BXBX NOVEL Chapter 429: 194 Firefly Club_1
Wang Tao looked at the crystal core in his hand, grinning.
In this post-apocalyptic world, the value of human life could be seen as negligible. Catching any random disease, getting infected by the zombie virus, or being caught in the crossfire of battle, could lead to death.
But human life could also be considered valuable because an ordinary person could be traded for a Level 1 White Crystal Core! And a level 1 ability user could fetch at least 20 Level 1 White Crystal Cores!
That was the going rate in Zijing City, and it had remained steady lately.
So after Wang Tao had sent those people to prison, he obtained 700 Level 1 White Crystal Cores!
Adding the crystal cores found on those people and in their homes, along with those taken from Nie Siyan, Huang Heng, and the other four second-order superpower owners, Wang Tao had managed to acquire a total of 2000 Level 1 Crystal Cores and 50 Level 2 Crystal Cores this time!
Although most of these crystal cores were pretty useless, including attributes like Self Detonation and Glutton, which had no real use or had extremely severe side effects.
But Wang Tao didn’t mind, since he could synthesize.
As long as he could turn these White Crystal Cores into Orange ones, even the Self-Destruct Crystal Cores would become very valuable!
After all, many forces possessed crystal core synthesizers, which could eliminate the side effects of crystal cores through synthesis. However, the crystal core synthesizer could only combine crystal cores of the same level and quality.
For instance, to remove the side effects from an Orange Level 1 Crystal Core, you would need many Orange Level 1 Crystal Cores for the synthesis.
Therefore, even the less useful crystal cores like Self Detonation and Glutton, as long as they weren’t white, their price would significantly increase. And if they were orange, their value would double.
Wang Tao planned to synthesize some of these Level 1 Crystal Cores and then trade them for Level 2 Crystal Cores.
Zijing City was substantial, with numerous survivors. Even though crystal cores were rare, the overall quantity was definitely not small, much more than Wang Tao could collect by himself. The prison had many crystal cores, which he could perhaps trade with in the future.
And it must be said, this prison was quite reputable. There were no issues with the trade, which was completed smoothly, and the exchange for crystal cores was very straightforward.
But that was understandable, as currently, the prison was the worst-reputed force in Zijing City, with no equal. Even the Skull Club was lesser in comparison.
Their reputation had plummeted to such an extent that it couldn’t be salvaged.
No one would go to the prison now, even newcomers to Zijing City would learn of the prison’s notorious reputation after spending a few days there.
And since the prison needed new blood… they had no choice but to purchase people from elsewhere.
But with their reputation so tarnished, let alone other survivors, even mid-level forces were wary of trading with them.
The prison had no choice but to try improving its image in other ways, such as ensuring prompt trades, reliability, not owing any crystal cores, and following the rules.
And it turned out that this approach did make a difference in their cooperation with other forces, albeit not enough to change their reputation.
As long as the prison adhered to the trading rules, there were still plenty of people willing to trade with them. After all, nobody wanted to turn their back on crystal cores or inhibitors.
So after some time, although the prison’s reputation remained damaged, their business reputation improved significantly.
The prison no longer cared about their public image; as long as they were powerful and had partners to do business with, that was all that mattered…
As Wang Tao was picking out crystal cores, he suddenly raised an eyebrow.
He was now sitting in front of a window, with a clear view of a stealthy figure down below. It was none other than Nie Siyan.
“This woman is back?”
Wang Tao was surprised.
The deal of sending more than two hundred people to the prison had lasted a day, and after Wang Tao had received the crystal cores, he couldn’t be bothered with what happened to Nie Siyan – she was free to leave whenever she wanted.
Since Wang Tao had promised to spare her life, he certainly wouldn’t go back on his word. After all, she was of no use to him anymore.
Late in the evening after the transaction ended, the woman hadn’t returned. Wang Tao thought she had already left.
But now, she was back?
The guards saw Nie Siyan and naturally opened the door for her quickly.
Soon after, there was a knock at the door.
“Come in.”
Wang Tao lit an oil lamp; he hadn’t turned on any lights until now since he had night vision.
Nie Siyan looked at the tall figure in the dim light, feeling a bit frightened, but she still mustered the courage to approach.
“Brother Wang…”
In reality, she was older than Wang Tao, so calling him Brother Wang was a relatively affectionate form of respect, and until now she didn’t know Wang Tao’s name, only that Xu Xiaojun called him Brother Wang.
“What are you doing back here?”
Wang Tao was puzzled.
Was this woman a masochist? After the way she was treated, she still dared to come back?
But when Nie Siyan heard his question, she thought Wang Tao was accusatory.
Immediately, she fell to her knees before Wang Tao.
“Brother Wang, I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have tried to run away, please punish me!”
Hearing this, Wang Tao looked at her thoughtfully.
“You want to follow me?”
“Yes! I want to follow Brother Wang!”
Nie Siyan quickly replied.
She had indeed fled today, without taking a single crystal core, and she believed that Wang Tao wouldn’t go out of his way to hunt her down. But during her escape, she suddenly lost her desire to run away.
It wasn’t that she enjoyed abuse, but rather she realized she had nowhere to go… And with Wang Tao being so strong, she wanted to follow him!
Admiring the strong was an innate trait for many people, and she was no exception.