CHAPTER 401: PURCHASE OF A NAIL?

Thud.

Lillian dropped the nail on the wooden counter and asked, "Can I buy this?"

The man, who was seated behind the counter with a newspaper in hand and a wooden chair underneath him, looked up from his newspaper with a yawn before giving the metal nail a glance.

He held it in his hand and looked for a price tag on the object. But after not finding one, he sighed and stood up from his chair.

"One moment, please."

He turned around and opened the slit in the tent behind him. And once he did, a boisterous laugh spilt inside the tent. Both Lillian and the man looked inside, only to find a well-fit man enjoying the company of two women on a red couch.

The man working the counter sighed and pinched the gap between his brows at his partner’s lustful behaviour. Closing the slit, he turned to Lillian with an apologetic expression, "Sorry about him... He needs to have some woman around him to stay sane in this place."

He picked up the nail again, "He’s the only one out of us that can analyse these types of things... So unless you want me to randomly come up with a price that could be much more expensive that what this nail is going for... I suggest you wait—"

Lillian shook her head and spoke in a hurried voice, "No need. You can come up with the price, right now. I’m willing to pay."

If she recalled correctly, the nail’s original price was around 300,000 Semis. But if she could get this man in front of her to come up with the price, it would be far cheaper!

Thus, saving her a "crap-load" of money!

"Alright, then... If you want...?" The man stated in an uncertain manner as he thought deeply about the price. "How about 30,000 for the nail? Since it’s in the Black Market and by going off of the fact it’s obviously enchanted, it’s most likely special."

Lillian cried inwardly at how much the price dropped. It had decreased by exactly ten times!

As Lillian was about to fetch out the money for the craziest bargain she had ever heard, the well-fit man finally emerged from the open slit behind the man with a sweaty body.

"Did you need me, Mark? I saw you looking inside~... Or do you perhaps want some fun with the two in there as well?"

"I’m trying to make us money to survive, Tristan. Not goofing around like you are. Now analyse this so we can get a good price."

Lillian watched as the metal nail was passed off to the well-fit man and couldn’t help but cry tears of sadness inside as she realised she wasn’t going to get the bargain.

Tristan held the nail in his hand with a flash of confusion in his eyes. When had they had a metal nail in their inventory?

After a minute, his eyes slowly widened as he drifted his gaze towards Lillian’s mask and found it shifting in both shape and size consistently without fail.

He grinned as a plan hatched inside his mind. Tristan leaned against the wooden counter with a playful expression, brushing his hand through his blonde hair.

"You want this boring-looking nail, right? Then, you must have known how unique it was, huh?" Tristan waved it in front of Lillian’s face like it was a dog toy, which annoyed the Rabbit slightly as she let out an exasperated sigh.

"Name your price. Or can I still buy it for what your partner had named?"

"Nah, you’ll be buying with my price." Tristan smirked and rubbed his chin, "300 grand. How about it? Seems right for an item of this caliber. Or do you perhaps want to trade that mask of yours fo this—"

Thud.

Both Mark and Tristan’s eyes shot wide open as they watched hundreds of stacks of cash drop to the ground. They were so shocked that they hadn’t even realised the nail was no longer in Tristan’s hand and that Lillian had already left.

After exiting the tent, Lillian sighed with a saddened expression. She had lost so much money; if only she had been just a bit faster, then she could have gotten it for a lot cheaper...

She took out her phone and checked the time. It seemed that she had only a little over a minute left.

"Time flows by so fast..."

Putting her phone back where it came from, she waited for the ring to teleport her away. But in the meantime, she couldn’t help but throw a glance at her necklace.

Nothing bad happened so far besides the Alpha incident...

’Any time now—’

"Lillian...?"

Lillian stiffened as she heard someone call out her name, especially inside the Underworld. She twisted her body around and found someone with long black hair standing a few metres away from her with a mask that looked like a blooming rose.

Lillian, having realised the voice was feminine, unconsciously trailed her eyes over the person’s figure and noticed that their curves matched up with someone she knew.

"M-marionette...?" She then glanced at the two individuals standing behind what she assumed to be her girlfriend. Were they her guards?

’Wait. How did she recognise me with the mask on...?’

Just as Lillian was thinking about this, she watched as the woman’s body suddenly blurred. Then, she found the Assassin’s figure just a metre from where she stood.

Watching as the Assassin’s arms were spread out for a hug, Lillian spread hers out too with a large and joyful grin behind her mask as she yelled, "Mari—!"

Shwoop!

Marionette swung her arms forward, but was met with nothing but air. She raised an eyebrow behind her mask and took a step back. She then realised that Lillian had suddenly disappeared before her very eyes.

"Did she... Run away? Was I too abrupt in my approach...?" Marionette asked herself quietly, her eyes trembling a bit behind her mask. It had been days since she last saw Lillian, and to think they had met just now for a mere split moment caused her heart to ache a bit...

Right before she was about to move through the entire Black Market in search of her Rabbit, she was ultimately pulled back into reality by the two accompanying her.

She sighed. But then realised something...

Why was she here?

Why had her Lillian come to such a filthy place like the Underworld? Was she in search of something she couldn’t get on the Surface?

Marionette then turned towards the large purple tent where Lillian was standing outside. Could it be... She had bought something out of this stall...?

She narrowed her eyes and walked inside, passing the shelves with a lack of interest, before standing before the counter. And what she saw... Made her feel sickened.

Tristant was lecherously groping the two ladies he had with him right behind the counter with Mark, who groaned at the sight of him. Currently, they have their backs to the counter.

"Three hundred thousand Semis! Do you know how much that is, Mark? To think you were going to sell that guy for 10 times less than that! Phew..."

But they soon turned around as they heard a sharp and metallic noise.

Tristan, who was the first to look back, beamed at the thought of another customer, especially one right after he had just made an incredible sale.

"How may I help you dear customer—ah...?"

Click. Click. Click...

What Tristan saw was a tall woman with long black hair and a recognisable flower mask, which caused his eyes to bulge out.

It was the mask belonging to members of the Roselle family!

He then glanced at what she was holding in her hand.

It was a large, black, crystalline revolver that was having its cylinder spun slowly in an intimidating manner.

"You have committed a scam. And that is a crime in the Roselle territory."

"H-huh? W-wait, we didn’t commit a cri—!"

BANG!