Chapter 3058: The Perfect Choice!
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
"Manager Sun, bring out all the quality people you have. As long as they are capable, price is not an issue. I will take them all without exception!"
Lin Yuan could tell that Manager Sun wanted to curry favor with him, and he was willing to accept it. However, Manager Sun's motive for currying favor with him was actually to cooperate more with him in the future.
Lin Yuan's words might appear a little arrogant, but in reality, he was telling Manager Sun that he had plenty of resources. If Manager Sun had high-quality talents to offer, Lin Yuan was more than capable of affording them.
On the way here, Ding Tao had briefed Lin Yuan on the regulations of this talent market. It prohibited bargaining and offered no discounts regardless of the quantity purchased. All transactions were simple and had a fixed price policy.
Therefore, it would ultimately depend on the buyer's judgment to decide who to buy. However, generally, the prices set for all talents sold as commodities wouldn't be too unreasonable.
When selling talents as commodities, apart from ability, looks and some external performance also became criteria for measuring their value. This led to many good-looking commodities being heavily marked up.
Upon hearing Lin Yuan's rather arrogant remarks, Sun Youcai instinctively glanced toward Feng Qian and Ding Tao. If Lin Yuan had not been brought here by them, Sun Youcai would have chased him away long ago.
Sun Youcai came from a hidden faction and was not a native of Diverse City. He had collaborated with many factions in Diverse City to establish this talent market. He was even willing to negotiate with the City Lord Manor of Diverse City without hesitation, all for the sake of profit. However, many potential buyers were hesitant to purchase high-end talents due to their reluctance to pay the high prices set by Sun Youcai.
This talent market had operated for hundreds of thousands of years. Some high-end talents had died because they had not been able to sell them. Despite that, Sun Youcai was still unwilling to lower the price.
It was because Sun Youcai knew that once the precedent of lowering prices was set, it would become difficult to sell talents at high prices in the future. Moreover, his non-negotiable rules might be broken by the sale of high-end talents at a lower price.
If such a situation were to occur, not only would his reputation decline, but the customers who were previously rejected for bargaining would also feel offended.
Upon hearing Feng Qian and Ding Tao nod at him subtly to express their approval of Lin Yuan's words, the way Sun Youcai looked at Lin Yuan changed.
Sun Youcai listened to his subordinate's report and felt that if it weren't for the fact that Wan Ying, the person in charge of the Fortune Treasure Palace, had other matters to attend to, she would have personally welcomed this Young Master Lin as a guide.
However, judging from Feng Qian and Ding Tao's attitudes, the authenticity of their words was very high. What kind of person was this young man before him, that even someone like Wan Ying, responsible for overseeing the Fortune Treasure Palace within this mega city, felt compelled to please him?
Originally, Sun Youcai had many high-end talents that he had not prepared to take out, but now, Sun Youcai felt that there was a need to take out these talents. In any case, the price he set would not decrease. If the young man in front of him was unwilling to accept this price, he could just reject it. By presenting all the high-quality talents, Sun Youcai had also made his stance clear.
The VIP room of the talent market was located on the top floor. Along the way, Chu Ci restrained her original personality and frowned.
Chu Ci discovered that this talent market was, in fact, a place where various lifeforms were traded, all of them were priced here. She found it hard to accept this situation.
However, Chu Ci did not say much because she knew that this was a common occurrence in the Sky Beyond the Clouds. Otherwise, it would not have been rationalized in Diverse City, a mega city. There were so many large factions that were shareholders of this place.
In the main world, geniuses would often receive preferential treatment. For example, Lin Yuan had been taken in as a disciple by the Moon Empress because of his talent. However, in the Sky Beyond the Clouds, talent was not worth mentioning at all. Regardless of how talented an individual was, without the protection of a powerful faction, these so-called geniuses would most likely end up as commodities, bought and sold like slaves.
The rampaging star pirates did not make Chu Ci feel the cruelty of the Sky Beyond the Clouds, but upon arrival here, she fully experienced the harshness and indifference of the Sky Beyond the Clouds. Chu Ci could not help but clench her fists, rekindling her determination to quickly improve her strength.
Lin Yuan had seen much more than Chu Ci, and his mentality had long changed from when he was in the main world.
Among the talents sold here, a portion of them exuded an aura of despair, and there was no hope for the future and life in their eyes. Another portion was desperately trying to prove their worth, striving to prove their worth in the hopes of catching the eye of a buyer and gaining a new opportunity as a servant.
Compared to the former, the latter was undoubtedly more intelligent and more compatible with Lin Yuan's personal will. In Lin Yuan's opinion, as long as a person was alive, there would always be opportunities.
Sun Youcai followed Lin Yuan with a big belly and a smile on his face, "Young Master Lin, our hospitality here is definitely not comparable to Fortune Treasure Palace. After all, our functions here are different from Fortune Treasure Palace.
"If there's anything I can't do well, I hope you can forgive me. I wonder what kind of talent Young Master Lin wants to buy? Since you have mentioned bringing out all the good things, I won't hold back either. Even if you want Class 5 professionals, I can get them for you!
"However, I must make it clear in advance that once you've paid and I've handed over the person to you, the transaction is considered complete. If anything happens to the person in the subsequent transaction, even if they die as soon as they're in your hands, it will not be our responsibility."
Sun Youcai knew that Feng Qian and Ding Tao would tell Lin Yuan about the rules here, but this was his first time doing business with Lin Yuan and it was better to make some things clear in advance.
Lin Yuan smiled and said, "I need Spirit Craftsmen above Class 3. Since Mr. Sun doesn't intend to hold back, kindly bring all the Spirit Craftsmen above Class 3 here. I'll make my selection and buy anything that catches my eye as long as the price is reasonable."
Lin Yuan noticed Sun Youcai's displeased expression and guessed the reason. When conducting business, it was impossible for Sun Youcai to showcase all the goods in one go. Just like Lin Yuan had previously managed his fey store, each batch of showcased goods had both prime items and less desirable ones.
He would bring out a batch at a time, selling the prime items first, then the less desirable ones, and finally replenishing with new prime items. If all the goods were showcased at once, the prime items would be chosen and only the less desirable ones would remain for future sales. This would greatly affect the subsequent sale of the goods.
Lin Yuan ignored Sun Youcai's displeasure and had no intention of changing his words. Instead, he added lightly, "All the talents I bought today will be compensated with Grade 4 and above Creator resources as bargaining chips. Even if Mr. Sun puts all the outstanding talents in front of me and I choose them, you won't suffer a loss."
Since meeting Lin Yuan, Sun Youcai had been shocked multiple times. At this moment, he once again descended into a state of shock. What? Using Grade 4 Creator resources to exchange for these talents? How generous!
Sun Youcai could foresee how terrifying the faction that could spend Grade 4 Creators' resources casually was. He immediately put away all his dissatisfaction and bounced up and down excitedly like a big ball.
"With Young Master Lin's words, I am reassured. I'll go make the preparations right away. Apart from those Spirit Craftsmen, you are also free to select talents with different life professions, Young Master Lin!"
Sun Youcai mobilized his men and made arrangements. Soon, an attendant began leading in one lifeform after another, each with different appearances but all capable of assuming human or humanoid forms.
These people were all wearing black collars covered in golden patterns on their necks. The collars could be considered a kind of precious instrument, forged by Creators. It had an extremely humiliating name and was called the Captivity Ring.
When hunting star pirates, each star pirate group would usually have some captives in their hands. When these star pirates targeted other factions or species, they would sell the outstanding talents of these factions as resources.
Once the Captivity Ring was put on, as long as the wearer activated the energy in their body to a certain extent, the Captivity Ring would shrink and a blade would spin out from the inside.
The fact that these Spirit Craftsmen, with the Captivity Ring, were willing to accept the fate of being sold as commodities indicated their strong desire to survive.
Sun Youcai said warmly to Lin Yuan, "Young Master Lin, this VIP room can only accommodate 300 commodities at a time. The information of these commodities is recorded on their Captivity Ring. You can probe this information by infiltrating these Captivity Rings with your spiritual energy. The information I've provided here has always been very objective. You can use this information as a reference to make your choice."
Lin Yuan turned to look at Chu Ci, who had been looking forward to coming to the talent market so much. Lin Yuan wanted Chu Ci to choose with him, but she shook her head in rejection.
Upon witnessing this, Lin Yuan knew that Chu Ci's values had not completely changed. She had not completely adapted to the environment of the Sky Beyond the Clouds.
Lin Yuan did not force Chu Ci. He stood up and infused his spiritual energy into the Captivity Ring on the neck of the tall man at the front.
[Fu Dao]: An intermediate Class 3 Spirit Craftsman. He comes from the Spirit Monkey species and has no potential for evolution in his bloodline.
When Lin Yuan was investigating Fu Dao's Captivity Ring, he could see the strong desire in Fu Dao's eyes. Fu Dao was clearly hoping to be bought by Lin Yuan. As a Spirit Craftsman, the treatment he received when working in the faction wouldn't be too poor.
Being a servant in another faction would definitely be better than being displayed as a commodity here, waiting indefinitely to be noticed. Fu Dao had been sold here as a commodity for more than 600 years. He was afraid that he would be forced to sink here.
Lin Yuan didn't linger too long on Fu Dao. Instead, he quickly gathered information about more than 200 Spirit Craftsmen. Lin Yuan discovered that due to the difference in bloodline and age, the prices of Spirit Craftsmen of the same level and class varied greatly. He planned to choose the Spirit Craftsman here to add to Sky City's construction.
Although Lin Yuan was a savior, he would not use spirit qi crystals to save everyone. Sky City did not accept mediocre talents. Only exceptionally outstanding talents had the opportunity to become part of Sky City.
Lin Yuan asked Sun Youcai, "How many Class 3 and above Spirit Craftsmen do you have here? I need to know the general number to make my choice. Otherwise, if I'm too picky and can't even choose the number of people I want after choosing all the Spirit Craftsmen here, I'll have to choose again. It will be a waste of my time."
Upon hearing Lin Yuan's words, Sun Youcai could not help but roll his eyes in his heart. Lin Yuan's words clearly meant that he wanted to choose the best Spirit Craftsman. Lin Yuan's straightforwardness made Sun Youcai somewhat uncomfortable.
Seeing that Lin Yuan was using Class 4 Creator resources to exchange for these talents, Sun Youcai called a few subordinates over to verify. After checking, Sun Youcai laughed out loud when he heard his subordinate's report.
"I have a total of 42 groups of such quality here. There are more than 8,000 Spirit Craftsmen above Class 3. Young Master Lin, feel free to make your selection!"
Upon hearing this, Lin Yuan inwardly lamented that it seemed his wish to select intermediate Class 3 Spirit Craftsmen or higher was going to be dashed. More than half of these 200 individuals were intermediate Class 3 Spirit Craftsmen, while less than 30% of them were above intermediate Class 3.
Lin Yuan quickly tapped on the selection device in his hand, and the Captivity Rings lit up. Those whose Captivity Rings did not light up were taken away by the attendant.
Lin Yuan chose them to pass through the long corridor of the VIP room and send them to the martial arts hall that was connected to the VIP seats.
Every VIP room here had a special martial arts hall. In this talent market, warriors were always the best sellers.
The best way to gauge a warrior's strength was to provide them with a spacious arena, allowing them to fully unleash their abilities.
After the first batch was selected, the second batch was quickly sent in. It only took Lin Yuan five minutes to choose the second batch of 200 Spirit Craftsmen, which surprised Feng Qian and Ding Tao.
This time was too short. Lin Yuan couldn't possibly choose a Spirit Craftsman solely according to the information here, right? Lin Yuan had to pay a sum of spirit qi crystals for every Spirit Craftsman he chose. It would be a huge loss if he chose according to the labels here.
Initially, Sun Youcai had assumed that Lin Yuan was making random selections. As a young man from a large faction, Lin Yuan did not care about the faction's resources and was recklessly squandering them to flaunt his status. This suited Sun Youcai's impression of these core members of the major faction's direct line of descent.
Sun Youcai had been this arrogant when he was young.
Since Lin Yuan had come through the Fortune Treasure Palace, these Spirit Craftsmen had to meet the standards even if it was to give face to Fortune Treasure Palace. Even if Lin Yuan chose randomly according to the labels, nothing would go wrong.
Sun Youcai understood his commodities the best. When Lin Yuan finished selecting the fifth batch of Spirit Craftsmen, he could not help but think that something was wrong. Lin Yuan's seemingly quick and casual selections were, in fact, the most perfect choice. Sun Youcai did not believe that Lin Yuan had chosen it randomly.