The stall's merchants were two wastelanders with red fox emblems on their clothes.

Suren recognized the symbol; it was the emblem of the "Fire Fox Troupe," a large wastelander group from Old Lingdun.

Their stall displayed various vellum scrolls and ancient books.

Some were well-preserved, seemingly from the cursed spaces.

Others were tattered and incomplete, probably relics unearthed from maps.

It looked as if they had found an ancient library.

Seeing Suren stop, one of them picked up a scroll and called out to him, "Hey, brother, buying alchemical scrolls? This scroll records the rare lightning-based alchemy technique, [Five Thunder Strike]. It once fetched a high price of 300,000 at the Old Lingdun auction. I'll let it go for only 240,000. We're from the 'Fire Fox Wastelander Troupe,' our reputation is solid. If you don't trust us, you can go through the merchant guild's appraisal channel..."

Most of the scrolls had the spell names labeled on them. Although he wasn't allowed to open them, Suren used the All-Knowing Eye to appraise them, confirming that they were indeed good items.

However, spell scrolls were not what he wanted.

He looked around and asked, "Do you have any ancient books that record knowledge related to the mind, or any classics on puppetry?"

"Those two types of books are quite niche..."

Unexpectedly, with this casual question, the man seemed to remember something, "Wait... I think I might have one."

He rummaged through his storage ring and took out a thick book, saying, "See if this is it?"

Suren looked at it. The book cover was written in Old Guneid language: *Introduction to Mentalism*, by Joseph Dycher.

He asked, "Can I flip through a few pages?"

"Of course."

The man didn't mind, and handed over the book, adding, "This thing seems to be transcendent knowledge, so we didn't put it out."

Transcendent knowledge was useless to ordinary people in Old Lingdun; no one would buy it even if it was displayed.

Perhaps only the wealthy people in the inner city would buy some as antique ornaments.

Suren looked through a few pages. It was a theoretical introduction to mental power, but not cultivation methods.

But he was prepared to buy it and take a look, perhaps he could find some useful knowledge. He asked, "How much for this book?"

The man said truthfully, "This was brought out of the ruins by someone from our troupe last night. If no one buys it, we're going to sell it to the big merchant houses in the inner city. They send people to buy it once every afternoon, and they can probably sell it for 70,000 to 80,000 a book. I'll give you the same price."

Alchemical knowledge was very expensive. Even first-order knowledge was definitely worth more than this price.

But "transcendent knowledge" was useless and therefore worthless.

"Okay. I'll buy it."

The price was quite fair, Suren nodded. "Anything else?"

The man took out a few more books, saying, "I don't have anything related to puppetry. But I have an arcane-level alchemy fragment here, and some transcendent knowledge. If you're interested, I can also show you..."

Suren looked at them and bought a few more.

But he didn't buy the spell scrolls. Those things were expensive and required a lot of effort to learn, and they weren't very compatible with his profession.

.......

Having gained some useful things at the first stall, Suren thought that he might gain more good things in this market.

He continued to walk forward, stopping to look at any stalls that interested him.

Most of the stalls still sold various alchemy materials and job-change materials...

The stalls of those large wastelander groups were even piled high like mountains, and no one knew how many monsters they had killed.

However, now that Suren had advanced to become a professional, he didn't need first-order materials.

But after a few laps, he filtered out most of the shops.

Moreover, he had indeed seen second-order job-change materials and colonial armor blueprints at some large stalls.

But they were mostly materials for mainstream melee, assassin, and mage professions. The prices were very expensive, and none of them were suitable.

Suren wanted to find second-order job-change materials that were best related to "space abilities," but he didn't want to use them. That kind of thing would never appear on a stall.

Even if there was, it would immediately be bought by speculative merchants who roamed the streets at high prices.

Suren walked down most of the street, and then discovered another unexpected surprise!

At an inconspicuous stall, he saw the stall owner using a box to hold some silver threads. There were as many as twenty or so of them.

After appraising them, they turned out to be the [Crying Banshee's Cursed Hair Strands] he had been looking for!

It was simply a surprise that exceeded his expectations.

He had previously guessed that since the hair strands came from the ruins, others might also encounter some. He didn't expect to actually find them.

Suren walked over quickly and asked, "Brother, how are you selling these threads?"

Seeing that a customer had arrived, the stall owner enthusiastically introduced, "Oh, sir, you have a good eye. These threads are magical. They're very tough, and they become transparent when dark spiritual power is injected. They can also be elementalized..."

Although these threads were magical, there might not be many professions that could use them, so they weren't easy to sell.

This boasting also attracted some passersby, who seemed very interested in this kind of elementalizable thread.

Suren was very clear about the characteristics of this hair strand and didn't want to attract too much attention. Before he could finish his introduction, he said, "Name a price, and I'll buy them if it's right."

The stall owner's eyes rolled, and a shrewd look flashed across them. He casually quoted a price, "11,000 per strand. You know, it took a lot of effort to get these..."

This was obviously a tentative offer.

"If I'm not mistaken, you probably picked up these threads from a corpse, right?"

Suren said this to make the other party realize that he knew what he was talking about.

This material belonged to the "new material" category. Almost no one in Old Lingdun had ever seen it.

To those who needed it, 11,000 per strand was really cheap.

But for those who didn't need it, it wouldn't be useful even if it was given away for free.

Puppeteers were, after all, rare professions, and there were very few people who needed it.

Although he thought this hair strand was worth the price, he didn't want to be taken advantage of.

Suren didn't waste any time and said straightforwardly, "A flat price, I'll take all of them. 100,000 risos."

The man thought for a while, and seemed to think that this customer was not easy to fool, so he decisively agreed, "Okay!"

Suren paid the money and put the hair strands into his storage ring. He inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

At this time, the stall owner introduced other things on his stall, "Look, I have some other materials here..."

"Do you have any more of this thread?"

"No, this is all of it."

"..."

Suren glanced at it, his mind not on the materials, but directly asked, "I want to know the information about the origin of this thread. If you know, I'm willing to pay a suitable price."

When exploring the wasteland, everything had a price.

Including information.

The stall owner was not surprised to hear this. The information about the source of the materials was also one of the "goods" he sold at his stall.

He directly quoted a price: "30,000. I guarantee to give you the exact location where this thread was found."

"10,000!"

Suren was even more direct.

He took out a thick stack of green banknotes and said, "If it's not detailed enough, I will refuse to pay."

"Okay!"

The stall owner immediately took out a pen and paper and drew a rough sketch: "In the eastern outskirts of the ruins, 300 meters northeast of the red brick tower, there's a monastery..."

Suren listened, and had a general impression of the address in his mind.

He needed this [Crying Banshee's Cursed Hair Strands], the more the better.

This would allow his puppet control to have a qualitative leap.

If possible, he even wanted to find the monster that produced this material.

Now that he had the Black Scythe, a great weapon, he even had the idea of trying it out on high-level aberrant monsters.

......

This was originally a normal transaction.

But unexpectedly, while the merchant was still telling Suren the address, a few people suddenly walked over.

"I heard that you're selling a special thread at your stall?"

This opening, with its arrogant tone, revealed the superior status of the person who had come.

Without looking, Suren knew that this kind of person was probably from the inner city.

He glanced sideways out of the corner of his eye.

The person who came was a middle-aged man in a suit with an upturned mustache.

Suren's gaze was instantly attracted to the hands holding the handle of his cane. His fingers were slender, and the veins on the back of his hands were clear. This situation usually meant that his fingers were flexible, as would be seen on professions like pianists or typists.

If he was a transcendent professional... or a puppeteer!

Because Suren's own hands were like this.

When the merchant heard someone ask and looked at the person's attire, his tone suddenly became polite: "Honorable sir, what do you need?"

The mustached middle-aged man said his intention again, "I heard that you are selling a special thread. I am interested in buying it."

"This..."

Hearing this, the stall owner glanced at Suren, revealing a difficult expression.

Suren guessed what the guy was up to. Not wanting to cause any more trouble, he handed the money to the stall owner and said lightly, "Here's the money, just give me the slip."

"Oh..."

The stall owner was a little at a loss.

The middle-aged man obviously saw something from the stall owner's expression and asked, "Are you trying to say that the thread has been sold?"

The stall owner bit the bullet and replied, "Yes. I just sold it to this gentleman."

The mustached man looked at Suren's adventurer attire and didn't bother to look at him again.

It seemed that he thought it would be demeaning to his status to talk to a commoner.

At this time, the young man who was following him, looking like an apprentice, sized up the situation and stopped Suren, who was about to turn around and leave, "Sir, please wait a moment."

Suren heard that the other party's tone was still polite, so he stopped for a moment, "Hmm?"

The young man said, "The thread you just bought is very important to us. Would you be willing to part with it?"

"Sorry, I have no intention of selling materials."

Suren refused decisively.

Before he opened his mouth, he actually guessed what the other party's intention was.

However, he certainly would not sell this hair strand.

Because this was not just a few materials, but also related to whether he could properly control that "Abomination Living Corpse"!

A few months ago, he had obtained three [Crying Banshee's Cursed Hair Strands] at the black market, but because the number was too small, it was not enough to control the puppet, so he had been putting it away.

Now, with the addition of these ten or so, it was completely enough for him to control a puppet within a small range.

When he entered the city before, he felt that the Abomination Living Corpse was too eye-catching. If he used steel wire to control it, it would be easily seen through.

Now, with these hair strands, the problem was perfectly solved.

He didn't even have to hide the Abomination's existence like before. A cloak covered the living corpse, and when he controlled it, he infused the hair strands with dark spiritual power, and this elementalizable special thread would completely disappear without a trace.

He could carry it with him at any time, without any traces of control, and he wouldn't be suspected.

Therefore, he would never give up this material that he had obtained.

......

Hearing Suren's refusal, the young man's face suddenly changed.

His status and position had never been treated like this before.

This made him feel ignored and humiliated by an outer-city commoner.

A gloomy look flashed in the young man's eyes. Suppressing his anger, he still said calmly, "I am Danze Oliver. This is my teacher, 'Puppet Master' Lloyd Rodney. The thread material is only useful to puppeteers. If you are willing to part with it, sir, we will pay you extra compensation..."

The Oliver family.

A first-class chaebol in the inner city.

Almost the same strength as some of the seven divided Reis family's branches.

It was also one of the "Five Great Chaebols" that built the camp.

Taking out his identity was naturally to make people give up.

Suren also had some impression of the identity of the mustached man that the young man had mentioned.

Lloyd Rodney, the famous "Illusionist," a veteran second-order professional, and one of the few puppet professional mentors in Old Lingdun.

However, so what if he was an inner-city person?

Others might have to be cautious, but...

What did that have to do with him, a wanted criminal?

Suren responded because the other party had been polite enough before.

But now, he could see the arrogance of these guys, who were obviously using their power to suppress him.

"Sorry, I really have no intention of selling materials."

He didn't say much, turned around, and strode away.

.......

Seeing Suren not giving any face, the young man named Danze was instantly flushed with anger.

But the person was already gone, and he had no chance to attack.

Danze could only turn to glare at the stall owner, and said angrily, "How much did he pay?"

The stall owner swallowed nervously under his stare: "Ten... 100,000."

Danze said angrily, "We'll give you a million. Sell the thread to me!"

"This..."

The stall owner looked bitter and instantly felt that he had sold it at a loss.

Although he knew the rules of the market, he also wanted to take the money. He quickly turned his head to call out to Suren, who had already left, and said loudly, "Sir, could you..."

Suren didn't turn his head back and said coldly, "No!"

"You..."

The stall owner was already in the wrong, so he didn't say anything.

Seeing Suren's attitude, the young man named Danze was even more furious and cursed, "Damn guy!"

But the mustached man shook his head and called out to the young man, "Since the material has been sold, let's go. Originally, the thread was a perfect puppet material. If there was enough, I could have considered giving it to you as the main material for refining the [Thousand Threads] colonial armor. What a pity..."

Danze felt even worse.

After a pause, the mustached man looked at the stall owner again: "By the way, where did you get that thread material? We'll buy a copy of the information too."

The group returned the way they came.

As they walked, the anger in the young man's heart not only didn't disappear, but instead rose higher and higher.

He said to the middle-aged man beside him, "Teacher, I think that guy might not recognize the [Crying Banshee's Cursed Hair Strands]. After all, that thing is useless to ordinary professionals. It was probably too reckless of me to reveal its origin. When he heard that I was from the Oliver family, he deliberately wanted to raise the price."

After a pause, he felt that he had grasped something and suddenly realized, "I'll go find him now. I can definitely buy it with a higher price. That thread is worth buying even for a million!"

"No, he should be very clear about the effects of that hair strand."

The mustached man shook his head.

Suren didn't give his disciple face, nor did he give his teacher face.

A cold look flashed in his eyes: "Since you revealed your family name, he's not afraid of offending people and refuses to give up the material. He must be a puppeteer. Hehe... there are only a few puppet lineages in Old Lingdun. I'd like to see where he gets his confidence!"

After a pause, the middle-aged man's eyes rolled and he pondered, "However, I think that should be a wanted criminal..."

Otherwise, this kind of ignorant guy would never dare to disrespect the Oliver family, nor would he give Lloyd Rodney any face!

"Yes, I also think you're right, teacher!"

Hearing this, the young man's eyes lit up and he immediately understood.

He gave a look to the bodyguard behind him.

The bodyguard immediately understood and quietly left the group.

.......

Suren was walking on the street when he suddenly sensed something. His brow furrowed slightly, and he murmured in his heart: "Someone's following me..."

He had the ability to sense malice. He could immediately sense any ill-intentioned gazes.

Obviously, it was the people from that Oliver family.

Did they have evil intentions?

Hehe...

A cold smile appeared on the corner of Suren's mouth.

But there were too many people in the camp, so it was not suitable to take action.

Suren thought for a while. Not wanting to kill anyone and cause trouble here, he turned into a remote corner.

The person following him was probably a professional bodyguard, who wasn't very good at tracking.

Since Suren knew in advance, and the buildings in this camp were chaotic and complex, it was easy to lose the target.

Before long, Suren changed his clothes and mask and swaggered onto the street again.

At this time, he no longer had the mechanical dog and goods by his side, but was followed by a burly cloaked man.

Although this kind of tall figure was eye-catching, this kind of exaggerated melee professional and heavy-duty mechanical warrior could occasionally be seen on the street.

Having changed the witch's hair strands, the controlling thread completely disappeared into the air.

With breathing and a heartbeat, others couldn't detect the abnormality of the Abomination Living Corpse.

Suren led the living corpse in this way and headed towards the "Wastelander Guild".

If there was any place where he could find out the whereabouts of "mental power secret methods" and advanced space ability materials, it must be the Wastelander Guild.

There was the most complete information about the ruins there, as well as the wastelander teams that had mastered the information.