Mysterious Eyes Watching

After the Tube Building ambush, the turf disputes on Green Street temporarily died down as well.

It was not only because the Steam Party had admitted fault and signed a truce agreement this time. More importantly, "Red Demon" Golon had become a Cross Society cadre and was responsible for protecting several squads around Green Street. With such a powerful Tier 2 Professional present, the price the other side would have to pay to strike from the shadows again had risen considerably.

As for that "scythe," the information left behind by the monster's Memory Fragment differed from human memories. It was vague and simple, containing only the concept of turns at forks in the road, with no spatial concepts such as up, down, left, or right. Thus, Suren knew how to reach it from the Underground Chamber entrance, but not its exact location.

That meant if he wanted to find it, he would have to descend into the Underground Chamber beneath the Tube Building once more.

Before he had the ability to protect himself, Suren was not foolish enough to go down there again.

Therefore, his goal was to find suitable Alchemical Implant as soon as possible.

He planned to try his luck at the Black Market and see whether he could buy a more advanced blueprint.

Unless absolutely necessary, he did not want to exchange for the Silver Blueprint of the Thousand Kill Wings at the gang headquarters.

After all, exchanging for that blueprint would reveal that his body's Containment Value was extremely high, perhaps drawing the attention of those with ulterior motives.

Everyone knew that, barring special circumstances, the higher one's Containment Value, the higher the grade of one's Breathing Technique.

And high-grade Breathing Techniques were, for the most part, controlled by the top conglomerates of the Inner City, or even exclusive techniques of certain great families.

Suren increasingly felt that the Heigam Breathing Technique the original owner had learned was of an extremely high grade and definitely could not be exposed.

For the time being, he still intended to remain an inconspicuous nobody.

The Shadow Alley Black Market held an auction every month at an irregular time.

During auctions, Wilderness Hunters, mercenaries, and professional thieves gathered to sell their goods. Black Market shop owners also put up for auction fine items and collectibles acquired through various channels, so plenty of good things would appear.

That day, Suren received the latest delivery of the Old Lindun Gazette at his inn.

In an inconspicuous corner, he spotted a message.

Job listing: Greenham Printing House was hiring twelve workers. Monthly salary: 2,180 Liso. Day and night shifts.

Translated, it meant Sunday, midnight. 2180 was half of the invitation code; regular Black Market visitors had another code in their hands, and together they formed the invitation code.

It was said that every faction received its coded message from a different source, not merely through the same notice in the newspaper. If trouble arose, the organizers behind the Black Market could trace the code and find where the problem had occurred.

It was worth mentioning that cryptography was a basic skill for Alchemists.

The coded messages in newspapers were also its simplest application.

In the Previous Era, a thousand years ago, when Alchemy had been brilliant and flourishing, Alchemists would fragment their knowledge and scatter it across many places to prevent their research from being stolen and to conceal the secrets of certain astonishing studies.

Almost all surviving ancient Alchemical scrolls contained content hidden beneath coded messages. They had to be deciphered before their contents could be understood, the purpose being to ensure that those who encountered them were truly worthy of them.

Thus, the phrase Sir Isaac, hailed as the "Alchemical Demigod," often mentioned in his notes—"one book opened another book"—became the motto of later generations of Alchemists.

Suren asked Kai for leave, saying that he wanted to browse the Black Market.

Because they had shared hardship during the Tube Building incident, his relationship with Kai had become extraordinary, and getting leave went smoothly.

He planned to try his luck at the auction and see whether he could find a suitable Augment Armor blueprint. He also intended to see if he could acquire another Rune Firearm.

After all, the Three-Headed Ghost was far too recognizable. Everyone in the gangs knew it was the sidearm of the killer "Iron Head" Ivan.

Taking the tram to the Bird District intersection in North City, Suren arrived two hours early.

Only after checking his surroundings and finding nothing suspicious did he head toward Shadow Alley.

There was an auction tonight, so the entrance had access control.

A small window had been opened in the iron gate, and the collector was a burly man with tattoos covering both hands.

Everyone entering had to state their invitation code and pay an entrance fee of five thousand Liso.

Spending five thousand before buying anything made Suren feel a slight pang of pain. But it also kept out the vast majority of people who had come merely to watch the excitement.

It was not Suren's first time at the Black Market, and he already knew his way around.

But there were indeed far more people here than usual today. Most wore large trench coats and peaked caps pulled down over their faces, or hoods and masks—mysterious outfits all around.

Wearing a deerstalker cap, Suren did not stand out amid the crowd.

The Black Market auction had no designated hall. It was somewhat like a market fair from his previous life, with everyone finding their own spot and waiting for the auction to begin.

There was still time, so Suren wandered through the narrow streets framed by steel scaffolding. He noticed that the original owner's missing-person notice was still hanging on the bulletin board.

But today, a red missing-person notice had been added in the most conspicuous spot.

"A million Liso just for providing information?"

Seeing the long string of bounty figures, Suren became interested and stopped to look for a moment.

The black-and-white photograph showed a woman with refined features and a capable air, looking like an office worker in an employment photo. Even from the photograph, her temperament was clearly different from that of the Outer City commoners. She was probably from the Inner City.

"This bounty is comparable to that of an S-Rank Fugitive. Just what did the woman in this photograph do?"

Suren was puzzled, but he did not linger long.

Though the million-Liso bounty was tempting, a high reward also meant high risk.

For someone with a bounty comparable to a Grade S fugitive, he had no intention of becoming a Bounty Hunter, even if he truly ran into the target.

Suren left the bulletin board, just as two people in black trench coats brushed past him.

Judging by their builds, they seemed to be a man and a woman.

The moment Suren passed them, the man glanced sideways and muttered to his companion, "Huh, that guy just now felt a little familiar. Even though his face was covered, I'm sure I've seen him before."

The woman in the trench coat said calmly, "Half the people in the Black Market are wanted criminals or have records with organizations. It's normal for you to find someone familiar. But this isn't our territory, so it's best not to cause trouble."

The man in the trench coat withdrew his gaze and did not think further. "Mm."

At the same time, Suren continued forward as though he knew nothing, but his expression turned grave. Have I been noticed?

When he had passed those two people, he had also felt an invisible pressure. It was the rank suppression that only came from facing a High-Tier Professional like a cadre.

His exceptionally high Mental Power had made his senses extremely sharp, allowing him to perceive subtle things—such as the gazes of others.

He was certain that, when they had brushed past each other, the man had looked at him from the corner of his eye.

"That guy must have recognized something through some special identification ability, or perhaps he was simply curious."

Suren did not think his current bald, browless appearance resembled the original owner much at all. But in this world of Supernatural Abilities, identifying someone certainly did not rely solely on eyesight.

Just as his vigilance rose, the feeling of being watched vanished moments later, and Suren breathed a sigh of relief.

It seemed the man had probably just glanced at him casually.

He did not linger in the street. Spotting the sign for Rosen's Alchemy Shop by the roadside, he plunged straight inside.