A few months later, somewhere in a corner of the city of Sarafaydo, a faint, veily green mist floated in the sky. You can still see the blue sky, but it changes color slightly.

On either side are brightly coloured buildings sandwiched between narrow alleyways. There are also rows of vendors on both sides of the road. Almost none of the goods sold here are legal, and even if the goods are legal, the pipes are not legal.

The customers here are not good people. It's common to have an attack weapon on your body, or a battle scar.

Among them was a man who seemed to be an "ordinary person". He wears the most common civilian costumes, and although it is not a famous brand, it is not inferior. He took his blazer in his hand and stood in front of the stall picking up merchandise. If it weren't for the medicine bag hanging from his waist, no one would have noticed that he was a mage. Around his neck hung a beautiful silver box with a leather rope, the only ornament on his body.

He has well-lengthed black hair, and although it is restlessly unkempt, it is trimmed and then combed, but it does not make people feel messy, but looks kind. A pair of soft, black-eyed whims spun around, and often seemed to have mischievous thoughts. His complexion was pale as is common among desk workers, but with a healthy glow of blood. He raised his head and chest very energetically, talked to people generously, and showed a hearty smile from time to time. He looked relaxed, as if there were no dangers to worry about in this world. Well-jointed hands give a sense of solidity.

This man's name is Rick Tregg. It's not the name his parents gave him, but it's his current name.

He cut the price offered by the boss to one-twentieth, bought a large bag of Gan Mogen at an affordable price, and happily carried it on his shoulders for a while, and met three young people walking from the front.

When the two sides were about to pass by, Xi Ke twisted his upper body very beautifully, and the two sides did not touch it at all, so he staggered by.

The three young men were about to bump into Xi Ke, but they were surprised for two seconds when they saw this, took a few steps back, and opened their hands in front of Xi Ke: "Wait, you hit my brother!"

Rick tilted his head. His expression was as if the other party was blocking him, just to give him back what he had accidentally dropped without any hostility. With a gentle smile, he said, "We didn't meet just now, you are too protective of your brother. In this way, he can't grow up and be independent. 」

The other party didn't expect this kind of answer, so he was stunned for a moment, and then said, "No, I obviously ran into it, and you have money-"

Before the young man had finished speaking, someone struck him on the head from behind with an enchanted wooden stick, knocking him unconscious on the spot. The man's female companion grabbed the heads of the other two young men and bumped them into each other, then threw the two who could not stand up on the side of the road. Someone immediately reached for their wallets and took them away.

It's Nemo and Lisna.

Naimo's hair was tied up with plain black rope, a shirt and stretchy suit trousers.

Lisna wore a plain coffee au lait dress that reached her ankles and grew wider from the hips, with a pointed collar and no sleeves, revealing her graceful arms. Her hair was neatly coiled at the back of her head, revealing her slender neck.

Naimo said, "Really, lately there have been more and more blackmailers of this kind of unskilled level. 」

"Ah, that's blackmail. It dawned on him. He really hasn't been blackmailed. He blinked excitedly, "By the way, I've seen this kind of scene in novels, right?"

Naimo frowned, "Aren't you real? In the past, you would be treated as someone like me here, so you wouldn't be blackmailed. In the past, the thugs didn't dare to mess with Xike. Even if he is in the state of a street rat, he will not be in danger of being targeted by the thugs, and his life is too peaceful for people who can't read anger to dare to try to ride on his head.

Namo said, "Don't come here again. 」

Nick was puzzled, "Why?"

Vic and Naimo walked side by side, away from the black market, Lisina following behind. Now he looks like a good citizen who has strayed into the peaceful world. For guys who are not good enough to recognize people, it looks like a fat sheep.

Nemo said to Rick, "You don't look like you're from 'over here' anymore. 」

Nick understood, and he asked, "What if I want to buy something 'over here'?"

"Don't buy it, if you want to be good, give me a little more thorough!"

"Okay. Rick grinned.

"Don't show a smile that wants to sneak away. Even for the sake of Shuilono, you'll have to get rid of this habit of drilling into dangerous places!"

Rick pursed his lips, "Okay. 」

They stepped out of the black market barriers, and the sky turned back to its normal blue.

Namo said as he walked, "I thought you'd be waiting outside, but you just got in. When a normal good citizen hears that he is in a place like this, he should hide far away. 」

Xi Ke pretended to be serious and frowned, "I'll remember it, remember to do it next time." 」

Naimo shook his head and said, "If you want to completely disguise yourself as a good citizen, you still have a lot to learn. 」

"I wish it wasn't just a disguise. 」

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

Then they went to Naimo's house. It was a very normal-looking apartment.

Naimo immersed himself in a large number of foreign language magazines. According to him, the praise of a successful company can be used to deduce the approximate time of the company's downfall.

Rick operated the juicer and kitchen knife in the kitchen, and he added several kinds of fruit and nuts to beat.

"What the hell!" Namo cursed as he looked at the magazine.

"What's wrong?" asked Rick. He walked up to Naimo with two glasses of juice and saw a picture on the page that Naimo was looking at, and the building inside looked familiar. He thought for a moment before remembering that it was the little boy with the silver white hair who pointed out to him when he was on the back of the Gu God Whale, and there was a large pile of black paste.

"What's this report?" asked Rick.

"The subprime mortgage storm. The subprime mortgage storm was a catastrophe that originated in Omidina and swept the whole world into it. The catastrophe has led to a large number of bankruptcies of the world's wealthy, and the commercial magic industry, which specializes in upper-class consumers, has been hit. The middle and lower classes were also greatly affected, and many shops were closed during that time.

At that time, the people of Dalan Paien next door had no work to do, so they developed the habit of going to the beach to fish and add vegetables. The society, which originally developed from fishing and hunting to agriculture and animal husbandry, and then from agriculture and animal husbandry to industry, and then developed into an important international high-tech industrial town, has actually returned to the stage of fishing and hunting.

Naimo spent a lot of time explaining to Nick what the building had to do with the subprime mortgage storm. What is the subprime mortgage storm, Shuilonu has already been taught, it is a system that needs to be blindfolded to feel that it is so good, and the final result. Xi Ke originally thought that it was because people couldn't restrain their greed, so they would let such a system go. After Naimo explained, Rick realized that things were not so simple.

The people in that building spread the word that as long as they didn't think bad things were going to happen, bad things wouldn't happen. As long as you feel that good things will happen, good things will happen. It's not just that greed is out of control, it's that the rationality of reverse thinking and the instinct to perceive crises are deliberately suppressed. This is said to be called "positive thinking".

"The world doesn't change for the sake of humanity. Rick frowned. Good things and bad things don't matter what humans think.

"The guy who caused the subprime mortgage storm was convinced that as long as he didn't believe bad things were going to happen, the storm wouldn't happen. The Great Depression and all that happens, it's all about human beings thinking about it!" Naimo said.

"Where's the mall cult—"

"Yes. 」

After that, the two began to talk about the real purpose of their meeting today.

"That's the list. Namo held a thick book to Rick, "The list of potions that the most good people buy from the black market right now. 」

"Thank you. Nick took the book and began to flip through it: "Except for the relatively cheap infringing drugs - the sales of the drugs are still the same. 」

"This type of crime will always exist in human society. Naimo said.

Rick raised an eyebrow, not responding to Namo's words. He continued, "There are some potions that don't have the same type of potion on the market that sell well. That's what I'm looking for. 」

"Some of them are too difficult for ordinary mages to produce, some are difficult to meet safety standards, and some use illegal materials, and no one has yet found a legal alternative formula. You can handle it. 」

"Of course. Rick grinned.

"Here we go again, Smell of Crime. Naimo pointed to Rick and said.

Nick blinked, but not very serious, "None of this is a problem for me. 」

"Speaking of which, where is your studio going to be built? upstairs?"

"Hide in the back as usual. 」

Over the past few years, Syke has saved some money by working on and off. The largest of these is the running boat salary. Rick plans to open a small potions shop. Naimo assisted him with market research.

Namo raised an eyebrow: "Don't hide behind it, show it, it's best to use transparent walls so that guests can see it at a glance." Believe what the black market mage said, sooner or later there will be a big storm, and make the production process transparent become the mainstream. There is a limit to consumer patience. The market order will continue to reincarnate in the middle of chaos and neatness, and Feng Shui will begin to turn. You'd better start preparing how to prove your innocence in the face of strong consumer skepticism before you can cope with it. 」

Rick nodded. Namo's prophecy of this kind of thing was accurate. You can get a lot of early information on the black market.

"In the future, you will definitely see the production factories that are open to the public and the production process of photographic evidence. Society will spend a lot of money on supervision. Naimo said.

"I'll do as you say. But I'm not going to be the kind of big factory that needs to be open for tours. Rick laughed.

"Don't pretend! you're still a man!" Namo laughed, "Just because you're content doesn't mean you haven't thought about those things. You think about it and think that you have to give up too many things, so you just say that it's impossible!"

"Maybe. The things that Rick liked didn't exist in that place.

Lisna sat down on the third side. The three of them chatted while eating.

"How old are you going to be in this job?" asked Rick. He can "see" a lot of things in the house that can't be seen by the police.

"I've been getting smaller and smaller, and after a while, I'm just going to buy and sell shiitake mushrooms. Of course, it was a tax-free sale, but he was really referring to shiitake mushrooms. Naimo said while reading the magazine: "This line of life is not normal, and it is better to retire at the age of 30. Let's invest in the future. He's been rolling in the black market for almost a decade, and considering the high elimination rate in this industry, it's been a long time.

"Wash your hands in the golden basin. Rick said.

"It's not so easy to quit, just go back and support it. In the past, I was busy at the risk of arrows and rocks in the front, and the elders were waiting for us to come back to receive the reward, and then I was in the back laughing at the young people for their impulsiveness, waiting for them to come back and receive the reward. 」

"I'm only thirty years old—" Rick thought as he rested his fist on his chin.

"That's what the black market for spells is. You see, Lord Naringer is not on the boat now, and he is all in command and dispatch in the back. Battlemages have careers that are much longer than ours. 」

"Is Lord Naringe alright?"

"Very good. He's doing a good job everywhere. He will help the good people eradicate the gangs that harass the people, and strictly restrict anyone from using the best methods to deal with the good people, so now even the people like him and regard him as a guardian of law and order. But I want to keep my distance from him. He's a person, and if he doesn't leave it alone, he'll start to take responsibility. I don't want to unknowingly become the people's nanny who operates illegally, and there is no danger for the black market mage to do this. 」

"May I ask a question?" Rick frowned. But he didn't look serious, his eyes were slightly tilted to look at Namo, a little tentative.

"Please. Naimo was a little curious about Rick's expression.

"How did you end up wanting to enter the black market for spells in the first place?"

Namo was silent for a moment before he craned his neck and whispered, "Who are you?"

Rick also shrank back: "Rick, otherwise!"

"The Rick I know doesn't ask anyone this question! When did you gossip about other people's career plans? Don't be so interested in being like a good citizen, okay?"

"Didn't you just tell me to be a good citizen?"

Naimo shook his hand, squeezed his eyes, and said after more than ten seconds, "I can't live a life in a proper way. That kind of life was too boring for me. 」

Rick nodded.

"That's why I respect those honest people. They are different from people like me who make holes everywhere, they are the main force that supports the country, and the country is supported by them, not by those "smart people" who can only talk about it. Naimo raised an eyebrow meaningfully to look at Rick.

"I'm not an honest man. Rick said.

"You're on that side. The traditional potions you're going to go in are the 10,000-year-old immortal industry. It has nothing to do with the trend. It has been stable for thousands of years. This line of work is the older you get, the more advantageous. Because there are so many things to learn, the longer you live, the more time you have to study, so the older you are, the better. Naimo bowed his head slightly and smiled, "I want to see the peak of your career in another twenty years. 」

"It's nice to have peaks. Rick said. This wasn't just his problem, it was the whole Potions world.

"Why do you keep talking to your eyes?" Namo smiled.

"What?"

"It looks like you're going to let traditional potions wane, but that's not what you think. Naimo's eyes were shining when he saw the dejected words in Syck's mouth.

"Haha. Rick didn't deny it.

"Ten years of cold windows no one asked, in one fell swoop became famous all over the world. Naimo uttered an ancient poem, "You must be this type of person. 」

"The master is just a child, and it may not be good. It's gone like a firework!" Lisna laughed and said another allusion.

"I'm going to raise you for many years, don't sing me down so early!" said Naimo, pretending to be angry.

Rick couldn't stop laughing.