He asked Tony, "Are there other markets besides this one?"
Tony nodded. "Yes, but Fire Beacon is the largest. If you can't find something in Fire Beacon, it's even more impossible to find it in other places."
"How about this, if you don't find anything today, I'll take you to another place tomorrow."
It seemed that this was the only way. Xia Fan looked up at the sky. The sun was setting, and the sky was gradually darkening. The local weather was strange. It rained every night in the summer, and there were no exceptions.
On the street, some of the shops were already preparing to close up. Although there were security guards in the market, they still used thick trititanium alloy doors to seal off the shops to prevent thieves from breaking in at night. It was obvious that the security of the big market was average.
Tony asked a few of the children who helped find the goods, but they all shook their heads and said that they could not find what Xia Fan wanted. None of the shops had it.
If they could not find the goods, the children would not get paid. Tony was not a bad person, so he asked the cafe to send a plate of cake for the children.
Tony would not give them money, because that would be breaking the rules. But at least he could fill the stomachs of the street children.
The children took the cake with their thin black hands and stuffed it into their mouths. They thanked him profusely, but Tony was extremely cold.
He said to Xia Fan, "Don't feel sorry for these children. Many of them have killed, taken drugs, robbed, and done all kinds of bad things. You can give them some food, but don't show them mercy. In the outside world, being kind to others is equivalent to admitting that you are easy to bully."
The dark and strong Jie nodded repeatedly. It was because of his scary size and eyes that most of the children did not dare to get close to him. They only peeked from afar.
Fo You frowned. "They are so young, but they have already killed people?"
Tony sighed, looked up at the sky and said, "The people in the outside world are wild beasts, and the children in the outside world are a group of cubs."
"It's getting late. It's not safe here at night. Let's go back."
Xia Fan and Fo You had no other choice but to nod.
On the way out of the market, Tony smiled and asked Xia Fan and Fo You where they wanted to go at night.
"As long as you can think of it, I can help you find it. Seeing that you are both young and energetic, how about I find a pair of twins for each of you? It's cheap, and it's like picking it up. There is no such thing in the outside world. "
Although Fo You usually looked indifferent, he was actually very rebellious and rebellious. The more outrageous something was, the more interested he was. Fo You did not like being a serious person.
However, Fo You was too embarrassed to ask further in front of Xia Fan.
Just as they were about to leave the market, a young boy of about 12 or 13 years old, who was thin but very smart and had big eyes, suddenly ran over and grabbed Tony.
Huff, huff ~
The young boy panted heavily.
"Did you find what we were looking for?" Tony asked.
The young boy shook his head and said with difficulty, "I searched the whole market but couldn't find it. But I found something with the same pattern as that metal can."
Xia Fan was slightly stunned. The same pattern? It was very likely that it was something left behind by his family!
Xia Fan was surprised, but on the surface, he still smiled as usual.
Tony looked at Xia Fan and asked for his opinion.
Xia Fan said to the young boy, "What did you find? How did you find it? "
The clever young man said, "At first, I followed your instructions to look for it, but I couldn't find it no matter how hard I tried. However, I was too hungry and wanted to eat, so I thought that the thing you were looking for had a very special pattern on it. If I found something else with this pattern, maybe you would be interested."
"So I left the 17th district and went to other districts to ask people. Finally, a shop owner said that he had something with the same pattern in his hand. But I didn't have time to ask what it was because I knew it was going to be dark soon and I had to report it as soon as possible."
When the young boy finished, he looked at Xia Fan eagerly.
Xia Fan smiled and patted the young boy on the shoulder. "You're very smart. You know how to draw inferences. What's your name?"
"I don't have a name. Because my eyes are big, people in the market call me Da Yan."
Xia Fan laughed. "Da Yan, lead the way."
"Yes!" Da Yan nodded excitedly.
He knew that Xia Fan was interested in the thing he found, which meant that he would be paid and have food to eat. He led Xia Fan and the others deeper into the market.
It was already dark, and more people had left the market. There were only a few people like Xia Fan who continued to go deeper into the market.
It didn't take long for Xia Fan and the others to arrive at the 8th district, the area where clothes were traded.
Most of the shops were closed, but there was one small shop that was brightly lit. A hunchback old man stood outside.
"This is it!" Da Yan pointed to the open shop. Because he was dirty and smelled of sweat, Da Yan would not enter the shop, and the people in the shop would not let him in either.
Xia Fan nodded and tossed a fifty-gram gold coin to him.
The boy caught the gold coin and was stunned. His face was full of panic and disbelief. Tony and Jay's eyes were clearly saying that Xia Fan had given him too much money.
Xia Fan smiled. "I have other things for you to do. You will be rewarded if you do well."
"Go eat first. Wait for me at the entrance of the market tomorrow morning."
"Thank you, boss!"
"Thank you, boss!"
Da Yan said as he quickly hid the gold coin in his worn-out shoes and ran outside. He did not follow the way he came, but instead went into a dark alley.
Xia Fan was right. The child was indeed smart.
Xia Fan and the others entered the shop. The hunchback owner, perhaps because he had seen Xia Fan tip Da Yan, respectfully offered his seat and called his daughter-in-law to make tea.
Xia Fan sat down and looked around. He was in a very ordinary clothing store. Most of the clothes were old from the outer region. They were packed in sacks. After they were cleaned, they were sold to the poor locals at a low price. The smell in the store was not bad, but there was nothing special about it.
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