Offline Stall Setup

"How about it, my friend? Would you like to purchase Jin Gong's Omni-Translation Service?" Goblin Jin Gong asked with a beaming smile.

"Don't rush," Bai Xiaowen said with a smile. "I need to buy the service, but not just that one... I also need to set up a stall and have you look after it for me. I also need to buy some intelligence on the Prophecy Temple. Do you provide all of that?"

"...Yes, my friend. You truly are very wise." Jin Gong gave him a thumbs-up.

Bai Xiaowen did not plan to buy just one "service." After buying the translation service, if he later saw artifact fragments he wanted, he would still need Jin Gong to contact their owners. And if he had artifact fragments he wanted to sell, would he not also need Jin Gong to resell them?

Once he bought one service, he would have to buy the later services as well. Otherwise, his earlier investment would definitely go to waste. That was the sunk cost fallacy. It was like paying a deposit when buying something. If the details were not made clear from the start, then after paying the deposit, one would inevitably be hit with all sorts of price hikes by unscrupulous merchants and get taken for a complete fool.

Putting all the services he wanted together, asking about the total price, and then deciding whether it was worth it—that was the wise choice.

"Did you split up the services you offer and charge for them one by one?" Bai Xiaowen asked curiously.

Jin Gong chuckled, tacitly admitting it.

In fact, that was exactly what Jin Gong did. He had used this trick to fleece several waves of Explorers.

"Wouldn't you get beaten up for doing that?" Bai Xiaowen asked doubtfully.

"My friend! Jin Gong is so kind—how could he possibly get beaten up? And most importantly..."

Jin Gong pointed at the Square. "This is the God of Prophecy's Square. It is watched over by statues of Deities, so fighting is forbidden here! Otherwise, it would be blasphemy!"

Bai Xiaowen frowned slightly. He tried releasing his True Yuan Power and immediately felt a strange, obscure pressure, exactly the same as the sensation he had felt on the Ten Thousand Level Stone Steps.

Even the projection of his psychic power was restricted. It seemed this Square was also a "safe zone."

"Fine."

After calculating for a moment, Bai Xiaowen said, "I need the Omni-Translation service for Gold Mine Star Common Language, as well as a stall under Offline Custody... After I buy the stall, if someone wants to buy my things, how will you notify me?"

"This... Fine, you use this."

Somewhat reluctantly, Jin Gong took out an old walkie-talkie. Though it looked like a product from the industrial age, it carried a dense psychic aura. It was clearly a special psychic item.

Bai Xiaowen's Eye of Evolution swept over it.

[G-205 Model Individual Combat Communicator: After being infused with Spiritual Power, it can communicate over long distances with another bound Legion Communicator Main Unit. Effective range: 1,000 kilometers.]

"Looks good. This should come with the stall, right?" Bai Xiaowen said quickly. "What if the distance exceeds 1,000 kilometers?"

The Prophecy Temple was about as large as Earth. Once he entered the Prophecy Temple to explore, he could easily exceed the effective range of 1,000 kilometers.

"This was originally a separately charged service, my friend. You've cost me 50% of my profit!" Jin Gong instantly put on a smiling face after finishing that sentence. "But I also have an upgrade option. As long as you install a tiny component onto your G-205 Model Individual Combat Communicator, it can be upgraded to the G-215 Model, increasing the communication range to 2,000 kilometers!"

Bai Xiaowen was speechless. The upgrade option would most likely cost Divinity Cores as well. If he had not asked about the range limit, this damned goblin would probably never have mentioned the upgrade voluntarily. He would only wait until Bai Xiaowen suffered from the distance limit before selling it to him.

"I want the latest version communicator, one stall, and one Omni-Translation service. Are there any other custody fees?" Bai Xiaowen said. "Calculate the total price together."

Jin Gong gave an answer in a second. "Thirty-seven Divinity Cores in total, my friend."

"Too expensive. Seventeen."

"God of Wealth above, that is impossible! The latest G-255 Model Individual Combat Communicator alone is priced at twenty-five Divinity Cores. Then there are the stall fee, custody fee, translation fee..."

After some haggling, they finally settled on a price of thirty Divinity Cores.

"Now for the most important question: what guarantees your credibility?" Bai Xiaowen asked.

Although so many Explorer Chosen trusted Jin Gong, which certainly meant this damned goblin had some trustworthy qualities, Bai Xiaowen was not someone who trusted easily.

"My friend, can Jin Gong's shining kindness not illuminate your soul?"

"Sorry, all I see are your shining gold teeth."

"...I swear in the name of the God of Wealth. Is that enough?"

"Yes."

The two finally finalized the deal.

The thirty Divinity Cores not only emptied Bai Xiaowen's stock but also left him owing a few. The enraged Jin Gong had nearly refused the deal.

However, Jin Gong also had sunk costs. After all, he had already sworn upon the God of Wealth's divine name... Besides, time was money. To goblins, that was far more than just a proverb.

Bai Xiaowen refused to make up the Price Difference with Spirit Crystals, but he still promised Jin Gong that he would repay the Divinity Cores he owed later.

With Jin Gong's "Omni-Translation Manual," Bai Xiaowen quickly learned the writing of Gold Mine Star and began browsing the stalls one by one.

"So many people want to exchange artifact fragments." Bai Xiaowen marveled repeatedly.

This meant that the Prophecy Temple was a Treasure Land, filled with artifact fragments! No wonder so many people would rather spend Divinity Cores to place their stalls under Jin Gong's Offline Custody.

Of course, even more people were seeking to buy artifact fragments, and each promise they made sounded better than the last.

But it was useless. In the Land of Origin, assembling Artifacts was an important way for Explorers to strengthen themselves. How could they possibly be fooled by empty promises?

If they wanted artifact fragments, they could only exchange other artifact fragments for them.

Among them, Bai Xiaowen even saw an exchange listing for a fragment of the Sword of Heavenly Punishment.

"Sword of Heavenly Punishment Part 6, a fragment of the God of Light Series Divine Artifact. Only artifact fragments from the God of Desert series will be accepted in exchange!"

Seeing this listing, Bai Xiaowen fell into thought.

Wasn't the one I stole from Okandis also Sword of Heavenly Punishment Part 6?

Two Sword of Heavenly Punishment Part 6 fragments had appeared at the same time. What did that mean?

Bai Xiaowen immediately thought of two possibilities.

First, when the God of Light created Artifacts, he had made more than one Sword of Heavenly Punishment. Other Deities might also have created duplicate Artifacts.

After all, mass production was simpler and less laborious than redesigning new products.

And the Sword of Heavenly Punishment was only a Low-Rank Artifact.

As for the second possibility, there was something wrong with this Stall Owner, and he had deliberately posted false information. But that possibility... was simply too low. For the moment, there was no obvious benefit to be gained. It would only be a pointless waste of Divinity Cores—the custody fee.