Chapter 7

After the two people whispered to each other for a while, one of them said, "Including the arm shields from yesterday, 75 gold coins."

"That's too expensive, at most 70 gold coins," Barrett shrugged.

"Alright! How about 73 gold coins? This is our final offer, we can't go any lower. Otherwise, we'd rather wait for the heat to die down," although they didn't know what their purpose was, it was clear that these two were in urgent need of in-game currency.

"Alright! 73 gold coins it is," Barrett agreed to the deal, feeling it wasn't necessary to haggle over a few gold coins. He then untied his money bag, took out a few gold coins, and threw the bag to the other side. Pacing immediately began counting the money, while Barrett himself began carefully examining the decorative shield he had just received—although there was a system prompt, his experience in testing had formed a habit.

After completing the transaction, Barrett emphasized, "As I said before, hide this brooch! The gold fingers around here are quite skilled. If anything unexpected happens, I don't want to get involved. If you still need money, you can sell the crossbow at the militia training ground. Remember to dust it and make it look old. I think they won't mind buying it back at half price."

This was clearly Barrett doing a favor for them. At this stage, not many players used crossbows. Even among the native adventurers, except for the military, they didn't like this type of weapon, which, although powerful, had unsatisfactory firing speed and maintenance.

So for the two who were like headless flies, unable to find a way to sell their goods, Barrett's advice was like a snowball in a snowstorm. Anyway, such information would eventually be discovered by other players, so it was nice to do a favor while it was still timely.

"Thanks!" Before getting up to leave, the other person also returned the favor, "You should come here tomorrow morning. There will be a large gathering among players. Even if you don't want to participate, you can still meet many of your kind."

Barrett put on a look of realization, "I see, you're preparing for a big deal tomorrow! I wish you success."

"See you tomorrow!"

"See you tomorrow."

After completing the transaction, Barrett packed the decorative shield in a linen bag and, since it was still early, he solved his lunch problem in the store. He had been saving money by eating black bread in the game, which was truly a hardship.

Even if he had complaints about the food in the real world, compared to the medieval era, it could be considered heaven. For example, if ordinary people and citizens from China before 1949 were to experience life in 2010, they would find daily meals to be a luxury.

While enjoying a bowl of beef and potato soup, he quietly listened to the conversations of other customers in the tavern. After a month of busy work in the game, he also gave himself a half-day off—rest and work should be balanced. Unfortunately, the character's perception attribute was a bit low, so he couldn't hear much if others deliberately lowered their voices.

As night fell, inns and taverns would become the liveliest places outside the red-light district—strong liquor, roasted meat, and rowdy adventurers complemented the performances of bards, a primitive and passionate feast that didn't exist in the real world.

With the start of nightlife, Barrett set off for the western district. "Red-light district" was a term that had disappeared from the Earth Union, as the Earth Union government cracked down on any organized (physical) trafficking. Yes, only organized groups, so individual escorts on the internet were not scarce, which was one reason some women could stay on the surface.

Although he had some interest in the 'degenerate services' in Sapphire City, Barrett never went there. After all, Sapphire City at night was not safe, even for a "skilled" person like Barrett, there were still significant risks.

Even with guards patrolling the streets, it was still common for some wanderers to stab or ambush others (usually for the few copper coins in their pockets). The world of "Diala Continent" was a real world, so things like "red name" or "yellow name" did not exist. As long as the killing was clean, the perpetrator could get away with it. As for alignment issues? Don't worry! No one would always have detection alignment turned on to search everywhere.

But if you accidentally let the other person escape and remember your face, and they gave a detailed description to the guards... then I'm sorry, you would receive a wanted notice from the mayor's office within hours, and a few days later, you would be on the unwelcome list of related towns.

However, if the victim died or couldn't provide a detailed description, the accusation would fail. This was actually very similar to the dark elf cities in the Underdark—what is unseen is not a sin. Truly a social Darwinist test of one's skills!

Not long after entering the red-light district, Barrett slipped into a dark alley and followed the uneven ground to the back door of a certain gold melting den. The plain appearance made it indistinguishable from other residences in the alley. If you didn't know the inside story, it would be hard to associate this place with Sapphire City's underground fencing den.

After confirming he had the right place, Barrett knocked on the door with a fist, three long and two short knocks, the basic code. The heavy wooden door creaked open a small gap just wide enough for one person. A small flame in a lantern flickered happily, and then an old man with a weathered face hunched over and slowly emerged from the door.

"Kid, I don't remember knowing you," the old man said bluntly. You couldn't expect the members of the Thieves' Guild to be polite. And this old man had the capital to be blunt. Although he was just a doorman, his strength was enough to crush Barrett.

Barrett, seemingly unaffected by the old man's intimidation, said, "I was introduced by Miss Serina. She said you would give me the fairest price."

"That little girl! Come in, kid. I'll keep an eye on you, so you won't cause any trouble," the old man said, then led Barrett into the house. After several turns through a winding corridor, they finally reached a refined old man sitting at a table.

Although the old man looked like a frail scholar, his eyes were as sharp as an eagle's. From the information Barrett had, this man was well-known in Sapphire City's Thieves' Guild. It was said that any unknown item could be appraised fairly by him. As one of the few top appraisers in the Bolem region, he was the only one Barrett could currently reach.

More importantly, he had a rare good reputation in Sapphire City's underworld. Well, we shouldn't talk about the reputation of criminal groups, but he was known for fairness in transactions, which was key to his current position.

Barrett took out the ceremonial shield from the bag and presented it with both hands on the table.

The old man glanced at it, picked it up, touched it, and tapped the shield face, then specifically examined the embedded jewels under the bright flame: "The material is high-quality iron ingot smelted by valley dwarves, but the craftsmanship is not very exquisite, so it's probably not dwarven work. The inlay and engraving are quite good. Now, the key question is, do you want to sell it piece by piece or as a whole?"

Faced with this unexpected situation, Barrett naturally wanted to clarify: "How do you sell it piece by piece? And how do you sell it as a whole?"

"I can offer 18 gold coins for the shield alone, and 83 gold coins for the garnets and fluorites. If you sell it as a whole, I would offer about 160 gold coins," the old man said calmly.

Barrett subconsciously fiddled with his fingers. 160 gold coins, the price for selling it as a whole was almost double that of selling it piece by piece. It even exceeded the initial cash savings of his character. But his cautious mind told him that the old man was hinting at something.

Barrett quickly made his decision: "Is there trouble with selling it as a whole? Then I'll sell it piece by piece. It's not worth taking the risk for this amount of money."

"A wise choice," the old man nodded in approval. Quick turnover was the golden rule for such transactions.

Selling it as a whole was more profitable, but most people didn't have that much cash. This could extend the transaction period and increase the risk of exposure, especially since the source of these items was not a secret in Sapphire City's underworld.

"If we follow the rules, I should pay half now and the rest at the end of the month. But since it's your first time, I'll give you a favor," the old man said, taking out a money bag from his pocket, adding a few gold coins, and throwing it to Barrett.

"Thank you for your generosity. Could you satisfy my curiosity and tell me about the background of this weapon? Just so I don't...," Barrett gave a knowing look.

The old man immediately understood: "You're not involved in the incident? I thought so, a kid from a noble family, even without a title, wouldn't get involved in this."

As Barrett's expression became a bit tense, the old man continued, "Don't worry, there are only a few families with noble blood in Sapphire City. We have records. It's not a secret, so I can tell you. It's a conflict between an incoming smuggling group and our local forces. The other side has some background, so things are a bit complicated. But as long as you're not directly involved, you won't be affected. They wouldn't dare to break the rules."

"Good! I don't want to get into big trouble just by selling something," Barrett said, looking relieved.

The old man then gave the order to dismiss: "The transaction is over! Take this young master out!"

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