CHAPTER 89: HARRY THE SCAMMER

Harry’s legs proceeded toward the entrance, but this time, he was in control of them.

Things were calm in this settlement at least. Not many students were in the queue to enter, especially if he compared it to the city he came from.

Harry got his turn as soon as he arrived.

The atmosphere looked lively.

"How’s it going? Did you get any response from her?" a student with a broad physique asked his partner.

The other student noticed Harry, so he punched the man to get him to focus on the job.

"Hello... may I know your name?" the broad man asked, embarrassed.

"John," Harry stated simply. His mood was uplifted; things looked serene—almost like he’d never felt before.

Both gave him space to pass by. Harry was surprised by the arrangements.

There were no walls for defense. Then again, he hadn’t seen any beasts in the jungle, which was strange, but promising.

The number of students in the settlement wasn’t abysmal. Judging by the size and the number of students roaming around, there couldn’t be more than 2,000 students.

Which was considerably lower than where he had come from.

His eyes shifted to a tree that looked majestic. All his fatigue vanished just by looking at it.

Its long branches were entangled, shading students from the scorching heat. The fruit on its branches brimmed with energy, enticing Harry to pluck one.

He was about to use a barrier as a ladder to grab one, but subconsciously, his mind resisted.

He didn’t know why, but his belief in himself forced him to refrain.

Houses were built in the tree’s shadow. Students lived normal lives... the lack of panic, the lack of tension—it was soothing to his heart.

It didn’t take long for Harry to meld in. He took a house and started living in it.

While taking a bath in an artificial pond, Harry noticed his physique—almost unnoticeable silver lines sparkled. Recent cuts and bruises were fading quickly due to fast healing, his little chubby Belly dangling.

Well it wasn’t his—the mask made him look like this.

The shadows around him looked darker, colder.

A cold bath after so long felt comforting.

With a fresh mood, he sat in his room which contained only a wooden bed. The luxury was still missing, but in such situations, even necessities felt like luxuries.

Harry checked the ten space rings he had kept. It was time to use them.

Time was ticking, and he needed to provide at least three level-8 beast crystals. This was affecting him on multiple levels.

First, it gave him a headache every time he saw the clock ticking down. On top of that, he had halted any advancement for Wolfie. He strictly prohibited it from eating rich, high-level beasts so it wouldn’t grow too fast.

Wolfie gave him a safety wall, but with these limits, he was scared to spread that wall thinner.

On a street between houses, he sat on the road, three rings lying in front of him on a makeshift stall.

He wasn’t alone—many students were selling their items. Most students traded for cultivation resources, but Harry was different. He needed beast crystals.

"Are these space rings?" A beautiful girl with a slender figure eyed the rings curiously.

"Hmm... give me three level-8 beast crystals, and you can take them," Harry said indifferently. He was trying to act like the lady who had once sold him the rings.

The girl looked Harry up and down, hurt by his indifferent attitude. People usually begged for her attention, and here this guy didn’t even look at her.

"What?... Level-8 beast crystals? You’re being greedy," the girl said with a mocking chuckle.

"Take it or leave it," Harry sneered.

"How dare you..." The girl’s eyebrows furrowed. She wanted to punch him but restrained herself.

She needed a ring to keep her items, so she didn’t want to provoke him.

"Scram..." Harry said, closing his eyes. He was trying to show that he was cultivating and didn’t care... but he was desperate. He prayed the girl would get her ego hurt and throw the three crystals at his face.

It would be embarrassing—but who cared?

Harry bit his tongue. Am I too much in character?

All that facade came from the drawback of his mask—he hadn’t said a single truth. He kept his words vague and short.

He told her to scram, but deep down, he wanted the opposite.

The girl’s palms clenched in anger—she would’ve loved to smash this arrogant face.

Other students started gathering upon seeing the rings. The girl panicked. She couldn’t let those rings fall into someone else’s hands.

"Brother, give me one—I’ll pay any price!"

"No, give me two—I’ll pay!"

Students began fighting among themselves.

The girl panicked, losing all logical thought. She didn’t realise Not everyone had three level-8 crystals.

"Here... here’s your payment!" she exclaimed, tossing the crystals onto the cart.

The crystals vanished—Harry didn’t give her a chance to change her mind. He snatched them and stored them in his space ring in a fraction of a second.

The girl stood in disbelief. Wasn’t he meditating? But now realization dawned on her.

She got fooled.

Harry packed up two of the rings and tossed some low-level beast crystals to the people who had shown interest in buying them.

They took the crystals and bowed. "Thanks, boss! Let us know if there’s any other job."

With that, the crowd dispersed.

The girl was breathing heavily, her chest rising and falling. Her face was full of confusion and realization at once.

Just as she was about to block Harry—he vanished before her eyes.

That shocked her even more.

"Invisibility?" she muttered.

She grabbed the remaining ring and inspected it.

’How could I be so naive? I didn’t even ask how much space it had...’ she thought, inspecting it thoroughly.

In all those activities, she didn’t notice a shadow darting away in the distance.

Harry, using Shadow Step, kept teleporting until he reached his allotted house.

Three crystals brimmed in his hand, full of energy.

"I’m a fool," he said, running his hands through his hair. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt like this.

Everything had been so daunting since entering the domain—he never got a chance to play with wits.

He had already hired some students to act like buyers.

He had failed a couple of times because the previous two clients didn’t have beast crystals. But this girl was a level-8 cultivator—so he bet everything on her.

A smile still lingered on his face.

"Wolfie, it’s about time," Harry said, and the three crystals vanished into the air.