Li Fan's eyes widened with interest, as if he had discovered a hidden treasure. He was completely captivated by the elf, watching her closely from the confines of the cage.
She appeared to be a young adult elf, her beauty stunning yet still carrying a hint of innocence. Her body, covered in dust, was thin and delicate, and she wore a rough garment that looked like a chopped-up sack, yet her radiance could not be dimmed.
Sadly, her exposed skin was marked with numerous cuts and bruises. It was unclear whether the injuries were from a fierce battle or the harsh treatment of her captivity, but the elf lay weakly in the cage, her emerald eyes lifelessly gazing into the distance, like a flower on the brink of withering.
Just as if she had sensed something, the elf's eyes suddenly shifted, locking onto Li Fan's direction. Their gaze met, and Li Fan felt as if he was looking into the abyss of her endless despair.
Perhaps it was the rarity of Li Fan's pitch-black eyes that caught her attention, as the elf continued to stare at him for a full half a minute before turning her gaze back to the horizon.
"Hey, buddy, seems like you're quite taken with this elf. What do you say, should we make a deal? It's a great opportunity, especially with such a discounted price."
The portly slave merchant, noticing Li Fan's interest, quickly moved in to make his pitch.
[System Alert]: "Recommendation: Purchase the elf. Taming an alien race can also activate our system. Note: This elf has considerable strength; healing her could improve your favorability and loyalty."
Before Li Fan could decline the merchant's offer, the system's prompt sounded.
Li Fan hesitated, then asked the merchant, "How much?"
The merchant's face split into a greasy smile, answering, "It's a special promotion; you can take this lovely elf home for just five gold coins. Don't miss out, buddy!"
"Five gold coins?" Li Fan's eyes twitched; he knew he couldn't afford it, but he hadn't expected the price gap to be this wide. Five gold coins were essentially copper coins; it would take him nearly thirty years of chopping wood without eating or drinking to save up enough.Li Fan immediately scrapped the idea of purchasing the elf.
The price, as it stood, was simply out of his reach.
"Don't think the price is high; you should know that normally, an ordinary elf would start at ten gold coins, and an elf with such potential and appearance would certainly not be sold for less than fifty gold coins if not injured," the slave merchant explained hurriedly, seeing that Li Fan seemed to find the price prohibitive.
Little did the merchant know that the seemingly interested customer in front of him had only five copper coins to his name; if he had known this, he would likely have chased Li Fan away on the spot.
Li Fan said nothing more, merely shaking his head and retreating back into the crowd.
The merchant's eyes flickered with disappointment, then he quickly shifted his focus to pitch to others.
Many onlookers were tempted by the price, after all, five gold coins for an elf originally worth fifty seemed like a steal. Yet, despite the interest, no one seemed to make the decision to purchase the elf.
"Big brother, really not buying her? An elf for just five gold coins, who knows if we'll ever encounter such a deal again, we could pool our money and get her," one person suggested.
"Fool, do you think such a bargain would go unnoticed?"
"Yeah, take a closer look, third brother. The merchant hasn't even put a restraining collar on her; it's clear how serious her injuries are," another commented.
"Hmph, with injuries like that, it's not just this wretched place; even in the frigid winter city, she might not get treated. Otherwise, why wouldn't the merchant take her to the winter city to make ten times more in a flash?"
...
Li Fan hid in the back of the crowd, listening to the surrounding discussions, and learned that many people recognized the value of the elf in front of them, but her injuries were too severe.
Whether she could live was an issue, and even if she were saved with a hefty sum, she might be left with scars and disabilities.
In the end, spending five gold coins might just be a waste on a corpse, the risk was too great.
Li Fan listened silently, his mind racing, and in a moment, his eyes lit up with a crafty idea.
With a sly smile on his face, Li Fan looked at the merchant and the elf in the cage, then calmly left the square.
...
As night fell and time passed, the darkness deepened.
Li Fan waited patiently, until four in the morning, when he finally opened his eyes in the stable where he had been resting.
His life in this foreign world was anything but human.
Chopping wood for a day earned him five copper coins, which he spent four on rock-hard black bread, and one to spend a night in the stable.
Who knew when he might be killed by a monster attack, or freeze to death in the coming winter in this stable?
To change everything, activating the system was the first priority.
An inactive system was useless; it couldn't even play a short movie.
But once activated, it might just give Li Fan a chance to turn the tables.
Therefore, Li Fan would never give up on this chance to activate the system.
Now, he had two ways to activate it.
The first method was to cooperate with the slave merchant. The beginner's package had given Li Fan a healing pill that could cure any injury, and he could sell it to the merchant. Li Fan believed the merchant would certainly be willing to buy the pill to save the elf, and then Li Fan could use the earnings to buy a cheap slave from another race, like a dwarf.
Elves were prized for their natural beauty, so each elf slave was extremely expensive, but dwarves, who were only good at forging and construction, were not favored by humans and were much cheaper, even just a gold coin could buy one.
The earnings from selling the pill would be enough to buy a dwarf slave.
However, this plan had a major problem.
How could Li Fan ensure the merchant wouldn't kill him and steal his goods?
Merchants would do anything for profit; they wouldn't hesitate to kill or rob if the gain was enough.
Li Fan wouldn't risk his life on a merchant's conscience.
Therefore, he could only choose the second method.
He was going