Sixty percent distribution fee? Twenty percent finder's fee? Extortionate. But Li Fang had no network, no reputation he could leverage. Dao Broker Xun held all the cards. If he turned him down, where else would he find someone willing to deal with him?
"Finder's fee," Li Fang decided. Quick sales were more important than maximizing profit per unit right now. He needed cash flow, proof of concept. "I have four more ready."
Upon saying that, he placed the remaining Ghost Candles on the counter.
Dao Broker Xun examined them with his cybernetic eye, ensuring that they're the same quality. "Hmm. Consistency is... approximate. Let's say fifteen Qi-Credits per unit? My clients value discretion above all. And reliability, which these candles of yours barely possess."
Fifteen Credits. The cost of production was four. Profit of eleven per unit, minus Xun's twenty percent (3 Credits), left 8 Credits profit each. Selling all five would net him 40 Qi-Credits plus the recoup of their production cost, 20 Qi-Credits. It was pathetic. Barely enough to cover a day's karmic interest penalty but it ended up quadruple the 15 Qi-credit chit he earned scavenging in the Data Tombs, which took him days to complete. In a way, he would profit a lot.
Or not… according to his naggy associate.
[QFS Warning: Profit margin below optimal threshold for debt reduction trajectory.]
[Current strategy yields insufficient capital growth.]
[Financial cowardice risk is increasing.]
Li Fang's jaw tightened. Cowardice? He was risking an explosion building these things and dealing with a shark like Dao Broker Xun in the murderer's alley. He needed to push back. In fact, he was already risking it all by turning to him. It's impossible for him to find buyers on his own.
After contemplating for a moment, Li Fang stated firmly.
"Twenty Credits per unit. And your fee is fifteen percent. These aren't just components. They are a solution to a specific problem. The first of their kind on the open grey market."
Xun tilted his head, a slow smile spreading across his face. The swirling lights in his spectacles seemed to brighten. "Oho! The little spark has teeth! Unexpected. Twenty Credits... Fifteen percent... Ambitious. Very ambitious." He tapped a ringed finger on the counter. "Very well. Because I admire novelty, and frankly, because your sheer audacity is amusing. Twenty Credits it is. Fifteen percent commission."
He made a complex gesture with his hand, and a holographic contract, shimmering with faint legal bindings, appeared above the Ghost Candles.
"Standard consignment terms. Payment upon successful transaction with my clients."
Li Fang reviewed the contract terms via his implant while the QFS highlighted key clauses.
[Payment Window: 24 Hours Post-Sale.]
[Risk Transfer: Upon Client Acceptance.]
[Dispute Resolution: Dao BrokerXun's Discretion (High Risk).]
It was extremely skewed in Dao Broker Xun's favor but that's the standard for the Midnight Market and the man himself.
He nodded his confirmation, adding his encrypted digital signature.
"Pleasure doing business," Dao Broker Xun grinned as he swept the Ghost Candles into a hidden compartment within his stall. "I shall contact you when funds are transferred. Do try not to get yourself deleted before then. It complicates the accounting. I hate to deal with the trouble of explaining to the Celestial Revenue Bureau Agents."
Li Fang nodded and turned to leave. The interaction left a greasy film of unease on his nerves but there's no one else he could turn to now.
Sixty-five credits net profit, if Dao Broker Xun's clients bought them and if he didn't screw him over. It was a drop in the ocean of his debt but something he wouldn't have dreamed of getting a few days ago.
He attempted to create a product that had a risk of exploding on him. It was only through the assistance of the QFS, which guided and warned him at each step, did he managed to prevent anything from going off.
As he navigated back through the shifting crowds, a sudden commotion erupted nearby.
Two figures in drab grey uniforms – low-level municipal enforcers, not the feared Celestial Revenue Bureau Auditors – were roughly apprehending a street vendor who sells unlicensed nutrient bars for a cheaper, more affordable Qi-Credit cost.
A small crowd gathered, murmuring amongst themselves. The vendor wailed about quotas and hungry children, pleading for them to let him off.
Li Fang skirted the edge of the incident, keeping his head down. But he saw the vendor's face. It was etched with desperation, the same kind Li Fang felt gnawing at him.
He saw the enforcers check the vendor's public Qi-Credit rating. Abysmal, naturally. After a few more checks, they hauled him away, likely to a debt-processing center where either be sanctioned to do some work to clear his rating or turned into a bond slave.
Another soul crushed by the system. Another casualty of insufficient Qi-Credits. They didn't need Ghost Candles. They needed capital. They needed a chance, however small, to actually improve their situation, not just hide from it for thirty minutes.
[Observation Logged: High incidence of financial distress linked to cultivation resource scarcity in Lower Layers.]
[Market Inefficiency Detected: Lack of accessible micro-capital for low-tier cultivators. Potential Opportunity Identified.]
Li Fang pushed the thought away. He couldn't even save himself yet. Building a financial empire will start after he survives the next 60 hours. He needs Xun's payment to come through. He needs more components. He needs... more.
The single Spiritual Coin felt heavy in his pocket again, a silent rebuke to his barely passable in QFS eyes' 65 Qi-Credit hustle. The system's warning about cowardice was to remind him that hoarding the coin was just the start. It made him realize how he was thinking too small.
Ghost Candles were a gimmick. And surviving wasn't enough.
The system wanted an empire. And empires weren't built on salvaged capacitors and back-alley deals. They were built on disrupting the entire damn market.
But how is he to do that? Follow the system's suggestion, perhaps.
Glancing back to its previous observation, Li Fang muttered under his breath, "Lack of accessible micro-capital for low-tier cultivators. Potential Opportunity Identified. That's it!"