met free Chapter 104 Exchange Meeting
Chapter 104 Exchange Meeting
Tom was also surprised when Suren asked about Jack the Ripper.
"There are some..."
He looked troubled and sighed, "But these are all pieces of information that can be found anywhere. Jack the Ripper is too mysterious; even the Archbishop of the Church couldn't find anything about him. What other records do we in the Brotherhood have?"
After saying that, he looked at Suren with some suspicion: "What do you need Jack the Ripper's file for?"
Suren responded with a smile, "It's nothing. I'm just a very curious person. I'm quite interested in urban legends and bizarre unsolved cases."
Seeing this, Tom didn't press further, but simply said, "I'm sorry, sir, as I said before, we don't have much information about Jack the Ripper. All we can provide you with are the case files related to all the cases he committed."
"It's alright, that's enough."
Suren hadn't expected the other party to provide any particularly valuable information; he was content with saving time in gathering intelligence. After all, the Ripper had committed numerous crimes over the years, and Suren didn't know how long it would take to collect all the information himself.
He then asked, "By the way, what other urban legends or bizarre cases do you know about Librardton?"
"Then you've come to the right person!"
Tom smiled slightly and recited them as if they were old friends: "Bloody Mary, The Cursed Puppet, Strange Jock, The Butcher in the Rainy Night..."
Seeing that he was about to talk on and on, Suren quickly interrupted him: "Stop, stop, stop! How about this, you give me the ones with more influence and higher authenticity. I don't have that much energy to make things up."
Tom stopped listing the cases with some disappointment and selected several well-known incidents with real eyewitness accounts for Suren, including Bloody Mary.
Suren was somewhat surprised after hearing this: "You mean, someone witnessed Bloody Mary?"
"Yes, sir."
Tom agreed, seemingly excited: "According to witnesses, a beautiful woman in a bright red court dress stepped out of the mirror, smiled gently, and the man looking in the mirror turned into a pile of bones!"
Suren looked at the boy in front of her, whose face was even flushed with excitement, and couldn't help but mutter to herself, "Why is this kid so interested in this kind of thing? Is he a pervert...?"
Seeing Tom still rambling on, Suren interrupted him: "This sounds a bit like nonsense. Are there any other witnesses?"
"Unfortunately, there were no other witnesses." Tom seemed somewhat regretful. "After all, so many people died at the hands of 'Bloody Mary,' most people wouldn't even have time to escape."
Suren didn't delve into it further, and then asked, "From what you're saying, 'Bloody Mary' appears quite frequently?"
"It's only become more frequent recently, probably after 1130. On average, two to three people die every month because of 'Bloody Mary.'" Even Tom's expression turned somewhat grim as he spoke.
Upon hearing this, Suren frowned. Bloody Mary's killing frequency was far too high.
"Wait, 1130... isn't that 20 years ago? That's after the 'Bloody Mary' attack on Verdot?"
Suren was startled; he inexplicably felt that the two events were related.
Suren then chatted with Tom, and he learned a lot about urban legends and bizarre unsolved cases.
Taking this opportunity, Suren simply bought all the relevant valuable intelligence. However, Tom said that because there were many files, it might take some time to prepare, and the transaction might not be able to take place for three days.
At this point, Tom kindly advised, "Sir, although the rewards for these cases are very high, I still suggest you give up the idea of investigating. This is something even the bishops of the church cannot handle!"
He sighed at this point: "There are a few people within our brotherhood who consider themselves quite capable, and like you, they intended to resolve these incidents, but..."
He didn't continue, but Suren could guess what would happen to these people.
Suren remained noncommittal. He didn't continue the conversation on that topic but instead asked about something else: "I heard from Bald Toby that the Misty Exchange in Libraton doesn't have a fixed location yet. If I want to trade, do you have any connections?"
"You've asked at the perfect time!" Tom smiled in a way that didn't seem to suit his age. "The Mist Exchange and other underground merchant organizations, such as the Rusty Rail Merchant Guild, have reached an agreement to form a Merchant Guild Alliance. They plan to have their personnel act as notaries and hold regular exchange meetings."
Suren's eyes lit up: "That's great! If I'm not mistaken, they must have asked your Night Owl Brotherhood for help with publicity, right?"
"Haha, Toby was right, you really are a smart man." Tom nodded in admiration. "The first exchange meeting officially begins tomorrow night. You can participate if you're interested, but..."
At this point, he held up two fingers. Suren smiled at his gesture and casually tossed ten gold pounds to the other man.
Tom was somewhat surprised and was about to say something when Suren interrupted him: "Consider the rest as helping me promote this business, since I've only just decided to become a scar removal specialist."
Upon hearing this, Tom no longer declined. After offering a compliment, he was quite frank: "Since I've accepted your gold pounds, I will definitely promote you. However, you're not very famous right now, so I doubt the effect will be very good."
"It's okay, just consider it getting to know them." Suren wasn't too bothered; things should be done gradually.
……
After seeing Tom off, Suren began to play with the item Tom had just left behind—a fountain pen.
Its shape is exactly the same as a normal fountain pen, and it doesn't look special at all.
Following Tom's instructions, Suren took out a piece of paper, held the pen, and aimed the nib at the paper.
Then Suren felt her hand was out of control, and the pen started writing on the paper on its own.
With the final stroke of the pen, the address, time, and code were left on the paper, which would determine the location and time of tomorrow's transaction.
"This method of notification is quite creative."
Suren secretly admired this item, thinking that with it, he could continue to obtain information about the exchange by simply repeating the process.
"However, I'd better use some disguise during the transaction, and change my identity frequently to prevent any unexpected situations."
It's understandable that Suren is cautious; after all, the exchange venue is a mixed bag, and no one can guarantee that nothing unexpected will happen.
Meanwhile, Suren began to examine the items she carried to see which ones were suitable for trade.
However, in the end, Suren discovered that he seemed to only have the "Demon Heart Seal of Domination" to trade.
As for the silk dropped by the spider, it was a relatively rare drop from a mutated demon, and selling it might attract the attention of others. Suren preferred to craft it into an item or use it for enchanting.
However, after Professor Deventer and Karl's accident, Suren did not know any superhumans who could perform alchemy.
"The Eternal Oath does have a rather powerful Equivalent Exchange Transcendent, but since I'm currently making no contribution, it's highly unlikely they'll meet my needs."
"Besides, I don't really want someone who has made an eternal vow to handle this..."
Despite this thought, Suren had to admit that seeking the help of the Eternal Oath might be his best option, as the danger would only be greater if he sought out wild superhumans.
"Alas, alchemy is indeed a very useful skill, it's just a pity that most of it is monopolized by the Church..."
With this thought in mind, he couldn't help but take out Edmund's "Spirit Bridge". Looking at the crystal that emitted a strange light, he couldn't help but sigh.
He had tried using the "Spirit Bridge" to learn alchemy, but disappointingly, the Spirit Bridge seemed to only grant him the ability to unleash "equivalent exchange".
In other words, Suren can unleash alchemy through the "Spirit Bridge," but only if he possesses the relevant knowledge...
He doesn't have the extraordinary learning ability of those with "equivalent exchange" skills, so this ability is completely useless.
"Oh well, that's fine. I'm not really in need of supernatural items for now..." Suren could only console himself.
……
Time passed slowly, and because the sign that Su Lun hung at the door indicated the scope of the acquisition, the business of the Silent Chord secondhand shop was quite dismal, with almost no customers.
As for the commission from "Twilight Removalist," since Suren was completely unknown, naturally no one came to him.
Suren was happy to have some free time and could focus on the creation and application of his secret techniques.
It's worth mentioning that when Suren was out shopping, she actually discovered a wanted poster from the "Libra Church," which was for herself and "Sherlock Holmes."
Of course, there is no portrait of Sherlock Holmes, since he doesn't actually exist.
This made Suren realize that Leonard must have returned to Librardon.
They were accused of attacking members of the church, studying forbidden knowledge, and misappropriating forbidden manuscripts.
This was entirely Leonard's doing; he pinned all this mess on Suren and Sherlock Holmes.
Suren could only bury his hatred in his heart, knowing that one day he would kill Leonard!
……
Time quickly passed to the evening of the exchange meeting. Following the address provided by the pen, Suren arrived at an abandoned old house in the St. Wood district.
Following the address, Suren arrived at the back of the old house and knocked on the dilapidated wooden door, using the "three short, one long" knocking method provided by the pen.
A moment later, a middle-aged man dressed in a black robe with his face covered opened the door.
After glancing at the pen in Suren's hand, the middle-aged man nodded and led Suren inside.
Suren wore a long robe today and covered her face with a mask.
The face beneath the Sulen mask was not Karen Dantès's, but rather that of a sleazy fat man.
That way, even if someone has some special ability to ignore the mask, they will only think that Suren is a lewd fat man.
Suren followed the middle-aged man through a secret passage and soon arrived at a somewhat empty room.
The room was filled with hastily found chairs, with a long table in the center. Around the table stood many people dressed like the middle-aged man who was leading the way; they were probably the waiters for the gathering.
Behind the long table sat a dark-haired man with a gloomy expression. He made no attempt to disguise himself, and this must be the host of this exchange meeting.
Suren casually found a chair and sat down, then began to carefully observe her surroundings.
Perhaps because this exchange was aimed at people with power or wealth, Suren didn't see any clueless young men who didn't hide their faces; almost everyone was disguised.
Some of them used illusion magic to blur their faces, but Suren was able to see their faces clearly because he could counter it.
"After looking around, I didn't see anyone I knew..."
Suren muttered to himself, but that was to be expected, since he didn't know many people.
Just then, a woman sat down in the chair to Suren's right.
The opponent also used illusion magic, but unfortunately the level of the illusion magic was not very high, and it was easily seen through by Suren. However, after seeing through it, Suren couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.
The woman, with blond hair and blue eyes, was none other than Mrs. Howard.
Suren remained outwardly calm, but inwardly she was pondering: 'Why is she here? Hmm, and she carries the aura of Source Knowledge; has she become a transcendent being too?'
Suren did not make contact with the other party rashly. After all, he was currently wanted by the police and did not know whether the other party was friend or foe. It was better to be cautious.
After a while, the gloomy black-haired man stood up, coughed, and said in a hoarse voice, "The members are almost all here, so let's begin."
He looked around and continued, "I, 'Rust Hook,' will organize the first exchange. There aren't many rules; you can trade with each other or post commissions. Fairness will be maintained by our 'Merchant Alliance,' but we'll need to take a 10% commission. Does anyone have any objections?"
After listening, Suren couldn't help but think to himself, "This exchange event is really quite rudimentary, but with the Church suppressing it like this, there's nothing we can do..."
Seeing that no one else had any objections, Rusty Hook announced that the party was officially starting.
Since it was the first transaction, the atmosphere was a bit awkward at first, but it warmed up after one of the people made a purchase offer.
Everyone took turns asking to buy, and the transaction was conducted fairly under the impartiality of the rusty hook, so the overall situation was harmonious.
Suren did not act rashly, but decided to observe first.
Perhaps many people share the same thought as Suren: although there are quite a few people trading, not many transactions are completed, and the goods traded are mostly low-level extraordinary materials.
Finally, just as Suren was getting so bored she was about to yawn, a slightly hoarse voice rang out:
"Selling 30 pounds of Astral Silver Sand, or 3000 pounds or equivalent items."
The entire exchange fell silent. Suren looked around and saw that some people were at a loss, while others showed interest. The latter clearly knew the purpose of the Astral Silver Sand.
Suren looked at the person who spoke and found that the other person was wearing a silver mask that he could not see through, but he was a thin man.
Suren had inquired about the relevant materials with Tom beforehand, so she had some understanding of the price.
Thirty pounds of astral silver sand is exactly the amount needed to advance to the Agent level.
The other auxiliary material, "Dreamweaver Grass," requires about seven stalks to advance to the Agent level, which costs around 3000 pounds, so the other party's price is reasonable.
Suren was also tempted, but he only had about £3800 left in his funds. It was a bit painful for him to spend all of his money on auxiliary materials that he didn't need right now.
After much deliberation, Suren decided to try a trade. He called out in a disguised, rough voice, "One Demonic Heart Seal for me, or not?"
Before the skinny man could respond, another burly man, standing two meters tall, immediately raised the price: "I'll offer 4000 pounds!"
Seeing this, Suren stopped talking. 4000 pounds was already beyond his expectations, and there was no need to spend so much money on materials that he didn't need now.