Chapter 103: Bargaining Escalated (Revised)

The whole process happened in a flash, and even the Supervision Bureau staff right nearby failed to notice in time.

Ying Duo felt his vision blur, darkness instantly replaced his sight, and his whole body was dragged by a strong force into a narrow shadow crack beside him.

He instinctively wanted to struggle, but the force in the other's hand was enormous.

His golden eyes lifted, meeting the pair of green eyes that remained bright even in the shadow.

It was Shen Zexi.

Shen Zexi then loosened the hand covering his mouth, but still tightly gripped his wrist, making a "be quiet" gesture toward him.

And behind Shen Zexi, Qi Hengyu was peering through the pipe gap, vigilantly observing the movements of the Supervision Bureau personnel outside.

He glanced back at the Ying Duo who had been pulled in, especially that head of green hair still faintly glowing in the shadow, his mouth twitched slightly, and he spoke to Shen Zexi in an extremely low voice.

"How did you drag this thing in?"

Qi Hengyu's tone was full of disdain for Ying Duo, but he honestly led the two of them a bit farther away from the Supervision Bureau personnel.

With Ying Duo's shiny thing left there, what's the difference from directly exposing their hiding place?

At least it could still buy them some time for questioning.

Shen Zexi silently gazed upward; Tianmian City blocked the entire sky completely, leaving only a pitch-black expanse visible.

"If I say my body just moved on its own...... would you believe me?"

There was no way; seeing Ying Duo gradually approach the trash can made his heart rise.

Watching Ying Duo walk up to the trash can, he directly triggered his passive, rushed over and snatched the person away.

So this guy is a fixed-respawn NPC near the trash can?

Ying Duo seemed to have found a way to respawn Shen Zexi.

He had been observing the map for spots with golden light where interaction was possible, but along his journey he hadn't seen any interactive locations.

There were plenty of trash cans, but after interacting he could only see ordinary trash everywhere, with nothing worth noting.

After much effort he spotted a trash can glowing with golden light, but as soon as he pressed the interaction key, Shen Zexi appeared again in an instant.

Oh, Qi Hengyu was there too.

I get it.

Interacting with the golden-light trash can → triggers NPC Shen Zexi → Shen Zexi's side has a chance to respawn NPC Qi Hengyu.

The equation holds.

Ying Duo silently noted this; Shen Zexi and Qi Hengyu appear quite often in the plot, at least they aren't low‑tier NPC models, so their skills probably aren't that bad either.

But he hasn't really explored Mitra Academy's map yet, unclear about the average level of NPCs on the academy map, so the two can only serve as backup options for later team formation.

Qi Hengyu listened to Shen Zexi's utterly unconvincing explanation and was left speechless.

But he also knew now wasn't the time to dwell on that.

Through the pipe gap, he confirmed that the Supervision Bureau personnel hadn't noticed any movement from their side.

Mainly because Shen Zexi acted quickly, and Ying Duo, after being pulled in, didn't struggle or make a sound, merely gazing at them curiously with his hollow golden eyes.

Qi Hengyu withdrew his gaze, turned to Ying Duo, lowered his voice, and got down to business.

"Hey, green hair, what are those Supervision Bureau people out there doing running to this bird‑shit‑free Fourth District? Do you know?"

Upon hearing that, Ying Duo's golden eyes turned toward Qi Hengyu, and his head tilted slightly.

According to usual game logic, providing information to an NPC usually raises favorability.

But this game obviously can't simply apply ordinary game logic.

He didn't answer right away, instead using that flat tone to retort: "Tell me, what's in it for me?"

Shen Zexi: "......"

Qi Hengyu: "......"

Both were momentarily choked by this shameless bargaining.

Qi Hengyu's mouth corner twitched violently, suppressing the urge to smack that green‑haired head, and he squeezed out a sound from between his teeth.

"What benefits do you want?"

Ying Duo seemed to have been waiting for this line, immediately began listing, his tone flat but the content could be described as a lion's massive appetite.

"Rare materials, intermediate aberrant species cores, or a large sum of money would also work......"

"Stop! Hold it!"

Qi Hengyu couldn't take it anymore and interrupted him.

"Are you treating me as a game warehouse? Or a quest dispatcher? I have nothing! Nothing at all!"

He took a deep breath, suppressed his anger, and tried to communicate with Ying Duo in his own way.

"Consider it me owing you a favor, okay? Later, in the academy or elsewhere, if there's a chance I'll repay you."

He said this with a bit of resentment, but the situation outweighed the individual; obtaining information on the Supervision Bureau's movements was crucial for him to judge the current state of the Fourth District.

Upon hearing the words "favor," Ying Duo's golden eyes seemed to flicker.

"A favor?"

"Such a thing is most illusory, yet it can be big or small."

He thought for about two seconds, then nodded decisively.

"Deal."

After reaching the "agreement," Ying Duo stopped being cryptic and concisely provided the information.

"They're looking for a smuggled ore called 'Gloomy Fluorescent Stone,' supposedly someone once picked it up here."

"My hair," he pointed to his glowing crown, "is dyed with that."

"Gloomy Fluorescent Stone? Smuggling?" Shen Zexi and Qi Hengyu furrowed their brows simultaneously, their eyes somewhat dazed.

Shen Zexi reacted first, he incredulously glanced at Ying Duo's fluorescent‑green hair, then at the fully armed Supervision Bureau staff outside, his expression turning extremely weird.

"Wait... you mean the Supervision Bureau is mobilizing forces to investigate... uh, the raw material of the 'hair dye' you used?"

Qi Hengyu also couldn't hold back, muttering under his breath.

"Using smuggled high‑risk ore to dye your hair? Kid, are you really not afraid of death?! Or do you think your life is too long?"

He looked at Ying Duo as if he were looking at a strange being with a hole in its brain.

Snarking aside, the two are not ordinary people, and they quickly grasped the crux of the issue.

"Undercurrent..."

Qi Hengyu whispered the name again; the 'Invader' mentioned in the letter he received—could that be a member of the Undercurrent?

Shen Zexi's expression was equally solemn.

The Dome has records on the Undercurrent organization and knows they are a band of desperate outlaws who will stop at nothing for profit.

If the dangerous Gloomy Fluorescent Stone is linked to them, it would only drag an even larger conspiracy and danger behind it.

On the street outside the tunnel, Yue Chengzhang seemed to sense something; he sat up straight, his eyes scanning suspiciously toward the direction where Ying Duo had just vanished, then glancing at the quiet trash can, his brows slightly furrowing.

"Teacher Su, where's Ying Duo?" Yue Chengzhang asked.

Su Jingchuan was startled by the words, turned around immediately, and found that Ying Duo, who should have been behind him, had disappeared.

"He was just here a moment ago..." his complexion changed instantly.

Just as the two's vigilance spiked, from the shadows Shen Zexi also heard the commotion outside, inhaled deeply, realizing it could no longer be hidden.

He patted Ying Duo on the shoulder, signaling him to stay put, then exchanged a glance with Qi Hengyu, and the two slowly stepped out from the tunnel's shadows.

"Teacher Su, it's us," Shen Zexi raised both hands, indicating no hostility.

Qi Hengyu stood silently beside him, his gaze calmly meeting the scrutinizing eyes of Yue Chengzhang and Su Jingchuan.

Seeing Shen Zexi and Qi Hengyu appear suddenly, Yue Chengzhang and Su Jingchuan were both taken aback.

"Shen Zexi? Qi Hengyu?" Su Jingchuan's voice carried obvious accusation, "How did you end up here? Where's Ying Duo?"

Shen Zexi didn't answer directly, but turned sideways, gesturing toward the area behind the tunnel.

Ying Duo emerged slowly from the shadows, still sporting his conspicuous green hair, expressionless.