The Little Crow was jumping and bouncing around me with joy, much like a little bird that chirps in excitement—although she actually is a bird. Her mind isn’t particularly bright, yet she knew that the treasure she found was acknowledged, so she was exceptionally happy.

I was examining the silvery metal plate in my hand over and over. Little Crow had found it from the "junk pile" in the corner of the yard, where Shajina and Sona stored unidentified items they retrieved from ancient relics. Since no one could determine their value, nor could they bear to discard them, they ended up being stacked in the corner. The silvery metal was only palm-sized and felt as light as nothing, possessing a puzzlingly low density and high strength contrary to its apparent material. I tried earlier—without extraordinary force, just using my hands couldn’t deform this few-millimeter-thick metal plate in any way. Its edges are irregular but have no tearing marks, seeming to be processed this way originally. One side is smooth, while the other has a lot of neat and orderly grooves, with unknown-purpose crystals embedded within. The lower edge of the metal plate bears a row of neat small characters that seem like some kind of serial number.

Such a form naturally associates itself with high-tech mechanical devices, though its use is undetectable, I speculate it to be a kind of part from a device beyond this world’s technological level.

Even if it’s not a part, it’s absolutely something that shouldn’t exist in this world. The processing skills for this metal are extraordinarily high, and its composition is strange; something so solid yet so light can’t be easy to process.

"Where did you get this from?" I asked Shajina, holding up the metal plate.

"Uh, let me think," Shajina frowned. There was quite a lot piled in the yard, and they frequently went on expeditions to various relics, trying to recall where such an inconspicuous metal plate came from was indeed difficult. After pondering for a long time, Shajina had to shake her head apologetically, "It’s been quite a while, I long forgot where it was found."

Seeing the disappointment on my face, Sona immediately added, "But I do have a slight impression: at that time, we tried to sell it at the market because it appeared lighter and more solid than any metal. Alchemists might take an interest. However, the alchemist who bought it returned it after a few days, claiming the metal was impossible to process, it couldn’t conduct magic nor melt, and didn’t react with any alchemy materials. Other than being hard, it was useless, and it couldn’t even be mimicked. I suppose it’s of no use, but if you’re interested in it, you can take it. It serves no purpose for us."

Sandora took the metal plate, flipped it around for a while, and then shook her head, "We’re not interested in the metal itself, but in its origin. This item... shouldn’t appear in this world."

"Sorry, I can’t help," Shajina said awkwardly, then clapped her hands, "Wait, there might be someone who knows!"

Sandora immediately squinted her eyes, "Who? Can we find them now?"

"Probably not right now, he’s likely at the market," Sona shook her head, "This is the time when adventurers go to the market to sell things, we were supposed to go as well. If it’s not an urgent matter, you could come with us. That person is also an adventurer and quite seasoned; he often explores in zones similar to us, he may have seen similar things."

Shajina nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, Sona, let’s go to the market. It’s still early today, maybe we can buy some stuff too; our rented stall isn’t far from that elder’s, we should all go together."

Her latter words were directed at us, with a hopeful expression. We certainly had no reason to decline, so we nodded in agreement immediately.

Shajina and Sona went back to the house first to pack, then came out carrying two enormous backpacks. It seemed that their "goods" to sell at the market were these two large bags. Shajina gave me a proud smile, "Though I dare not claim other abilities, we’re confident in our strength. Come on, this is all we need to handle today, it’s from our last expedition, and this time’s gains are yet to be sorted." 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

How could I bear seeing two young girls hefting such large bags before me? Of course, I couldn’t. So, I decisively patted Lin’s shoulder, "Go help out." For some reason, I no longer felt guilty lately about passing this kind of work on to Lin.

"Ah, no trouble, it’s very heavy..." Shajina exclaimed when Lin went to take the backpack, but the next second, her expression was frozen: Lin effortlessly "pinched" the two huge backpacks as if they were feathers and hopped happily to the front of the line. Shajina stared at her dumbfounded from behind, then suddenly wore a mournful face, "My only prideful strength..."

Bingdisi patted her shoulder, "It’s okay, that silly girl only prides herself in her strength too, so you’re not losing out."

The adventurer’s trading market gave off a vibe very similar to an open-air rental stall veggie market; it had no impressive facilities nor strict rules. A large area was demarcated, then the Sen Tu Authority planned out neat stalls. Each stall was separated by iron stakes and wooden boards, with simple wooden countertops for laying out goods. These stalls were leased at a meager price to adventurers, according to Shajina, practically free of charge. This indicates such a market leans more towards being a communal or welfare facility. As one of the largest transit stations in the Lost World, Sen Tu attracts a large number of scholars and magic practitioners, further enhancing the Secret Magic Meeting’s scale here. To the Sen Tu Authority, the Secret Magic Meeting and other high-end academic facilities are economic pillars, so they don’t charge much for using this adventurer market.

However, this doesn’t mean adventurers gain any significant benefit from this system. As a weak social group and a disorganized, loose stratum, adventurers always suffer—doing business with the ruling knowledge class, adventurers are in a position to be exploited whether it be in terms of knowledge, status, or power. They also have to face heavily prejudiced market managers and other bureaucratic departments, which makes life challenging.

"If we clash with the elder scholars, no matter the reason, we suffer. The city guards would mostly put the blame on us," Shajina said with a very frustrated look, "After all, many consider adventurers as an uncultured bunch of vagrants with violent tendencies. If trouble arises, we’re to blame. As for scholars, they’re the cultured class—who would doubt them? Both Sona and I have been caught by city guards several times, always resulting from disputes..."

"Isn’t it because you’re too stubborn," Sona glanced at Shajina with dissatisfaction, "and also very impulsive."

I immediately understood; indeed, Shajina was someone who couldn’t suppress her emotions well. It’s no wonder she often ended up in conflicts.

As we chatted, we arrived at the destination. Sona found her leased stall, I discovered the only difference from a vegetable market being that each stall was quite large. If walls were added, they would probably serve as stores, but a glance around explained why so much space was reserved—dozens of meters away, an adventurer team was selling beast bones, Ancestor Elephant’s.

"Some of the more seasoned adventurers form large teams, way more formidable than the two of us," Shajina noticed my gaze and said casually, "Apart from relic explorations, they sometimes venture into the Lost World’s wilderness to hunt fierce beasts. These beasts are full of treasures yet can’t adapt to the Mother Continent’s environment, so they remain as Lost World specialties, often fetching high prices. Of course, the two of us wouldn’t consider that. We’re pretty inconspicuous here."

Apart from the variety of race-mixed adventurers at various stalls, the market was busy with well-dressed "customers" wandering between stalls. They were here to purchase alchemy or research materials. Realizing we knew nothing about adventurers, Shajina began to explain, and I learned that aside from a small portion being scholars themselves, most of these buyers were their apprentices or assistants. Scholars wouldn’t run errands themselves, nor did they appreciate the chaotic environment.

"Many alchemy materials produced by the Lost World are fixed, so after instructing the apprentices, scholars have no reason to come out themselves," Shajina said as she set her items on the table, "only when the masters feel inclined to discover novel materials would they come personally. After all, many Lost Worlds are unearthed in exploration, and adventurers often come across unseen novelties—like the metal plate you found. No one knows their purpose, but elder scholars fancy these kinds of things. They call this market material-seeking ’treasure hunting’ (I wanted to quip: would customers give you good reviews if satisfied? But held my tongue), which is generally an adventurer’s biggest fortune opportunity, though it relies substantially on luck. Sometimes, what you think valuable turns out worthless to the elder scholars, often devalued, but that’s just how it is."

Lin Xue slightly raised her eyebrow and said with a pout, "You actually got tricked, right? Although you found the things, who besides those tech nerds knows the real value of them? You definitely got ripped off."

Shajina chuckled, obviously aware of the situation herself. But what can be done? Explorers basically lack much knowledge. If beyond courage and strength they had any skills, they wouldn’t be doing such dangerous jobs, especially with a race like the Half-Dragon People: born unable to learn magic, eternally illiterate in this era where the magic knowledge class rules the world. Everything of high value in the world is beyond their comprehension. Could there be anything worse?

"Actually, we’re rather lucky," Sona said with a wistful smile, spreading her hands. "Once used as an experiment by that Mage Master, there were blessings in disguise. Though we can’t learn magic, Shajina and I picked up quite a bit about pharmacy and material science — all memorized secretly back then. While not comparable to true scholars, this knowledge often comes in handy for assessing ordinary weird materials, especially when we first started ’working.’ It proved quite useful. We’re not that easily fooled."

"So, where is that old adventurer you mentioned?" Qianqian asked as she strolled outside and then circled back.

"Oh, wait a bit, Shajina, keep an eye on the stuff, I’ll lead the way." Sona hurriedly arranged the things she had on hand while speaking and led our group towards a stall about a hundred meters away: The stall was in the corner, watched over by a seemingly drowsy old man, with only a few things on display, very inconspicuous. I suddenly had a thought: According to common patterns, a seemingly oblivious and dozing old man in a bustling market, hiding from potential customers, while surrounded by dazzling goods yet with only some ragged things on his stall — he must be an expert hidden from the world. His sleepy eyes conceal life’s wisdom, and the seemingly old and tattered junk on his stall holds rare treasures. Typically, they might even have a couple of ’maids ready for marriage’ at home — could it be, after walking the non-mainstream path all these years, am I finally going to encounter a mainstream plot?

Just as I was daydreaming, suddenly a muscular big man with a bare chest emerged, pushing a cart from the side. The big man rushed to the old man’s stall, unloaded large parcels one by one from the cart, and started pouring things out messily. The drowsy old man perked up at the sound and jumped over to help tidy up, muttering, "I say, why now? We’ve been here for nearly the time it takes to smoke half a cigarette, and you’re gone for almost an hour! How much stuff have you delayed... I told you this morning to bring the cart, but you didn’t listen — see, a big spender came and bought everything, while I watched an empty stall as others sold their wares, you — this wastrel!"

The big man lowered his head and worked quickly, apologizing, "Dad, don’t get mad, it’s still early today, we’ll sell more in the afternoon..."

I: "...Haha, the old man’s got quite the spirit... haha..."

A large group of us standing by the stall couldn’t go unnoticed. The old man had just tidied up a few things when he noticed us, and promptly set aside his tasks, patting the big man’s shoulder: "Hey, what did I say? Business is here — judging by your clothes, you must be scholars or nobles here for treasures, right? Just in time, we’ve brought a few prized items from home, including two the boys found in a cave in the Gray Forest a few days ago. I swear you won’t find them on the market..."

The old man’s enthusiasm for business was perhaps even greater than that for adventuring, and in the blink of an eye, he was passionately introducing his collection. I heard he was a retired adventurer, and now it’s his son and teammates who’ve taken up the mantle. But we weren’t here to listen to his pitches. However, Lin Xue opened her mouth a few times but couldn’t interrupt him. Finally, Sona couldn’t resist and loudly said, "Uncle Wayne! Please let others speak first!"

The old man was startled, as if only now seeing Sona: "Oh, it’s Sona, when did you come?"

"I’ve been standing here since just now!" Sona looked displeased, anyone would feel annoyed being ignored like that. "Uncle, have you completely turned into a merchant now, just focused on business?"

"Of course, with a stubborn son, how wouldn’t I find ways to support the family!" The old man shouted energetically, his whiskers quivering, while the "stubborn son" stood quietly by, unable to make a sound. The contrast was striking; on one side, a muscular man who could easily win a bodybuilding contest, standing shyly with his head down; on the other, a white-haired, bent-over, old man, with a thunderous voice and imposing aura.

Sandora didn’t waste words, directly pulling out that metal slab: "Shajina said you might know its origin, do you recognize this?"

The old man muttered: "I haven’t worked since last year, but since Shajina said so, perhaps it’s something from before that..." As he spoke, he took the metal slab, looked at it over and over, and decisively said, "Two hundred sonas."

I was stunned: "What?"

"Two hundred sonas," the old man raised his eyes. "Such an inconspicuous item, others probably haven’t noticed it, two hundred sonas for the information is already cheap, can you gentlemen really care about such a small sum?"

Sona awkwardly glanced at us and urgently said to the old man: "They are friends of Shajina and me!"

This time it was the old man’s turn to be dumbfounded. He looked at our grandiose "noble parade" and suddenly pulled Sona’s arm: "Did you eat something wrong? You’re just a... you know."

"It’s true, they’re scholars traveling, we met back in the Ancient City," Sona, of course, knew what had surprised him and briefly explained, "Anyway, please drop the money talk, okay?"

Amazed, the old man looked at us, finally gritting his teeth and stomping his foot, seemingly thinking up a good idea: "How about this, just pretend I don’t know about it, first pay me, alright?"

I: "..." Ling Meng, I might have found your long-lost father!

Seeing that even someone as mild-mannered as Sona was near the brink of exploding, the old man finally gave in, motioning us away: "Go check out the Sky Tower, I remember there’s a floor with a bunch of odd metals, I don’t know anything beyond that — hey, you really aren’t buying anything? Even if you don’t need alchemy materials, finding some pretty stones to make jewelry wouldn’t be bad..."

We ended up still spending some money, fortunately, Lilina had the currency of this world with her, and we picked up a heap of strange stones to take back. Well, we’ll just consider it as buying Sandora some snacks.

Just as we turned to leave, suddenly from not far away came a commotion, mixed with Shajina’s sharp voice. (Continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)