“So I’ll meet you at the Guild later, alright?”
Amber pouted at me, “I still think we should go together.”
“We don’t have that much time and I don’t want to be carrying around all those stuff that we looted so we should split up for this.”
“Ugh… Fine… I’ll head down to the Trader Union and sell all the loot we got from the pirates while you find that old guy. Are you sure you’ll be fine on your own, Tera?”
I rolled my eyes, “Come on, Amber, I’m not a baby. If anything happens, I’ll give you a call, ok? Mara already gave us the location of the black market and what to look out for so I don’t think there'll be any problems.”
“Hmm… I still think I should come with you.”
I rolled my eyes, “Fine, how about you sell off the loot and give me a call once you’re done? If I haven’t finished up with the memory cards, you’ll meet me there?”
She grinned, “Sounds good, let’s do that.”
We then parted ways from my ship. Amber would be heading to the Trader Union to sell off the loot we got from the pirates while I head over to find the old guy that Mara had told us about.
The good thing was that it’s located in the black market so I could take the time to check out the prices there too. Maybe I could even find something that I could buy and sell between Theeve and here.
I made my way to where the black market was located, patting on my waist to double check that I had my gun holstered as I walked.
As Mara had warned, I made sure to bring along my pistol just in case things went sour when I’m there. Although I saw no need to bring my shotgun since I doubt it would get that serious even if a shootout happened.
Walking through the streets of the station, I reached the part of the station where things were less well maintained than the section I came from but it still looked better than the black market district of Theeve station.
I suppose it made sense since the black market here was bigger than the one at the Theeve system and I suppose there’s less restrictions here as compared to the one at Theeve.
The market itself was an entire street with multiple shophouse lookalike buildings stretching along said street which the vendors were using as their stalls. They were even trading the illegal stuff openly without trying to hide their wares.
I would have wondered if the military here even knew about this place but I saw several men in uniform walking through the street as well, telling me all I needed to know about their stance on this place.
I’m guessing because of how remote this place was and the threat of pirates looming over any ship that chooses to come here, it’s not easy to get a lot of goods transported here.
Thus, daily necessities might be found in the black market instead, where the goods being sold are obtained through illicit means.
There were several terminals also littered around the street which would allow access to the black market listing here which I intend to check out later.
Also… I see why Mara told us to come here armed already…
Even at the entrance of the street, I could already hear a few gunshots ringing from within and no one here was even paying much attention to it.
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I decided not to make a fuss out of it as well and concentrated on trying to find the old man the Mara told us about instead.
Unfortunately, Mara did not know where his shop was exactly and could only point me to the rough area of where he might be at, meaning I would have to search for him myself.
It’s times like these that I wish I had a quest marker to follow…
Let’s see… She said to look for the part of the street that looks like it specialises in selling electronic parts… Now where would that be? Maybe I should just ask someone.
I went up to one of the stores where a bored looking young man was leaning against the counter. He barely even reacted to me entering his store and maintained his pose even as I walked up to him.
“Hey there, sorry to bother you but--”
“If you’re not buying anything, fuck off.”
I paused before turning around to walk out of the store.
Bastard.
I went to the store beside him, this one being manned by some middle-aged dude with a metal jaw and cybernetic arms.
He was busy tapping away on his personal terminal and raised an eyebrow at me when I entered.
“Looking for something? Got some nice pieces at the back if you’re interested, military grade too. Just don’t ask me where I got them.”
I was about to say no when I stopped myself and looked to the back of the store where several guns were laid on a table.
Well… I guess it doesn’t hurt to look.
I went over to the table and took a look at the weapons that were on display over there.
The store owner got up from his seat and came over to me, watching me inspect the weapons from the side. I’m not sure if he was there to make sure I did not try to steal his weapons or if he was there to assist me should I need help.
I’m going to guess that it was probably a mix of both.
There were a few pistols, rifles and shotguns but none of them really stood out to me.
I was about to turn away when I noticed the other end of the table had a selection of knives displayed on it.
I went over to it and inspected them, picking up one of them that had a blade that was half the length of my arm.
The reason why I noticed it was the fact that the edges of the knife looked blunt and I tried to run my finger across it to realise that it was indeed blunt.
“That’s a vibration knife. There’s a switch near the hilt that will activate it,” The guy explained.
I turned to him, “What’s a vibration knife?”
He perked up, “First time seeing one I take it? These knives cut through objects by vibrating at high speeds and are deadly sharp when activated. Could cut through the bone of someone if you wanted to. But when deactivated, you don’t need to worry about it cutting yourself as it would return back to being blunt.”
“How does a blunt knife turn into a sharp one just by vibrating quickly?”
He shrugged, “I’m not sure myself but I think it was something about it being at the right frequency or something.”
“I see… Well this is perfect for me actually, how much is this?”
“For you, thirty thousand Credits.”
“Pretty pricey, don’t you think?”
“It’s military grade and doesn’t even need to be charged since it operates on a dynamo energy charge. This weapon can slice through skin, muscle, bone and even light armour with ease. You’d have to pay about twice the amount if you were trying to buy this anywhere else.”
“Then why is it so cheap here?”
“Well… Let’s just say that my overhead cost for the knife is zero which is why I can sell it cheaper. Don’t ask me how.”
“Hmm… This thing has a sheathe?”
“I’ll throw it in for free if you want.”
I shrugged, “Fair enough, I need one anyway so I’ll take it. The sheathe too.”
I tapped on my Codex and transferred the money to him.
When he received the notification of the funds being transferred, he took the knife from me and brought it to the counter to put it in a sheath for me.
Yep, this was the perfect knife I needed… To cut the meats in the kitchen! Wouldn’t even need to worry about the knives getting dull anymore!
Speaking of which… Since he’s here anyway…
“By the way, I’m looking for this old guy who supposedly has a shop around here, do you recognise him?” I asked, displaying a picture of the old guy on my Codex.
He narrowed his eyes at the screen before nodding, “Oh yeah, Old Man Steri. Just go down the street to the right, make a right turn and he’ll be in the first store on your left.”
Look at this, such a nice guy. Way better than the other one who told me to fuck off.
He then handed over my new purchase to me and I strapped it to the outer side of my thigh.
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it. Hope the knife serves you well, lady. Oh, word of advice, if you don’t mind me being nosy.”
I paused and nodded at him to go ahead.
He pointed outside, “I’d recommend you to keep your gun ready at all times. There’s some gang war happening right now and they don’t care about involving others in their little fight as well. So yeah, watch your back.”
I thanked him for the heads up before leaving the store.
Well, I shouldn’t be here long anyway so the gang war shouldn’t affect me much.
Now let’s find this Old Man Steri.