Are You Messing With Me?

Seeing Powell's eagerness to make the deal, Lister spoke slowly.

"I only care about getting good value for money when I buy things."

"30,000 credits is acceptable, but the knife's stats have to match the price."

"That's natural. This Ultimate Blade is the culmination of many years of my painstaking crafting..."

This interrupted Powell's tired and repetitive rhetoric.

"Let me finish."

"What if this knife isn't worth 30,000 credits in the end, or it's just a 'super-grade knife'?"

"I guarantee that not only will your shop be out of business, but you... won't be able to survive either."

At this point, Lister's smile faded, and his expressionless gaze fixed on the other person.

Powell didn't take his threat seriously, but when he heard "super knife," his brows furrowed involuntarily.

A hint of ruthlessness instantly appeared on his face, and he scrutinized Lister once more.

After a long while, the ruthless feeling disappeared, and a smile reappeared on his face, though this time it was much more perfunctory.

"Young man from the Merrick Civilization, is this our first time meeting?"

"If you don't like the knife, don't buy it. I've already said that transactions in this store are all based on fate."

"I've been operating in this Yalan Civilization for over three hundred years. I've encountered troublemakers like you before. Don't be so arrogant."

"If you're a newcomer in the same industry, let's each rely on our own abilities and not get in each other's way."

After saying that, he snatched the S-grade longsword from Lister's hand and roughly threw it into the box, no longer handling it with the same care as before, treating it as a priceless treasure.

The fact that this young man could utter the term "superior grade knife" shows that he is not an ordinary, uneducated citizen of a civilized society.

Considering the other party's behavior of telling him to close his store without warning, Powell was even more convinced that the other party was a new competitor who was deliberately trying to cause him trouble.

"I'm not in your industry, but selling 'super-grade weapons' is just too much of a rip-off, isn't it?"

The so-called 'super weapon' is not a compliment, but rather a deceptive tactic used by the Galactic Federation.

These weapons have no other merits except for their extremely high grade; they have no other attributes whatsoever.

The attribute that is actually concealed is only the "super quality" characteristic.

Most players who had just entered Act 6 in their previous lives had fallen for this trick in the past two days.

At first, everyone thought it was like a blind box lottery, and although they were disappointed with the final attributes of the weapons they bought, they all thought they were just unlucky.

Some people even bought several rounds in a row, believing that they would eventually have a stroke of incredible luck.

However, no one actually obtained a weapon with truly powerful attributes until discussions broke out in the game's public chat and on the official forum, at which point everyone realized something was wrong.

The weapons here only have one special effect attribute: "Superior".

Its practical use is purely to show off to ignorant, low-level civilizations or to swindle them.

"None of your business!"

"As long as I can sell them, that's all that matters!"

"You really think you're something special?! A mere brat from a first-level civilization dares to interfere in my business? You believe me...?"

"Get the hell out of here if you have nothing to do!"

I came to the shop to upgrade my equipment.

Upon hearing this, Powell, who was about to add a few more words, immediately stopped his rant and looked at him with a somewhat suspicious expression.

Lister didn't waste any words, took off the Time Crystal Bracers from his arm, and placed it on the counter.

Although the S-grade crystal arm armor is extremely effective, it is still only a fourth-tier equipment.

He's already at level eleven, and his equipment is due for an upgrade.

To be fair, although this Dog Profiteer was initially boycotted by players, they later reluctantly went to him for forging items.

This was entirely because the other party's forging skills were indeed the highest in the Yalan Civilization.

Not only can he upgrade S-rank equipment, but he is also the only blacksmith in the first six acts of the game who can enhance weapons, although there are more pitfalls involved.

"Are you really a guest?"

He patiently took the arm guard, and as soon as he put it in his hand, Powell's expression changed again, and the next moment he gave an awkward laugh.

"Haha! So you're a distinguished guest!"

"No wonder you even know about 'super-grade weapons,' you actually possess a legendary weapon!"

"Haha! Don't worry, someone as knowledgeable as you will definitely get you a promotion."

What rank are you planning to advance to?

"Twelfth tier, I suppose."

Although he is currently only at the eleventh rank, Lister is confident that becoming a twelfth rank is just around the corner after this trip to the Merrick Civilization.

"Your arm guards are, after all, legendary equipment. Upgrading them is expensive, and the success rate is not guaranteed."

"However, you can choose to purchase these potions, which can increase your chances of successfully advancing to the next rank."

After saying that, he quickly took out a series of medicine bottles from behind him and placed them in front of him.

[Jie'er’s Concentration Potion (Rank D): For a period of time, keeps the mind focused and slightly increases the success rate of forging, strengthening, and synthesis.]

[Kanazi’s Secret Concentration Potion (Grade B): For a certain period of time, maintains high mental concentration, increasing the learning speed and success rate of secondary professions.]

Sure enough, all those potions from those memories were brought out again.

What players criticize most about this Dog Profiteer in later generations is not even the early "super-grade weapons" incident.

These are the drugs that everyone has been vehemently criticizing.

These are all for the Dog Profiteer to use when they forge their own weapons.

Logically, he should have borne these costs himself, but in reality, he passed them all on to the players.

If you want to increase your forging success rate, you'll have to pay this "Dog Profiteer" to recharge his account!

It's one thing to accept junk equipment, but for any equipment of grade A or higher, especially those involving the enhancement of the main weapon, everyone eventually had to grit their teeth and buy these potions.

Furthermore, wealthy players are buying like crazy, just to ensure a higher success rate for upgrading and strengthening their characters.

Whether he actually used these drugs or not, nobody knows.

It was during this period that the number of players choosing the blacksmith as a secondary profession skyrocketed.

It's all because of this Dog Profiteer; he makes money way too easily.

As a result, by the late game, blacksmiths became so numerous that they competed fiercely with each other.

"Use everything you can to guarantee a successful upgrade."

"Distinguished guest! You are indeed a discerning person. Let me calculate it for you, and I'll give you a discount at the end."

By this point, Powell could no longer pretend; he abandoned his previous gentlemanly demeanor and fully reverted to his true self.

With a cunning look on his face, he turned around and kept counting the number of potions in the store, his behavior becoming frivolous, even somewhat lewd.

After a long while, he finally spoke with barely suppressed excitement.

"Distinguished guest, the normal cost for your upgrade this time is 180,000 credits, including 150,000 credits for additional potions, for a total cost of 330,000 credits."

"I'll give you a discount; we'll settle the payment at 300,000 credits. Is that alright?"

Ignoring his offer, Lister spoke calmly.

"110,000 credits."

The exact amount offered, 110,000, made Powell look puzzled.

I assumed the other party liked the number, or that this was all the money they had, so I patiently probed.

"Distinguished guest, are you perhaps joking?"

"110,000 isn't enough! This is upgrading a legendary item from Tier 4 to Tier 12. I dare say there isn't another blacksmith in the entire Yalan Civilization who could do this!"

"If you're only willing to offer 110,000, I can't guarantee the success rate."

Seeing that Lister didn't respond at all, Powell's expression became hesitant.

They didn't dare to push too hard at the moment, for fear of letting the fat sheep escape. After much deliberation, they finally nodded in agreement.

"Alright! 110,000 it is, but you'll have to pay the full amount in advance."

He then extended his wrist, ready to receive a transfer of credit points.

Unfortunately, Lister showed no sign of paying; instead, a smile appeared on his face.

"I mean... are you misunderstanding something?"

"What misunderstanding? We've already charged you the price you asked for, and you're still not satisfied!?"

"Are you going to upgrade or not? You can't afford it, can you?"

Seeing that Lister was still trying to communicate with him at length, Powell became impatient once again.

"The 110,000 I'm referring to is something you're giving to me, not something I'm giving to you."

After he finished speaking, the air in the store fell silent.

Powell's last shred of patience had completely run out.

The next moment, his face turned bright red, and he gritted his teeth, trembling all over.

"Damn brat, so after all this time you're just here to mess with your grandpa?"

After saying that, he drew two guns from his waist, displaying his ruthlessness to the fullest.

The dual pistols are covered with intricate patterns, characteristic of the Arcane Civilization inscription style.

According to players from the previous life, only the dual pistols he carried were genuine S-grade weapons in the entire store.

Green flames shot from the muzzle, but there was no smoke in the air.

What was fired was not a bullet, but a high-intensity energy beam, which was hurtling towards Lister.