You Merchant!

Chapter 18

"Whoa, that's some black tech!"

Li Hao hadn't been expecting much, but when he saw the gear's stats, his eyes nearly popped out of his head. He couldn't help swearing.

It boosted strength by fifty percent and doubled attack speed. Those stats were insanely good. Putting it on would turn him into a bona fide little Superman.

And from the description, it was clearly some kind of human-enhancement device.

A human-enhancement device made out of batteries, wires, and other junk? Was he still asleep or something? How were the experts and professors in the real world researching exoskeletons supposed to compete with tech this advanced?

"All right, how much? I'll take it!"

Li Hao took a deep breath, holding back the urge to rant, and asked.

"Heh, good stuff, isn't it? The shock gloves are a thousand dollars, and the battle suit is twenty-five thousand. Firm price!"

Seeing that his fish had taken the bait, Li Si smiled even more broadly.

"You rip-off Merchant..."

Li Hao's face twitched as he cursed inwardly.

Twenty-five thousand for the suit was one thing, but he wanted a thousand for the shock gloves too? He really had some nerve.

He hated people who treated him like a nouveau riche sucker. With his temper, he really ought to... buy it.

"Boss... could you come down a little? I don't have enough money!"

Li Hao forced an awkward smile.

It was his first time haggling.

But the damn game wouldn't let him top up. The Office Worker template gave him a little more starting cash, but he was used to spending freely, and he barely had anything left now.

"Not enough? No problem. Borrow from a friend or take out a loan. If all else fails, there's always a loan shark!"

Li Si was still smiling, but he showed no sign of budging on the price. He'd worked it out: any player willing to put in a little effort could scrape the money together. There was no way he believed Li Ritian, a rich second-generation kid, couldn't afford it.

"Then, Boss, could you wait a day? I'll see if I can borrow some money from friends and come back tomorrow."

Li Hao gazed wistfully at the battle suit in his hands.

Twenty-odd thousand in-game dollars wasn't much of a problem for him. Even if he couldn't top up, he could buy some from other players with real money. But he didn't have that kind of cash on him right now.

The problem was, a hidden merchant like this wandered all over the place. Who knew if he'd still be here tomorrow? All Li Hao could do was try to work something out.

"Tomorrow? I'm afraid not!"

Li Si shook his head, then added, "But I set up a stall in the underground parking lot of Osir Tower every Sunday night. You can come there and do business with me."

"Sunday? That's tomorrow, right? No problem! I'll go round up the money now. I promise I'll be there tomorrow to buy it!"

Li Hao had already felt his heart sink at the first part, but then he was overjoyed. He hurriedly promised a few times before his eyes suddenly went blank and he walked off in a daze.

He'd logged out, and the system was guiding him home.

"...Really? Good thing I'm not actually an NPC, or I'd think a ghost had possessed him."

Li Si watched Li Ritian's retreating back, speechless, then picked up the Thunder King Battle Suit and gloves from the ground.

Those were the things he'd made that afternoon.

The shock gloves were nothing special, just ordinary electrified gloves. The battle suit, on the other hand, had a little more tech behind it.

Still, it was only a prototype. Once you understood the principle, it was actually pretty simple to make.

The principle itself was simple: use electric currents to stimulate the body's reflex arcs, producing an effect similar to the knee-jerk reflex.

Movements produced by reflex arcs were faster than those triggered directly by the brain. And when nerve signals and electric currents stimulated the muscles at the same time, the effect was sudden. The muscles tensed and contracted in an instant, naturally producing greater strength and speed.

The suit was basically a simple device fitted with a few sensors to detect the wearer's movements and deliver electric shocks to stimulate the muscles. The only tricky part was calculating the current's intensity and where to apply the shocks. With Max's help, that wasn't hard to solve.

But the thing was still just a prototype. The part that used electric stimulation to assist muscle movements was still crude, making attacks look stiff and robotic. They'd need to collect a lot more data and refine it.

Still, this was more than good enough for players right now. After all, they'd only buy it to show off and take on a few thugs.

"Thanks for the great performance, guys. Here's your pay."

He tossed three rolls of small-denomination bills to the three bald hippies at the mouth of the alley, whistled, and sauntered off.

Outside Oscorp Tower.

It was already well past quitting time. Most of the people in the building had gone home. Of its 108 floors, only a few still had lights on; the rest were as silent as the grave.

The area outside the building was deserted. The weather was already poor, and the moon was barely visible through the clouds. The dark, lonely road looked even more desolate beneath the dim streetlights.

Max paced anxiously outside the building, uncertainty and nerves written all over his face.

He'd been waiting for a long time.

This was the first time a friend had ever invited him over, and the first time he'd ever been invited to a friend's home. For this, he'd even talked back to his supervisor and, for the first time, stood up for his right to leave work on time.

But as time passed, he grew more and more anxious.

Maybe Mr. Lee Stein had only said it in passing and had already forgotten...

Maybe there was no Mr. Lee Stein at all. Maybe, as always, he'd just imagined it all, foolishly deceiving himself...

Maybe...

"No, that can't be it. Maybe Mr. Lee Stein was just held up by something!"

"Right, that's it! He said earlier that he had some things to take care of first. It must be that!"

Fighting down the jumble of thoughts and anxiety, Max took a deep breath and forced himself to stop pacing.

For the first time, he felt tempted to try nicotine. He'd heard it could ease a person's anxiety.

Tap... tap... tap...

Footsteps suddenly rang out in the quiet space outside the building, clear as day.

Max's anxiety turned to delight in an instant. He whipped around. "Lee..."

But the name he'd been about to blurt out caught in his throat.

It wasn't Mr. Lee Stein...

His delight gave way to disappointment, then dejection.

"Hey, Max. What are you doing?"

Just as Max lowered his head in dejection, a hand landed on his shoulder.

He turned his head. A face beaming with a bright smile greeted him. He swore he'd never forget that smile for the rest of his life.

"Mr. Lee Stein!"

Max cried out in delight.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. Something held me up on the way back. Come on, let's go."

Lee Si gave Max a rueful smile at the sight of him, then led him to the taxi he'd just gotten out of.