Chapter 60: Visiting the Black Market
The Black Market.
It wasn’t a place you could walk into. It was a hidden layer, buried beneath crimes and criminals, masked from the public. The hub of illegal cyberware, unregistered implants, banned AIs, mutated drugs, even alien species being auctioned off like pets—or slaves.
Most veterans didn’t dare go there unless they had no other choice.
Jason handed Xavier a pair of glasses. They were bulky and had a rough matte finish, like a prototype never meant to leave the lab.
"Let’s go."
Xavier held them up, frowning. "What’s this? I’ll wear them, but these things are ugly. Not my type."
Jason already had his on. He scratched the back of his head. "Ugly?"
"Wait," Xavier narrowed his eyes, "you have the same pair? Is this some sort of passcode for entry?"
Angel stepped in with a half-pitying smile. "The black market isn’t real—not physically. You need these to enter the virtual space. It’s dangerous there. Not because of what you see, but because of who’s watching. Hackers can fry your brain if you’re careless."
"Oh," Xavier blinked. "I didn’t know."
"These glasses aren’t easy to get," Angel continued. "They’re coded for access to high-risk servers—black markets, underground auctions, rogue forums. Jason had to kill someone for those."