Chapter 144: Found Something to Remove the Neck Ring
The seller looked at Sophie Wexler and reached out to pick it up. "You want to buy this?"
"Fixed price. Forty million Star Coins."
Sophie Wexler: "..." ’That price is outrageous.’
’I remember it wasn’t this expensive when the original owner bought it.’
However, Sophie Wexler shook her head. "I’m not here to buy this."
"Hm?" The man slowly looked up and glanced at Sophie Wexler. "Not buying?"
As if he’d instantly lost all interest, he tossed the item back onto his stall. "If you’re not buying, then hurry up and leave. Don’t block me from doing business."
’Leaving is not an option.’
Sophie Wexler had been here for so long and had only seen this one person selling Slave Collars. How could she possibly leave?
"I’m not buying a Slave Collar, but I do want to buy something else."
Hearing that she wanted to buy something, the man raised his head again, staring at Sophie Wexler’s plain, unremarkable face for a moment. "What are you buying?"
"You have Slave Collars, so do you have something that can remove them?" Sophie Wexler asked, her heart pounding with anxiety.
’This is my only hope right now. If he doesn’t have one, I really don’t know what else I can do.’
The man seemed surprised by Sophie Wexler’s words, looking at her as if she were an idiot. "You’re looking for something that removes them?"
He had only ever seen people come to buy Slave Collars; he’d never seen anyone come to buy something to remove one.
’Once a Slave Collar is on, it’s on. Anyone who gets one put on them can’t be anyone decent. Who would be bored enough to bother taking one off?’
Sophie Wexler ignored his question. "Just tell me if you have one or not."
"Don’t tell me you don’t?" Sophie Wexler said, a little doubtfully. "If you don’t, I’ll just have to look elsewhere."
"A joke," the man scoffed at Sophie Wexler’s words. "You should ask around Salencia. When it comes to this kind of equipment, my selection is the most complete. If I don’t have it, it’s even more impossible that anyone else does."
"..." Sophie Wexler said, "So, do you have one or not?"
"As it happens," the man began, "I have exactly one."
Slave Collars were common, but devices to remove them were not. He had only recently acquired one by chance. Thinking it probably wasn’t very useful, he’d just tossed it aside. He never expected someone to actually ask for it today.
"You wait here."
He then turned and went into the room. After a while, he came out holding a small box.
"This is it." He said, holding the item out.
Sophie Wexler’s eyes lit up instantly. She reached for it, but just as her fingers were about to touch it, the man’s hand suddenly pulled back.
Sophie Wexler: "???"
"Eighty million Star Coins. Cash on delivery."
Sophie Wexler: "!!!"
"Eighty million! Wasn’t that collar only forty million?"
’The price doubled just like that? Why don’t you just go rob someone?’
"There are plenty of collars. I’m the only one who has this, so of course it’s expensive. Just tell me if you want it or not."
Sophie Wexler gritted her teeth. "I’ll take it."
’I have to take it. I probably won’t find another one anywhere else. No matter how expensive, I have to get it.’
’The money I earned on Karath doesn’t seem to go very far here on the Capital Planet. It’s a good thing I earned some more recently by helping Evan Adler and the others with their treatments.’
She checked it over and over, just as Evan Adler had taught her, and confirmed the item was genuine.
Seeing this, the man said, "Don’t worry, the item is absolutely real."
"In our line of work, dishonesty is the biggest taboo. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to survive in Salencia."
She painfully transferred the money from her card. "Alright, give me the item."
Once the man saw the money had been received, he handed the item over without any fuss.
Sophie Wexler took the small box and studied it for a long time. "How do you open this?"
The man waved his hand and said with utter nonchalance, "I don’t know."
Sophie Wexler: "?"
’What?!’
"You don’t know?!" Seeing his indifferent attitude, she instantly lost her temper and shoved the small box in his face.
"How dare you sell it if you don’t know!"
"And for such an exorbitant price!"
"So what? I’m the one who has it." The man spread his hands. "It’s my item, I can sell it for however much I want. It’s my business."
"If you have a problem with it, don’t buy it."
"If you don’t want it," he said, holding out his hand, "give it back."
The man looked completely confident, certain that Sophie Wexler would buy it no matter what.
Sophie Wexler knew this too. She glared at him and said through gritted teeth, "I’m taking it."
As she was leaving, she even heard a sigh from behind her. "Look at that card... she’s a rich one. I didn’t swindle her for enough. If I’d known, I would’ve added more to the price."
Sophie Wexler: "..."
’Now I’m even more pissed!’
It was certainly unpleasant to be swindled, and she still didn’t know how to open it, but getting the device still brought Sophie Wexler a sense of relief.
’I wonder what Cillian Forrest has been busy with lately. I haven’t seen him in a long time.’
’But I’ll be able to give him a surprise the next time he comes back.’
’I wonder what his expression will be when he sees the neck ring removed. Surprise? Joy? Relief?’
’Or maybe all of them.’
’I have to admit, I’m really looking forward to it.’
Just as Sophie Wexler was about to put the small box away and leave, a voice rang out from behind her.
"You, up ahead! Stop!"
"The woman in the gray clothes! Stop!"
Sophie Wexler: ’Gray clothes?’
’Me?’
"Yes, I’m talking to you." As he spoke, the person behind her strode forward, closing the distance in a few large steps.
Sophie Wexler turned her head and looked at him in confusion. "Can I help you?"
"The thing you just bought—sell it to me!" His tone was condescending and commanding.
He had inquired around. This was the only device on the market that could remove a Slave Collar. He had to get it.
Hearing this, Sophie Wexler’s expression hardened. She took two steps back, clutching the small box tightly in her hand, and looked at him with a cold expression. "I bought this."
"That’s why I said, sell it to me!" Clearly, he thought the person in front of him wouldn’t refuse.
"I’ll give you ten million Star Coins. That should be enough."
Sophie Wexler sneered. "Ten million?"
’I haven’t forgotten how much I just paid. Did this guy not ask the seller for the price?’
Apparently, he hadn’t. He had chased after her immediately upon learning that Sophie Wexler had bought the item.
"You think that’s not enough?" Impatience was already showing in the man’s eyes. His superiors had ordered him to bring this item back, and he didn’t have time to waste here.
"Twenty million. Twenty million has to be enough."
Sophie Wexler: "Not for sale!"
The man’s expression instantly turned cold. He glared viciously at Sophie Wexler. "I’ve given you a price. There’s a limit to trying to rip someone off. Don’t push your luck."
Sophie Wexler scoffed. "Rip you off? I bet you don’t even know how much I paid for it, do you?"
Under the man’s confused gaze, Sophie Wexler slowly said, "Eighty million Star Coins."
’I’m the one who got ripped off here.’
"I’m not short on money. Forget twenty million—even if you offered two hundred million, I wouldn’t sell!"
"Get out of my way!"
"You!" The man was enraged by Sophie Wexler’s attitude. Anger flared in his eyes, and the aura around him grew heavy. "It seems you’d rather do this the hard way!"
Sophie Wexler sensed the unusual shift in the air. She tightened her grip on the box while secretly mobilizing her spiritual power, putting herself on a combat footing.
Just then, a voice came from the void. "Causing trouble is forbidden in Salencia!"
The moment the voice faded, the man froze, remembering the rules of Salencia.
’The grass on the grave of the last person who caused trouble in Salencia is probably two meters tall by now.’
’For Salencia to exist for so long on the Capital Planet, a place teeming with complex factions, without anyone daring to cause trouble, it’s clear the people behind it are extraordinary.’
’It’s better not to provoke them.’
The man retracted his spiritual power, and the tense, confrontational atmosphere instantly dissipated. The man gritted his teeth. "You’re lucky this time!"
With that, he flicked his sleeves and left.
’Fighting might be forbidden inside Salencia, but can they still restrain me once I’m outside?’
’I gave her a way out. Since she doesn’t want money, there’s another way to handle this.’