Chapter 56 - 53: Speaking of the Big Shot

Chapter 56: Chapter 53: Speaking of the Big Shot

Seeing Shi An ask this, the stall owner immediately clicked his tongue, realizing he was dealing with an expert.

Team-up items were rare. Let alone ordinary people, even many Dream Descenders had only heard of them and might not necessarily recognize one.

Shi An had seen team-up items very early on. Indeed, back when he was still a newbie Manager, during the Safe Zone’s second time opening for business, Old Yao and K had teamed up to enter the Nightmare World.

This showed that the Countermeasures Bureau was quite wealthy. At the time, K was not a rising star in the Countermeasures Bureau; he was just an unremarkable newbie Dream Descender.

"This item costs one Dream Crystal," the stall owner said. "That’s the industry price."

Shi An shook his head. "Too expensive. This item can only form a team with one other person."

The value of a team-up item for two people naturally differed greatly from one meant for three or four. This was especially true for Senior Dream Descenders who aimed to conquer Nightmares, as they often had to form teams of three to four. Two people had too many limitations, making it completely insufficient to conquer a Nightmare.

Of course, the main reason was that such team-up items were all one-time consumables. For the team-up to take effect, the two Dream Descenders needed to be of a similar Tier. If a Refining Stage powerhouse and a Fusion Stage Dream Descender both pressed their handprints onto it, they would still be separated when experiencing a Fallen Dream.

This meant that team-up items were useful, but only to a certain extent.

Shi An got up to leave.

The stall owner called out, "Wait, nine hundred Dream Dust isn’t out of the question!"

Shi An kept walking.

"Give me a price! We can negotiate!" the stall owner shouted.

Shi An walked further away, disappearing around the corner. He hadn’t planned on buying it in the first place.

The stall owner had actually misjudged him. He wasn’t an expert at all; Shi An was just an unremarkable ordinary person. How could he possibly have the Dream Dust to buy a Nightmare item?

Meanwhile, at the other side of the market.

Old Song and the others were just browsing and looking around. They carried a mix of vigilance and curiosity toward Nightmares and Dream Descenders, looking exactly like the complete novices they were.

Fortunately, the order in the Wanmeng Dreams City black market was quite good; it wasn’t a lawless place.

Old Song had been here more than once. "This black market is mainly managed by a few organizations: the Suffering Self-Help Association, White Dove, and the New Dream Alliance.

"These organizations maintain the order of the black market, and naturally, they collect management fees. For example, the most basic stall here costs 200 grams of Dream Dust a day. I hear there’s a discount for a monthly rental."

Two hundred grams!

"That’s so expensive!" Zhang Yuning exclaimed softly. A rookie Dream Descender like her couldn’t even save up that much Dream Dust in a month.

Shi An also muttered under his breath that it was a total rip-off. Compared to this place, his Safe Zone was simply too affordable.

Old Song shook his head. "It’s actually not that expensive. You have to understand that some black markets charge entry and toll fees upfront. This Wanmeng Dreams City black market already has relatively high foot traffic here in Baijiang, so this stall fee is reasonably priced."

Shi An noticed there were indeed many stalls here. A fair number of stall owners seemed to be just ordinary people, selling goods on behalf of others.

Most of the items on the stalls were bizarre and hard to identify, but a small fraction were treasures that looked instantly valuable. For example, Curse Objects.

Even an Incomplete Level Curse Object was a top-tier treasure in the circles of Ordinary Dream Descenders. For the vast majority of Dream Descenders who possessed only one Lifebound Curse Object, having an extra Curse Object was equivalent to having an extra trick or Skill up their sleeves.

Looking at the Curse Objects displayed so openly, Shi An fell into deep thought. "It seems the order in this black market really is quite good."

"Indeed." Old Song shared some rumors. "It’s not like there haven’t been incidents here. In the past, two Senior Dream Descenders hijacked a batch of goods. But rumor has it that the black market’s manager severely injured and subdued both Dream Descenders without even showing their face."

A passing man chimed in, acting overly familiar. "That’s right! I was there at the time! From a distance, I saw the manager commanding a Ghost Object to float across the sky above the black market. In just the blink of an eye, that Ghost Object blocked the path of the two robbers.

"The ground turned into a pond, and strands of hair acted like seaweed. The two robbers couldn’t even hold on for a few breaths before their legs were snapped."

Robberies in the black market had actually occurred quite a few times. Occasionally, Dream Descenders would suffer an episode and suddenly start fighting. These were all unstable factors, but they were quickly brought under control by the management.

However, most of the time, the management used firearms and shot tranquilizers. Dream Descenders were mere mortals with flesh and blood; even when using Curse Objects, they couldn’t unleash too much power, so they still feared guns.

Yet, compared to firearms, the ruthless strike of a master Dream Descender was far more shocking and much more worthy of being treated as gossip.

"Who was this master?" the rookie Dream Descender, Zhang Yuning, asked.

The overly familiar man answered, "It was none other than Mr. Hair Ghost of the Suffering Self-Help Association! Mr. Hair Ghost is also the number one expert in our Wanmeng Dreams City black market. Rumor has it that he has conquered more than just one Nightmare!"

Song Qiming was surprised. Take Zhang Yuning, for example; although she was backed by the Countermeasures Bureau—an entity whose sheer size far exceeded a small organization like the Self-Help Association—an organization was still just an organization, and an individual was an individual.

A Control Stage master like Hair Ghost was considered a top-tier powerhouse, even in the eyes of Ordinary Dream Descenders from major factions.

"Is this the demeanor of an expert?" Zhang Yuning wondered aloud.

Old Song said, "Don’t be discouraged. You will also have the chance to become that kind of expert in the future." He was saying this to Shi An, Li Hao, and Jiang Yilu as well.

Unless they truly were Nightmare Insulators, given their identities and circumstances, experiencing a Fallen Dream was only a matter of time. It was just a question of whether it would take days, months, or years.

Shi An replied, "Ah, yes, yes, yes."

Li Hao chimed in, "My goal isn’t just the Control Stage!"

But in reality, Hair Ghost was about to break through to the Refining Stage. Shi An was preparing to arrange a Nightmare for him to assist his Breaking Realm.

Sometime later.

When leaving the black market, newbies like Zhou and Jiang Yilu were still a bit excited. The black market possessed more of the "Dream Descender atmosphere" they had imagined. As for the Countermeasures Bureau? At least the branch office was no different from an ordinary administrative unit.

However, when leaving the black market and preparing to take the elevator back, Shi An frowned.

The nearby restroom had been cordoned off with caution tape at some unknown point.

Two men in black trench coats were speaking with the black market’s management. Everyone’s expressions were quite grim.

Further away, deep inside the restroom where the eye couldn’t reach, Shi An could distantly sense a thick, chilling aura lingering in the air.

"This place feels a bit ominous. We should leave as soon as possible," he said.

Old Song agreed. "Right, let’s not stick around. Let’s go."

The group returned to the Bureau without incident. Shi An noticed that Old Song seemed to have gone off to gather information about the situation.

Thus, after slacking off in the training area for a while, he went to ask Old Song about it.

Old Song’s face was solemn. He lowered his voice and said, "Something did indeed happen at the black market. A Dream Descender wearing a Pigsy mask died in a restroom stall.

"Normally, one or two people dying isn’t a big deal in the world of Dream Descenders, but...

"Traces of an Anomaly were detected in the restroom stall!"

An Anomaly!

Was it a Nightmare invading reality, allowing an Anomaly to break free from the Nightmare and escape?

Shi An didn’t know the answer, but he only felt a sense of gravity.

Old Song comforted him, "You don’t need to worry too much. Anomalies in reality are much easier to deal with than those inside a Nightmare. This Anomaly will surely be found and disposed of very soon."