"My suggestion: look at the equipment first."
Old Ed reminded him.
"Then check your pockets to see how much money you have left."
Elias stood on the carpet, observing the magic brooms around him that were automatically dusting the place.
"Hand of Hrafn."
"A famous chain of transcendent equipment stores in the central region of the Kingdom of Velen."
"I heard a bit about it back when I was alive."
"Heard what?" Elias asked. "That the prices are deadly expensive?"
With even the guards being constructs, the costs of such an extravagant display must surely be passed on to the customers.
"No," Old Ed corrected him seriously.
"It is famous because the quality of the goods is excellent."
"It is known in the industry for its high cost-performance."
After hearing this, the corners of Elias's mouth couldn't help but twitch.
He turned his head to look at a row of shelves nearby.
Various strange items emitting obscure spiritual fluctuations hung there.
The classification of containment objects in the Kingdom of Velen was well-established.
From lowest to highest, they were: low-risk, medium-risk, high-risk, special-risk, and extreme-risk.
Objects with a danger level lower than the low-risk threshold were considered safe and did not qualify as containment objects; they were simply called "transcendent items."
For example, the three items Elias had bought from Redbeard did not even reach the low-risk level.
Elias thought back to the elemental revolver that had turned as limp as a sea cucumber.
The original positioning of that gun was likely just an ordinary transcendent item.
It had a single function: consuming its own spirituality to condense elemental bullets of different attributes.
But after the battle in the Hope County sewers, having been personally "blessed" by a high-level entity...
The nature of that thing had completely changed.
According to the grading standards, it had probably jumped straight to being a medium-risk containment object.
Although it tended to drain the holder's spirituality and even carried the risk of backfiring, its negative traits were currently manageable.
Elias pulled his drifting thoughts back.
His gaze landed on an item on the shelf in front of him with a clearly marked price.
It was a "low-risk" containment object.
The name was: The Greedy Piggy Bank.
The object looked like an ordinary ceramic piggy bank that could be found anywhere.
On its chubby back, there was an extremely narrow, sharp-edged coin slot.
Elias leaned in closer.
Below it was a pure copper label.
In very neat copperplate script, it provided a detailed description of this containment object:
【The Greedy Piggy Bank】
【If you drop a coin into the slot on its back, it will 'spit' out a coin of double the value from its bottom three seconds later.】
【Note: The maximum copied denomination cannot exceed 5 Shillings.】
【Evaluation: This is a portable machine perfectly made for producing small-denomination currency.】
Drop one in, and it spits out two?
Wasn't this a legal money-printing machine?!
But there was no such thing as a free lunch, especially when it involved mysticism.
Elias's gaze shifted downward to the warning highlighted in crimson text.
【Negative Traits:】
【1. It will tempt you to feed it at all times.】
【2. If the feeding frequency is too slow and it feels hungry, it will emit a cry similar to that of a human infant. This will draw all stray animals within a one-kilometer radius to launch a frenzied attack on you.】
【3. If you feed it more than 5 times in a row, it will enter a state of greedy frenzy. It will perceive your fingers as 'delicious coins' and attempt to swallow them.】
After reading this long list of negative traits, Elias wasn't scared off; instead, his eyes grew brighter.
This was good stuff!
As long as he maintained absolute rationality and wasn't controlled by the so-called temptation...
And as long as he rigorously tested the precise cooling standards for "continuous feeding"...
For instance, stopping for a half-hour cooldown after every 4 feedings.
Then this thing would be a gold mine!
As for the stray animals attacking if fed too slowly...
That wasn't really a big problem.
As long as it didn't attract transcendent creatures, what were mere stray animals?
Besides, he had the Sanctuary spell.
Elias rubbed his hands together excitedly, his gaze moving down to the bottom of the copper plate.
【Price: 900 gold crowns.】
"..."
The smile on Elias's face instantly froze.
"Bah!"
What kind of hellish cost-performance was this!
Jiang Huan's calculating mind immediately produced a despairing financial report.
One gold crown was equal to 20 Shillings, and one Shilling was equal to 12 Fenny. This broken pig's copy limit was a mere 5 Shillings!
He had no idea how long it would take to break even on the staggering cost of 900 gold crowns!
With that much free time, he'd be better off taking a couple of missions from the Society of Freemen's blackboard; he'd earn money faster that way!
"No wonder this piece of junk is sitting here gathering dust in the most prominent spot."
"There's a reason it hasn't sold!"
Elias backed away two steps with a look of utter disdain.
Just then.
At the counter, the glowing humanoid phantom seemed to notice Elias standing by the shelf.
"Hello, sir."
"I noticed you seem to have some doubts about our products."
"Do you have any specific needs?"
"You can tell me, and I will give you the most professional recommendation."
Hearing this, Elias walked toward the counter.
"I need some practical combat support equipment."
"The most important thing is that the negative traits must be absolutely manageable."
Then, he gritted his teeth and stated his bottom line:
"My budget is... within 3000 gold crowns."
"Understood."
The humanoid phantom's tone was flat.
"Please wait a moment."
The phantom extended its arm and waved gently in the air.
Several Arcane Hands emitting a deep blue glow precisely picked up a few exquisite boxes and carried them over, floating in front of Elias.
The phantom reached out and opened the first black velvet box.
"The Scapegoat's Pendant."
The phantom announced the product information mechanically.
"This is a highly rated medium-risk containment object."
Elias leaned in to look.
Lying quietly on the velvet was an extremely strange-looking wooden pendant.
The wood was an ominous dark red, and the surface was carved with a highly distorted human face.
The wooden pendant hung from a rusted, dark silver chain. Even from a distance, one could smell a faint scent of blood coming from it.
"Its positive effect is very powerful," the phantom continued its introduction.
"When you suffer a lethal blow in battle—whether it's a physical decapitation or being crushed by a high-level spell."
"As long as it triggers the death condition, the pendant will automatically activate instantly."
"You will leave a perfect substitute made of spirituality in your place to fully absorb the attack."
"Your physical body will be forcibly displaced and teleported to a safe location 30 meters away."
Hearing this, Elias's breathing hitched.
His eyes were fixed on the ugly wood carving, a frenzied light exploding in his pupils.
What kind of divine item was this?!
It was essentially an extra life!
When facing those unspeakable, terrifying monsters, a 30-meter teleportation distance was enough to escape the most lethal killing radius.
"This thing is great!" Elias whispered to Old Ed in his mind.
His previous disdainful expression had vanished without a trace.
"With this, my chances of survival will definitely double!"
Old Ed, however, was not as optimistic as he was.
The old man let out a cold snort.
"Don't get ahead of yourself."
"Listen to its negative traits and ask about the price first."
Sure enough.
The humanoid phantom did not pause, dutifully reciting the deadly warning.
"The negative trait is: this containment object is extremely bloodthirsty."
"Every time the pendant triggers the scapegoat effect, it requires a very strict 'feeding'."
"If you do not personally kill a living creature with it within 24 hours of activation..."
"It will randomly choose someone you are extremely close to."
"To serve as the next 'scapegoat'."
Randomly choose someone close to him?
It sounded terrifying, but living creatures weren't that hard to find.
This was indeed a life-saving artifact that could forcibly reverse life and death in a desperate situation.
At worst, after it triggered, he could just catch a rat and let it suck it dry, right?
"The price?" Elias asked, his voice a bit dry.
The humanoid phantom gave a standard professional smile.
"The price is exactly 3000 gold crowns."
"..."
Great!
One of these things would directly empty his entire fortune.
He had risked his life against the siren in the sewers yesterday.
Wouldn't that life-risking effort have been for nothing?
Moreover, in his plan, it was impossible for him to just buy this one thing and leave.
That broken elemental revolver had a cooldown period of half a month.
Besides an ultimate life-saving trump card like this, he also urgently needed to buy some combat support items for daily self-defense.
Such as charms, potions, and other consumables.
Therefore, these 3000 gold crowns had to be spent carefully and split up.
The reality of poverty completely defeated his desire for the artifact.
He was destined to have no fate with this life-saving treasure.
"This... is a bit over my budget."
Elias reluctantly looked away from the black velvet box.
"It's too expensive. Let me see something else."
He tried his best to hide the bitterness of being broke.
"Very well."
The humanoid phantom showed no contempt for the customer's withdrawal.
It shrugged and casually closed the box.
Another Arcane Hand descended obediently.
It handed a long metal box to Elias.
"Then, let us look at the next one."
The phantom's ethereal voice rang out again.
"The Roaring Cane."
Rate on N.U.
