Chapter 38: The Fringe
— A Day Later – Evening —
Under the dusky sky turning into night, the bustling black market street came alive with vibrant neon lights and crowds weaving through, passing by various shops in the night market that only operated at this time of day.
Shady characters mingled freely among the crowd, who were earnestly shopping for rare and exotic goods from the frontier. These were items brought in by expedition groups and hunters from the Wildlands or even from the dangerous seas teeming with leviathan-class creatures.
Mutated beast hides, mutated beast cubs, various strange plants, and exotic-looking creatures from the Wildlands were all being sold in this night market.
If someone were to ask, "Is this legal?" The answer is 'No' it wasn't. However, the UEC and the local city-state governments turned a blind eye, so long as the goods didn't cause too much trouble. The reason was simple: even now, the UEC still couldn't fully categorize which items were safe and which were dangerous.
As long as the danger wasn't too blatant... like selling predator-class mutated beasts or officially declared hazardous plants that were too poisonous or strictly controlled... these vendors could operate in the fringes.
This was largely due to the UEC's lack of manpower to monitor everyone. They also silently encouraged the exploration and exploitation of the Wildlands. After all, ever since the war with the aliens ended, Earth had become more dangerous and alien than ever before.
Fortunately, most of the mutated beasts and plants that were once safe to consume, pigs, corn, bananas, and other fruits were still edible even after mutation. Even so, the UEC still preferred that citizens consume non-mutated products.
In this shady part of town, Maximilian walked through the fringe streets. He had come to meet an information broker, someone Ricardo had introduced to him.
He made his way to a building with a flickering neon sign that read "The Rust Gate."
Passing through the gate of the bar, he entered a space bathed in multicolored neon lights. Inside were off-duty soldiers stationed at the fringe, hunters, and various shady individuals negotiating in private booths.