The Surging Numbers and Li Wei's Small Business

Chapter 31: A Surge in Numbers and Li Wei's Little Business

Shadow Street remained the same—dim streetlights and cobblestone paths—though it seemed to have expanded significantly since Li Wei's first visit.

Li Wei walked along the stone road with a look of frustration. A few minutes ago, he had left that secret chamber in a foul mood, and the cause of his irritation was that magic notebook.

He had originally expected to learn some formidable magic from it, only to discover that it contained nothing but insights into magic cultivation and tips for meditation. Li Wei had flipped through it three times, front to back, confirming this tragic result.

At that moment, he truly wanted to tear the notebook to shreds, but reason prevailed. Although he couldn't learn high-level magic, the experience recorded within was an invaluable treasure; he would just have to keep it and study it slowly later. It was a pity that Li Wei lacked the patience to read it carefully, or he would have realized that this notebook was far more precious than any actual magic spell.

A few minutes later, he arrived at the bustling market. Upon entering, Li Wei stood frozen at the entrance for a full ten seconds.

Was this still Shadow Street?

The plaza, larger than two football fields, was packed with what must have been ten thousand people. The liveliness was no less than a large-scale trade fair in the real world, perhaps even more intense. The stalls in the market had multiplied several times over, and Li Wei even noticed some structures appearing in the vicinity that looked like shops.

What on earth was going on?

When did Shadow Street get so many people? Although they all appeared to be newcomers, the sheer number was staggering. Li Wei picked a young man at random and used his Eye of Perception.

ID: 28963, Human, Strength 4, Agility 4, Spirit 3, Stamina 3, Skills: Basic Combat, Overall Rating: F1!

A bona fide newcomer!

Li Wei sought out a seemingly sturdy middle-aged man, only to be deeply disappointed again.

ID: 56361, Human, Strength 5, Agility 3, Spirit 2, Stamina 5, Overall Rating: F1!

An F1 rating was essentially the standard for everyone arriving at Shadow Street for the first time. Clearly, these people hadn't received high scores on their Initial Trial missions; some didn't even possess a single skill.

What puzzled Li Wei was the ID numbers, which had already reached five digits. He remembered that a week ago, his own ID of 1987 was considered a fresh newcomer. To think that in just one week, so many people had arrived.

After strolling through the market twice, Li Wei confirmed a suspicion: the speed at which Shadow Street accepted people from the real world had increased. These people must have also been summoned here after signing that Yellow Paper.

Li Wei was still carrying that "green" Centaur Battle Axe on his back, and he was quickly spotted by the newcomers. In their eyes, Li Wei saw the full spectrum of human emotion: envy, admiration, jealousy, and hatred.

What he couldn't stand most were the provocative gazes from several stunning young women. Li Wei was certain that if he wished, he could have their bodies at any moment.

This was the advantage of being a veteran!

Ignoring the newcomers, Li Wei continued to browse the market. His goal was to find the subsequent manuals for the Innate Skill. Li Wei had calculated that if he could cultivate the Innate Skill to the seventh level—the max level—he would gain a total of 18 points in Strength, 12 in Agility, 12 in Stamina, and 180 points of Internal Energy. At that point, his rating would surely cross the threshold into C-rank.

That would put him on par with Zheng Yutong. Thinking of her, Li Wei wondered if she had completed her mission. Since he had killed Sand, he figured he had indirectly helped her.

After a full circuit, Li Wei realized with frustration that nothing for sale in the market exceeded D-rank. Even the C-rank items he had seen a few days ago were nowhere to be found. He assumed the sellers were hoarding supplies to make a killing later, given the influx of people.

The C-rank martial art, Innate Skill, was clearly among them. Helpless, Li Wei began to look for other good items on the market. He had to remember that he possessed the heaven-defying Art of Stacking; a few ordinary items, once stacked by his hand, could turn a pheasant into a phoenix.

He stopped in front of a fairly large stall.

This stall was practically a miniature armory!

It was laid out with various pistols, rifles, and a massive amount of ammunition. Li Wei even spotted an RPG rocket launcher. He had seen this on television and in the news—in war-torn Arab countries, arms dealers sold weapons in this exact street-stall fashion. It seemed this place was no different.

Thinking of his Art of Stacking, Li Wei squatted down. The newcomers nearby, all with IDs over 30,000, had initially wanted to curse, but upon seeing the green glow radiating from the Centaur Battle Axe on Li Wei's back, they wisely shut their mouths.

Good heavens, this was a veteran!

Even as newcomers, they knew that veterans who had participated in several missions far surpassed them in both attribute points and equipment. Once, a large group of newcomers had gotten hot-headed and tried to rob a veteran with an ID over 1,000, only to be cruelly slaughtered. From then on, "Don't provoke a veteran with a lower ID than yours" became the survival motto for these newcomers.

"Brother, is there anything you need? I won't brag about others, but when it comes to firearms, I, Mohammed, have the most complete stock in all of Shadow Street, and the prices are fair!"

The arms dealer was dressed like a Taliban terrorist, his head wrapped in an Arab headscarf, his dark face covered in curly whiskers. He picked up an AK-47 rifle and skillfully pulled the bolt, producing a blood-pumping metallic clatter.

"How about it? This one is only 150 points, and it comes with 120 rounds of ammunition. With this, you can handle any mission, hahaha!"

Li Wei was speechless. This rifle might work against ordinary people, but in a real mission, it would be useless against monsters with ratings above D. This terrorist-looking stall owner really didn't fear his tongue falling off from such lies.

Furthermore, 150 points was quite expensive. However, seeing several newcomers nearby using their hard-earned points to purchase these weapons, Li Wei understood why the price was so high.

This gave Li Wei an idea—a way to get rich!

"Give me 3 AK-47s, 2 M4A1s, 3 Desert Eagles, and 300 rounds of various ammunition..." Li Wei's words made the Arab man beam with joy.

Carrying the large bag of firearms, Li Wei left the stall. He intended to use the weapons he had bought for less than 1,000 points to conduct an experiment. If he succeeded, he would undoubtedly become the wealthiest person on Shadow Street.

Walking to a deserted corner, Li Wei began to apply the Art of Stacking to the firearms.

Before the purchase, Li Wei had discovered that the Art of Stacking could not infinitely stack items outside of plot worlds. This was perhaps a limitation Shadow Street placed on the skill. It made sense; if he could stack infinitely, he could buy 10,000 rounds of ammunition, stack them, and kill anything in one hit.

AK-47 rifles could be stacked at most 3 times, M4A1 rifles only 2 times, Desert Eagles 3 times, and ammunition could be stacked up to 5 times.

Not only that, but there was also a success rate for the stacking process. For gray-quality inferior items, the success rate was 75%; for ordinary white-quality items, it was 50%. By extension, the higher the quality, the lower the success rate.

Li Wei thought to himself that it was fortunate these firearms were only gray-quality inferior items; the success rate was quite high.

With a 75% success rate, Li Wei succeeded in every stack. Once he finished, he checked the attributes of the weapons.

[Agile Piercing Rifle], Green Quality, Attack 9-11, Agility +2, Item Level 11, Medium Fire Rate, projectiles have a piercing effect.

[Strength Cannon], Green Quality, Attack 10-15, Strength +3, Item Level 11, Medium Fire Rate.

These were the results of stacking the M4A1 and AK-47 respectively. The effects were quite obvious. While they still didn't catch Li Wei's eye, they were rare, top-tier items for anyone else.

As for the final three Desert Eagles, Li Wei was even more delighted.

[Infinite Desert Eagle], Green Quality, Attack 11-15, Infinite Ammo, Item Level 10, Medium Fire Rate.

Infinite ammo!

Just this single attribute alone would likely cause people to fight tooth and nail for it. Imagine the scene in a mission when everyone else has run out of ammunition, yet the weapon in your hand can fire infinitely.

As for the remaining bullets, Li Wei did not find any special attributes; they simply dealt three times the damage of ordinary bullets.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Li Wei slumped onto the ground. Each time the Art of Stacking was performed, it felt like running a kilometer. Even though his stamina was already three times that of an ordinary person, it was still no easy task.

Next, it was time to sell these "super equipment" pieces that had never appeared on the market before. Li Wei found a black cloth in his bosom and covered his face; he understood the principle that possessing a jade ring could lead to a crime.

Finding a relatively inconspicuous spot, Li Wei took out the stacked firearms. These weapons looked completely different after being stacked, so there was no need to worry about anyone discovering their origin. However, they all shared a common characteristic: they emitted a hazy green glow, which alone made their quality far superior to the items sold by others.

There was no hawking or waiting; almost the moment the items were laid out, Li Wei's stall was surrounded by a crowd. There was no need to worry about robbery here, so Li Wei felt perfectly at ease letting others inspect the weapons' attributes.

"Heavens, it's actually a green-quality item with an additional attribute! Boss, how much for this?" a person with the ID 2145 exclaimed. Clearly, he could be considered a veteran now, yet he was still stunned by what Li Wei had brought out.

"Aren't they just a few green items? I'll get a few dozen to play with tomorrow!" No need to ask; anyone saying such things was definitely a complete novice. Having only experienced the Initial Trial, they had no idea how difficult it was to obtain even a single white-quality weapon, let alone a green one.

Because the Initial Trial mission could be aborted at any time, most newcomers chose to end the mission when encountering difficulties or danger. Some even aborted the moment they entered the Initial Trial scene. Having lived comfortable lives in the real world, these people were clearly not yet adapted to the horrors of Shadow Street.

Li Wei shook his head and ignored these "rookies." He simply closed his eyes to rest, forming a sharp contrast with the hawking vendors around him.

However, while there were many rookies, there were also plenty of people who knew their stuff!

"Brother, these are fine goods. I'm a sincere buyer, how about it? Name your price!" A deep, resonant voice rang out, and Li Wei slowly opened his eyes.

(Thanks to Void Lord and Ran0000 for the tips. Regarding the bugs everyone mentioned earlier, after much thought, I can only "soften" them gradually in subsequent chapters and plotlines. Additionally, I plan to increase the update frequency starting next week. Please show your support with recommendation votes and bookmarks—and of course, tips are even better. Many thanks!!!)