Chapter 77: A Chain Store?

When setting up the stand-ins, Zheng Yichen kept a careful mind. He memorized the locations of all the stand-ins and switched places every so often, trying his best to keep the people from the Sanctuary Church from grasping his trail completely. As for where he himself was now, he didn’t have the time to figure that out for the moment.

“Hmm, if my main body wanders around everywhere, I can’t set up a stable place for development.” Zheng Yichen thought of a compromise. He would still keep his main body moving around, but he would also create a base in one location. Of course, that base wouldn’t be where his main body stayed permanently. Instead, he would use a projection…

Maintaining a projection for a long time would continuously consume mana. However, if it was maintained at the absolute minimum level, the burden on him would be negligible. So he started setting things up this way, beginning by picking a good spot.

“Sister Dan Marina, where are we going?” Sitting in a carriage, Pati asked curiously. The carriage wasn’t theirs; it was a free ride hitched thanks to Dan Marina’s “charm.” However, the people driving it weren’t very friendly… they were clearly bandits!

“Of course, we’re looking for that Little Dragon.” Dan Marina gave a light laugh, her gaze turning outside the carriage. A strange glint flashed in her eyes. “Before that, we can do some interesting things…”

“Ow!” Rubbing the tip of his nose, Zheng Yichen looked at the “secret workshop” he had dug out. Creating an underground space wasn’t difficult with the convenience of Magic. To pick this spot, he had specifically searched for many hidden areas.

After surveying these hidden areas, he investigated each one. Places with poor resources nearby definitely wouldn’t be his first choice. Creating his own “workshop” would require a lot of materials. Some could be bought in nearby cities, but the ones available for purchase obviously wouldn’t be the best. The best ones could be bought too, but they wouldn’t be obtainable in a short time. Besides, good things all had a common flaw… they were expensive!

Zheng Yichen had taken quite a few things when he ran away from home. Those things could probably be exchanged for several thousand gold coins. But several thousand gold coins, in terms of investment in Alchemy and Engineering, might be enough for finished products, but for research, even ten times that amount wouldn’t be too much!

So many things had to be collected by Zheng Yichen himself. It seemed a bit like not focusing on his proper duties—why not study Magic properly instead of doing this sort of thing?

Actually, this was the only choice he had. Although his progress in Magic was fast, it wouldn’t give him proper combat strength in a short time. The Magic Weapon Summoning Book was enough for now, but its effects were too limited. Zheng Yichen hadn’t reached the Tier yet, so even with vast mana, he might not be able to exert much combat strength.

There were cases where extremely powerful beings possessed Life Force or special powers dozens or even hundreds of times greater than humans, yet they were still killed!

In short, the moment the Magic Weapon Summoning Book could truly unleash its full power would probably be after Zheng Yichen reached the Tier and was able to learn High-Level Magic.

“Well, for now it’s a bit simple, but I’ll fill it out slowly later.” Nodding, Zheng Yichen began setting up some Alchemy equipment. The equipment was relatively simple and also large-scale. With the materials he had dug up, he could already create all of this. The more precise stuff could wait until later.

Kaja City. Looking at this city, which had a slightly different structure from Sta City, Zheng Yichen nodded slightly. He controlled the newly made Alchemical Puppet and walked in. After several days of busy work, he finally finished the basic framework of the workshop. Now it was time to add some new things. Once everything was set up, it would be time for him to calm down and focus on research…

This city was a big city, with many shops that smaller cities didn’t have, especially Alchemy shops. Alchemy was a money-burning endeavor, just like technology. Researching something might require an investment of thousands or even tens of thousands of gold coins without any guarantee of returns, yet many people were still willing to devote themselves to it!

Some did it for fame, some for profit, and others simply pursued the truth.

“Huh? This place… actually has one too?” Zheng Yichen looked somewhat surprised as he passed by a tavern… the tavern’s sign was the same as the one in Sta City, but its location was different. Here, it was on a fairly bustling street. A chain store?

With a strange feeling, Zheng Yichen walked in. The customers welcomed in this city’s Mysterious Tavern were also different from those in Sta City; most were actually Professionals. Some of these Professionals didn’t seem to be here to drink. Looking at their slightly furrowed brows, as if pondering something, it seemed they were using the environment here to help them think better.

Hmm, that was a good idea. A state free of distracting thoughts and with a calm, clear mind was indeed suitable for pondering difficult problems.

“What would you like, guest?” Zheng Yichen sized up the female attendant before him. Her temperament was quite similar to Belin’s. The attendants in the Mysterious Tavern probably all had such a temperament… professionally trained…

“I want to offload some valuables.”

“Sorry, guest, we are a proper tavern here.” The female attendant said with a flawless smile. Upon hearing this, Zheng Yichen lightly curled his lips. A proper tavern? If he didn’t know anything about their background, he might almost believe the attendant’s words. But now…

Just as he was about to mention Belin’s name, the attendant suddenly smiled and changed her tune. “Of course, we can also help handle some troublesome matters for guests.”

“…” Huh? Had she received some notification? Zheng Yichen took a deep look at the attendant. Her slightly pointed ears didn’t have anything like earphones in them. “Also, I’d like to purchase some Alchemy equipment.”

Of course, he wouldn’t acquire anything important here. The Mysterious Tavern was involved in information-related work. Getting anything important from here basically meant revealing his own secrets. For important things, besides planning to buy them in small batches scattered over time, those he could craft himself, he would rely on himself to craft them.

“That’s strange, how did that guy run off to Kaja?” In Sta City, after delivering the drinks ordered by a guest, Belin muttered quietly. Kaja and Sta City were not close. Every tavern had a special connection method. When something major or special happened somewhere, they, as attendants, could immediately learn the details through this special connection.

Therefore, as soon as Zheng Yichen appeared in Kaja, she knew about it. Although he hadn’t come for over a month, who told him to be someone the Boss specifically pointed out to keep an eye on… Even after this “long,” Belin still hadn’t forgotten about Zheng Yichen’s existence.