As an NPC, having a lot of skills is quite reasonable, right?

There is no sunlight in the lower city area in the early morning.

Moen woke up on the hard bed and the first thing he did was to check on Arya in the next room.

The girl lay quietly on the bed, breathing steadily. Apart from her still pale face, she looked as if she hadn't woken up yet.

"Thankfully, he's in stable condition." Moen checked the warning runes at the door and, seeing that they were intact, packed his things and prepared to leave.

His plan for today was clear: first, he would go find that kid named Kate, ask about the progress of the herb collection, and casually inquire about his family situation.

Now that we know Kate has the Pale Life Stone quest, we need to raise her favorability so that it won't seem too abrupt when we give her medicine or offer help later.

When Moen went downstairs, he saw that the shop's roller shutter door was already open, and Jack was wearing that complicated mechanical monocle, fiddling with a gauntlet on the worktable.

It was an extremely sophisticated gauntlet, a high-level device that could assist in performing delicate operations.

However, it doesn't seem to be in good condition right now, making a clicking and straining sound when it's running.

"Damn it, it's clogged with impurities again." Jack cursed as he picked up his tools and examined his gauntlet.

"Good morning, Uncle Jack." Moen straightened his clothes and walked over naturally.

"I'm going out for a walk. Oh, by the way, I forgot to give you the room fee and deposit for the next few days because I was in such a rush yesterday."

As he spoke, he took out a gleaming gold coin from his pocket and gently placed it on the greasy workbench.

In the lower city, the circulating currency is usually credits issued by the city lord. Credits are stored on brass cards that can be purchased from the official website. One credit is equivalent to one hour of house heating or one piece of gray bread.

Of course, gold, silver and copper coins, which are used throughout the continent, can also be used here. However, on the official site, one gold coin can only be exchanged for 100 credits, while on the black market, the exchange rate has skyrocketed sixfold, allowing you to exchange it for a full 600 credits!

This single gold coin is enough to cover three months' worth of revenue for Jack's Repair Shop.

Jack paused for a moment, glancing sideways at Moen through his monocle with his left eye.

He didn't show any greed. Instead, he used the mechanical arm to pick up the gold coin with remarkable dexterity, twirled it between his fingers, listened to the sound, and then silently put it into his pocket.

"Refund if overpayment, additional payment if underpayment."

The old man's voice remained firm: "This place is different from outside. We don't flaunt our wealth here. It's only here that you'd lose this hand. In another place, you might already be gone."

"In the downtown area, vision is more important than fists, isn't it?" Moen smiled, his words carrying a hidden meaning.

"By the way, could you please keep an eye on my friend upstairs and make sure no one disturbs her?"

Jack nodded silently, watching Moen leave.

Only after Moen's figure disappeared into the steamy mist did the old man turn his gaze away, take out the gold coin from his pocket, which was the standard gold coin of the Aureliano Empire.

"He's definitely not an ordinary person." He couldn't tell the strength of the old man carrying the heavy sword, but he felt that he was very dangerous.

This young man was generous and his words were always tactful.

"I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse."

He lowered his head again, looking at the noisy gauntlet in front of him, his eyes filled with helplessness.

This was a graduation gift given to him by the mechanic who had shown him kindness when he was still a student.

Over the decades, he has repaired countless intricate prosthetics with this gauntlet, saving many lives.

But now, the geothermal energy in the lower city is getting dirtier and dirtier, and this machine is almost unable to hold on due to the contamination of impurities.

"Besides the wear and tear on the core rotor, the most important thing is energy purification," Jack summarized as he inspected the equipment.

"If we could make an independent energy core from a piece of Starfrost Crystal the size of a fingernail, we could completely solve the impurity problem."

However, Star Frost Crystal is too expensive; recently, its price on the market has been driven up to exorbitant levels.

Even a single Starfrost Crystal the size of a nut costs 200 gold coins, not to mention larger ones, which start at least at 500 gold coins and are often priceless.

"Sigh, let's save up some money first, then try our luck in the depths of the Ice Vein."

The old man shook his head, picked up the wrench again, and continued to struggle with the gauntlet that no one but him could fix.

Moen, following the map saved in the map function, is heading towards Kate's house.

The map was given to me by Kate yesterday; it was drawn on a yellowed piece of paper.

Although the map has some oil stains, the lines are extremely detailed, even marking which side roads have gang dogs and which sewers offer shortcuts.

In the lower right corner of the map, a line of small, crooked handwriting reads: [Illustrator: Kate].

"This kid is something else," Moen thought to himself.

Soon, Moen stopped in front of a settlement made of discarded shipping containers and sheet metal.

Before us was Kate's house, a shed cobbled together from a few pieces of rusted sheet metal and iron plates.

Moen stepped forward and gently tapped the piece of iron that looked like a door.

The crisp knocking sound wasn't very noticeable in the noisy alley, but it was clear enough for the people inside.

There was no response from inside, but Moen was currently under the passive effect of [Silent Judgment], and his hearing was incredibly sharp when he was not in combat.

Through the thin sheet of iron, he could clearly hear two breathing sounds coming from inside the room.

One was rapid and slight, like a frightened kitten; the other was intermittent, likely Kate's ailing father.

It seemed Kate wasn't home, Moen knew perfectly well.

Since the person he was looking for was no longer there, Moen couldn't stay at the door any longer, because there was a gap under the doorway that allowed him to see whether the person outside had left or not.

"Then let's go take care of some other important business first."

Moen looked at the map. Not far from here, there was a watch shop called "Gears and Hourglasses," which was a secret stronghold of the Anmi Society in the lower city.

Since Sylvie made the contact yesterday, we might run into her there.

However, Moen had only turned around and walked a short distance when he bumped into a flustered figure.

The figure ran incredibly fast, almost crashing headfirst into Moen's arms.

Moen stepped to the side and reached out to steady the other person.

"What's wrong? Is someone chasing you?"

"Huh... Young... Young Master?!" Kate looked up, panting, her face covered in soot and sweat.

"No, something terrible has happened! That old man carrying the greatsword, something's wrong with him!"

"Oh?" Moen didn't seem flustered. "Grey? What could have happened to him? Did he tear down someone's bar?"

Given Gray's combat prowess, unless those hidden big shots from the lower city personally intervene, he can basically walk sideways.

"It's not that the bar was demolished, it's that they've gone to the dueling ring!" Kate breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's the [Furnace Deathmatch Arena]! The Blacktooth Gang has him cornered there, saying it's a duel to the death!"

"A deathmatch arena?" Moen mused.

In the game, it's a PVP area in the lower city, a place where gangs resolve disputes or force unfortunate people who can't repay their high-interest loans to their deaths.

If you don't go up there, the gang will kill your whole family; if you do go up there, it's practically certain death. How could the gang let you get into trouble and still live peacefully?

"What exactly happened? Although the old man has a fiery temper, he's not the kind of person who can be easily manipulated." Moen asked slowly, gesturing for Kate to lead the way.

"I don't know everything either," Kate explained quickly as she jogged to lead the way.

"I heard from a friend who has a stall over there that last night, the old man was drinking at the Black Oil Bar. As a result, a small leader of the Black Teeth Gang got drunk and, seeing that the old man was a stranger, tried to extort some money from him for his drinks."

"The master then shoved him, and the man was unlucky; he lost his balance and hit his head on the corner of the table, breaking his face."

"And then?" Moen had a pretty good idea of ​​what would happen next.

"Then the Black Tooth Gang went wild! They said that the master was challenging their authority, and dozens of people surrounded him, demanding that he pay for the loss of a hand or win five rounds in the deathmatch before he could leave."

Kate looked uneasy: "That guy's stubborn too, he went on stage without saying a word. And he's too good! I just heard he won four matches in a row, even throwing that Copper-Skinned Tyson from the Blacktooth Gang off the stage!"

"The Black Tooth Gang has gone mad; they're saying they're going to call in their top fighters—those are ruthless killers!"

"An expert?" Moen almost burst out laughing.

Why send a so-called local expert to feed a Gray who is at least level 35 and has the [Wolf Blood Holy Baptism]?

"The old man really is... still a child at heart." Moen shook his head.

He could roughly guess Gray's thoughts. With Gray's strength, he could have easily killed all those dozens of thugs with a single sword strike, but he didn't.

Firstly, being new to the area, I didn't want to make a big fuss, even though things weren't small anymore; secondly, I guess I'd been cooped up for days, and finally a few fearless punching bags had come to my door, so I figured I could stretch my muscles and maybe even make some money gambling.

As for the Blacktooth Gang, during the public beta of the previous game, this gang was a scourge in the lower city, specifically targeting and oppressing ordinary people like Kate.

Their leader was just a low-level elite in his early 30s; Gray alone could have destroyed their headquarters.

"Let's go." Moen patted Kate on the shoulder, his steps becoming lighter. "Don't look so glum, little one."

"Let's go see some fun; this kind of scene is quite rare."