Duan Chen calmly reached into his pocket and placed his three-star Hunter Guild license on the glass counter.
He smiled, his tone conciliatory, "How dangerous is the world, you ask?"
The shop owner froze. His eyes widened, and his face turned green. His hands trembled, almost dropping the cloth bag.
Hunter Guild agents were a level above the police.
They dealt with peculiar urban phenomena, apprehending anomalies and demons! If taken to their precinct, one would be imprisoned with beings far from normal, and a visit would cost at least half a life.
He adjusted his thick-rimmed glasses and cautiously leaned closer to examine the license.
Duan Chen obligingly extended it toward him.
"Hunter Guild... Senior Agent..."
The more he looked, the colder he felt, his body starting to shake. The bag of gold coins he'd been holding was placed back on the counter, untouched.
Duan Chen retrieved his license and said with a smile, "I'm here to pawn, not to attend a class."
"Damn it! He must be an imposter!"
"Yeah, Uncle, there's a place across the street that makes fake IDs for 50 yuan."
"Don't let him scare you. How about we rough him up first?" The men moved to act.
The owner eyed Duan Chen with suspicion, a glint of gold in his small eyes as he quickly calculated.
Duan Chen said nothing more. He lifted his suit jacket, revealing a black gun in his hand.
*Bang—!*
A bullet punched a hole through the cleaver held by the tough guy, a wisp of white smoke rising.
Instantly, everyone froze, like a paused movie scene.
Duan Chen, still smiling, looked at the owner without turning his head.
"You damn brats! Get lost, and get back inside!" the owner yelled, sweat streaming down his face.
The men were still reluctant. That was a whole bag of gold coins. The well-dressed young man in front of them looked easy to beat. Even with a gun, if they all attacked together...
"I said, get back inside!!" the owner's voice rose, his tone cracking at the end.
"You're still alive now because the Guild has a rule against agents acting against ordinary people. But if you attack first, he'll have every right to deal with you..."
"But Uncle, there are five of us, and only one of him."
"Yeah, Uncle, even if he has a gun, his aim is bad. He fired once and didn't hit anyone."
"You idiots!! You blithering fools!! A Senior Agent playing with the five of you is child's play. If he wanted to shoot you, your heads would be splattered already! Get out, or are you waiting to die?!?"
Only then did the five burly men, grumbling reluctantly, pick up their sticks and cleavers and retreat into the building.
Duan Chen leaned his upper body on the glass counter, raising an eyebrow at the owner, "So, can we talk prices now?"
The owner trembled, grabbing a handkerchief to haphazardly wipe the sweat from his brow, casting Duan Chen a resentful glare.
"Look, Officer, I haven't broken any laws. These are voluntary transactions. You can't be setting a trap."
He sighed again, pushing the bag of gold coins towards Duan Chen. Simultaneously, he pulled out a wad of bills from a hidden compartment under the counter, estimating it to be over two thousand yuan.
"I know things are quiet lately, and you must be under pressure for performance reviews... Please, overlook this indiscretion. My little shop is struggling to stay afloat. Be kind and don't hold a grudge against my foolish nephews."
Duan Chen found himself wanting to laugh.
He hadn't gone to the usual gold shops precisely because these coins came from a succubus in a secret realm, not exactly from 'legitimate channels'.
It was amusing that the owner thought he was trying to entrap him.
"Take this money back. I said, I'm here to pawn today."
Duan Chen pushed the gold coins further inside.
"The current market price for gold is 425. You can calculate it at 300. But I want cash, in small denominations."
The owner stared at Duan Chen suspiciously for a full five seconds, too cautious to respond immediately.
The price Duan Chen offered already promised him a substantial profit. The temptation of immense wealth made him decide to take a calculated risk.
"Alright! We'll do as Officer says." He immediately put on a bright, fawning smile.
Duan Chen smiled faintly. "I can pretend I didn't see your little 'game' earlier, but you must also keep my visit confidential."
"Absolutely," the owner vowed, patting his chest.
Soon, the owner presented Duan Chen with a neatly stacked box. "There's 500,000 in here. Shall the boss check it?"
Duan Chen glanced at it and snapped it shut, figuring the owner wouldn't dare play any more tricks.
"Oh, right, and this. Can you give me an appraisal?" Duan Chen pulled out a string of white pearls from his pocket.
The owner's eyes lit up at the sight of the necklace. He cupped it in his hands, examining it closely.
"Excellent, excellent!"
"The luster, the roundness... truly not of this world! Will you buy this, boss? I'll take 300,000!"
Duan Chen's eyes widened.
He thought: Wow! He knows it's valuable, but I didn't realize how valuable!
He calmly shook his head, "I'm not pawning this necklace."
"400,000!" the owner narrowed his eyes greedily.
Duan Chen took back the necklace and put it in his pocket. "I said I'm not pawning it."
The owner sighed with immense regret, his gaze still fixed on the necklace, unable to look away.
"Don't play those 'games' anymore. I'll be back," Duan Chen waved and disappeared down the alley.
He wasn't in a hurry to sell the pearl necklace.
After all, it was an item from a secret realm, and more discerning Hunter Guild members would be interested. Knowing its approximate value was enough for now.
Carrying the heavy 500,000, Duan Chen felt content.
He first went to have a bowl of lamb soup with double meat.
Passing by, he saw a beggar and knelt to place a hundred-yuan bill in his bowl.
The beggar looked astonished and immediately prostrated himself before Duan Chen, bowing deeply.
"My benefactor, my benefactor! Thank you for your great kindness, my benefactor!"
Duan Chen, however, kindly squatted down and helped the beggar up.
"No need to thank me so profusely. I have a task, and I wonder if you'd be interested."
The beggar, seeing Duan Chen in his suit and finely dressed, and so generous with his money, nodded vigorously. "Yes, I'll do anything!"
"How many fellow homeless people do you have around here?" Duan Chen asked.
Hearing this, the beggar's eyes darted. He cautiously shrank back. "You, you're not a cop, are you? I haven't broken any laws..."
Duan Chen activated his mind-reading ability, having already understood the beggar's thoughts completely.
"Eight people? That's enough. Don't worry, I'm not here to arrest you."
The beggar was startled. He hadn't spoken a word, yet this young man could read his mind.
He lowered his head, looking at the hundred-yuan bill in his hand, and made up his mind.
"Okay, boss, just tell us what you need us to do."
Duan Chen nodded. Although the city was covered with surveillance, it was difficult to track sea demons masquerading as humans. Spreading a wider net might be better.
Marginalized individuals like the homeless were actually the best informants in the city.
"I need you to keep an eye out for a man, especially around the food streets and fresh markets. This man has a scar on his chin and likes to eat raw octopus."
Duan Chen gave the beggar another eight hundred yuan. The beggar's eyes lit up.
"This is an advance payment. Share it with your brothers. If you do well, there will be more rewards."
The beggar nodded enthusiastically. It was just tailing someone. They had nothing to do all day but wander the city; this task was nothing.
"Oh, and this needs to be done discreetly."
"Mission guaranteed!" The beggar grinned widely.
Duan Chen nodded and was about to leave when a man and a woman walked towards him.
The woman was beautiful, with long hair cascading down her shoulders. A light application of makeup made her quite striking, especially her alluring, amorous eyes that drew attention.
She was Duan Chen's ex-girlfriend, Li Wei.
At this moment, she was intimately linked arm-in-arm with the older man beside her. The man looked old enough to be her father, sporting a carefully groomed receding hairline, dressed in branded Western suits, and wearing a Patek Philippe on his wrist.
"Duan Chen... you, you've fallen this low?"
Li Wei looked surprised. She glanced at Duan Chen, then at the homeless man beside him, and seemed to misunderstand something.