blogombal Chapter 31 The Underground Market and Plum Blossom 5
Chapter 31 The Underground Market and Plum Blossom 5
"I feel like I'm being targeted by something unclean."
"Meow?" Rachel tilted her head and looked at Lorne.
"A person surrounded by fog, whose face cannot be seen."
"Could it be? Could it be the Slandar people?"
"Does this world also have those faceless people from urban legends?" Lorne pondered, looking down.
"Since fate hasn't given any warnings, everything should be alright, right?"
Even so, the dream still made Lorne somewhat uneasy.
……
"Looks like this box doesn't always work!"
"Or is it because the steps were incomplete?"
Lorne looked at the box of brilliant ideas in front of him with a helpless and complicated expression.
This time, following the instructions on the note in the box, he went to Iron Cross Street. Although some unusual things did happen, he still couldn't find the notebook.
"In short, let's figure out how to identify those formulas first, and then sell them."
"The recipe for Sequence 8 is worth about 450 pounds, so Sequence 7 must be worth at least double that," Lorne thought to himself, estimating the value of the recipes he had copied from his notes.
"Where can I buy it?"
Backlund has an underground trading market, so Tingen should have one too.
Furthermore, some so-called ritual magic and special divination often use spiritual materials.
Even if the main ingredients in a potion recipe can be regulated by the authorities, the auxiliary ingredients probably can't.
"Like the peppermint and night-blooming jasmine in a fortune teller's potion recipe, they seem to be fairly common ingredients," Lorne continued to think, his mind wandering.
In other words, some ordinary materials that are inherently spiritual can also be used in mystical rituals or potions.
"From this perspective, it is basically impossible to completely control spiritual materials; some materials can even be grown on their own."
Lorne estimated that completely banning those materials would require unimaginable financial and material resources, and theoretically it should be impossible.
Following this line of thought, as long as we find some markets in the gray areas where ordinary materials are sold at a shallow level, we can gradually delve deeper into the deeper markets where extraordinary materials and potion recipes are traded.
"But how do you find the shallow market?"
"If I come up with the overall plan myself, and then guide the Clever Plan Box to give me the specific steps, is that okay?" Lorne turned back to look at the Clever Plan Box.
Asking directly about the completeness of the "trick box" issue earlier led to some unsatisfactory steps being taken.
Lorne plans to define the overall framework himself, then break it down into several steps, and fill in the specific details using the "Ingenuity Box".
You only need to ask about small problems that can be solved in one or two steps. Since the Clever Box can only be used twice a day, doing it this way is indeed not very efficient.
But if you can figure out the correct way to use this box, then it's worth it.
"However, we still need to be careful. Even if such a market is not officially controlled, it should be monitored by the authorities to some extent."
"How do I go to a market that sells spiritual materials?" Lorne asked a small question. This time, he didn't directly mention extraordinary materials, for fear that the box might be mishandled because of the word "extraordinary."
Normally, places that simply sell spiritual materials are not entirely illegal, so even if they are concealed, they are not too difficult to find. However, those places are definitely natural, shallow markets.
What Lorne is lacking now is a breakthrough.
A few seconds later, a note appeared out of thin air in the box, which read:
"Heading to the port area of Tingen."
……
Dock area.
Looking at the bustling crowd, Lorne was at a loss for what to do.
After a moment's thought, he activated his spiritual vision.
The underground market should be a hub for spiritual materials and items related to the extraordinary. If that's the case, then all we need to do is find a place with a large amount of abnormal spiritual fluctuations... Lorne had a plan in mind.
"Huh? What's that?"
As Lorne used his spiritual vision to survey his surroundings, he suddenly noticed unusual spiritual fluctuations in his field of vision.
He was an elderly gentleman with gray hair.
From Lorne's perspective, his spirituality was inexplicably flamboyant.
"Could he also be an extraordinary being?" Seeing that he didn't seem to be just casually strolling around, Lorne had an idea.
Since the other party is an extraordinary being and has come to this neighborhood where an underground market is hidden, there is a high probability that the other party is here to trade in the underground market. As long as I follow him, I should be able to find the underground market I want to go to.
Having made up his mind, Lorne quickened his pace slightly to catch up with the old man. He turned off his spiritual vision and deliberately kept his distance from the man.
Given that the other party was most likely an extraordinary being, there was a significant chance that activating his spiritual vision would be detected by them. Therefore, he even walked very quietly, fearing that he would be discovered.
"Dragon Bar." Lorne followed the other person to the entrance of a bar, staring blankly at the sign in front of him.
What, another bar?
So it seems like bars are truly magical places.
He pushed open the door, went inside, and casually took out the monocle used for identification from his pocket, putting it on his right eye.
In this chaotic spiritual environment, the effectiveness of spiritual vision is greatly reduced. Therefore, Lorne plans to use the appraisal function of his monocle to help him confirm some information.
However, not long after he put on his monocle, a hand slapped him on the shoulder with a "smack".
"I never expected to find... here."
Lorne turned around and saw a man in his thirties squinting at him.
"Wait!" He looked Lorne over carefully for a few moments.
"It's not that." His tone was somewhat disappointed, but also mixed with a hint of relief.
"Who are you!" Lorne shoved the hand off his shoulder and said in an unfriendly tone.
He knew he needed to appear tough in this situation. Dealing with such strange strangers meant he couldn't back down; backing down would reveal his weakness, and revealing weakness would lead to trouble.
"Sorry, friend, I mistook you for someone else." He smiled and apologized to Lorne.
Seeing the other person's smiling face, Lorne's expression softened slightly. After all, as the saying goes, one doesn't hit a smiling face.
"Since it's a misunderstanding, then goodbye." Lorne turned around and prepared to leave.
"Hey, wait a minute." The other person stopped Lorne.
"I guess this is your first time here?"
"If you want to buy or sell anything, you can tell me, okay?" he said to Lorne with a smile.
"Huh?" Lorne was somewhat surprised.
"These are just regular sessions. If you want something more in-depth, come with me." He waved for Lorne to follow.
"Don't be afraid, there are rules here. If everyone could do whatever they wanted, this market would have gone out of business long ago."
That's true, and my spiritual intuition didn't sense any warning... Lorne nodded in agreement and followed him into a corridor.
"I'm hosting a special trading gathering today, and I have a feeling you'll be interested."
Why should you help me?
"It's not really helping you. I get a cut of any deals that happen at the parties I host. I'm basically finding clients for myself," he explained to Lorne with a smile.
"Sir, what is your name?" Lorne asked, puzzled.
"Asking someone's name when you're meeting them for the first time is considered very rude in our line of work!" The man gave a forced, insincere smile.
"Uh..." Lorne realized he had said something inappropriate.
"You can call me the 5 of Clubs."