Chapter 836: Train Station

836. Train Station

"Wait, that actually works?"

Lin Ye took out a box of Concentrated Color from his loot space and placed it next to his Black Card.

A faint black thread appeared between the two Black Cards, and on that thread was a needle-like marker.

"What the hell is that thing!"

The middle-aged man saw the marker pressed against his Black Card and suspected something was wrong with it.

Cold sweat trickled down his forehead. This was the first time he'd witnessed such an absurd difference in value.

"This is a box of Concentrated Color. It's considered a fairly high-end material, I suppose."

Lin Ye answered the man's question honestly.

"Concentrated... Color?"

The middle-aged man clearly had never heard of such a material.

He frantically pulled items out of his spatial item and placed them next to his Black Card, but no matter how much he produced, the marker didn't budge a single inch, as if it had been nailed in place.

"So you can add new items to the comparison. I wish I'd tested with something cheaper first. Though I don't exactly carry cheap items on me, so that's a problem in itself."

Lin Ye had never met an enemy so determined to lose.

Unfortunately, most of his high-value possessions were stashed in the basement, or else he might have been able to buy up several city blocks in Miracle City.

Whether he could buy the entire city, he couldn't say.

The middle-aged man stared at the unmoving marker in utter despair. Everything he owned, combined, wasn't worth as much as that single box of material.

"Are we done here? I've got things to handle, and I don't have time to waste."

Lin Ye sensed the state of his Black Card, then reached out and grabbed it.

The middle-aged man across from him was sucked into the Black Card, and that card merged along the black thread into Lin Ye's own.

Lin Ye checked his Black Card and found its value had increased.

His Black Card was now worth 62,400 trade points.

"A Controller is that loaded? That probably isn't just his own value, who knows how many Black Cards he'd absorbed."

Lin Ye put the Black Card away, ready to move on to the next commission.

"Wouldn't you rather hunt down other Black Cards? That's way faster than finishing commissions."

Scarlatti didn't understand why Lin Ye wouldn't just collect Black Cards.

"Until those trade points are actually in my hands, that card is just a pretty number. Commissions earn me real trade points."

Lin Ye told Scarlatti the location of the next commission.

"Fine, I guess there's something off about the trade points on that card anyway."

Scarlatti opened a door. On the other side was a wide street lined with upscale hotels.

The address the client had given was Room 403 in the hotel right next to them.

Lin Ye stepped into the hotel, where a spacious golden lobby stretched before him.

The two took the elevator to the fourth floor and quickly found Room 403.

Knock. Knock.

Lin Ye knocked on the door. It opened a crack, as if inviting them inside.

"Hold on, are you sure the client is in there?"

Scarlatti suddenly spoke up.

"What's the problem?"

Lin Ye withdrew his hand and didn't push the door open.

"I've stayed at this hotel before. Under normal circumstances, you can only open the door with an Access Card. Even if the room's occupant is inside, opening the door requires going through an unlocking procedure, and unlocking makes a sound."

"It's supposedly to simulate the nostalgic feel of those old-school hotels."

Scarlatti took a step back.

"In that case, let's forget it and head downstairs."

Lin Ye returned to the elevator lobby and sent a message to the client.

The client didn't respond. Just then, Lin Ye received a message from the Miraculous Trader:

"Those commissions have run into some issues. Though they only came up after you took them over."

"Got it."

Lin Ye replied, then left the hotel with Scarlatti.

"Looks like someone's out to make trouble for you."

Scarlatti walked beside Lin Ye with her hands clasped behind her back, her steps light.

"Yeah, I can probably guess who. My enemies aren't exactly numerous."

Lin Ye skimmed the commission list and picked a new one.

"Really? I figured you'd have a ton of enemies."

Scarlatti looked at Lin Ye with a skeptical expression.

"I don't like leaving enemies behind, unless they're ones I can't take care of for now. It might get a bit dangerous later. Still coming along?"

Lin Ye wasn't all that familiar with Miracle City. If his opponent could harness the city's power, things could get very troublesome.

"Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself. So where to next?"

Scarlatti had no plans to leave just yet. She wanted to see Lin Ye finish a few more commissions.

"The client says he's waiting for me on the train."

Lin Ye had no idea what the train was.

"Then we need to head to the stop and catch it."

Scarlatti opened a door. On the other side was a train station.

Lin Ye stepped through. The train hadn't arrived yet, and a few passengers sat on the platform benches, waiting for it to pull in.

"Where does this train go?"

Lin Ye sat down on one of the benches too.

"Who knows. It's a random sightseeing train. It takes passengers out of Miracle City to tour other places, and the stops it passes are completely random."

Scarlatti pulled out two train tickets and handed one to Lin Ye.

"Is it dangerous?"

Lin Ye had ridden similar trains before, though back then he'd had to pick a stop to complete a mission.

"The train protects passengers from outside dangers, but it's not entirely risk-free. The stops are random, and if it passes through an especially dangerous area, an accident could happen."

Though the odds of that were very slim. Scarlatti had only heard of such incidents a few times.

"Then who would ride this thing?"

Just from her description alone, Lin Ye felt it was highly unreliable.

"Come on, it's a golden opportunity to venture into dangerous areas using Miracle City's protection! The train stops at certain stations for a while, and passengers can get off to grab some memorabilia from outside."

Scarlatti had ridden the train a few times herself, though she rarely got off, because only within the train's range was she shielded by Miracle City's power.

"...I think I've ridden something like this before. You guys don't happen to have bus stops around here too, do you?"

Lin Ye thought of the Station Mission.

"Of course we do. But the buses run on fixed routes, nowhere near as thrilling as the train."

Scarlatti turned to look at the end of the tracks. An old-fashioned train was approaching the platform.

"Damn, it really is this thing!"

Only now did Lin Ye realize that the system activity was outsourced.

'Could the other activities be outsourced too?'

Lin Ye still wasn't clear on the relationship between Miracle City and the system.

The train pulled into the station and came to a stop right in front of Lin Ye.

He got up and stepped into the familiar old-fashioned train.