In the night sky next to the waning moon, there seemed to be a looming perfectly circular arc-shaped dark line. The arc was so long that it almost divided the sky into two.
A cloud layer floated by, and the arc disappeared from sight in the blink of an eye... as if what I just saw was just an illusion.
In order to save energy, Jiangzhong City will no longer provide urban lighting after 8 p.m.
The main urban area of Jiangzhong City has been shrouded in pitch black night, but in the west corner of the city, there are still dim firelights in a certain intricate alley in the old city.
At the entrance of the alley, stood two young men.
One of them is nearly two meters tall, with strong inverted deltoid latissimus dorsi muscles on his back, and his arms are simply thicker than the average person's thighs.
His eyes widened, he turned around and said excitedly to his companions, "Jiang Kai, this is the dark alley of the West District!"
The dark alley in the West District is one of the four major black markets in Jiangzhong City. As its name suggests, it is a dark place.
The young man named Jiang Kai is much "skinny" in comparison. He is about 1.78 meters tall, and his body is thin and well-proportioned.
Compared with the surprised look on his companion's face, Jiang Kai looked much calmer. He just observed the crowded crowd in front of him.
"Jiang Kai, why do we have to come to the dark alleys of the West District? I heard that the underground streets of the East District are bigger than here." The burly young man asked.
Jiang Kai looked solemn and whispered, "What we want is most likely to appear here... Zhuzi, let's go in."
This alley is very narrow and can only accommodate five or six people walking side by side. The dim lights flicker on and off in the long alley.
In the narrow aisle, people coming in and out form an irregular flow of people.
To the right of the two people, there were some people standing at random intervals, leaning leisurely against the mottled wall. There was a small piece of black cloth in front of them, with some strange things placed on it.
For example, cards, wrinkled newspapers, empty syringes, white paper, and occasionally stones can be seen at some foreign stalls.
They will not take the initiative to strike up a conversation with buyers. They seem lazy, but their eyes are like falcons, scrutinizing passers-by.
Jiang Kai scanned the strange items, corresponding to the investigation he had done in advance, and mentally matched these sundries with the products they sold.
The cards represent the equipment in "The Calling", the newspapers represent various information, the needles represent job transfer materials, the white paper represents the trial qualification certificate, and the stones represent nuclear soil, which is a strictly controlled item.
There are rules in the dark alley. Here, the seller does not display the actual object, nor does he clearly mark the price. Once the transaction is completed, the purchase is made and no regrets are allowed.
It is precisely because of this that people who do not understand the market dare not take action easily.
The two of them walked slowly, and Jiang Kai secretly observed every seller who had business, their expressions, looks, and eyes.
After wandering around for more than two hours, Jiang Kai and Zhu Zhu finally figured out the situation here.
It looks like a narrow passage, but the flow of people is very large. The long and dilapidated alleys, with branch roads extending out and connecting each other, seem to have built this place into a small world extending in all directions.
"No wonder they say that the trading volume of the four major underground black markets may be higher than that of the official exchanges, but there are so many people trading here." Jiang Kai couldn't help but sigh.
"Well? Is there a road ahead?" Zhu Zhu looked at a place about ten meters ahead. After walking around for so long, they actually hadn't discovered this road before.
There was no firelight coming from the alley ahead, and it looked dark.
There are no signs here, so I don't know where it leads.
Just as the two of them were approaching, two figures suddenly appeared from the darkness and stood in front of them.
The two of them are both 1.9 meters tall and have strong bodies. Although they are not as good as Zhu Zhu, they are not as different as ordinary people.
"Go back if you don't want to die!" A strong man in black warned Jiang Kai and the two rudely while opening the hem of his clothes, revealing the thing tied around his waist.
Zhu Zhu looked at Jiang Kai with a bad expression on his face. Jiang Kai was still a little calmer, so he didn't say much, just pulled Zhu Zhu and turned around to leave.
They are not here to cause trouble. What secrets are hidden in places like dark alleys are not what Jiang Kai cares about right now.
After leaving that fork in the road, Jiang Kai noticed that Zhuzi's mood had become a little off, and he followed him silently.
Jiang Kai had already noticed something strange about Zhu Zhu, but he didn't stop until he was near the entrance and asked, "Zhu Zhu, what's wrong?"
Zhuzhu's voice was trembling a little, and he lowered his voice and said, "I saw that man just now had a gun on him!"
For two people who were just high school students a few days ago, the scene just now was truly frightening.
Jiang Kai nodded, "Don't be afraid. They just warned us that as long as we don't violate the rules here, it's usually safe in the dark alley. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many buyers here."
Although Zhu Zhu did not refute, he still had lingering fears and seemed a little impatient, "We have almost searched this place, let's at least find a seller to ask."
Jiang Kai frowned, thought for a while and said, "Don't be anxious, we can only gamble once, and we can't let go of any detail. Let's go around again."
At this moment, several roars came from the front, and the sounds got closer and closer.
"Get out of the way! Get out of the way!"
When Xun Sheng was about to leave, a man rushed over madly.
He ran wildly in a panic, knocked away pedestrians blocking the road, and rushed towards Jiang Kai and the pillar like crazy.
However, when he hit the pillar, instead of rushing over, he bounced back several steps.
In panic, the man looked up at the other person in surprise. When he saw the pillar that was as motionless as a wall, he trembled with fear.
What's stuck there is not a wall, but a person!
"Hug, I'm sorry..." After the man apologized to Zhu Zhu in a panic, he ran away from Zhu Zhu and staggered towards the entrance.
When he was escaping, Jiang Kai saw that there seemed to be several obvious blood marks on his back, which must have been left recently.
Immediately afterwards, seven or eight men in black rushed out with sticks in their hands.
The leading man had a scar on his right eyebrow bone and his right eyebrow was missing. He rushed to Jiang Kai with a rusty iron rod in his hand and yelled at Jiang Kai, "Get out..."
Before he finished speaking, he saw the "wall" standing beside Jiang Kai move.
His peripheral vision glanced at the pillar, and he swallowed the word "open" on his lips.
With his height of over 1.8 meters, he could only look up at that person. Under the dim light, that person's size and looking-down eyes brought an unparalleled sense of oppression!
The leading man swallowed, calmed down his attitude a little, and said in a deep voice, "Give me a moment."
Although Jiang Kai didn't know what happened, he knew very well that it was best for them not to get involved in the matters here.
He gestured to the pillar, and the two turned sideways to make way for them.
After the group of people disappeared, Zhu Zhu could not help but lean closer to Jiang Kai and whispered, "Jiang Kai, why don't we go back, I, I'm a little scared..."
The little look in his eyes that looked at Zhu Zhu for help was really out of proportion to his stalwart body.
"Tomorrow we will log in to "Tiantia" and participate in the newbie trial. Everyone has only one free trial opportunity in their lifetime. Let's buy something and leave." Jiang Kai reassured.
Yuan Zhu frowned, hesitated for a long time, and suddenly pulled Jiang Kai out of the dark alley.
This guy was surprisingly strong. He thought it was just a slight tug, but Jiang Kai had no ability to resist at all. He was dragged over like a chicken.
"Jiang Kai, I, I think... let's sell the qualification certificate..." Yuan Zhu squatted in the corner, lowered his head, and spoke in a low voice.
Jiang Kai was a little angry, and his tone increased unconsciously, "Zhuzi, didn't we agree to go to "Title" together, why have you changed your mind now?"
"It's not that I want to change my mind! Everyone knows that "vocation" can change destiny, but everyone also knows how difficult it is! You know the passing rate of newcomers' trials." Yuan Zhu muttered, "For us, it may not even be possible.
Less than one percent!”
"A qualification certificate can be sold for 25,000 alliance coins, which is enough for family expenses for two years!"
"You also know that I eat a lot. One person can eat as much as four or five others. It's not easy for my mother to feed me. I, I want to make money quickly!"
Zhu Zhu squatted there, looked up at Jiang Kai, and said, "Your family's situation is not as good as mine. Your brother works three jobs, and your sister is a freshman in high school. Didn't you say that you and Brother Lan want to support Yingzi to go to college?
That’s a lot of money, you need it more than me!”
Ever since Jiang Kai's family came to Jiangzhong City, he and Zhu Zhu had known each other. They knew the situation of the two families thoroughly, and what Zhu Zhu said about the situation was absolutely correct.
Zhu Zhu's words were like a basin of cold water, bringing Jiang Kai back to reality.
"Duty" is not an ordinary virtual reality game, it is a game that can change the fate of ordinary people!
Monsters in Vocational will drop a rare resource called "Nuclear Soil". As long as you complete the initial job transfer of the lowest level in "Lord of Duty", you can withdraw 10 grams of Nuclear Soil every time you log off.
In today's era of energy scarcity, nuclear soil is the most important energy source, and countries are scrambling to obtain it.
The price of 10 grams of nuclear soil is as high as 50,000 alliance coins!
If your occupation is "smuggler", you can carry 5 more grams each time!
It can be said that once you become an official player of Tianzhi, you can even change the fate of your family!
However, in order to become an official player of "Title", just the first level of the newcomer trial, you don't know how many people have to be eliminated.
It was a hunt, and the player was not a hunter...
The Newcomer Trial is said to be newcomers, but more often than not, it is the "old people" who have participated in the trial many times.
Those who are rich can purchase trial qualification certificates from others and participate in trials multiple times until they pass the trial.
In addition to having more experience, they will also purchase job transfer materials in advance. As soon as they enter "Title", they can complete the first job transfer and obtain attribute improvements and professional talents, which have a huge advantage over pure newcomers.
However, even if there are many "old people" participating, the pass rate of newcomers' trial is still less than 10%!
Calculated in this way, the chance of a true newcomer without support behind him to pass the newcomer trial is almost zero!
After the era of beast gods, human beings were struggling to survive, and it was not easy to survive.
Except for a few wealthy people, ordinary people are more willing to sell their qualification certificates than gamble on such a slim chance.
Jiang Kai squatted next to Zhu Zhu and put a hand on Zhu Zhu's shoulder.
After being silent for a long time, Jiang Kai sighed softly. He knew the situation at Zhuzi's family and didn't want to force his brother.
"Zhuzi, if you want to sell the qualification certificate, go to the official exchange. Although the price there is lower, it is safe. If you put it up early tomorrow morning, someone will sell it instantly. Don't worry about not being able to sell it in time."
"What about you?" Zhu Zhu raised his head and looked at Jiang Kai.
Jiang Kai didn't even think about it, "I still want to buy that thing."
Zhu Zhu said anxiously, "Do you know how unreliable that thing is?! Jiang Kai, just listen to me, let's just forget it. If you are poor, be poor. At least you can survive!"
Jiang Kai stood up and looked towards the dark alley, which was dark, unknown and dangerous.
"Zhuzi, there are some things you don't know. In short, what I want is not just to survive!"
"Even if I risk everything, I will still take the gamble!"
[Author's digression]: My little cuties, after two months, my old life is back! The new book is about to set sail. Please give me your support!
