Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 3177: Chapter 3178: The Black-Robed Figure

Although this place is also called a marketplace, it is quite different from the commonly understood concept of a ”marketplace”.

The most common feature here is the mirrors. Everywhere are upright mirrors, and these mirrors serve as ’doors’, leading to booths behind them. The mirrors also display part of the interior or the main product, to attract passing customers.

Besides the clusters of upright mirrors, there are some people holding signs, standing nearby with a large box behind them. Their signs list their goods, and further discussion can be done if needed.

Of course, there are the traditional booths where goods are spread out on the ground. However, these are quite rare.

Primarily because there is no security guarantee.

Such actual ground booths either have goods of low value, which can be left on the ground without concern for loss, or are backed by merchants with formidable strength, unafraid of anyone approaching.

Apart from the aforementioned booths, there are also booths specifically supplied to the Crystal Eye Clan called ”Crystal Shell” booths.

Rent a crystal shell, then unfold it to form small crystal stone houses.

These crystal stone houses are temporarily used as shops.

These rented crystal shell booths not only serve the purpose of a marketplace but also come with a security shield that can protect merchants and goods inside the shell to the greatest extent.

Additionally, colorful lights are provided around the crystal shell booths.

These colorful lights, from afar, appear decorative and eye-catching without showing any other purpose. However, as passersby come closer, the lights will gather to form various exotic illusions.

Such as now, in front of Angel, there is a domed pure white crystal stone house.

As Angel and Laplace approached this crystal stone house, they saw the surrounding pale yellow lights condense into the illusion of a rock creature. This dark creature was loudly shouting at the passersby: ”Gems, gems, colorful gems, starlight gems, Mirror World gems! Cheap and not expensive, buy gems and get gems for free!”

Whenever someone approaches, it repeats the shouting.

The details, actions, and sounds remain unchanged.

Undoubtedly, this is a programmed illusion with the function of... advertising.

Using illusions for advertising to attract customers seems trivial, but the Crystal Eye Clan’s ability to conceptualize and execute such a universally applicable operation, allowing anyone renting a crystal shell to use this feature, is quite impressive.

”These are the Rongshi Clan, but creatures in the mirror prefer to call them Destroyers.” Perhaps seeing Angel’s gaze fixed on the rock creature, Laplace explained the species to which it belonged.

Angel wasn’t initially curious about the origins of the rock creature; he was simply captivated by the ”illusionary advertisement”.

Yet, when Laplace mentioned they were called ”Destroyers”, Angel couldn’t help but ask curiously: ”Why are they called Destroyers?”

”The gems sold by the Rongshi Clan are actually found through their ability to sense and excavate in mirror space, but their excavation inadvertently causes irreversible damage to the mirror space. Usually, the mirror spaces they have excavated soon fade into mirror light, hence they are called Destroyers.”

The so-called destruction refers to the destruction of mirror space.

”However, they mostly destroy empty and uninhabited mirror spaces, and considering the multitude of mirror spaces born and dying daily in the Mirror Domain, their actions aren’t considered excessive.”

Their nickname may sound unpleasant, but in reality, the reputation of the Rongshi Clan is far better than the Pirush and Changhuo Clan.

Laplace: ”But it is rumored that the Rongshi Clan doesn’t get along well with the Ersi Clan.”

The Rongshi Clan destroys mirror spaces, while the Ersi Clan’s talent is to solidify and repair mirror spaces, which is somewhat contradictory from a talent perspective.

However, whether there is true animosity is unknown.

”Do you want to take a look?” Laplace pointed to the gem house opened by the Rongshi Clan and inquired.

Angel thought for a moment and nodded.

In the Southern Domain, gems are a versatile material. They can be used in almost every field, including alchemy. Angel’s bracelet contains numerous gems.

He also wanted to see what differences there are between gems produced in the Mirror Domain and those outside.

Thus, Angel and Laplace entered the gem house.

However, they quietly exited just three minutes later.

It’s not that the gems were lacking, but most of them were ordinary gems used in structuring rituals or crafting simple magic potions, while those containing extraordinary power were full of Aggregation Energy inside, which Angel couldn’t use.

Therefore, after taking a quick glance, Angel decided to leave.

After leaving the gem house, Angel continued chatting with Laplace while exploring the surroundings.

During this process, Angel saw many interesting items, though most were powered by Aggregation Energy; even so, some caught Angel’s attention.

For example, Angel saw a mirror space filled with plants.

Entering it felt like stepping into a miniature rainforest.

These plants don’t require soil; they only need to absorb a small amount of Aggregation Energy to grow rapidly. From ordinary flower seeds, tree seeds, to Demon Plant seeds, this ”rainforest shop” had them for sale.

Angel wasn’t interested in the Demon Plant seeds but rather the ordinary plant seeds... His plan was to use these plant seeds to decorate his Heart Space.

The Heart Space lacks soil; the only Beast Blood Tree uses special cultivated soil.

Cultivated soil cannot be spread across the entire Heart Space, only used in small areas, so other plants can’t be grown. However, these plants, which grow by absorbing Aggregation Energy and don’t require soil, are ideal for the Heart Space.

Despite feeling tempted, it’s not necessary to buy them yet.

The most important reason is Angel doesn’t have any Crystalline...

Angel simply noted the location of this rainforest shop, for future visits if he has extra Crystalline to buy some seeds.

Besides this rainforest shop, Angel also jotted down several other shops he found interesting but didn’t currently need to purchase from.

...

When they emerged from another mirror space, Laplace’s gaze suddenly shifted to a distance.

Angel followed Laplace’s line of sight and, through the bustling street, saw a familiar figure on the opposite side... Luigi.

Luigi was standing at a booth, conversing with a person in a black robe.

Although Angel couldn’t hear what Luigi was saying, Angel remembered Luigi had previously gone to a shop rumored to sell musical scores, perhaps this black-robed person was the owner?

Having explored most of the surrounding area already, Angel thought, and walked toward Luigi.

Before Angel and Laplace could get close, Luigi sensed them and turned his head to look.

”Huh, why are you guys coming...” Luigi paused midway through his sentence, casting a suspicious glance at Angel: ”You... wouldn’t be here to borrow money, would you?”

”I... can lend you at most ten Crystalline, any more and I don’t have it.” Luigi initially wanted to say ’no money to lend’, but seeing Laplace’s indifferent gaze by the side, he reluctantly changed his words.

Angel originally didn’t intend to borrow money, but seeing Luigi’s stingy demeanor, he raised an eyebrow and said, ”Ten Crystalline would do, it’s better than not having even one Crystalline.”

Seeing that Angel was indeed looking to borrow money, Luigi pursed his lips, but still took out a small pouch and handed it to Angel.

The pouch was quite bulging, with a jingling sound inside, indicating there were more than ten Crystalline.

”I’ll give you a hundred Crystalline to use first...” Luigi muttered softly, ”That’s all, I really don’t have more.”

Angel took the pouch, but he didn’t intend to actually use it; he just wanted to see Luigi’s reaction. However, Angel knew that Luigi wasn’t truly stingy; he was just unsure about the price for the musical scores this time, which made him seem a bit tightfisted.

After Angel took the pouch, he was about to inquire about Luigi’s purchase of musical scores, but before he could speak, a low voice came from nearby.

”Are you a human? If you’re short on Crystalline, I can also accept Magic Crystals for my goods here.”

The speaker was a person in a black robe.

Before Angel arrived, Luigi was already in conversation with this robed figure.

The black robe covered his entire body, concealing his appearance and aura, making it impossible to discern his race. Such attire was quite common at gatherings, as not everyone liked being exposed.

As for the black-robed person’s stall... it was a truly uncommon, genuine street stall.

A piece of unknown fur was spread on the ground, with some curious little trinkets scattered on it. A glance revealed mostly ordinary items, with the only notable feature being that they all carried the aura of the Material Realm.

In other words, these were definitely not specialties of the Mirror Domain.

These kinds of items were more common in sales by the Ancient Tooth Fairy. Moreover, the items sold by the Ancient Tooth Fairy generally had Transcendent properties, but the black-robed person was selling entirely mundane items, including a dusty harp... which perhaps was what attracted Luigi’s interest.

Besides the harp, there were even more ordinary items, including Rain Flower Stones and pebbles on sale.

Even though these stones were tangible, it’s still difficult for them to catch the eye of creatures from within the mirror.

Perhaps it was precisely because the items for sale were so mundane that they dared to boldly set up a street stall.

Angel looked at the black-robed person: ”If I truly were a human, do you think I would spend Magic Crystals on these things?”

These items in the Southern Domain, not to mention using Magic Crystals, would be a great loss even if purchased with Gold Coins.

The black-robed person looked deeply at Angel: ”Since I mentioned Magic Crystals, I naturally have items that match their value, but they just aren’t displayed.”

Angel: ”For example?”

The black-robed person pointed to a gilded mirror not far away: ”If you want to see specific items, we can go inside for a detailed discussion.”

Angel glanced at the mirror and noticed a very familiar emblem etched on it.

”Pipi Castle?”

Previously, when Angel ventured into the inner city of Pipi Castle, he saw this emblem. This indicated that the owner of this mirror should be a Pirush.

The black-robed person affirmed: ”Yes, it’s a Pirush shop. But I’ve collaborated with the Pirush owner to rent a small portion of space to display goods. Want to check it out?”

Angel didn’t answer immediately, instead questioning, ”Since you’ve rented a goods area, why set up a stall outside?”

Hearing this question, the black-robed person fell silent.

Luigi chimed in instead: ”I know why, I asked earlier. The Pirush shop has a terrible reputation; people went in during the first half of the day and came out swearing, while for the latter half — which is now — it’s been two hours without a single visitor...”

This meant that even though the black-robed person rented part of the area for goods, he couldn’t sell anything because no one went in.

Thus, he had no choice but to set up a street stall outside, representing himself and drawing in customers.

As Luigi recounted this, he turned to the black-robed person: ”Didn’t you know about the Pirush’s reputation?”

The black-robed person chuckled bitterly: ”What good is knowing...I’m short on Crystalline as well, otherwise, I wouldn’t have rented a corner of that Pirush’s shop for a bargain.”

Luigi simply shrugged and stopped talking; Angel, however, raised a brow. From his perception of emotions, Angel deduced that the black-robed person’s supposed bitter laugh was entirely an act.

Of course, this couldn’t confirm that he lied, but the chance of deception was high.

”Want to have a look inside?” The black-robed person continued, looking at Angel.

Angel could sense that the black-robed person was exuding a sense of urgency, appearing eager to conduct business with him.

Why was this the case?

Angel didn’t respond, but Luigi spoke up: ”I intended to go check it out anyway; he mentioned having a nice church musical score, which I must appraise.”

Angel chuckled: ”Then let’s go take a look together.”

Angel was uncertain about the black-robed person’s motive, but with Laplace by his side, what was there to fear?

Upon hearing Angel’s decision, the black-robed person breathed a silent sigh of relief.

With a gentle wave, the street stall was packed up, and all items were collected under his black robe.

Next, the black-robed person gestured with his hand and said: ”This way, please.”

...

Angel was the last one to enter the mirror; as soon as he stepped in, he heard a voice cursing: ”Keep running, don’t stop until I say so, or I’ll toss you into a pot and cook you!”

”Squeak, squeak —” A frightened squeal followed by the sound of scampering.

Angel looked up and saw the mirror space filled with machinery and gears. A petite green Pirush stood atop a glass cabinet, brandishing a tiny whip, glaring fiercely at a hamster inside a treadmill.

The plump hamster, terrified, sprinted within the wheel, causing the mechanical gears connected to it to slowly turn.

At least dozens of linkage chains lined the wall, with over a hundred gears; this hamster truly epitomized ”struggling under burden.”

While Angel was observing the hamster, the Pirush noticed the newcomers in the shop. He quickly swapped his expression for a sleazy grin, attempting to greet them; but upon seeing Angel and company enter with the black-robed person, the Pirush’s face fell instantly.

”Your guests?” The Pirush asked with raised, hairless brows.

The black-robed person nodded.

The Pirush rolled his eyes dramatically, turned away, and continued threatening the poor hamster with a whip.

The black-robed person then turned to Angel: ”Pay him no mind, this way, please.”

He pointed to a small cubicle beside them, veiled by a curtain.

”All my treasures are inside there.”