Chapter 732 - 394: Setting a Trap (Part 3)

Lacking more specific information, he couldn’t make a more detailed assessment with just a glance.

The shopkeeper walked over, showing no disdain for Su Ze and the Pope’s identity as members of the Bag Race. He gave a thumbs-up and praised them with a smile:

"My friend, you’ve got a sharp eye! This is the claw of a Star-Stepping Giant Beast. A single stomp from this beast can extinguish a planet. This claw is where all its essence is concentrated. It’s incredibly hard and strong, making it an excellent choice for forging a Divine Artifact or as a powerful tonic ingredient!"

"How much?" Su Ze didn’t waste any words and asked the price directly.

After a round of haggling, the two settled on a price.

The claw of the Star-Stepping Giant Beast was a Tier 8 material and was quite valuable. However, Su Ze was now wealthy enough that buying a Tier 8 material was no great strain on his finances.

Su Ze had amassed a good amount of universal currency, but he still chose to cover part of the cost with goods, as Zexing had accumulated a lot of resources from the previous war with the Dou Race that he needed to get rid of.

Just as he settled the payment and was about to take the Giant Beast’s Claw, the shopkeeper said with a sly grin:

"My friend, the price we just agreed on was only for the Giant Beast’s Claw. It doesn’t include my Space Display Cabinet. If you want the cabinet, that’ll be extra. Of course, I have other spatial items that can hold the Giant Beast’s Claw."

Su Ze frowned. "What do you mean?"

Every shop and stall on Mengxing was under constant surveillance, with all transactions recorded. He didn’t believe the shopkeeper would dare to go back on the deal after taking his money.

The shopkeeper laughed. "Don’t be nervous, my friend. This is an old, established shop. I’m not trying to rip you off. It’s just a friendly reminder. You probably have no concept of how big this Giant Beast’s Claw is. Let me put it this way: it’s the size of a planet! Have you figured out how you’re going to take it with you?"

Su Ze understood. A Giant Beast’s Claw that large obviously couldn’t be taken out directly. It would destroy all the surrounding shops, and he certainly couldn’t afford to pay for that damage.

’No wonder this Giant Beast’s Claw had to be stored in a special Space Display Cabinet!’

But Su Ze didn’t have a spatial item capable of holding an entire planet. Spatial artifacts of that size were rare and incredibly valuable.

’An item like that is probably worth even more than the Giant Beast’s Claw itself.’

The Pope, standing to the side, was also panicking. He quickly explained to Su Ze that he was unfamiliar with such a rare Stellar Giant Beast; most of them weren’t nearly this massive.

Su Ze didn’t blame the Pope. He knew the loyalty of the parasitized Pope was beyond question. If he had truly known, he would have spoken up and warned him long ago.

The shopkeeper had simply dug a pit and was waiting for him to jump in.

At this point, he had two choices. He could cut his losses and give up the Giant Beast’s Claw, but that would mean he was the one breaking the contract. He would get 70 percent of his money back at most, even if the officials of Mengxing were to arbitrate.

His other option was to grit his teeth and spend a fortune on a massive spatial artifact that could hold the Giant Beast’s Claw.

Of course, he didn’t have to buy it from this particular shop, but Su Ze suspected that other stores might not even carry such an item. Even if they did, the price wouldn’t be any cheaper. It was possible the surrounding shops had all colluded with this one to drive up the price, forcing him to buy at a premium.

Besides, doing so would be like buying a golden box to store a silver bracelet. It was just plain ridiculous.

Su Ze’s expression was unreadable. He truly didn’t possess a spatial artifact that could hold the Giant Beast’s Claw. Even the space inside the Magic Cube couldn’t contain an entire planet.

The space inside the Creation Dream Butterfly’s eyeball was large enough, but it was composed of countless smaller spaces stacked on top of each other. No single space was big enough on its own.

That is, unless a large number of the internal spaces were to collapse and merge into a single, larger one.

Besides, it was an Ancestral God-level treasure. Bringing it out rashly could attract unwanted trouble.

"You’re from the Fox Race of the Beast Race, aren’t you?" Su Ze looked at the fox-faced shopkeeper with a wry smile.

The Beast Race as a whole was a first-rate race, but it had various branches. The Fox Race was not a particularly powerful lineage within the Beast Race, considered only mid-tier at best.

Although they looked very much like beasts, they were actually one of the Intelligent Races, similar to the plant-based Hui Race. The Hui were plant lifeforms, but they weren’t Spiritual Plants; they were intelligent beings in a botanical form.

The Fox Race shopkeeper kept the smile on his face. "My friend, don’t get angry. If it’s inconvenient for you, I can take the Giant Beast’s Claw and complete the transaction with you in outer space."

By leaving Mengxing and going into space, they could, of course, take out the Giant Beast’s Claw. However, putting aside the question of how Su Ze would transport it, the key issue was that once they left the protected zone of Mengxing, the transaction would no longer be secure.

Furthermore, it probably wouldn’t be just about a transaction at that point. The fox-man likely had accomplices waiting. If Su Ze really left Mengxing with him, he stood to lose much more than just a single Giant Beast’s Claw.

Su Ze expressionlessly sized up the shopkeeper. He was at the Moon God level.

Although he was a Moon God from a first-rate race, the actual power a member of the Fox Race could wield was likely only equivalent to that of a second-rate race.

Su Ze wasn’t afraid of a mere Moon God-level shopkeeper, but he couldn’t be sure of his accomplices’ strength. ’Are there any Sun God-level experts among them?’ he wondered.

Su Ze discreetly sent a few words to the Pope via voice transmission. Without a sound, the Pope turned and left.

The shopkeeper paid it no mind. He seemed certain he had Su Ze trapped, crossing his arms and waiting for a response.

"Then I’ll have to trouble you to take a trip with me," Su Ze finally said.

"Excellent!" The Fox Race shopkeeper’s eyes lit up, a vicious glint flashing in their depths. He picked up the Space Display Cabinet, with the Giant Beast’s Claw inside, and walked out of the shop with Su Ze.

They walked in silence, heading straight for the starship docking area. They had to go there first before they could leave Mengxing.

Instead of taking a ship, the two of them flew directly out into space.