The girl selling goods at the market had never seen money before.

"When the roar of steam mingles with the tracks, and the feathers soaring through the sky are dusted with industrial particles, I know this will be the end of an era, and the beginning of a new one." — The Age

Charles Dickens famously said it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. The city roared toward the future, while a perpetual fog hung over the once azure sky.

The past, outward gods, churches, witches... mystery raged beneath the curtain of time, and also took its final bow on the opera stage...

In short, this is an epic of loss, a mad story.

My name is Fran, and I'm a fairy. Right now, I'm very panicked.

Because I was inexplicably mistaken for a witch, and what the heck was this evil god...?

A female protagonist novel, by Ju Zi.

Volume 1: Chapter 29: The Girl Who Begins the Hunt

The city, the red-light district.

After talking with the madam for a while, Bai Jinxuan told her to wait a moment and that she would bring the goods over right away.

This is a sure-fire way to make 8.

It can only be said that opportunity favors the prepared. If she were still setting up a stall on the black market, she would likely lose a large portion of her profits. Now, being able to sell at the established market price in the red-light district is already considered a profit.

As for whether she suffered a loss, Bai Jinxuan felt that perhaps she did, but definitely not a great loss.

The only point that could lead to a loss is the freshness of the goods, but this will depreciate over time. Right now, she still has to go to the undeveloped area to train her body, wasting time looking for a shop, and in the end, she still can't sell them for a good price, which would be a huge loss.

Time is money.

The girl never forgot her main mission. She spent money so much to buy magic crystals to enhance her studies. If making money affected her study time, then she would be putting the cart before the horse.

Thinking of this, her resolve grew stronger.

Hurry up and go out to get a bag and bring all the goods over. It's only 400 bottles, which is less heavy than a corpse to her.

Just as she walked down the corridor, preparing to go downstairs, a familiar voice caught her attention.

Does this sound like the man who posted about placing orders outside of the group before?

Bai Jinxuan was deeply impressed by him because she made 22 yuan from him.

She tried leaning her shoulder against the door and then covering her eyes with her hand. Thanks to the Nightwalker effect, she could move parts of her body into the shadows within a fixed area.

In the corner by the door, red eyes watched everything inside.

The room inside was decorated very luxuriously. On the bed, a man and two women were focused on three rows of food. The male protagonist was indeed the blogger who made a fortune for himself.

She looked away and walked away, lost in thought.

Without that order, I wouldn't have been able to find that wild tombstone. Speaking of which, that pit was full of mysteries. Could it be that this guy stuck the tombstone there and then had the assassin run the business of refining corpses?

At the time, Bai Jinxuan didn't pay much attention to the merchants' affairs because his business was none of her concern. But now that she's looking for an upgraded tombstone, things are different.

Maybe this guy has some information? Or maybe it was this guy who hid the tombstone...

She made up her mind not to go to the undeveloped area today. She had found a clue to the valuable item she had been searching for for a long time, and she would not let it slip away.

After returning to the shop and making a deal with the madam, Bai Jinxuan found a chair in the passageway outside the shop, sat down, and opened her phone to check the blogger's updates while waiting for the other party to come out.

After flipping through it carefully, the top one was still about Black Brother's videos. In the past, all the videos he posted were short clips, and you had to tip him a certain amount before he would send you the full version privately.

"They know how to do business."

Bai Jinxuan sighed, put her phone back in her pocket, turned her gaze to the square, and observed the shops out of the corner of her eye.

It has to be said that the underground city is indeed worthy of being called underground; its industries are much more developed than those on the surface. Those who can enter are all somewhat wealthy and can afford to consume. No wonder the madam is so confident.

After all, those who can come here are either explorers with exploration licenses or those with connections.

Miaoyu is also certified. As a professional in the city, she doesn't have too little money in her pocket.

In comparison, the quality of the clients here is indeed much better than on the ground. No wonder Miaoyu came here to be the mascot; in a way, it's the pinnacle of her industry.

Just like the dominance of No. 1 High School in Star City, the red-light district of the city is the largest, most luxurious, and most high-end red-light district in Star City. Most of the customers here are wealthy young men from the upper district...

Speaking of which, Yao Yao seems to have mentioned that the inhibition injection came from the Upper District. Could it be that the young masters and ladies of the Upper District couldn't have their bodies surgically removed in order to preserve the functions of their family businesses, so they used injections to achieve a similar effect?

She instantly understood. People in the lower district generally couldn't afford the cost of continuous injections, so it was better to have a short, sharp pain than a long, drawn-out one. But for the people at No. 2 Middle School, those were things to enjoy. Even if they wanted to get them removed, their elders at home wouldn't allow it.

In this way, the castration controversy doesn't seem to have much impact on their products?

Coming to her senses, Bai Jinxuan suddenly realized that her goods were still quite attractive to the bosses from the Upper City who were secretly coming to the black market. This trend was only temporary, and once they had taken advantage of everyone they wanted, the Upper City bosses would still come to buy her goods.

Wouldn't I have sold it at a loss?!

After thinking about it carefully, she realized it might not be that bad. There was a trend of nationwide castration going on right now, so she wouldn't lose out if she sold herself quickly. Once the hype died down, she could continue to sell herself on the black market and raise prices.

"My decision was indeed correct."

Bai Jinxuan suddenly stood up to cheer herself up, startling the couple in the square who were kissing each other in revealing clothes.

Ignoring the other person's insults, she turned and left, intending to find a more secluded spot to stake out the place.

Just then, her prey finally emerged.

--------

Zhou Kai is very annoyed right now.

He originally planned to come to the red-light district on his vacation to have a game with his girlfriend, but halfway through the game, his boss made him work overtime again.

I regret it now, very much.

He's a blogger who's achieved some success in social media. Even in the upper district, many companies want him to advertise, not to mention the lower district. The news about that black guy means his video traffic won't be low.

Online, he is revered as a top intelligence agent known as the mysterious Black Brother.

But now, since joining this organization, what kind of life has he been living? Recruiting people and generating traffic, communicating with this and that, doing all the dirty and hard work, and not getting paid at all.

The money he had to come here to visit his sister was all stolen on his way to work; otherwise, he probably wouldn't be able to make ends meet.

"Damn it, a bunch of idiots, I've definitely been scammed!"

He cursed as he pulled out his Tier 1 Exploration Certificate from his pocket.

If you want to leave the city and head to the semi-developed area, you cannot pass through without this.

It's precisely because those idiots in the organization are wanted and can't move around easily that they need him, the one in the open, to do things everywhere...

"It's not fair that they don't give me a 100 million yuan year-end bonus, damn it."

He cursed again, his resentment subsided slightly, and he focused his gaze on his exploration certificate.

He was a dashing young man, his eyes brimming with confidence.

But now, hehe...

"It's been five years since I graduated from No. 5 Middle School... Time flies..."

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

Graduation, job hunting, dating, supporting parents... many scenes flashed by. Finally, he slowly opened his eyes, gritted his teeth, and walked quickly toward the city gate.

The choice of whether or not to work overtime was never in his hands from the beginning.

This was true in the past, it is true now, and it will probably be true in the future as well.

First-tier explorers who graduated from No. 1 Middle School never had a choice.

Even top students are no exception.

------

Book recommendation~

Guns, Oranges, and the Girl Band

Summary:

Lin Xiaomu believed in guns and the order they represented, maintained through violence. However, neither of these things existed on a high school campus.

"My name is Yamashiro Ryoune. If you want to join a popular band, come find me!"

To protect the team leader's daughter, the 19-year-old female assassin disguises herself as a high school girl and receives the education she missed.

Lin Xiaomu, who forms a girls' band with a group of introverted and adorable girls including the mysterious Italian transfer student Lufini Hikari and the indebted bassist Niwa Chizuru, almost forgets her true identity.

However, there are always times when singing can't solve the problem and you have to draw your gun.

This book contains: extreme descriptions of violence and scenes of torture and murder.

[This will not include: serious injury/abuse/psychological trauma/death of important characters]

Volume 1: Chapter 30: The Girl Who Smuggled Her Way In

Although Zhou Kai may seem carefree and irresponsible, he is actually very efficient at getting things done.

Before Bai Jinxuan could react, the other person had already distanced themselves and was communicating with the gatekeeper at the city gate, checking their documents.

This forced her to quickly take a detour, finding a secluded and deserted corner to blend into the darkness. She then slipped out of the city through a crack in the wall and followed the other person into the semi-developed area.

The artifact truly lived up to its name. During the process, even if the guards saw a dark shadow moving through the crack in the wall, they would only think it was caused by the light and would never suspect that there was a person hiding inside.

After successfully arriving at the semi-developed zone, Bai Jinxuan continued to follow Zhou Kai.

In fact, semi-developed areas are relatively safe for explorers.

The local labor unions near the city have set up many safety zones.

These safe zones are like guild strongholds, providing supplies and rest for novice explorers, and preventing disasters in undeveloped areas from affecting the normal operation of the city.

In addition, the people in the safe zone are also responsible for maintaining the passage leading to the second underground level.

Therefore, no monsters will appear in the semi-developed area near the city of the underworld, and it is not an exaggeration to call it part of the city of the underworld.

As for why the passageway on the second underground level wasn't incorporated into the city, it was actually just a safety measure by the union.

To prevent wanted criminals from the second layer from freely entering the city and causing adverse effects, the city chose to build itself outside the passageway. As a result, entry into the city requires inspection.

In some ways, it's quite strict.

Of course, all of this was just for show for Bai Jinxuan.

With the Night Walker at her fingertips, she can go wherever she wants...

Well, there are still some limitations. Before teleporting, she needs to consume energy to mark a location, and the mark can only be made in the area she can see.

That's why she encountered a problem.

She never expected that Zhou Kai was going to the second underground level, not the undeveloped area.

Bai Jinxuan hadn't been to the second level of the underground city yet, so naturally there was no marker for it. In other words, she was about to lose track of it.

First of all, she didn't have an exploration permit or anything else to prove her identity. It was impossible for her to pass through the checkpoint openly and go to the second level. She had sneaked into the first level.

Secondly, sneaking in in shadow form is too dangerous.

The passage connecting the underground levels is a twisted portal; entering it rashly could very well lead to...

The shadow form pops up, and then the person is investigated by the personnel in the second layer of the safe zone.

The people guarding the safe zone on the first floor are already at the second or third tier. On the second floor, there are probably even fourth-tier powerhouses guarding it. If you are discovered, you can only teleport away and alert the other party. It will be even more difficult to go to the second floor again.

After thinking for a moment, Bai Jinxuan decided to use the old trick.

As Zhou Kai showed the police officers all her personal belongings, her eyes were focused on the banknotes they took out.

In an instant, the shadow of the banknote trembled, and its color dimmed.

The marking was successful.

She only needs to use Zhou Kai as a stepping stone to sneak into the second level of the underground city.

Moreover, because she didn't go underground at noon today, Bai Jinxuan still has two more uses of the Dark Walker's energy, which she can use to leave a mark on the second floor before teleporting back home.

Delicious.

Watching this unscrupulous blogger... no, this little sugar daddy walk into that shimmering, twisted portal, Bai Jinxuan was already fantasizing about picking up treasures on the second underground level.

But just then, she suddenly noticed something unusual.

The marker that was just placed is above your head.

The moment the other person stepped into the portal, he ran to the ceiling of the first level of the dungeon.