Life is tough, so Honglong resorts to performing?

Chapter 74 Choices and the Arena

"It's really unfair. We who run businesses are no match for those who are middlemen."

In the trading area for acquiring low-level magic crystal powder, Loren inquired about prices several times and compared various options before finally reaching this conclusion.

Even though he had expected it, he was still amazed today.

As a universal commodity, low-level magic crystals have a fairly stable price and sales channel.

It can be said to be a minority, something that, although not very profitable, will definitely be displayed in stores.

The official Magic Crystal Factory's standard Magic Crystal blocks have a shipping price of approximately 8 per ton including tax.

The total retail price of a ton of low-level magic crystal blocks, after being cut and sold on the market, fluctuates between 9 and 9.5.

As the cornerstone of the federal energy supply, this price has remained unchanged for decades.

The use of high-level magic crystal blocks is relatively rare, and their price is not really related to supply and demand, but rather to some special considerations.

For the vast majority of people in the Federation, low-grade and standard magic crystal blocks are their daily routine, and they occasionally need to use magic crystal powder as an emergency measure.

Even on the black market, after excluding taxes and other formalities, the total retail price of a ton of low-level magic crystal blocks is around 7.8 yuan.

Magic crystal powder, due to its slightly lower energy value, has a total value of around 7.6 yuan per ton.

So, what price did these middlemen, these bastards, offer Loren?

5.25 yuan per ton!
Goodness, he made 2.35 yuan from selling just one ton!
You should know that Loren's total weekly output, after painstakingly removing those impurity stones, is only two to three tons of magic crystal powder, while the other party can easily make forty to sixty thousand yuan from him with a simple resale.
Is this appropriate?

The official factory's standard purchase price is 7 yuan per ton!
Not to mention that in that mining area, there is a third-tier miner and seven or eight first- or second-tier miners, and the wages of more than a dozen miners may need to be paid.

After all these miscellaneous losses, what is Little Red Dragon making any money?
He might as well keep it as a snack for himself at that price!

"They're really taking advantage of the fact that the things on the black market come from illegitimate sources. The customers who come to sell magic crystal ore in large quantities definitely don't have their own retail channels."

Loren gritted his teeth. Asking him to sell at this price was like asking him to bleed himself dry.

The thought that the standard magic crystal blocks he used to buy from the black market were all bought back at low prices and then resold to him at high prices made Loren feel extremely resentful.

These are unscrupulous merchants! No business is without its deceit! They're utterly shameless and despicable!
Loren began to consider the possibility of paying the salaries of those dozen or so people himself, without selling magic crystals for the time being.

There was nothing he could do; he simply couldn't sell it at that price.

If he actually sells it, he won't be able to think clearly, and he might easily become obsessed and develop illnesses from holding it in.

"It seems that it is not impossible."

"After all, I get a share of the performance revenue, there's an album performance, and there's also a boxing match for betting. It's a sure way to make a fortune..."

"If I can just get through this month, but I don't need to get paid this month anyway, the Quick Hand Brothers have already paid for me in advance..."

Loren began to think about his ways of making money and realized that if he paid those people a monthly salary, it might not be such a big problem.

Putting everything else aside, his merchandise sales have quite a bit of potential!
In addition, after this period, which is the period of rapid melting of the high-quality magic crystals in his body, Loren can use these low-quality magic crystals to continue to nourish and improve himself.

It only took a few months.

Thinking about it more carefully, it's impossible that after a month, those miners would still collectively choose to work for an evil red dragon, right?
They're bound to run away, which means I'll be able to pay fewer people's wages, right?
It doesn't matter if the yield is small, since he can't eat it all in a short time anyway, so we can only store it and wait for an opportunity.

Loren didn't consider himself a leader worth following.

After all, he's too lazy to even draw pancakes for people, and he can forget to deliver small things like ingredients, so he's late.

And when that day came, he also disrespected Johnny, the third-tier warrior.

With their skill level and ability, and their team of subordinates, where can't they work?
Why waste your life on such a small mine?

After considering all the information, Loren concluded that the advantage was in his hands when it came to making money!

He doesn't need to rely on short-term losses to gain temporary profits; he can cultivate long-term investments!
His cash flow can hold up for now!
No problem at all!

After making up his mind, Loren stopped thinking about buying and selling magic crystals and instead went to other trading areas to check out the various items for sale.

To broaden one's horizons, assess the situation, and prepare to sell off some of the stolen goods once the heat dies down.

Upon closer inspection, Loren actually discerned something interesting.

Unlike the neighboring city, the main service groups in this black market are probably the wealthy humans and half-elves in the central district.

As for how he figured it out, it was because of a satirical joke from this world.
"How your neighbors pass the time determines your social class."

The most popular trade in this trading area is the special mushrooms cultivated by the halflings.

It's a completely natural hallucinogen, so it has relatively little impact on the body, but the downside is that it's quite expensive.

Most of the lousy people in the downtown area can't afford such good stuff.

Those guys use cheap and ruthless technology and techniques that can damage their brains and make them lose their minds.

In his rented apartment in the slums, Loren had encountered those overly hyped idiots more than once. Even Longwei couldn't scare them off; he could only hang them on the wall as landmarks and wait for them to sober up on their own.

Therefore, the people who come to participate in the black market are most likely middle-class or lower-middle-class.

"As a black market, it's much more high-end than what I used to be."

Loren thought about it and then wandered around the trading area, buying some miscellaneous useful items.

"I thought I'd finally get the protagonist's treatment, and that I'd find a hidden gem, a divine artifact or near-divine artifact, at a trading stall. But it turns out there isn't one?"

After browsing for a while, Loren finally sighed and left the trading area.

When the old druid Aaron outside saw a light green robot standing in front of him, leading the little red dragon into the previous room with number 194, he was taken aback.

Is this the Red Dragon? It's so good at causing trouble.

Can you even level up by playing a few games in a trading area?
"what's the situation?"

Once the communication between the two parties was established, Aaron couldn't help but ask.

"It's nothing. I just ran into some information brokers who were trying to force me to buy something, and I couldn't help but fight back."

Loren gave a brief explanation of the matter, but Aaron didn't seem to care.

It's good that I didn't offend any big shots.

"Have you finished what you needed to do? I'll show you how to get out."

"Not yet. Is there a place for betting and machine-based arenas around here? Where are they?"

Loren couldn't help but ask, and Aaron sighed upon hearing this.

He knew that as long as he brought the other person in, he would definitely take a liking to this direction.

But it's fine, he brought Little Red Dragon here anyway to introduce him to the boxing ring so he could vent his frustrations.

Not all living things are suited to the city.

This is the point that Aaron, as a Grand Druid, is most dissatisfied with, yet also most helpless about, regarding the Federation's policies.

For an inherently intelligent but malevolent creature like the Little Red Dragon, prolonged urban life will only lead to the suppression of its inner violence and discontent, which will eventually be released at some point. Clearly, channeling is worse than blocking.

In such an environment where he won't die, it would be perfect to let him have a few good matches.

Coincidentally, both the black market and the boxing ring were ideas proposed by Little Red Dragon himself.

I didn't intentionally guide him.

Although we don't know what the little guy is planning to do, it's unlikely to do anything bad to the zoo.

Aaron then carefully explained the rules of the boxing ring to Little Red Dragon.

The first three matches for newcomers are unconditional battles; anyone who signs up and steps onto the stage can fight, and the organizers will arrange for them to battle against robots of the same level.

However, if you lose three times in a row, regardless of whether you lose color or not, you will be demoted to the next level and become the next level's challenger.

If a player in the next level can win once against a player whose color hasn't faded, they can advance directly to the next level's arena after accumulating enough parts.

Loren's light green level is achieved with three accessories and two enhancements. Losing three consecutive matches will cause him to drop to white level, and he needs to play three more matches below to return to white level.

"In a little while, I will challenge the largest gang over there, starting from the green rank."

"You bet on me to lose first. The initial amount can be very small. If you win, keep betting. Don't get carried away and increase your bets. We'll split the profits 50/50."

"I'll keep losing until I drop to white, then I'll switch to betting on me to win, and I'll keep winning."

Loren cautioned that the green robots clearly had more than three interfaces; though they appeared to be of the same level, they were actually worlds apart.

Given that the opponent might be a seasoned veteran who had been instructed to prepare, it wouldn't be surprising if he lost a few games and ended up paying his dues.

Strategically despise your opponent, but tactically respect them – this is the way to wage war.

Loren followed Aaron to a dilapidated mechanical arena.

Inside the arena were rows of arenas, and around each arena, various robots held up recording equipment, broadcasting the battles from each arena to the surrounding audience seats.

Because no one was speaking aloud, the atmosphere here was far less intense than a normal underground boxing match; instead, it was quite quiet.

The only sounds were the robots colliding with each other in the stands, creating an eerie silence.

Loren went to the largest boxing ring in the middle and filled in his number at the registration desk: 194, Green Class.

As his number and registration were uploaded, the woman's voice came through Loren's communication system once again.

"I'm starting to like you, kid. You came so quickly. You have a stubborn streak and a lot of courage."

"I'll tell them not to beat you too badly."

Let them show their true abilities; I'd really like to see that.

Loren thought about it, but didn't say it aloud.

After all, such words are meaningless to someone who is about to get beaten up.

Showing off is something you can only do when you're winning; in a losing game, you're just putting up a show of strength.

Soon, it was his turn to face his opponent in the arena, and Loren strode towards the ring.

Aaron, meanwhile, found a gambling stall, took out a hundred copper coins, and bet on Loren losing.

He decided to trust the little dragon's judgment and plans.

Anyway, even if the little guy wins, he'll only lose a hundred yuan, and if he loses, he won't earn much. As a newbie, the odds are too low for him.

Not to mention, Aaron can afford to pay that amount of money.

With a shift in light and shadow, the two appeared on the boxing ring, and after a hissing sound, the cheers of the surrounding audience and the voice of the host entered Loren's mind.

"Dear viewers, welcome to the ultimate arena battle! Today we welcome a special new challenger!"

"Contestant number 194 only has three parts, barely meeting the standard, yet they're challenging our contestant number 083, who has a full set of 10 parts in the green grade!"

"It's clear that our contestant number 194 has solid professional skills, but whether this strength can give us an advantage here, in this robot battle, remains to be seen!"

Loren held his breath, got into position, put on his brass knuckles, and stared intently at the dark green robot opposite him.

Although he felt he would lose, would he really lose badly?
Loren, however, did not think so.

Then, the robot on the other side flew up, revealing two cannon barrels in its palm.

"This is supposed to be a ring boxing match? It's more like a props competition!"

Loren was speechless for a moment. Is this how you play the game?
Thus, Loren lost the first game decisively.

Although he dodged many of the opponent's attacks by moving around, that bastard's bullets and energy seemed inexhaustible.

He finally got to experience what it was like for other land units to face off against their dragon race.

You can't hit them, and they keep throwing ranged attacks at you. Can you stand that?

In this match, Loren lost his weapon, the brass knuckles.

"Do you want to play a second match? You can't win, you should know that, right?"

The strange woman's words appeared once again inside Loren's robot mimicry; it just goes to show that higher level and higher authority are indeed advantageous.

In the second race, Loren lost the back jet acceleration.

In the third match, Loren also lost his leg movement module, and the last bit of light green on his body disappeared, turning him into a blank slate. According to the rules, he dropped a level.

He arrived at the white-level zone, where there were quite a few guys stuck at the level of losing three games. They were light green, while Loren was white, having only been upgraded twice.

Loren knew that even if he won three games in a row and returned, he would only have three parts and two upgrades, the same configuration as before.

Facing those fully equipped guys, you'll get beaten up pretty badly... right?
Within the machine's mimicry, Loren's dragon eyes lit up.

"Let's bet all this money on number 194 to win. If we win three games in a row, how much can we rake in?"

Beside the stall, Aaron casually asked a question while staring at the switching screen.

"You must be joking. His setup is too weak. He can't possibly beat those level-3 players in the white zone."

"Don't worry about that, I believe he can win."

"Okay, after three consecutive losses due to relegation, you've won three in a row, eight times eight times eight times, a total of 512 times. Your previous 100 points were bet on three consecutive rookie losses, with odds of 1.08 three times, which is 126. Are you sure you want to bet like this?"

"Of course I'm sure."

Aaron was certain, after all, that guy over there was an evil red dragon.

Little Red Dragon takes things very seriously when it comes to money!
Despite the boos, Red Dragon, who had suffered three consecutive losses, still stood on the ring.

The white robot was very simple, while its opponent was covered in a light green, which contrasted sharply with Loren's understated elegance.

With the referee's signal, a new battle began!

(End of this chapter)