The Black Market

And so, after sending off the injured.

Black had Leon and Land go to the clinic to help settle them in, while he stayed behind to clean up the battlefield.

Dawn was breaking, but the orphanage was still shrouded in the deepest darkness before the sun rose.

Black stood at the edge of the backyard, looking back at the silent building.

He sensed that behind a window on the second floor, a gaze was piercing through the glass, firmly locked onto him.

He looked up and met that gaze without flinching.

It was Charn.

The old man, from a great distance, hidden in the shadows of the room, was watching him quietly.

The expression on his face was very complex: surprise, doubt, and vigilance.

Black was certain that when the battle had broken out in the backyard just now.

Charn had watched the entire process of their fight with the necromancer.

Black met his gaze silently.

As for this pitiful old man, Black didn’t know what to say.

But after the battle ended tomorrow night.

The key item he wanted to obtain was still inextricably linked to this old man.

Black was the first to look away. He no longer met Charn’s gaze and turned to walk out of the orphanage.

Just as he had crossed the low wall of the orphanage.

And stepped onto the quiet path outside, a childish voice suddenly sounded from behind him.

“Big brother, you really are here to save us.”

Black’s steps paused, a little surprised.

He turned his head and looked in the direction of the voice.

In the thick, lingering darkness of the night, under the huge oak tree in the backyard, a small figure was standing there at some point.

It was the little girl named Dylan.

She looked up, a pure smile on her childish face, and watched Black quietly.

In the middle of the night, a child who should have been fast asleep, was standing alone in the backyard, and had spoken words that seemed to see through everything.

If it had been anyone else, they would have probably been scared sick by this strange scene.

But Black, looking at little Dylan’s eyes, did not feel afraid.

He was silent for a moment, then met the child’s gaze and nodded gently.

“Yes.”

He gave the child a deep look, did not linger, and left.

Watching Black’s retreating figure, little Dylan, standing under the oak tree, tilted her head.

The pure smile on her face slowly faded.

In the depths of her clear pupils, a white light belonging to a soul lit up.

A faint, white halo appeared around her body.

She turned her head, her gaze falling in the direction of the orphanage, and she murmured.

“If you make a mistake… you have to apologize.”

The next morning.

Black left his home and walked towards a remote district of the capital.

After reaching his destination.

He stopped at a seemingly ordinary sewer entrance.

He scanned his surroundings and, after confirming that there was no one nearby.

He tapped his fingers on the manhole cover in a regular pattern.

The tapping sound was particularly clear in the quiet alley.

Soon, the manhole cover was moved aside from the inside, creating a gap.

A small, masked face peeked out. His eyes looked Black up and down.

Then, a small hand reached out and opened in front of Black.

Black said nothing and took out five gold coins from his pocket, placing them in the small hand.

After the gold coins fell into the palm, the child quickly retracted his hand.

After confirming the number of gold coins, he peeked out again, beckoned to Black, and then his whole body retreated back into the sewer.

Black did not hesitate and followed the child’s figure.

He agilely jumped into the sewer.

After walking for a distance along a damp and dark passage, the view suddenly opened up.

A spacious area built in an underground space appeared before him.

Both sides of this area were crowded with all sorts of shops and stalls.

However, what was sold here was not ordinary goods.

Rare spirit beasts, forbidden magic potions, forbidden magic scrolls, and even a few dragon cubs in iron cages. Fortunately, they were only lower-species dragons.

Further away, one could even see slaves being sold.

There were quite a few people coming and going. Basically, everyone wore a mask, hiding their identity.

A dark atmosphere permeated the entire space.

All conversations were kept at a very low volume.

That’s right, this was one of the remaining black market strongholds in the imperial capital, Servia.

Under the continuous crackdown by the Imperial Family, the large black markets had long since been destroyed.

Only scattered strongholds like this, hidden extremely deep, remained.

The reason Black could find this place was no accident.

In the game, he had once raided this place and vaguely remembered its location.

But at that time, his level was very high.

Now, his level was still low, so raiding it was not realistic.

But with his familiarity with the terrain, it was still easy to swipe a few things.

Black took out a mask from his storage ring and put it on.

He silently blended into the crowd.

The flow of people here today was greater than usual.

Because this black market stronghold was holding a small auction, selling those rare treasures that couldn’t see the light of day.

As well as all sorts of explicitly prohibited illegal items.

And among them, the most precious item was his goal for this trip.

Black walked all the way to the vicinity of the auction house.

He stopped, called up many unopened system interfaces, and opened his item bar.

[Mask of the Night Walker]
[Effect: When worn, the wearer’s appearance, aura, and spiritual power fluctuations are all concealed and cannot be detected by any observation means.]
[Note: 1. Duration 3 minutes. 2. Cannot attack during this period.]

This was an item he had obtained after clearing the “Sea of the Rising Hidden Dragon” dungeon last time, and he had never used it.

But now was the time for it to be useful.

Black slipped into a hidden corner and, after equipping the Mask of the Night Walker.

He walked out of the corner. To test its effect, he swung his fist in front of a burly man, making a provocative gesture.

However, the other party had no reaction, his gaze passing right through him as if he were just air.

“It really works.”

Black was relieved.

He only had three minutes. He had to act fast.

He walked towards the entrance of the auction house without stopping.

Following the route from his memory, he bypassed the front hall and sneaked directly into the backstage area of the auction.

The backstage was even more heavily guarded than the front.

Several high-level guards patrolled back and forth, guarding the storeroom.

That storeroom was where all the items for tonight’s auction were kept.

Unfortunately, under the absolute concealment effect of the “Mask of the Night Walker.”

All these vigilant guards were blind.

Black walked as if in an empty space, brushing past them.

He easily passed through the final line of guards and entered the storeroom.

Inside, there were piles of boxes.

Black had a clear goal. Without much effort, he found a golden box in a corner.

A faint purple energy film surrounded the box, clearly indicating it had been set with a powerful magic seal.