Gravity Mage with Level-Up System - Chapter 1817: Part 1: Day out at the city

Chapter 1817: Part 1: Day out at the city

Crystal City

A few days had passed.

I thought of going outside to explore Crystal City. I had been staying in the shop the entire time. Today, I informed the members before leaving.

Otto wanted to accompany me. He could help with intel gathering, but I rejected the offer. I just wanted to explore the city alone.

I left through the main gate and arrived at the platform where the cabs were parked. I approached one of the drivers and negotiated with him.

I told him I wanted to explore Crystal City. When the driver saw the masked man, he was surprised. He glanced at the gate of the Crystal Community.

He quickly connected the dots. He realized that the masked man could be the shop owner, Frank, who was known for wearing a mask.

The driver agreed. I entered the car and sat in the back seat.

Swoosh!

The car departed. He drove slowly. The driver knew every place; he knew every nook and corner.

He didn’t inquire about the masked man’s identity since he already knew it. He didn’t want to make shop owner Frank uncomfortable.

A few minutes later, we reached our first stop.

It was the oldest building in Crystal City. This skyscraper was the very first building constructed in the city.

“It’s the oldest building in our city. Right now, many small businesses are running on each floor. If you don’t mind, I can show you around,” the middle-aged driver said.

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. I realized the middle-aged man had figured out my identity, but he didn’t ask directly. I appreciated the driver’s discretion and decided to accept his help.

“Alright,” I replied. We both stepped out and walked into the building.

The driver started showing me the small shops on the first floor. These included stores selling low-grade herbs and potions.

A hint of surprise flashed in my eyes. Crystal City is the wealthiest city. Normally, people should be able to afford good products. Then who is buying these low-grade products?

The driver saw through my doubts.

He said, “There are wizards with limited potential. Their talents are weak, so they can only afford cheap resources. The families behind them won’t support them.”

Hearing that, my eyes glinted with understanding.

I thought for a moment before using the Probe function. The system scanned the whole store, but it didn’t find anything of interest.

We moved on to the next few stores. They were selling low-quality herbs and fruits. Then, we went to the next shop.

It was a bookstore. I paused and started looking at the books. All of them were old copies. I had been collecting books to enrich the Zero Puppet’s database.

The driver was surprised. “Do you want to buy these books?” he asked.

“Yes. What about these books? How many of them are fakes?” I asked back.

The shopkeeper was an old man. He heard the conversation and tried to see through our strength.

He found the masked man’s strength to be unfathomable, so he put away his schemes and became respectful.

“Guest, I’ll be honest. I’ll show you the original copies.” After saying that, he invited me inside.

Interested, I entered the store. The shopkeeper led me to a small back room.

The room had only a few bookshelves, but the books were neatly arranged. My gaze passed over them; I found at least a thousand copies, including travel notes and incomplete manuscripts.

“How much for all of this? I would like to buy them,” I said.

The driver and the shopkeeper were both taken aback.

I smiled and said, “I’m a book collector.”

Hearing that, they understood. Rich people often have the habit of collecting things. The shopkeeper decided to sell and thought of a fair price.

“I just need a few thousand mana stones, and I’ll sell them to you,” the shopkeeper said.

I didn’t negotiate. I gave him a thousand mid-grade mana stones. The shopkeeper was shocked, but he soon realized that a thousand mid-grade mana stones were nothing to a wealthy person.

The driver was also taken aback. He knew the real identity of the masked man, so in one way, he wasn’t entirely surprised.

Appraisers are known for collecting good items. He realized that shop owner Frank liked to collect books, and figured he could assist him with this in the future.

On the other hand, my eyes gleamed. There was a reason I was doing this: I wanted to make connections.

I had already met the heads of various forces; now it was time to build connections with the local people.

“If you find original copies again, you can contact the driver. I will buy them,” I said to the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper and the driver exchanged looks. They understood, this wealthy person was giving them a business opportunity. The driver hadn’t expected to get such an opportunity so soon.

“Guest, don’t worry. I’ll work hard,” the driver said.

He exchanged contact information with the shopkeeper, and we exited the shop. The driver then took me to other stores, but I didn’t find the others interesting.

Soon, we returned to the street. I entered the car and sat in the back seat while the driver sat in the front.

Swoosh!

The car departed.

Time passed. The driver showed me around other new places for a few hours. Eventually, he stopped at the public square.

The public square was an important location, filled with people and shops. The driver parked at the platform and we stepped out. He showed me the famous street food stalls.

I saw a soup shop. I bought a bowl of soup for myself and one for the driver. The soup was hot and tasty.

As I started drinking it, I noticed several people gazing at me. Because I was wearing a mask, I was drawing quite a bit of attention from the public.

I ignored the attention and started enjoying the soup. On the other hand, the driver was worried.

He thinks that others could find out the identity of the shop owner Frank. Then it could attract trouble.