Zion woke early the next morning, his body aching more clearly than the day before, even as his mind felt refreshed.
"Nothing happened yet," he muttered, sitting up.
He'd half expected the motel staff to be shady and attempt to plunder his loot because of the bad feeling.
'What is it then?' he wondered, frowning as he swung his legs over the side of his bed.
After ripping out the charging cable and tossing it aside, he stood up to put on the fresh clothes he'd bought.
"How much did we recover, by the way?" he asked as he pulled up his pants.
[Current energy levels are at 96%,] Uriel replied.
Zion nodded slowly. "Good enough."
"Please set up the route to the black market then," he continued, picking up his bundle of weapons. "Also, add a stopover to get some food on the way."
[Affirmative.]
Zion slung the bundle over his shoulders and took one last glance around the room, making sure he wasn't forgetting anything.
Then, he turned around and quietly left the motel.
As he stepped out onto the streets, he could see that life had already started for many more people, as the streets were far more crowded than they were the night before.
[Projecting map now,] Uriel's voice echoed softly through his mind.
"Thanks," he said, immediately following the red line projected on the map.
He stopped at a small food stall along the way and quickly bought something to eat. It wasn't anything special, but it filled his stomach enough.
After that, he continued on his way.
The projected route led him away from the main streets and into quieter, narrower paths once again. As the number of people around him slowly decreased, Zion could finally tell that this was different from the slums he'd been in at the start.
'Mercenaries,' he thought, carefully glancing around. 'Thanks for reminding me to wear a mask, Uriel.'
Everyone he passed kept their face and weapons covered, yet several of them gave off the same kind of pressure he'd felt when he first encountered the Blue Mane mercenaries.
"What's the average rank of the people here?" he asked, making sure not to keep his eyes on anyone for too long.
[D-rank,] Uriel responded calmly. [Though there are also a few C-ranks in the vicinity.]
Zion nodded once, deciding it was smarter to keep his eyes forward.
Further down the path, small stalls started showing up, each with countless different items on them.
'It really is interesting,' he thought, quickly glancing over some herbs and metallic materials.
[Host needs to go slightly further,] Uriel said. [That's where real shops belonging to organizations are.]
Zion followed the route a little further, the makeshift stalls slowly giving way to shops inside buildings, just like Uriel mentioned.
Slowing his pace, he scanned the area for anything that stood out. Finally, a sign with Black Crow Union attracted his attention.
"That's it, right?" he muttered under his breath.
[Correct,] Uriel replied. [The Black Crow Union has a reputation for handing out the fairest prizes and giving the safest trading experiences.]
Zion adjusted the bundle on his shoulder and stepped forward, disappearing between several other masked people.
He walked through a tight, dark space for a few seconds before reaching a broad room with countless weapons, armor, and rare utility items displayed on stands and hung on the walls.
'Wow,' he thought, eyes widening as he walked further in. 'This shop even has an AI-guided Smart Sniper?'
It was notorious for being able to predict enemy movements, its homing effect ensuring a hit regardless of where the enemy hid.
But a peak C-rank weapon like that was casually being displayed here?
'This union has some real power behind it.'
Zion took a slow breath and forced his attention away from the displays as he remembered what he came here for.
He scanned the room again, this time searching for the person in charge among all the people and items.
It didn't take long.
Near the back of the room, behind a reinforced counter, sat a small man with a hunched back and one eye covered by a dark mechanical patch. His remaining eye immediately locked onto Zion, sending shivers down his spine.
[Host, that person has reached the limit of his suit,] Uriel said slowly. [His nanosuit is at the peak of C-rank, but his actual combat abilities should be far above that.]
Zion didn't respond, already walking up to the counter while processing the information.
He stopped in front of the counter and lowered the bundle onto it with a soft thud.
"I'm here to sell," he said simply.
The one-eyed man glanced at the bundle, a glint of interest flashing past his face.
"That's possible," he said, his voice rough and his smile crooked. "Let's go to the back."
Zion gave a nod, picking up the bundle and following after the small man.
'Uriel, watch my back for me,' he thought, creeped out by the goblin-like person he was dealing with.
[Of course, host.]
They stepped through a door beside the counter, and the noise from the shop vanished instantly.
"Open up the bag there," the man said with a crooked smile as he pointed at a table in the center of the room.
"Alright," Zion responded, his eyes occasionally glancing at the small man as he spread out the weapons on the table.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
The one-eyed man leaned closer to the table, his single eye scanning the weapons with deep focus.
He picked one up, weighed it in his hand, then set it down again. Another followed, then another, each handled in the same manner.
Finally, he straightened slightly.
"These will sell," he said. "Not at full market value, of course."
Zion's eyes narrowed just a little, but he didn't interrupt.
"I'll offer you eighty percent for the rifles," the man continued casually. "And seventy for the handguns, as they are harder to sell."
Zion studied him for a moment, then nodded once. "That works."
A thin smile appeared at the corner of the man's mouth.
"Good," he said. "I prefer dealing with people who understand how this works."
He paused, then added, almost as an afterthought, "though I didn't expect to see you here a day after the Blue Mane Crew massacre."