Chapter 144
Chapter 144
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 144
Chapter Title: The Black Market... Is Indeed a Treasure Trove
-----------------------------------------------------------------
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Come on in. No traps or anything."
Cheshire and I followed behind the poacher, stepping through the sliding door. Fortunately, since the space was fixed in place, passing through the door didn't teleport us anywhere else.
As we trailed after the poacher, we entered a room made entirely of concrete on all sides. At its center sat two iron cages, a birdcage, and a large glass jar. Aside from that, there was an iron door on the right wall, and on the wall where the poacher stood, several red buttons that looked like they shouldn't be touched. That iron door beyond probably led to the real breeding pens of the poacher.
"Take a look around. If you have enough funds, you could take the whole lot."
"Funds... should be plenty. But what exactly are these...?"
I locked eyes with the beasts in the iron cages, drool dripping from their mouths as they glared at me. Every one of them radiated a threatening aura, staring me down.
"I've prepared only the rarest ones. What do you think?"
"Definitely... these look like they could be a huge help..."
I first turned my attention to the largest iron cage, where a beast was growling and emitting gloomy mental waves that set my nerves on edge. It was a massive lizard with two heads.
⚔ CREATURE INFO ⚔
Eternal Sacrifice Dragon: A mutant drake juvenile with two heads. It will not die unless both heads are destroyed. It feeds primarily on fresh blood. Unlike the heads, it has only one tail, but it's delicious.
[Warning: The Sacrifice Dragon emits horrific screams when wounded. These screams induce sympathy and pity in nearby intelligent beings. Prolonged exposure increases the urge to rescue it, and blocking rescue triggers depression and suicidal impulses.]
Price: 74,000C
The Eternal Sacrifice Dragon. A massive lizard truly living up to its name.
'If you can't rescue it... you feel depression and suicidal urges...'
It was a seriously vicious mental attacker. Making humans who butcher it feel guilty enough to drive them to suicide...
'Slaughtering can just be left to that headless psycho Dullahan...'
Somehow, the murder-loving Dullahan obsessed with decapitation seemed like he'd cut off the Sacrifice Dragon's tail without a shred of guilt. As a psychopath, the Dullahan probably wouldn't be affected by its cries either.
'Not to mention Rising Flesh, and we even have a Cleric on our side...'
By draining blood from non-awakeneds treated as expendable and feeding it to the Sacrifice Dragon, then rotating recovery skills all day... theoretically, we could harvest meat from it indefinitely while keeping it alive.
Thus, this beast was a valuable livestock. With recovery skills... infinite regenerating food. Risky, but a precious way to secure meat.
'Honestly, just fruits and veggies were getting monotonous.'
Living off those ambiguous fruit-or-veg plants from the sports field felt like forced veganism—it was hell. This was perfect.
No matter how you fry, grill, or boil them, veggies are just veggies. For a non-vegan like me, days of only veggies were pure torment.
Without raiding some intact ranch with cows or pigs somewhere, fresh meat was getting scarce. Cannibalism to boost morale was out, and we'd grown tired of canned goods and spam anyway.
So stumbling on this infinite regenerating meat lump felt like a gift. And it was a reptile, so less emotional attachment—perfect.
"You're speechless. Impressed by an undying creature? It's not a true exhaust dragon, but you can't just save it on a whim."
"You're right. I'll buy it right now."
"Good. Taking it yourself, or delivery?"
"You can even do delivery?"
"Pay 10,000 coins for delivery, and sure. What can't money buy in this world?"
"True enough."
The poacher's words were pure truth. Nothing money couldn't buy. Like Hee-sun Noona turning from zombie to human—with causality as currency, even zombies become people. What couldn't happen?
In the end, paying an extra 10,000 coins, I arranged delivery of the Eternal Sacrifice Dragon via summoning. No way I could drag it around everywhere.
"Preparing delivery."
The poacher flipped a switch, and the floor opened, dropping the iron cage with the Sacrifice Dragon into endless darkness. A distant dragon cry echoed, but I decided not to care.
No point curiously listening—it'd just sour my mood. I'd already decided to sacrifice it forever, so no need to overthink. It was just a living hunk of meat.
'Alright, next...'
Excited, I checked the next item. Smaller than the Sacrifice Dragon this time.
⚔ CREATURE INFO ⚔
World Tree Aphid: A parasite that fed on the World Tree's sap. Extremely durable, it excretes a fixed amount of secretions daily. The secretions contain trace amounts of World Tree sap. They are an intensely sweet ingredient, and drinking raw induces mental euphoria.
[Warning: Overdose causes all blood to erupt from the body, leading to death.]
Price: 50,000C
"Delivery possible?"
"Of course. 60,000 coins including delivery."
"Buying it now."
I bought it without hesitation thanks to my talk with Hellas.
'He definitely said gather everything related to the World Tree...'
Simple reason. The World Tree—a living god with a direct physical body (??) in the material world—produces especially abundant byproducts among Myriad Ghost Realm deities sharing similar traits.
Thus, its byproducts had long been used in alchemy... including ingredients for the three great elixirs: Nectar, Soma, and Elixir.
'And Hellas was a veteran Rank 2 alchemist... He went mad and burned his country because he couldn't reach Rank 1. Now, using the new opportunities from becoming my slave, he's chasing Rank 1 qualifications. Though it's too late for real meaning...'
Abused like a slave by his long-lived elf mentor, Hellas lived as a Rank 2 alchemist. He could make most reagents and potions blindfolded, even philosopher's stones. But not the three great elixirs exclusive to Rank 1s.
His elf master never taught him till death... So Hellas wanted materials for the elixirs to experiment.
'If he succeeds, he'll let me try them first...'
Nectar, Soma, Elixir—incalculably potent elixirs. I wanted to taste them. Thus, the World Tree Aphid, grown sucking sap with traces in its secretions, was a must-buy.
"Buying so casually—impressive. You... have way more money than I thought."
"Well... yeah."
Slaves working real-time right now. More like employees than slaves. Thanks to them, I could spend coins freely here, and they benefited too—win-win.
Anyway, burning through 154,400 coins in a flash, I quickly checked the remaining two items.
⚔ ITEM INFO ⚔
Lost Fairy: A lost fairy. Drinking it ground up increases magic power by 100. Feed it flowers to shed wings, producing fairy dust daily. Always weeping pitifully.
[Warning: Releasing from the birdcage teleports nearby humans to a random location on the planet.]
Price: 25,000C
This seemed valuable for materials too, so I bought it...
⚔ ITEM INFO ⚔
Merman Prince's Heart: Consumable raw enables gill breathing and webbed hands underwater. Offering to the undersea city's king makes you their honored guest.
[Warning: All aquatic life becomes hostile upon consumption. Spoils at room temperature.]
Price: 80,000C
Both small enough not to need delivery—no extra 10,000 coins each. But...
'Crazy... 80,000 for one heart? Even Merhere wasn't this pricey...'
I was torn. Buying this might leave no room for proper slaves. Already burned over 100,000 coins on the priors—tough call.
'Using the Gambler's Golden Coin from the "All-In Gamble" achievement after eating the Black Serpent's core... gets it free, but wasting a reward on underwater breathing? Stupid.'
The Gambler's Golden Coin—free merchant NPC item. Worth using on this heart?
'Of course, the high price means it's important. And "undersea city" keyword now means we'll go there eventually...'
Especially becoming an honored guest... boosts its value.
"What's wrong?"
"Ah... it's just too expensive..."
As I agonized over the heart, Cheshire whispered to me.
"Hmm... Jun-ah. Want me to buy it for you?"
"Huh?"
She hadn't even charged guide fees today. A gift on top? Too grateful, but no way...
"Old man. This one. I'll buy it."
"What? Heh... fine, do as you like."
"Ch-Cheshire! It's too expensive...!?"
"It's fine. A gift. A gift for the prince on a white horse who'll someday pull me from this hellish birdcage."
Cheshire smiled, took the Merman Prince's Heart from the poacher, and tucked it into my bag. Spending 80,000 coins for me—what an amazing girlfriend...
"Thank you, Cheshire... I'll definitely repay you."
"Yeah! No pressure! Just visit weekly—that's enough."
"Cheshire...!"
As Cheshire and I linked arms, smiling at each other, the poacher snorted and waved us off.
"Damn kids. Done? Get lost! And Cheshire!! You'll inherit my mantle someday... Don't chase pipe dreams—take the apprentice poacher lessons!"
"Shut it!! Bleh! Jun! Run while the old man's ranting!!"
Cheshire teased the poacher playfully and yanked my wrist.
"Hyup!"
"Whew..."
We escaped the poacher's hut and returned to the underground waterway littered with drug addicts. Kicking aside the begging beggar scum, we entered the neon-lit drug den, Drugs & Rush.
But... the drug dealer looked off.
"Welcome to Drugs & Rush."
The drug dealer I'd met before was always a cross-dressing hunk. Two heads—one perpetually high—muscular and creepy with a feminine voice.
Now? Proper bartender: black slacks, crisp white shirt, black tie, polished shoes. One head still drugged... but neatly groomed, a suave bartender.
"Huh?"
"Jackson!"
"Oh, my. Cheshire, long time no see."
Cheshire called the drug dealer Jackson. Last time, definitely fancy bar madam Zeki attire... now Jackson?
"Ah, Jun wouldn't know. This is Jackson. See? The awake head's different from Zeki time."
"Oh? Yeah, it is."
Her point made me notice the awake head differed.
"Haha... My twin sister Zeki and I take turns using the body. More precisely, testing drugs on each other. Last visit, I was deep in new drug trials—so you met my sister Zeki instead."
Shockingly, the twin siblings shared one body, alternating drug doses. One head endures effects while the other lives normally.
What to call it... experimental zeal gone insane. Testing on themselves before others—maniacal junkies.
Even more shocking: original owner was Jackson. He said he smacked his dying sister's head onto his own body.
"Yeah, that's the backstory. Common in the black market. Anyway, first time in a while—cocktail on the house. Any kind: Faust? Rusty Nail? Blue Hawaii? Even Sex on the Beach."
I nearly ordered from Jackson shaking the cobbler shaker naturally. His voice had a weird charm, drawing you in.
'This psycho...'
Almost drank from a drug dealer. Cheshire would've stopped me, but one sip... and I'd be a waterway junkie beggar. Chills.
"Not falling for it, Jackson. Show today's menu."
"Heh. Sharp customer. Alright, today's recommendations."
Jackson grinned like a failed prankster and pulled four hidden liquor bottles from under the counter.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇