In the asteroid belt, there's an asteroid called Lanyun, which is quite similar to the Iron Shavings Star Body in size and environment.

The difference is that Lanyun's atmosphere is a bit more normal than the Iron Shavings' gases, with mild radiation but non-toxic.

This star body belongs to Pudding Mining, which had mined it for a while before sealing it up.

Since there are minerals, somebody must stay behind to prevent theft, and there cannot be too few, otherwise security becomes an issue.

However, without mining, there is no output, leading to only expenses and no income, making the guards quite bored.

Later, when starships occasionally stopped by to replenish gases, the guards thought they might as well start a marketplace here.

After reporting to Pudding Mining, the group agreed to try it out—after all, it was an open-source endeavor.

Trading in the vastness of space carries considerable uncertainty, but with the backing of Pudding Mining, safety was generally assured.

The trading parties at the market eke out a living in the asteroid belt, including professional brokers and the like.

As for security, it is handled by personnel from Pudding; they do not inquire about the transactions, merely collecting a management fee.

Therefore, the goods traded here often involve contraband, with no taxes paid to the empire, making it somewhat of an underground black market.

On this day, an armed merchant ship appeared above the atmosphere, requesting permission to land.

Security personnel enlarged the image, instinctively quipping, "Damn, what kind of junk is this?"

The armed merchant ship had an odd design, patched up here and there, with broken pipes and a breached bridge.

In such a pitiful state, it's hard to believe the ship wouldn't disintegrate at any moment.

However, a visitor is still a guest, and when the other side asked to land, the guard straightforwardly asked, "You know the rules?"

"I do," the response was even more straightforward.

The guard casually assigned a docking point, and in the next moment, the armed merchant ship slowly landed.

Watching the metal sheets on the ship flapping in the wind, the guard couldn't help but shake his head again, "Unbelievable."

Immediately, a mecha rushed over to the ship and stopped nearby, "Ten thousand entry fee."

The market opens every ten days; the ten thousand entry fee allows for a ten-day stay, with half a day for free gas collection.

This is a perk the market provides to customers, but exceeding half a day would incur charges.

There is a large gas pocket here, but it's not inexhaustible, so setting a limit is necessary.

The merchant ship's mechanical arm slowly extended, clutching an alloy box, "Here."

Seeing the sleek and shiny mechanical arm, the mecha pilot couldn't help but sneer, thinking this definitely wasn't up to any good.

It's probable all those patches are a disguise; anyone who thinks this merchant ship is weak and tries to take advantage might end up with a bloody nose.

After taking the box, the mecha pilot felt its weight and was surprised, "Silver coins?"

Qu Jianlei responded, "Didn't say silver coins weren't acceptable, right?"

The market accepts entry fees in hard currency like Silver Notes, Energy Blocks, and Gold, as long as it's equivalent, so silver coins are naturally fine too.

He couldn't pay with Energy Blocks, nor did he want to pay with Silver Notes—mainly because he didn't want to leave the cabin, and he needed to spend all those silver coins somehow.

The mecha pilot said nothing more and turned away.

The small lake started the gas collection and then asked Qu Jianlei, "Not planning to go out for a stroll?"

"Forget it," Qu Jianlei didn't like interacting with people and didn't want anyone to discover that there's only himself on the warship anyway.

After all, the market's rules didn't require the crew to leave the cabin to complete transactions.

Otherwise, the mecha just now would have had the authority to demand he come out to pay the entry fee.

He then tried connecting to the market's network and surprisingly succeeded.

The unified market trading was to occur four days later; browsing the network, he realized there was even an online trading platform here.

There were requests to purchase and offers to sell, but none had explicit pricing, merely the expression of demand.

"There are actually online deals happening here?" The Big Head Butterfly twirled with excitement, "I'll check their transaction prices."

Qu Jianlei wasn't very sensitive to price and was never good at haggling.

But Small Lake was habitually stingy, which is a trait of artificial intelligence, carefully handling matters within set limits.

Of course, Qu Jianlei didn't oppose it doing so; being taken advantage of never feels good anyway.

The historical transaction prices couldn't be found on the trading platform, but that wasn't a problem for artificial intelligence.

However, soon after, Small Lake discovered something else.

"For online transactions, the market takes care of delivery and payment collection, but charges a ten percent management fee." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

However, if you only state your need on the platform, the market won't charge any fees.

The Big Head Butterfly found this a bit puzzling, "Then everyone will do offline transactions, who would want to pay extra?"

"It's probably not what you think," Qu Jianlei discerned a bit of the idea.

"With an online transaction, the market is responsible for delivery, thus guaranteeing the transaction."

He wasn't opposed to such additional charges; enjoying convenience should come with paying a reasonable fee.

If conditions allowed, he would also be willing to pay the extra ten percent, as it would save a lot of potential trouble.

But the money-grubber Xiao Hu couldn't accept it, "Is Pudding Mining really credible? They don't take action because the profit is too low."

That does make sense, Qu Jianlei nodded, "Then let's publish our demands."

He had quite a few needs: shipboard weapon systems, ammunition, raw materials, computing units, and Energy Blocks.

Qu Jianlei didn't specify whether the transaction should be online or offline, only indicating that he wanted the items to be thoroughly discussed.

Thorough discussions likely mean offline transactions, but that's not really what he was implying.

The main reason was that the items he needed couldn't be clearly listed, he didn't want others to guess his plans.

Although it's not the time for the big market now, as long as both buyers and sellers are at the market, sporadic transactions can occur.

The market management discovered his transaction request immediately.

They needed to review the transaction content to prevent requests like "seeking to assassinate a certain Supreme."

Even though this isn't a formal market, some excessive demands can't blatantly appear on trading platforms.

Otherwise, what would happen if the Supreme being offered a bounty for assassination came knocking for an explanation?

Private discussions wouldn't be interfered with by the market, but they absolutely can't be public.

Additionally, the management would also participate in transactions; some things people need, Pudding can directly provide, why not earn money if they can?

But seeing the number "8384," someone snorted, "That pile of junk, can it afford so much stuff?"

"It's not as you think," a certain Mecha Pilot retorted, "that's a cunning guy..."

When he described the mechanical arm's "smooth and polished" condition, his colleagues all understood immediately.

"This type of guy is a troublemaker; besides asking about raw materials, we shouldn't participate in other transactions."

While these few were talking, unfortunately, there was a voice recorder nearby.

Supposedly, this was a market device, for internal use only, but who could have thought that an AI had sneaked in?

Hearing the evaluation, Qu Jianlei could only give a wry smile, "Xiao Hu, see what your good work has led to."

For that junk-like appearance, he had already nagged Xiao Hu several times: Do we really need to be this ostentatious?

But Big Head Butterfly argued confidently, "This way it can better disguise our true appearance, mislead the other party's perception immediately."

The logic is sound, but it just doesn't feel right—does it mean I'm stuck with the junk-like entanglement?

After a while, an armored vehicle indeed came by, not hiding its origins at all, with Pudding's logo emblazoned on it.

"8384, what raw materials are you purchasing?"

The mechanical arm extended out again, with a screen listing seventy-eight types of materials, both alloys and non-metals.

Pudding Mining didn't take on the whole list, only selecting some metals and alloys.

The mining company only traded what they had in stock, ignoring items they didn't have.

The transaction amount this time wasn't large, about two hundred thousand, and Qu Jianlei still opted for silver coins.

The transaction was completed without the two sides even meeting, and as for the Energy Blocks, neither side mentioned them.

The market definitely wasn't short of Energy Blocks, but transporting them incurs costs.

The key issue was that they believed the other party seemed abnormal, so they abandoned even certain items that could have been traded.

Naturally, Pudding wasn't afraid of trouble, yet, nobody likes hassle.

The returning armored vehicle even mentioned, "All of the two hundred thousand is silver coins, did this guy rob a Star Thief?"

Of course, the latter sentence was purely banter, as very few starships carry large amounts of silver coins on board.

However, it did indicate that this junk merchant ship was a potential risk—who carries so many silver coins if they're legitimate?

In fact, it wasn't just the market management that was observing this transaction.

Upon finding out the transaction was successful, others came over one after another attempting to inquire about his needs.

To be honest, the look of Qu Jianlei's merchant ship was way too eye-catching.

Xiao Hu was right, it did divert others' attention, but looking so unique didn't give a good impression.

It's just because there was a successful deal that more people were willing to approach.

Qu Jianlei received several batches of people, sensing plenty of intermediaries among them; some even boldly claimed they could supply all the goods.

He refused without hesitation, stating that the seller could only choose one type, then negotiate the specific categories.

Anyway, it was still early from the big market; reportedly, many more people would arrive then.

However, there was indeed someone with strong intent, claiming they could provide various ammunitions.

Ammunition is hard currency in space, though prices can fluctuate somewhat.

The seller mentioned they had quite a lot of ammunition, intending to sell some before the big market for good luck, increasing the price by only thirty percent.

Qu Jianlei thought that a price increase of thirty percent was not high; when in space, there's no harm in stockpiling more ammunition.

But the penny-pincher Xiao Hu wouldn't agree, expressing fiercely.

"For stuff like ammunition, do we really need to spend so much money? Destroy a few Armed Merchant Ships, and won't we have it?"

(Updated to this point, calling for monthly tickets, subscriptions, and recommendation tickets.)