The black market was located in the underground city of the human base.

The underground city was adjacent to the energy mining district, where discarded mined rocks were scattered everywhere. It wasn’t uncommon to see miners being whipped. These miners, drenched in sweat and stained black from the minerals, didn’t have a single clean spot on them. One such miner was currently bent over, enduring the pain of a foreman’s lash, pleading desperately:

“Boss, please! You can beat me all you want, just don’t kick me out! I’ve got a family of five to feed. If I lose my job, they’ll starve to death!”

“I heard you have an omega at home?” The foreman didn’t stop his whipping, the leather whip cutting through the air with a sharp crack as it struck the miner’s bloodied back. “Bring them here tomorrow. Maybe then, I’ll let you off.”

The miner panicked, dropping to his knees and clutching the foreman’s leg tightly. “Boss, please! He’s only 16, not even of age yet!”

“Hmph. So?”

…

“Li Po, hurry up! The black market’s just ahead!” Lan Deng called out, noticing Li Po was a bit distracted.

Li Po snapped out of his daze, his gaze still a bit distant. Jin Mu glanced at him, then looked back at the scene behind them, understanding the situation. “That’s the fate of most Lower City residents. Even if you sympathize with them, you can’t change anything. Even if you save one, there are thousands more like them.”

Li Po lowered his eyes, clearly displeased. After a long pause, he pressed his lips together and gave a soft “Mm.”

After passing through a narrow alley, the space ahead opened up. With Lan Deng’s guidance, Li Po knew they had arrived.

The black market was a tolerated gray area in the Lower City. Although it was technically an illegal industry, as long as the market paid the right people, the authorities didn’t care about what happened to the residents.

It was chaotic and filthy. The moment Li Po stepped in, his nose was assaulted by a pungent mix of pheromones that smelled like spoiled alcohol. He felt like he was being poisoned.

Sensing Li Po’s discomfort, Lan Deng glanced around and grabbed a handful of candy from a nearby stall, handing it to Li Po. “This candy is fragrant and sweet. Try some.”

Li Po looked at the candies in his hand, reminiscent of the bubblegum he’d had before. He unwrapped one and popped the pink soft candy into his mouth.

A second later, he blew a bubble—pink, just like the candy.

Both Jin Mu and Lan Deng froze at the sight of the bubble. Their eyes darted away, trying to suppress the odd heat rising to their cheeks.

Pop!

The bubble burst.

Li Po didn’t blow another one. He glanced around, and continued walking forward. The intense sweetness of the candy made his teeth ache, and he frowned. But he had to admit, the candy did its job—it masked the unpleasant smell in the air.

“You probably haven’t had candy this coarse before, right? The candy here isn’t like what you’d find in Upper City. Just make do for now, and I’ll get you something better next time,” Lan Deng said, realizing belatedly who Li Po was and sounding a bit regretful.

Suddenly, Li Po stopped in his tracks. He turned slightly, a puzzled expression on his face. “Never had it.”

Lan Deng assumed Li Po was referring to the poor quality of the candy, so he became even more embarrassed. He awkwardly ran a hand through his blond hair, about to say something, when Li Po added softly, “Never had candy before.”

“…What?” Lan Deng blinked, instinctively asking, “You’ve never had candy before?”

Li Po nodded.

He wasn’t lying. The original owner of this body had never tasted candy. Li Po had searched through his memories and confirmed this. The taste buds of this body were entirely unfamiliar with the flavor of sweets, which explained why he had instinctively frowned after trying the candy.

Even Jin Mu was surprised. He glanced at Li Po, assuming he was feeling sad, and clumsily tried to comfort him. “It’s okay. Eating candy can cause cavities. Look how white and nice your teeth are—that’s because you haven’t had any.”

“…” Li Po, who was chewing on candy, stopped mid-bite and fell into an awkward silence.

Lan Deng: “…” Dude, do you realize how creepy that sounded?

The air grew heavy for a few seconds until Li Po lifted his gaze and resumed chewing. “It’s fine, let’s go.”

As they continued walking, they passed several stalls with vendors shouting loudly:

—“Instant muscle pills! Only 999 star coins each, perfect for passing military exams!”

—“Not 299, not 199, just 99 star coins! Fix impotence, premature ejaculation, and other sexual dysfunctions! Bring the love back home and have more omegas!”

—“Don’t want a beta baby? Want to know your child’s gender early? We can do it for 666 star coins!”

“…” Li Po kept a straight face as he walked past these loud vendors. He suddenly noticed a few stalls hidden in the shadows, quiet and not soliciting any customers.

Curious, he asked, “What are they selling?”

Jin Mu and Lan Deng didn’t know. In their previous visits to the black market, they were either on missions or just wandering around—they had never actually bought anything.

Lan Deng, intrigued as well, suggested, “Why don’t we check it out?”

Li Po’s eyes lit up. “Sure!”

Jin Mu sighed helplessly and followed.

At the first quiet stall.

Lan Deng, wary of potential trouble, didn’t let Li Po step forward. Instead, he asked, “What are you selling?”

The stall owner had a thick beard and dark, shiny skin that made him look tough and unapproachable. “BA conversion drugs.”

Lan Deng was confused. “What?”

The bearded man, irritated, glanced up, but when he saw Li Po standing to the side, his attitude changed drastically. He smiled and patiently explained, “If you’re worried about having a beta child, take this drug. There’s a 60% chance you’ll have an alpha.”

“And the other 40%?” Lan Deng asked.

The bearded man squinted, grinning with a hint of malice. “Of that 40%, there’s a 10% chance it’ll be a beta or omega. The remaining 30%… well, that’s for deformities.”

“…” Lan Deng swallowed nervously.

The bearded man glanced over the three of them before adding, “It usually costs 700 star coins, but if he’s the one buying—” he gestured toward Li Po, “—I’ll give you a 30% discount. Only 490 star coins. How about it?”

At the man’s gesture, Jin Mu’s face darkened. He slapped the man’s hand away, clearly growing angry.

Lan Deng was also unhappy, but knowing they couldn’t cause a scene in the Lower City, he simply gave a cold reply, “We’re not interested,” and quickly led the group away.

Li Po remained expressionless, but after a moment of thought, he asked the question that had been on his mind: “How much do you guys make a month?”

Jin Mu: “…”

Lan Deng: “…”

The two exchanged awkward glances, as if they were being grilled about their salaries on a first date.

Lan Deng stammered, “Four or five thousand star coins a month.”

Jin Mu suddenly regained some confidence. “Not much, just a bit over six thousand.”

Li Po nodded knowingly. Just as Jin Mu expected to see admiration in his eyes, Li Po instead commented, “That’s not much.”

At that, the two men’s faces instantly turned black.

After a pause, Li Po frowned slightly as if recalling something. “Why do you both get paid, but I don’t?”

The other two men remained silent. They couldn’t possibly explain that Li Po had gotten into S District through connections, and giving him free meals without a salary was already a special treatment!

Realizing his mistake, Li Po awkwardly cleared his throat and quickly changed the topic. “Let’s check out the other stalls.”

They visited three more stalls due to their limited time.

The first sold guns and ammunition, claiming to source from legitimate suppliers, with exorbitant prices. The cheapest handgun cost 3,000 star coins.

The second stall sold mental power boosters. With a single injection, one’s mental power could temporarily surge, potentially increasing from E-level to A-level. However, it took a significant toll on the body. The price was 1,000 star coins per shot.

The third stall sold all kinds of information. Whether it was recruitment plans for the Lower City, military school exam questions, where to buy guns, or what types of omegas Upper City elites preferred, the vendor guaranteed the information’s authenticity. Prices started at 300 star coins, with no upper limit depending on the value of the intel.

After making the rounds, both Jin Mu and Lan Deng were somewhat dumbfounded. But when they thought about it, it made sense. To make a profit, these people were willing to sell anything—even their conscience—so it was no surprise they wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to peddle this kind of information.

After all, selling an omega could earn at least 1,000 star coins. Compared to raising a worthless beta, many poor people would gamble on buying drugs for 700 star coins, hoping for a bigger payout.

Unlike Jin Mu and Lan Deng, Li Po’s attention was elsewhere. He had fallen deep into thought, staring off into space.

So, if you had enough money, you could buy any weapon you wanted… even more things that would be useful to him.

But how could he make money?

His head started to hurt as he pondered this. Just then, he looked up and his gaze locked onto someone.

The man had a buzz cut and was standing sideways, walking toward the stall selling guns.

What caught Li Po’s attention wasn’t just the gun tucked conspicuously into the man’s waistband—it was the tattoo behind his ear.

The tattoo depicted a black hourglass.