Chapter 32

The vendor's words made the man with the almond-shaped eyes' gaze flicker, but this flicker was so quick that even the street cleaner standing nearby didn't notice it. However, after hearing the vendor's words, the street cleaner felt that the man with the almond-shaped eyes' smile seemed to become somewhat lecherous. In fact, the man's smile, paired with his chubby, oily face, usually looked somewhat honest. But the street cleaner didn't know why he felt a sense of lechery from the man's face.

"Brother, I know the drop rate of skill cards from monsters is very low, even for bosses. But if you can get this skill from ordinary monsters, it means the skill isn't that important, right? So your price is too high, 300 points, which is enough to buy a decent piece of interstellar equipment."

"Well... how much do you think it's worth?" The vendor also felt that the price of the skill card was indeed a bit high, after all, he got it from an ordinary monster, and it took him several days to get just this one skill. But as the man with the almond-shaped eyes said, if a skill can drop from ordinary monsters, it's not that important.

This is a very normal way of thinking for a normal person, like a kind of inertia, a common sense. For example, ordinary monsters might have a certain chance to drop top-tier equipment, but the drop rate from bosses is much higher. So people subconsciously feel that the equipment dropped by ordinary monsters is not as good as that dropped by bosses, which is common sense and a fact.

However, there are exceptions to this, like the tear skill in front of them. The man with the almond-shaped eyes knew it could drop from werewolves, but the vendor didn't. If the skill had dropped from a werewolf, the price would definitely be higher. But it did drop from an ordinary monster, so even though the skill is the same, its value is lower.

Of course, this is only for those who don't understand. Because they don't understand and the skill didn't drop from a boss, they lack the confidence to haggle. That's why the vendor spoke that way when the man with the almond-shaped eyes suggested lowering the price.

"100 points is the highest I can go. You've seen the skill; apart from the chance to break through defenses, it's not very useful. This chance-based thing depends on luck. In normal battles or boss fights, you can't rely on chance, right? You've seen the skill description; if it doesn't tear, it does no damage, like an air defense cannon. One mistake and the whole team could be wiped out."

The man with the almond-shaped eyes' eyes lit up at the other's words, but the vendor didn't notice, while the street cleaner did, making him feel something was off.

"100 points? No way, that's too low. Even if you cut the price in half, it's not that low."

The vendor kept shaking his head, but his tone was clearly lacking confidence. So the two of them haggled, with one adding 10 points and the other subtracting 10 points, going back and forth for a while. In the end, the skill card was sold for 150 points, exactly half the original price.

"Shouldn't this skill be very valuable?" The street cleaner, seeing the man with the almond-shaped eyes' smug smile, asked with some doubt.

"Not just valuable, it's very valuable. According to the price he set, you could add another zero to it. But that's the price after others understand the skill."

"Then why did you haggle? You've already made so much, why care about those few points?" The street cleaner rolled his eyes.

"What are you saying..." The man with the almond-shaped eyes glared at the street cleaner and said, "Just for that, I have to lecture you. My points don't come from thin air. Even if they did, I'd still have to bend down to pick them up. If I can save a little, why spend more?"

"But this skill is worth 3000 points, you've already made a lot."

"Are you saying your brain is full of mush? I understand, so it's worth 3000 points. The other guy doesn't understand, so it's worth 150 points. It's like a martial arts master; he's a master because he's skilled, but he doesn't have the obligation to teach everyone else to be a master."

The street cleaner hesitated, not knowing what to say. He felt the man with the almond-shaped eyes had a point, but something still seemed off.

This feeling was complex, a mix of sympathy for the weak, disdain for the man with the almond-shaped eyes taking advantage of the ignorant, and happiness for his friend getting a good deal. These feelings mixed together, leaving the street cleaner unsure of what he was feeling.

"Alright, stop thinking about it. Here, this is for you to learn." The man with the almond-shaped eyes handed the skill card to the street cleaner and patted his shoulder, saying earnestly, "Brother, don't be so honest, or you'll miss out on a lot of fun."

"What's this skill for? You made it sound useless just now." The street cleaner took the skill card, feeling a bit conflicted. For someone who had always been straightforward, even though he was cunning in battle, he felt a bit uncomfortable with such behavior in real life. But this discomfort lessened when he realized the card was for him.

"That's just a haggling strategy. When buying something, you naturally make it sound useless to lower the price. When selling, you exaggerate its value to raise the price. There's a lot of strategy involved, and once you understand it, it's quite fun. As for what this skill does, haven't you been to the mechanical ruins? If you tear through the mechanical shell, then killing them..."

The man with the almond-shaped eyes didn't finish, but the street cleaner understood. However, looking at the man, the street cleaner felt that the man wasn't happy because he got a good deal, but because he managed to buy something very valuable at a low price.

This feeling was a bit contradictory. After all, the point of haggling is to get what you want at the lowest price. As long as the price is lowered, you get a good deal. It seems that getting a good deal should make you happy, but for the man with the almond-shaped eyes, the joy came from the haggling itself, not just the deal. This made the feeling complex and hard to understand. Only those who have experienced it truly know what it feels like.

"In the radiation zone, it's not about killing monsters, but finding someone. What kind of mission is this? Radiation-affected creatures become mutated zombies with low intelligence. Will the little girl named Sang Sang follow me if I find her?" The street cleaner frowned as he read the mission description.

Back at their base, the man with the almond-shaped eyes sorted and cleaned the items the street cleaner brought back. He stored the useful ones and planned to sell the rest. Then they activated the main quest, and the first objective was to find a little girl who had been mutated by radiation after her death.

If the mission was to kill the little girl or have a few lines of dialogue, it wouldn't be a problem. But the mission required bringing the little girl back, which was quite frustrating. If the radiation-affected creature was a monster, bringing a monster back would be like getting a pet, but the pet system wasn't open yet.

"Who should I ask? The people in this courtyard are all creepy." The man with the almond-shaped eyes shivered as he glanced at the courtyard. The mission token pointed to a courtyard in a corner of Hope City, which had a European architectural style. Inside, there were masters, servants, and a butler, like a European medieval noble's life.

However, the people in the courtyard were very strange, with blank or panicked expressions. The main quest was called "The Legend of the Werewolf," but there were no werewolves, only people, and the mission was to find a person, not a werewolf.

"How do we complete this mission? We can't just rush into the monster zone, find the little girl named Sang Sang, and kidnap her, right?" The street cleaner said casually, but after speaking, he noticed the man with the almond-shaped eyes looking at him strangely.

"You can't be serious?"

"The mysterious butler just wants you to bring the little girl back, he didn't say how. As long as you bring her back, what's wrong with kidnapping her? Since they didn't specify, don't be so rigid," the man with the almond-shaped eyes shrugged indifferently.

Because he had lived in the military for a long time and only retired last year, the street cleaner's personality still had many military traits. Soldiers have iron discipline, so when faced with problems, he thought like a normal person, unlike the man with the almond-shaped eyes, who often acted outside the norm.

However, this was just the street cleaner's usual state. In the military, he was also known as a troublemaker. But because of his high rank, no one above him pressured him, so it wasn't very noticeable. In fact, the street cleaner didn't realize that this was one of the reasons for his retirement. The incident that led to his retirement was just a trigger.

"From your expression, it seems you don't plan to go with me?" The street cleaner asked, looking at the man with the almond-shaped eyes.

"You can handle the fighting. Why should I go? The mission target is on the outskirts of the monster zone. You can just rush in and bring the girl back. I'll go sell the materials I sorted out," the man with the almond-shaped eyes found a good excuse for his laziness.

"By the way, the mentalist in the team, the gambler, had a mental weapon that was a flying disc with gears. What's your weapon?" The street cleaner didn't care if the man with the almond-shaped eyes went, but as a mentalist, being so lazy was unforgivable.

"Hehe, this will surprise you. I had a mechanic work on it for a long time." The man with the almond-shaped eyes was very proud of his weapon, seemingly oblivious to the deeper meaning in the street cleaner's words. He excitedly pulled out his weapon with a swish.

The street cleaner looked at the man with the almond-shaped eyes' weapon with a strange expression. The swish wasn't a sound effect or a sharp sound, but the sound of a string of beads colliding.