The Spider Queen

Chapter 151: Slave Market

(Planet Calypso- City of Trinidad)

Walking through the streets of the city was an eye-opening experience for both Sophie and Cleo. 

Houses were built out of simple materials in the outer area and most appeared to be made out of wood or concrete.

They had just left the tavern and were going to visit the housing register building to rent an apartment for their three week stay. 

It was hard to imagine that even in a society as advanced as the Earth Federation, that a place like this could exist.

Victims of drug overdoses were convulsing on the sides of the road while passersby stepped over their bodies without care.

The pungent odour of raw sewage that was thrown casually out of the window and garbage left out made both girls’ noses wrinkle up.

Sophie had seen several fights quickly turn lethal as weapons were drawn at a moment’s notice. 

There were even some punks who were brave enough to try to give them some trouble, but Sophie just dispatched them mercilessly.

She had no interest in keeping scum like this alive. 

What was a bit concerning was that her killing spree did not affect her mental state. Sophie just felt casual indifference.

Would a human feel compassion if he killed an ant?

“Oi… you looking for some jingle juice?” a greasy old man approached the two girls with a bottle of what appeared to be a golden liquid.

“Is that piss?” Cleo’s face contorted as she smelled the unpleasant odour. 

The old man laughed like a madman before throwing the bottle at the pair without warning.

Fortunately, he was not an accurate thrower, so the bottle landed just to Cleo’s right and the contents spilled out. 

Cleo immediately jumped away from this disgusting liquid and watched vengefully as the old man then ran away while scratching his pants vigorously with a huge smirk on his face.

“Fresh…… meat…… “Sophie growled out an flung a knife towards the old man’s back. It was time to use her disguise as a hulking brute to intimidate these pirates. 

“Arghhhhh!” came the painful scream as the knife easily pierced the flesh and entered deep into his spine.

Sophie walked over to his body and casually ripped the blade from his back and moved on without giving him a second glance.

Cleo was still looking visibly shaken from the pee attack, so Sophie pulled down the hood on her robe to cover her face completely.

It was tough for a princess who lived in the imperial palace to get used to such terrible encounters.

Even one as unfavored as Cleo during her childhood had never gotten pee flung at her before. 

The housing office was the located near the entrance of the slums, but its appearance was far better than those of the surrounding apartments.

It was three stories high and made out of a glassy black substance that resembled obsidian. 

Numerous pirates could be seen entering and exiting the building, but the Blackguards stationed at the entrance prevented any trouble.

Sophie lumbered slowly and joined the line with movements that seemed unnatural and twisted. 

It was important to maintain her facade as a monster at all times in order to avoid suspicion. Cleo followed in her footsteps while bowing her head to conceal her expression. 

The line was moving fairly quickly, and it was not long before the two girls found themselves inside the housing assignment building.

The inside of the building was made out of a translucent glassy material that sparkled gently under light of the chandelier on the ceiling.

Cleaning robots travelled along the floor regularly as the pirates entering the building were covered in dirt and grime.

“What you want?” came the curt question from the middle-aged woman working at the counter.

Sophie remained silent and allowed Cleo to do the talking. The princess kept her head down and whispered,

“Give us a cheap one.”

The lady at the counter shot them a look of feigned interest and handed the pair a small piece of parchment paper with an address written on it.

‘7A Warthurst Street, St. Roberts Old Shack’

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(Red Viper- Slave Market)

“Two thousand Enas for the blonde!”

“Is that freak locked up in that cage over there a new species”

“Boss you know I’m good for the money…. let me pay you back Tuesday?”

Perhaps no place on planet Calypso was noisier than the open-air slave market run by the Red Viper group.

Haggling, arguing and even fighting was commonplace but the rules of the market strictly forbid damaging any of the slaves before sale. 

Guards were stationed at regular intervals throughout the slave market in order to keep an eye on troublesome influences.

The truly valuable species, races and creatures would be sold off via auction, so the open-air market was mainly treated as a location to sell subpar goods.

The slaves here were from races that were not aesthetically pleasing, those with injuries or girls who did not meet the beauty standards for the wealthy buyers at auctions.

They wore little more than filthy rags that did not cover up the malnourished flesh hanging on to their skinny frame.

It would be fortunate if even ten percent of the slaves sold in the open market lived more than a few months.

No protections or responsibilities were required in order to purchase a sale so naturally the business was good.

Slaves were bought for different purposes, some wanted strong muscle in order to do manual labour, others treated them as nothing more than sexual outlets to vent their sick desires while the final group would buy slaves to use as cannon fodder in human experimentations. 

Humans, Servies, Quafes and Mendolesa were rarely found in the slave markets as it was quite difficult to get fresh stock in the middle of the Mendolesa- controlled Hydra Star System. 

Quafes were by far the most expensive of the four due to their shapeshifting abilities that made them highly desirable.

One such Quafes was currently trapped in a small container made out of a dense material that prevented its escape. 

The gooey liquid sloshed around angrily as it frantically pounded on the walls of the container, but it was useless. 

No one was coming to help them