Ran Xiyu

"Little brother, you are really formidable! I admire your fortune" said a pretty woman from a nearby table, seemingly in her 30s.

She spoke in a coaxing voice, but Liushi wasn't charmed, though he didn't show it. The woman reminded him too much of the one who was standing next to his sister. Qingping. The arrogant and greedy woman who had tried to use her charms to get on his good side once she realised she couldn't aquire his goods for herself, nor make him her subordinate. But that woman felt worse than Qingping, a real devilish woman.

"Thank you" he said with a small smile."Not interested in buying something from me?"

"This sister is poor. I don't have any mutant beast core. Maybe we could exchange something else?"

Liushi then noticed that, in the room, every team had taken out what they wanted to trade, except for that woman. He looked at her curiously.

"Hey, I'm in lack of money so I have to sell my goods. I don't have what you seek, but I hope you'll appreciate what I have."

She clapped her hands, and the door opened. 2 men entered, pushing a cart that was covered with a cloth. Everyone looked at it with renewed interest. The 2 men removed the cloth, revealing an iron cage. And in that cage was an attractive girl. She was wearing a white dress, with long hairs and slender, pretty grey eyes. She looked weakened, probably from lack of food.

"This girl, she is beautiful, but" the bald man said in surprise. "Do you intend to sell her, Hong sister?"

The woman was known to the regular as Hong sister, and right now, what she presented confused people. They weren't sure of what was happening. After doomsday, power had become the primary law of the world. As long as you had power, you could get any woman. Beauty, while still appreciated, had little value. A night with a pretty girl could be exchanged for a meal.

"Brother" Zhuying whispered near Liushi's ear. "I can feel weak energy fluctuations from her. She's a paranormal."

"This girl is not exactly ordinary" Hong said. "I'll tell you a bit about her background. She is called Ran Xiyu, and she is Jingling Ran's granddaughter. Do you know him?" she paused, waiting to see if someone would answer.

"Ran sir was the Rane Group's chairmain, and later he left everything to the second generation to handle" said a young man, seemingly a former college student, seated near White Boss. "You guys should have at least heard of the Ranke Group."

And they did, as it was a famous manufacturing company in Jingling province. The frail girl was basically the princess of the company. Even after the outbreak, that kind of background still held some importance. She was a family member of what the remaining authorities would consider a VIP.

"Ran Xiyu is Ran sir favourite granddaughter" Hong sister said as she stood up and walked to the captive's side. "She is not only beautiful, but also clever. When she was 20 years old, she went to the USA for her MBA studies. She also helped Ran sir to deal with all kinds of matters, in fact she had taken over half of the group. You should know that the military has set up a safe island? She is an elite, and naturally had the opportunity to live there. But unfortunatly, her father turned into a zombie, and then killed her mother. It was a tragedy" she finished unhurriedly.

Jiang Liushi knew the island she was talking about was Shenhai Island, where Li Yuxin should be with her family. Learning about what happened to Ran Xiyu's parents, Liushi got really worried about Li Yuxin's survival. Even for the elites, the way to the safe island was dangerous. Many elites and soldiers must have turned into zombies, weakening if not breaking the groups they were part of.

"I know about those f*ckers!" a bearded man with swarthy skin started loudly. "Throwing us away while they escaped. But now I have a better life than them. I will find opportunities to catch them and kill them! Killing all the men. And the females... hey!"

Hong sister smiled, ignoring him. "She escaped death in almost a miraculous manner. But in the end, I got her. Fortunatly, she became a paranormal. Her ability is strange. She can communicate directly with others without speaking, with just her spirit. And that's it. In short, that ability is useless."

Abilities with zero combat use were all deemed useless. Even Zhang Hai ability, which was regarded as trash by anyone, was considered more usefull due to the slight increase in strenght that came with it. His grip would also be strong enough to break zombies bones. Hong sister suddenly sported an evil smile as she resumed her presentation.

"Rna Xiyu is also quite perceptive due to her ability. If she accompanies you in bed, she will be quite sensitive, which will give you extra-ordinary feelings! And I'm sure it will be her first time, because she wasn't in love with anyone or in any relationship, focusing on her career. It's a pity that I'm a woman" she finished, with a vicious smile on her face.

She had gotten nearly every man in attendance excited and eager to get her. They were like a group of wolves, ready for action. The only ones that seemed to be unaffected were Liushi and the former college student.

Liushi felt sympathetic to her. On his way to Nanjing, after leaving the Wen sister's hometown, he had hoped that nothing like that would happen to his sister. He had seen how some of the men in attendance treated their women, and he still remembered what happened to the "toys" of the Bloody Wolves.

The bidding was brisk, quickly reaching 500kg of monster meat. Liushi was surprised that they were willing to pay that much for a girl to be used as a sex slave. Zhuying couldn't bear what was happening and turned her eyes away from the unpleasant spectacle. She grabbed his hand and looked at him. She was silently asking him if he could do something.

He could buy her, he knew. And not just to save her, but also recruit her. Her ability, while still limited, could improve and possibly evolve. With paranormals and beasts alike getting stronger, he was certain that, in time, it would be quite helpful when dealing with other survivor and hunting groups. She was also smart, and could help with some planning, trading and management.

The only problem was White Boss. While everyone was fighting over Ran Xiyu, White Boss was looking straight at him, his eyes like bullets. He could almost feel his killing intent.

Like the others, he was quite interested in having the young girl. He was the boss of the Dark Market, and all special items of trade should naturally go to him. He had already antagonised him by sitting at his table without permission. Only his greed and need of stability had prevented him from attacking and try to make an exemple of him. He wasn't willing to give him more leeway.

"I'd like to buy this girl" he said while standing up, silencing the room. He was speaking to Hong sister, but looking at Liushi.

"White Boss, you mean" she hesitated to ask, hapiness growing in her heart.

"A ton of mutant meat, and I'll send you 200 bullets."

He pulled the chain of the pet girl, making her cry in pain. The chain was torn of her neck, and White Boss advanced toward Ran Xiyu, dragging the chain. The fierce competition had stopped. White Boss threw the collar into the cage, but Ran Xiyu didn't react, her eyes still indifferent.

"You surely are stubborn, but I do not know for how many days you can keep that facade after you are placed in my Leopard House."

Liushi's eyes grew big. The Leopard House was a pleasure chamber built for Zhengde Emperor during the Ming Dynasty. It left endless rumors and a lot of disdain. It seemed that, ever since the outbreak, many had the dream of becoming an emperor. And White Boss was one of them. Right then, Liushi realised that China, and the rest of the world, would enter a new period of warring states.

"Friend, have you come to my Black Market just to sell guns?" White Boss asked while looking at Liushi. "Isn't there anything you want to buy?"

All eyes were focused on Jiang Liushi, and he felt his eye twitch. Originally, Liushi had been rude because he didn't have time to waste building a reputation with the Black Market. He didn't really want to start a fight. But now, the boss of the Black Market was taunting him, challenging him. And it irritated him. Still, he had an answer for the question.

"I do want to buy something, but unfortunatly, I doubt that you have it."

White Boss, got exasperated with Liushi. "What do you possibly want to buy that you don't think I have?" As the owner of the Black Market, those words hurt his pride as a trader.

"Tens of kilograms of high quality materials: Titanium, vanadium, platinium, iridium, palladium, tungsten, polymers, complex chemical compounds."

Some of the people almost chocked when they heard him. The materials he listed weren't easily available in large quantity. Especially vanadium, iridium, palladium, platinium and tungsten.They would have to scrap hundreds of kilos of machines and various items to get them.

The chemical compounds were even harder to aquire, because plants and warehouses suffered from critical accidents the outbreak. If they didn't explodes, they suffered from heavy fires. Those who didn't are at risk to do so. Nobody wanted to go near those places. The Tianjin explosion a few months before the outbreak was a good exemple of what could, and did happen.

"Judging by your expression, you do not have them. Do you even know where I could aquire these materials?"

"No" said the former college student. "I know of no company or factory that would have these materials in the quantities you demand anywhere nearby. These materials are used for high technology items, and the industry in the area focused more on common goods. And due to the prices of these materials, the place where they are stocked usually aren't public knowledge."

"I see... Well, forget it." 'Looks like there nothing else to get from here...'

{I know where you can find these materials.}

'Huh?'