CHAPTER 162: CHAPTER162-THE SUCKER

Charles really wanted to say it out loud—You’re giving me way too much credit.

Did Daniel actually expect him to have these materials? Was he doing this on purpose just to mess with him?

Still, Charles restrained the urge to snap back. He forced a charming, deferential smile and didn’t even bother looking at the rest of the list in his hand. What kind of joke was this? Many of the materials listed were ones Charles had never even heard of—and he was a seasoned merchant with access to rare goods across multiple planes.

If even he didn’t recognize them, where was he supposed to magically find them?

Even for the few materials he had heard of, Charles couldn’t help but feel shocked. Because these were the very materials the Luck Goddess herself had ordered him to collect.

Wait...

Could it be that Daniel was also operating under a divine order?

Was he, too, gathering these materials on behalf of a god?

While Charles was lost in this spiral of realization, Daniel’s expression darkened with impatience.

"Charles," he said curtly, "do you have any of these materials or not?"

"Why aren’t you saying anything? Do you think I can’t afford them?"

"No, no... that’s not it," Charles replied with a forced smile, "It’s just... I don’t have any of them in stock."

Daniel gave a snort of contempt, his eyes filled with disdain.

"Hmph. And here I thought you were supposed to be some amazing merchant. Turns out you’re not that impressive after all. Forget it—won’t count on you for this."

Without waiting for a reply, Daniel’s figure flickered—and in the blink of an eye, he vanished.

Once Daniel was gone, Charles’s face twisted with frustration and embarrassment.

Was this my fault?!

Did that man even look properly at the list he handed over? These weren’t materials any sane person would ask for!

A god’s eyeball?

And not just any eyeball, but a living one?

What the hell does he want me to do—pluck it out of a god’s face myself?!

That was completely out of the question.

Absolutely insane!

But after the brief flash of rage passed, a wicked smile returned to Charles’s face.

He looked down at the pile of gold coins Daniel had left him, and his heart was instantly soothed.

Ahhh, what a relief.

It had been years since he’d met a customer as gullible and spend-happy as Daniel.

The potion he sold was nothing special—honestly, it was practically garbage. Something that never sold well.

And yet now?

He had just sold it for a full one hundred million gold coins.

That was an outrageous profit margin. A massive win.

Charles grinned and reached down, scooping up a handful of the coins to inspect them more closely.

But as he sifted through them, he noticed something that made his heart stop.

Stamped clearly on the back of one coin were three terrifying characters: [Replica].

"...What?!"

He nearly dropped the entire pile in panic.

"You... you gave me replica coins?!"

Charles was trembling now.

That bastard had scammed him!

But... wait.

Even if they were replicas, they looked real. The weight, the luster, the metallic feel—it was indistinguishable from actual gold coins.

So... were they fake or not?

Was I scammed... or was I not scammed?

Charles clutched his chest in anguish.

"Daniel, you damned bastard...!"

He was so mad he could barely breathe. But the worst part?

There was nothing he could do about it.

The two of them had made a verbal agreement—no refunds, no exchanges.

And that line had come from his own mouth.

The realization only made him feel worse.

Damn it!

This was the first time in his entire career as a merchant that he’d been ripped off this badly by a customer!

The humiliation was unbearable.

—

The reason Daniel had used replica gold coins in the deal was quite simple.

With [Eye of Insight], he had already discerned the true value of the Sleeping Potion.

Yes, it was rare.

But its actual worth was no more than a few million gold coins at most.

Charles had clearly treated him like an idiot—trying to fleece him for a hundred million.

And Daniel wasn’t the kind of person to let that slide.

Using [Flashback], he returned once more to the City of the Artists.

At this point, Daniel had become intimately familiar with the city’s layout.

After several excursions and explorations, the entire place now felt like a second home to him.

In addition to his true self, Daniel had also sent multiple clones into the city to carry out operations in parallel.

He checked the Sleeping Potion again using [Eye of Insight].

—

[Sleeping Potion]

Effect 1: Induces a deep sleep in all lifeforms, regardless of level. However, if the subject senses hostility, they will awaken immediately.

Effect 2: When combined with [Silence Potion], a delayed activation effect is triggered. Upon expiration of the Silence Potion, the duration of the Sleeping Potion is doubled.

—

Daniel had already prepared a stockpile of Silence Potions in advance.

So his plan was simple: combine the two agents, deploy the mixture across the city, and ensure a timed release that would lull the entire Artist population into unconsciousness exactly when he needed it.

Once preparations were complete, Daniel didn’t act immediately. Instead, he began investigating the Artists’ next move.

And soon, he discovered something quite surprising.

Charles had lied to him.

The Artists had no intention of launching a direct attack using the Primordial Core Weapon—at least not against the Demon Clan, as Charles had previously claimed.

In reality, they were planning something entirely different.

Their goal was to wait for the upcoming Millennial Apocalypse—a once-every-thousand-years event.

When the Apocalypse struck and plunged the world into chaos, that’s when the Artists planned to strike, delivering the killing blow while all races were weakened and vulnerable.

It would be a massacre. A true doomsday.

But on the bright side, that meant Daniel had time.

The Primordial Core Weapon wouldn’t be launched any time soon.

That gave him a window to implement his own plans.

With that in mind, Daniel began covertly planting his mixed potions throughout the City of the Artists, ensuring strategic coverage in every major district.

Meanwhile, his real body made its way to the city’s Central Library.

With the time he had, he intended to learn everything he could about the Artist race.

And where better to start than their most concentrated knowledge center?

Under the enhancement of his powerful mind power, Daniel’s reading speed soared.

He scanned and absorbed the contents of each book with near-superhuman efficiency.

Ironically, despite calling themselves "Artists," the Artists showed very little interest in the development of actual art.

Instead, they seemed obsessed with one thing: explosions.

At first, Daniel found this baffling. But upon further thought, it all made sense.

To these twisted minds, explosions were art.

Still, Daniel was selective about what he read. He quickly skipped over unimportant or trivial books and focused only on those that offered real value.

After collecting a decent amount of knowledge—and storing all worthwhile books into his backpack—he pressed deeper into the library.

Eventually, he found a hidden entrance that led him to the Restricted Library.

Accessing this secret chamber typically required authorized credentials.

But Daniel had long since overcome that problem.

With [Gift of the Veiled Goddess], he easily bypassed every restriction and slipped into the forbidden archive undetected.

To his surprise, the Restricted Library wasn’t empty.

There were several other Artists inside—each one aged, their fur grayed, and their expressions deeply wrinkled with time.

These were clearly elders.

Yet none of them reacted to Daniel’s sudden arrival.

They didn’t even look up.

Each one remained hunched over their desks, scribbling fervently in ancient tomes and journals.

One of them murmured in a hoarse voice, as though reciting a calculated hypothesis:

"Based on our comprehensive analysis, the human named Daniel... is currently the most dangerous threat to our existence."