Third Vertical Street

Duke worked until midnight, repairing all the discarded spirit cards he had scavenged.

Not every discarded spirit card could be successfully repaired. Some damage looked repairable on the surface, but the energy circuits inside had already withered and could not be restored.

Xiao Yi had no scanning function and could only make judgments through Duke's basic perception.

The success rate was difficult to guarantee.

Even so, it was already far superior to that of every Card Master. Without Xiao Yi's computing power, a Card Master simply could not determine whether a discarded spirit card still had any repair value.

If it really had, it would never have become a discarded spirit card in the first place.

Old Sam, for example, was a veteran Card Master. He often went to the Scrap Card Station to scavenge cards, but he only ever salvaged the materials on them and had never refurbished a single discarded spirit card.

After waking up,

Duke followed his usual routine and went to the alley behind the shop to buy breakfast.

As soon as he reached the breakfast stall, he saw a crowd standing beside a wall and watching. There was a bulletin board there, where Snakehead Tower in town specifically posted notices.

Duke squeezed his way in.

At a glance, he saw a new notice posted on the bulletin board: "Notice Regarding the Construction of Third Vertical Street."

"They're building Third Vertical Street?" Duke was startled.

He quickly finished reading the entire notice. As the administrative institution of Snakehead Town, Snakehead Tower planned to add a vertical street in the western part of town, with a residential district to be built around this Third Vertical Street.

"The Pioneer War is about to begin!" someone declared with absolute certainty. "Otherwise, they wouldn't build a new main street. It's definitely for outsiders to live in!"

"I wonder whether that's a good thing or a bad thing."

"It's definitely a good thing! Third Vertical Street is being built in the west, so our Second Vertical Street will become the town center. The shopkeepers doing business here are going to make a fortune again."

"Not necessarily. With so many people coming, the town is bound to become chaotic."

"That's right. Especially those Mercenary Groups—they cause trouble wherever they go. Just wait and see. Every household is going to suffer because of them!"

Most people had some idea what the Pioneer War meant.

Whether they welcomed it or not was another matter.

The Pioneer War meant countless opportunities, but countless dangers would follow as well. This was especially true for ordinary people at the bottom. Without extraordinary power, it was difficult to claim a share of the opportunities, but danger would not avoid them just because they were ordinary people. When misfortune came, they would suffer all the same.

"Who cares whether it gets chaotic? I'll go ask at Snakehead Tower first and see whether I can buy a small courtyard in advance. The alleys here are a little too cramped." After reading the notice, someone left immediately.

Duke stood among the crowd, silently pondering for a moment.

The establishment of Third Vertical Street would not have much of an impact on Little Sam's Card Shop. On the contrary, once the war began, the card repair business would probably become too busy to handle.

"I'm not buying a courtyard on Third Vertical Street. I'll save money and buy a farm later." Duke pushed through the crowd and bought several pastries from the breakfast stall.

After paying, he happened to see Best speaking loudly with someone he knew in the crowd.

He looked extremely excited.

Clearly, Best was quite thrilled by the arrival of the Pioneer War. The Card Repair Shop had been deserted lately, and it had worried him sick. Now that a turning point was finally appearing, how could he not be excited?

Duke paid him no attention.

He went straight back to attend to his own business.

Two days later, he took Levin and Harper to Chen Jiao City in the Black Beetle Car early in the morning. When they began purchasing supplies, they discovered that the prices of everything had gone up.

"Everyone's saying the Pioneer War is about to begin. If the suppliers raise their prices, there's nothing we can do. We can only raise ours along with them."

"All right. Fill the order according to this list, but cut every item in half."

"Shouldn't you stock up a little more, boss? The prices might go up again in a few days."

"I have no money."

Duke was telling the absolute truth. He had already stocked up quite a lot recently, enough supplies for at least three to five months. If he bought any more, he would not even have money left to eat meat.

When he went to the card shops and spirit artifact shops afterward, he found that most of them had raised their prices to some degree.

"Levin, Harper, take the supplies back to the small inn and wait for me. I'm going to scavenge cards at the Scrap Card Station for a while." Duke gestured for his two assistants to leave first.

He went to the Scrap Card Station alone.

When he reached the entrance, the old gatekeeper immediately called out, "Boss Duke, back to scavenge cards again?"

"Yes, Grandad." Duke quietly slipped him a pack of cigarettes.

The old man happily tucked it into his pocket, then whispered, "Warehouse Three in the back yard. Two truckloads arrived today. Go try your luck."

"Got it."

With the gatekeeper passing him the information, Duke headed straight for Warehouse Three. The Scrap Card Station charged by the hour for scavenging cards, so every bit of time he saved was worthwhile.

Several people were already scavenging cards in the warehouse. They were all owners of Card Repair Shops from nearby market towns.

Perhaps they had bribed the gatekeeper as well.

In any case, this was not a privilege exclusive to Duke. He greeted a shopkeeper who looked familiar, then hurried into the pile of discarded cards.

Whenever he saw a discarded card that looked intact, he picked it up and carefully sensed it.

With Xiao Yi reviewing and checking everything, his success rate at finding hidden treasures was quite high.

For a full hour, Duke immersed himself in the pleasure of scavenging cards and finding hidden treasures. He discovered three discarded cards that might be repairable and dismantled quite a few cards made from good materials, recovering some card components.

"Young man, it's almost dark. You're still scavenging cards?" A fellow scavenger slung his backpack over his shoulder and cheerfully asked as he passed by.

"I'll look a little longer."

"Haha, may you strike it rich."

The fellow quickly left. Duke turned around and continued scavenging. However, it seemed that the man's words had been blessed by fortune itself. Duke picked up a discarded card in good condition, sensed it briefly, and raised his brows.

Then, with the corner of his eye, he quickly swept a glance over the others in the warehouse and casually slipped the discarded card into his pocket.

"2-Ring Civilian Card—Constant Temperature Card. The energy circuits are damaged in multiple places. The card surface is badly damaged, but its basic condition remains stable. There is a certain probability of successful repair."

This was Xiao Yi's assessment.

Duke had picked up several 2-Ring Spirit Cards before, but they had all been almost completely ruined. It was rare to find one that was not entirely destroyed.

"Ask, and it shall be given!"

"I only thought about finding a hidden 2-Ring Spirit Card two days ago, and today I actually found one!"

Duke continued scavenging discarded cards for a while longer. Only when the sun had set did he leave under the management staff's urging. He settled the fees at the station office, then hurriedly boarded a vehicle and left.

Early the next morning, Duke arrived at the West Station with Levin and Harper.

However, when the scheduled departure time arrived, the Black Beetle Car did not immediately sound its horn and set off. A crew member came out to explain, "There are two other cars traveling along this route with us, so we'll wait a little while first."

"Whose cars are they?" someone asked.

"They belong to United Tower staff."

"United Tower?" Duke immediately understood. "This means they've officially decided to launch the Pioneer War, right? Otherwise, why would United Tower send people to Snakehead Town?"

"Boss Duke is right. The Pioneer War is almost certainly going to happen."

United Tower was one of the "Seven Towers" in the Seven Towers Federation, just like the Tower of Erudition and Spirit Tower. All of them were institutions spread throughout the entire federation.

United Tower was an administrative institution that governed the federation's many internal affairs.

If one had to make a comparison, it was roughly equivalent to a state council.

Every city had a United Tower stationed there. The only exception was noble territory. The administrative centers of noble territories had different names. For example, the administrative center of Snakehead Town was called Snakehead Tower.

The crowd did not have to wait long. At eight in the morning, the Black Beetle Car set off. As soon as it left the West Station, two slightly smaller Black Beetle Cars followed behind.

The three-car convoy slowly entered the route.