–Hey, buddy, can you tell us how you fend off mental hallucination attacks? We can’t even step inside—a few hundred meters in and trouble starts.–
–Yeah, could you share how you get in? We just want to hunt at the edges.–
Since this mountain appeared nearby, many have already ventured in and never returned alive.
Tales of mental attacks, even matters concerning Nen-related items, are nothing new around here. Though most people know such treasures are beyond their grasp, they still long to enter the mountain—because the beasts within are a source of extra Chronos for them.
But to them, this place is a forbidden zone; they can only ambush the occasional beast that runs out, waiting for luck to smile on them.
Yet, this man standing before them could waltz right in and deal with them.
Robin Lo slayed a few more frenzied beasts, only stopping when they dared not approach and turned to flee instead. He wiped the blood off his sword with a tuft of grass and said with a hearty laugh:
–Apologies, folks, we’re just here to find someone. Can’t hang around to play with you.–
–Bro, aren’t you guys going to keep at it? We’ll foot the bill—Invest you.–
Wails of despair echoed through the financing Moxel.
Everyone looked on with regret as they saw the extra lifespan dividends they had received—be it a few months, a few years, or over a decade.
Robin Lo cheerfully offered half of the remaining 150 years or so of Chronos to Yang Zicang, but was met with a glare of refusal from her.
–Xue Lao Er hasn’t been found. It doesn’t look good—most likely trouble.–
……
Yang Zicang and the other felt only slight disappointment, but in Hubville, Qiao Ming was utterly consumed by anxiety.
–I can only hope no one’s heard Moxel’s report about discovering the Chronos Wargear yet.–
The fact that Ju Yin Chase’s friends could move freely in the mountains filled Qiao Ming both with admiration and worry.
He could only pray that these two would actually find the weapons later and return them as promised. Otherwise, facing two Quad-class opponents, trying to pressure them into handing over the weapons through some factions in the Shibin Wastes would be nothing but a pipe dream.
Shibin Wastes, outside the mountains.
Yang Zicang and Robin Lo wandered around the outskirts of the forest for half a day, took down a few beasts, and then started taking turns sleeping and resting. After the night train showed up, they set off towards the nearby Jiyun Dapeng Zone.
The night wind rustled softly.
In Shibin Wastes, people driven by survival had long lost their sense of day and night. At night, outside the Dapeng Zone, figures carrying small buckets to fetch River Lethe’s water could be seen trudging along; inside the sheds, the place was even livelier, bustling as if it were still daytime, seemingly no different from broad daylight.
–Who’s there?–
–We’ve come to collect some herbs. For example, silver-leaf grass, dried phantom vine, and rainbow fruit.–
The gatekeeper of the Peng Zone didn’t ask them any more questions. He simply pointed them toward the trading area for outsiders before letting them through.
Half an hour later, Yang Zicang emerged from the gate—his shoulders laden with bulging sacks of herbs—which made the guard’s eyes pop wide open.
–So cheap! All this stuff cost me less than twenty years of Chronos.–
Robin Lo clicked his tongue in surprise: –The base cost of that pill is at most free months’ worth of Chronos, and they have the nerve to start at a hundred years.–
–That’s just leverage for haggling. Cut it down to five years a pill like with my shoes, and they’d still make a tenfold profit.–
Robin Lo flipped through the herbal directory he’d just bought. This reference on flora had actually cost the most out of everything—a whole ten beings in Chronos.
Its pages were packed with useful flora and labels long compiled over the years in the Shibin Wastes. Some names were adopted through common usage, while others came from data decoded in otherworldly scriptures.
–I used to have a book on otherworldly magical arrays once.– Still slinging her herb-laden bag over staff, Yang Zicang began walking along as she spoke.
–Once?– You haven’t been here that long… Robin Lo thought, then he shifted the weight on his shoulder and asked, words dryer than this desolate land found.,–Where’s the book now?–_-**
–Shattered—by the gunshot I purposely aimed at the rat under it.–
「……」
Wasn’t that right after this guy first entered the world? What a lucky break.
By three or four in the morning, Yang ZiCang had scoured every medium-to-large Peng Zone nearby, buying up all the herbs that could be used for making incense pills.
This even caught the attention of the little journalist.
The bored little guy craned his neck, curiously sizing up Yang ZiCang loaded down with bags—but since there was no surge in fame, it was just a passing glance of idle interest.
In Hubville, the duty staff stationed in front of several monitors let out yawns.
–What the hell are they doing?–
Somewhat puzzled, they watched as Yang ZiCang and his companion shuttled back and forth across various Peng Zones, hustling all night.
–No clue. No context, no backstory. Who knows what they were up to during the day.–
……
After a whole night of crisscrossing the city, Yang ZiCang had amassed stockpiles of medicinal herbs. By the time he was done, the temperature was nearly warming up again.
Just before the train cleared its return onto the city subway tracks, Yang ZiCang rode the nightmare subway to a spot not far from Hubville, then set out on foot with Robin Lo, heading toward the hazy city on the edge of the horizon.
As they stepped once more into the mist-shrouded town, Morris’s faded figure was already waiting there.
–Good morning.–
–Morning to you too, Mr. ZiCang. Another sleepless night, huh?–
–It’s fine,– ZiCang joked, having hung around Zuo Feixian and the others for a few days. –Sleeping during the day is warm enough.–
–Haha, right. Well, this nightmare machine is the best I’ve managed to borrow.–
Beside him was something resembling a radio, but its surface bore scale-like patterns—a modular device transformed from a slain nightmare.
Robin Lo could tell at a glance what it was for: it could extend the range of Moxel financing, reach farther people’s Moxel funding requests, and also allow Pro-Invest actions with strangers over a greater distance.
–Anyway, there’s no point spending Chronos on those crappy little things that just add a few dozen kilometers. I’ll get a better one someday—this’ll do for now.–
–How many kilometers can it extend?–
–Hehe, this thing covers up to over two hundred kilometers. It’s top-tier gear—no wonder the owner was reluctant to sell.–
Robin Lo nodded. Even among his own resources, this device would rank among the finest; that this guy could borrow it meant he had solid credit.
–But seriously, what do you plan to do?–
–You’ll find out.– ZiCang picked it up to gauge its weight—today’s main goal was this very item.
–Your connections are pretty good these days, huh—being able to borrow something like this.–
–That’s all thanks to the practice contracts.–
Robin Lo’s ears sharply perked up.
–You have no idea how crazy the powerhouses in Hubville have gone. Even those Red Moxel guys in our city are groveling and begging me to get in touch, just for a ready-to-use secret technique.–
Morris lifted his head, –Good thing I took the private high-end route from the start—otherwise, I’d be surrounded and unable to move on the streets. But now the reputation is slowly spreading, and the pressure’s building, hehe.–
–Oh, right, and the ability spheres you wanted.– Morris handed a small pouch of ability spheres to Yang Zicang.
Robin Lo’s heart was racing as he listened nearby.
Damn, so those skill books came from this guy.
Robin Lo’s beady little eyes darted back and forth between Yang Zicang and Morris, pondering how likely it was that he’d get his hands on a decent secret technique in the future.
From what he knew now, there were four of them: Flame, Snow Frost, Chime Night, and Lucid Sense.
Snow Frost had the weakest presence, since it took much longer to condense snowflakes than to burst out flames, and its freezing power was limited. But it had special uses sometimes, especially in cold areas like snowy mountains—then it became the strongest secret technique.
He had no idea what other good stuff they had that he didn’t know about.
–How many Chronos do you think we can get this time?– Morris asked.
–I don’t know. If it’s several hundred kilometers away, they’d take ages to get here. Plus, even if I’ve harvested all the herbs, in at most half a month, these herbs will be picked clean again.–
–That makes sense. This business is only lucrative at the start.–
–Yeah, we’re not the only ones who can make incense pills. By then, the price will drop significantly. So the real opportunity to make a fortune from Chronos only lasts the first couple of weeks. But it’s still a pretty good chance.–
Robin Lo grew increasingly uneasy. –Wait, you’re putting all this together just to sell incense pills?–
Yang ZiCang smiled and handed a small pouch of incense pills to Morris, then took one out and tossed it to Robin Lo.
The two took a sniff and felt as if every pore in their bodies had opened. Robin Lo instantly felt a tingling sensation throughout—partly from the incense, partly from excitement.
–I really wish I could come and join you,– Morris said.
–That’s easy—all you need is for me to implant my station, and I’ll be able to come and pick you up.–
Morris had seen with his own eyes Yang Zicang’s Thought Dragon pulling out a station, and the image left him with an instinctive dread. He shook his head:
–Man, it’s not that I don’t trust you, but the thought of having something like that inside my head would drive me crazy. Let me get over my mental block first.–
After a pause, he continued:
–I’ve inquired about the matter last time. An average small store of thirty square meters has an annual rent of 50,000 Chronos, but it’s only open to people from cities ranked in the top thirty.–
–What, you’re planning to open a store?– Robin Lo, who was engrossed in calculations, blurted out in surprise.
Morris hummed in acknowledgment and continued:
–We want to get our own shop. For now, we can only sublet from these people, or directly buy a shop from the top fifteen—which starts at 200,000 Chronos—with an annual tax of at least 10,000 Chronos. The advantage is that the store owner doesn’t have to deduct 300 Chronos per month.–
That was the benefit of becoming a merchant in Hubville.
Robin Lo was taken aback.
This was A+-level information, worth at least 2,000—no, now that he’d broadened his horizons, what was 2,000 or 3,000? This information was worth at least 5,000 Chronos.
His heart raced with excitement as he thought: if he could get himself a shop, wouldn’t he not have to work so desperately? Opening a store in the legendary Hubville was a place where there were no security worries.
Just by selling goods, one could earn a lot of Chronos every month, no different from an immortal deity.
It’s just that the stores were painfully expensive.
–Then how many more proxy training contracts do you have left? Sell a few more and buy one,– Robin Lo said impatiently.
If he wasn’t mistaken, he might just have a chance to turn his fate around because of the guy beside him.
Morris was about to speak, but Yang Zicang shook his head.
–Rarity brings value. Even teams capable of stabilizing A-grade zones rarely have tens of thousands of Chronos to spare at once. We’ve already sold four or five copies recently; if we keep selling, the price will plummet.–
–Exactly—acquiring this batch of proxy contracts is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Who knows when we’ll score more? So we have to sell them sparingly.–
–Also, once our store is up and running, selling proxy contracts will be its crown jewel. To keep the business thriving in the long haul, we need to smartly supply them over time.–
After speaking, Yang Zicang turned to Robin Lo with a bemused smirk:
–Tell me—what do you reckon this intel is worth?–
–Seven to eight thousand, at least… Ahem—Brother Zicang, you gotta have faith in me.–
Robin Lo spun around to face Morris:
–My man, I’m Yang Zicang’s right-hand—we’ve bled and crawled through hell together. From now on, we’re brothers. Got a problem? Come to me. How about we swap a bit of lifespan of our own?–
Morris cast a cool glance over the fat man’s face and smiled without a word.
With that, Robin Lo unfolded his Moxel:
–I started as just a measly triangle, but as soon as I ran into Brother Zicang—guess what? My Moxel evolved!–
Morris was instantly floored, his jaw nearly dislocating from sheer shock.
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