"Sure, we should add each other as friends. I won't be joining the guild though." Is what Xia Shishu told Bai Chen.
"Hehe! That's no problem at all! As long as we have each other as friends! We can work together in the future if the situation permits. What about you, miss?" Bai Chen cheekily smiled at Xia Shishu before asking Ji Anyi.
"Umm.. If he doesn't join then I won't join too, but we can still add each other as friends in Second Reality." Ji Anyi also refused to join the guild but she still wrote her name down.
"That's alright with me." Bai Chen said as Ji Anyi wrote her in-game name down.
__
"C'mon my new-found comrades, let's go recruit more people! The goal is to have two hundred people!"
"Yeah! I'll go to my class and ask if anyone wants to join."
"Heck, I'm going to ask anyone I see! Even the teachers and janitors!"
Bai Chen walked out of the lunchroom with an ecstatic expression, and his new comrades joined him in his quest to get more people.
"If you're not joining them, are you going to make your own team in the future? C-Can I join? It's not like I'm following you or anything, I just thought that I'll be able to help your team." Ji Anyi asked Xia Shishu shyly. She just wanted to help her new friend! That's all!
"Well, yeah maybe. But I probably won't be making it right away."
"Why?"
"Because it's a drag…" Xia Shishu shrugged. His fame was non-existent and his strength is most likely looked down upon. He shouldn't try to lead his own team if he's not a dragon. Else, he'll be a bad leader. He's also too lazy to lead a team at the moment.
"Oh.. Okay. Invite me when you make it then. I want to be the vice-guild leader!"
"Sure, sure. Whatever u want."
After dumping their uneaten food and returning the food items, Xia Shishu and Ji Anyi parted ways. Ji Anyi wanted to go back to class so she can study. Why? Because she isn't going to take any risk with Second Reality. That world is full of treasures and fortune, but if you're not good at it, you'll not be able to make much money. So far, her skills are average at best and she is cognitive of it.
There are still quite a few hours before school lets out, but Xia Shishu wasn't going to waste that time in school.
He had spent the first half of school brainstorming about what he should do to get stronger, and he has to act. What's the use of having ideas if you're not going to act with it?
After separating with Ji Anyi, Xia Shishu had strolled out of school grounds and arrived at a sketchy pawn shop in the shady part of town by riding the train and taking a cab. A bright red name saying Heaven's Lot was stabbed onto the building's overhead.
As Xia Shishu pushed the sketchy pawn shop's heavy glassed doors open, he was greeted with a variety of items ranging from couches to the latest electronics.
There was no one in the shop except for the workers. A buff man stood by the doors and an old man and a youngster stood behind the store counter. Both of them seemed occupied with their own stuff.
"Excuse me, are you the owner of this shop?" Xia Shishu bravely walked up to the old man and asked him. His head was still full of white and gray hair, but his face is full of wrinkles, showing his old age. His beard made him looked respectable.
"Eh, yes I am. Do you need help with anything?" Both the old man and stopped with what they were fiddling with and looked at Xia Shishu.
"Can I talk to you alone? I need help finding something." Xia Shishu told the old man as he looked at the youngster next to the old man. The youngster seemed older than him, but Xia Shishu needed to put up a good first impression. He wanted the old man to see that he means serious business.
"Follow me." The old man scrutinized Xia Shishu for a good minute before leading Xia Shishu to a secluded room.
Xia Shishu followed the old man, but his heart was thumping. It's his first time dealing with sketchy stuff after all!
"Sit. Make yourself at home. I'll bring you some tea." The old man went to the back counter and prepared some hot tea while Xia Shishu sat.
Tud. The old man placed two cups of tea on the table in front of Xia Shishu and sat across from him.
"So what are you looking for today?" The old man never kept his eyes off Xia Shishu's face, making him a bit nervous on the inside.
"Weapons." Xia Shishu got to the point and told the old man what he was looking for.
The old man took a sip of his tea before placing it back down. "What types might you be looking for, young man?"
"Illegal types. Do you have them?" Acting in a real situation was really nerve-racking, even for Xia Shishu.
"I don't. What makes you think this small place has illegal weapons? I can report you to the police right now! You should just go back home and don't think of buying weapons ever again! You're still young." The old man got up and opened the door, gesturing for Xia Shishu to leave.
Xia Shishu pretended to calmly observe the old man and then he sipped the tea on the table. He truly doesn't know if this place has weapons or not. He was just gambling. If this place doesn't have any weapons that he's looking for, he'll have to go to another place.
"10.000 yuan." Xia Shishu said as he placed his tea back down.
"What?" The old man asked hesitatingly.
"10.000 yuan if you tell me where to get the weapons. Of course, it'll be better if you have them in stock."
"Are you serious?" The old man asked suspiciously. Never in his lifetime had he met such a tycoon who would spend money just for information. He had heard others experiencing such situations, but he had never experienced it himself.
"Tell me your account information and I'll send it over." Xia Shishu took another sip of his tea to look cool.
The old man pondered for a bit before giving up. It's free money! He normally wouldn't work with young people on illegal stuff, but the youngster right here was going to give him free money just for the information! He's an old man who is weak to money! "Alright. My account information is XXXXXXXX."
Xia Shishu took out his phone and transferred 10.000 yuan over in a gist. "I hope you get my sincerity. If you give me any false information, you know what's going to happen right?" Xia Shishu evilly smiled towards the old man.
Showing his evil smile was simple. All he had to do was think about putting glue on the old man's shopfront… It's a little stupid, but hey! It works for him.
"Yes, yes. I won't give you any false information!" The old man sweated. He couldn't see through the young man at all! He knows this trade very well. Once you accept the money, you have to give your all and even more or else bad things are going to happen! Who knows what the young man is planning to do!
"I don't have any illegal weapons in this little pawn shop of mine, but old Du down the alley sells some but only to referrals from trusted friends. Luckily, I am one of those trusted friends so I can refer you for a little sum…" The old man peeked at Xia Shishu to see his reaction.
Ding! The old man's phone rang and a notification popped up that he received another 1.000 yuan.
"Don't try anything funny or else you're really going to get it!" Xia Shishu raised his voice. If the old man tried to squeeze any more money out of him, he'll really dump glue on this old man's shop! Xia Shishu also raised his voice because had calmed down. His money was doing most of the talking for him. It seems that he now has more authority over the old man. No need to be scared at all!
"Yes! Yes!" The old man gave a sigh of relief. This is enough and he shouldn't try to squeeze any more money. The young man's threat is too mysteriously scary.
The old man took Xia Shishu out of the room and went to the counter where the first met, "Little Yu, come take this young man to uncle Du's place and introduce them."
"Okay." The young man answered the old man and went out the back door of their shop with Xia Shishu following suit. The young man didn't ask Xia Shishu any questions nor did he try to make any small talk. It's none of his darn business!
At the end of the alleyway, Xia Shishu saw a door leading into a building that was even more sketchy than the pawn shop!
*Knock*Knock
*Knock*Knock*Knock
The young man called Little Yu knocked on the door with a pattern and the door opened. A cool middle age looking man opened the door. "What is it, little Yu? Your old man got business?"
"Yes, probably." Little Yu looked at Xia Shishu, hinting him to introduce himself.
Xia Shishu got the hint, of course, but he wasn't going to give his real name. "Greetings, my name is Shi Meng."
"Du Hai." The middle-aged man greeted back. He doesn't care if the name is real or fake. "Little Yu, you can go back."
"Okay, but uncle Du, my old man wants you to go have dinner with him tonight."
"Sure thing. Shi Meng, come with me and close the door when u come in." Du Hai went inside and Xia Shishu entered, closing the door as he did so.
As they walk in the dimly lit hallway, Du Hai conversed. "Shi Meng, we're a business and we don't want to get into trouble so whatever you do with the things you buy doesn't have anything to do with us, understand?"
"Understood."
"What's your budget right now?"
"45.000 at the moment, but I'll most likely be back in the future with a higher budget."
"What types of weapons do you want?" Du Hai continued asking. He does his business quickly because it is after all, illegal.
"At the moment, I want one long range and one short range weapon." Xai Shishu answered.
"Go sit in the room and I'll bring you some things for you to look at." Du Hai pointed at a room and kept walking down the hallway.
Xia Shishu went inside and took a seat on the room's sofa. The layout was similar to the old man's pawn shop room.
Soon enough, Du Hai pushed in a metal cart that contains a couple of items. "Take a look. The price is already labeled on it and it's non-negotiable. If you have any questions, then ask me."
Xia Shishu got up from his seat and examined each weapon that was on the metal cart. "No guns?" Xia Shishu asked Du Hai. He had planned to buy guns since they seemed destructive in nature.
"Nope. None. I won't be getting any more until next month. I do have a few more, but you can't afford them." Du Hai said, not caring if Xia Shishu feelings are hurt or not.
"Well, shit. I guess I'll have to make do with these." Xia Shishu continued examing the weapons, albeit slightly disappointed.
The first few weapons he examined were compound bows and crossbows with prices ranging from 20.000 yuan to 30.000 yuan. If he bought them legally with licenses, it would've been cheaper, but he does not! He won't be using these weapons in real life so there was no need to go through all the hassle of getting licenses.
"Any recommendations for beginners?" Xia Shishu asked Du Hai. With no experience, Xia Shishu would assume that his aim is very bad.
"Crossbow. More consistent draw weights and better speed. The reload time on crossbows are slower, though."
Xia Shishu accepted Du Hai's recommendation, but he was stuck on which crossbow to choose. Out of five crossbows, only the Tenpoint Nitro and the Ravin R40 caught his eyes.
In the end, Xia Shishu decided on the Tenpoint Nitro XRT because the handle was a little shorter and it felt comfortable on his hands. The cost was quite high at 27.000 yuan which included 12 high-quality bolts, a scope, and a few other attachments.
As for the sword, Xia Shishu picked a Carbon steel Lin Sword that looked cool and easy to use, costing him 4.000 yuan.
"Du Hai, can I also buy a bunch of bolts?" Xia Shishu requested.
"Sure. 12 bladed bolts for 300 yuan. How many batches do you want?"
"I'm going to use the rest of my money to buy bolts. Let's see… 45 batches perhaps?"
"Holy shit, man. That's a lot. Are you going to kill a whole army?" Du Hai's eyes almost popped out. Normal people wouldn't normally buy that many bolts. "I have them in stock though. Don't worry. While I pack them up into a bag, why don't you go try shooting your new bow in the basement? The basement distance isn't that long, but I can help you adjust the crossbow before you leave.
"Okay." Xia Shishu replied. Inside, he was sighing to himself. His wealth came quickly, but it also disappeared as fast!