Sequence adventurers roaming between two worlds

Chapter 74 Leona? Old and new grudges, settled today! (4k words)

At noon, Falling Star Harbor was incredibly hot; even the stone pavement was steaming.

Leo wore a top hat in an attempt to shield himself from the sun, but it had little effect; sweat poured down his face uncontrollably.

"Strange, according to the original owner's memories, summers used to be hot, but never this hot."

"Could it be that this year is special?"

"Could it be related to the stargate that Scott mentioned in his notes, which is about to open?"

What to do? What to do! The Star Gate will open in three months. If we can't find the main ingredient for the stolen potion before then, it will be too late!

This is a direct quote from Scott's notes.

Even now, Leo still cannot understand its specific meaning.

But he had a premonition that the matter of the "Star Gate" might be extremely important.

I have to figure it out myself.

While he was thinking, he arrived at the port area where the black market was located.

He put on a mask.

This time, he didn't come with his cheap brother, but chose to come alone.

On the one hand, the cheap guy's whereabouts are unpredictable, and it is very difficult to find him unless you make an appointment in advance.

Leo was pressed for time and could not afford to delay any longer.

On the other hand, now that he has become a true professional, he believes he has some ability to protect himself.

Even if they can't win, they still have the ability to delay the use of the Primordial Mirror's time.

The port area was deserted.

At this time of day, at this temperature, no one would come here looking uncomfortable.

Unless a large ship happens to be entering the port to unload cargo.

But clearly, it's not available today.

Leo arrived at the door of a stone house with its gate open and curtains drawn, and went inside.

Seagull Tavern

It is the hallmark of the port area.

The laborers who work here, the sailors who have just finished their voyages, and even the travelers and merchants from foreign lands all come here to relax and enjoy a nice glass of light beer.

Those with more money might order a more expensive mead.

It would be even better if served with a large honey-roasted steak.

At midday, the tavern was extremely deserted, except for a few drunkards who were muttering incoherently.

At the counter, a well-dressed waiter was wiping the surface. Seeing Leo enter, he gave a professional smile: "Sir, what would you like?"

"Our mead is famous far and wide."

Leo smiled and said, "Three cups of mead and five pieces of our secret-recipe roasted meat."

"By the way, a friend of mine booked a private room in advance."

As he spoke, he walked to the counter and traced a spiral circle on it with his finger.

The waiter's eyes narrowed, but his expression remained unchanged: "Okay, please follow me."

Led by the waiter, Leo arrived at a private room inside the tavern.

That wasn't all. There was another waiter inside who smiled and led him into a basement. After winding through several twists and turns, they stopped at the door of a basement room and gestured for him to enter.

"Squeak!"

The metal door slowly opened.

In the dimly lit room, there was a long, dark brown solid wood table. Behind the table, the man in the bird-beak mask, the head of the black market exchange who had met Leo twice before, was waiting leisurely, looking at him with a smile.

"Isn't this my esteemed partner?"

"It's only been two days since the last transaction. Your sudden visit suggests we may be looking to proceed with another deal?"

He rubbed his hands together, looking very expectant.

"It's quite a coincidence that a distinguished customer who buys extraordinary materials with the Shadow attribute also made an appointment to come at this time."

""

"I had to postpone her appointment so I could see you."

As he spoke, his gaze swept over Leo's back.

Although the man in the bird-beak mask already knew through the waiter's message that his partner had come alone, he was still surprised to see him in person.

This guy is really bold!

An ordinary person who hasn't even reached the level of the extraordinary dared to come looking for me all by himself, without even bringing the Joker along.

Is it because they have something else to rely on? Or is it because they have extraordinary courage?

The man with the bird-beak mask pondered deeply.

Leo sat down across the long table, took out a small cloth bag, and untied it.

Suddenly, what was inside was revealed.

One standard unit of Dark Shard, and 11 half-standard units of Lesser Dark Shard.

"This is a new batch of Dark Fragments, some good and some bad. Give me an estimate."

Leo spoke calmly.

The man in the bird-beak mask didn't stand on ceremony; he took the items and carefully examined each one.

He quickly raised his head again, smiling, and said, "One standard unit of Dark Shard, as agreed beforehand, 100..."

"As for the other 11 and a half standard units of Dark Shards, we'll buy them at 50 gold each. What do you think?"

Leo nodded: "A very fair price."

"However, this time I don't want all of Kim Wei-lin."

He took out a list: "The medicinal herbs listed here are not rare. I believe your black market exchange should have them in stock."

"I need at least 10 servings."

"After deducting the cost of the medicinal herbs, settle the rest with me."

The man in the bird-beak mask took the list, glanced at it, his brows furrowing slightly beneath the mask before relaxing: "Indeed, none of them are anything rare."

"It seems to be an ingredient in some kind of potion?"

Leo's tone was indifferent: "What, does your black market even care what customers are buying things for?"

The list he gave me contained various ingredients for the stolen potion, but it also included many other things.

"Of course not." The man in the bird-beak mask smiled. "I'll have someone prepare it for you right away."

Recalling his previous "investment" in "Potion Making," he guessed that his "partner" wanted to try making potions himself.

He shook his head inwardly at this.

The preparation of potions is not as simple as it seems.

But this kind of thing has nothing to do with him.

A short while later, a waiter came in carrying a wooden box.

"There are ten portions in total, each worth 5 gold. You are a valued partner of our black market, so this is already at cost price. Other customers would have to pay at least 10 gold per portion."

The man with the bird-beak mask said so.

Leo scoffed at this.

We're already being lenient by not raising the price, let alone charging him the cost price?

He doesn't believe in a single punctuation mark.

But Leo didn't say anything. Even if one serving costs 5 gold, ten servings would only cost 50 gold, which isn't expensive.

"This is the 600 gold coins left after deducting the cost of materials. Please keep it."

Leo packed up his belongings and money, said nothing more, and got up to leave.

"Honorable guest."

Just then, the voice of the man in the bird-beak mask came from behind: "The upcoming buyer has requested a meeting with you. What do you say?"

Leo paused, "What, aren't you black market operators afraid I'll let you off the hook and trade directly with that person?"

"Or are you saying that your black market is planning to help that person double-cross them?"

Upon hearing this, the man in the bird-beak mask quickly shook his head: "You jest, sir."

"Our black market has been able to exist to this day because of neutrality and credibility."

"We are merely relaying a request; whether you wish it or not, we will not intervene."

"As for what you said about sparing us—" he laughed, "The black market, as an intermediary, naturally has its reasons for existing."

"If you are able to make deals with other customers, like those small stalls on the outskirts of the black market, we will never interfere."

His simple words revealed a strong sense of confidence, showing no concern whatsoever that Leo would bypass the black market.

Leo waved his hand, said "See you later," and walked towards the door.

Watching his figure disappear around the corner, the man in the bird-beak mask suddenly chuckled, "What an interesting person."

"Sir, shall we investigate his background?"

The messenger beside him whispered.

The man in the bird-beak mask glanced at him, and the latter turned pale with fright, quickly lowering his head and daring not to say another word.

"unnecessary."

"Whoever he is doesn't matter."

That's what they say, but in reality, the person wearing the bird-beak mask had a different thought in mind.

For some reason, he sensed a faint sense of threat from this business partner.

How could an ordinary person make him feel threatened?

Simply incredible.

Whatever the reason, it's best not to make enemies of such people unless absolutely necessary.

The man with the bird-beak mask had no intention of investigating.

On the mystical side, sometimes knowing too much isn't necessarily a good thing.

"As long as there's money to be made, there's no need to create unnecessary trouble."

He leaned back in his chair and let out a long, leisurely sigh.

Guided by the waiter, Leo left the Seagull Tavern through another entrance.

It must be said that the black market does an excellent job of keeping things secret.

The different locations of the entrances and exits make it extremely difficult for others to intercept and kill the target, even if they are envious.

"The underground of the port area has been transformed into a vast network of interconnected dens by the black market," meaning that even if the authorities were to intervene, they would likely have already moved on by the time they arrived.

Leo shook his head.

He didn't believe that the port area could be transformed like this without the backing of high-ranking officials.

He doesn't care about the power struggles involved; for him, the black market is enough as a channel for monetization and transactions.

"Didn't they send anyone to follow them?"

After walking for a while, Leo's eyes showed surprise.

To ensure he wasn't being too observant, he deliberately hid at a corner, using the Primordial Realm to travel between the two realms, and then abruptly returned to confirm that no one was following him.

"I didn't expect the black market to be so trustworthy."

Leo touched his chin.

"Since you won't follow me, then I will—"

After a while.

In a secluded alley near the Seagull Tavern in the port area.

Leo stood in the shadows, gazing through the alleyway at the Seagull Tavern in the distance.

The buyer of the Shadow-attribute extraordinary material actually wants to meet him?

Looking at them, they all seem to have ill intentions.

He wanted to see just how cunning this guy really was.

The Seagull Tavern is the main, overt entrance to the Black Market when it is not open.

If the other party wants to trade on the black market, they must come here.

Knowing that the person would arrive soon, Leo decided to wait near the Seagull Tavern.

If you get it, you'll profit; if you don't, you won't lose anything.

Time passed by, second by second.

As a dusky yellow hue appeared where the sea and sky met, figures began to appear, heading towards the Seagull Tavern.

They came from various backgrounds, mostly local sailors and coolies.

Soon, Leo, who was observing, narrowed his eyes.

His gaze fell on a figure wearing a black hooded robe.

"This feeling is so familiar—"

Although the distance was short, it was impossible to see the other person's face clearly, or even recognize their figure.

But that intense sense of familiarity made Leo instantly realize:

This person might be the one who wants to meet me.

At the same time, this person must also be someone that the original owner of the body was very familiar with.

Leo squinted.

Very few people in the far west could give him this impression.

The fact that it was related to the mystical side, and that there was a request for extraordinary materials with the attribute of shadow, left a deep impression on him.

Based on these conditions, this person's identity is already quite obvious!

"Leona————"

Leo muttered to himself, his eyes icy cold.

He never forgot the culprit who had repeatedly put him in life-or-death situations.

"I didn't go looking for you, but you came to me on your own."

"It's time to settle old scores and new grudges."

"Almost there, almost there—"

Leo watched as Leona, draped in a black robe, entered the Seagull Tavern. After pausing for a moment, he turned and left.

"The ingredients for the thief's potion have been gathered."

"If I summon Qian Yao and he takes it out, with my current five-dimensional attributes, the probability of him leveling up after consuming it is over 70%."

According to the real recipe given by the cheap guy, even with the best physical and mental strength, an ordinary person would only have a 70% success rate when taking the Thief's Potion.

But Leo's physical and mental abilities, as well as his other attributes, have reached the level of ordinary people. In fact, his Qu Yi attribute even surpasses that of ordinary people.

This is still the norm.

If he uses the Wolf Hunting Breathing Technique, his five-dimensional attributes will increase dramatically in a short period of time.

If this is still not enough to pass the thief's potion test, then probably no one in this world could ever succeed in ascending.

"Everything is ready. Now, the only thing missing is to get the thief's potion out of the way."

Some time later, in a hotel room called "Golden Jasmine".

Leo stood in front of the wooden table and arranged the tools and materials for the potion-making process one by one.

He did not return to Baihe Town.

The potion sequence system is from the Western Regions, and he was worried that if he were to transfer it to another world, unknown changes might occur.

He did not return to the old house.

That place has already been targeted by others and is easily disturbed, so it's better to just find a hotel.

In front of the wooden table.

Leo took a deep breath and glanced at the panel.

[Elementary Alchemy Iv.7]: Elementary alchemy techniques with an extremely high success rate when preparing alchemy potions of Tier 1 and below. You have become a master in this skill, capable of turning the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Skill effect: For alchemy potions of tier 1 and below, the success rate of the adjustment is increased by 70%.

Mastery effect: Increases the chance of achieving excellent quality by 10% and the chance of achieving perfect quality by 0.1%.

Expert effect: Perfect probability +0.9%

Master Effect: Increases the probability of obtaining a superior item by 40% and the probability of obtaining a perfect item by 9%.

Current experience: 0/0 (This life skill has reached its skill level limit and cannot be improved further. After learning the higher-level skill - Intermediate Alchemy, you can try to improve it again.)

"Unfortunately, the Master level (Iv.7) is the upper limit for this skill."

Through the transformation and cleansing of his blindness in the Primordial Realm, Leo pushed this skill to its limit.

"It depends. Basic life skills have less potential than ordinary professional skills."

"Public permission, is it related to its primary prefix? What I received is merely a tiny fraction of true alchemy?"

"Fortunately, master level is enough."

Leo composed himself and began experimenting with the potion-making process.

He provided a supplementary material, as well as 5 secondary Dark Shards.

The initial mediation began.

The result, naturally, was failure.

The substandard materials of the Lesser Dark Fragment had already sealed its fate.

But Leo didn't care.

Because, from the very beginning, his goal was not to successfully mediate the matter, but rather—

A smile appeared on Leo's face as he watched the new skill appear on the panel.

—【Beginner Potion Master Iv.0】

With a master-level foundation in [Basic Alchemy and Potionology], he easily achieved entry-level proficiency in basic potion making.

"Transform!"

Without hesitation, Leo immediately transformed [Elementary Alchemy and Potion Mastery] into primal power and channeled it into [Elementary Magic Potion Mastery].

in.

In the blink of an eye.

Leo now possesses the master-level skill of [Basic Potion Soothing]!

"It's time to start the real potion-stealing spree."

Leo retrieved five standard units of Dark Shards, his eyes burning with fervor.

He had been waiting for this day for a long time!