The Deal

The shop behind the bar was the place for strengthening oneself.

When Shen Yi entered, the shop was empty except for a young man idly sipping tea. On seeing Shen Yi, he lazily said, "To enhance attributes, go to that light circle over there. Exchange bloody points for attribute points, then use the badge to add attributes. If you want to learn abilities, come to me. Just tell me what ability you want to learn. If you need high-powered weapons, let me know. I won't charge you for the gun."

Shen Yi noticed that the young man also had a bloody badge on his left hand.

Approaching the young man, he opened an energy screen in front of Shen Yi: "Look for yourself, anything you want to learn is fine, as long as you have enough money."

Shen Yi frowned at the complex array of options before him.

Various skills, abilities, and techniques, both familiar and unfamiliar, appeared before his eyes, especially the bloodlines. Spider-Man bloodline, Superman bloodline, Super Saiyan bloodline, even the Cockroach bloodline, were all available. But the learning conditions were quite strict. For instance, the high-level Superman bloodline read: "A powerful bloodline ability. Upon exchange, one gains the power of Superman: invulnerability, flight, virtually omnipotent. However, due to Kryptonite's lethal suppression of the Superman bloodline, this bloodline has a fatal flaw. Rated B. To learn this ability: 27000 bloody points and Superman's blood are required."

Not only did it require a huge amount of bloody points, but obtaining Superman's blood was the hardest part, and even after learning, there was the fatal weakness of fearing Kryptonite. No wonder the seemingly invincible Superman bloodline was rated only B.

However, what truly frustrated Shen Yi was that, with only seven or eight thousand bloody points, the skills he could afford were pitifully few.

An adventurer had only five combat skill slots, and Shen Yi had already occupied two. He did not intend to fill the remaining three slots with trash skills. Thus, for the time being, he couldn't purchase ordinary skills.

In other words, his best option currently was to equip himself with a set of weapons.

After some thought, Shen Yi decided to sell the Dwarf Hand Axe and the Short Sword. Both items were level-less melee weapons, valuable only to beginners in the slums, hence not sought after by others.

Selling both items together, he got 2400 bloody points. The shop charged a 40% tax on sold items, so Shen Yi netted 1440 bloody points.

Then, Shen Yi took out a pistol from the storage space of the bloody badge and asked the young man, "Do you have any magazines? I'm running low on bullets for this gun."

Shen Yi had used up all his special bullets, and even the regular ones were few.

The young man glanced at the pistol with disdain: "That piece of junk is only good for scaring newbies. Other than exchanging it for a few bloody points in the shop, it's useless. If you have enough bloody points, I can recommend some good stuff."

Saying so, the young man made a couple of gestures in the air, and two rows of weapon racks appeared out of nowhere, filled with various types.

He casually picked up a handgun and said, "Desert Eagle, a large caliber handgun, weighing 1.8 kg unloaded, with a muzzle velocity of 1380 feet per second and a 10-point muzzle energy bonus. It has an explosive effect and can kill an elephant with one shot. Its drawback is heavy recoil, slow firing rate, and short range. It costs 1500 bloody points."

"Is there something better?"

The young man then picked up a large gun and said, "High-frequency pulse ray gun, a double D-grade weapon. It emits high-energy rays with powerful force, a firing rate of 1 shot per second, and an effective range of 500 meters. It's an energy-charging weapon with a piercing effect. Each sells for 6000 bloody points with a fixed damage of 40 points. Add another 6000 bloody points for the non-charging version. The drawback is that it can't use special bullets, and using this weapon requires 30 points in strength attribute, 25 in constitution, and an advanced-level gun expertise."

As Shen Yi pondered, Hong Lang entered the shop.

"Young man, I suggest you don't buy this ray gun."

An hour ago, this man wanted to rob him.

Now, he was calling him "young man."

Status always ties with strength. Compared to Earth, it was just more direct here.

"Why?" Shen Yi asked.

"Unless you're a gunner adventurer, firearms are only helpful to us in the initial difficulty. From the second difficulty onwards, we rely on our own strength. This ray gun is double

 D-grade. When you don't need it, you can only sell it to the shop, losing 40% in taxes. It's too much loss. Better to use a regular D-grade for now."

Shen Yi nodded, "Thank you."

Casually tossing the gun back to the young man, Shen Yi said, "Exchange it for another one."

The young man shrugged and tossed another gun to Shen Yi: "This is the Spirit Fire Gun, priced at 3000 bloody points, D-grade. It adds 6 to the muzzle kinetic energy and adds 3 points of fire attribute damage to ordinary bullets, lasting 5 seconds and effective only on individuals. The fire damage effect can stack up to three times. When using fire attribute special bullets, the power effect is doubled. It has a firing rate of 2.5 shots per second. It uses D-grade bullets with 12 points of bullet damage. The advantage is its fast firing rate and continuous damage capability, suitable for most scenarios. The downside is its lower killing power, so it's best paired with an infinite bullet box. A D-grade infinite bullet box costs 3000 bloody points."

"I'll take this gun and the infinite bullet box."

Hong Lang and the young man exchanged glances.

It was not easy for someone who had just completed the newbie task to afford a D-grade weapon or skill, and it was even rarer for someone like Shen Yi to easily spend 6000 bloody points.

But what surprised them came later.

After buying the gun and bullets, Shen Yi went to the central light circle of the shop and began to enhance his attributes. With every 100 bloody points enhancing 1 attribute point, Shen Yi still had 1589 bloody points left and casually added 10 points to constitution and 5 to spirit. He had suffered from insufficient vitality during the Van Helsing task. Since firearms had no requirements on one's attributes, he added more to constitution.

Watching the light circle flash 15 times, Shen Yi walked out. Hong Lang looked at him with envy: "You really got a lot of benefits in the newbie task."

Shen Yi replied, "I guess what you mean is: why do I still risk my life for 300 bloody points with all this wealth?"

Hong Lang chuckled, which was an acknowledgment.

Shen Yi originally wanted to buy some special bullets, but to his disappointment, the shop did not sell them. Deciding to leave, he walked out of the shop and strolled leisurely through the city.

This was his first visit to the world of Bloody City, and he was interested in exploring its scenery.

The streets of Bloody City were always clean, with a sky devoid of rain yet moist and fresh air.

On both sides of the road, there were rows of tall, unnamed trees. There was no sun in the sky, yet sunlight always existed.

Despite the many functional facilities in each area, Bloody City, lacking residents and basic buildings, appeared empty. The gaps between buildings were vast, and people could come and go freely. There were gardens, fountains, and green spaces everywhere, making the environment elegant and serene.

Shen Yi spat on the ground and watched the spit vanish from the surface.

"At least here, one can spit without worrying about fines," he chuckled softly.

Hong Lang caught up from behind.

"Young man, did you really kill Count Dracula?"

After a moment's thought, Shen Yi took out the bottle of blood he had obtained from Count Dracula.

Seeing this, Hong Lang stood in shock for a while and finally shook his head with a bitter smile.

No wonder his attempt at extortion failed. The person in front of him had killed Count Dracula, a challenge with a 100% difficulty level. How could he be easily intimidated by a few broken guns?

"I'm convinced, young man," Hong Lang said sincerely. "Can you tell me how you did it?"

Shen Yi did not hide anything and briefly explained how he had killed Count Dracula, leaving Hong Lang shaking his head in amazement.

Shen Yi's description was simple, but to Hong Lang, it felt incredibly thrilling.

Even for an experienced adventurer like him, such a battle was astonishing.

Returning the 50 bloody points to Shen Yi, Hong Lang said, "I'll give you back these bloody points. You've broadened my horizons."

Shen Yi replied indifferently, "Then I won't be polite."

"It's nothing. By the way, young man, what do you plan to do next?"

"I plan to sell this bottle of Dracula's blood, but I'm not sure how to get the best price."

"You're really willing to part with it. Selling it to the shop is definitely not an option. Go to the Ordinary District. Although it costs two hundred bloody points to travel back and forth, the trading area there will be interested in your goods. As for here..." Hong Lang chuckled, "No one can afford it."

Following Hong Lang's advice, Shen Yi headed to the trading point in the Ordinary District.

The trading point in each area was the liveliest place there. Walking along the long street, a large square filled with thousands of people came into view. People were bustling about, sitting or standing, like a busy marketplace. Many had a misty fog over their heads, concealing their faces – obviously intentional to avoid attention. Such people were not seen in the slum district, probably lacking this ability. But some did not conceal themselves, showing the confidence of the powerful.

This was the trading area of the Ordinary District.

Here, one could trade special items that couldn't be sold to shops or wouldn't fetch a good price.

After his first bloody point transaction, Shen Yi's bloody badge had gained a new function – product display. The badge projected an energy screen visible to all, displaying the item for sale with its name, characteristics, and price. Touching it with a hand would reveal its usage conditions, making it extremely convenient.

The square was filled with rare skills, weapons, and even pets for sale. The adventurers of the Ordinary District were much stronger than those in the slum district. The skills for sale were quite powerful, and naturally, they were expensive. Only here could one feel that their previous gains were not that significant.

However, when Shen Yi displayed Dracula's blood on the energy screen, it immediately attracted many people's interest.

The vampire bloodline was particularly attractive to agile melee fighters. As it couldn't be purchased in city shops, it commanded a relatively high price. Considering that a mid-level vampire bloodline itself was a C-grade, representing nine thousand bloody points, Shen Yi unapologetically priced it at eight thousand bloody points.

Frankly, the price was quite high.

A group of adventurers, hearing Shen Yi's high asking price, started complaining.

"A newbie, don't price it so outrageously. This is a bottle of Dracula's blood, not a C-grade bloodline, just a necessary condition for mastering the bloodline. Understand the difference – even Dracula himself isn't worth this much!" someone shouted at Shen Yi.

Shen Yi coldly replied, "But this bloodline can be promoted to a high-level bloodline. If you really want it, I'm open to trade for something I like. I can lower the price a bit."

A muscular adventurer immediately said, "You're a newbie, right? Most adventure scenarios in the one-difficulty area are gun battles, so bulletproof items should be useful to you. I have a bulletproof jade pendant that can withstand forty bullet attacks. It can be recharged and used again. What do you think?"

Shen Yi looked it over.

A D-grade bulletproof jade pendant, capable of withstanding forty bullet attacks but ineffective against D-grade or higher firearms and advanced-level gun expertise.

"Not enough," Shen Yi said coldly.

The jade pendant was indeed a decent protective item for one-difficulty adventurers, but not rare, worth about 1000 bloody points. Dracula's blood might not be worth eight thousand bloody points, but it certainly wasn't something a jade pendant could buy.

The adventurer understood this and revealed a scroll: a gun technique enhancement scroll, which would increase the gun expertise level by one.

This scroll might seem unremarkable, but one could only buy basic expertise in shops. Advancing further required training, not bloody points. As gun techniques were historically undervalued in Bloody City, the scroll, although a rare item, had limited market demand.

So, Shen Yi still shook his head, "You'll need to add more money."

"You're really greedy!" the group of adventurers jeered.

The adventurer, however, wasn't angry. He knew his items were needed by one-difficulty adventurers, but not so much by those at higher difficulties. Exchanging his surplus for Dracula's blood was a good deal.

"I can add another two thousand bloody points at most," the adventurer said calmly.

This adventurer seemed to have some clout in the Ordinary District. While he negotiated with Shen Yi, others just watched, occasionally chipping in.

"That's too little," Shen Yi replied. "Add three thousand bloody points. I know the items you have are of little use here, only beneficial to me. Items like yours are common here, but mine is not so easily obtained. Rarity dictates value. Add three thousand bloody points, and we have a deal."

Judging from everyone's reactions, Shen Yi estimated that the value of the blood was around five thousand bloody points. This made sense since Count Dracula himself was worth four thousand points, and mid-level vampire bloodlines were not exclusive to Dracula. Although not available in stores, it didn't justify an exorbitant price.

"No, that's too much, I can go up to 2100 at most."

"2900."

"2200."

The two bargained hard, each giving a little ground.

Finally, the adventurer agreed to trade the bulletproof jade pendant, the gun technique enhancement scroll, and an additional 2300 bloody points.

After the transaction, the adventurer said to Shen Yi, "You were able to get this item, so I can see you have some strength in the slum district. When you come to the Ordinary District, you can look me up. I'm Chen Tao. If you're willing to follow me, I'll take care of you."

Shen Yi smiled, "Aren't we not allowed to fight each other in Bloody City? I don't think we'll have many opportunities to battle in the same mission world. I appreciate the gesture, though."

To his surprise, this remark set off a round of hearty laughter among the adventurers.

One of them called out loudly, "Rookie, you know too little about Bloody City. Once you enter the Ordinary District, you'll realize that strength is not only useful in mission worlds but also in Bloody City itself!"

Oh?

Shen Yi narrowed his eyes slightly.

After a moment, he nodded, "Thank you, I'll keep that in mind."

Then he turned and left.

As for following Chen Tao, he chose to ignore that suggestion.