Felix couldn't sleep, his mind racing with the fear of being exposed as a transmigrator from Earth. He decided to explore the area instead of lying awake. Finding nothing of interest behind the mirror, Felix wandered south to the waiting area where families of test-takers were camping, watching their children's performances.
Upon reaching the area, Felix discovered a bustling makeshift market. Opportunistic rchants had set up stalls selling street food, trinkets, clothes, and weapons. Felix, intrigued by the late-night market, wandered among the stalls.
Most offered basic street food, with dry jerkies being the most common product, easy to preserve and carry. The sll of the dried at made Felix hungry, but the idea of cooking sothing back at his camp was quickly dismissed. He didn't want to attract Sean Smith's attention again.
Thinking of Sean soured Felix's mood. He muttered to himself.
"I should have just killed that idiot and been done with it. I'd sleep a lot better knowing he's out of the picture."
With that, he began to search the area, half-hoping to find Sean still awake. But as expected, the man was nowhere to be found, and Felix sighed, letting go of his impulsive thoughts.
As he wandered deeper into the market, Felix's attention was caught by a large circus-like do tent illuminated by torches. A group of middle-aged n in fancy clothes stood outside, beckoning passersby. Curious, Felix approached, and one of the n quickly moved toward him, whispering in a suspiciously low voice.
"Sir, are you interested in so company for the night?"
"Hoh?" Felix raised an eyebrow, amused. "Is this tent a brothel?"
The man chuckled, shaking his head. "No, no, not a brothel. We're much better than that."
"What do you sell, then?" Felix asked, intrigued.
The man smirked and made a suggestive gesture. "We sell female slaves. Humans, demi-humans, Crimson Desert tribeswon—you na it, we've got them."
Felix's expression darkened as the rchant's words echoed the shadow's warning from earlier.
[If you visit the local slave market, you will find our brethren among them. The nobles and rchants of that city treat us as pets and livestock.]
"Do you have any Lamias in stock?" Felix asked, just to confirm his suspicions.
"Of course! We captured several during the last expedition campaign. His Majesty's army brought them in. We're the official labor distributors for the royal palace. See?" The man proudly showed Felix a golden plaque with a silver wand emblem.
Felix almost choked at the revelation but kept his composure. He needed more information. "Are these Lamias from the Black Forest or associated with the Lamia Queen?"
The rchant's eyes lit up. "You're very well-inford, sir! Yes, these are so of the finest Lamias, straight from the Black Forest. They're naturally perverted, and our custors love them to death! Well, except those who forget to take their antidotes," he added with a wink, trying to share an inside joke.
Felix forced a laugh, playing along. "Yeah, anyone who skips the antidote would be an idiot."
The rchant, believing he had found a like-minded custor, laughed heartily. "Hahaha! Rest assured, sir, if you buy a Lamia from us, we'll throw in three sets of premium antidotes and aphrodisiacs, concocted by the alchemist saint himself! But enough talk, let's head inside."
Felix's stomach churned with disgust at the human-trafficking business, but he suppressed the urge to destroy the entire settlent on the spot. He followed the rchant into the giant do tent, where he found an indoor zoo filled with humans and monsters.
Glass rooms lined the do, each containing naked maidens, chained and trembling in fear and sha. Signs in front of each cage displayed the current bid price and buyout price for the slaves inside. Armored guards with whips patrolled the area, updating the bidding prices. Noblen and commoners strolled through the tent, leering at the slaves and placing bids.
Felix's blood boiled as he watched the scene. Though he kept reminding himself that he was no longer on Earth, the sight disgusted him to his core. After glaring at the crowd for a mont, he snapped himself back to reality and forced a smile at the rchant.
"Where are the Lamias?" he asked.
The rchant grinned, pleased with Felix's interest. "Follow , sir."
Felix trailed behind the rchant, deeper into the twisted marketplace.
…
The front area of the tent had been just an appetizer. As Felix ventured deeper, the cages beca less appealing and clean. Each cage here was isolated in its own aisle, guarded by four ard n holding sharp spears. The guards ignored the visitors, focusing solely on the captives within.
In these cages, Felix encountered female monsters he had never seen before. One caught his eye—a plant woman whose lower body was part of a giant flower, looking even younger than Valley.
Next to her, a larger cage held three chained Lamias. One had already lost both limbs, with fresh bandages still covering the stumps. Unlike the human slaves, these Lamias didn't look sad. Instead, they wore confident expressions. One of them licked their lips and smiled provocatively at a middle-aged man who stood in front of the cage, visibly excited.
The man rubbed his pants in anticipation and began negotiating with a nearby slave trader.
"How much for the buyout, that one?" the man asked.
"2,000 third-rate mana stones, sir," the trader replied.
"I'll take that frisky one! I want to see her face when I destroy her!"
"Of course, sir!"
The two walked toward the back of the tent to finalize the deal. Felix, approaching the Lamia's cage, watched the exchange with a frown. He pitied the Lamias and wondered if they still held the sa warrior pride they had when they first t him. However, his expectations were shattered when the purchased Lamia smirked at him and flaunted her private parts.
Seeing her shaless behavior, Felix gave up on her, concluding that she might actually enjoy her life as a slave with that attitude. He shifted his attention to the other two Lamias.
One had short pink hair and had lost both her eyes, with dried blood still on her face. Despite her injuries, she exuded a dignified air, like a proud warrior or royalty. The other, the one without limbs, lay still but glared at Felix and the rchant as if ready to kill them at any mont.
The rchant laughed dryly and introduced them. "My apologies, young sir. It seems most of the good ones have already been sold. These two are all we have left, but if you're interested, I can offer them to you at half price, 1,000 3rd-rate mana stones each."
Felix ignored the rchant and gazed at the two defeated Lamias. He asked them, "You with the pink hair, what was your relationship with Lamia Queen Diana?"
The limbless Lamia hissed at Felix, but the blinded one responded, "Do you know my mother?"
Felix didn't hide the truth. "We t and talked. You could say we're acquainted."
"I see," the blind Lamia said. "Then you must be the alpha everyone was talking about. Didn't one of my sisters kill you?"
Felix chuckled. "She wasn't very good at her job."
The short-haired girl smiled faintly, her voice devoid of sadness. "Xin Ci was too prideful sotis. I see why she failed. Oh, no pun intended. Hehe."
Despite her condition, the girl remained optimistic. anwhile, the rchant was surprised by their familiarity and signaled the guards to keep a closer eye on Felix. Ten ard guards gathered behind him, watching cautiously but not yet drawing their weapons.
At that mont, Jessica updated the map and displayed it for Felix. The map showed a green dot representing the blind Lamia, while the limbless one was marked yellow. The rest of the staff appeared as red.
Felix sighed, realizing his ti for window shopping was running out, but he continued the conversation. "Are you and Xin Ci direct descendants of Diana?"
The pink-haired girl nodded. "Yes, we were both candidates to succeed her as queen. But as you can see, I'm disqualified."
"Yeah, I can tell. One last question: If I buy you, will you and your friend promise to serve ?"
The guards grinned as soon as Felix ntioned "buy." Their icons on the system map turned yellow.
The pink-haired Lamia lowered her head. "We, the defeated, will gladly serve an alpha. You will be our king from now on."
"Thanks," Felix said, turning to the rchant. "How much are they again?"
The rchant rubbed his hands in glee. "As promised, I'll sell both of them at half price. How about 2,000 third-rate mana stones?"
"Will these do?" Felix asked, producing a sack of 2,000 spirit stones he had created. They had a similar hue to the local mana stones but with a hidden effect only Felix knew.
The rchant inspected one of the stones and frowned. "This isn't a mana stone. What is this, sir?"
Felix paused to think, but then, Jessica advised him,
Felix coughed and followed Jessica's advice. "They're from the Highland Province, fresh from the mines. Do you know how hard it is to smuggle raw mana stones from that place?"
The guards and the rchant widened their eyes in surprise. The rchant laughed. "Indeed, such precious minerals are hard to co by. But, sir, so of these can be refined into first-rate mana stones. Are you sure you want to pay with these?"
Realizing Jessica's plan, Felix replied, "I don't have the ans to refine them. How about a win-win trade? You take these off my hands, and I'll take the two unsellable slaves from you."
The rchant laughed heartily. "Young sir, you're a natural in this business! We have a deal!"
Felix grinned and secretly opened a system screen.
[Please enter a password.]
Felix left the prompt open and slipped a certain ball into the sack of spirit stones before handing it over to the rchant.
Without counting the stones, the rchant tried to lift the sack but found it too heavy. Three guards rushed over to help, struggling to carry the half-ton bag to the back room.
The rchant then brought out a dozen wooden boxes filled with modern vials of pink and white liquid. "The pink ones are for that," he explained. "The white ones are the antidotes. You know what to do."
Felix accepted the boxes, and the slave traders switched the chains for the two Lamias, dragging them over. The rchant handed the chains to Felix, transferring ownership without any fancy slave brands or contracts. Just like that, the Lamias were his.
The blind lamia and the limbless lamia followed Felix without struggling. As for the naughty one that was purchased earlier, she followed the staff mbers to the back.
Felix silently exited the tent. Then, he input the password in order.
UP
RIGHT
DOWN
DOWN
DOWN
*BEEP*
Inside the sack, a beacon was mixed within. It lighted up, shooting a red beam to the sky.
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