Chapter 8: Scan to Pay

Evil gods.

The words appeared more often than almost any others in Skyvault Academy’s textbooks, and inspired the most fear.

Thousands of years ago, when the first evil gods descended upon the world, humanity had neither the sophisticated city barriers of today nor the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, much less what were now called Sequence pathways.

A mere glance from those incomprehensible beings could turn vast stretches of land into forbidden zones. A single thought could turn rivers to flesh and blood or make living people grow organs that didn’t belong to them. They didn’t even need to act personally: the whispers and corruption they spread could drive everyone in a city mad in an instant.

That period was still known as the Dark Age.

Human civilization, once prosperous, was almost uprooted entirely. Survivors hid underground, inside mountains, and deep in ruins, struggling on with walls made of corpses and their own kind for food.

Humanity escaped extinction not because its resistance had triumphed, but because the evil gods fought among themselves too.

The Sovereigns were hostile to one another, their authorities in conflict, and their followers and dependents slaughtered one another across the land.

Humanity survived disaster after disaster only by squeezing into the gaps left by those struggles.

Later, a tiny number of survivors discovered that special abilities had awakened within them.

Some could make their fingertips glow, some could pass through walls for a short time, and others could heal wounds faster.

Those abilities were what people now called supernatural powers.

At first they were almost laughably weak. Forget fighting evil gods; even killing a somewhat stronger corrupted creature was difficult.

Through countless years of research and sacrifice, people gradually discovered that powers weren’t fixed. With particular materials, potions, and rituals, they could be strengthened in stages.

Even ordinary people without abilities could obtain powers in the same way.

Each stage in that process of strengthening a power was called a pathway.

The methods of crossing each threshold of power were known as advancement rituals and advancement potions.

Nearly every academy course on Sequences, corruption, and advancement traced its foundations back to that blood-soaked history.

And at the beginning of every textbook, the most conspicuous print warned students:

Do not look directly at a Sovereign. Do not listen to an exalted name. Do not answer the whispers. Do not presume to fathom a god’s will.

Shen Qingyue had memorized those words as a child.

She’d once thought evil gods were impossibly far removed from her.

They were disasters in textbooks, horrors deep within forbidden zones, beings only the highest ranks of the Bureau needed to consider.

The strongest person she’d ever seen was a Sequence 7 supernatural.

That had been at a public demonstration held by the academy, and she’d caught only a distant glimpse from the back of the crowd, hundreds of meters away. Even so, the pressure that person gave off unintentionally had silenced every student present.

But now she was sitting before a Sequence 0 Sovereign.

Or, more precisely, she couldn’t even bring herself to sit.

The laughter and weeping constantly emerging from the darkness pierced her ears. The overlapping voices were like countless fine needles slowly piercing her consciousness. She didn’t dare lift her head, much less take another look at the enormous, writhing shapes around her.

She could feel something watching her from the dark.

Those gazes weren’t malicious.

Perhaps, to those beings, she wasn’t even worth feeling malice toward.

Yet that alone was enough to frighten her until her thoughts nearly froze.

As she stood rigid, afraid even to breathe too loudly, a hand suddenly took her wrist.

Without warning, Lin Ye pulled her over.

She stumbled, and before she could cry out he had brought her to the long table.

He settled comfortably into a chair opposite the Mysterious Merchant, pulled out the seat beside him, and pressed her into it.

“Why stand? Aren’t you tired?” Apparently oblivious to everything strange around them, he even adjusted the back of his chair to make himself more comfortable. “We’re here anyway. Sit down and let’s talk.”

Once seated, Shen Qingyue became even more rigid.

She practically hid against Lin Ye’s side, head lowered, afraid to look at the robed figure across the table.

Both hands clutched his arm as though the darkness would swallow her whole if she loosened her grip even a little.

Lin Ye looked down at the girl almost hanging from his arm, his voice far too relaxed for someone facing an evil god. “Don’t worry. Of all the Sovereigns I know, Old Wang is the friendliest to humans, without question.”

She couldn’t understand how he could describe an evil god as “friendly.”

“The textbooks also say you shouldn’t speak, look, or listen when you face a Sovereign.”

Lin Ye pointed at the Mysterious Merchant, unconcerned whether the gesture was offensive. “You just heard his exalted name and even spoke to him. Aren’t you fine? You haven’t grown any strange organs or suddenly gone mad.”

That didn’t relax her in the slightest.

She thought the reason she hadn’t gone mad might not be the merchant’s friendliness. It was more likely because Lin Ye was beside her.

As for how Lin Ye could be so casual in front of an evil god, she no longer dared think too deeply about it.

Seeing how frightened she remained, he didn’t bother explaining further. He shook his head gently, then smiled across the table at the robed figure.

“Old Wang, that’s not very fair.” Lin Ye propped his elbows on the table and leaned forward, a familiar slyness in his smile. “And you call yourself a merchant. How can a merchant just ask for what he wants? Who goes fishing for other people’s secrets for free?”

The Mysterious Merchant didn’t respond, merely watched him in silence.

Lin Ye was clearly used to that reaction.

He raised a hand and beckoned. “How about this? If you want to know who I am, fine. I believe in fair trade, and I won’t ask much. Just give me a few S-rank contained artifacts, and I’ll tell you.”

Shen Qingyue was so stunned she forgot to tremble.

She couldn’t believe Lin Ye was bargaining with a Sequence 0 Sovereign.

And opening with a request for several S-rank contained artifacts.

The robed figure was silent for a long time.

Then a faint laugh came from beneath the hood.

“True.”

The Mysterious Merchant didn’t grow angry at the offense. His folded hands slowly separated on the table. “Those who come here are guests, and this is a place of business. A guest’s identity does not affect a transaction.”

With that, he tapped the tabletop lightly.

As the crisp sound rang out, all the surrounding darkness swiftly receded like a tide.

The laughter vanished, the weeping vanished, and the giant eyes and deformed shapes hidden in the abyss disappeared at the same time.

Walls, stone pillars, wooden cabinets, and dim candleholders returned to view, as though everything that had happened had been a brief illusion.

Shen Qingyue didn’t believe it had been an illusion.

Her fingers were still locked around Lin Ye’s arm, and her back was soaked with cold sweat. Only when she was sure their surroundings had returned to normal did she dare lift her head slightly and breathe more easily.

Lin Ye looked at the empty tabletop, his anticipation quickly turning to disappointment.

“Same as always.” He leaned back, muttering under his breath. “All these years and you’re still a complete cheapskate. A few S-rank contained artifacts—it’s not like I asked for your life.”

Shen Qingyue nearly stopped breathing again.

A few S-rank contained artifacts might not cost an evil god his life.

But they could very well cost the entire city of Skyvault its life.

The Mysterious Merchant didn’t seem to mind the complaint.

He returned his hands to the tabletop, his voice as flat as before. “Since you know of this place, I assume you have business in mind. We can discuss it, provided you can pay the corresponding price.”

Those were the words Lin Ye had been waiting for.

He immediately straightened in his chair, excitement lighting his eyes again. “Yes, of course! There are so many things I need right now. Contained artifacts, skills, powers, materials—I’m short of everything.”

Counting on his fingers, he began seriously considering his most urgent needs. “First, a batch of contained artifacts. I need offensive ones: a few each for close combat, range, mind, soul, and causality would be ideal.”

“The defenses need to cover everything too—physical attacks, corruption, curses. And prepare a couple that can die in my place. As far as I know, some of those bastards are incredibly sneaky.”

Finding one hand no longer enough, he raised the other. “At least five for movement: short-range blinking, long-range teleportation, and travel across space.”

“Don’t skimp on detection either. Finding people and objects, seeing through disguises, tracking an evil god’s aura, preferably identifying items while they’re at it. Oh, and get me some for sealing, control, and recovery. Healing the body isn’t enough; they need to repair soul and mind too.”

Shen Qingyue had listened carefully at first, but her confusion gradually turned to blank disbelief.

She quietly counted the categories he’d named several times and found she could barely remember the number. Stiffly, she turned to the Mysterious Merchant, wondering if this evil-god Sovereign would think Lin Ye was deliberately provoking him.

But Lin Ye clearly wasn’t finished.

He frowned in thought, then added, “Some support items too: invisibility, speed, changing luck, sensing danger, blocking divination. Prepare a couple that can change appearance and identity as well.”

“And storage. It needs lots of space, preferably able to hold living things, with adjustable time flow, automatic sorting, and preservation. If you have one that picks up loot, processes corpses, and appraises them by itself, put it aside for me separately.”

This time even the Mysterious Merchant fell silent.

The darkness beneath his hood faced Lin Ye, as though reconsidering whether the person before him was a customer or a fellow merchant shopping for stock.

The more Lin Ye talked, the more reasonable it all seemed. Tapping the table lightly, he continued, “That’s enough for now. I don’t need too many—three to five of each to start.”

“They don’t all have to be S-rank. I’m not that picky; A-rank will do to make up the numbers. If necessary, a few dozen contained artifacts can tide me over, and I’ll come back for whatever else I need later.”

The hall fell quiet again, but Lin Ye, still not quite satisfied, added, “That should about do it. Oh, throw in whatever freebies you think are suitable. I’m not picky.”

Shen Qingyue stared at him blankly.

For a moment, it felt as though Lin Ye wasn’t negotiating with a Sequence 0 evil god, but had walked into a familiar shop intending to clear its shelves in one go.

The Mysterious Merchant was silent for a moment too.

“That can be done.” His tone didn’t change as he raised the essential question. “What are you prepared to offer in exchange?”

The excitement froze on Lin Ye’s face.

In all his enthusiasm, he’d forgotten the most important thing.

The Mysterious Shop traded only for equivalent value.

When he’d played the game, his inventory had always been stuffed with monster corpses, soul crystals, corrupted materials, and unwanted equipment. A portion of those would have bought him plenty.

But he’d only arrived in this world a few days ago.

He hadn’t brought any of the things he’d accumulated. Apart from his maxed-out stats, he had almost nothing of value to trade.

He was so poor that all he had left was money.

He fell silent for a while, his earlier confidence gradually fading.

He glanced down at his phone, then across the table at the Mysterious Merchant waiting quietly. A rare hint of awkwardness crossed his face.

“Um, Old Wang.”

He slowly set his phone on the table and turned the screen toward the merchant with a fingertip. “Could I scan a QR code to pay?” he asked tentatively.