Armor-piercing bullets don't believe in carbon-based monsters

Chapter 100: Ring Merchant
Ring merchant?

Chen Jian remembered this name.

Zeng Yi had mentioned this organization before when he tried to find out the truth about the Mimic Heresy.

According to him, the Ring Merchants are the most powerful intelligence dealers in the world, and also the most sinister war profiteers in the world.

But at the same time, they were once an extremely powerful chamber of commerce, and accumulated a lot of resources and wealth by selling "ancient technology".

In short, this is a complex and mysterious organization.

Zeng Yi also reminded that if you want to contact them, you must maintain a certain degree of caution.

So, when Zeng Yi said their names, Chen Jian raised his gun almost subconsciously.

And the same goes for everyone around him.

The man opposite seemed to be startled by their actions, and a panic expression appeared on his face that was completely inconsistent with his weather-beaten appearance.

“Relax! Relax!”

"Everyone! I'm just a businessman. There's no need to treat me like this, right?"

The man spoke rapidly, holding his hands out to show that he was not a threat.

Chen Jian gently shook his head, motioning him to stand in the corner, and then asked Huang Yu:

"How did he get up here?"

"I took off all my clothes and swam up here as you requested."

Huang Yu quickly answered.

Chen Jian felt relieved a little, so he opened his mouth and ordered:

"Show your identity!"

He still kept his gun pointed, but the other party was keenly aware of the reduction in hostility.

So the man took a deep breath and slowly said:
"I am a merchant from the Circle Chamber of Commerce. My name is Qin Yuan."

"I'm here for business - of course, I know you're going to ask why I came to Yellowstone at a time like this."

"My answer is simple."

"We are already active in various dangerous places, and the business we do is definitely not safe."

"You know, we are intelligence dealers and even war dealers."

"So, my presence here is actually quite reasonable, right?"

After he finished speaking, Chen Jian nodded slowly.

"Reasonable."

"what do you want?"

"I want intelligence."

Qin Yuan immediately replied:
"I want information about you - information you think you can provide me in exchange for supplies."

"You know, you just defeated the combined forces of the Holy Blood Temple and the Mechanicus. In the battle, you showed considerable strength."

"A team of thousands of people was wiped out in an instant."

"Now, this news has spread thousands of miles away. Even in the imperial capital where the Holy Blood Temple is located, legends about you have spread. Or rather, horror stories."

"There must be a lot of people who are curious about you, and what I want to do is to get the information from you and sell it to those who need it."

"This is not a request, it's just a suggestion."

"If you think this request is unreasonable, I can leave immediately and pretend I have never been here."

"I will forget everything I saw - on the reputation of the Circle Chamber of Commerce."

"How much is your reputation worth?"

Chen Jian asked sarcastically, but the other party answered solemnly:
"Very valuable."

"If you don't believe it, you can ask the knowledgeable Holy Blood Person next to you."

After Qin Yuan finished speaking, Zeng Yi nodded at Chen Jian, and then said softly:
“They live by their reputation and are unlikely to break their promises.”

"clear."

Chen Jian gave a brief answer, and then continued to ask Qin Yuan:
"What can you bring me?"

"gold."

Qin Yuan replied:
"This is the simplest transaction. If you need gold, we can provide you with gold."

"At the same time, we can also provide you with a channel to trade gold. You can use those wonderful metals to exchange for many things from us."

"Food, weapons, tools. Everything you need."

"Of course, if you don't want to make the transaction too complicated, you can just state your price directly."

"We will carefully evaluate how much food and weapons you need and give you a satisfactory answer."

"Very reasonable."

Chen Jian finally lowered the muzzle of the 191, but he did not retract the weapon mount on the exoskeleton.

He looked straight at Qin Yuan opposite him and continued to ask:

"What if we don't want these things?"

"We guessed you wouldn't be interested in these things so, we prepared something better."

A smile appeared on Qin Yuan's face, and then he said:
"Knowledge, technology, and those ancient equipment. In fact, we still have quite a few of them."

"It's just that we haven't traded it for a long, long time."

"So why this time?"

Chen Jian always remained skeptical. To him, anyone who came to his door would be treated as an enemy before being tested.

Qin Yuan shrugged and replied:

"Simply because of your potential."

"The Circle Chamber has had enough of the charlatans of the Mechanicus and the perverts of the Holy Blood Temple."

"They may be able to make the world a better place, but they are too slow."

"They even need to spend a lot of time and manpower to clean up a level 3 monster."

"And you guys. It's said that it only takes a few minutes."

"Why shouldn't we cherish such a rising star?"

".Very convincing reasons, but illogical."

Chen Jian sneered and asked back:
"You are just businessmen. Do you care about the good or bad of this world?"

“We don’t care.”

Qin Yuan shook his head indifferently, and then said:

"But if this world can become better, we can live more comfortably. For example, if you clear out the monsters in the Hanshui ruins, we will have the opportunity to explore the ruins."

"I'm sorry, this example is not very good, because I heard that you have listed the Hanshui Ruins as a restricted area."

"But actually, the same principle applies to Chuansha, right?"

"Correct."

Chen Jian did not refute.

He was still keeping a close eye on Qin Yuan's movements, not relaxing his vigilance at all.

But at the same time, he finally got the topic back on track.

"We need to take the initiative in trading."

"What I mean is that we have to see your chips first before we can decide how to trade."

"So, I suggest you go back and bring the chips with you."

"You swam up here naked. You're not going to tell me that your chips are hidden in your head, are you?"

"That's not it."

Qin Yuan laughed and replied:
"We did hide the chips somewhere, and we did intend to fetch them first."

“That’s a very reasonable request.”

"But before that, I also brought something."

As he spoke, Qin Yuan pointed to the table in the room.

It was then that Chen Jian noticed that there was a spherical device the size of an apple on the table. "That's a lock - inside is an important message that needs to be given to you, from the leader of the Circle Chamber of Commerce."

"But you can't open it yet."

"It has a timer set and it has started."

“You can only open it after the timed walk is complete.”

"Otherwise, the explosives hidden inside would blow that message to pieces."

Chen Jian reached out and picked up the device, shook it gently, and asked:

"So, I can only open it after you leave?"

"Yes, that's exactly it."

Qin Yuan nodded and said:

"But don't worry, there aren't many explosives in here. At most, it will only destroy the information, but won't hurt anyone."

"What's the message? Why do this?"

Chen Jian asked.

"I don't know what the content is. This is the leader's arrangement."

“He told me it would make cooperation between the two of us much smoother.”

"But that piece of information is so extraordinary that even I can't know it."

"So, he chose to use this method to ensure that this information would only reach you - this is a confidentiality measure."

"absurd."

Chen Jian laughed sarcastically, and then asked:

"What if you hide the item and pretend it's been delivered? What if you give it to someone else?"

"The information still gets leaked, it's a complete scam."

Hearing Chen Jian's words, Qin Yuan answered without hesitation:
"It's simple. I must return before the countdown ends, and I am not allowed to go out any further. The rest of the transaction will be completed by my other companions with you."

"As for how to ensure that I won't run away, that's another question. I don't think I need to explain it too clearly."

"understood."

Chen Jian nodded slightly and handed the device in his hand to Lei Jie.

Lei Jie put the device to his ear and listened carefully for a few seconds. After careful observation, he shook his head at Chen Jian.

"It is most likely an electric detonator. A mechanical timer is used to control the opening and closing of the positive pole, and the fixed distance between the two hemispheres controls the opening and closing of the negative pole."

"The design is very sophisticated. If you force it open, it will really explode."

"Understood. Then stay here for now."

Hearing this, Director Qin breathed a sigh of relief.

He bowed slightly and said in a relaxed tone:
"Thank you."

"The countdown of the device is still 6 hours. My companions will arrive with our sincerity after that."

"By then, you should know what the message the leader left for you is."

After saying that, he stood up and prepared to leave.

But at this moment, Chen Jian raised the gun again.

Qin Yuan was stunned, while Chen Jian said calmly:

"I said, let you stay."

In a short period of time, Chen Jian and his companions were unable to open the timing device.

It was precisely for this reason that it was even more impossible for him to let the messenger leave.

Although he didn't know what the other party's purpose was in being so mysterious, one thing Chen Jian could be sure of was that this design could not have been simply for the purpose of keeping secrets. It was more likely that it was intended to buy time for the Ring Merchants.

And if the purpose is to gain time, the messenger must not leave.

In a battle between two armies, shouldn't the envoys be killed?

But pull it down.

An envoy is not only a messenger, but can also be a spy.

Even if you don't kill him, there's nothing wrong with locking him up first.

In the temporary command room of the activity hall, Lei Jie studied the timing device and said:
"The design of this thing is quite sophisticated. I guess it uses some kind of limit device as a means of triggering the explosion."

"In theory, we can directly use a cutting machine to cut along the outer shell, observe the internal structure first, and then decide how to dismantle it."

"But there are risks in doing so. If it really explodes, the information inside will be destroyed."

"So, if you want to get the information, the best way is to wait."

"But from another perspective, do we really need this information so much?"

“That’s my problem, too.”

Chen Jian nodded slowly, then said:
"They are the ones who want to cooperate with us, but they also want to use this kind of thing to control us. What are they thinking?"

"Is there something wrong with your brain, or are you just showing off your skills?"

“Probably both.”

Zeng Yi on the side shook his head and interrupted:

"In fact, I was skeptical about this person's identity at first, but when he took out this thing, I was sure that he must be from the Circle Chamber of Commerce."

"The style of the Circle Chamber of Commerce has always been like this. They are arrogant and keen on studying all kinds of strange but useless technologies."

"It is said that their greatest mission is to light the ring again, but no one knows what the ring is at all."

"In short, it's not surprising that they would do something like this - this may also be a means of self-protection, because each of them is of high value to the Chamber of Commerce."

"I guess the content here may involve some major secrets, or something that may anger us, or some kind of extremely risky 'suggestion'."

"The reason why we were asked to keep the secret after the messenger left was more importantly to protect the messenger."

"Reasonable."

Chen Jian nodded slightly, and then said to Lei Jie:

"Then tear it down."

"It's okay even if the stuff inside explodes. At worst, he can just go back and get it again."

"If they want to work with us, they should follow our rules."

"They are too naive to think that they can control us with such tricks."

"clear."

Without any hesitation, Lei Jie turned around and went to the workshop that had just been built to get the cutting machine. After starting the generator, he began cutting without hesitation.

He was so careful about his technique that he didn't even wear any protective gear.

Sparks flew, but the device on the table didn't vibrate at all.

Lei Jie's hands were as steady as a rock. After a few minutes, he had completed half of the cutting of the device, leaving only a small piece to ensure the stability of the device.

At this point, the internal structure can be roughly seen through the cut.

The operation became much simpler. Lei Jie took a breath and said in amazement:

“It felt like taking apart a Renaissance clock.”

“The articulated limit plate is very cleverly designed.”

"But that's all."

"Get me a bucket of cooking oil—I need to take this thing apart and insulate it as best I can."

"Thank you Liu for going."

Chen Jian gave a simple order, and a moment later, Lei Jie placed the device into the turbid grease and carefully cut the connections on the limiter one by one.

"opened!"

Lei Jie let out a long sigh and took out the paper wrapped around the electric detonator.

When Chen Jian took the note and unfolded it, the four members of the team fell silent at the same time.

There are only a few words on it.

"You set off a nuclear bomb."

(End of this chapter)