Chapter 273: Chapter 6: Transaction (Part 2)

He considered his options. He had saved up a good amount of money, but he couldn’t afford to keep spending it like this. He had to figure something out.

There was, in fact, another option... urban legends.

If such things truly existed in Central City, perhaps he could find a way to use an Esoteric Ritual to capture the creatures from these legends and turn them into his own resources.

With this in mind, he switched screens and searched for things like urban legends. Although nothing explicitly confirmed their existence, he quickly noticed several suspicious incidents and even related requests.

However, when he tried to search further, a prompt informed him that this information pertained to professional services. He needed to have the status of a Client or be affiliated with a contracting agency to gain access.

He looked into it. With his status as a Wuyi Academy student, he could pay a fee to register as a Client directly. However, taking on requests still meant dealing with the commissioning parties, various regulations, and tax issues. An independent Client would need a dedicated Litigation Master to handle these affairs.

Of course, he could also affiliate himself with a contracting agency. They would handle all the tedious affairs, allowing the Client to focus solely on their requests. But without the status of an Advanced Client recognized by Central City, the agency would take most of his earnings. It would be just like working for someone else.

Reading this, he thought of Gao Ming. His cousin had mentioned he would be coming to Central City as well, so now seemed like a good time to call and check in.

He picked up the phone and dialed a number.

After a short wait, the call connected. He said, "Gao Ming? It’s me. I’m at the Central City General Hospital. How are things on your end?"

Gao Ming’s light laughter came through the receiver. "Cousin, I told you, your arrival in Central City marks the time for me to truly start showing my worth. I’ve already received an invitation from a Litigation Master firm in Central City and will be joining them as an independent Litigation Master. Once the paperwork is sorted out in a bit, I’ll be on my way to Central City."

Chen Chuan was happy to hear the news. "That’s great," he said. "Actually, I have something here that I could really use your help with."

Gao Ming replied, "Of course, Cousin. Can you give me the details? I can start preparing ahead of time."

Chen Chuan gave him a rough summary of what he had just found out. Of course, he didn’t mention that his main targets were the creatures from the legends, only that he wanted to earn the reward money.

After listening, Gao Ming thought for a moment. "I’ve looked into the request system in Central City before," he said. "It’ll probably be February before I can finish all the procedures and get there. If you’re in a hurry, Cousin, there might be a temporary solution you can use until I arrive."

"What kind of solution?"

Gao Ming explained, "Since requests involving these legends aren’t specially classified, you could find a Client you trust—or one you have some leverage over. You could cooperate with them privately. They would accept the official requests, and you’d split the payment under the table. It would be beneficial for them, too."

Chen Chuan understood immediately. A Client like that would surely have ways to bypass the agency and do work on the side. Cooperating with someone like that would allow him to sidestep all those problems.

Of course, that was assuming he wasn’t afraid of being double-crossed.

’I do know someone who might fit the bill,’ he thought, then said aloud, "Thanks, Gao Ming."

"Don’t mention it, Cousin. Just call me again if anything else comes up."

After ending the call with Gao Ming, Chen Chuan hung up the phone and sank into deep thought.

Meanwhile, in another part of the city, Old Qi drove to a place filled with nothing but ruined buildings. It was like a forgotten corner of the city, where vines clung to crumbling walls. The ground was riddled with potholes and puddles, littered with overturned roadblocks, overgrown with dense vegetation, and strewn with wrecked vehicles.

This was no illusion.

This was the Skull Gang’s territory. They refused to use any Yin Yang Ceremony and instead cultivated large quantities of Alien Algae, which could effectively disrupt the local biological field and interfere with the Fumu’s perception.

In reality, there were many such places, large and small, scattered throughout Central City. It was as if a thin membrane had been punctured with countless holes. These areas were impossible to monitor or control, but Central City’s power structure dictated that, barring special circumstances, the Upper Layer would not waste resources dealing with them.

He didn’t dare venture too deep. He drove a short distance in, then stopped and got out. Standing beside the vehicle, he reached into the driver’s seat and honked the horn.

A few honks later, THUD! A figure landed on the roof of an abandoned car and crouched down. He wore a feathered cloak and a skull mask. The skin left exposed was pale and dry, as if it hadn’t seen the Sun in a very long time.

As Old Qi looked on, more figures in skull masks emerged from the ruined buildings on both sides and peeked out from trenches in the ground. Some of them raised crossbows and firearms, aiming them directly at him.

Old Qi suppressed a flicker of nervousness, slowly retrieved a metal disk from the car, and held it high. "I brought what you wanted."

He opened the disk, revealing shattered, block-like shards inside. Thin red threads ran through them, glowing with a faint fluorescence.

If Chen Chuan had been there, he would have recognized this material as being very similar to what he had acquired near Jiaoshan on his first trip into the wilds with Ren Xiaotian.

"Fresh goods."

The first Skull Gang member on the car roof licked his lips. "Give him the money," he ordered. Immediately, someone leaped from a high perch onto the roof of Old Qi’s vehicle, making him wince.

The man snatched the metal disk from Old Qi’s hand, inspected it, then tossed him a metal canister. Old Qi hurriedly caught it and pried it open to find it stuffed with bundles of cash. He quickly sealed it again and placed it in his car.

"The offer still stands. If you get more goods in the future, you can trade them here. We’ll buy as much as you can bring."

Old Qi nodded.

After speaking, the man turned and jumped off the vehicle. The surrounding Skull Gang members also retreated one by one, and silence fell once more, as if no one had ever been there.

Old Qi breathed a sigh of relief. He got back in the car and slowly reversed out of the area. Once he was back on the main road, with sunlight spilling over his car again, he glanced at the canister of money and couldn’t help but smile.

Just then, however, a red light suddenly flashed before him, and an automated warning blared: "Vehicle ahead, you have been detected entering a derelict zone. You are suspected of carrying an unknown virus. Please stop immediately to undergo inspection and decontamination." His smile froze on his face.

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