Celine made her way down the iron ladder.
After what felt like an eternity, her feet finally touched a narrow stone platform.
At the end of the platform stood a rust-covered iron door.
There was no handle on the door, only a relief of a human face with tightly shut eyes embedded right in the center.
Following the old man's instructions, Celine knocked three times on the door, and the relief's eyes slowly fluttered open.
The eyeballs were two cloudy, grey crystals that swept across her cloak, her waist, and her hands in turn.
“Room Seven,” Celine said, reporting her entry point number.
The stone face opened its mouth, letting out a low voice. “Temporary guest?”
“Yes.”
A wisp of grey mist drifted out of its mouth, slowly swirling around Celine's body as if conducting another inspection.
A moment later, the grey mist retreated back into the stone face's mouth, and the heavy sound of sliding chains echoed from behind the iron door.
While she waited, Celine raised her hand to brush past her face, quietly activating the 【Witch's Mask】.
Beneath her cloak, Celine's dark hair gradually shifted to a greyish-brown, and her eyes were covered by an inconspicuous, dull yellow.
She then retrieved a plain, patternless black mask from her Radiant Ring to cover most of her face.
The new agent of the Rosalinds had made several public appearances in the North District recently.
Although few in the Secret Alley cared about the true identities of their guests, that didn't mean no one was willing to sell information to others.
With enough gold coins, any secret could find a buyer.
The heavy iron door slowly swung inward, revealing a person wearing a dark bronze mask standing behind it.
The mask had no facial features, only two narrow slits where the eyes should be.
In his right hand, he held a blue bone lantern, and perched on his left shoulder was a white lizard no larger than a palm.
The lizard had transparent wings on its back and was tilting its head, sizing her up.
“Return before midnight.” The dark-bronze-masked figure handed over a grey wooden token. “This wooden plate only grants access to the outer trading area. Inside the Secret Alley, only black tokens are recognized. The exchange counter is just ahead.”
Celine took the wooden token. “Understood.”
The dark-bronze-masked figure stepped aside. As she crossed the threshold, the first thing she saw was a narrow stone room embedded in the rocky wall.
The stone room had no door, only a window less than a palm high, with a black tray protruding from the inside.
A deathly pale lantern hung above the window.
Instead of a flame, a constantly spinning eyeball floated inside the lantern.
Whenever someone approached, the eyeball would stop and stare directly at the passerby.
A wooden sign hung beside the window, with words written on it:
【Gold coins, mana crystals, and materials can all be exchanged.】
【We only value worth, not origin.】
【Ten percent fee for buying in, ten percent fee for cashing out.】
【Once you leave the counter, you are responsible for any authenticity issues.】
As expected of the Secret Alley, they collected their transaction fees with absolute, shameless confidence.
She placed the pouch of gold coins onto the tray. In the next second, the tray retracted into the window on its own, followed by a faint, rapid chewing sound.
A moment later, a pale mouth squeezed out of the window, its lips flapping as it spat out a mumbled sentence.
“Standard Golden Scale gold coins. Deducting the exchange fee, a total of three hundred and eighty-six black tokens.”
The black tray slid out again, now holding over a dozen thin, black metal pieces.
Celine picked up one of them. It felt ice-cold to the touch, and the pattern on each piece was unique.
【Secret Alley Black Token】
【Protected by special transaction rules】
【Used exclusively for internal settlement within the Red Kite Secret Alley】
【Possesses no direct purchasing power outside of the Secret Alley】
Celine put away her tokens and her pass, and the eyeball inside the pale lantern slowly rolled away to look at the next customer.
With the exchange complete, she truly stepped into the Secret Alley, and the space before her suddenly opened up.
Last time, with Nolani leading the way, they had hurried past the gambling tables and main streets without taking a close look at their surroundings.
Now that she had entered alone, she truly realized:
If Red Kite was a free-trade city for humans, then the Secret Alley was a free-trade capital for all races.
Driven by curiosity, Celine continued deeper. Following some rather inconspicuous signs, she arrived at the outermost “Flea District” near the entrance.
Most of the items sold here were of unknown origin, yet not quite classified as forbidden.
An insectoid vendor with four arms was busy repairing two crossbows at the same time.
The upper half of her face was covered in a hard carapace, and her four hands moved so quickly they left afterimages.
Next door, a goblin squatted on an upturned wooden barrel, loudly hawking various bottled sounds.
Laughter, weeping, the cries of infants, and the death rattles of the dying were all sealed inside slender glass tubes.
Whenever someone drew near, dozens of bottles would vibrate gently in unison.
Not far away, a merman wrapped in wet cloth lay face down in a stone trough filled with black water.
On its stall lay dozens of fist-sized pearls, each containing a tiny curled-up human figure.
Whenever someone asked for a price, it would blow a stream of bubbles from its gills.
A copper plate hanging beside the stone trough automatically translated:
【Dreams of the Sea. One pearl grants seven days of sleep.】
Celine didn't stay long and continue down the street.
Once she passed the grey goods district, a massive road sign assembled from brass gears appeared overhead.
The gears turned slowly, constantly shifting the words displayed upon them.
【Left: Exotic Beast Pens】
【Right: Old Machinery Yard】
【Lower Level: Red Well】
【Iron Token Holders Only: Black Contract District】
【No Unrelated Personnel Allowed Near the Sealed Level】
All sorts of chaotic cries echoed from the Exotic Beast Pens.
Cages held six-legged juvenile rock lizards, transparent tanks floated fist-sized blue slimes, and a mimic shaped like a wooden chest repeatedly snapped its lid open, trying to bite any passing customers.
Deeper inside, numerous rare races could be seen.
Beastkin wearing deep hoods kept their ears flat as they hurried along the edges of the crowd.
A towering lizardman carried three cargo crates on his shoulder, his thick tail dragging across the ground and sweeping anyone in his path right out of the way.
Two mushroom folk, reaching only as high as an average person's chest, sat side-by-side behind their stall, their facial features completely hidden beneath their broad caps.
Whenever a customer asked for a price, spores of different colors would drift from their bodies, and a translating wind chime hanging in front of the stall would ring out the price.
There was also a translucent figure standing behind a second-hand clothing stall.
It seemed to have no physical form, its body constantly scattering in the draft, forcing it to anchor itself inside a suit of old armor.
Every time it sold a piece of clothing, a satisfied sigh would echo from the chest cavity of the armor.
Humans, on the other hand, seemed incredibly ordinary and even fragile here.
Different races, monsters, undead, and masked guests crowded together in the same underground district.
Some traded medicinal herbs, some bought and sold intelligence, and some even bartered ten years of their future lifespan for a bottle of red potion rumored to regrow severed limbs.
Celine stopped wandering. She withdrew her gaze and turned toward the Old Machinery Yard on the right, which was her true destination tonight.
The closer she got to the Old Machinery Yard, the wider the streets became.
The ground was paved with heavy, load-bearing black iron plates, beneath which the low rumble of turning gears constantly vibrated.
Several tracks embedded in the ground converged from different directions, with flatbed carts laden with goods moving forward on their own without anyone pushing them.
The items displayed on either side grew increasingly massive.
A war golem missing an arm, a puppet horse reduced to half a skeleton, and an alchemy cauldron burned down to its bare metal frame.
There was even a battered sand boat that had somehow ended up underground, its sails still encrusted with large patches of yellow sand that would never melt.
Celine's gaze lingered on the boat for a brief moment.
Just then, a gruff voice echoed from up ahead.
“Hey, you got a new iron hammer?”
A dwarf with his beard braided into three strands quickly caught up with his companion, his eyes landing on the brand-new black iron hammer hanging at the other's waist.
“What about your old one?”
The other dwarf patted his belt, looking rather pleased with himself.
“You noticed? Of course, I put the old one on—”
“Wait! No advertising here!” Celine held up her palm and instinctively blurted out to interrupt them.
Both dwarves froze in their tracks and turned to look at her. The dwarf with the new iron hammer frowned.
“What advertising? I was saying I put the old one on consignment in the Old Machinery Yard.”
The dwarf beside him also sized her up as if looking at a total weirdo.
“Bizarre.”
The two mumbled to each other as they walked away, quickly disappearing behind a piece of massive machinery.
Celine stood where she was, letting out a helpless sigh.
How on earth did she still manage to hear those ubiquitous, inescapable ads even in a place like this?
Perhaps that was just a universal trait of all second-hand trading platforms.
Celine composed herself and continued walking toward the Heavy Cargo District, which specialized in handling vehicles and large seized assets.
Rows of cargo wagons were parked between stone pillars.
Some carriages still bore the crests of their original caravans, while others had been stripped down to their bare chassis.
Pack horses, horned beasts, and giant lizards were tethered in separate areas, wooden plates hanging from their necks detailing their age, health condition, and foreclosure price.
Just as Celine stepped into the area, a diminutive old gnome came forward to meet her.
His right eye had been replaced by a telescoping brass lens, and his waist was draped in keys and small hammers that jingled incessantly with every step he took.
“Buying or selling?”
“Buying,” Celine said, keeping her voice low.
“I need five wagons capable of long-distance travel. They must be ready to hit the road within seven days.”
The lens in the gnome's brass eye immediately spun.
“Not too many requirements. What's the budget?”
“Show me the goods first.” Celine looked down at him. “As long as the quality is there, black tokens won't be an issue.”
She paused, her voice turning cold.
“But if you're planning to slip in a few scraps of junk just to have me clear out the Old Machinery Yard's warehouse, let's not waste each other's time.”
The old gnome stared at her for a couple of seconds before his attitude finally turned serious.
“Follow me.”
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