Mechanical Alchemist

Chapter 48: Wanderer

"Is this guy's bloated figure not a disguise, but a real physical mutation caused by distortion?"

Su'en looked at the glaring words "Half-Mutated Human" on the cloak vendor's head and felt somewhat incredulous.

Distortion is distortion, is there really such a thing as "half-mutation"?

What exactly is the current state of this vendor, a person or a monster?

This also involves Su'en's blind spot in knowledge.

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

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

The items are good, and the prices are really cheap.

If Su'en had money in his pocket at this moment, he would definitely buy these potions. The packaging is so simple that it's impossible to sell them, but it would be great to keep them for personal use.

Unfortunately, he has no money.

.......

Su'en had no intention of giving up this opportunity to "pick up a bargain". When he saw the crowd dispersing around the stall, he walked over and said directly, "I intend to buy all these potions, but I don't have enough cash with me. Can you leave me another contact method so that I can 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 this statement.

People in the black market are always cautious and usually don't leave their own contact information. However, they can leave an intermediary, such as certain taverns that provide message delivery services for customers. Both parties agree on a secret code, and the transaction can be completed without meeting face-to-face, ensuring safety and secrecy.

Because he currently has no money, he wants to first obtain the vendor's contact information and figure out a way to establish a connection later.

The potions are secondary. Even if there is a price difference, it's only for four potions. If these potions were made by the vendor himself, then it would be a continuous source of goods, which is the real "big bargain". It's not just a one-time deal.

When the cloak vendor heard that someone wanted to buy his potions, he was initially delighted.

But when he heard Su'en's words, he immediately shook his head and said, "No, I only want cash."

"..."

Hearing his tone, Su'en felt that he seemed to be in urgent need of money.

But after a moment of thought, he suddenly realized that if such good potions were sold at a low price, it must be because the vendor urgently needs money.

This made him even more curious about the vendor's identity. Alchemists who can produce such potions are usually from the elite class of the inner city. They dare not show themselves and are probably wanted criminals or something.

After hesitating for nearly a minute, Su'en racked his brains and proposed several plans, but the vendor stubbornly insisted on an immediate cash transaction.

He knew that if he continued speaking, he would appear somewhat suspicious, so he could only retreat and say, "That's really a pity... If you change your mind, you can leave a message at the 'Three Fire Guns Tavern' on Green Street. The secret code is 'Pigeon'. Once I receive the message, I will contact you immediately..."

"Um..."

Upon hearing this, the vendor also seemed hesitant.

Obviously, he also knew that his potions were not easy to sell, and it was rare to encounter an interested buyer. He didn't want to give up so easily.

Just as he was hesitating whether to agree or not, he suddenly seemed to see something in the crowd and a trace of panic flashed in his eyes. "I'm sorry, sir, I have something urgent to attend to..."

Without waiting for any reaction from Su'en, he quickly collected the potions on the stall and hurriedly blended into the crowd.

.......

Su'en had noticed before that the vendor's gaze had been wandering, as if he was afraid of being recognized.

Seeing him suddenly leave, Su'en was slightly surprised. He glanced at the crowd in the black market and wondered who the vendor had seen that made him so flustered.

Hmm... Could it be those two trench coat-wearing individuals he encountered earlier?

Su'en didn't look too closely and restrained his gaze, blending into the crowd.

He himself couldn't afford to be exposed for too long.

But even in this brief exchange, Su'en had roughly guessed that the vendor was young, polite, and probably had a good upbringing. He was likely from the inner city.

In urgent need of money, with a distorted body, and considerable knowledge in alchemy...

Thinking about it, Su'en had a rough idea of the vendor's background. He was probably from a prestigious medical family in the inner city.

Although the person had left, Su'en had done what he needed to do and didn't dwell on it any longer.

Looking at the bustling black market in front of him, Su'en sighed softly, "I hope he will contact me..."

.......

Having been here a few times before, Su'en had already figured out what each shop in the black market sells.

He didn't waste time in those shops with shrewd owners. He strolled along the way and gradually walked to the makeshift shack area at the bottom of the black market.

Today, the black market was probably crowded because of the appearance of some relics and treasures, attracting many wealthy hidden big shots. As a result, there were also many opportunistic merchants.

Some of them were even branches of major trading companies from the inner city.

After all, although the outer city is poor, its population is tens of times larger than that of the inner city, and the low-end market is also very profitable.

The low-end goods and second-hand items that cannot be sold in the inner city are top-notch hot items in the outer city. For example, textiles, outdated steam equipment, mechanical prosthetics...Su'en passed by the stalls piled with a large number of mechanical prosthetics. He took a glance and found that the military mechanical prosthetics discarded from the inner city were indeed good. Although they were old, the parts that could be disassembled were definitely top-notch components in the gang's mechanical modification shops.

These military machines were all classified as "contraband". The inner city would concentrate on destroying them and they would not be allowed to circulate. It was unknown where the opportunistic merchants found their sources.

However, old mechanical equipment and prosthetics were not cheap, costing tens of thousands. A mechanic with good judgment might be able to make a 20-30% profit from disassembling parts, but it required a large amount of capital.

Su'en didn't have that much money, and it wasn't suitable for him to stockpile mechanical parts.

As he continued to wander, he was unexpectedly drawn to a bustling storefront.

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

Su'en had an impression of this trading company from some fragmented memories he had harvested from somewhere.

It was a famous financial conglomerate in the inner city, the "Heide Mining Group", which specialized in various rare ore businesses.

From a distance, he could hear the bustling noise.

"Oh my god, this gentleman is so lucky, he got a high-purity 'Cursed Crystal' from just three raw stones! He made ten thousand Lisuo with just nine hundred!"

"Come and see, three hundred Lisuo each, free cutting."

"Over here, eight hundred each for high-purity cursed raw stones, there's a chance to get top-grade crystals..."

"..."

As he approached, he saw several large piles of fist-sized gray stones on the ground of the shop.

A group of people were bending over, rummaging through the mountain-like pile of stones, "lighting up", "watering", and flipping through the stones back and forth, their eyes filled with frenzy.

"Isn't this... stone gambling?"

Su'en looked at this familiar scene and immediately realized what these people were doing.

......

"Cursed Crystal" was the most important hard currency in this world.

It was a special energy crystal similar to jade, containing a vast amount of energy and having a wide range of uses.

Cultivation, casting spells, enchanting, alchemy, mechanical energy supply... In the field of alchemy, almost all the energy used in the "law of equivalent exchange" refers to this thing.

Cursed Crystals were natural products, sourced from mineral veins in the earth's crust. The veins could yield exposed crystals, as well as "Cursed Raw Stones" wrapped in stone skin.

The raw stones might contain crystals or crystal fragments, but most likely, they contained nothing.

The grayish raw stone skin also had energy fluctuations, so it was impossible to determine from the outside whether there was definitely a "crystal" inside the stone.

That's why opportunistic merchants came up with a clever business opportunity.

Under normal circumstances, the probability of a crystal appearing in the raw stones mined from a certain area is roughly the same, say 3%.

So, out of a thousand raw stones, thirty crystals could be cut out. Given the market price of about ten thousand Lisuo per crystal, that's three hundred thousand Lisuo.

But if you sell a thousand raw stones as "blind boxes" for five hundred Lisuo each, then each stone has value, and the total value is five hundred thousand.

The value of this batch of ore instantly increased by two hundred thousand.

Many people are willing to gamble on the chance of winning ten thousand with five hundred.

Besides, if you're extremely lucky, there's a chance to get a "Top-grade Cursed Crystal" worth one hundred thousand Lisuo.

Just like buying a lottery ticket, you lose a little money if you don't win, but if you do, you get rich.

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

......

"I remember this thing being a pastime for the rich in the inner city, right?"

Su'en looked at the stone gambling project that appeared in the black market for the first time and muttered to himself, "It seems that those guys in the inner city have also realized that the poor are more likely to gamble on luck..."

That's why no matter how poor the place is, gambling stalls can always do well.

The shop was getting busier and busier. In addition to those gambling on stones, many outer city people interested in this business had already started talking with the manager of the "Rose Ore Trading Company". It seemed that those people from the inner city also intended to bring this business to the outer city, and both sides were having a lively conversation.

However, all of this had nothing to do with Su'en.

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

The prestigious S-level talent [Eye of Omniscience], at this moment, he seemed to have finally found the correct way to use it...