Birds Die For Food ; Humans Die For Wealth

The trio entered the underground city after walking in the Underground Tunnel for a while.

"Is this... a black market? "muttered Ian, staring out at the crowded streets filled with people from all walks of life.

They appear to be selling anything and everything that was not deemed illegal by the [Occult Council]. Humans or human organs, for example, are the only items that cannot be sold here.

"This is Copenhagen Underground City's Dark Street. It is well-known for the goods traded in this market. You can get almost anything here. It's on me," said Asher.

Ian nodded and didn't seem to mind the promise at all; however, he was trying hard not to laugh.

'You made that promise...don't blame me later,' Thought Ian.

Asher handed two gold-colored cards to Aeric and Ian.

Ian debated whether to use it for a moment before succumbing to the temptation. However, Aeric took the money as if it had always belonged to him, which amused Ian greatly.

The trio soon split up.

"I should start looking for those stores now." Ian muttered.

The main reason Ian came here wasn't because of this event, but because of the Treasures that had been collecting dust in some stores for decades.

Many Ancient Items and Broken Relics circulated in this market, but the management did not discover all the valuable items.

There would always be some mishaps, and coincidences that would cause a valuable treasure to gather dust.

This is common in a large market like Dark Street, and Ian came here to steal-... Save those treasures.

He walked for a few minutes before arriving at his first destination: a pawnshop!

This store is not well known. But it's also not desolate.

People would occasionally come in to buy something to 'change' their lives.

Sometimes, when ordinary people come into contact with this mystical stuff, they will undoubtedly want to become Mind practitioners.

However, with no background or talent, these aspiring Mind practitioners would be limited to using some inferior items and techniques available on these Dark streets... which are sold at exorbitant prices.

So these people would go to these pawn shops occasionally to gamble on so-called "Special" and "Ancient" items that were specially reserved for their fated owners.

Because of this, instead of becoming wealthy, debts would haunt them even in their dreams.

When someone sells a valuable item in their store, the owners, like any other pawn shop, will reduce the price as much as possible.

When faced with no other options and constant threats from loan sharks and gangsters, these people would give in to the price demanded by pawn shops in order to continue with their lives.

By Using phony publicity such as "An underdog buying a broken sword to become a millionaire," "A Beggar to Billionaire in One Step," and so on.

These pawn shops would always have a steady stream of idiots delivering their cash to purchase useless items from them.

These aren't made-up examples; Ian actually saw these advertisements on palm plates lying on the street.

'However... who would have thought that an Artifact rivaling Library of Babel would gather dust in one of these pawn shops?'

The Babels Library, which that mysterious man gave to Aeric, could also be considered an incredible Treasure.

However, this type of treasure is even greater than a legendary Treasure.

Their worth is incalculable; depending on the user's strength, the user could use treasures like these in various ways.

Ian shook his head at these irrelevant thoughts and entered the shop.

The first thing he noticed upon entering wasn't the massive animal carcass suspended from the ceiling or the antiques adorning the walls, but...

'It smells like cigarettes and alcohol... and why does it smell so bad?'

Ian wanted to cover his nose instinctively, but the mask on his face prevented him from doing so.

Ian activated a tiny button on the side of the mask after remembering Asher's words when he was handing it to him.

He heard a small buzzing sound from the mask, and pure air quickly replaced the stench.

Ian must accept that Asher has given him an incredible artifact. This mask even has crazy tech attached to it, such as a voice changer and an air purifier.

That stinky and irritating stench vanished as if it had never existed.

Ian sighed in relief and walked over to the counter.

A pot-bellied old man at the counter was vaping while watching TV.

"What do you have in stock?" Ian inquired casually.

The Voice Changer on the mask changed Ian's voice to a monotonous robotic voice, but the shop owner didn't seem surprised by this.

"Why? Did you not read outside? It's a pawnshop, P.A.W.N shop," said the obese old man teasingly, without even looking at Ian.

However, when he turned his head to look at Ian, his expression changed.

'F*ck, I nearly killed myself...' This is definitely a fat sheep! He may have a great background'

He had a lot of experiences like this as a pawnshop owner living on Dark Street. However, after seeing Ian's clothes and mask, the pawnshop owner became tempted.

He had never seen such expensive Artifacts casually worn by someone. Moreover, the other party doesn't seem to have any weapons.

'Should I scam him... maybe it's too dangerous, but... what's the harm in trying?' Thought the owner of the Pawn Shop.

Ian frowned as he used |Thought Reading| to read this obese geezer's thoughts.

He wasn't able to read many thoughts because of his low proficiency and strength, but the few thoughts he read made him re-understand what "Birds Die For Food ; Humans Die For Wealth " means.