Chapter 743: The Underground Black Market and the Black Cloak

Without needing others to do it, Jier personally stepped up and simply draped the unfolded Multi-layer Protective Cloth over the wooden dummy horse.

He straightened it out a little, letting the wooden dummy horse wear its "new clothes" properly.

Afterward, an apprentice brought over a blacksmith's hammer and a thick iron rod for adjusting the charcoal from the stable's smithy nearby. At Mr. Scott's signal, the apprentice holding the hammer raised it high with both hands and, with a shout, smashed it toward the dummy horse in front.

Boom!

A rather dull sound rang out. Because Jier was standing very close, he saw it very clearly: when the hammer struck, the Multi-layer Protective Cloth at the point of impact had a downward depression. But quickly, as the hammer was bounced back by the recoil, the depressed area soon returned to its original state.

Jier spoke up to stop the apprentice's next move; he personally lifted the Multi-layer Protective Cloth draped over the dummy horse's back to check the damage to the wooden dummy horse underneath.

Unexpectedly, there was no depression at all on the surface of the wood where it had been heavily struck by the blacksmith's hammer.

Not even a tiny bit.

"Amazing! Craftsman Kent, this thing of yours is amazing."

Jier praised it, then put down the Multi-layer Protective Cloth in his hand and waved for the apprentice to continue.

This time, the apprentice gripped the end of the thick iron rod with both hands, then took a deep breath, charged forward heavily, and thrust the tip of the thick iron rod he was holding into the side of the dummy horse's abdomen.

Ssh—creak.

The thick iron rod first pierced through the surface layer of the Multi-layer Protective Cloth, then became stuck in the resistance of the other materials underneath. The heavy blow ultimately only poked a small hole.

When the apprentice pulled the thick iron rod back out, Jier walked over, took off his glove, and inserted his little finger into the hole poked by the thick iron rod.

It was very shallow, and the damage inside was even lighter than on the outside.

"Very good." Jier praised with a smile on his face.

"Next, let's see how it performs against cutting from sharp weapons?"

After Jier finished speaking, Mr. Scott waved his hand, and someone immediately drew the Dagger they carried at their waist, wanting to go up and cut or slash at the Multi-layer Protective Cloth. But Jier reached out to stop them: "No, what can a Dagger test? Use this instead."

He drew his Hunting Sword from his waist and handed it back-first to the apprentice who was testing.

The apprentice was stunned for a moment and reached out to take it, but Mr. Scott suddenly squeezed over with a smile, saying nimbly: "In that case, let me try, Knight Jier, let me try, how about it?"

Shrugging, Jier didn't mind and handed the hilt of the sword to Mr. Scott.

He didn't strike himself mainly because he was afraid his strength was too great and wouldn't accurately represent the force of an ordinary person. After all, if he were to use the Hunting Sword to Heavy Cleave the dummy horse, he estimated that even with the protection of this new type of Multi-layer Protective Cloth, he would still cut a fatal, gaping hole in the horse with a single strike.

If applied to a real horse, such a strike would naturally kill a horse.

Having had the experience from last night, Mr. Scott knew that Knight Jier's personal Sword was very heavy; it not only required two hands to hold—even though Knight Jier always used it with one hand—but one also had to stand firm and exert force to lift the sword.

"Heave-ho." He gathered his strength, held Knight Jier's sword in a proper grip, and held it upright in front of his chest.

"Haha, everyone watch closely!"

He shouted excitedly, lifted the ten-plus-kilogram sword over his head, and then delivered a straight Heavy Cleave forward.

Looking at his footwork while swinging the Heavy Cleave, it was clear that Mr. Scott had obviously practiced the method of using a long sword; he was not just a simple Merchant with no martial arts skills.

Bang! Hiss—

The sword Heavy Cleaved, with the greatest force at the tip, tearing a three-centimeter-long small cut in the Multi-layer Protective Cloth; the subsequent sound was the sound of the blade tearing downward through the fabric of the Multi-layer Protective Cloth's surface.

Although it was only one strike, Mr. Scott was still panting, and it was unclear if it was from exhaustion or from being overly excited and agitated.

Jier walked up to inspect it and found that the place struck by the sword tip had only broken through the second layer of the Multi-layer Protective Cloth, which was just a minor injury for this thing that was four or five layers thick in total.

And the subsequent blade cutting, even with Jier's Hunting Sword, had only torn through its surface layer.

It wasn't that the Hunting Sword wasn't sharp; it was simply that Mr. Scott lacked the strength.

The Hunting Sword itself was not known for its sharpness, but rather its weight, toughness, and sharpness combined with Jier's current strength to achieve great power. These few elements were indispensable; otherwise, it would result in the current situation.

"Knight Jier, this sword of yours? It's not particularly sharp either."

Seeming a bit hesitant and regretful, Mr. Scott's eyes were full of pity as he lowered his head and repeatedly examined the Hunting Sword he was leaning on again.

Jier smiled, knowing what Mr. Scott meant. He took back his sword and used it himself this time. But this time he didn't aim for the middle of the Multi-layer Protective Cloth to slash; Jier picked a corner, so it wouldn't matter if it was ruined, and the material loss wouldn't be very high.

"Watch clearly what it looks like when I use it."

Jier held the hilt with one hand, lowered his body, separated his legs front and back, and stood three meters away from the wooden horse draped in the protective cloth. But Jier suddenly kicked off his legs and sprinted forward; after taking only two steps, his body was like a sword drawn from its scabbard, thrusting forward.

Bang!

There was only one sound. When the crowd looked closely, they discovered that Jier had thrust his sword, and the entire sword was now more than half-buried inside the dummy horse's body. The Multi-layer Protective Cloth on the surface was like a slightly thick piece of paper, and the tear made was very consistent with the width of the sword's blade.

When Jier pulled the sword out, the Multi-layer Protective Cloth that had just been pierced actually only had a thin slit, which was hard to see if one wasn't paying attention. Even though the entire sword had been thrust in more than halfway just a moment ago.

Mr. Scott's eyes widened: "Is that how it's used? No, why can't I do that?"

"Hmph, watch closely." As soon as Jier finished speaking, he pressed against the dummy horse's rump, at the edge of the Multi-layer Protective Cloth, and heavily slashed his sword in an upward arc. *Zeng*—a dense sound of cutting and tearing rang out.

Unlike the previous continuous sound of hacking and dragging, the sound caused by Jier's strike was dense and uniform, which manifested as a difference between the sound and the actual destruction.

Previously, Mr. Scott had lifted his sword to Heavy Cleave and hadn't even broken through the Multi-layer Protective Cloth, causing at most about half the damage. But this time, when Jier did it, it was different; a neat cut over twenty centimeters long appeared at the edge of the Multi-layer Protective Cloth.

It was as sharp and neat as the edge of paper cut by a knife. Through the cut, one could clearly see the internal structure of the entire Multi-layer Protective Cloth.

Mr. Scott slapped his face, feeling that compared to this, he was truly embarrassed.

To this, he could only shout: "Jier, this is your sword; it must only show its power for you!"

Jier shrugged, sheathed his sword, and personally touched the tear he had cut, saying repeatedly: "Not bad, it feels like it's not much different from hard cowhide."

At the same time, he lifted and dropped it with one hand, feeling the weight of the Multi-layer Protective Cloth: "It's more than half lighter than the former. Calculated this way, it is a very successful protective material. It's just that this thickness—if it can only be this thick at a minimum, it can't be made into armor material for humans like hard cowhide. Hmm, it's suitable for horses, though."

Hearing Knight Jier's evaluation, Craftsman Kent stroked his chest and bowed: "It is indeed as you said; when this new material was designed, it was with horses in mind. So, what do you think?"

Jier waved his hand: "Then use it. Since it can basically meet the protection requirements and is also lighter in weight, I have nothing to complain about."

Thus, the horse armor for Tianxuecao was decided.

Since the craftsmen had already carefully measured all the dimensions of Tianxuecao, the subsequent horse armor did not require Tianxuecao to wait there all the time. The craftsmen would naturally go to the workshop, divide the various tasks for the armor, who was responsible for what, and who was responsible for what. As long as they followed the design plan and the horse's body dimensions, once the items were finished tomorrow, they could be fitted onto Tianxuecao.

"Alright, Knight Jier, let's go. I'll take you to see the place we agreed upon."

Mr. Scott called out, then had Jier leave Tianxuecao temporarily in their Merchant Guild's stable, and asked Jier to follow him.

"Is it that one?"

Jier asked curiously, while turning his head left and right, seemingly trying to find some unusual place.

"It's that one, haha, don't look left and right; that place couldn't possibly be on our Merchant Guild's territory."

What they were talking about was precisely the Underground Black Market, a place that naturally exists in areas with flourishing trade. However, the functions handled by different Underground Black Markets vary greatly. For instance, in border checkpoint areas, the Underground Black Market there naturally focuses on smuggled goods that have evaded customs duties. But in this trade-prosperous region controlled and managed by the Merchant Guild in Duoen Town, the various taxes collected are generally not high, so naturally, there is no market for buying and selling smuggled goods in the Underground Black Market.

Instead, it is for black-market goods in the hands of Bandits, those blood-stained black-market goods.

One day a batch of goods belongs to a certain Merchant Guild, but the next day it is looted by Bandits who kill the guards on a remote Shanglu, and then that batch of goods is sold by the Bandits at a low price to the black-market Merchants they trust in their daily lives. These black-market Merchants who specialize in this business then move the looted goods in small batches back to private warehouses in Duoen Town, and then sell the small batches of black-market goods in this Underground Black Market at normal or low prices without revealing their identities.

Sell to whom? Anyone.

If one is unlucky, or perhaps lucky? The Merchant Guild whose goods were looted can even buy back their lost goods here at a low price.

By common logic, Merchants all hate the Bandits who plunder Caravans; they naturally wish that those Bandits who cause them to lose manpower, resources, and wealth would all die, and then snatch back their looted goods.

But they cannot do this.

Without considering the Merchant Guilds mobilizing the lord's army to search the mountains and comb the forests, they cannot do this.

Everything is a matter of cost, and this is even more true for Merchant Guilds conducting trade.

Trade on a Shanglu has always reached a state of balance that everyone is relatively satisfied with through the long-term confrontation between several forces.

Given current conditions, is it possible for there to be no Bandits on an unmanned wilderness Shanglu? It's impossible, right? Therefore, in a situation where Bandits are plundering the Shanglu, a gray behavior that provides a small profit for the Bandits and allows the Merchant Guilds to recover a large amount of resources was officially incorporated into the Dark Side territory of Duoen Town after years of friction and confrontation.

Merchants allow Bandits to have a channel to sell looted goods, thereby enabling the reuse of those goods and materials that would otherwise be left to rot in the Bandits' dens. And through the Underground Black Market located in Duoen Town, many Merchant Guilds can also recover the resources they originally lost on the Shanglu.

Of course, those who suffer the greatest losses are naturally those small Caravans and small Merchant Guilds without proper armed protection.

The large Merchant Guilds of Duoen Town not only suffer smaller losses on the Shanglu, but can also use the Underground Black Market they indirectly manage to squeeze the goods and resources of small and medium-sized Merchant Guilds at low prices.

At this time, Jier followed Mr. Scott as he walked through his Merchant Guild building, and eventually arrived at a building connected to the back door in the rear area of the 'Burning Furnace' Merchant Guild. This building was surrounded by tall, shade-providing trees, and under the trees, it seemed that many vine-covered trellises had been specially set up to block the line of sight, so when Jier and Mr. Scott arrived at this building from the outside, no one could see them.

"What is this place for? So mysterious."

Jier looked left and right; the building leaning against the back door, heavily obscured, seemed to have a strange purpose. There was a carriage here, the carriage was very ordinary, but the driver, the Groom, wore a Cloak and a face-covering cloth even indoors.

If it were on the street outside, encountering such an ordinary carriage and a Groom with his face covered, Jier wouldn't even take a second look. But such a combination appearing here was very strange.

The carriage was not only ordinary, but the carriage body, which could barely seat four people, lacked the common wooden opening windows; one could not see from the outside whether anyone was sitting inside or how many people were there. At the same time, the people inside seemed unable to see outside the carriage.

Facing Jier's question, Mr. Scott explained: "This is a tool our Merchant Guild uses specifically to go to the Underground Black Market. You know, identity, it's not very appropriate for me to go there with my identity."

Jier understood; Mr. Scott was one of the main administrators of the Merchant Union in Duoen Town, and the Underground Black Market didn't sound like something created by the Merchant Union; it was naturally inappropriate for them to go.

Immediately after, Mr. Scott took two from a row of wide black Cloaks hanging on the wall in the room. He put on one of a suitable size himself, and handed the other, which was taller, to Jier.

This thing was very wide, and at the same time, there were no marks on the black Cloak that could reveal one's identity. After putting the wide hood of the Cloak on his head, the hood with facial covering could only reveal roughly the eye area, while everything else was hidden under the black Cloak.

The bottom of the Cloak was also longer than an ordinary Cloak, and the hem could even touch the ground, covering the user's feet.

And where the hands of the Cloak were, there was a concealed opening on each side, making it convenient for hands to reach out from inside the Cloak to pay or take things. Only a pair of hands would be exposed, and all other parts could be hidden under the black Cloak.

To accommodate some people's rings and unique tattoos, a small table in this room also held some pairs of wide brown Linen Cloth Gloves.

Although Jier had no rings or hand tattoos, he saw that Mr. Scott, who wore many expensive Gems rings, was wearing a pair of Gloves, so he put on a pair as well.

"So, does everyone cover themselves up?"

"Cough cough, yes, not only those who want to buy something, but those who sell things also dress like this. It is best if no one knows who sold those goods and who bought them. Cough cough, these are all matters that would get people killed if exposed."

Mr. Scott coughed deliberately as he spoke, making his voice sound deeper. Those familiar with him could naturally still tell it was him, but for those with little interaction, the average person would not be able to tell that the original owner of this voice was actually one of the Senior Stewards of the Duoen Town Chamber of Commerce Union.

"You changed your voice, oh right, normal, normal."

Jier realized, and then he asked: "Do I need to deliberately change my voice too?"

"You don't need to, not many people know you anyway."

The two quickly finished getting ready, opened the door of the passenger carriage, and sat inside.

The interior of the carriage was quite dark because there were no openings, and the light from outside could not get in at all. Moreover, the air was also rather stuffy. Of course, there were only Jier and the other person here, so it was no problem for a short time.

Mr. Scott seemed very familiar with this place; he fumbled in the dark and pulled something, and then a small skylight was opened at the top between the two facing seats.

Only then did a little light from outside shine into the interior of the carriage through this small skylight.

Although not much, it was enough for the people sitting on the chairs to see the things around them.

There was basically nothing in the carriage, only a small bell and a pull-rope on the back of the chair facing the Groom's side.

Seeing Jier staring at those two things, Mr. Scott explained: "When we are ready, we pull the rope. The driver outside will take us to an entrance of the Underground Black Market. Of course, the carriage will first wander around the town at will, and then go."

"As for the other one, when we arrive, the driver will pull a rope on his side, and the bell here will ring, telling the passengers that the place has been reached."

Jier asked suspiciously: "But when we put on these black Cloaks earlier, that driver was also watching us in the room. He is from your Merchant Guild, right? I don't mind, I'm just curious how you usually operate this whole thing."

Mr. Scott reached out from the opening in the front of his Cloak and waved: "Not from our Merchant Guild, it's a third party, arranged by the management force of that Underground Black Market. That's why this place is arranged at the back door, far away from the other buildings of the Merchant Guild."

As he spoke, Mr. Scott reached out and pulled the rope next to Jier.

His tone was somewhat dull: "As for safety, don't worry. The drivers, those drivers. None of them can speak."

"Why?"

"Hmm, their tongues have been cut out, and they are illiterate."

Jier narrowed his eyes when he heard this.