Chapter 37: Third Vertical Street

Busy until midnight, Duke repaired all the salvaged spiritual cards he had obtained through his efforts.

However, not all the discarded spiritual cards could be successfully repaired. Some damages that appeared fixable on the surface had actually suffered energy circuit shrinkage within, rendering them irreparable.

Xiaoyi lacked scanning capabilities and could only judge based on Duke's basic perception.

Success rate was hard to guarantee.

Yet even so, this was already far better than all the card repairers. Without Xiaoyi's computational power, card repairers couldn't possibly determine whether a discarded spiritual card had any repair value left.

If it did, it wouldn't have become a discarded spiritual card in the first place.

For instance, Old Sam, a seasoned card repairer, frequently scavenged cards from the waste card station, but he only collected materials from those cards and had never restored a discarded spiritual card.

Upon waking up.

Following his usual routine, Duke headed to the back-alley breakfast stall.

As he reached the breakfast stall, he noticed a group of people gathered by a wall with a notice board. This was where the Snakehead Tower in town posted announcements.

Duke squeezed his way through.

At a glance, he saw a new notice pinned to the board: "Notice Regarding the Construction of Third Vertical Street."

"They're building the Third Vertical Street?" Duke was taken aback.

Quickly reading the entire content of the notice, he learned that the administrative institution of Snakehead Town, the Snakehead Tower, planned to add a new vertical street to the western side of the town. This Third Vertical Street would be surrounded by a residential area.

"They're about to initiate an expansion war!" someone confidently declared, "Why else would they build a new street? It's definitely for outsiders to live!"

"I wonder if it's a good thing or a bad thing."

"Definitely a good thing. With the Third Vertical Street in the west, our Second Vertical Street will become the town center. The business owners will get rich again."

"Not necessarily. Once more people come, the town will surely become chaotic."

"Exactly, especially those mercenary groups. They'll spread trouble wherever they go. Just watch, every household will be affected!"

Most people had a pretty good idea about the expansion war. As for whether they welcomed it or not, that was hard to say.

Expansion war implied countless opportunities but also came with numerous dangers. Especially for commoners without supernatural power, it would be difficult to grasp those opportunities, but dangers wouldn't spare them just because they were ordinary. Misfortune could still befall them.

"Whether it's chaotic or not, I'll go to the Snakehead Tower and see if I can buy a small courtyard in advance. The lanes around here are too cramped." Someone finished reading the notice and left directly.

Duke, still amidst the crowd, contemplated silently.

The establishment of the Third Vertical Street didn't have a significant impact on Little Sam's Card Repair Shop. In fact, once the war started, card repair business might become overwhelmingly busy.

"I won't buy a courtyard on the Third Vertical Street. I'll save money and buy a farm later." Duke pushed through the crowd and purchased some pastries from the breakfast stall.

As he finished paying, he happened to see Bast chatting loudly with some familiar faces amidst the crowd.

His expression was enthusiastic.

Clearly, Bast was quite excited about the impending expansion war. The shop had been quite slow lately, leaving him worried. Seeing an opportunity on the horizon naturally got him excited.

Duke paid no mind to it.

He went back to focus on his own business.

Two days later, early in the morning, Duke took Leven and Harper on the Black Beetle Car to Chenjiao City. When they began purchasing goods, they discovered that all the merchandise had increased in price.

"They say that an expansion war is coming. Since the prices are going up, there's nothing we can do but follow suit."

"Alright, give me the list, but reduce the quantities by half for everything."

"Why not stock up a bit more, boss? Prices might rise again in a few days."

"No money."

Duke spoke the unvarnished truth. He had been stockpiling goods for quite some time, at least three to five months' worth of supplies. Stocking more would leave him without money to afford meat.

Upon visiting card shops and spiritual artifact stores again, he found that prices had increased to varying degrees.

"Leven, Harper, you guys take the goods back to the inn and wait for me. I'm going to the waste card station to scavenge some cards." Duke signaled his two assistants to go ahead.

He went to the waste card station alone.

At the entrance, the old gatekeeper greeted him immediately, "Boss Duke, back for some card scavenging, eh?"

"Yes, sir." Duke discreetly handed over a pack of cigarettes.

The old man cheerfully put it in his pocket and then whispered, "Warehouse number three in the backyard, two new shipments arrived today. Go try your luck."

"Alright."

With the gatekeeper's tip-off, Duke made his way toward Warehouse number three. He scavenged cards at the waste card station, meticulously calculating fees on time, saving every bit of time he could.

Several people were already scavenging cards in the warehouse, all of them owners of nearby card repair shops.

Perhaps they had also bribed the gatekeeper.

In any case, this wasn't a privilege exclusive to Duke. He exchanged greetings with a familiar face, then quickly plunged into the pile of discarded cards.

Any discarded card in good condition caught his attention. He would pick them up and carefully sense them.

With Xiaoyi's oversight, his success rate in finding hidden gems was relatively high.

For a full hour, Duke immersed himself in the joy of scavenging cards, discovering three discarded cards that could possibly be repaired. He also disassembled several well-made cards crafted from good materials, recycling some card components.

"Young man, it's getting dark. You're still scavenging cards?" a fellow scavenger passing by with a backpack asked cheerfully.

"I'll look a bit longer."

"Haha, wish you luck in striking it rich."

The fellow scavenger quickly left, and Duke turned to continue scavenging. However, it seemed the fellow scavenger's words were quite effective. Duke picked up a discarded card in good condition, performed a quick sensing, and raised an eyebrow.

Then, he swiftly glanced at the other people in the warehouse, inconspicuously stashing the card into his pocket.

"2-Ring Civilian Card - Temperature Stabilization Card. Multiple energy circuits damaged, card face considerably worn, but the basic state remains stable, with a certain probability of successful repair."

This was Xiaoyi's assessment.

Before this, Duke had scavenged a few 2-ring spiritual cards, and most of them were in terrible condition. It was rare to find one that hadn't been completely destroyed.

"May my wishes come true!"

"Just two days ago, I was thinking about scavenging 2-ring spiritual cards. Today, I actually found some!"

Duke continued scavenging for a while until the sunset. Finally, he left under the urging of the staff, headed to the administration to settle the fees, and quickly boarded a car to depart.

...

Early the next morning, Duke, Leven, and Harper arrived at the Western Station.

However, when it was time, the Black Beetle Car didn't immediately sound its whistle and depart. The conductor came out to explain, "This route has two more cars departing together, so we'll have to wait a bit."

"Where are these cars from?" someone asked.

"They're from the Union Tower."

"Union Tower?" Duke realized with a start, "This is probably a confirmation that the expansion war is happening. Otherwise, why would Union Tower send people to Snakehead Town?"

"Boss Duke is right. An expansion war is likely to be on the horizon."

The Union Tower was one of the "seven towers" in the Seven Pagoda Federation, just like the Knowledge Tower and the Arcane Tower. These were institutions spread throughout the entire federation.

Among them, the Union Tower was an administrative institution responsible for various internal affairs across the federation.

If you had to make a comparison, it was like a State Council.

Every city had a Union Tower presence. Except for the noble territories, each with its own administrative center—such as the Snakehead Tower in Snakehead Town—serving as its administrative center.

Without making the crowd wait much longer, the Black Beetle Car departed at 8 o'clock in the morning. Soon, two slightly smaller Black Beetle Cars joined in after.

A convoy of three cars slowly entered the route.