Mysteries: Arcana Wars

"What did you say!?" screamed the pointy-nosed man.

"No, this is impossible!" The round-faced masked man took out a knife and fiercely drew a hand in front of the boss, "This is definitely the real thing, a ritual vessel of the Church of Evernight! Take a closer look! You must be trying to lower the price and deliberately saying it's fake!"

"Shut up, bastard!" Pointy Nose slapped the knife away from Big Round Face, "Just behave yourself!"

Then he turned to his boss anxiously.

"So, boss, how much are these worth?"

The boss changed his expression to a stick figure with his eyes closed and thinking.

"Although the gemstones of these jewels are fake, the metal parts are indeed real sterling silver. Unfortunately, silverware doesn't have a very good price..."

"On the other hand, although these jewels are not real, they are still full of spirituality. They can be used to hold several starry masses outside the church to bring peace and comfort to people, but they are limited to peace and comfort..."

All in all, it's pretty useless.

"What spirituality? What peace?" Pointy Nose was confused. "Just tell me how much money you can give me in the end!"

"In addition to these jewels, you also have a lot of raw gemstones, obsidian, emerald, moonstone...ah, and these raw stones that have not been opened, which can be of great value. The rest of the sundries, if I may be frank, are not of much value..."

"But this..."

The boss suddenly dug out an exquisitely crafted box from the pile of junk, but found that he couldn't open it after trying.

"This box should be worth a lot of money, but it's a pity that I can't open it, so I have to give it a discount."

"I can give you this amount for everything on this table."

The boss raised four mechanical fingers.

"No, at least this number!"

The big round face stared and raised five fingers.

"This is the discounted price I'm giving you."

The boss switched back to the enthusiastic expression in the original stick figure.

"You two don't have a local accent in Backlund. You sound like you're from a nearby village. You came to Backlund in a hurry, emptied a pitiful delivery truck in a hurry, and then hurriedly tried to find a place to cash out a large sum of money, and you were unwilling to show your faces..."

"You guys got into trouble in your hometown, so you want to come to Backlund to avoid the limelight...right?"

"you……"

"Shut up!"

The man with the pointed nose immediately interrupted the man with the round face and waved his hand at the boss with gritted teeth.

"Deal! Give me the money now!"

The boss just threw up his wide black robe and wiped the table hard, and of course, all the debris on the counter disappeared.

David couldn't believe his eyes. He looked on in disbelief as the boss took out four large bundles of banknotes from his robe and pushed them to the man with the pointed nose and the big round face.

"Thank you for your patronage, gentlemen. Please take a business card before you go. You are welcome to come again next time."

Pointed Nose took the cash and the business card with a half-believing look. The name of the boss was not written on the business card, and there was only a strange blood-red badge on the back.

He looked at the weird black-robed boss, then at the burly silent man on the side, then he pulled the big round-faced man aside and started counting the money in the store.

Surprisingly cautious in a place like this...

"I'm warning you! You black rag!"

The big round-faced man suddenly turned around and threatened the boss again.

"If you dare to shortchange me, Field Moretti, you will suffer the consequences!"

"Shut up, idiot! The money's right, go!"

"Wait a mininute!"

The boss in the black robe picked up a business card, wrote the name "Field Moretti", leaned forward and put it into the hand of the big round-faced man.

"Gentlemen, I strongly suggest that you purchase two fake identities from me. This will help you survive better in Backlund. The information is very complete and the price is quite favorable. Do you want two?"

"No... no need!"

"What a shame. I look forward to seeing you next time."

The two people pulled each other and walked out of the store.

The name given by the big round-faced man was not very credible. From the police's experience, these two people probably killed someone in their hometown and could not stay there anymore, so they came to Backlund, a place where all kinds of people mixed together, to hide. Even the name "Field Moretti" just now might have been just a random thought made up this morning.

David watched the two disappear at the end of Leeds Street before walking to the counter again. After watching the farce just now, David already had an understanding of the store's operating procedures.

"I want money, lots of money. If you have anything valuable on me, take it."

"Sir... you don't look like a blank slate with no experience, do you?"

A simple expression of the boss changing his clothes and thinking.

"I mean, it's not a cost-effective solution for you to get enough money by selling something directly."

"You should have enough 'capital'... I think you seem to be good at fighting, and your behavior on the streets of Leeds also shows that you have good reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance capabilities. You can definitely do something that makes more money faster... You may have seen and understood a lot before, but when you really want to put it into practice, you will find that you lack practical experience."

David didn't want to tell his boss that he had already experienced a failed kidnapping, and the reason for the failure was a dump truck rushing out from behind the house.

Seeing David's face change slightly, the boss became more certain of his judgment.

"...Ah, it seems you have already practiced it..."

"…Has anyone ever told you that you talk a lot?"

"Chatting is a means of doing business, don't you think?"

David was a little hesitant. He couldn't see through this boss. Even though the boss kept talking at length, David found that he could not find any information about the boss himself in these words. Only his every move was constantly interpreted by the other party. Just standing there, he would inevitably expose his information to the other party.

"My suggestion is that you sell things to us, but not all of them for money. You can exchange some for intelligence and materials to support the subsequent large-scale operations. In this way, you can get a huge amount of wealth... This will be more cost-effective, right?"

"…Why are you telling me so much?"

"Sir, I can see that you will become a big customer of ours. For the sake of our future business, it is reasonable for you to send us some small gifts in advance. Business with integrity, right?"

"...Okay, name your price. What do you want from me?"

The boss's barred eyes looked David up and down for a long time, then two mechanical hands stretched out from his black robe and firmly grasped David's forearm.

"…Are you willing to sell this pair of arms?"

"What did you say!?"

David was so shocked that he grabbed his boss's robe and even lifted him up by the cloth.

“You asked me to sell my arm, how can I make money??”

"Calm down, sir, please calm down..."

The boss raised his hands innocently, but his tone remained calm.

"You can sell me your arms and then buy me a pair of robotic arms at a low price... No, this is a big order, I am willing to give you a pair of basic robotic arms directly. With the remaining money, you can exchange it for some good accessories to modify your robotic arms, and then some guns and ammunition... Believe me, your new arms will be more useful than the old ones."

"What are you shocked about, sir? Do you think prosthetics are expensive? No, no, no, sir, that was the price of goods hundreds of years ago. It doesn't cost a huge amount of money to install a set of prosthetics that can be used in daily life and are as useful as original limbs - of course, those with powerful functions are indeed very valuable. If you need this type of prosthetics, we can also provide it for you, but the remaining ammunition that can be exchanged will be a little less..."

"And, the great god of steam and machinery brought us the Dodge Rama, didn't he?"

The boss cut out another winking expression.

"Dodge Ram's technology has greatly reduced the prices of several types of daily-use prosthetics. The accessories produced by the manufacturer itself are one-quarter cheaper than similar products."

"But no matter what kind of accident caused the loss of limbs and organs, and no matter how powerful the mechanical prosthesis is, people will always miss the feeling of being connected to flesh and blood. So when prostheses gradually become 'common' among the disabled, the flesh becomes 'scarce' because it cannot be regenerated..."

"Look, a pair of healthy, powerful, explosive and beautiful arms... Sir, your arms are priceless treasures..."

The boss's words made David feel a chill rising from his heels and rushing along his back to the back of his head.

Today it may be a pair of arms, the day after tomorrow it may be a pair of eyes, and what will it be after that?

Is the technology that Dodge Rama actively developed for the sake of happiness becoming...

"But what does the misfortune of others matter to you?"

Olga's soft whispers rang in David's ears, and the gentle tide wrapped around the dark and chaotic tide, drowning David's fragile sanity.

"Who will pity your misfortune?"

How long does it take to complete the surgery? How long does it take to recover after an amputation? How long does it take to get a prosthesis after losing an arm...

All doubts about the unreasonableness were drowned in the sea of ​​​​madness, and the evil desire for money once again flourished in David's heart. He had no time to worry about anything else.

So he closed his eyes, let go of his hands, and spread his arms on the old counter.

"I want a pair of powerful prosthetics and a submachine gun."

"As you wish... sir."

As his thoughts were confused, David felt as if he was caught by the boss in black robe and brought to the back room.

Door after door, piece after piece of cloth. Then David lay on the soft operating table, and the bed sheet under him was unexpectedly clean.

The shadowless lamp was very bright and the operating room was very cold. He couldn't tell how many blurry white shadows were floating around. He could only recognize the black shadow walking around. It was the boss wrapped in a black robe.

The TV next door was still on; the soundproofing in the operating room was extremely poor.

"...Recently, a kidnapping case against the Ishdar family was solved, and the Backlund police successfully rescued the 10-year-old hostage Jarod Ishdar, the youngest son of the Ishdar family. In this regard, Massimo Ishdar, chairman of the Loen region of the Ishdar Group and the first heir of the Ishdar family, expressed his sincere gratitude to the Backlund Police Department in the Loen capital for solving the case and successfully rescuing the hostage..."

"…Thank you, Sheriff Nicolo Hawke, for all you have done to rescue my brother! If it weren't for Sheriff Hawke's bravery and wisdom, I would probably have to reunite with my brother Jarod in the Goddess's kingdom in the future. In order to solve this heinous kidnapping case, our Sheriff Hawke worked day and night…"

"...I know that the investigation of the case also required the joint efforts of all the police officers in the police station, so I decided to donate a gift to the Backlund Police Department in the Loen capital to express my gratitude to the Police Department..."

"...We will hold a donation ceremony in the lobby of the Luen James Bank Head Office, at that time..."

The sound of intense instruments rang in my ears, and screams came from behind the other wall.

"Are you ready, sir? It's time to start."

The boss in a black robe and a mask appeared at David's bedside.

"it is good……"

"May I ask why you failed the last time you tried?"

"It's Mudhead..."

Before he could finish, David lost consciousness.

When he woke up again, the cold operating room was silent, and a few pools of blood could be vaguely seen in the dim room.

"Drink this, honey."

In the hazy and swaying vision, Olga, in a red dress, stood in a dark room, holding a bottle of potion emitting an evil glow. Her smile was irresistible.

"Drink it, and you will have the power to satisfy your desire for wealth..."