13: Chapter 13: Did this kid come here to buy goods?

Late at night, 10:30 PM.

Jiang Feng returned to his cramped, narrow bedroom and locked the door, shutting out his parents' excited, low-voiced calculations from the living room.

The moment the door closed, the gentleness on his face instantly vanished, replaced by absolute calm.

"Twenty thousand yuan can only solve survival; it can't solve destiny."

He skillfully turned on the second-hand computer that ran like a tractor, skipped the regular browser, and logged directly into a hidden dark web forum—[Dongjiang Underground Black Market].

Since he had changed classes into the unique [Ancient War Titan] and possessed the heaven-defying trait of "Dual Cultivation of War and Magic," relying solely on those two mage skills was clearly a waste of God's gifts.

He needed to find some "hardcore goods" to test just how ridiculous the "Intelligence bonus to physical damage" truly was.

The mouse wheel scrolled rapidly, the screen's glow reflecting in his pitch-black eyes.

Ordinary skill books? Skip.

White-tier equipment? Skip.

Scrolling to the thirteenth page of the trading section, an anonymous pinned post highlighted in red instantly caught his eye.

[Urgent Sale: Rare Warrior skill book "Savage Charge" and passive skill "Heavy Armor Mastery"! Seller urgently needs gold to recoup losses; no platform transactions. Meet tonight at midnight in Dongjiang Black Market, Sector C!]

"Savage Charge?" Jiang Feng's eyes narrowed slightly, his expression playful.

This was a core displacement and hard crowd-control skill for Warriors. It granted Super Armor throughout the entire charge path and was a guaranteed stun upon impact. Combined with his currently insane Strength and Constitution...

How was this a Savage Charge? This was practically a human dump truck!

And then there was "Heavy Armor Mastery."

Although the system classified him as a Mage, he was a bit of an unconventional one—if a Mage with infinite mana recovery and turret-like magic damage were to don a set of high-defense, high-HP heavy plate armor and wield a staff as a mace...

That image was so beautiful it was practically a dimensional strike against the "Mage" class.

"I'll take it."

Jiang Feng glanced at the time and turned off the computer.

He dug out a black hooded sweatshirt from the deepest part of his wardrobe and found a plain white faceless mask he'd bought at an anime convention to pull over his face.

"Dad, Mom, I'm going to sleep! I have to report to the guild for special training early tomorrow morning!"

After shouting a cover story toward the door, Jiang Feng double-locked it.

The next second, the space within the room rippled slightly.

[Skill Activated: Void Walk]

No magic circles, no casting bar. Jiang Feng's figure instantly blurred, like a drop of ink merging into the deep sea, completely ignoring the thick concrete walls as he disappeared into the vast night.

...

The night beneath Dongjiang City was even more clamorous than the surface.

There were no laws here, only rules.

Located in an air-raid shelter converted from the old city district, the "Dark Alley" was the largest Awakened black market in Dongjiang City. Neon signs flickered with ambiguous light through the damp mist, and the air was a cyberpunk blend of cheap perfume, the smell of blood, and engine oil.

*Zzzzt—*

The surveillance camera at the corner of the alley entrance suddenly flickered with static for a moment.

A figure cloaked in black robes, appearing as if bled out from an ink painting, manifested out of thin air in the blind spot.

Jiang Feng reached out to straighten the mask on his face and pulled his hood low, revealing only a pair of calm, deep eyes.

The entry fee was ten thousand gold coins; Jiang Feng threw it down without even blinking.

The burly man guarding the gate caught the gold, weighed it, and let his gaze sweep over Jiang Feng's black robes, which bore no guild insignia. He grinned: "These days, it's not easy being a lone wolf. Be careful not to be swallowed whole, skin and bones, brother."

Jiang Feng ignored him and walked straight into the bustling crowd.

Even late at night, the black market was still teeming with people.

The stalls on both sides were filled with freshly unearthed bloody equipment, unknown monster limbs, and even slave contracts of dubious origin.

Jiang Feng's goal was clear—the skill book shop.

He was currently like a beggar sitting on a gold mountain, possessing thousands of terrifying attribute points and infinite mana recovery, yet his methods were so poor he could only throw fireballs.

"Old Hei's General Store."

Jiang Feng stopped in front of a shop with a tattered sign.

This place looked unremarkable, but it was recognized on the forums as a "gathering place for high-quality goods." The owner was a black market merchant with a mysterious background; as long as the money was right, he even dared to sell standard-issue equipment from the City Defense Force.

Although purchased skills and equipment could be manifested in the real world, most people chose not to buy equipment with the "True" prefix—simply because at lower levels, equipment was replaced extremely quickly. Once purchased, it would rapidly depreciate and could only serve as a temporary transitional item at best.

In stark contrast, once a skill was purchased, it was permanently available, and its effects would be fully synchronized with the real world. In the game world, skill books could be bought directly from bookstore NPCs; however, black market merchants in reality had more diverse sourcing channels: they either took on proxy business for major corporations and game clubs at low prices to obtain skill books in bulk, or they bought rare skill items dropped by various hunting teams during missions to profit from the margin.

At this moment, the shop was dimly lit, with only a few crystal balls emitting a faint blue light.

Behind the counter, a thin, monkey-like old man was using a magnifying glass to appraise a mana core. He didn't even look up: "Look for yourself. Materials on the left, equipment on the right, skill books in the middle. No bargaining. Tenfold compensation for fakes—though the compensation is your life."

Jiang Feng said nothing and walked to the shelves in the middle.

His fingers brushed over the dust-covered spines of the books.

"Basic Water Bullet," 5,000 gold. This skill is indeed a bit weak.

"Vine Entanglement," 8,000 gold. A low-damage minor control skill; no difference whether I buy it or not.

"Fire Wall," 20,000 gold. It seems somewhat useful, but for Jiang Feng, it's just chicken ribs—useless to keep, but a waste to discard.

Jiang Feng's gaze was as picky as someone choosing cabbage at a wet market.

If other students were standing here, seeing these skill books that easily cost tens of thousands of gold, they probably wouldn't even dare to breathe loudly.

Any random skill book cost a month's salary for an ordinary worker, or even more.

But Jiang Feng now...

The over 3 million gold coins lying quietly in his bag gave him the confidence to look down on everything.

This was what's known as—Money Power.

"Boss."

Jiang Feng casually pulled out a skill book glowing with a faint blue aura and tossed it onto the counter.

"Rare Mage skill, 'Repulse Fire Ring,' can instantly knock back enemies within five meters. I'll take it."

Old Hei's eyelids twitched as he glanced at the skill book: "Good eye. That's a life-saving god-tier skill. Fixed price, 150,000."

This price was marked up by at least thirty percent, but the skill was indeed rare.

"Wrap it up."

Jiang Feng's voice was raspy, a deliberately disguised tone.

He couldn't even be bothered to haggle. Wouldn't entering a dungeon be a one-shot kill for every boss? Why waste effort here?

Immediately after, he tossed out another one.

"'Frost Armor,' increases physical defense and slows attackers. I'll take it."

"'Arcane Missiles,' multi-stage homing strikes. Although the single-target damage is low, I have plenty of mana... cough, I like it. I'll take this too."

One skill book after another was slammed onto the counter, making dull thudding sounds.

Old Hei's originally nonchalant expression gradually froze. He stopped looking through his magnifying glass, his eyes bulging and moving up and down following Jiang Feng's movements.

Is this guy freaking here to restock his own shop?

In just two minutes, Jiang Feng had picked out seven or eight Mage skill books, with the total price exceeding six hundred thousand.

But he wasn't done yet.

Jiang Feng turned and walked toward the Warrior section in the corner.

The dust there was even thicker; clearly, Mages rarely patronized things that only "muscle-heads" would read.

His finger stopped on a dark red cover.