"There are many commodities traded in the black market. Knives and firearms are frequent visitors. Objects with extraordinary power - rare objects occasionally appear, but they are all hot-selling items. The ones that no one cares about are either too unsophisticated or the asking price is too high.
It’s higher than what it’s worth. You have to keep your eyes open on the black market, there’s no notary office here to help you verify prices.”
"Currently there are three underground markets in Caspars, one each in the Sword District, Gun District and Shield District. Although the Sword District is the most prosperous, it is not as large as the Shield District and Gun District in terms of the size of the black market. After all, the security there is better.
Bad, the black market has more room for development."
It was noon, the sun was shining brightly, and all kinds of shops were open on both sides of the road. Gentlemen and ladies in Jian District, dressed in high-end clothes, holding canes and parasols, strolled along the streets, and from time to time they entered stores visited by messengers.
Check out the merchandise, or sit down and have a meal.
Wayne walked in front, holding a brown paper bag in his hand, which contained a lot of fries dipped in ketchup. This was the lunch he bought, but Leon did not intend to just eat fries at noon, so he chose
Unpretentious sandwich-like food that you can eat and follow.
"Is this where the underground market is?"
Liang looked at the block in front of him and felt a little ridiculous. This was clearly a commercial street that was the same as in his previous life.
"Yes, the black market exists in the commercial street. Isn't it strange?"
Wein asked in return. Wein was startled, and then he laughed dumbly.
As a commercial street with complete facilities and mature management, I don’t know how many people come and go in this area every day. Everyone here is a trader, but some people trade in the open and some people trade in secret. After buying
Or after selling the items, you walk into the crowd without making any splash.
"Follow me. Even though there are many shops here, there are only a few entrances to the black market."
In front of a restaurant, Wein raised his chin: "Pay attention, there is a sign on the sign of this store."
Liang squinted his eyes and looked at it a few times, and saw that there were a few shallow scratches on the corners of the wooden signboard, which formed together like a distorted...
"...chicken feet?"
Wei Yin raised his eyebrows and said: "This is the common symbol of black markets everywhere - 'Black Hand'."
"Oh! There are also universal signs on the black market?"
"It's a kind of consensus. I don't know who came up with it first, and others imitated it, and eventually it became a habit."
"Wouldn't it be discovered soon?"
"That's not the case. Only people who have been to the black market will notice these signs. As for whether it will attract the attention of the Suppression Bureau, I have already said it."
Liang nodded: "Yes."
The black market needs to be wary of the government the most. However, in this world, the government closely monitors the black market, so the black market naturally does not have to be careful to avoid paying attention.
Rather, as one of the supporters behind the black market, the Suppression Bureau hopes that more criminals will be attracted to the black market and "throw themselves into the trap."
Entering this store, the interior decoration is not as good as the place where the two of them dined yesterday, but it is not bad either. The waiter, with a white napkin hanging on his arm, bowed politely and asked: "What do you two guests need?"
Wei Yin took a slight step forward and said, "We want a private room on the third floor."
The waiter's expression remained unchanged: "Sorry, sir, we don't have private rooms on the third floor. Can we have a private room with a window on the second floor?"
"Okay, try to stay as close as possible."
"clear."
The waiter led the two of them up the stairs and into the second floor. The second floor was similar to the restaurant in the previous life. As far as the eye could see, there was a corridor with doors opening on both sides of the corridor.
The three of them walked through the corridor and reached the end. There was a fork in the road. They turned right and the waiter opened the door of the "utility room" at hand. Inside was a staircase going down.
"5 shillings per person." The waiter stretched out his hand.
Vein readily took out a half-pound gold coin and put it into the waiter's hand: "The price has increased? It used to be 3 shillings."
"This is what the middleman means."
When Leon and Wein entered the dimly lit "utility room", the waiter closed the door, and Leon looked at Wein: "You have to pay to enter the black market, and what is the middleman?"
"Of course you have to pay money to enter the black market, which is considered an admission fee. And the middlemen are the people in charge of the black market. They guarantee some 'honest traders' in the black market, collect rent from the shops, maintain the basic order of the black market, and also do other things.
Some intelligence transactions and liaisons with the bosses behind the scenes are also handled by middlemen," Wein said. "Every black market has a middleman. Try not to offend them. They have connections in the government and gangs. It is still easy to kill an unknown person.
of."
"It fits my imagination of a black market boss..."
Go all the way down the stairs, probably to the 5th or 6th floor underground, and there appears a room with an iron door at the end of the room.
"This is the preparation room. People who enter the black market from the restaurant cannot disguise themselves in advance. If they dress themselves up on the stairs, they will easily fall into dung balls of beetles. Therefore, a small room will be left here for people to put on pre-prepared disguises.
.”
"We didn't bring any disguise?" Liang saw that the two of them were traveling lightly, and Wein didn't bring any bags.
"Here, I have my disguise in my hand."
Wayne licked his hands clean, and then put the greasy paper bag with ketchup inside over his head, and dug two holes for his eyes.
What kind of operation is it to be beaten on sight?
"I guess you want to say, you don't have a paper bag? This is what happens if you refuse to choose the god of chips like me. Pagan, repent for your stupidity."
"...Who taught you to say that, the Church of Order?"
What Leon bought was a sandwich, wrapped in paper, and the paper didn't matter whether he could take it with him or not. Now it has been thrown into the garbage heap of history by Leon.
"As a detective, it's impossible not to anticipate possible situations." Wein took out the suspicious black strip containing the item from the inner lining, "Just put it on, it won't be a hassle."
"This is..." Liang took it with a twitching face, "Black stockings?"
Yes, the disguise that Vin handed over was the kidnapper’s favorite and most unpretentious disguise prop in the TV series - black stockings with holes!
"No one has worn it, so feel free to wear it." Wein, who was carrying a paper bag of French fries, tilted his head, "Or do you prefer the original flavor?"
"Go away!"
With all the reluctance, Leon finally put on the black silk hood in humiliation.
I have to say, it's a little bit sexy.
The two people in the preparation room, one with a French fry bag on his head, the other wearing a black stocking hood, have a mixed temperament that swings back and forth between a robber and a psychopath.
"I smell French fries on you."
"This is also a means of camouflage, using the smell of French fries to disrupt other people's tracking of the smell."
"...But once you leave the black market, won't others know it's you as soon as they smell the French fries?"
"This is simple." Wein touched the lining again, "I brought perfume."
"Are you serious? You can't cover it up!"
Imagine that the fragrance of perfume is mixed with the greasy smell of French fries, Leon's whole body feels bad.
"Calm down and be mentally prepared to enter the black market for the first time."
Wein walked to the iron door and turned the somewhat stuck door handle. With a slight friction sound, the iron door opened, and the scene in the black market came into view.
It looked like a sewer in front of me, but it was much wider than the sewer in his previous life (Leon went in curiously to see it in the past). Small street lights were set up at regular intervals to illuminate the entire site. The sewer originally ran through the sewage river.
It has long since dried up. There are various stalls on both sides of the platform and in the middle river. Some are street stalls, some put goods on tables, and some are small tents of different sizes. The walls on both sides have the same iron gates as those around them.
, thinking about other entrances on the ground.
Guests in different costumes came and went. Some of them wore masks, some wore paint, some wore cloaks of various colors, and some were not disguised, showing their true faces openly.
"The total number of shops is no less than 80, of which there are more than 20 permanent shops, ensuring the diversity of goods." Wein closed the iron door.
Leon stared blankly for several seconds: "It's a bit like the flea market in my previous life."
"You also buy and sell fleas. It seems that the earth is more mysterious than I thought."
"No, no, flea market means used goods market, where people set up stalls and sell unwanted things."
"That seems to be very similar to the black market. Here, unless you cooperate with a middleman, you can have your own table, that is, a fixed stall, otherwise you can only set up street stalls. As for high-end merchants with better reputations and higher product value,
There are also independent tents for use.”
Wein pointed to the largest tent at the end of the black market: "You wait here, don't walk around casually, I'll go talk to the middleman."
"...Hmm." Why do you feel like you're being taken advantage of? "You don't need me to follow you?"
"No. The middleman is a very vigilant creature. If you bring strangers to visit them without saying hello, it will be a lot of trouble to communicate. And I can't guarantee that the middleman has not seen you."