Kill one monster, stack one poison, and I alone will poison my way across the world!

Half an hour later, in the center of Tianhe City.

The headquarters of the Tianhe City Professionals Chamber of Commerce is an extremely imposing building. It is a huge fortress built of dark, unknown minerals, with two rows of fully armed guards standing at the entrance, all of whom are level 40 or above.

Led by a female guide in a business suit, Su Chen passed through the magnificent hall and went directly to the top floor.

"Mr. Su, the president is waiting for you inside." The female guide stopped in front of a heavy mahogany door and bowed respectfully.

Su Chen pushed open the door and entered.

The office was enormous, covered with a soft monster-skin carpet, and decorated with several pieces of equipment that emitted a faint glow on the walls.

Behind the large desk sat a slightly overweight middle-aged man.

The man was dressed in an elegant silk robe, with a warm smile on his face, looking like a friendly neighbor.

As soon as Su Chen entered, he habitually glanced around.

Name: Zhang Ze

[Level: 45]

[Class: Mage (Second Job Advancement)]

……

A level 45 player who has completed the second job advancement is considered quite powerful, even by the standards of the entire Tianhe City.

"Young Master Su Chen, I've heard so much about you." Zhang Ze stood up, smiled, and pointed to the leather sofa opposite him. "Sit down, don't be shy. I'm Zhang Ze, the branch president of the Tianhe City Professionals Chamber of Commerce."

Su Chen wasn't intimidated at all. He sat down on the sofa casually and picked up the teacup on the table to take a sip.

"President Zhang, you're too kind. Just tell me what you need. I'm not one to beat around the bush."

Zhang Ze's smile widened. He took out a black card with gold trim from the drawer and pushed it in front of Su Chen.

"Young man, you're quick to speak your mind. Here's the thing: the items you consigned to our shop this morning, with a total value exceeding 500,000 gold coins, have all been transferred to this card."

"Five hundred thousand?"

"The silver-grade equipment you consigned will be auctioned off soon, with an estimated price of over 30. As for your rare materials..."

"What, is the price too high?"

Su Chen blinked innocently: "I think the price I set was quite reasonable."

"..."

Zhang Ze's lips twitched slightly: "Based on past prices, your materials cost around 500 each. If you set the price at one million each, no one will buy them."

"oh."

Zhang Ze: "..."

Zhang Ze was speechless.

He took a sip of tea and said, "Furthermore, according to our chamber of commerce's regulations, this transaction amount is sufficient to make you a VIP1 level customer of our chamber of commerce."

"VIP1?" Su Chen raised an eyebrow, picked up the black card, and looked at it. "What's it for?"

Zhang Ze smiled, a hint of pride finally creeping into his voice: "This isn't just any ordinary membership card. With it, you'll get a 20% discount on all your purchases at shops under the Chamber of Commerce, including auction fees."

"More importantly, you can prioritize purchasing rare materials and items that are not available on the market. In some cases, the guild can even provide you with intelligence support and a certain degree of protection."

This access is indeed tempting.

For someone who needs to accumulate massive amounts of resources, the 20% discount and internal purchasing channels can save a lot of trouble.

But Su Chen played with the card without accepting it directly.

He raised his eyelids and looked at Zhang Ze.

"President Zhang, it's just a VIP1 service; any lobby manager could handle it. Why would a level 45 branch president like you need to come personally?"

Zhang Ze's smile froze for a moment.

He hadn't expected this young man, who looked only eighteen, to have such keen intuition.

Moreover, when facing a level 45 high-level professional like himself, he showed not the slightest bit of awe or restraint.

This kid's eyes don't look like those of a newly awakened high school student at all; they look more like those of a seasoned veteran who's been through the wringer for over a decade.

Zhang Ze abandoned his casual attitude, leaned forward slightly, and placed his hands crossed on the table.

"Since you're so straightforward, young man, I won't beat around the bush." ​​Zhang Ze's eyes narrowed. "Yesterday evening, you were the one who opened up the hidden [Sea of ​​Annihilation Stones] secret realm deep within Broken Wind Valley, weren't you?"

Su Chen's heart skipped a beat.

Here it comes, time to check the water meter.

This professional merchant guild is really something; they were able to monitor even a low-level dungeon raid.

Although he was internally ranting and raving, Su Chen kept a straight face, even showing a perfectly appropriate look of bewilderment.

"What [Sea of ​​Annihilation Stones]? I don't know what you're talking about. Yesterday I just went to the outskirts of Broken Wind Valley and killed a few Windblade Wolves, then found a tree hole to sleep in and only came back this morning."

"Oh?"

Zhang Ze's smile became playful. "But those [Annihilation Stone Crystals] and that [Annihilation Dark Feather Armor] you consigned for sale today are genuine drops from a secret realm. As far as I know, materials and equipment with the 'Annihilation' prefix only drop from Stone Golem monsters. And there are no dungeons around Tianhe City that drop them; only the [Annihilation Stone Sea] secret realm has Stone Golems."

"Bought."

Su Chen retaliated without hesitation.

"Bought?"

Zhang Ze was taken aback.

"Yeah, when I was sleeping in the tree hollow, I met a seriously injured assassin uncle. He was dying, so he sold me these things cheaply. I thought the stats were good, so I bought them. What, does the merchant guild check your background before buying anything?"

Su Chen lied without batting an eye, his main point being that he could make things up on the spot without even writing a draft.

Zhang Ze was speechless.

He stared intently into Su Chen's eyes, trying to find a trace of panic or guilt within them.

But no, there was nothing.

The kid's eyes were as calm as a stagnant pool, even carrying a hint of impatience, as if to say, "Why are you being so nosy, you weird old man?"

The two stared at each other across the desk for a full half minute.

In the end, Zhang Ze gave up and rubbed his temples in frustration.

"Alright, alright, little brother, I give up."

Zhang Ze sighed and said with a wry smile, "Your slippery nature makes you even harder to deal with than those old-timers in our guild. Regardless of whether you conquered that secret realm or not, your ability to level up from level 6 to level 13 overnight is undeniable."

Zhang Ze stood up, walked to the French windows, looked at the gradually darkening sky outside, and his tone became serious.

"The reason I'm looking for you is because something big has happened in Tianhe City."

"Abyss Dungeon?"

Su Chen casually replied.

Zhang Ze turned his head abruptly, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes: "You knew?"

"I just heard it from someone." Su Chen shrugged.

Zhang Ze took a deep breath, his expression solemn.

"Since you've heard about it, I'll be frank. The city defense forces have discovered a developing abyss instance in the abandoned mining area east of Broken Wind Valley. It has an extremely high system rating and is far more dangerous than ordinary instances."

Zhang Ze walked back to the table and pressed a button.

A virtual light screen was projected onto the desktop, displaying a huge black vortex surrounded by a nauseating dark red mist.

"Abyss dungeons are different from normal dungeons. In a normal dungeon, if you can't beat it, you can quit, and the monsters won't spawn. But in abyss dungeons..."

Zhang Ze's face was so dark it was almost dripping with water. "It's a passage connecting to the Abyss Plane. If we can't pass through it and destroy its core before it's fully formed and the passage is stable, the Abyss monsters inside will keep pouring out, eventually leading to a monster siege!"

"If a small city like Tianhe City were to be attacked by abyssal monsters, the consequences would be unimaginable. Of the millions of civilians, it's uncertain what percentage would survive."

Zhang Ze stared intently at Su Chen and revealed his ultimate goal.

"The military has begun organizing high-level squads to seal off the area, but the Abyss dungeon has level restrictions. The dungeon we have currently explored has a level restriction of 20 or below. Our guild is prepared to fully cooperate with the military to conquer the dungeon and destroy its core."

"Su Chen, on behalf of the Tianhe City Professionals Chamber of Commerce, I formally invite you to join our dungeon strategy team."

"Officially launching the challenge of this abyss dungeon to save millions of people in Tianhe City!"