Marcus felt frustrated after he had stalked Zhiyuan and his friends till they left the street.
Hiding in every corner every time they stopped at a place, Marcus could only cussed quietly but he knew better than to reveal his presence soon and risk blowing his cover.
It was already afternoon when Marcus turned and left for his main mission—selling his gene core.
He stepped into the jewelry merchant shop, Marcus eyes glinted at different jewels displayed on boards, stands, and glass display cases.
"Young man, we have different gem necklaces, rings, and bracelets from diamonds to that of mutant beasts with affordable prices, which do you want?"
Marcus recognised Wang Bao immediately, the burly and famous jewelry merchant and Diamantaire in Haicheng.
Wang Bao sat at the corner beside the door while using his loupe to inspect a purple gene core from every angle, Marcus had already noticed him the moment he stepped into the shop, but Marcus was busy feasting his eyes on the pieces of jewelry.
But there was also one thing that made Marcus do as if he didn't notice him, Wang Bao was a jewelry merchant that know the true value of gems even without using loupe.
But he often swindled people who were timid and showed weakness so he could profit the most from their gems. That was why Marcus made Wang Bao take the initiative to give him the idea that he wasn't a novice, ensuring he got the best estimate of his gem's worth.
"I will let you know when I see which one I like among the bracelets"
"Oh..."
Wang Bao nodded.
Marcus walked towards the bracelets section.
Diamonds and gene core bracelets were displayed on stands but the era of diamonds was now being overshadowed by gene cores even though both of them had the same hardness, perhaps it was because of the exceptional brilliance of gene cores.
If an S-grade beast gene core of only 5 carats could cost as much as roughly 4 million Yuan, then what about an SS-grade beast or even an SSS-grade beast, Marcus' heart leaped for joy at the thought.
Marcus felt he couldn't wait to kill an SS-grade beast since SSS-grade beasts are very rare.
Most of area bosses are SS-grade beasts, but Marcus felt he should exercise patience if not he would end up dead since he didn't have any attacking skills, and even most of his attributes are of an average human.
Marcus took out the blue gem from his pocket and raised it up.
He started gazing at it and the gene core bracelets at the same time, while using the other eye to look at Wang Bao, Wang Bao's eyes lit up, and Marcus' heart seemed to skip a bit at the same time.
'I hope I won't mess up'
Marcus then tried to compose himself but he remained quiet, thinking about Wang Bao's reaction, Marcus reasoned that the gene core which he got from his punishment could be worth more than he think because, the value of precious stones is based on many factors including it colour rareness, cut, and brilliance.
Marcus could remember all the necklaces, rings, and bracelets Zhiyuan and his friends wore, none had a blue colour.
'Is it why he had his eyes on it?'
He couldn't help but wonder, Marcus just keep gazing at it while Wang Bao was also staring.
It seemed Wang Bao was appraising its value and with each second his eyes would widen and blink and he would lick his lips.
It seemed Wang Bao couldn't hide his curiousness anymore so he spoke up:
"Young man, do you want to sell that blue gem also?"
Wang Bao's tone was soft.
"I'm still contemplating, actually I was thinking of dashing it out to one of my friends, how much would you say it worth," Marcus said half-heartedly to give Wang Bao the wrong idea that he wasn't really interested in it.
"Let me see"
Wang Bao rushed to Marcus eagerly and he gave it to him.
Wang Bao placed the gene core on a carat scale, after a few seconds, he used his loupe to inspect it from every angle, and his eyes widened as every second passed by.
"This is quite the piece, friend, it's well cut and its brilliance, it is remarkable! How much would you like to sell it?" Wang Bao asked eagerly.
"You tell me the price" Marcus remained composed and said apathetically.
"Its weight is 5 carat, and blue gem is rare, from which beast do you get it, if you say an SS-grade beast I would believe you, Sir, I will buy it for 6 million Yuan, what do you say"
Wang Bao couldn't contain his excitement anymore, he looked anxious all of a sudden but Marcus kept looking at him apathetically.
Marcus had guessed the situation; Wang Bao was thinking maybe he wouldn't sell. 'I will have to use this to my advantage. I knew the gem would still be worth more than that.'
"6 million, Sir? I didn't know it was so cheap like that. Perhaps I should gift it to my friend," Marcus said, then looked up as if thinking, whereas he was brimming with excitement deep down.
"What of 8 million, Sir, you wouldn't find a better deal"
Wang Bao composed himself as if to fake Marcus but he had already exposed himself the moment Marcus saw his greedy gaze.
'I can still keep the price going,' Marcus thought mischievously. He pocketed the gene core, and his gaze fell on the purple gene core Wang Bao held.
"What about 14 million?"
Wang Bao jumped back in terror when Marcus mentioned that amount of money. He shook his head.
"Don't waste the opportunity I'm giving you. You wouldn't find a better price. Okay, I will make it 10 million."
This made Marcus ascertain his guess that this gene core was worth more. Wang Bao was already mentioning more than twice the price Mei Ling had initially suggested.
[Purple gene core is from SS-grade beast spider!]
The system sounded in Marcus's head.
'What does that mean now?' Marcus looked at the purple gene core in Wang Bao's hand and wondered.
[Skill: capable of producing elastic steel silk that could ensnare opponents. The elastic steel silk is so sharp that with one disturbance from the beast, it would slice opponents into pieces when in contact with them, even through the host's armor body. The host will need to increase armor grade to be immune to the attack, and it's so thin that opponents would need to be at least five times more perceptive than an average human to see it.]
'Whoa!, an elastic steel silk that can slice through my grade 5 tungsten armor body, hmmm'
Normally, tungsten is stronger so steel shouldn't be able to do any damage, but Marcus wondered if it was because the elastic steel silk grade was higher.
Marcus eyed the purple gene core, Wang Bao noticed and his eyes twinkled.
"Do you trade gems?"
Marcus asked.