Chapter 29: The Black Market

Captain Kai was pretty nice; he probably didn't want Su Lun to take any wrong turns, so he explained things in great detail.

However, what Kai didn't know was that the talent Su Lun had awakened wasn't a D-level "Hawkeye" but an S-rank dual talent; nor did he know that Su Lun wasn't looking to advance to a common profession but already had the highly compatible Gold-level job material "Rune Puppet" and was planning to take on the rare profession of "Puppeteer".

So, those job suggestions suitable for the average person were not suitable for Su Lun.

Indeed, as Kai said, choosing alchemy gear required a high degree of compatibility with one's own profession and talent to achieve a combat power effect where 1 + 1 > 2.

Melee fighters would choose gear that enhances their physical bodies, assassins would choose agility enhancement, and mages would choose various types of gear that improve casting efficiency...

But Su Lun's profession path was already aligned with skills + agility growth. Although his gear was quite versatile, it was difficult to find a high degree of compatibility.

From what he could see at the moment, other than the Silver-level "Thousand Killing Wings" gear, which was relatively highly compatible, the other Black Iron gears he could come across were somewhat a "waste" of his attributes.

But he thought, what if... there was something even more compatible?

Su Lun didn't dwell on this issue too much.

The matter of alchemy gear blueprints didn't need to be rushed for now, since that was something he would only face after becoming a professional.

First, he had to make some preparations for his "occupation".

To become a "professional", in addition to needing exclusive job materials, one also required various things for setting up the transformation formation. Such as Mana Crystals, stibium, mercury salts... as well as various powdered metal mediums like copper and Gold.

....

After bustling all night, the noise of Green Street gradually subsided.

As the busiest night district in the southern city area, the city's waking morning is its nighttime.

It's worth mentioning that the undercity has no sun or moon, so the distinction between day and night is marked by the city's fog and lights.

At night, fog permeates the entire city, and the lighting beacons set up by the municipal government will be extinguished to save energy. During the day, the fog dissipates, and the lights illuminate the streets.

6:55 in the morning.

The members of the Green Street Cross Association were still in their pleasure quarters, while Su Lun had already left his home.

Due to a large number of steam boilers operating in city factories, the smog from coal burning gave the fog a light gray hue, and the air was filled with a strong smell.

At this moment, there were five minutes until the city train departure, and the streets weren't very crowded.

Su Lun put on a large black trench coat, wore a bowler hat that covered most of his face, and joined the queue waiting for the train. A breeze flowed into his collar, bringing a touch of coolness.

"Ding-ding-ding~"

Soon after the crisp sound of the copper bell, the rail steam locomotive arrived with a "wo-wo" sound.

Just like taking the bus in a past life, Su Lun squeezed aboard.

Arrive at the station, get off.

The Bird District in the northern city area is where four city districts converge. That X-shaped crossroad of two major districts is also the boundary dividing three gang territories. This place doesn't belong to any of the three major gangs, nor can the north city security reach it; it's a sort of no man's land where various powers are intricately intertwined.

And just beneath that crossroad, there's an inconspicuous alley leading to the underground—"Shadow Alley".

This underground place has a professional black market named after this small alley.

There are extensive underground pipelines leading to Old Lington's complicated sewer system. Even if they were surrounded by a large force, those inside could scatter and flee through the sewer network.

Therefore, due to the special geographical environment, this place gradually became the largest underground black market outside the city.

....

"Shadow Alley" is the favorite haunt for Scavengers and Explorers. They bring the gains from their ventures outside the city here to sell—cursed materials, ancient Alchemy scrolls, ores, rare cursed items... and many peculiar and ancient alchemy products.

It's also the favorite extraordinary market for professionals outside the city because here one can find many goods that are rarely seen or even unavailable on the market.

Here, as long as you have money, those black market proprietors can always satisfy you.

Many good things that shun the light, like thieves fencing stolen goods, looted items from murder and robbery, can be spotted in some of the nondescript little shops in Shadow Alley.

Famous guns, swords, high-tier potions, alchemy bullets, steam machinery, alchemy blueprints, and even military prosthetics modified from inside the city, luxurious alchemy materials only nobility could enjoy... and top-secret intelligence.

Everything is available here.

....

Things that shun the light always hide in dark corners.

Every ten meters, there's only a faint gas lamp, casting a dim light.

Walking through a long underground passage, Su Lun descended about one to two hundred meters before arriving at a massive underground fissure.

"Shadow Alley" is not a linear district but a three-dimensional complex of buildings.

Old sewer pipes are neatly arranged on the rock walls, with the pipes' ends leading to endless Darkness in the depths of the earth. People built some small shops using steel frameworks along these pipes. It's like the "Hanging Temple" in Su Lun's previous life, connected by various crude steel staircases and bridges.

Su Lun stood at the entrance to the district, looking at the pitch-black abyss before him, a thoughtful spark flickering in his eyes.

Without further delay, he headed straight for the street of shops.

His footsteps clanged on the metal road.

Perhaps because of the early hour, the just-opened Shadow Alley wasn't very crowded.

Su Lun looked around.

These shops were mostly just a few square meters, with various materials hanging at the entrance, declaring what the shop sold. Occasionally, a few would use charcoal to write a small sign, like "Black Witch's Alchemy Material Shop", "Starry Bookstore", "Giant Mechanical Shop"...

Interestingly, Su Lun even saw his own "missing person notice" on a notice board on the street.

No, to be precise, it was the original owner's.

Although not a wanted poster, the photo stated that one could get a hundred thousand rix-dollars for a valuable lead. This was the bounty for a B-level wanted criminal.

Quite tempting.

This was a notice board for posting material purchase requests, with half the space filled with various material-seeking information and even obscured addresses for the transactions.

Only those who regularly frequented the black market would know what those codes represented.

On the other side was the information merchants' bulletin for exchanging intelligence. It was like the classified ads section of a newspaper, crammed with various "Missing Person Notices," bounties, and transaction codes.

Yesterday's deceased, the A-rank wanted criminal "Scorpio" Abecute, was also among the top listings. However, a red cross had now been drawn across his photograph.

Su Lun merely glanced at it, not giving it much attention.

Why should Su Lun, the brown-haired youth Fike Regadi, care about the bounty list?

Appearances transform with the soul; whether in temperament or facial features, they were becoming increasingly diverse from the original owner.

He didn't believe that bounty hunters would locate him based solely on that photograph.

...

Aside from the established shops in "Shadow Alley," there were merchants along the narrow paths claiming to be Scavengers, peddling antiques.

They pulled out a tattered cloth, arranged a few items upon it, and claimed these were ancient treasures recovered from various ruins.

This gave Su Lun a sense of browsing an antique market from a previous life, with all manner of bizarre curios that seemed imposing but, under the scrutiny of the All-knowing Eye, were all "fakes"!

Though he possessed the All-knowing Eye, Su Lun didn't feel like he could score a bargain and didn't waste time appraising each fake.

Extraordinary items possess unique energy fluctuations, particularly cursed materials, which even amateurs can sense are no simple matter.

Moreover, magicians were highly learned individuals. It's fair to say that nearly every Scavenger team included an "Appraiser" with profound knowledge in archaeology and the occult.

A missed discovery by one person was possible, but for everyone to miss was virtually impossible.

There were indeed quality items in the black market but for a corresponding price. No need to scavenge for deals; if you were truly interested in purchasing, you'd simply ask the shopkeeper who would then clandestinely produce the good stuff not displayed on the counters.

With his own warrant still on the wall, Su Lun had no intention of lingering in the market.

His objective in visiting the black market was to purchase "inauguration" formation materials.

Captain Kai had previously told him that "Rosen's Alchemy Shop" had a good reputation and high-quality wares.

After walking for a few minutes, he located the unassuming little shop in a corner of the market.

At the shop's entrance hung an old-fashioned copper bell, impossible to avoid brushing against in the narrow doorway.

The jingle alerted the shopkeeper to a customer's arrival.

The shop was small, with glass counters on three sides and densely packed little cubbyholes on the walls, while various material samples were also suspended from ropes in the air.

As the bell rang, a bespectacled old man emerged from behind the counter, busy organizing materials, and asked, "Customer, what materials do you need to purchase?"

Su Lun gave him a glance, not mincing words, and took out his list of materials, saying, "I need six pieces of white crystal, thirty grams..."

However, the old man was visibly startled, as if he had misheard, "You need white crystal?"

Su Lun, "What, you don't have it in your shop?"

The old man explained, "No, honored customer, I mean no offense. I'm just saying that advanced 'professionals' have no need for high-purity crystals; ordinary yellow crystals should be sufficient."

The shopkeeper sold alchemy materials, so he naturally knew that those purchasing crystals were likely setting up their inauguration alchemy conversion formations.

He sold dozens of crystals a month, over 95% of which were impure yellow crystals bought by his customers, with a few opting for the higher-purity blue crystals.

As for high-purity white crystals? No one in the outer city needed that high-grade material.

Not only were they expensive, using such advanced materials for a common inauguration conversion formation was sheer wastage.

So, he assumed that the customer in front of him had made a "slip of the tongue."

"Thank you for your kind suggestion, but I am certain I need six pieces of white crystal," Su Lun said with a serious tone.

It wasn't ignorance on his part; rather, he was now well aware of many alchemy facts and knew he required this material.

For a standard inauguration ceremony, impure yellow crystals were indeed sufficient.

But the "Runed Puppet" materials he possessed were of gold-grade quality, which necessitated similarly high-grade materials to set up the conversion formation for a successful inauguration.

"Oh, is that so..."

The old man gave him another look and said no more.

Taking items from his personal storage ring, he said, "I just received a few pieces from a group of Scavengers yesterday. I was planning to sell them to a major company in the inner city, but I'll sell them to you. However, they won't come cheap. Six pieces will cost you a total of twelve thousand rissos."

Su Lun eyed the six palm-sized, crystal-clear pieces on the tray and nodded in satisfaction.

While he lacked the ability to judge purity, the All-knowing Eye revealed these were indeed "high-purity white crystals."

The old man then inquired, "Do you need anything else?"

"Fifteen grams of snowflake stibnite, eighty milliliters of mercury salt liquid above grade IV, eight parts of refined red copper powder, at least three decades of lizard powder weighing two hundred grams, green glow crystals..."

Su Lun made no attempt to hide anything, openly listing his required materials.

He understood there was no need to conceal his intentions.

These material merchants had sold too many types of items and were extremely shrewd. They could guess your purpose the moment you spoke.

Trying to make purchases scattered across different shops only increased the likelihood of being targeted.

"Those are all very high-grade materials... you wouldn't likely find them in one go at any other shop. Fortunately, I still have a bit in stock," the old man muttered, obviously guessing that his customer intended to set up a very advanced conversion formation.

However, as a professional merchant, he wouldn't inquire into a customer's secrets, which was the rule of the black market.

Without further ado, he retrieved all kinds of materials, weighed them, and quoted, "In total, that will be forty-two thousand rissos."

Su Lun listened to the price and emotionlessly took out the still warm bounty money, saying, "This is the payment, please count it."

Just a few hours earlier, Kai had told him that he had spent eight thousand rissos on formation materials for his own inauguration.

Now, Su Lun was spending five times that amount.

However, the good news was that he now had everything he needed for the inauguration.