"We discovered several strange corpses here, very peculiar. You need to come and have a look."

Zhou An led Su Changxing towards the warehouse, "When we encountered them, they seemed like living people, though their consciousness was unclear, they could still speak."

"What kind of people?" Su Changxing asked.

Zhou An thought for a moment and said, "I can’t quite describe it, you’ll know when you see them."

The warehouse exuded a chilly atmosphere. Three corpses lay on the ground, with one suture mark after another on their bodies.

The heads of two of the bodies were separated, cut off by a blade, likely Zhou An’s sword.

"The sutures on their bodies weren’t done by us; they were already there before they died," Zhou An explained.

The sutures were numerous, making the three corpses appear like stitched together blood puppets.

"Their internal organs are a mushy mess, and I have no idea how they were still alive in this state," Zhou An continued.

The gruesome state of the corpses made people uneasy. The Security Bureau members nearby all looked uncomfortable.

Su Changxing examined the corpses and noticed some clues: "These people are blood puppets, stitched together from flesh and bone fragments, likely the handiwork of the Doomsday Cultists. It’s quite gruesome."

"They might retain some self-awareness but are also manipulated from behind the scenes."

Zhou An thought for a while and said, "Should we still go through with our transaction? There’s a high chance some of those people are Doomsday Cultists. Selling to them is like selling to the Doomsday Cult."

Su Changxing pondered over the corpses on the ground and said, "Transaction, why not? I’ll go myself."

...

Night had just fallen.

Over a hundred people gathered in the ruins of the library.

They were all players here to purchase the pendants, their faces masked and wrapped tightly to conceal their identities.

"Where are they? Didn’t they say we would trade here?" A burly man wearing an Ultraman mask shouted loudly, his voice genuine, with no concealment.

The others knew his identity, Wang Chenghu, who was relatively well-known in the player community; straightforward in character, quite capable, but not yet an Extraordinary.

"Not sure, the trading time hasn’t arrived yet, maybe they’ll be here later," said another person wrapped in a scarf.

"Are you all here to trade for the Guide Pendants?" Wang Chenghu asked, looking around.

He thought that there would only be a handful of traders, but he didn’t expect there would be so many.

This implied that a considerable number of Guide Pendants had been leaked from the Security Bureau. They wore masks to hide their identities because the origin of these pendants was reportedly not legitimate.

Under normal circumstances, when the Security Bureau itself doesn’t have enough, they wouldn’t sell them outside.

"Yes, I am."

"Me too."

Some of the surrounding people responded, all of whom were there to trade.

If they were all buyers, then where was the seller?

The library was plunged into silence.

No one spoke anymore.

They were all here for the Guide Pendants, viewing those around them as competitors, so there was no need for much discussion.

A crisp footstep echoed from above, accompanied by a faint glow of fire.

A clown with a red-green mask appeared on the platform above, holding a lantern, "Ha, you all came early."

Immediately, everyone’s eyes turned towards the direction, seeing Su Changxing holding a worn-out wooden box.

They all guessed that it contained a large number of Guide Pendants.

Many people’s breathing became rapid, with desire and rationality colliding.

"Where’s the item we are to trade?" asked a person wearing a ghost-face mask. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Su Changxing gestured to the box in his hand, wearing an exaggerated smile, "The items are here, but there are only 50, and over a hundred of you."

Wang Chenghu shouted, "What do we do then, highest bidder wins? That wasn’t what was agreed before."

Su Changxing looked at the burly man who was half a meter taller than him, nodded slightly, and smiled, "Of course not. I’m only selling this to designated individuals."

Another person asked, "Designated individuals? What’s the standard for that?"

Su Changxing placed the lantern on the railing, "There isn’t one. Whoever I find pleasing to the eye is designated. There’s no standard to speak of."

"And let me make it clear, once I sell this to someone, it’s theirs. Don’t think about stealing it or having any devious ideas."

As he spoke, ghostly green figures appeared in the library, floating in the air, on the walls, and the ceiling.

Hundreds of Evil Spirits surrounded the entire library, hues of chilling melancholy permeated the space, a thin layer of frost covering the dust-covered windows.

Seeing this scene, those with ulterior motives calmed down completely, realizing that the person dressed as a clown in front of them likely possessed immense power.

Su Changxing pointed at Wang Chenghu and said, "Next, whoever I name will come up to trade... you with the Ultraman mask, come up first."

Wang Chenghu didn’t expect Su Changxing to call him first, filled with joy. He quickly climbed the stairs, "Thank you, Mr. Clown."

Su Changxing leaned against the railing, casually asked, "Do you know me?"

Wang Chenghu chuckled, "I used to be part of the Mutual Aid Association, escaped from Donglin City, of course I know of you."

Su Changxing nodded, "Okay, go in."

Inside the room, Zhu Xin Xue also wore a similar clown mask, sitting on a bench, holding paper and pen.

Xu Kai stood quietly at the side with a black blade on his back, wearing a mask that exposed his eyes, hands crossed over his chest.

Seeing Wang Chenghu enter, Zhu Xin Xue pointed at the bench in front of her and said, "First, sit here and fill in your information, gender, name, game ID."

Wang Chenghu froze for a moment, noticing that the person in front of him seemed like a young girl, "Huh?"

Zhu Xin Xue, in a serious tone, said, "To proceed with the transaction, you must register first, stating your reason for wanting to become Extraordinary."

Wang Chenghu widened his eyes, puzzled, "What reason can there be, obviously to become stronger."

Zhu Xin Xue nodded, "Yes, that’s a reason too. What’s your zodiac sign?"

"Zodiac sign..."

"Pisces?"

"How did you know?"

"Just a guess."

Zhu Xin Xue nodded to Xu Kai beside her.

Xu Kai took out a pendant and handed it to Wang Chenghu, "Transfer the points to her."

Wang Chenghu immediately put the pendant around his neck, smiling gleefully, "I’ll transfer it right away."

Each person below came up one by one, meaning fewer spots were left, making the remaining people more restless.

"Mr. Clown, I’m willing to pay double the price for a pendant!" a not-so-tall person wearing a bear mask shouted.

Su Changxing’s mouth curled into a smile, "Alright, you come up. Anyone else want to pay double?"

Those below were dumbfounded as they didn’t have that many points. Someone shouted, "This isn’t fair."

Su Changxing calmly said, "These are my items; I sell to whom I want. If you’re not happy, you can turn and leave... of course, not until the transaction concludes, only then can everyone leave."