Chapter 248 Safe House

The output of the master room cannot directly affect places outside the safe house, so Asa used some tricks to perform simple secondary processing on the disassembled meteorite wood.

Because the guild system is not open, there is currently no corresponding panel for items related to consumable materials in the game.

The next day, Xu Zhiyan came to the black market to do some business and heard many players around him exclaiming in amazement.

"Hey, hey, hey, why? The price of this consumable has increased too much recently!"

"Why are these things going up in price when the props haven't? Aren't these things needed when buying some special props in the mall? But I don't think many people use special props."

"I hate that I didn't collect more in the dungeon! The price is too good!"

"Who knew this would happen, tsk."

"I thought a lot of things would go up in price, but I didn't think these basic supplies would go up in price, so what are these things for?"

"It's mainly for players who have awakened some natural characteristics, such as eating stones and wood, and consuming special skills..."

Currently, there are no places in the game that require a large amount of materials, so the prices of these things that were previously difficult to collect and carry have remained stable.

Xu Zhiyan was a little shocked.

After Qu Ji reported to him the skyrocketing prices of various consumables, he immediately adjusted the production direction of Nightmare Community, stopped many prop production lines, and sold all the consumables used as raw materials.

The results are quite encouraging.

A single piece of raw material was sold at the price of a low-level item.

If these materials are so expensive in the future, why would he make a hammer prop? He might as well just synthesize the consumables and sell them!

What was initially thought to be a one-time unexpected profit turned into multiple profits, and the price continued to rise, proving that the number of people buying these things has not decreased, but has increased instead.

Xu Zhiyan did not stop, still with a smile on his face, but he was constantly thinking in his heart.

This shouldn’t be the case…

The cost of purchasing system-related items is minimal, and most of them are sold to players with awakening characteristics. Based on the current supply of items in the Nightmare Community, it would be enough even if these players eat ten elephants for every meal.

After thinking it over and over without any result, he simply gave up.

The black market is huge, and at the northern edge is the intersection leading to the auction.

Xu Zhiyan's target this time was not the auction. He came to the southernmost part of the black market, where there were dark and inconspicuous corridor entrances one after another at the edge.

Start counting from the left hand side.

One, two, three... sixteen, here it is!

He turned and slipped into the entrance of the sixteenth corridor.

After crossing the dark area without lights, Xu Zhiyan came to a bar specially opened to the public in the black market. Because of its good confidentiality, this place is also called the negotiation area.

But this is his first time here.

If he hadn't received an invitation, he probably would never have known that there was such a place in Shell.

After walking out of the darkness, Xu Zhiyan was surprised to find that his clothes had changed. He was originally wearing just an ordinary shirt and pants, but now he was covered with a black robe. The hood covered his hair tightly, and there was even a mask on his face.

Even though Xu Zhiyan was usually calm, he couldn't help but feel curious.

There were not many people in the bar.

Masked men in black robes hurried past in twos and threes. A handsome NPC was standing at the bar, wiping cups. The only other person was a musician in the corner, playing moving music on the lute.

Xu Zhiyan lowered his head to check the time.

It's two o'clock in the afternoon.

The businessman's rigorous character made him arrive at the meeting place an hour early after receiving the invitation.

Looking at the empty bar at this time, Xu Zhiyan sat down on the stool in front of the bar without haste. The dim light shone on the glass in the bartender's hand, reflecting a dim light.

"What can I do for you, sir?"

The bartender put down his glass and asked politely.

Xu Zhiyan pursed his lips and pulled out a menu from the side. After glancing at it, he spoke lightly.

"A glass of water."

It really deserves to be called Shell, the prices are really outrageous. Except for the free water, no alcoholic beverage is less than 8,000 points!

"Please wait a moment."

The bartender smiled and quickly brought a glass of water.

After Xu Zhiyan got the water, he realized a problem: he seemed unable to drink it with the mask on.

However, he had a good attitude and didn't feel at all that he had just done anything stupid, so he started talking to the bartender as planned.

"How's your business? It seems pretty secretive."

How many places in the player gathering place are there that he hasn't seen yet?

The bartender answered gently while wiping the glass.

"Business is good. The fact that you can come here proves that you know Shell well enough."

Hearing this, Xu Zhiyan was slightly stunned.

Is business good?

Just two or three little birds?

He seemed to have thought of something, reached out to take back the menu, and carefully turned to the last page.

[Negotiation Room: 50,000 points/h]

... Damn, no wonder this NPC said it was very good, 50,000 points an hour, this price is hard not to feel like a tax on one's intelligence, a glass of wine here costs several thousand, people who can come here to pay must have so much money that they have no place to spend it.

Seeing Xu Zhiyan close the menu, the bartender explained briefly in a calm tone.

"Once you reserve a meeting room for a certain time period, all your movements in the shell will be modified on that day, regardless of whether you are the inviter or the invitee."

"No one will see you in the shell today. Your itinerary today will be kept completely confidential."

This is what makes negotiation rooms expensive.

As long as you purchase the service, even the player's memory inside the shell will be modified.

Xu Zhiyan nodded.

If that's the case, it seems to be worth the price.

"Besides confidentiality, are there any other benefits? For example, being able to switch personal status, or not being restricted by shell rules, etc." He asked tentatively.

But the bartender just shook his head.

"No, sir."

Xu Zhiyan breathed a sigh of relief. He asked the bartender a few more questions and found that he would only answer questions related to the bar in Corridor No. 16 and refused to answer any other questions related to the players.

I didn't force it, it was enough for me to know that there was such a place in the shell.

After this conversation, only about twenty minutes had passed.

During this time, apart from the musician in the corner changing some songs, no one else walked into the bar and the whole bar seemed to be still.

Xu Zhiyan was not in a hurry either.

Out of boredom, he propped up his chin and looked at the performer in the corner with some curiosity.

“Why did the music change?”

When I first came in, the music here was clearly lively and lively dance music, but after a while, the rhythm of the music gradually became lower, carrying a faint sad mood.

The bartender obviously didn't expect the customer in front of him to ask this question, but he still answered patiently.

“No one knows what the bards played on.”

Before Xu Zhiyan could say anything more nonsense, the bartender suddenly seemed to sense something and suddenly raised his head and looked towards the door.

Another person dressed exactly like Xu Zhiyan appeared.

The bartender put down his glass and made a gesture of invitation to Xu Zhiyan. The next second, an inconspicuous black door next to the performer opened.

The man walked forward and nodded slightly at Xu Zhiyan, motioning him to follow him.

The two walked through a long and narrow passage and came to a room.

A few minutes later.

Xu Zhiyan, who finally took off his mask, collapsed on the comfortable leather sofa and looked not far away.

Gan Mi was standing in front of the wine cabinet choosing wine.

"What to drink?"

"Drink milk."

Hearing the familiar conversation, Gan Mi paused while holding the cup.

“There’s no milk here!”

With a look of disgust, he picked up a bottle of juice and a bottle of wine that Xu Zhiyan couldn't name. After unscrewing the bottle cap, Gan Mi handed over the juice and poured himself some wine.

The glass filled with ice cubes was filled with clear wine.

The round water droplets fell along the wall of the cup and spread out on the table.

Xu Zhiyan didn't hesitate and took the juice and drank half of it.

The originally tense atmosphere eased a lot. He glanced at Gan Mi who was sitting upright and looked at her secretly.

This guy has lost weight... No, it’s not that I should say he’s thin, it’s just that his face, which originally had some baby fat, has become angular, and without smiling, Gan Mi’s overall temperament is completely different from before.

It was simply not like the Gan Mi he originally knew.

There was a strange and contradictory temperament in the other person. If it weren't for the pair of eyes that remained the same as before, Xu Zhiyan would have thought that Gan Mi had been possessed by someone's soul.

"Have you seen enough?"

After Xu Zhiyan's eyes scanned Gan Mi up and down several times, Gan Mi finally spoke in disgust.

"Well, I've seen enough."

Xu Zhiyan's answer was the same as usual.

However, he remembered that this negotiation room was worth 50,000 points per hour, so after making sure that Gan Mi was fine, the topic finally came to the point.

"Why did Boss Gan call me here this time?"

Xu Zhiyan received an invitation from Gan Mi this morning.

After knowing that Gan Mi had connections with the auction house and was the owner of the largest business in the shell, although he rejected the other party's invitation to join, he did not completely reject the transaction.

The other party entered the game earlier than him and had an absolute advantage in shell transactions.

He and Gan Mi had no hatred for each other's father, so there was no reason for him to firmly reject all transactions with the other party, which would have embarrassed everyone. After all, anonymity was vaguely incompatible with being number one on the list, and Gan Mi did not reject anonymous transaction requests.

Xu Zhiyan asked Lao Yang to go to the trading house under the banner of anonymity and use his name to ask for some discounts, and by the way, opened a small number of transactions.

The transaction of useless props is not worth mentioning, whether for Gan Mi or the safe house.

Seeing that Gan Mi did not answer, Xu Zhiyan touched his chin and teased.

"To be honest, Boss Gan made such a big scene this time that I thought you were going to find a place to kill me."

However, after consulting the bartender, Xu Zhiyan was sure that Gan Mi did not want to kill him, but who was he guarding against by spending so much money... A figure vaguely emerged in his mind.

"Bang--"

Gan Mi put down the glass and without remaining silent, he stated the purpose of his visit.

"It's just a little business matter."

He seemed to not know what to say and suddenly changed the subject abruptly.

"Have you noticed that the prices of supplies on the black market have increased recently?"

Xu Zhiyan was a little confused.

What does that mean? The other party spent so many points to call him here just to discuss the price increase of consumables.

His thoughts raced for a moment.

Could it be that...

Could it be that Gan Mi knew something?

This possibility instantly made Xu Zhiyan tense, but his expression remained unchanged, as if he didn't care to answer.

"I found out that the price is indeed not right."

He sold so much every day and made a lot of money, so of course he found out.

When talking about the things with the biggest price changes recently, Gan Mi's condition seemed to have recovered a little, and when he spoke again, he had something in mind.

"Well, especially the specifications of these consumables, they are too uniform."

In the past, these consumables without panel data were less circulated, so the styles were messy, such as wood of different coarseness and fineness, and stones of different sizes.

However, the consumables sold on the market recently have even been standardized in size and weight.

“…It’s like there’s some specific factory processing it.”

Gan Mi frowned as he spoke his conclusion.

No one could tell whether this was a good thing or a bad thing. Seeing a hint of almost imperceptible nervousness on Xu Zhiyan's face, he softened his tone.

"It may be because the guild system is about to be opened."

"I guess these consumables with the same specifications should be caused by the system."

After all, apart from the system, who else can make consumables of such uniform specifications?

Xu Zhiyan expressed high affirmation of this conclusion.

"Is it really like this? It has to be you."

Damn, I'm scared to death!

He thought Gan Mi made such a big fuss because she knew about the Nightmare Community.

However, since there was no problem with the consumables being sold, then the remaining ones were even less of a problem. Xu Zhiyan relaxed a lot. After drinking the remaining half bottle of juice, he put the bottle on the table.

"Another bottle! I'm here to help Boss Gan make back his money today."

The negotiation room charges such a high price, how can you not drink some drinks? At least take a few bottles back when you leave!

Gan Mi looked at the other person's relaxed appearance and laughed softly.

He wanted to play a joke on Xu Zhiyan, just like he did last time, but in the end he only uttered one word.

"good."

As she walked toward the wine cabinet, Gan Mi heard the young man's disdainful voice behind her.

"Boss Gan, please bring another cup. I see this one on your table is leaking. Is this place any good? They charge such a high price, but they don't even have any good cups."

"good."

Gan Mi didn't look back.

Just now when he heard Xu Zhiyan say lightly "find a place to kill him", he almost used all his strength to restrain himself from crushing the cup.

Gan Mi felt that he was ridiculous.

He's like a joke.

He had clearly awakened to his mimicry; he clearly knew all the causes and consequences; he had calmly agreed to kill Xu Zhiyan in the previous meeting...

But now, like a thief walking on a tightrope, he carefully asked the person out again, using some insignificant reasons.

"What flavor do you want?"

"I want a variety of fruit flavors."

"...If you continue to be naughty, I will let the NPC hold you responsible."

“Mango juice, thank you.”

Returning to the sofa, Gan Mi threw the cracked and leaking glass into the trash can and poured himself a new glass of wine.

He knew that the young man in front of him was still wary of him, so even if he unscrewed the bottle cap, he did it in front of him to prove that he had no ill intentions.

Conversations between smart people are often simple.

Xu Zhiyan took it but didn't rush to drink it. He asked in confusion, "So, Boss Gan, why did you ask me to come here?"

He didn't think that Gan Mi asked him to come to such a place just to chat about the recent price increase of consumables. There must be some other purpose.

Gan Mi took a sip of the wine, letting the cold bitterness spread across his tongue.

"The cooperation previously reached with Anonymous will have to be cancelled next." He did not mention the young man's name, only mentioned the others.

Xu Zhiyan was a little surprised, but then nodded.

"Yes, I understand."

He didn't ask why.

This transaction was originally a transaction of some not-so-important useless props, using useless props purchased at low prices to fill the gaps in the blind box machine. If there are high-level cheap useless props, they will be directly converted into power for use in the safe house.

The safe house now has a lot of revenue, just a little discount.

Gan Mi watched Xu Zhiyan agree to this matter nonchalantly, and suddenly didn't know what to say.

There was something odd about the atmosphere between the two of them.

Xu Zhiyan was still sitting with his legs crossed, waiting for Gan Mi's next words, while Gan Mi's eyes were wandering, and no one knew what he was thinking.

After waiting for a while, Xu Zhiyan saw that Gan Mi didn't seem to have anything to say. He couldn't help but put down his legs and leaned forward, asking with a serious expression: "That's it?"

Why go to so much trouble to call him here just to tell him that the transactions between the trading house and the safe house have been closed?

Gan Mi nodded.

"That's it."

He also felt that there was something wrong with his brain today.

It seemed that when facing Xu Zhiyan, he always made some messed up decisions.

Since he was stood up for his self-introduction, he was about to kill this guy in the Nightmare District, but he stopped because of his greedy declaration.

That second invitation seemed like a ghost.

He did not invite Xu Zhiyan to join for Yan Chengfan. Gan Mi knew clearly that the invitation he made to Xu Zhiyan at that time was for himself.

Including today.

He felt as if he were going crazy.

For something that could be notified with just a message, he actually went to so much trouble to get someone over.

As if to cover up something, Gan Mi pointed to the wine cabinet.

"I just heard that there are good wines here that can't be found outside, and if you make an appointment for a negotiation room, the wine is free. I would like to come and see what is here."

He casually made up a reason that best suited Xu Zhiyan's wishes.

Most people who know Gan Mi know that he loves wine. No matter whether it is a trading house or an auction venue, those who receive an invitation from Gan Mi can always drink rare and fine wines in his reception room.

But Xu Zhiyan didn't know.

His cautious nature made him never drink outside.

As expected.

Xu Zhiyan breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this.

"It's good to have money. I'll take a few bottles with me when I leave later." Damn rich people, spending so much money on a little wine!

Gan Mi made an appointment for a total of two hours, and when they finished discussing the main business, there was still more than an hour left.

He stood up and randomly pulled out a bottle from the wine cabinet.

"The rest is yours."

"Okay, I'll be welcome then!"

Xu Zhiyan bought all the remaining drinks.

When the two left the wine cabinet, the wine that was originally full of drinks had been cleared out.

After Xu Zhiyan finished packing YaYa's backpack, he saw Gan Mi sitting back on the sofa again. He squinted his eyes and looked over with a very confused expression.

"Why are you sitting down again?"

Gan Mi pursed her lips and answered in a low voice.

"It's not time yet. I made an appointment for two hours."

Xu Zhiyan was stunned for a moment, then he understood.

Time is so valuable here, and we made an appointment to leave early and they don't give us a refund. I thought there was nothing important to do today anyway, and I took the wine Gan Mi gave me for free, so I decided to let him be merciful and chat with me for a while.

"I understand. After all, it's so expensive. I have nothing to do anyway. Boss Gan, please give me some money." He lay down on the sofa and asked for money directly.

Gan Mi's face was filled with shock.

"...Xu Zhiyan, how old are you this year? Who would have nothing better to do than ask others to send them money?"

After saying this, he suddenly thought of something, laughed to himself and added.

"Now I remember, you were five and a half."

In the Schizophrenia Hospital, when Xu Zhiyan spoke to Xiao He, he was five and a half years old.

The two of them sat and lay on the sofa, chatting about random things.

"I didn't expect that Boss Gan actually watched my live broadcast." Xu Zhiyan was a little surprised. He thought Gan Mi was the kind of person who wouldn't watch live broadcasts.

"Well, I also bet 100,000 points in the betting that the Pope wanted to kill you, but unfortunately you didn't die, so I lost 100,000 points."

Gan Mi did not participate in the guessing game.

Similar to Xu Zhiyan, he is an expert at talking nonsense.

Speaking of live broadcast, Gan Mi asked casually: "It seems that Doctor Xieshen left you a note. What did it say?"

"Well, Doctor Bai told me that he's on leave these days and may not come to the hospital."

Xu Zhiyan’s answer was not at all reliable.

"By the way, Boss Gan, why did you suddenly rank so high?"

"Because Yan Chengfan said there would be bonuses for ranking high."

"oh……"

…

The two of them asked and answered each other, talking nonsense.

After chatting for almost an hour, neither side said a single true word.

Until Xu Zhiyan mentioned Enli.

"By the way, how is your brother doing recently? I think he seems to have a good relationship with Shen Zhen."

Gan Mi was silent for a moment, and the smile on his face faded a little, but this did not affect the speed of his answer.

"That's great. I'll send you an invitation when they get married. If you don't give enough as a gift, you can stay and wash the dishes."

"Hey, hey! That's enough!"

We chatted until the time in the negotiation room ran out.

The black door opened again.

The boundless darkness swallowed up the figures of the two.

While walking on the road, Gan Mi suddenly said, "I will only choose the dungeon to enter on even-numbered days."

This sentence without any beginning or end made Xu Zhiyan a little confused.

But with Gan Mi's next words, he immediately understood the other party's intention.

"Stay away from the mad dog."

“…”

Xu Zhiyan did not answer.

The expensive negotiation room, the missing mad dog, the time to enter the dungeon, the upcoming guild system...

Putting several pieces of information together, Xu Zhiyan knew that Gan Mi might have been assigned some mission, just like Sezier wanted to kill him for no reason.

This is what Gan Mi wanted to say to him today.

Although I don't understand why, it seems that the number one on the list really wants to kill him.

Before leaving the black gate, Xu Zhiyan did not look back.

"It looks like we'll never see each other again."

After saying that, he walked out of the black door, strode towards the exit of the hidden bar, and quickly disappeared into another darkness.

Only when Xu Zhiyan completely disappeared did Gan Mi escape from the darkness.

"That's great."

He answered in a low voice.

In my ears is the low, depressed and desperate sound of the minstrel's piano, but at the bar, the glass that the bartender is wiping reflects a charming halo under the light.

The feeling of shortness of breath once again surged into Gan Mi's heart.

He found a random seat and sat down.

When Xu Zhiyan left, the emotions that had just come alive during the conversation subsided again.

This is probably the bond of human memory, the feeling of disappearance.

"Boom——"

The string broke and the sound of the piano stopped abruptly.