Chapter 150 - 82: "Black Market" and "Armor Piercing

Chen Ming stood outside the "Black Market."

Looking at the bustling commercial street ahead, he couldn’t help but say, "This isn’t quite what I imagined."

Old Wu knew Chen Ming was merely expressing his feelings, so he went in first and waved at Chen Ming, saying, "So what if it’s different? Let’s go inside and have a look first."

Chen Ming took a step to follow.

Observing the goods inside each large shop on the black market street.

These goods include various advanced weapons and equipment.

Among them were military weapons designed with cutting-edge Speed Particle Technology as the core concept.

At the same time, there were also many weapons and equipment with obvious military features.

Sinda Corporation’s weapons were not common, possibly because Sinda focused on research and manufacturing directions that ensured average quality while producing cheaply in large quantities.

People generally come to a place like the black market to get the best, so Sinda’s weapons were not very popular.

Chen Ming was quite tempted by those Speed Particle Technology and military items, but he didn’t rush to buy them.

He just kept looking and jotting down things that might be useful to him, planning to confirm and compare later.

Although he had about thirty million on hand, it was really not much, so he had to be thrifty.

As Chen Ming walked, he suddenly said to Old Wu beside him, "I thought the black market would be more concealed, or simply an online platform."

"Online? Who knows what’s sold online? Here, it’s cash and carry, any issue is resolved on the spot, isn’t that great?"

"There’s a lot of good stuff here that hasn’t been used at all."

"So you’re saying there are also refurbished second-hand goods being sold."

Old Wu shrugged and said, "If you buy refurbished goods and can’t tell, that’s your own problem. Anyway, once you leave the black market, no one recognizes it."

"Hmm."

Chen Ming responded, continuing to scan the surroundings, noting that second-hand goods were also an aspect he needed to pay attention to.

Besides looking at the weapons displayed in the shops, he was also observing some people.

Some were well-disguised, but Chen Ming could still see they were pirates with a bounty on their heads.

They walked openly on the black market street without anyone bothering them.

It seemed the government planned to exploit both pirates and bounty hunters.

After all, pirates and bounty hunters were major consumers of high-end weapons.

After seeing a pirate with a certain bounty for the third time, Chen Ming couldn’t help but ask Old Wu, "Can we target others here?"

"What do you mean? Robbery? If you’re looking for death, don’t drag me along."

"No, pirates."

"Pirates?"

Old Wu glanced at the people around and also noticed some poorly disguised pirates.

But he shook his head and said, "No, any acts of force are prohibited on this planet; you can’t make a move."

"Even off the planet, it’s hard to engage because of the patrol teams in the star system. You saw the cruiser-led patrol team on our way here, didn’t you?"

"If you really want to act, you have to wait for the opportunity when someone leaves the star system voluntarily."

"But if you don’t squat in advance, it’s easy for someone to take the lead, enter the route, and speed up to escape."

"There is a speed limit in the routes, so if someone gets a head start, it’s hard to catch up. Action requires advance preparation."

"If you’re really interested, I know where they sell information here; want to check it out?"

Chen Ming had merely mentioned it casually, and since Old Wu listed so many obstacles, he wasn’t insistent on doing anything.

So, he directly said, "Let’s hold off for now and focus on shopping first."

"Let’s go then."

Chen Ming continued to focus on the goods inside the shops on the commercial street.

While checking the merchandise, he gradually ventured into the center of the black market district.

He arrived at the busiest part of the market.

Here, Chen Ming could even see shops occupying as much space as a city plaza.

Of course, the shops themselves were commercial buildings, taking up more space mainly because of the open areas outside.

These open areas, like the commercial buildings and shops, were filled with goods.

However, instead of weapons and equipment, there were well-preserved ships.

All these ships were standard military vessels that hadn’t been stripped down, from various manufacturers.

Chen Ming even saw a Dusk-class Destroyer from Lumin, apparently being sold as a collectible.

Such an obvious market for selling military ships and regulated items to the public was right under the nose of the Star Realm Government, blatantly breaking the law in the busiest area of the realm.

Even the government’s security forces were helping maintain order, clearly leaving Chen Ming with a deep impression of the Edge Star Realm’s lax view on law.

This place couldn’t exist without government backing.

Moreover, Chen Ming’s gaze lingered for a while on a brand-new Centurion Level for sale.

The military must have been involved; that ship was definitely not decommissioned or discarded but was delivered here straight from the factory.

Although other companies also had ships for sale here, since company ships were normally for sale to the public, it was hard to determine if any companies were really involved in the deal.

After passing through this most prosperous part of the black market selling ships, the subsequent areas were pretty much the same as where Chen Ming had been before.