Chapter 663 - 371: The Allure of Wealth (Part 2)

Among the five Evolution Crystals, this one was arguably the highest quality, yet it was the cheapest. Although it was only slightly cheaper than the other four, that was enough to be enticing.

However... this was clearly unreasonable.

There were many things that didn’t add up, not just one or two.

"The Pan Race are a Dominator Race. Do people really dare to openly sell their Evolution Crystals?" Su Ze asked.

The Pope scoffed. "It’s definitely a fake. You see, this listing is from the stall district, which is flooded with counterfeiters. However, the Illusion Race and the Pan Race are far apart and share a bitter history—the Illusion Race was once invaded by the Pan Race. So, selling a Pan Race Evolution Crystal in Illusion Race territory isn’t a huge problem in itself."

"In fact, among the five great Dominator Races, only the Witch Race is sparsely populated. The other four are teeming with powerful experts who fall from time to time. Private trading of Dominator Race Evolution Crystals across the universe isn’t all that rare."

Su Ze nodded. He also felt something was off about this Pan Race Evolution Crystal. It was probably just bait posted by a scammer.

He filtered through the five options. Aside from the Pan Race Evolution Crystal, the one he was most interested in was the Bag Race Moon God Evolution Crystal.

This particular Evolution Crystal was being sold in the shop district.

Su Ze decided to check out this Evolution Crystal first and sell off his own resources while he was at it.

After finding the shop, Su Ze and the Pope went inside.

The shop owner was an alien of the Moon God level, though Su Ze couldn’t identify their specific race.

Even though he saw that Su Ze was only a Star God and his companion was a Legend who had yet to become a god, the shop owner did not neglect them and rose to greet them.

Su Ze stated his purpose directly. The two parties sat down and talked for a while, but in the end, they couldn’t agree on a price.

"The Bag Race has proliferated throughout the universe, so their Evolution Crystals are naturally a bit cheaper than those of other races. The price he’s asking is a little steep," the Pope transmitted to Su Ze.

Su Ze knew that prices in the shop district were higher. He had hoped to negotiate it down, but the owner was holding firm.

While he was there, Su Ze found a shop with decent buyback prices, sold off all the low-tier resources he was carrying, and used the money to purchase a batch of seventh-rank resources.

After that, he went to another shop that was selling a Dark Element Moon God Evolution Crystal. However, the owner seemed to hold the Nian Race in contempt. Their attitude was arrogant; not only did they refuse to haggle, but when they heard Su Ze wanted to barter, they tried to lowball the buyback price on his Shadow Stones, clearly trying to profit from both sides of the transaction.

’Maybe we should just go check out that Pan Race Moon God Evolution Crystal at the stall after all.’

Having lost all interest in browsing the shop district any further, Su Ze simply took the Pope and headed directly to the stall district.

They went straight to the stall that claimed to be selling the Pan Race Evolution Crystal.

When he saw the stall owner from a distance, Su Ze couldn’t help but chuckle.

’What a coincidence. It’s another member of the Bag Race.’

’The Bag Race really lives up to its reputation for being a plague-like swarm. You see them everywhere.’

At the same time, Su Ze realized that the Pan Race Moon God Evolution Crystal was most likely fake.

After all, the stall owner was a member of the Bag Race, a race notorious for their scams and swindles.

But since they were already here, there was no harm in taking a look.

Su Ze wasn’t worried about being scammed. The Pope accompanying him was, after all, a genius evolutionary scientist of the Nian Race who had studied all sorts of evolutionary materials.

The Pope was confident he wouldn’t misjudge seventh or eighth-rank Evolution Items.

Seeing Su Ze and his companion, the Bag Race stall owner put on a fawning, obsequious smile. "What can I get for you two esteemed gentlemen?"

This Bag Race stall owner was only a Star God, yet his stall had several eighth-rank resources on display. Su Ze couldn’t guess their origin. Perhaps the owner was just a stand-in, and the real boss was someone else.

Of course, it was also possible that these eighth-rank resources were all fake.

The Pope ignored the stall owner, walking straight to the purple crystal on the stall and bending over to examine it closely.

The stall was covered by a transparent Energy Shield. This was a standard protective measure for every stall, allowing items to be seen but not touched without the owner’s permission.

This was to prevent people from intentionally damaging or stealing the merchandise.

The Pope stared for a moment, his brow furrowing deeper the longer he looked.

"Is it fake?" Su Ze asked via transmission.

"No, it looks real."

If it were fake, the Pope wouldn’t have been surprised at all. It was precisely because it looked real that he hesitated.

Su Ze’s eyebrow twitched. ’Could it be? Have I actually stumbled upon a hidden gem?’

"Can you be sure?" Su Ze asked.

"I’m eighty to ninety percent sure it’s real. If you let me handle it and get a closer look, I can guarantee I won’t make a mistake," the Pope said confidently.

Hearing this, Su Ze turned directly to the stall owner and asked, "Can you take it out for us to have a look?"

The Bag Race stall owner laughed readily. "Of course. We have absolute trust in the esteemed members of the Nian Race."

Despite his words, he discreetly activated the stall’s recording function, just in case Su Ze and his companion tried to snatch the item.

Without video evidence, someone could just put the item into a storage artifact and flatly deny everything, making the situation impossible to resolve.

Then, the stall owner took out the Evolution Crystal and handed it to the Pope.

The Pope touched it carefully, examining it over and over. He even injected a sliver of evolutionary power to observe the crystal’s reaction.

After a long moment, he sent a transmission to Su Ze: "I’m one hundred percent certain it’s real."

Su Ze kept a straight face. He had the Pope return the Evolution Crystal first, then deliberately asked, "Can you go any lower on the price?"

"I can’t go any cheaper. You two gentlemen are clearly experts, so you should know the price I’m asking is already a bargain. I’m only selling it because I’m in urgent need of money, otherwise I wouldn’t let it go for so little."