79: Chapter 79 Procurement
Zhen Lu walked along the east side of District 8. This area was a concentration zone for temporary Skill Scrolls, with most stalls displaying the names and prices of various basic skills, while occasionally, a few advanced skill tags flashed with brighter colors.
He stopped in front of a stall specializing in Mechanic-related skills. He stared at the tags for a moment, and a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
Every time The Resistance contacted him, it was via encrypted communication, with the number always hidden. He could only guess who it was based on experience before answering.
Sun Yi had called him several times, but he had never seen the real number once.
He had no way to crack encrypted communications in reality.
He had never cared about Mechanic skills before, previously feeling that he was on a path of Healing combined with melee combat, and that the whole virtual network thing had nothing to do with him.
But now, he had a monitoring chip from The Resistance in his arm, and an encrypted call from Sun Yi that could come at any moment hanging over his neck; all these things fell within the domain of the Mechanic.
He didn't expect to become a hacker, but he absolutely needed basic defensive capabilities: identifying the source of encrypted information, preventing reverse tracking, and protecting his own network identity.
He set his eyes on two temporary Skill Scrolls.
Basic Programming was 50,000 each, and Virtual Intrusion and Defense was 100,000 each, with quantities marked at the end of the tags.
The Vendor was in her early thirties, wearing a utility vest filled with pockets.
Zhen Lu pointed to the two selected skills.
"How much for these two?"
"See for yourself, the prices are on the tags. No bargaining." She didn't even lift her head.
"No discount for buying more?"
Zhen Lu picked up the Basic Programming and Virtual Intrusion and Defense scrolls.
"Four Programming, plus four Virtual Intrusion. Eight in total. If I take this many at once, shouldn't you give me a discount?"
The Vendor finally looked up at him, her gaze lingering on his face for a moment before sweeping over the row of scrolls in his hand.
"Taking four of each? Are you purchasing on behalf of someone else, or practicing yourself?"
"That's none of your business. Give me a discount, and I'll buy all eight right now."
The Vendor was silent for a moment, her fingers tapping on her knee.
"Programming is 50,000 each, four is 200,000. Virtual Intrusion is 100,000 each, four is 400,000. That's 600,000."
She paused, as if doing mental math, "Since you're buying so many at once, I'll knock off 20,000. 580,000."
"550,000," Zhen Lu said.
"550,000 is too low. My cost price is more than that. 570,000, that's the lowest."
"Deal."
The Vendor took out eight scrolls one by one from the storage box under the stall and lined them up in front of Zhen Lu.
The four Basic Programming scrolls were sealed with the same type of grey hemp rope, and the four Virtual Intrusion and Defense tags were printed with a circle of light blue data patterns.
Zhen Lu put all the scrolls into his backpack, transferred the payment, and nodded to the Vendor when he stood up.
"Come again next time." The Vendor had already turned her attention back to arranging the tags on her stall.
Zhen Lu, carrying the eight scrolls, continued walking deeper into District 8.
He passed several stalls, scanning various skill tags: Throwing, Climbing, Balance, Reconnaissance—all of which he already possessed.
After walking a large circle, he stopped at a spot near the corner.
There weren't many tags on this stall, just a few sparse rows, but each row flashed with the pale gold tags unique to temporary Skill Scrolls.
The Vendor was a middle-aged individual wearing an unremarkable grey robe, with a smart sprite that was clearly a high-end model crouching beside her, floating quietly at her shoulder.
It was clear that this person wasn't short on money; the more advanced the smart sprite, the more it indicated how long she had been in the game and how many goods she had seen.
Zhen Lu squatted down and glanced at those pale gold tags, stopping on two of them: Basic Immunity, Stealth.
The effect of Basic Immunity was to shorten control time when forcefully controlled; it was effective against stun, imprisonment, freezing, paralysis, and spirit suppression, shortening the duration by 20%.
Stealth was optical invisibility; upon activation, it made one completely disappear visually, while also having a certain dampening effect on spirit exploration and scanning skills.
He watched for a while before speaking. "How do I trade for these two?"
The Vendor opened her eyes, her gaze lingering on Zhen Lu for a moment, then she pointed to a small wooden sign standing beside the stall, which had a few words written on it: Trade only, no selling; exchange for same quality.
Zhen Lu took out the two permanent scrolls he had been holding onto for a long time from his chest pocket.
Iron Shirt, Eight-Step Cicada Chase.
He placed the two scrolls on the stall. The Vendor lowered her head to take a look, then reached out to pick up Iron Shirt and flipped through it.
"These two are not bad. The quality is acceptable, both are permanent scrolls. What do you want to trade for?"
"Those two of yours—Basic Immunity and Stealth," Zhen Lu said, "but if I trade two permanent scrolls for two temporary scrolls, I'm taking a huge loss."
The Vendor also picked up Eight-Step Cicada Chase and flipped through a couple of pages, then closed it and placed it on her knee without speaking immediately.
She looked indeed slightly tempted; with two permanent scrolls of decent quality placed before her, she would be profiting in terms of trade logic.
"Then what do you want?" the Vendor asked.
"Do you have anything else on your stall? Throw in another one—Basic Stamina, do you have it? I'll trade you two permanent ones for three temporary ones."
"Basic Stamina?" The Vendor was taken aback for a moment, then rummaged through the storage compartment beside her, took out a temporary scroll with an intact seal, and placed it on the stall. "I actually do have it. But asking for three from me all at once—Stealth isn't common goods; just this one alone could be listed for hundreds of thousands or more at the auction house. If you ask for any more, I'd really be at a loss."
"That's the price for a permanent skill. Isn't yours temporary?"
"You're taking two permanent ones back, so no matter how you calculate it, you're profiting. No matter how rare Stealth is, it's still a temporary scroll; it's gone after one use. What I'm giving you is permanent; only permanent skills can be used for a lifetime."
Zhen Lu explained unhurriedly, his tone steady.
The Vendor was silent for a good while, her fingers tapping back and forth on her knee for several rounds.
She lowered her head to look at the two permanent scrolls, then looked at the three temporary scrolls on her stall. After a moment of silence, she picked up all of Basic Immunity, Stealth, and Basic Stamina and handed them to Zhen Lu.
"Deal."
Zhen Lu put away the three temporary scrolls, stood up, turned around, and continued walking toward the outside of District 8.
He put all the newly acquired scrolls into his backpack without using them immediately. Whether it was the eight Mechanic skills or the three he had traded for, he was accustomed to using them in the mission world.
He sat down on a stone chair in the Trading Plaza and went over tonight's procurement list in his mind.
Spirit Perception, Holy Light Infusion, four Basic Programming, four Virtual Intrusion and Defense, Basic Immunity, Stealth, and one Basic Stamina.
Two permanent scrolls had been traded away, and he still had over 1.2 million left.
He stood up from the stone chair, brushed the dust off his pants, and asked Xiao Guang to open the mission list.
The Temporary Summoning entries scrolled down row by row; most had mediocre rewards, and the accompanying skills were repeat goods he had seen several times already.
He flipped down three or four pages, and his finger suddenly stopped on one of them.
[Temporary Summoning] World: Cloud Ruins · Requirements: Possesses light and shadow effect skills, those who can fly are prioritized · Number of people: 2 / 3 · Reward: 20,000 Credits / 24 hours · Accompanying skill: Basic Self-Regulation.
He stared at the mission notes for several seconds: light and shadow effect skills, those who can fly are prioritized.
Once his Holy Light was activated, the white light could shine from his palm all the way to his shoulder; on the light and shadow effect requirement, he was absolutely top-notch.
As for flying, he didn't have a flying skill, but with Mastery-Level Movement Technique combined with the speed effect, his airtime when jumping from a high place was long enough that the visual effect was not much different from flying. Besides, the note said "those who can fly are prioritized," not a mandatory requirement.
The accompanying skill "Basic Self-Regulation" was a name he was seeing for the first time, and his intuition told him this thing was related to hiding one's strength.
He clicked accept.
A white light flashed.
His feet stepped onto a wooden floor, and in front of him was a spacious study.
Carved window lattices, mahogany bookshelves, and a landscape painting hanging on the wall, with the ink on the painting not yet completely dry.
There was a faint scent of sandalwood in the air, mixed with the musty smell of old book pages.
A youth was sitting behind the desk, looking about eighteen or nineteen, wearing a moon-white brocade robe, with a high-quality jade pendant hanging at his waist, his hair neatly tied up with a jade hairpin.
Seeing three people arrive at the same time, he immediately sprang up from his chair, first circling the three of them, his gaze quickly sweeping over each person.
"You're all here! Quickly tell me, what light and shadow effects do you all have?"
The youth rubbed his hands, his tone carrying an irrepressible excitement, "I wrote it in the mission notes: the flashier the light and shadow effects, the better. Who wants to go first?"