Chapter 1 The Aberrant Merchant

"So this guy's bloated physique wasn't a disguise, but really caused by a physical mutation due to aberration?"

Suren looked at the glaring words [Semi-Aberrant Human] above the cloaked stall owner's head, and felt it was a bit unbelievable.

Aberrant is aberrant, but there's also a "semi-aberrant" state?

What exactly is this stall owner's current state, human or monster?

This involved Suren's blind spot in knowledge again.

But thinking about it, if he has reason, he should be considered human.

He didn't think too much and turned his gaze to the potions on the stall.

The stuff was good, and the prices were really cheap.

If Suren had money in his pocket at the moment, he would definitely buy these potions. With such simple packaging, it would be impossible to sell them, but it would be great to keep them for his own use.

Unfortunately, he didn't have any money.

.......

Suren didn't plan to give up this opportunity to "find a bargain." When the crowd around the stall dispersed, he walked over and said directly, "I plan to take all these potions, but I didn't bring enough cash. Can you leave some other contact information, and I'll contact you when I find the money? Of course, everything will be done according to the rules of the black market."

There was nothing wrong with these words.

People in the black market are very vigilant and generally don't leave their contact information, but they can leave it with a middleman. For example, some taverns have services for forwarding messages to guests. Both parties agree on a code, and you go to pick it up yourself. The transaction can be completed without meeting, making it safe and hidden.

Because he didn't have money for the time being, he wanted to first establish contact with the stall owner, and then find a way to hook him up.

The potions were secondary. Even with the price difference, there were only four of them. If these potions were really made by this stall owner himself, then it would be a continuous source of goods, which was the real "big find," not just a one-time deal.

When the black-cloaked stall owner heard that someone wanted to buy his potions, he was first delighted.

But hearing Suren's subsequent words, he immediately shook his head and said, "No, I only want cash."

"..."

Suren heard from his tone that he seemed to be in urgent need of money.

But on second thought, he suddenly understood. Selling such good potions cheaply meant he must be desperately short of money.

This made him even more curious about this guy's identity. Alchemists who can make such potions are all elite members of the inner city's upper class. Not daring to show his face meant he was probably a wanted criminal or something.

After coaxing him for nearly a minute, Suren racked his brains and suggested several options, but the stall owner stubbornly insisted on a cash transaction right now.

He knew that if he kept talking, it would seem like he had ulterior motives, so he could only retreat and say, "That's really a shame... If you change your mind, you can always leave a message at the 'Three Muskets Tavern' on Grin Street. The code is 'pigeon.' I'll contact you as soon as I get the message..."

"This..."

Hearing this, the stall owner seemed to hesitate.

Clearly, he also knew that his potions were not easy to sell, and he didn't want to give up after finally meeting an interested buyer.

Just as he was hesitating whether to agree, he suddenly seemed to see something in the crowd, and a look of panic flashed in his eyes. "Sorry, sir, I have urgent business and must leave first..."

As he spoke, without waiting for Suren to react, he quickly packed up the potions on his stall and hurriedly disappeared into the crowd.

.......

Suren had noticed before that the stall owner's gaze was constantly wandering, as if he was afraid of being recognized.

Seeing him suddenly leave, Suren was slightly surprised. He glanced at the crowd in the black market, wondering who the stall owner had seen that made him so flustered.

Huh... could it be those two trench coat guys they had run into before?

Suren didn't look too much, withdrew his gaze, and also disappeared into the crowd.

His own identity was also shady, and it was not beneficial to stay for long.

But even with this brief exchange, Suren guessed that the stall owner was not old, quite polite, and likely had a good upbringing, probably from the inner city.

Desperately short of money, an aberrant body, and not a small achievement in alchemy...

Suren thought about it in his head, and had a rough estimate of the stall owner's origins. Perhaps he came from a family of doctors in the inner layer?

Although the person was gone, he had done what he could, and he didn't dwell on it anymore.

Looking at the bustling black market in front of him, Suren sighed slightly, "I hope he'll contact me..."

.......

After coming here a few times before, Suren had roughly figured out what each shop in the black market sold.

He didn't waste time in those shops with shrewd owners. He wandered around slowly and walked to the makeshift shanty area at the bottom of the black market.

Today, because of the appearance of relics and treasures, the black market had attracted many wealthy and hidden big shots. As a result, many opportunistic vendors had also come.

Some were even branch offices of large commercial firms from the inner city.

After all, although the outer city was poor, its population was dozens of times that of the inner city, and the low-end market was also a very considerable profit.

Those low-end goods and old items that couldn't be sold in the inner city were top-notch hot commodities in the outer city. For example, textiles, obsolete steam equipment, mechanical prosthetics...

Suren passed by stalls piled with a large number of mechanical prosthetics and looked at them. Those military mechanical prosthetics eliminated from the inner city were indeed good. Although old, the parts that could be disassembled were definitely premium-grade accessories in the mechanical modification shops of the gangs.

These military machines were all "contraband" and would be centrally destroyed in the inner city, not allowed to flow out. He didn't know where the speculators had found the source of the goods.

However, used mechanical equipment and prosthetics were not cheap, often costing tens of thousands. Mechanics with a good eye might be able to earn a 20-30% profit by disassembling the parts, but it required a large amount of capital.

Suren didn't have that much money, and hoarding mechanical parts was not suitable either.

As he turned around again, he was unexpectedly attracted by a bustling storefront.

It was a shop that appeared in the black market for the first time, and it even directly hung up the sign "Rose Mineral Trading Company."

Suren had an impression of this trading company from the fragments of memories he had scavenged.

This was a trading company under the well-known inner city financial group "Heide Mining Group," specializing in the business of various rare minerals.

From a distance, he could hear the lively commotion.

"Oh, my God, this gentleman is so lucky. He opened a high-purity 'Curse Crystal' from three raw stones! He earned ten thousand Lisos from nine hundred!"

"Come, come, take a look, three hundred Lisos apiece, free cutting."

"These high-purity curse raw stones here are eight hundred apiece, and there's a chance to get top-quality crystals..."

"..."

Walking closer, he saw several large piles of gray stones the size of fists piled on the ground in the shop.

A group of people were bending over and rummaging through the small mountain-like piles of stones, "lighting them up" and "watering them," looking at the stones back and forth with fanaticism in their eyes.

"This thing... isn't it stone gambling?"

Suren looked at this familiar scene and immediately realized what those people were doing.

......

"Curse Crystals" are the most important hard currency in this world.

It is a special energy crystal like jade, containing a very large amount of energy, and its usage range is also very wide.

Cultivation, spellcasting, enchantment, metalworking, mechanical energy supply... In the field of alchemy, almost all the energy used in the "Equivalent Exchange Law" refers to this thing.

Curse crystals are natural products, originating from mineral veins in the underground rock layers. Exposed crystals can be mined from the mineral veins, and some are "curse raw stones" wrapped in stone skin.

Raw stones may contain crystals, or they may contain crystal fragments, but the greatest possibility is that they contain nothing.

The gray raw stone skins also have energy fluctuations, so it is impossible to determine from the outside whether there are definitely "crystals" inside the ore.

Because of this, speculative merchants have come up with a clever business opportunity.

Generally, the probability of raw stones mined from mineral veins in an area containing crystals is roughly the same, for example, 3%.

So, one thousand raw stones can be cut into thirty crystals, which at a market price of about 10,000 Lisos per crystal, would be 300,000 Lisos.

But if one thousand raw stones are sold as "blind boxes" at 500 Lisos apiece, then each of these stones has value, and the total value would be 500,000.

And the value of this batch of ore instantly increases by 200,000.

Buying a chance to bet 500 for a chance at 10,000, many people are willing to gamble.

Moreover, if you're extremely lucky, there's a chance to open a "top-quality curse crystal" worth 100,000 Lisos.

It's like buying a lottery ticket. If you don't win, you lose a little money; if you win, you get rich.

This is the origin of stone gambling shops in this world.

.......

"I remember this stuff was a pastime for the rich people in the inner city?"

Suren looked at the stone gambling project that appeared in the black market for the first time and muttered in his heart, "It seems that those guys in the inner city also realized that poor people are more likely to gamble on luck..."

This is why gambling dens can always be opened, no matter how poor the place.

The shop was getting more and more lively. In addition to the stone gamblers, many outer city people interested in this business had already started talking to the manager of the "Rose Mineral Trading Company." It seemed that those people in the inner city also intended to bring this business to the outer city, and the two sides were talking very happily.

However, none of this had anything to do with Suren.

Looking at the raw stones all over the ground, his eyes sparkled.

With his S-level talent [Omniscient Eye], at this moment, he seemed to have finally found the correct way to use it...