Apocalypse Gachapon - Chapter 1951: Cold shop

“Darkstrip City is not a large city. The most powerful race here is the medium-level Melkan Star People. When the city was established, they made significant contributions. For a long time initially, they were the undisputed choice for the ruler of Darkstrip City.”

“The entire Darkstrip City has twenty-three races. Among them, eight are medium-level races, often referred to as the ‘Eight Heads.’ The remaining races are not very powerful. Our Star-Eye Clan is basically one of the last two.”

“Darkstrip City has a registered population of three million, six hundred and seventy thousand, with an additional floating population of probably several hundred thousand.”

“As for the honors of Darkstrip City… besides the Darkstrip language being the common language of the Cosmic Races, it’s probably only you who set a record with your points to take the Novice first place.”

Wu Qian walked on the streets of Darkstrip City, introducing the city where the Star-Eye Clan resided to Ye Zhongming beside him.

They had changed into casual clothes and were not wearing masks, but they wore mimetic armor. This was a type of semi-combat armor with certain combat capabilities, but its primary function was to conceal the identity of its wearer.

Even normally, Star-Eye Clan people rarely walked openly on the streets. Their reputation was not very good. Moreover, weakness was considered an original sin, and they were also the most vulnerable targets for crime among many beings.

Regarding Ye Zhongming’s purpose in asking him to come to Darkstrip City today, Wu Qian was completely in the dark. After asking, the Order Leader only said two words: shopping.

Why didn’t you ask Aslan to go shopping?

Such thoughts could only be hidden in Wu Qian’s mind; he didn’t dare say them out loud.

It had been about ten days since he came to the Bronze Camp. This person had already firmly established his position. Regardless of the methods used, this was the fact, an embodiment of ability. Wu Qian had nothing to be unhappy about.

Even though this person messed up the warehouse under his jurisdiction, it wasn’t like he hadn’t explained, although Wu Qian didn’t know when that explanation would come.

Along the way, Ye Zhongming didn’t talk much, just walked and looked, having Wu Qian continuously introduce everything about Darkstrip City.

At first, Wu Qian thought it was because Ye Zhongming had just come up from his home planet and was curious about this completely artificial cosmic fortress. But he soon realized that wasn’t it.

After making a round and gaining an understanding of Darkstrip City, Ye Zhongming began asking Wu Qian about the industries the Star-Eye Clan was involved in.

For a race, perhaps they could survive without agricultural support—after all, they could buy food if they had none—but they certainly couldn’t survive without commerce. That would mean almost no income, and they would inevitably struggle to make ends meet.

Speaking of this, Wu Qian felt somewhat embarrassed. He led Ye Zhongming for a while and soon arrived at a place.

Ye Zhongming looked around. This could barely be considered a commercial district, but the location was terrible. It was in an alley that extended out for some reason, with one side entirely a wall, and only one shop on the other side; the other two were closed.

There was an unpleasant smell in the air because this place was truly ‘seeking quiet within bustle,’ and many beings directly used it as a place to relieve themselves.

“Here?”

A dilapidated shop with a dusty sign at the door, a rusted door, and no one even greeted them when the two reached the entrance—this was the Star-Eye Clan’s only commercial facility?

Faced with Ye Zhongming’s inquiry, Wu Qian’s face turned red. There was no helping it; the clan really had been too uncompetitive in the past.

“Yes, the clan originally focused mainly on accepting missions. Although they also acquired property and land, the quantity wasn’t large. In recent years, as the situation gradually worsened, they began disposing of these assets. Now, only this one remains.”

Ye Zhongming was already speechless. The Star-Eye Clan’s situation might be even worse than that of the Changxu Water Race.

But on second thought, Ye Zhongming could understand. Although the Changxu Water Race was also on the verge of extinction, they had, after all, been glorious before, even glorious for a long time. The period of decline was short compared to the period of glory. They had sufficient opportunities to accumulate huge savings. Moreover, the decline of the Changxu Water Race was due to the plundering of their population, which meant they had considerably more remaining assets than the Star-Eye Clan, which had gradually declined and been hollowed out bit by bit.

The two walked in. Ye Zhongming saw that the interior was quite spacious, with two floors, totaling approximately three hundred square meters.

However, the goods were somewhat scarce. He looked around; apart from the clerk, who lacked any vigilance and was dozing on the table, the merchandise consisted of ordinary items.

The Star-Eye Clan was not a race skilled in manufacturing, nor did they have any talent for creating artworks. This shop, resembling a general store, sold ordinary equipment, special products from certain planets, some food supplies, etc.

Having just been in the commercial district, Ye Zhongming had seen other shops. What were they selling? Premium equipment, various warbeasts, high-level medicines, wheel items, even various slaves and servants. Ye Zhongming even saw a chain store belonging to the Huo’er Star People displaying a member of the Changxu Water Race.

That wasn’t for sale, but rather a muscle-flexing behavior.

Once, the Changxu Water Race had offended the Huo’er Star People, and now they had become prisoners.

At least, that’s what Ye Zhongming thought. He stood there watching for a long time, but after weighing the options, he gave up the idea of snatching by force.

Wu Qian knocked on the table, and the ordinary clerk woke up. He looked at the two confusedly, as if wondering why they came here, then pointed around and said, “The goods are all here. The prices are marked nearby. Call me if you see something you like. If you are here to discuss a property purchase, please leave your contact information. The Star-Eye Clan will contact you within three days.”

After speaking, he continued to lie down and sleep.

If Wu Qian didn’t know that this guy definitely wouldn’t recognize him in mimetic combat armor, he would have wanted to lose his temper.

However, even though this was the Star-Eye Clan’s only shop, it wasn’t under the jurisdiction of a mere Bronze Camp logistics officer like him.

Ye Zhongming, on the other hand, looked calm. After looking around, he nodded and left with Wu Qian.

“Order Leader…”

Wu Qian wanted to say something, but Ye Zhongming waved his hand to indicate it didn’t matter, then suggested going to see the place where missions were accepted.

“In the cosmic races, mission issuance is basically divided into three types. The first is mobilization missions.”

Wu Qian led the way while explaining the Cosmic Races’ mission system to Ye Zhongming.

“Several major factions or super races are qualified to issue missions to all Cosmic Races for joint actions. This kind of mobilization mission is called ‘Full-Spec Mobilization,’ and it is basically only issued during large-scale wars. In the last hundred cosmic years, no ‘Full-Spec Mobilization’ order has appeared.”

Ye Zhongming’s understanding of the Cosmic Races led him to believe that, due to the recent aggressiveness of the Slave Race, the Cosmic Races, which adhered to the ‘nature’ principle, had restrained themselves and had not engaged in large-scale wars among themselves for many years. Without conflict, the basis for Full-Spec Mobilization orders naturally disappeared.

“And the others?” Ye Zhongming continued to ask.