141. Buying Materials

Sulu waited for over an hour.

Just as he was looking down at his pocket watch, Geri walked over like a whirlwind, slammed a bright yellow manila envelope onto the table in front of him, and whispered, "2500 Silver Dollar, count them!"

Seemingly worried that Sulu might feel cheated, he added, "I also wanted the Gold Dragon one, but the bank said they could only give me paper money for such a large amount. Luckily, the Black Market here is relatively accepting of it..."

Although one Silver Dollar equals one Silver Eagle, and ten Silver Eagle can be exchanged for one Gold Dragon, precious metal currency is always more reassuring than paper money.

Sulu reached into the parchment with his right hand, briefly checked it, and then put it away without saying anything more.

Carrying large amounts of metal on your person is indeed inconvenient; paper money is just right.

'Perhaps... I should go collect some spatial equipment? But then again... does such a thing even exist in this world?'

"Then... our contract ends here. Good luck, Ms. Geri!"

After settling the previous payment, Sulu stood up and gave a slight bow.

The things he's going to buy are somewhat unusual, so it's best to do it alone and disguise himself.

"I see..."

Geri looked at Sulu with a complicated expression.

She was about to purchase information on the [Ranger]'s advancement, and it was inconvenient for her to bring outsiders along, as this would make the seller very wary and thus damage the trust relationship that had been painstakingly built.

But seeing Sulu's indifferent expression, she felt inexplicably uncomfortable. "I... I'm leaving!"

Before leaving, she asked again, still unwilling to give up, "Scholar Sean, is that your real name?"

"No!"

By then, Sulu had already taken long strides and disappeared around a corner.

"I knew it, you damn bastard!"

Geri stomped her foot in frustration.

Sulu ignored all of that. He seized an opportunity, went into a dark corner, pulled down the hood of his cloak, and covered half of his face.

In this way, they become not much different from many Black Market customers. If they go to crowded places, it will be difficult to tell them apart.

'I can sense... there's no dedicated surveillance force in this Black Market, otherwise wouldn't they be deliberately offending people?'

Of course, if such a secret arrangement can conceal the Inspiration of the [Occultist], then Sulu can only accept his bad luck.

He had already discovered that there were two types of stalls in the Black Market: one type occupied megalithic buildings as shops and was more powerful.

Another type is the spontaneously set-up street stalls, where the quality of the goods varies greatly, and you have to rely entirely on your discerning eye.

Sulu arrived at a street stall.

This place sells all kinds of amulets, made of materials ranging from obsidian, bronze, Black Iron, silver, gold... you name it.

But his Inspiration showed absolutely no extraordinary quality.

"How about it? Want a talisman to protect against the Necro-Spirit?"

The vendor, a fat man wearing Golden Harpy Mask, immediately and enthusiastically introduced it to Sulu: "It can protect you from harm by spirits!"

'I didn't believe your lies!'

Sulu stared speechlessly at the bone amulet in his hand, feeling that any random vengeful spirit could easily kill the fat man in front of him.

Selling counterfeit goods on the extraordinary side—are they trying to harm people?

He hesitated for a moment, waved his hand to indicate that he didn't need it, and after turning around, he was even more speechless.

With his professional knowledge as a [Occultist], plus the knowledge he gained from the White Tower, he can now barely pass for half a ' Scholar '!

As a result, after browsing through all the stalls, I found that there were very few truly good items, and they were all extremely expensive.

These unscrupulous merchants dare to sell a single relic tile transported from the Chris Empire for 100 Gold Dragon!

As for the opportunistic plots often found in novels, don't even think about it.

In this world, there aren't that many lucky breaks for you to pick up. You're not the protagonist of the world, the chosen one of destiny.

After going around once, Sulu resigned himself to his fate and entered the main store.

Although things here are generally more expensive than elsewhere, they are at least worth the price.

For example, the shop that Sulu entered, which had a signboard with pictures of plants and test tubes, was a medicine and supplies shop.

Although the space is small, it does contain some truly high-quality ingredients.

Inside the semi-transparent glass display case, there were quite a few extraordinary materials that caught Sulu's eye.

"Guest, what would you like?"

The boss asked.

Although it was difficult to tell, Sulu felt that the guy opposite him who looked like a young man might have a professional level.

"I need some materials, take a look..."

Sulu handed over a piece of parchment.

That list contained the ingredients for concocting the Vicious Potion. Sulu had also added other things he needed, making it look quite complicated.

This is the effect he wanted; he couldn't let people know anything from the materials he bought.

"Two-tailed Lizard? Kuding Flower? Bauhinia Essential Oil?..."

The young store manager took the order, his delicate face momentarily stunned. "A big deal!"

A smile appeared on his face, "I have most of the materials listed here, but they're quite expensive!"

"Well..."

Sulu sighed and pulled out the stack of Silver Dollar: "How about it?"

"Very good, please wait a moment!"

After a quick estimate of the thickness, the young man smiled with satisfaction and swiftly retrieved materials from the counter and warehouse.

"We have three live Two-tailed Lizard! Nine Kuding Flower, quite a few seeds, and a jar of Bauhinia Essential Oil..."

The shopkeeper quickly quoted the prices, making Sulu's heart bleed.

Finally, the young man smiled and said, "Sir, this is all the materials I can gather here... The rest, unfortunately, are very rare. I dare say that no other shop here has them either; it's all down to luck! Especially this... the Face of the Face-Snatcher! I'm afraid it has never appeared in the Black Market."

Face-Snatcher!

This is a very special kind of Evil Spirit that enjoys killing people and stealing their faces to disguise themselves.

This material is one of the most important main materials for Sulu's modification of the Crow Mask.

If this can be accomplished, the mask will have a disguise effect.

Unfortunately, it's really rare.

"Fine... let's leave it at that. How much is it in total?"

Sulu took out Silver Dollar to pay the bill.

"A discount of 778 Silver Dollar!"

The young shop owner smiled as he took the cashier's order, "It's rare to meet such a straightforward customer. I can give you a suggestion..."

"Oh?"

Sulu paused, then said, "Speak!"

" In Charles City, a wealthy man is being harassed by an Evil Spirit and has offered a bounty for his capture... According to the mission description, the Evil Spirit attacking him is suspected to Face-Snatcher!"

The shop owner chuckled, "If you're confident in your abilities, you can give it a try... but the most formidable aspect of that Evil Spirit isn't its sheer power, but its ability to impersonate any victim."

"I see!"

Sulu didn't answer whether to go or not, but picked up the free briefcase and left the store.