"Shadow Merchant"

Yebus rephrased his statement. "We can more keenly perceive certain needs, find suitable objects to satisfy those needs, and facilitate corresponding transactions through language and relationships."

With the mind of a "Conspirer," Lumian thought seriously for two seconds before fully understanding Yebus's true meaning. He said with a laugh, "Use more concise language and expressions closer to Mysticism."

Yebus glanced at Franca and Jenna, and explained solicitously, "I have two main abilities. One of them is called ' Perceive Gray,' which allows me to more acutely perceive the gray areas between white and black, including the willingness to get involved in gray areas and the needs related to gray areas."

"Another is exceptional eloquence, which includes the art of language and the ability to read people's expressions and interpret their words."

"That's it?" Lumian asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No more." Yebus shook his head.

"The Broker doesn't charge a commission?" Lumian asked with a smile.

"Before a deal is struck, we agree on the compensation with both sides, sometimes even waiving it altogether. The main purpose is to build and maintain relationships," Yebus replied earnestly. "None of this involves supernatural powers."

I thought the Beyond Ability of a "Broker" was to gain corresponding benefits from every transaction they facilitated, including improvements at the transcendent level. However, this is indeed too exaggerated and clearly does not belong to Sequence 9... The two abilities that Yebus mentioned are very close to the Sequence 9 level. In this light, "Broker" are more like "Spectator," almost unable to directly participate in battles between Beyonder, belonging to the most supportive of all... Lumian nodded in understanding.

Franca pressed on with interest, "And what is Sequence 8?"

"It's the ' Shadow Merchant '," Yebus replied with a broad smile, gazing at the "Pleasure Witch's" face.

Before Franca could ask any more questions, he offered his explanation:

"We can discover mysterious creatures and dangerous entities lurking in the darkness and shadows, and remain unaffected by their attacks, thus enabling us to make deals with them."

"Unaffected by lurking mysterious creatures or dangerous entities?" Jenna couldn't help but ask.

Isn't this trait too strong?

Yebus replied with a smile, "That's the normal way, but you can't attack the other party first or secretly exert influence that's detrimental to them. You also can't have malicious intent when making a deal and be detected by the other party. In addition, directly getting involved in the battlefield will result in indiscriminate damage, and you can't make creatures in combat voluntarily stop."

"What if I saw something I shouldn't have seen?" Lumian asked thoughtfully.

"We will suffer the corresponding Corruption." Yebus wasn't trying to exaggerate.

"So, it seems the ' Shadow Merchant ' possesses an aura that prevents surrounding creatures from harboring malice?" Franca suddenly realized.

Yebus praised it, saying:

"Lady, your summary is better than mine. However, it's not that there's no malice at all, but rather that their malice is reduced to a certain extent. The higher the other party's status, the less effective it is. In other words, wanting to make contact with those mysterious creatures or dangerous beings to reach a deal also carries risks and requires Courage."

At this point, Yebus laughed:

"A willingness to take risks is an essential quality for successful businesspeople."

"Looks like you have it?" Lumian asked deliberately, Provocation.

"Of course," Yebus replied proudly. "I've made deals with many dangerous creatures, acquiring valuable items, and then through new deals, using them to exchange for even more useful items from followers of the ' Great Mother,' followers of the ' Mother Tree of Desire,' and other Beyonder. These include life-draining bullets, bullets that can cause targets to implode, and bullets that can Pregnancy a human, and so on and so forth."

A bullet that could Pregnancy a human... Lumian was suddenly struck by a psychological trauma, and was extremely grateful that she hadn't given Yebus the chance to fire that kind of bullet.

Franca and Jenna were also inexplicably terrified, their bodies turning cold, and even Anthony showed a subtle Change in expression.

Yebus's gaze swept over Franca, Jenna, Lumian, and his friend Anthony, and he solemnly said, "Through connections with all sorts of creatures, the ' Shadow Merchant ' can help you get anything you want, as long as you pay the right price."

"Of course, we cannot guarantee that every transaction will be successful."

"I want the ' Hunter ' Pathway Sequence 4 Potion Formula," Lumian said with a smile.

Yebus paused for a moment and said, "This will take a very long time, going through rounds of searching to find someone who can provide the corresponding formula."

"The That One you ultimately trade with might even pose a danger to you."

Lumian was just joking; he deliberately sighed and said, "Then let's put it aside for now."

"What other abilities do the ' Shadow Merchant ' possess? You certainly don't only have the ability to reduce the hostility of surrounding creatures and detect Concealment presences."

Yebus finally looked Lumian in the eye:

"I've used these techniques during our fight, including Hide in the Shadows, becoming a shadow, and creating false shadows—abilities that are more focused on self-protection. I collectively refer to them as 'utilizing shadows.'"

"The ' Shadow Merchant ' can exploit not only symbolic shadows, but also shadows in reality," Franca exclaimed.

Encouraged, Yebus continued, "We can also sign a contract with each other's shadows as witnesses, directly linked to each other's souls. If this contract is broken, the shadow will harm its own spirit, akin to a powerful Curse."

"I see..." Franca thought of the guy she had met before.

The man, who also seemed to be a member of the "School of Truth," said he had a way to guarantee the binding force of the contract on both parties.

"And then?" Jenna pressed.

Yebus suddenly felt a little awkward, and coughed twice before saying, "We can also rely on the symbolic power of the shadows to subtly modify key terms the moment the contract is signed, making the other party pay more or receive less."

"No wonder..." Franca finally understood how the man who seemed to be a member of the "School of Truth" was trying to Deceit her and Jenna.

No wonder he acted strangely as soon as he heard that he was going to have the contract Divination beforehand!

The "Shadow Merchant" is quite adept at dealing with Beyonder using the "Thief" Pathway. I wonder who will ultimately suffer... Lumian didn't give Franca a chance to criticize the "Shadow Merchant," and chuckled, "What about Sequence 7?"

"Sequence 7 is the ' Public Prosecutor '," Yebus began, seemingly trying to mitigate the damage to the "Shadow Merchant's " image caused by its overly sinister nature. "The ' Public Prosecutor ' has two abilities: one allows them to see which crimes a target has committed, but not the process of the crime; the other, built upon the former, first declares the target guilty, then specifies the exact crimes..."

Upon hearing this, Franca suddenly had a question:

How is this crime determined?

"It can't be Intis's laws, can it? If we meet in the Kingdom of Loen, wouldn't your abilities in this area be useless?"

"Automatically adapt to local laws?"

Yebus seemed to be facing this question for the first time, and after thinking for more than ten seconds, he replied, "It should be acts that most humans generally agree are sinful, including Blasphemy, murder, rape, fraud, theft, etc. There are no more specific or detailed sins."

"That doesn't make sense either." Franca was still unconvinced. "Suppose, suppose we were in a ridiculous world where we could do whatever we wanted, including murder and Blasphemy, wouldn't you be unable to declare the target guilty?"

She was thinking about the "Dream Festival" that had just ended.

Yebus fell silent for a moment before answering:

"I have no idea..."

"Perhaps those charges stem from something more fundamental," Lumian tried to guess.

It is impossible to determine Yebus.

Franca could only look at him and say, "You continue."

Yebus took a moment to recall where he was in his speech:

"Once the crime is identified, the target will receive the corresponding punishment, which comes from the world itself or from some other being. The specific punishment depends on the severity of the crime and cannot be known in advance. In short, based on my experience, the most terrible punishments are direct death and Loss of Control on the spot."

"Furthermore, for crimes that are in progress, we can directly declare that the target is committing a crime without specifying the crime, effectively saving time."

Franca nodded slightly, gaining a completely new understanding of that battle.

"What language did you use when the charges were announced?" Lumian recalled the relevant details.

"It's the ' Word of Order,' which I learned automatically when I received the ' Public Prosecutor's ' Gift," Yebus said without hiding anything.

Lumian hummed in agreement.

What about Sequence 6?

"They are ' Ambitious Man '." Yebus's eyes seemed to Burning with Flames. "An inexhaustible ambition brings a powerful physique, keen senses, and outstanding spirituality, driving us to constantly pursue improvements in combat capabilities. And this Burning ambition makes us never want to stop. Unless we choose to sleep, no one can force us to fall asleep or become unconscious..."

"In other words, it can effectively resist abilities such as forced dream entry and inducing coma, or, immunity?" Lumian suddenly understood why Yebus was able to wake up so quickly when faced with the "Heng-Ha Art".

"It's confrontation," Yebus very frankly.

Lumian asked a few more questions about "Ambitious Man," then said, "You should be Sequence 5, right?"

"Yes." Yebus puffed out his chest slightly in front of the two Witch.

Franca asked curiously, "What is Sequence 5?"

Yebus smiled and replied, "It's a ' Dark Box '."

"The Dark Box"? Franca, Lumian, and the others simultaneously thought of the "Power Broker’s Black Box" they had obtained from General Philip.

Was that formed from the Gift Power the "Broker" Pathway Sequence 5?

Lumian looked at Yebus, not in a hurry to understand the "Dark Box's" capabilities, and asked thoughtfully, "What is your relationship with the Carbonari?"