Trade

The store behind the bar was a bustling place for self-improvement. When Keanu walked in, it was eerily empty with only a young man nonchalantly sipping tea. As Keanu entered, the man lethargically pointed out, "If you want to increase your attributes, head to the light ring over there, choose to exchange CP for attribute points, and then use your emblem to add attributes. If you want to learn skills, come to me, select the skill you want to learn, and tell me. If you want to purchase high-powered weapons, also tell me, I won't ask for your gun license."

Keanu noticed an emblem on the man's left hand.

Coming over to the young man, an energy screen was promptly opened in front of him, "Find what you like yourself, anything's possible if you have the CP."

Keanu furrowed his brows at the complex options displayed before him. There were all kinds of Battle Skills, Disciplines, and Martial Arts he had and had never heard of. Notably were those Bloodlines, Spiderman Bloodlines, Superman Bloodlines, and even Super Saiyan Bloodlines. However, the learning conditions were remarkably strict. For example, Advanced Superman Bloodlines stipulated: A strong Bloodline, after exchanging for this Bloodline, you can get Superman's Attack, invulnerability, and omnipotence, except for its critical weakness of being susceptible to Kryptonite. Learning this skill requires 27,000 CP and Superman's blood.

Not only did it require a large sum of CP to acquire, but the most challenging part was securing Superman's blood. Even then, there's a fear of Kryptonite as a deadly weakness. It's no wonder that with all of Superman's invincible abilities, this Bloodline only got a B rating.

Yet, to Keanu's dismay, the Battle Skills affordable to him with his seven to 8000 CP were rather scarce. An Adventurer only has five Battle Skill slots, and Keanu already had two taken. For the remaining three slots, he didn't want to waste on subpar Battle Skills. As such, he was momentarily unable to purchase an average Battle Skill.

In other words, his best option was to equip himself with a weapon set.

After some thought, Keanu decided to sell the goblin hand ax and the short sword he had. Both were levelless melee weapons. For those in the basic difficulty Gutter Area, the use was far less valuable than firearms and unlikely to be purchased by anyone else.

Selling both items netted him 2400 CP, but the store took a 40% tax on all sales, so Keanu was left with a net of 1440 CP.

Next, Keanu dug out the pistol from the inventory space within his emblem and asked the young man, "Do you have any magazines here? This gun is low on ammo."

His special ammo, a hundred bullets, were all used up, leaving hardly any average bullets.

The young man disdainfully glanced at the pistol, "That piece of junk is only to scare newbies, other than throwing it into the store for a few CP, it's just worthless. If you've got enough CP, I can suggest some good stuff."

Saying this, he tapped on the space in front of him twice, causing two rows of weapon racks to pop up from nowhere, filled with all types of weapons.

Picking a pistol off a rack, the young man said, "Desert Eagle, a large-caliber handgun, empty gun weight 1.8kg, initial bullet speed 1380ft/s, muzzle kinetic energy bonus 10 points, with an explosive effect, can kill an elephant in a single shot, drawback is that the recoil is too strong, slow rate of fire, short range, 1500 CP."

"Do you have anything better?"

The young man casually picked up a large gun and said, "High-frequency pulse ray gun, D+ level weapon, can release high-energy rays, powerful, shooting speed one per second, effective attack distance 500 meters, charging type weapon, with bonus penetrating effect. Each sells for 6000 CP, constant damage 40 points, and with an additional 6000CP, it is a non-charging type. The downside is that it can't use special bullets, and the use of this weapon requires 30 points of Attack attribute, 25 points of Vitality, and an Advanced level shooting specialization."

Keanu was pondering when Wyatt walked in from the outside.

"Brother, I recommend you not to buy this ray gun."

An hour ago, this man wanted to rob him.

Now he was calling him "brother."

A person's status was always linked to their strength; compared to Earth, this place was just more direct.

"Why not?" Keanu asked.

"Unless you are an adventurer who goes down the gunner route, firearm-type weapons only help during the beginner's difficulty. Upon reaching the second difficulty and beyond, you'll have to depend on your Attack. This gun is D+ level, so when you don't need it anymore, you can only sell it to the shop, but you'll have to deduct 40% in taxes which is a massive loss. It's better to use an average D-level weapon first."

Keanu nodded, "Thanks."

Returning the gun to the young guy, "Swap it for another."

The young guy shrugged and handed over another gun to Keanu, "This is a spirit gun, selling for 3000CP, D-level, muzzle kinetic energy bonus is 6. For an average bullet, it adds 3 points of fire attribute damage. Continuous for 5 seconds, only effective on individuals. Fire damage can be accumulated to a maximum of three times. It doubles the power when used with fire-type special bullets, and the firing rate is 2.5 shots per second. It uses D-grade bullets, bullet damage is 12 points, and the advantage is that it shoots relatively quickly, has continuous damage skills, and is applicable in most scenarios. The disadvantage is that the killing ability is on the lower side, so it's best to use it with an unlimited bullet box. D-level unlimited bullet box requires 3000CP."

"I'll take the gun, add the unlimited bullet box too."

Both Wyatt and the young man exchanged glances.

For those coming out of the newbie mission, being able to afford a D-level weapon or Battle Skill was already not an easy matter. It was even rarer for someone to easily shell out 6000CP like Keanu. But what stunned them took place later. Having bought the gun and bullets, Keanu immediately went to the light ring in the center of the shop and started boosting his attributes. Every 100 CP points enhanced 1 attribute point and Keanu was left with 1598 CP points. With a swift decision, he added ten points to Vitality and five to his SP. During the Van Helsing mission, he had enough of the shortcomings of insufficient HP. Now that firearms didn't require one's attribute points, he added more to his Vitality.

Seeing the halo flash fifteen times consecutively, Keanu stepped out from the halo. Wyatt watched Keanu with admiring eyes, "You made a lot off the newbie mission, didn't you?"

Keanu responded, "I guess you're hinting at why I was contesting over 300 CP with you guys when I'm this well off."

Wyatt gave a subtle smile, taking it as affirmation.

Keanu had initially planned to buy some specialized bullets, but to his dismay, the shop didn't have any on sale. After weighing his thoughts, he decided to leave.

Stepping out of the shop, Keanu strolled through Infinity City.

Being his first time visiting the world of Infinity City, he had a novice understanding of this place and hence was quite interested in taking in its views. The streets of Infinity City were always kept clean, the sky was devoid of any rainy season, but the air was surprisingly moist and fresh.

On both sides of the road, rows of giant trees that he couldn't name were planted. Even while there was no sun in the sky, sunlight was omnipresent.

Although every district was equipped with many functional facilities, the absence of residents and rudimentary buildings made Infinity City seem deserted. There were vast open spaces between buildings, and people were free to roam around. Here one could find gardens, fountains, and green lands everywhere, making the surroundings elegantly serene.

Keanu spat on the ground, watching as the stain automatically disappeared from the ground.

"At least, I can freely spit here without worrying about fines," he chuckled under his breath. "Got anything better?"

Wyatt caught up from behind. "Did you kill Count Dracula?"

Thinking for a moment, Keanu took out the bottle of blood he got from Count Dracula.

Seeing that item, Wyatt froze for a moment before breaking into an ironic smile.

No wonder his robbery failed, as the person who killed Count Dracula himself wasn't likely to be so easily intimidated.

"I admit, kid," Wyatt said sincerely, "Would you tell me how you did it?"

Keanu didn't hide anything and briefly explained to Wyatt how he had killed Count Dracula, causing Wyatt to be shocked.

Keanu made it sound easy, but Wyatt was indeed startled hearing of such a fight. It was astonishing even for an experienced adventurer like him.

Returning the 50 CP to Keanu, Wyatt said, "This is yours, you taught me a big lesson."

Keanu calmly answered, "I'll take it easy."

"No need to be. By the way, lad, what are you planning to do next?"

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

"Selling it to the shop won't work. Head to the General Area, although you will need to pay 200 CP points for commuting, the trade area there will be interested in your goods. As for here…" Wyatt chuckled, "No one can afford it."

Following Wyatt's advice, Keanu went to the trade point of the General Area.

Every district's trading point was essentially the area's busiest place. Walking down the wide, long street, the first sight to behold was a large square with thousands of people. The people in the square were either squatting or standing, bustling with activities, giving off the vibe of a marketplace. There were many people whose heads were cloaked in fog, making it hard to get a clear view of their faces. They wished to avoid external attention intentionally. There were no such people in the Gutter Area, maybe for lack of the skill to do so. But some did not hide their identities, either out of sheer confidence or power.

This was the trading venue for the General Area.

Here, one could trade some special items that couldn't be sold to the shop or those whose worth couldn't be realized by selling.

After his first time trading CP, Keanu's emblem added a new feature - The ability to display goods. The emblem emitted an energy screen visible to all, showing the item for sale, its name, traits, and price. By touching it with a hand, one could learn about the requirement to use it - quite a convenient feature indeed.

Many exotic Battle Skills, weapons, and even pets were up for sale on the square. The adventurers from the General Area were much stronger than those from the Gutter Area, which could be seen from the formidable Battle Skills up for sale here, albeit with a hefty price tag. Only here would one realize that the previous gains were not so remarkable after all.

However, as soon as Keanu displayed the bottle of Dracula's blood on the energy screen, it immediately piqued the interest of quite a few people.

For close-combat warriors with a preference for dexterity, vampire bloodlines held particular appeal.

Given that it wasn't available for purchase in the city's shop, it set a relatively high price. Considering that the intermediate Vampire Bloodline was a C-grade Bloodline and a C-grade was worth 9,000 CP, Keanu boldly priced it at 8,000 CP.

Frankly, that price was indeed a bit steep.

On hearing Keanu's price, a group of adventurers murmured insults among themselves.

Some mocked him, saying, "It's just a vial of Dracula's blood. Not a full C-level bloodline. Just a requirement for claiming the bloodline. Get your facts straight, Dracula himself isn't even worth that much!"

Keanu retorted, "But this bloodline can be upgraded to a high-level bloodline. If you're interested, I'm open to a trade, provided you have items I'm keen on. In that case, I might consider lowering the price."

A muscular adventurer promptly offered, "If you're new here, you should know that most of the adventure scenarios in the first difficulty areas involve gunfighting. Therefore, bulletproof items should hold substantial value for you. I have a bulletproof jade pendant here. It can withstand forty bullet strikes and can be reused after recharging. What do you say?"

However, even with the additions, Keanu refused, "Too low."

While it was true that such a bulletproof jade could be a valuable life-saving tool for an adventurer of the first difficulty area, it wasn't too rare either. It was valued at about 1000 CP. As such, the blood of Dracula might not be worth 8000 CP, but it certainly wouldn't be traded for a jade!

The adventurer understood this too. He flipped his wrist, revealing a scroll: a Sharpshooter Skill Upgrade Scroll, which could increase the shooting specialization skill by one level.

The upgrade scroll for the shooting specialization didn't stand out at first glance. But you have to realize that only basic specialty skills can be purchased in the store, and further upgrades need to be achieved through training, not by spending CP. Additionally, the higher the level, the more difficult it is to upgrade such skills. Therefore, this scroll was very useful since it could not be purchased in the store. However, gun skills were usually not given much importance in Infinity City, so even if the scroll was a rare item, the market demand was low.

That's why Keanu shook his head, "You need to add something more."

"You truly are a greedy guy!" various adventurers exclaimed in unison.

Notwithstanding, the adventurer didn't seem to mind.

He knew that what he was offering was something a level one adventurer would need. Unless an adventurer was following the Gunner path, these items had lost much of their value to a level two adventurer. To trade away items he had no use for, in exchange for Dracula's Blood, it seemed like a good deal no matter how you looked at it.

So, the adventurer calmly proposed, "I'll add a maximum of 2000 more CP."

This particular adventurer seemed to carry some prestige in the general area. As he haggled with Keanu, others watched on, occasionally adding their comments.

"Too little," Keanu responded, "Add 3000 CP more. I know what you're offering isn't worth much here, it's mainly beneficial for me. I believe quite a few people around here have items like the ones you're offering. But what I have isn't easily obtainable. Scarcity adds value, so add 3000 CP more and we have a deal."

From the reactions of everyone else, Keanu guessed that the value of the blood bottle was around 5000. That made sense, considering Count Dracula himself was worth only 4000 points, and mid-ranking vampires of the Bloodlines could also produce it. Even though it wasn't available in the store, he couldn't be unreasonable with the price.

"No way, that's too much. I'll give you 2100 at most," the adventurer countered.

"2900" Keanu insisted.

"2200" the adventurer retorted.

The duo backtracked one after the other, locking horns over the price.

In the end, the adventurer satisfied his request by trading a bulletproof jade, the shooting specialization upgrade scroll, and an additional 2300 CP.

Once the transaction was completed, the adventurer said to Keanu, "Seems you have some power in the gutter area to have obtained this. If you make it to the general area, come find me. My name is Benny. If you align yourself with me, I've got your back."

Keanu responded with a laugh, "Isn't fighting amongst ourselves prohibited in Infinity City? I believe we won't have many opportunities to fight in the same mission world. I appreciate the good intention though."

To his surprise, the rest of the adventurers began to laugh uproariously.

One of them shouted out loud, "You're naive! There's so much more to understand about Infinity City. Once you make it to the general area, you'll see. Strength isn't just useful in mission worlds but in Infinity City too!"

Oh?

Keanu slightly squinted his eyes, contemplating for a moment. He nodded and said, "Thank you, noted."

With that, he turned and departed. As for Benny's offer, he chose to ignore it.