"I won fifty thousand." Ling Ling looked down at her hands, which were trembling slightly with excitement as she clutched the digital credits.
Tank gave a thumbs up, his large hand casting a shadow over the metal table. "Looks like we have got to regrade your Xiao Dou's combat rating. At least a B now."
Everyone suddenly had a fresh opinion of Xiao Dou's fighting power. They finally realized Jing Shu wasn't joking about the battle hen when they were back on the plane. Most of the crew walked away with extra cash in their pockets. The ones who trusted Jing Shu and put their money on the line were grinning from ear to ear; it was basically found money for them.
The market scene was pure chaos, however. The air was thick with the smell of sweat and the sound of angry losers. Jing Shu saw a few people pulling guns from their waistbands like they meant to aim at Xiao Dou, so she didn't linger in the open. She cashed out nearly three hundred thousand in black market currency and slipped away into the shadows with the others.
Back at the rental house, Jing Shu geared up with a stiff bulletproof vest and a heavy helmet. Even Xiao Dou seemed to sense the lingering danger and clambered into its little steel cap with a sharp clink. When Xiao Dou strutted around the concrete floor with its prize in its beak, Jing Shu swore the bird looked a size bigger. There was just something off about the hen when she glanced over, but when she looked closer, nothing was different.
Whatever the case was, she didn't care.
They came back with a whole ground of bloody carcasses: leopards, wolves, eagles, wild boars, and so on. Tank and the others were utterly jealous of the haul.
The Snake Spirit, for once serious as he watched the pile, told Jing Shu, "I want to trade contribution points for some viper meat. Probably about half the pile."
Jing Shu looked at the massive heap of meat. They weren't short on food lately. She nodded slowly. "Name your price."
"Five hundred contribution points. How is that?"
"Deal."
Her medicine was precious and only worth a hundred contribution points per dose; the snake meat still wasn't as valuable as her drug. Besides, contribution points were genuinely useful for the trip home. Tank said five hundred points would let you bring a lot of heavy stuff back home to China.
Unconsciously, Jing Shu collected another batch of contribution points. She felt like she could legitimately haul more supplies home now that her account was growing.
Because Jing Shu hit the black market jackpot that day, the whole place blew up with rumors. People hated that chicken. They swore that if they saw it again, they would kill it by any means and roast it for their own dinner. To lay low for a bit, the team rested for a full day, but Jing Shu didn't slack off in the kitchen. They roughly processed all the animal pelts to take home for further work once they were back in China.
They made a pungent snake stew with the viper meat and braised the wolf meat into a rich, dark stew. They turned the pork into cured meat for the long road ahead and dried the beef, tearing it by hand into strips. There was a simple scallion and ginger crocodile dish and the eagle and rabbit stew that Jing Shu hunted down specifically to make.
She roasted the last of the leopard meat over the portable stove. She brushed it with golden oil, sprinkled it with aromatic cumin, and roasted it to a crisp glaze before tossing on a handful of sesame seeds. Tearing the hot meat by hand and dipping it in the fresh green onions Jing Shu grew had her teammates questioning their lives from how hungry they were.
But none of that was the point. The real question was how Jing Shu ended up with such a complete set of seasonings on a post-apocalyptic mission abroad. God, who did they piss off to deserve this kind of torture?
Of course, not everything could be eaten. For example, there was the giant lizard Jing Shu processed to bring home as medicinal ingredients. As for the real hero of the day, they didn't forget Xiao Dou. Even though the hen gobbled up all sorts of gross things, its digestive system had long since taken care of the worst of it. That day, the eggs Xiao Dou laid were traded to the Snake Spirit to feed his snakes.
The next day, Xiao Hei hired the same pickup truck from last time. They started converting the black market currency in batches, small amounts at a time, into rice, grains, and materials more common here in America. They loaded everything onto the truck and drove it down to the docks. Compared to China, where people were too poor to even afford red nematode patties, every small town in America had this abundant supply of grain. The team couldn't help feeling envious of the resources.
Maybe because of their massive purchases, the third day saw black market prices jump ten percent. That didn't stop them. Over three days, they converted all the black market currency into tangible goods. You couldn't deny that hundreds of thousands in black market credits still bought a lot of weight. At least all that cash went into their personal stash rather than mission supplies, which kept the group's morale high. After all, why did these people risk coming to America in the apocalypse? They were here to grab as many resources as they could.
Trouble still came. The black market announced that due to an emergency, they would pick one of the seven top teams to promote to an S-tier mercenary crew. That team would then be sent on a secret mission with huge rewards. The black market was conscripting people; anyone rated A had to compete. Jing Shu felt the malice in the air as clear as day.
"Based on Xiao Hei's intel, this is targeting us. We won a ton of black market credits, then started converting them the next day. I think this promotion is fake. The real goal is to publicly get rid of us." Jing Shu spoke as she checked her gear.
"No, Goat's intel says something really did happen. Maybe those nobles actually have something urgent to handle. That's why they're rushing to pick the strongest team available." Tank countered the thought.
"Then we will play their game." Jing Shu said.
Their plan got thrown off early. Jing Shu didn't know if it was because of her, but at that point, it didn't matter. Tank's jinx came true. The match that day was a massive battle royale with dozens of people. The map had been reworked into a larger, more lethal terrain. The goal this time was simple: win the chicken, get the victory, and become the black market's only S-tier mercenary team. Of course, the other teams had an extra objective: kill the Asian team first.
With every mercenary out to get Jing Shu's squad, no one could be careless. Everyone pulled out all the stops. Luckily, they didn't split up, so there were no embarrassing moments like the Snake Spirit getting lost or Tank falling into a pit.
The host sounded wistful as he spoke into the microphone. Black market money wasn't easy to take, but he said what had to be said. The crowd cheered for blood. The nobles started placing their bets from the stage, and they were especially focused on the Asian wizard team.
In the nobles' section, the atmosphere was tense.
"Sister Peggy, what are you planning? You dragged these Asian people into this. Our plan can't afford any mistakes!" George frowned as he demanded an answer of Peggy.
Peggy sipped her wine and smiled, her eyes reflecting the arena lights. "They won't survive this round. Even if they make it and become the black market's only S team, they will be forced to fight in a life-or-death match in the city center for us. If they win, we get out of here. If they lose, there's nothing left for them. This trade benefits us; we won't lose."
"All right, keep an eye on them. Those Chinese people came here with bad intentions. I think they want our supplies."
"They're joking if they think a few of them can pull that off. Don't worry, I have got everything under control."