Chapter 341: Forced Selling
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Who knew Vikram’s reaction was faster than they imagined? As the arm was about to touch him, Vikram had already turned around.
He coldly looked down at the bald, middle-aged Survivor, who was a head shorter than him.
"Something wrong?"
The bald man’s expression froze; he truly hadn’t expected the other party to be so perceptive.
"Heh heh, little brother, are you looking for some good stuff in the Market? Why don’t you tell me, Drake? Although I only have a stall, the good things I have won’t be any less than those with shops."
The stall owner, who called himself Drake, withdrew the arm he had intended to put on Vikram’s shoulder and instead rubbed his smooth head as he spoke.
"Oh?"
He had, of course, heard the Survivors behind him pointing fingers at Drake, which meant this man was not a good person.
However, since this man claimed to have good items, Vikram didn’t mind taking a look.
"Then show me."
Vikram followed him for a good dozen meters before arriving. The bald man’s stall was very close to the high-end item shop that the previous stall owner had mentioned.
"It seems he’s really targeting me."
Leaving his stall so far to greet him clearly indicated ulterior motives, and Vikram immediately became wary.
"Little brother, we’ve arrived. Take a look, do the things at my stall suit your taste?"
Vikram wasn’t in a hurry and scanned his stall, but quickly lost interest.
The items were indeed better than those at the few stalls he had seen upon entering the Market, but only just.
Most were items crafted from blueprints, like alloy weapons and compound bows.
There were still plenty of broken metal pieces used to fill up space.
He had long since stopped caring for such things; there was a large pile of them in his territory with no use, so he had no interest whatsoever.
Noticing Vikram’s expression, Drake wasn’t annoyed, "What, nothing here catches your eye, little brother?"
"That’s alright, I, Drake, still have some hidden treasures. I guarantee you’ll like them. Want to see?"
Vikram didn’t speak, wanting to see what tricks this man was up to.
Sure enough, Vikram didn’t even need to answer. The next second, the other party pulled out his ’hidden treasures’ from his backpack and displayed them in front of Vikram.
To his surprise, what he pulled out this time was a spherical orb.
Vikram’s gaze sharpened.
Having already obtained several types of precious orbs, Vikram was now very sensitive to such spherical items.
He subconsciously summoned the system to scan it.
However, the result greatly disappointed him. It looked quite impressive, but it was just an empty shell.
"Little brother, this item is a precious orb with special abilities. How about it, little brother, are you interested now?"
"I’m telling you, I don’t show these good items to just anyone. Today, I’m showing it to you because I feel a connection with you, little brother."
"Don’t worry, even though it’s good, it’s not expensive. Twenty mutated crystals are enough."
As Drake spoke, the corners of his mouth unconsciously curved upwards slightly.
After handing the precious orb and the wooden box containing it to Vikram, he immediately extended his right hand.
His demeanor clearly indicated that he intended to force the sale without waiting for Vikram to agree to buy.
Vikram had long known this man had ill intentions, so he wasn’t surprised but rather relieved to see this.
However, the four women beside him frowned deeply.
"Boss, you haven’t even clearly explained what this item does, and you want to sell it to us?"
"Also, did we say we wanted to buy it? You’re already holding out your hand for money?"
The bald Drake heard this and didn’t immediately lose his temper. Instead, he calmly said, "Ladies, I am currently making a transaction with this little brother, not with you. If you also want something, I’ll have good items later. For now, please don’t delay our little brother from paying, alright?"
After speaking, Drake whistled towards another stall behind his, and immediately five people came forward to his stall.
"Another job?"
"Not bad, Drake, you’re quick."
One of the Survivors scanned Vikram and his companions with a scrutinizing gaze and continued, "Kid, you’ve seen the item. Do you know the rules here?"
"There’s no returning items once they’re in your hand. Either pay up today, or... use other things as collateral. Otherwise, don’t even think about leaving this Market today."
The Survivors who had temporarily come from the back stalls were clearly there to back him up. Before they even finished speaking, several Survivors had already surrounded Vikram and his four companions.
It strongly implied that if he didn’t pay for this useless orb, they wouldn’t let him leave.
As they were surrounded, the commotion here clearly attracted the attention of other Survivors in the Market.
At this time, they all came near the stall and began pointing fingers at Vikram and his group.
"Hehe, brothers, it’s lively today. A newcomer has been caught by Drake. We’ve got another show to watch."
"Ai, this kid is unlucky. Of all people to get scammed by, he just happened to run into this beast, Drake."
"I think even if this kid wastes money buying this trashy orb, it won’t be that easy for him to leave afterward."
"Tsk tsk tsk, these women with him have truly had eight lifetimes of bad luck. Of all places to go, they had to come to the Market of the White Fox Shelter to join the fun. I can already imagine what will happen to them later."
"Who’s to say it’s not true? Look at that kid, he hasn’t reacted at all and is still standing there, probably scared silly."
Vikram indeed made no moves at this moment, but it was certainly not because he was scared by such a small matter.
Instead, he was confirming something: he was waiting. Most of the Survivors in the Market had already noticed the situation here.
He wanted to know if the patrol team set up by the White Fox Shelter in the Market would actively intervene.
Or would they simply not bother to look twice, as long as no one was killed in the street?
"Little brother, just pay up honestly. I don’t think you’re a person who lacks these crystals. Paying early saves me time, doesn’t it?"
With his summoned helpers glaring, the seller, Drake, calmly advised Vikram.
One playing the good cop, one playing the bad cop, he clearly understood how to play the game.
Vikram smiled and casually closed the box, "Drake? Boss, that nickname certainly fits your temperament."
"It’s bad enough you look neither human nor dog, but you also like to do these immoral things. Aren’t you afraid someone will come to deal with you?"
Drake’s face showed some discomfort upon hearing this, but he still forced a smile and said, "That’s not for little brother to worry about. Little brother just needs to figure out how to pay up obediently today."
"Otherwise, little brother will soon learn why they all call me Drake."
Vikram scoffed. Seeing that the patrol team had clearly approached but still made no substantial moves, he immediately understood.
"Alright then, I’ll buy this item."
As soon as Vikram finished speaking, a chorus of jeers erupted from the crowd behind him. "Putting on airs, dressed so well, and I thought he was so tough. He got ripped off but still acts so self-righteous."
"What a waste of those beautiful women who followed him all this way. Later, after that kid Drake is done, I’m definitely going to try and hit on a few of them."
"Good point, I’m going to try too. Anyway, this kid is just a coward, he’s nothing."
"Heh heh, it’s naturally best if the young man is willing to pay; it also keeps the peace between us." Drake grinned, his hand reaching out further for the money, almost directly reaching into Vikram’s pocket to take it himself.
He thought Vikram had compromised and he was about to make a big profit again today, but the next second, his hand was pushed away by Vikram.
"Hey, boss, you won’t be short on crystals. Before that, I want to ask a question."
"If you answer me truthfully, I’ll give you the crystals right now."
Thinking it wouldn’t take long, Drake nodded slightly, "Young man, speak. I will tell you everything I know."
"It’s not a strange question. I just want to confirm with you all: once an item is in hand, it truly cannot be returned and can only be paid for, right?"
On the other side, Drake’s helper thought Vikram wanted to back out and immediately said, "Nonsense! The item is already in your hand. Who knows if you swapped it? So you can only pay."
"That’s right, young man. This is the rule of this Market, and it’s not because I, Drake, am unkind and want to trick you out of your money."
The bald seller in front of them said, stroking the short beard on his chin, feigning honesty.
"Is that so?"
Vikram seemed to have thought of something and chuckled.
This scene, seen by others, naturally led them to believe that Vikram had been driven mad and was starting to laugh uncontrollably.
After all, what Drake was swindling today wasn’t just a small sum of money; it was 20 mutated crystals.
Even in the White Fox Shelter, with its large population, the number of mutated crystals in its warehouse wouldn’t be excessive.
Demanding such a large sum from an unknown young man was essentially an attempt to make him unable to pay, so that he would have to use other things as collateral, such as the women behind him.
Just as the onlookers thought the young man opposite Drake could only suffer in silence and hand over everything, including the women, to Drake, a dull thud, "bang," erupted from the crowd.
This was followed by Drake’s heartbreaking scream, "Ah!!!"
The scream instantly drew the attention of the onlookers.
Shifting their gaze back to Drake, they found him lying on the ground, his face a bloody mess, bleeding profusely.
His entire nose bridge, including half of his face, was deeply caved in, and several of his yellow teeth had fallen out.
Gone was his previous smug look; he lay sprawled on the ground in a pathetic state, looking exactly like a dead dog.
Next to him was a wooden box, and, as expected, the blood flowing on the box should have been Drake’s.
"What are you doing? Do you have a death wish?"
Upon seeing this, the helpers Drake had called immediately surrounded Vikram, intending to avenge Drake.
"Hey, hey, hey, don’t make a move! This is just a normal transaction. It’s just that your Drake didn’t receive my goods properly, which is why he ended up like this."
The few who were about to act froze for a moment upon hearing this, then their eyes flashed with intense killing intent as they said, "You’re full of shit! You clearly smashed Drake’s face with a wooden box! How is this a transaction?"
"I don’t care about that. Anyway, you’re the ones who said that once the item is in the buyer’s hands, payment must be made. Now this box has Drake’s blood on it, and it’s useless for you to deny it."
"Let me tell you, I bought this item at a high price, worth 20 mutated crystals. Your Drake took my item and also stained it, so this money must be paid."
"Let me think..."
"Hmm... I won’t ask for much. Just compensate me with 21 mutated crystals. You are with him, and he’s incapacitated now, so you should pay. Hurry up."
After Vikram finished speaking, he mimicked Drake’s earlier gesture, extending his right hand in a demanding pose.
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