Ch.39 Indeed, One Must Follow One’s Own Heart
“By the way, I forgot to ask—do you sell that black skull you just acquired?”
Just as the staff mber was feeling frustrated, unexpectedly, Luo Nan turned back and brought forth an entirely new transaction.
The receptionist was overjoyed and imdiately replied: “Of course! Are you interested in purchasing it?”
“Naturally. How much? Na your price.”
Luo Nan had already walked halfway when he suddenly rembered the black skull that the smiling dwarf had sold to the exchange during the auction—it was apparently a device only a secondary priest of the Abyssal Lord ‘Nature’ could craft.
Recalling his earlier joint operation with Anya to purge the lower-tier followers of ‘Nature’ near Apartnt 23, Luo Nan suspected there might be valuable clues hidden within it.
That was why he returned to the exchange to inquire about the price of that skull.
Luo Nan knew that Hulos Exchange had purchased it from the smiling dwarf for eighty Gold Faras; he believed he could acquire it for one hundred Faras.
Just as the staff mber was about to quote the official internal price, Auctioneer Leli hurried over, dismissed the staff mber, and respectfully addressed Luo Nan:
“Sir Crow, your generosity fills us with admiration. Hulos Exchange would be honored to count you among our friends. As such, I take the liberty of gifting you the skull outright.”
“Oh? So generous? If I recall correctly, you paid eighty Faras to the smiling dwarf for it, didn’t you?”
“You don’t have to give it to
for free—I know you need to make a profit too!”
Luo Nan actually did not wish to incur even a small debt of gratitude here, especially not to a black-market rchant.
“You speak too formally—we at Hulos Exchange have always placed custor service and fulfilling custor needs as our foremost principle. If granting you a superior shopping experience is possible, then a skull worth eighty Gold Faras is certainly worthwhile.”
These black-market rchants really knew how to do business—they understood the strategy of casting a long line to catch a big fish.
But unfortunately, this kid will only co here when there’s an urgent need—he won’t be visiting regularly afterward, so your grand plan is likely to fail.
Besides, although I’m never short on money, refusing a free gift makes one a fool—why not accept eighty Faras that’s being given away for free?
With that thought, Luo Nan responded: “Since Hulos Exchange holds
in such regard, I shall not refuse your kindness.”
“Naturally, Hulos Exchange looks forward to your next visit.”
Seeing Luo Nan accept Hulos Exchange’s gesture of goodwill, Leli once again displayed his flawless professional smile and handed Luo Nan the tal box containing the sealed black skull.
Luo Nan tucked the skull away and smiled. “Hmm, when the Whisper Market reopens, I’ll be coming often.”
…
Leaving the exchange, Luo Nan strolled through the Whisper Market, his gaze drifting toward the distant, shadowy ruins of the underground old city, beyond the reach of the market’s lights.
“The underground ruins… if I rember correctly, isn’t this one of the dungeons from ‘The Shining Myriad Trails’? What exactly is buried there?”
“That thing… no, I should keep my distance—that thing is extrely dangerous!”
Realizing this, Luo Nan halted his steps. His original intention to explore the shops near the old city ruins vanished completely.
“Let’s go, let’s go. Lucky finds belong to protagonists—it wouldn’t possibly be my turn.”
“I’ve obtained all the scales and divine materials—the mission is complete. Stop myself from tempting fate!”
“To avoid further complications, let’s get out quickly!”
Arriving at the iron-gray gate where he had entered the black market, Luo Nan did not see the guard whose attitude had flipped 180 degrees upon hearing he possessed a Black Gold credit card.
“Strange… are guards in the black market now this negligent?”
“Whatever. I’m not so pampered brat—I’ll open the door myself.”
Luo Nan placed his hand on the cold iron-gray gate, preparing to push it open—
Boom—
?
Boom, crash, boom!!!
“What was that noise? Who’s fighting inside the black market?”
Luo Nan forcibly stopped pushing the gate and turned around, staring toward the source of the thunderous sound.
“There really is soone fighting… I love watching fights—let
see who it is.”
Luo Nan activated his power and concentrated his aura into his senses, enhancing his perception.
In the dim distance, at the boundary between the market and the underground ruins, two figures were locked in combat.
No—not quite locked in combat.
Luo Nan saw that among the two combatants, the tall figure was precisely the guard he had encountered upon entering. He was currently aiming a tallic gauntlet at his opponent.
On the back of the tallic gauntlet was mounted a cylindrical barrel.
The tall guard was now pulling out a round of ammunition and inserting it into the front of the barrel.
However, his opponent, who had been cornered by him, naturally would not miss this opening.
Luo Nan saw a small silver figure instantly alter its trajectory, moving toward the guard with an almost thirty-degree sharp-angle maneuver.
“Such speed and agility—even a genius martialist must be nearing the Second Tier threshold to execute such a move!”
Internally, Luo Nan compared it with his own abilities. He realized that even with his solid foundation, his current First-Tier Early stage was nowhere near capable of performing such an action.
“Truly, there are always those greater than oneself—wait, hold on!”
Luo Nan suddenly snapped back to awareness. He had been fixated on the guard’s short-barreled cannon and had ignored the identity of his opponent.
“That person… is that Zhixia Cangya?”
Upon recognizing the small silver figure, Luo Nan felt an instant headache.
“I should’ve anticipated this. Given Zhixia Cangya’s initial personality and social skills, without guidance, she’d find it nearly impossible to leave the black market alone.”
“In the original plot, she escaped alongside Anya—but now, alone, she stands no chance.”
“At the ti, I only wanted to swiftly end that accidental karmic thread, ignoring her character design.”
“So… does this battle carry so responsibility of mine?”
Luo Nan understood clearly: if he chose not to interfere, allowing Zhixia Cangya to ultimately lose to the guard, be recaptured, and returned to ‘Snow Wolf Lily’s Cottage’, then waiting quietly in the slave trader’s shop as originally scripted to et Anya Sivans, would be the optimal choice.
“Could this be the worldline auto-correction chanism the External Power Girl ntioned?”
“A thod that forcibly corrects a deviated worldline back onto its predetermined path?”
Luo Nan hesitated briefly, carefully observing the distant battle.
Upon closer inspection, he noticed the little wolf girl’s silver wolf ears were caked with dust, and her tail—of course—was indistinguishable between silver and gray.
Moreover, her entire body was covered in wounds and blood, with fresh crimson streaming down her forehead, seeping into her ice-blue left eye, resembling lted blood-tears.
“Hey, External Power Girl—if I intervene now, disrupting this automatically correcting fate, what consequences will arise?”
[……]
“No response? Then I’ll take your earlier words literally—‘Follow your own heart’.”
Having said this, Luo Nan began walking toward the two combatants.
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