Chapter 521

"Each meeting today is scheduled out to allow a 30-60 minute window, so you can take your time with each client. Even though these were trial orders, most are still a large amount. I assume the leaders of each of the three settlements we visit will be present. For the morning shift, we can visit Sector 3 or 4. Which would you like to go to first?"

I reply, and the stealth armor I'm wearing changes my voice to a non-recognizable static tone. It's identical to the Dark Guards, and even the old Sector 2 craftsman himself.

"Let's go to Sector 4 first. I'd like to see how Chester is doing anyway."

Lith nods.

"Good choice, this should be quick. Although, Sector 4 is the only trade route we have on the list that doesn't have a direct teleportation platform to their residence. Chester is the leader of the Sector 4 black market. It isn't as well connected and established as the rest of Solara. I'm still working on getting a trade deal in motion for their main government, but they haven't sent back any formal response yet."

He puts four of the five crystals into a new item box, then tosses the one labeled Sector 4 over to me.

"I assume you'd like to do the honors."

I place a hand on both his and Ember's shoulders, then crush the crystal and the room flashes white with teleportation magic.

We're all transported to a public building in Solara.

The morning sun is still coming through the large glass windows, and the white floor is so glossy I can almost see my reflection in it.

There are about a dozen random businessmen and hunters near the sides of the room, but no one looks disturbed by our sudden arrival.

There are only two men in suits that walk up to us, recognizing Lith, and motion for us to follow.

Without exchanging any words, we follow them through the streets of Solara and down underground into the black market area that brings back many memories of the first time we were kidnapped by the Sector 4 leader.

There are multiple long, narrow circular hallways underground, and it looks almost identical to the time I visited here last. Many people trade E and D grade gear and items with each other, and we approach a section of the market that is sectioned off and guarded by multiple level 300-400 security guards.

Beyond this point, there are no black market vendors or random buyers. There are just empty hallways and more guards.

We're escorted through and approach a mana-shielded door, right in the place where the Old Sector 4 Leader's office was previously.

I vividly remember destroying it with Demonic Energy and acquiring the [Hush] skill from the woman that was guarding it.

However, as the door opens this time around, the smiling familiar face of the old man who gave us a place to stay after we rescued him from being kidnapped greets me.

Thanks to Arie, a while back, he's been power-leveled from below 100 to over level 400, and now wears a full set of high C-Grade and some B-Grade gear. He still has a basic grade appraisal skill.

I'm still in a suit of armor, so he doesn't recognize me, but I sure recognize him as he welcomes us inside his office.

The short man motions for his hired guards to leave us be, and the door shuts to leave us alone in the room.

Chester sits behind his desk and lets us take a seat on the chairs and couches in the room.

The walls are already starting to fill with unique gear and even some old items I recognize from his home back when I stayed in it while we were recovering and plotting to save Lydia months ago.

I speak through the static suit of armor's voice changer and pull out the item boxes full of items and place them on the table.

"Everything is here."

At the same time, I take off the jet-black helmet and show Chester my face as he accepts the orders.

His eyes widen once they meet mine, and to my surprise, I feel a new link of loyalty form through my Rising Emperor's domain instantaneously.

He jumps up from his desk.

"You came back. I never had the chance to thank you, and it seems all your ambitions in the Dark Continent have come to fruition. Well, I wouldn't be talking to you here if they didn't."

He laughs to himself as I respond.

"It looks that way. Everything is definitely on an upward trend, it's good to see you're doing well too."

We shake hands over the item boxes full of loot, and he doesn't even bother to look through the fulfilled orders.

The two of us catch up, updating each other on the progression both of us have made.

Chester tells me he thought he would be retired forever, but this new opportunity has gotten him back into the auction hunting and rare artifact trading business.

Most of his old contacts have gotten back in touch with him, and he's excited to get back in the game. He pays me out the remaining 75% of the amount owed, then gives a new list of order crafts he'd like. Before he pays, I give him a special offer for items that aren't possible for a mere legendary grade craftsman to create.

I plan on having my double make special request orders and limit them to three units per buyer, per order.

These are orders that consist of items with five total buff stats over 100% each, or special skills and attributes imbued that can't be normally imbued into items like elements. To make things clearer, I outline a simple list of attributes I'm able to imbue, like stealth, conceal, mythic grade body hardening, hush, and other rare magic skills that don't naturally spawn in loot drops.

These are all extremely rare and useful skills that, if imbued into the right item, could create priceless pieces.

I pull out a few high B-Grade items from my item box that I've done tests on, showing what's possible and replicable from items I've farmed from the top floors of the Vice City Labyrinth.

For these special items, Bri won't be involved. It will be one-on-one with the clients. I plan on having my body doubles personally fulfill these orders and offer them as premium offers to each buyer, but severely limit the quantity they can buy no matter how much extra money they offer.

Each custom item will cost 333 gold no matter what the craft is, and it must be paid upfront. So, 999 gold is the max a person can spend on these custom orders.

The plan is not to have these special items created to make money, but to increase my reputation with rumors that the new Sector 2 craftsman is capable of great things. I'm sure powerful people will spread rumors once they get their hands on items that shouldn't exist.

I use telepathy to message Lith during this meeting as I can tell he's visually interested, and tell him to submit an order like this one too if he'd like. There will be no discounts on custom items like these, and he accepts in an instant, brainstorming what kind of special gear he wants based on my explanations to Chester.

After another 20 minutes of discussion, Chester decides on what his three custom orders will be. He wants a maxed-out amulet of protection with +100% or higher buffs on every stat, a blood-bonded chest plate with an unbreakable body hardening attribute, and for the third item he decides to leave it up to me to decide, he says: "Surprise me, I know you will."

I smile and accept his gold for the custom items, along with a new basic order that is just over double the size of his last and the 25% down payment.

Lith and Chester have a brief conversation too, but Ember stays quiet throughout most of the talk, just relaxing and enjoying his time in the outside world after a full year of recovering in isolation.

As we finish up and stand to leave, Chester speaks.

"Very good to see you again Jay, I hope to see you next month, come by anytime, and be careful out there in the other Cities. They may not have fared as well as Solara did after that surge. There were a record number of breaks here in the city last night. Luckily there were enough hunters present to handle them.

I nod, activating my Rising Emperor's domain and sharing my all-seeing eye with him for a moment.

"Thanks for the warning. I hope you accept my parting gift, take a look at your skill in your status, it's in need of an upgrade, don't you think?"

Chester's eyes widen and he smiles as he presses [Upgrade] two times and it changes from basic grade to legendary grade.

"I- guess it did."

He's visibly amazed, confused, and excited at this new development.

Then, Lith pulls out the next transport crystal and tosses it to me, labeled Sector 3.

I place the black helmet back on my head and put a hand on Lith's shoulder while Ember places one on mine and I nod Chester goodbye.

"We're off to the next stop, see you soon."

There's a flash of white light, and the next thing I see around me is the bright blue sky overhead.

I take a breath of air and it feels thick and full of pollen.

A cool breeze moves by and the rows of cornfields and other various crops all around us go on for further than I can see.

There are dozens of kilometers of farmland and crops all around us.

We're standing on a small white circle in the middle of a dirt road with a large red building less than 100 meters to our left, and a small town of fewer than 100 people to our right down in a shallow valley next to a river.

Out in the fields, there are about 100 people hard at work too.

There are only two people that greet us, walking toward us slowly down the dirt road from the red barn.

One is a very old man, and the other is a middle-aged man with the same dark features. He carries two suitcases, and when I appraise both of the men, there isn't a single status notification that comes back.

They're both completely unawakened.

Now that I see this, I even scan the town nearby and find that over 80% of them are unawakened. The ones that are, hardly breach level 10.

However, almost all of the 100 men hard at work in the fields picking and tending to the crops are awakened, and they're all between level 50-150, stacked with strength and speed enhancing gear. They have many HP and MP potions on their waists too.

This place reminds me of the people I met at the Unity Supply company in the outskirts of the Vice Region. This farm is also a business older than dungeons themselves, still profiting despite their goods not being magical in nature, however, they've also adapted to the newer times nicely.

Most of the gear they ordered is very similar to the kinds that I'm sensing on the workers in these fields.

The fact that I can't even sense the end of these crop fields means they probably go on much further, and create work for hundreds if not thousands of other people. That would explain the large order I received from them, but it's none of my business how they use the gear I sell to them.

We wait patiently as the two men approach, and once we do the younger-looking man puts one of the suitcases down on the ground.

"There is the remaining 75%, let us see the gear we've been promised and it is all yours."

I nod and step forward, summoning the item boxes full of their orders out from thin air in a neater pile next to the suitcase in front of them.

The older man just nods and grunts, not saying a word, and the taller younger one places two fingers in his mouth to whistle.

"Count 'em!"

An even younger kid, not older than 15, comes running out from the barn with a happy look on his face and follows the wishes of who I can only assume is his father and scoops up all the item boxes.

The boy holds a paper in one hand and goes sifting through each of the item boxes and moving his eyes down the list quickly.

He isn't awakened either, so he's only going off of sight, feel, and quantity of items.

About two minutes pass before he nods and replies.

"Everything's here, pops!"

The middle-aged man smiles.

"Very good, bring 'em all back inside."

The kid grabs up all the item boxes, and at the same time, the oldest man grunts again and turns to leave.

They both make their way back to the barn and the only one left is the middle-aged figure that's done all the talking so far.

My assumption is these aren't the types to spend an extravagant amount on extra items, so I'm hesitant to even give them an offer about the special items like I did Chester.

None of them even bothered to introduce themselves or even asked for any of our names. It looks like they really just want to be left alone here and keep to a routine.

Even Lith said the order they made was the exact same one that they would make from the old Sector 2 craftsman.

The middle-aged man speaks up again while putting the other suitcase on the ground and looking at the small slit in my black suit of armor's helmet.

"There is the 25% down payment for next month's order. We want the same potions and basic gear. Nothing more, nothing less. The name's Carson by the way, it's nice to see some new faces around here."

His gaze turns to Ember and back to me as I nod and use telekinesis to bring both of the suitcases toward me, opening them up in front of my vision and counting the coins just to be sure. This is someone I've never met before, it would be naive of me not to make sure it's all there.

Once I confirm the amount is correct, I let both fall into item storage portals.

The moment they disappear, the middle-aged man looks behind him, and looks relieved when he doesn't see the old man and kid within earshot when he opens his mouth next.

"This may not be polite to ask, but I'm not quite sure who else to turn to... Is it possible I could hire you for a job? We don't have enough extra capital to hire hunters from Solara, and I'm afraid it will be too late if we wait for the Association's workers to come by. There's been a terrible dungeon break on our property, and no one in the surrounding villages is capable of handling it. I'd be happy to pay you in crops once this season's harvest is over, but I have nothing else to offer."

There's a moment of silence between us, and I smile beneath my black helmet before I reply in a static voice.

"This is a surprise... but I accept. I'd be happy to handle any break you have. Free of any monetary charge of course, there is just one favor I want in return."

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Author's Note:

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