Golden Blueprint (Monthly Ticket, Recommendation Ticket)

Before long, the auction began.

The black market auction was quite interesting, somewhat like the outdoor drive-in theaters from Suren's previous life.

The black market in Shadow Alley had been built on pipelines along the rock wall, and across from it stood another pitch-black cliff face.

The black market organizers had somehow created something resembling a projection on this cliff face. The information about each auction item was then displayed on the cliff like a slideshow, allowing everyone in every shop on every level of the black market to see it clearly.

There was no auctioneer. Only descriptions of the items and constantly changing prices appeared above.

Famous guns, famous swords, Ancient Relics, Cursed Objects, Alchemy Grimoires. Every single one was a fine treasure.

Suren drooled over them from inside the shop, yet felt somewhat powerless.

There were too many things he wanted to buy, but the auction items that easily cost hundreds of thousands meant that, with his current wealth, buying even one would probably empty his savings.

It wasn't only the Inner City that had wealthy people. The top professionals in the Outer City were also quite well-off.

"Forget it. I'll just wait for the blueprint."

Suren consoled himself this way and resisted bidding on the impressive-looking famous gun.

Just then, an auction item appeared, and its price instantly skyrocketed.

It was something resembling a notebook, a thin single sheet with its image blurred so that no one could make out the writing on it.

However, the description beside it read, "An authentic page from Sir Isaac's Alchemy Manuscript."

One had to know that an ordinary Black Iron Implant only cost around a hundred thousand Liso.

The moment this page appeared, its price shot up to more than two million. Suren's eyelids twitched as he sighed inwardly, There really are plenty of wealthy people in the Outer City.

In the end, the manuscript was bought by a mysterious buyer for more than three million.

That was still a bargain. After all, if this item had appeared at an auction in the Inner City, it would probably have fetched the astronomical price of four or five million.

At the moment this item appeared, the two people in black trench coats whom Suren had encountered earlier were sitting inside an inconspicuous shop.

The man in the trench coat looked at the manuscript and seemed to recognize it. He exclaimed softly, "Chief, could that manuscript be the one stolen from the safe in the Duncan Family's ancestral home?"

The woman in the trench coat wore an unsurprised expression and said calmly, "Probably."

The man's expression turned ugly. This was a case that had given their Umbrella Organization a huge headache. They still hadn't caught the suspect. He muttered, "Damn it, that brazen little thief actually brought the stolen goods here."

The woman in the trench coat looked completely unconcerned. Staring deeply at the projection ahead, she said calmly, "What else would it be? If the goods weren't of unknown origin and stolen, what did you think the black market would sell? Just watch quietly. Don't get so worked up. Our purpose this time isn't to find some thief. Finding the person who escaped from that laboratory is what's most important."

"Oh."

The young man shrugged with disinterest when he heard that.

He looked at the manuscript, suddenly thought of something, and asked, "Chief, I heard that Chuck from the Cross Society found an Alchemy Manuscript by Isaac outside the city last time. Is that true? The rumors even say it might be one of the five books that recorded God-tier alchemy?"

The woman in the trench coat said, "It's probably true. Otherwise, those people from the Oliver Consortium wouldn't have gone to such lengths to secretly seize it. Heh, in the end, they didn't get the item and even lost a powerful Sealed Item."

The young man asked again, "Chief, do you think that manuscript might have fallen back into Chuck's hands?"

The woman in the trench coat shook her head and replied, "That should be impossible. Once the news leaked, Chuck knew he couldn't keep that manuscript safe. That man is clever. He would never leave such a huge calamity beside him. The information should be accurate. The manuscript really should have been lost."

"Oh."

"Hmm? That's the Inner City Defense Force's latest military Mechanical Prosthetic! Damn it, who let restricted machinery like this leak onto the market?"

"Gasp, that Cursed Object's effects are actually so powerful? Any buyer in the Inner City could sell it for a better price. Oh, it's probably stolen goods again!"

"Oh, my god, those are the Special Grade Recovery Potions stolen from the Nathan Merchant Association."

"..."

The young man seemed to be attending a black market auction for the first time. He stared at those premium goods in shock again and again.

The woman in the trench coat, however, seemed to have long since grown accustomed to it and watched calmly.

At that moment, a batch of "Cursed Materials from Mutated Monsters" appeared at the auction, and the young man seemed to remember something. He spoke up again.

"Chief, the Outer City's Public Security Office has reported several serious Sewer Monster Incidents recently. Judging from the specimens of those monsters, they seem to be mutated species that have never appeared before. Could they be an omen of something bad?"

"Mutated monsters in the sewers? Heh. There's an eighty percent chance it was a laboratory leak, with some leftover materials flowing into the sewers. The people in the Black Tower always like conducting crazy experiments. This kind of accident has happened more than once or twice. You haven't been in the organization for long. Once you've stayed longer and have sufficient authority to access some highly classified files, you won't find it strange anymore."

"Then tell me, could the person the higher-ups have ordered us to find at all costs this time be connected to some secret experiments in the tower?"

"You forgot the confidentiality agreement?"

"..."

The two mysterious people in trench coats quietly conversed inside the shop.

The auction continued.

Suren looked at the projection before him and sighed heavily from time to time.

A finished Silver Quality implant and a blueprint had been auctioned earlier, but both were Melee Type and had very low compatibility with his profession.

Of course, unsuitability was one matter. The price was another.

After the Tube Building Incident, Suren had received more than two hundred thousand in compensation. Adding in what he already had, he possessed nearly four hundred thousand in cash.

He had initially thought that would be enough to buy an implant blueprint, but seeing the auction prices climb higher and higher as the event progressed, he gradually lost hope.

A Silver Blueprint had already appeared, so the later auction items would only be better and more expensive.

Could it be that the legendary "Golden Blueprint" would actually appear?

Suren had thought he would return empty-handed this time, but unexpectedly, an extremely rare blueprint really did appear.

Just then, a detailed implant blueprint appeared on the projection. Its design depicted eight spider legs, and its marked name was Eight-Armed Spider God Spear (Golden).

The item had been discovered by a Wilderness Hunter Group in an Ancient Relic outside the city. It was considered a unique piece.

Starting price: three hundred thousand Liso.

The moment it appeared, the entire black market erupted in astonishment.

"It's a Golden Blueprint?"

"That's a rare sight. Even at an Inner City auction house, a Golden Blueprint might not appear once a year."

"Heh, what a pity. The quality is high, but probably no one will bid on it."

"..."

Any blueprint brought out by the black market had definitely been verified, so no one doubted its authenticity.

However, after reading the description, almost no one believed that this blueprint could sell for a good price.

At the same time, the two people in Umbrella Organization trench coats in a small shop at the corner also saw the auction item.

The man in the trench coat looked at the projection in surprise. "It's actually a Golden Blueprint. You can find something this good in the Outer City?"

The aloof woman also took another look, then shook her head and evaluated it. "Although this blueprint is high-grade, it isn't very practical. Operating a spider-shaped Alchemical Implant is too complicated. It requires extremely high skill and the ability to control multiple things at once. For the vast majority of professionals, it simply won't be compatible."

After a pause, she added with brutal accuracy, "Besides, the more complicated an implant is, the more demanding it is on materials, and the higher the requirements for alchemy. If anything goes slightly wrong, defects can easily appear, resulting in a high failure rate and making the gains not worth the losses. Similar items have appeared at Inner City auctions before. They make decent collectibles, but their practical value isn't high."

Hearing this, the man in the trench coat found it a pity and hesitated. "But... this came from an Ancient Relic. It shouldn't be ordinary, right?"

"An implant that can reach Golden Quality naturally isn't ordinary. Once a finished product is made, its might will certainly surpass that of implants of the same tier by a significant margin. However..."

The woman in the trench coat acknowledged his point.

Then she changed tack and continued, "Perhaps some rare professionals in ancient times could fully utilize this implant. But now... there probably isn't a single Tier 1 Professional in all of Old Lindun who can multitask and control eight arms."

The man in the trench coat looked enlightened and immediately lost most of his interest. "No wonder. With such a useless blueprint, the seller probably knew it couldn't fetch a good price in the Inner City, so they brought it to the black market auction to try their luck."

Almost no one else in the black market thought highly of the Golden Blueprint, and few were interested in it. But in Gerson Alchemy Shop, one person's gaze couldn't move away.

"Requires high skill and advanced control ability. High movement speed, climbing ability, poison needle mechanisms..."

Suren narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at the image on the projection and muttered to himself.

He didn't know that others considered this Alchemical Implant useless, but the moment he saw the blueprint, he immediately realized that it was the Alchemical Implant most compatible with his Abomination Puppeteer profession.

After reading some of the effects described on the blueprint, Suren felt that it had absolutely been tailor-made for his current needs.

Controlling eight Spider Arms was indeed difficult for others, but for Suren, who had awakened the Abomination Puppeteer's Multitasking ability, controlling eight things at once wasn't impossible as long as he practiced diligently!

Suren calculated, "With this eight-armed implant, it means I'll have ten arms. In the future, the number of puppets I can control won't be limited to my two hands anymore."

Looking at the blueprint, he seemed to be able to foresee himself controlling ten or even more puppets in battle at the same time.

With this implant and his Abomination Puppeteer profession, he alone would be an army!

Moreover, the blueprint stated that this implant possessed extremely high mobility and climbing ability. It could fight and flee, making it the ideal combination.

The ability to climb with eight arms was also why it required such incredible skill.

This implant was practically a perfect match for Suren!

However, satisfaction was one thing. Seeing the auction price made Suren's eyelids twitch. "The starting price is already three hundred thousand?"

He had never witnessed a Golden Blueprint auction before, but he estimated that the final hammer price would be at least over a million.

After transmigrating for so long, this was the first time Suren felt truly poor.

One had to know that an ordinary finished Black Iron Alchemical Implant only cost around a hundred thousand. This item had a starting price of three hundred thousand for the blueprint alone, not to mention the cost of the materials afterward. If he really wanted to craft the finished Eight-Armed Spider God Spear implant, the price would probably be enough to make people despair.

However, blueprints were treasures that couldn't be found simply by searching, especially blueprints suited to oneself.

If he missed this opportunity, he didn't know whether he would ever encounter another one.

The auction item remained on display for a long time without anyone bidding.

Suren gathered his wandering thoughts and raised his paddle for the first time. "Three hundred thousand!"

Implant blueprints were strategic resources, and they were also what the major factions and financial groups most liked to hoard.

Logically speaking, a unique blueprint like this appearing at an auction should have been fought over.

But when this Golden Blueprint appeared, it was even less popular than the Silver Blueprint before it.

After thinking briefly, Suren understood.

This implant's requirements for physical attributes were too high. It was unsuitable for the vast majority of professions and would be useless in the hands of ordinary people!

It wasn't practical. Once obtained, it would merely become a collectible gathering dust.

There might be people in the Inner City willing to spend hundreds of thousands on a decorative collectible, but there was absolutely no one in the Outer City that extravagant.

Seeing that the price wasn't skyrocketing too quickly, Suren also breathed a sigh of relief.

But the auction price soon broke through four hundred thousand.

That was all the cash Suren had on him.

Then, four hundred and fifty thousand. Five hundred thousand.

Suren stared at the blueprint, propped up his chin, and frowned with a solemn expression.

Then he shifted his gaze to the bespectacled little old man in Rosen Alchemy Shop, who was buried in a book, and asked, "Boss, you buy Cursed Materials and finished implants here, right?"

"We do."

The old man glanced at Suren and nodded.

Finally, after several rounds of bidding, Suren gritted his teeth and called out the high price of "eight hundred thousand," ultimately securing the blueprint.

The price was that he had sold everything: the spoils from killing "Iron Head" Ivan, "Silver-Arm" Dick, and their group, along with nearly all the spoils from the Tube Building.

One Alchemical Implant blueprint had left him completely penniless.

P.S. Brothers, next week's recommendations are crucial and will determine this book's life or death. Please don't leave the book on your shelves—cast your votes. If you can, a small tip would also be greatly appreciated~ I'm counting on you all.

Thanks to 'Twilight Melody' 1,500, 'Ganli Liang,' and '2010725020433089.' Thank you to all three of you for your generous support!