Chapter 184 Another Transaction
After walking for some distance on the street, Luo En felt that his agitated emotions, caused by the recent encounter, gradually calmed down.
Not followed? Or was everything just my imagination?
Luo En surveyed the surroundings but found nothing unusual.
He glanced at the familiar street not far away.
After a moment of hesitation, Luo En still turned around and returned to the Vitz Antique Shop.
"Welcome to Witz Anti—" Ceasar's familiar voice came from behind the counter, but upon seeing who it was, he immediately corrected himself, "Ah, it's you, sir."
Seeing Ceasar in the same attire as before, Luo En judged that he must have been here all along.
"Have you come again today for something specific?" Ceasar asked with a professional smile. "Could it be that there's a problem with a product we sold you earlier?"
"No, not at all." Luo En shook his head and said casually, "I just wanted to browse again, is that not allowed?"
"Of course it is." Ceasar immediately said with a smile, "In fact, many regular customers like to come and sit here when no one else is around, to see if there are any new good items."
Luo En hummed in acknowledgment and began to walk slowly through the shop, like a true antique enthusiast, examining the miscellaneous items on the shelves.
No one followed him? His gaze occasionally darted towards the door.
Hmm...
Recalling his experience from noon today, he eventually walked over to Ceasar, lowered his voice, and said, "Actually,
I came this time because I wanted to buy another Mystical Item."
Upon hearing this, Ceasar's smile receded slightly. He looked at Luo En, nodded, and led him to the inner room upstairs.
"Sir, do you have any more specific requirements?" Ceasar asked.
"Hmm... something that can keep the user calm." Luo En thought for a moment and added, "Ideally, it should be easy to carry, and the side effects should be as minimal as possible."
"I understand." Ceasar nodded, turned, and took an ancient small wooden box from a locked cabinet.
When the wooden box was opened, a simple, ancient-looking ring, made of an unknown metal, lay quietly inside.
"Its name is 'Silence'." Ceasar introduced. "Its Beyonder ability is simple and practical: wearing it can forcibly make the holder maintain absolute calmness. Under its influence, the user will find it difficult to be controlled by extreme emotions such as anger, fear, or desire."
"And the side effects?" Luo En directly asked the most crucial question. "It cannot be worn for a long time." Ceasar replied. "Otherwise, it will gradually make the user cold-blooded and numb, until they completely lose human emotions.
However, according to our tests, as long as the single wearing time does not exceed a full day, there should generally be no problems."
He paused, then added:
"Moreover, this ring has another advantage. Its spirituality is completely restrained; unless special Beyonder abilities are used,
ordinary Beyonders cannot tell that it is a Mystical Item at all."
"How much?" Luo En asked. "850 pounds." Ceasar quoted a figure.
Luo En nodded, indicating his acceptance.
After the transaction was complete, he asked about the question he was most concerned about earlier: "Is there any news about the weapon I was looking for?"
Ceasar shook his head, an apologetic expression on his face: "Sir, it's still too short a time. Such a convenient Mystical Item is not that easy to find. However—"
He changed the subject.
"Perhaps—you could ask someone else yourself."
He gestured for Luo En to wait a moment.
A few minutes later, Ceasar returned with a pure white mask, identical to the one Luo En had worn at the gathering earlier.
"Put this on."
Luo En didn't ask further and put on the mask. Then, Ceasar led him through a corridor hung with heavy curtains, to a thick, dark wooden Door.
Ceasar gently knocked on the Door, and after receiving a flat "Come in" from inside, he pushed the Door open and led Luo En in.
This was a room similar to a private study. A faint scent of paper permeated the air. Three walls of the room were floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, packed with various thick, ancient-looking books.
And by a large desk in the center of the room sat a lady also wearing a pure white mask. Several open, ancient-looking books lay spread out before her.
Based solely on her familiar figure and aura, Luo En immediately recognized her as the mysterious lady who had bought his Wind-Blessed characteristic at the gathering earlier.
"This lady is a regular customer of ours." Ceasar whispered into Luo En's ear. "She is a knowledgeable scholar who often comes here to consult some of the documents we collect, or to directly purchase valuable books."
The same type as the Captain?
And documents, books. Luo En thought to himself, so this place is also a library, quite diverse in its business. After Ceasar left, Luo En asked, "Madam, regarding the weapon I was looking for, you said—you had some leads?"
Cattelya, wearing the white mask, slowly closed an ancient book she held. She looked up at Luo En and said in a calm, objective tone:
"Yes. In three days, I should be able to procure a good weapon for you."
She didn't keep him in suspense and immediately introduced it:
"It's a dagger, extremely sharp itself, enough to easily cut through Steel."
"It can greatly enhance the user's physical qualities, especially their self-healing ability. As long as it's not a fatal injury like a direct hit to a vital spot or decapitation, it can allow the holder to quickly recover from injuries in a short period."
"At the same time," she paused and added, "its blade also carries an undispellable poison. Any wound struck by it cannot heal on its own."
"Then—what about its side effects?" Luo En calmly asked the most crucial question.
"The side effects are equally obvious." Cattelya's tone remained unruffled. "It will continuously erode the user's sanity, making the holder increasingly violent, irritable, and generating a strong craving for blood."
Violent and bloodthirsty...
I have a ring that forces calmness, so this side effect isn't a big problem, Luo En thought.
After chatting for a while longer, Luo En ordered the weapon. Cattelya said he could pick it up here in three days.
However, she also said that it had to go through the antique shop's procedure and could not be traded privately. This meant Luo En would have to pay a handling fee, but since he was using their channels, Luo En didn't say much.
"It seems the discussion went smoothly." Ceasar smiled and stepped forward when he saw Luo En come out.
"Yes—I'll still need your help to appraise it then." Luo En said.
"Of course."
After hesitating for a moment, Luo En asked again:
"Do you have a way to leave Bayam? The rumors in Bayam haven't been good lately." "Hmm—"
"Then you should go back." Ceasar said.
"Go back?"
"Go back and find that lady. It is said she has some influence at sea and should have a way."
In the hotel room, Danitz, waiting for Luo En to return, paced back and forth anxiously.
"Damn it! Why does Brando always take so long and still isn't back!"
Fortunately, not long after, a rhythmic knock sounded on the door.
It was their agreed-upon secret signal!
Danitz slightly opened the door. Seeing the figure in a top hat and trench coat standing outside, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Luo En said nothing, slipped into the room, and closed the door behind him.
He sat down on a chair, rested for a moment, and after calming his mind, which had been a bit turbulent due to the series of encounters today, he recounted everything he had experienced today to Danitz, including his purchases at the Vitz Antique Shop and the strange "encounter" in the restaurant.
However, after listening to Luo En's account, Danitz's focus was clearly misplaced.
"What?!" He widened his eyes and said in an incredulous tone, "I've been here starving and scared all day, and you—you were out having lunch with a beautiful lady!"
"Is that your focus?" Luo En looked up, his eyes behind his glasses turning somewhat cold.
Seeing Luo En's expression, Danitz realized he had spoken out of turn. He cleared his throat twice and immediately brought the conversation back on track.
"You mean—you felt that woman was very suspicious?" He pressed, "Was she after us? Was she here to catch us?"
Luo En shook his head, also showing a hint of confusion: "I'm not sure. After all, I've changed my appearance. Logically, she shouldn't have been able to recognize me.
She didn't follow me either. Perhaps—it really was just a coincidence, who knows."
Although he said that, for some reason, Luo En always felt that things weren't that simple.
"Do you know how much longer Captain and the others will take to arrive?" Luo En asked this crucial question again.
Danitz shook his head, a hint of helplessness on his face: "Not sure. The last time we contacted, they only said they had changed their route to bypass the Storm Church's blockade. I estimate—at least several more days."
"That's too long." Luo En's expression became even more serious.
He looked at Danitz and threw out a new possibility, one he had been pondering on his way back today.
"The lady who traded with me at the antique shop today," he slowly said, "I subtly discussed it with her. She seems... to have connections that could get us safely out of Bayam."
"Of course," he immediately added, "I didn't tell her our true identities or our purpose."
He looked at Danitz and said word for word: "I'm thinking, if Captain and the others really can't make it for a while, and taking normal sea routes makes us easy targets for the Punishers. Perhaps we could consider asking that lady to take us away?"
"Reliable?"
Upon hearing this suggestion, Danitz's brows immediately furrowed.
For him, returning to the Golden Dream, and to the Captain's side, was the only and safest option. He instinctively held great vigilance towards such external forces of unknown origin.
"It seems binding contracts can be signed at the exchange." Luo En didn't force him to accept. "I'm just asking for your thoughts."
Danitz hesitated for a long while.
On one side, there was the Golden Dream, indefinitely far, but absolutely reliable.
On the other side, there was a mysterious channel, full of unknowns, but perhaps able to immediately escape danger.
"I still want to wait and see." He said, "I'll find another opportunity tomorrow to ask about the Captain's specific situation."
Early the next morning, Luo En and Danitz left the hotel together.
The contact point was not too far from their current hiding place. Coupled with the secrecy requirements for the telegram code, Danitz still chose to go in person to make contact.
Both were disguised, blending into the bustling morning crowd, walking towards the Old Town.
However, halfway there, Luo En's steps suddenly halted, and his brow furrowed slightly.
"What's wrong?" Danitz, also disguised, immediately asked cautiously.
"I feel a faint sense of Calamity." Luo En lowered his voice, his gaze sweeping around, "But I'm not sure what exactly it is."
"What should we do, go back?" Danitz asked.
Luo En pondered for a moment, then made a decision.
"We'll split up." He told Danitz, "You go ahead as planned. I'll follow you from a distance, just in case." "Alright." Danitz nodded, not asking further. He knew very well that at times like this, he absolutely had to trust Luo En's eccentric yet remarkably accurate intuition.
A moment later, Danitz, alone, arrived near a small, rather unkempt bar on the edge of the city. He didn't enter through the main door, which bore a 'Today's Special' sign, but instead, familiar with the layout, went around to the side of the bar, arriving at an inconspicuous, tightly shut small door.
He raised his hand and gently knocked on the door with a special rhythm: three long taps, two short.
The door was quickly pulled open from inside, and he slipped in.
Meanwhile, in another building directly opposite that small bar.
Mithor, the "Silver-Tongued," lay motionless behind a window, monitoring everything below.
"If you can't catch 'Blazing' Danitz within a month, then never come back.
Don't think about escaping; you know my abilities.
Even if you miraculously survive, you will inherit Danitz's bounty."
Tracy's "heartwarming" words echoed in his ears, making him live in constant dread.
When he saw that familiar figure disappear behind the side door, his nerves, which had been taut for days, finally relaxed.
He let out a long sigh in his heart.
Finally—he's here.
Damn "Blazing."