336: Setting Aside the Facts

Based on your [charm], you have obtained the following information:

[Item Name]: Obscure Extinction (Damaged) [Category]: Public Facilities/Equipment Tools [Quality]: "Social Institution"

[Attribute]: This organization contains consciousness, which can only be awakened when the corruption of 'society' reaches 100%.

[Energy Circulation (damaged)]:

The Dark Lantern will absorb energy. When you hold the mechanism, for every three different types of spells you cast, it will randomly return the energy value consumed by one of the spells.

Damage: Limited to seven times per day.

[Source Energy Release (Damage)]:

During combat, the Dark Lantern will continuously absorb the mana you release, and will immediately unleash its Mana when it reaches 100%. Lasting three seconds, it deals 15,000+6% of the target's current health as magic damage. The mechanism will enter cooldown during the release of the thermal shock.

Cooldown time: 15 seconds.

Damage: The device will be permanently damaged after five consecutive releases.

[Introduction]: "[Ruin Flame Society] Satan Jima is a typical infiltrator-type society. Its citizens are not particularly good at direct combat, but they rely on the eerie 'Void Flame' to implant into the hearts of mortals who identify with the [Society] ideology. They then manipulate mortals as their scapegoats, repeatedly resurrecting themselves and becoming almost immortal."

"The predecessor of society is civilization. Through some means, it completely integrates everything it possesses, both concrete (such as territory, farmland, factory facilities, research institutes, armies, and population) and abstract (technology, faith, culture, and history), into a huge and terrifying monster. It can repair itself and strengthen itself by devouring civilizations."

"This power has not been blessed by the Star Abyss and is on the verge of collapse. You need to be extremely careful and it's best not to use it."

Length: 16 inches

Net weight: 2.2 kg Material: Gastric mucosal cells from the Ruin Flame Society (immune to corrosion damage)

"A piece of junk that's practically falling apart, do you really want to buy it?"

"How about it? Looks good, right?"

The Treant laughed heartily and patted the lantern:

"I, Harlowe, am quite skilled at picking up trash—cleaning up battlefields. I dare to go to the [social] battlegrounds that ordinary hunters wouldn't dare to go to. I dare to pick up the fallen structures that they wouldn't dare to go to! This is first-hand, fresh trash—structures. Would you like some? They're held by a senator."

"Um..."

Li Aoz touched his chin.

"Let me think about it..."

In reality, he didn't care whether he bought this piece of junk or not; he just wanted to rip this guy off.

"I think this one is good too."

As Li Aoz spoke, he picked up the pink snowball from before and said, feigning 'curiosity':

"Could you tell me what this is?"

[An act of 'lying' is underway...]

[Specialty: "Compulsive and Autocratic" activated!]

[Charm] Successfully detected; the other party believes your lie.

"Oh—this thing?"

Harlowe's eyes lit up, and he immediately said enthusiastically, "This is a good thing! It's from the [Dream Medicine Society] Fei Kang Enmi's organization, called Snow of Sweet Dreams. It can make any creature intoxicated by the beautiful and gentle snow scene, unable to extricate itself, while its real body will age rapidly."

Keep going, keep rambling.

Li Aoz listened with interest, his expression unchanged, but inwardly he felt utterly contemptuous.

In his past life, Harlowe, a notorious shrewd merchant, traveled through the three layers of the Star Abyss, always selling items for which cheaper alternatives could be found immediately.

Harlowe, as a shrewd businessman, is different from ordinary merchants who overcharge customers.

This Treant never sells counterfeit goods; he makes money entirely from information asymmetry.

He's the kind of person who would open a specialized hospital in front of a top-tier hospital or sell pre-made meals at the entrance of a community canteen, so you only have to walk one more step to buy cheaper food.

That's how Harlowe makes money.

However, if Harlowe not only profited from information asymmetry but also had profit margins that once soared to over 900%, then that would be one thing.

The key point is that he also has a monopoly!

The items on this street stall are mostly inferior products discarded by the higher-ups, which are then slightly repaired and priced extremely high.

You wanted to bypass the middlemen and buy directly from the top hunters— Harlowe had already anticipated this. He took in ninety percent of the junk and then sent out a few underlings to buy the remaining nine percent and sell it at a price lower than his own 'fair price'.

Those who rise to the top believe that the institutional market seems to be a level playing field.

In reality, this is a monopoly.

Players hate Harlowe with a passion, because they're not afraid of expensive items; they can grind for them.

The worst thing is that after going through all the hardship and saving money to buy a graphics card, you go online and find that not only are there cheaper options, but the price has also dropped.

After getting to know each other for a while, you suddenly realize that the mining card you have is still the kind that was favored by the mine owner!

[Think about it, Harlowe should have just debuted by now... Hmm, sure enough, his strength is only Zeta-rank (6), truly a newcomer.]

Li Aoz secretly revealed a kind smile.

"So you've finally met your match, you unscrupulous businessman, Treant."

Seeing that Li Aoz had been pondering for a while, Harlowe assumed he was interested and immediately pressed his advantage, saying:

"This is a priceless treasure; you'll have to offer something of high value in exchange—"

[Crescent Moon] activated

Dimensionality reduction.

Smack

With a slight flick of his wrist, Li Aoz made the pink snowball disappear.

Li Aoz looked at Harlowe with a face full of suspicion:

You call this a "Social Institution"?

Harlowe was stunned.

Over the years, the hunters have remained quite naive, never doubting their own claims.

Li Aoz held his empty palm and looked at him strangely. "Why did it disappear when I shook it gently?"

Before Harlowe could explain, Li Aoz clenched his fist and shouted, "Damn it! A swindler! Enforcement team, come quick, there's a swindler over here!"

The instant he clenched his fist, the Snow of Sweet Dreams on his palm had already been transferred to the Dogmatic Spacetime Belt.

"No, no, no! Shh—young man, don't mess around like this. You're not losing anything, don't ruin my reputation."

"What kind of talk is that? Just because my rights haven't been violated, does that mean I don't need to defend them?!"

Li Aoz indignant and wanted to call the enforcement team again. He even tilted his head back to show off his handsome face.

"Hey, guys from the enforcement team—"

"Ahem, it was my fault for not being careful enough. It's alright, we can look at other things."

The newcomer, Harlowe, was still quite inexperienced in terms of mental fortitude and coping skills. After being intimidated by Li Aoz, he quickly backed down, forcing a smile and saying, "It's alright, buddy, I have plenty more stock here, you can take a look at them one by one..."

Although he lost a substandard product, he could still make a big profit if he sold just one.

Li Aoz looked at the other person with feigned suspicion. "Really? Well, seeing how sincere you are, I'll give it another try."

As he spoke, he raised a blue dagger.

"This is Asher's Blade. It flies back to your hand after you throw it; it's very useful—"

[Crescent Moon] Activated! Before Harlowe could finish speaking, Li Aoz shrugged, indicating that his palms were empty.

"... What's going on?" Harlowe asked, bewildered.

"Hey, what do you mean?"

Li Aoz grabbed his root, glared angrily into his eyes, and roared, "This is what you call poor quality control? It disappeared as soon as I got it! What's going on? Are you trying to fool me? Where did you put the organization?"

Harlowe panicked. Both being Zeta-rank, the silver badge on Li Aoz's chest was clearly not on the same level as the bronze one on his body.

"Calm down—I'm the one who's clearly the one who's hurt..."

"What did you say? I could tell from your practiced movements that this wasn't your first time. I was thinking of ending this here, I could have just let it go, but within a minute, my mind was racing: 'Do I have to wait until something happens before I can say anything?'—If you're not lying, why don't you defend yourself? Enough! Why are you shouting like that? You pervert, you'll be attacked by vegetarians every time you go out!"

"Let me explain, sir, you've misunderstood—"

Li Aoz grabbed the other person by the neck and shouted, "I won't listen to your explanation! Putting aside the facts, just because my rights haven't been violated doesn't mean they can't be violated!"