Chapter 879
Chapter 879 - 865 Imported Goods
1,492 words
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8 min read
Rebirth Commerce had been in Star-forest State for a week now.
This was the neighboring state to Changping State and also where the "Seventh District" was located.
Originally, when coming here, Lu Ping’an had some hesitations and thoughts; after all, the journey was not short, and it took quite some time to travel. For the "Team," days without profit were equivalent to losing money.
And for the Team, coming here didn’t even have a clear objective.
".....in the Seventh District, all of your union coins should be able to be spent."
For the current Rebirth Trade Union, holding "funds" in hand was pointless; turning them into the resources and opportunities needed for growth was the top priority.
At this point in time, union coins were always a rather delicate matter.
It was the Official, central currency strongly promoted by the center, but its trading scope was forcibly limited to the transactions of "supernatural items."
A currency that could purchase goods had value; otherwise, it was just waste paper.
And the various Churches and high-level professionals who held the most supernatural items were quite hesitant.... They lacked trust in the union coins and doubted their concrete value, worrying whether there might be a policy regression or replacement in the future.
This was a normal occurrence; a new universal currency required a long time and sufficient "hard currency" to gain recognition and trust. Now it was just going through an inevitable period of turmoil.
"This can’t be by design, backing the union coins with imported goods..."
For relatively backward countries and regions, the allure of "foreign fire" and "foreign artillery" went without saying.
Lu Ping’an, who was already somewhat curious, communicated with the Ancient city and also obtained permission to leave... In fact, his monitored residence was still in place, only now the Watcher, Captain Xia, had seemingly been carried along with him.
He naturally didn’t come alone; most of the Team members who weren’t on tasks came over too; it was also an opportunity to look around the market.
Then, they were collectively silenced.
"....They’re actually directly selling Rule-level creatures. The strength of those Exotic Realm life forms is a bit outrageous..."
"That technology and technique, are at least two eras ahead of us; we don’t understand it at all."
"Magic Potion? Heh, Magic Potion.... What in the world are they, with just a bit of trash material, they produced results of top-tier materials."
"Meow, yummy, so many Exotic Realm snacks, meow!"
Apart from the minority of Cats..... most people were silenced by everything they saw before their eyes.
While the people of Earth were still trying out the "True Dragon Helicopter," over there was a complete stellar civilization with spaceports and spaceships.
Let’s not even talk about the various vehicles, which were of a tempering standard; the technological gap in living facilities was also too obvious...
"We don’t really care about these things, what’s important are the weapons, equipment, and various military vehicles..."
The core members of the Team were mostly professional warriors; their focus was naturally on their own area of expertise, looking at the mass-produced weapons opposite was the most despairing.
That commissioner spoke true words, but some were a little exaggerated... Those who came were not the top-class stellar tribes; the super Big Bosses were not particularly interested in the countryside, but the harsh truth is that these "low-class" and "second-class" beings were of a standard that would crush Earth.
"It’s just some ordinary iron, I can’t find any trace of Enchantment, yet it achieved Silver-tier weapon damage output. What exactly should this thing be classified as? Taboo items? Potential pollutants, or just plain mundane items?"
What was most despairing was not those high-tech weapons that obviously exceeded the norm, but that they took materials you could understand and effortlessly produced products you couldn’t comprehend.
It meant that there was a huge technological disparity, you couldn’t even understand where the superiority lay.....
"You’re seeking me out at this time?"
"Alright then, shall I go ask the snake?"
"She doesn’t know jack."
"She doesn’t need to know, as long as those clerks understand... Didn’t you see how they tremble in front of the snake?"
".... Try to cause less trouble. Weren’t you just warned yesterday? Hide those eyes of yours, there are plenty of connoisseurs from the Foreign Domain who observe the world differently from us, and now that I’m without a body, I don’t know what they make of your eyes..."
After an "enjoyable conversation," Big Cat did come up with some reliable information.
Focusing only on the military equipment sector that Lu Ping’an’s team highly prioritizes, the Foreign Tribes indeed have a lead, but it’s not overwhelming. The actual problem lies elsewhere.
"Each world has different ’rules,’ and this isn’t limited to various natural laws but also includes those additional rules imposed by deities and supernatural forces. This results in many technological creations and enchanted products becoming useless when taken elsewhere, but in fact, there are at least four main ways to bypass this restriction..."
The first method, which is the most common, involves transforming them into Taboo items.
Taboo items are the sources of the Newborn Pollution, and pollution sources inherently possess ’Pollution Resistance.’ Even the weakest Black-iron level Taboo items can perform most of their functions when switched to another world.
What confounds Lu Ping’an and his team is not just the dominance of those technological creations and military hardware, but the fact that the materials of these items appear quite ordinary, yet they provide high-quality effects across worlds.
"It could be a universal rule, like the power of ’Disaster,’ with the most obvious being ’Abyss Creations’..."
Some things can be used in different worlds or, to put it another way, their origins are so powerful that they’ve spread across countless universes and worlds. In the areas affected by these origins, their creations can naturally be utilized... Lu Ping’an’s control over snakes through the True Words turned out to be quite effective when dealing with the snake recently.
"The third method isn’t really different from the others. They are also enchanted products with the power of their Tribal Deities imbued within them. It’s just that you can’t see it... When an existence or a civilization reaches a certain level of power, their ’Name’ can complete an enchantment, capable of forming a barrier against low-level pollution."
This is actually a common technique. For instance, civilizations under the Twelve-Pillar brand their products with the Twelve-Pillar logo, which allows those items to wield their original world powers.
"However, compared with other methods, items with ’Naming’ have the weakest Pollution Resistance and tend to fail in highly polluted environments. Additionally, their materials are often inferior."
Even so, they are still enviable.
It means that the common people from grand civilizations can wield their world’s weapons and gear freely travel the Multi-universe, with sufficient ability to protect themselves.
"There’s actually another way, though it’s far more precious. If you directly reach the deeper sources, and use the power and knowledge of those ’sources’ to craft items, what can lower-level pollution do to correct that... "
As Big Cat spoke, she seemed hopeful, as if expecting Lu Ping’an might do something with his eyes.
From the reaction of the foreign species, Big Cat sensed that what Lu Ping’an "saw" initially was more terrible than expected, and she too wanted to know more.
But Lu Ping’an firmly refused. He did not think that delving into the roots on his current foundational grounds would lead to good results... At least until he was almost as strong as the former Big Cat, then it would be time to trace back to the origins.
Naming and True Knowledge, the third and fourth methods, are sometimes one and the same. Advanced civilizations can employ both techniques to ensure that their products remain effective in most circumstances.
"So what shall we buy?" Lu Ping’an remained as "pragmatic" as ever.
".... Buy those second-hand or third-hand goods discarded by super-civilizations. Even if the materials are somewhat inferior, they can ensure effectiveness most of the time. I suggest you first stock up on a batch of armor. Didn’t you just examine powered armor? Often, they are not just armament but can also serve as engineering equipment..."
With guidance from Big Cat, Lu Ping’an naturally avoided many detours and wasn’t about to spend his money on a pile of junk... In fact, at least half of the outsiders specifically come to swindle, and the locals lack the means to recognize and hold them accountable.
Guided by Big Cat, he quickly took a liking to a batch of advanced civilization’s armor, but when it came time to pay, new troubles arose.
— End of Chapter 879 —