Backlund, Cherwood Borough.
After Luo En changed into a black trench coat and put on a peaked cap, disguising himself, he arrived at the entrance of a bar named Grizzly.
This was where his original body bought Beyonder potion ingredients, and today he also planned to try his luck to see if he could find clues for the 'Assassin' Beyonder potion.
Looking at the obviously heavy Door in front of him, and the fierce-looking strong man guarding it, Luo En didn't hesitate much and pushed the Door open, walking straight in.
The strong man at the Door sized up Luo En for a few moments but didn't stop him.
Upon pushing open the Door, a strong smell of tobacco mixed with alcohol assailed Luo En, making him frown slightly. He looked up at the center of the bar, the most boisterous part of the entire establishment. There was a boxing ring where two boxers were engaged in a fierce fight, surrounded by a screaming, noisy crowd.
Luo En had no intention of watching. He adjusted the cap on his head, clenched his fists, and carefully scrutinized everyone around him, fearing that a pickpocket might steal his limited money.
Following the flow of people, Luo En squeezed towards the bar counter. He glanced at the menu in front of the bar and said to the bartender:
"A glass of South Will beer."
"7 pennies," the bartender said familiarly, looking at him.
Luo En lowered his head, counted a few coins, and handed them to the bartender.
The bartender turned and handed him a glass filled with a golden liquid.
"The price of grain is high lately, so beer is naturally a bit more expensive," the bartender suddenly said.
You don't need to specifically remind me of that.
Thinking of the grain his original body's father had taken by the bank, Luo En felt a pang of heartache.
Luo En picked up the glass and took a sip. The taste was first bitter, then sweet, with an exceptionally refreshing mouthfeel. It was completely different from the green glass bottle beer he had drunk before transmigrating.
"Is Wine Bottle here? I need to see him."
Hearing this, the bartender looked up and sized him up, then said, "He's in the innermost room on the second floor."
"Thank you." Luo En originally intended to leave immediately, but just as he stood up, he suddenly remembered something, picked up the glass, and downed it in one go, after all, the price of this drink was equivalent to two days of his breakfast money.
Luo En arrived at the Door of that room on the second floor. He gently pushed, and the Door slightly opened.
An exceptionally burly man holding a Wine Bottle looked at him with ill intent.
"I'm here to see Wine Bottle," Luo En added, "I was here just a few days ago."
...
"Come in," an old man with white hair and a face full of flesh walked out from the shadows of the room.
He was wearing a high-necked cotton vest with a wine-red plaid pattern on his upper body, and dark gray wool twill trousers on his lower body.
He was at least one meter seventy-five tall, which was quite tall for this era. His sharp eyes gave him a powerful presence.
As for his appearance, looking at his fleshy face and tall stature.
Luo En thought of a word – Forsac.
By the standards of this world, he had a standard Forsac appearance.
Seeing this, the man holding the Wine Bottle said nothing and turned to leave the room, closing the Door behind him.
Wine Bottle sized up Luo En, recognized him, and asked, "So it's you, kid. What do you want this time?"
"I'm here to inquire about something. I want to ask if you know about the 'Assassin'?" Luo En asked.
"Assassin? Who do you want to assassinate?" Wine Bottle was startled.
"Not a killer, it's... it's like the formula I bought before."
Wine Bottle pondered for a moment and replied, "No, I don't have information like that here. However, I can help you inquire about it."
"Alright then." Luo En was a bit disappointed. Since there was no news, he didn't plan to stay long and turned to leave.
However, Wine Bottle stopped him, "Given that you paid promptly before, I can take you to a place where you might find what you're looking for."
Can I find Beyonder potion formulas?
A Beyonder gathering?
Luo En became interested and nodded in agreement, "Okay, thank you for the trouble."
Wine Bottle nodded slightly and made a gesture towards Luo En.
"Cough—ho—cough cough cough!"
Luo En didn't understand and didn't move.
"Two pounds!"
Seeing Luo En motionless, Wine Bottle said, "I need two pounds as an introduction fee."
Luo En reacted and handed Wine Bottle two one-pound banknotes.
He felt a bit pained; two pounds, in terms of purchasing power, was nearly two thousand yuan.
"You're a bit strange, kid."
Wine Bottle said as he took the banknotes.
"Are you free in three days?" Seeing Luo En nod, Wine Bottle looked up at the clock on the room wall and continued, "Alright then, come find me at this time in three days, and I'll take you."
"I'll also help you inquire about information in other circles these two days and tell you everything in three days."
Luo En thanked Wine Bottle and left the Grizzly Bar quickly without lingering.
It was almost midnight when Luo En returned to 69 Rose Street. He had returned a bit late, missing the last public carriage. Carriages running at that hour were usually exceptionally expensive.
To save money, Luo En could only walk back. Of course, Luo En wasn't used to the bumpy carriages of this era anyway.
Creeping back to his room, Luo En simply washed up, took off his coat, and went straight to bed; he was already very tired after a day of traveling.
...
A few days later.
In an alley near Luo En's home, Luo En was rushing home, carrying a large pile of things.
He shifted his canvas bag to his left hand, while his right hand held two small fresh fish that swung back and forth with his steps.
The bag contained bread, vegetables, and half a ham.
He currently had no income, and eating out every day was too extravagant, so he bought some ingredients, intending to cook for himself.
His original body was a young master who lived in luxury and had barely been to the kitchen a few times, but as a single university student, he could still cook some basic dishes.
"Two fish for 8 pennies, vegetables for 4 pennies, bread..." Luo En lowered his head, calculating his expenses. These ingredients were enough for him to eat for several days.
His only regret was that he couldn't find rice in the market, so he could only eat bread with his vegetables, which made him feel a bit unaccustomed.
'Perhaps I could try making some steamed buns or something.'
"Hey."
Luo En noticed an Orange Cat figure following him.
Cat?
Luo En looked back and saw an Orange Cat staring intently at the fish in his hand.
"You're hungry too, huh." Luo En slowed his steps. The cat immediately retreated two steps, its tail twitching nervously on the ground, but its meows grew longer.
"A stray cat? Never mind, here's one for you." Luo En threw a fish to it.
The Orange Cat retreated half a step, its nose quivering above the fish. Suddenly, its front paws pressed down on the fish's tail, a purr rumbling in its throat, not even bothering to flick off the bone shards clinging to its whiskers.
Luo En seemed touched by this scene. He bent down and extended his hand, gently stroking the Orange Cat's back.
He felt the cat tremble slightly, but it had no excessive reaction, just allowing him to stroke it so docilely.
Luo En had the idea of adopting it; after all, he was alone now, and having a companion wouldn't be bad.
He just didn't know if Mrs. Griffin would allow him to keep a pet.
Perhaps he could move to a slightly larger house.
"Ah, no money." Luo En sighed softly.
These past two days, he hadn't considered using his advantage as a transmigrator to find ways to make money, but...
Luo En directly cursed that Rosell the Great in his heart.
That guy was definitely a transmigrator, as for whether he was a transmigrator who crossed into a book like himself, Luo En couldn't say for sure.
But that guy was definitely not a good person; he blocked all paths for other transmigrators.
He became a politician, a scientist, an inventor, and even an emperor.
He even plagiarized literature.
He took various famous works, animations, and famous quotes, gave them an otherworldly skin, and published them as his own.
There was also the steam engine that boiled water, firearms, various machinery, clothing designs, and even underwear and brassieres were plagiarized by him.
He didn't act like a senior transmigrator at all; when he ate meat, he should at least let his juniors have some soup. He even called himself Caesar the Great, even plagiarizing that title; why didn't he call himself the Heavenly Khan?
It was precisely because of him that many of Luo En's original ideas couldn't be realized. Some common plagiarism, ahem... referencing work that transmigrators usually do when starting out, was completely impossible.
Before transmigrating, Luo En was a university student majoring in electromechanical engineering, but there were no computers in this world, not even electric lights. He used to do 3D modeling on computers in university. He had almost forgotten how to draw purely manual mechanical diagrams. In his original era, pure machinery had long lost its market; only things with some electricity had market demand.
But in this era, there was only machinery, no electromechanical! Pure machinery was even better than electrified ones.
"Perhaps I could also write a book." Luo En began to consider becoming a plagiarizing Author. Although Rosell had already plagiarized many books, there were always some he missed.
I remember his original body was a pen pal with a novelist. Luo En lowered his head and began to recall some details.
She seemed to be a female Author, and he had written to her even before she became famous. His original body always liked to use her books to show off his unique taste.
Although he didn't particularly like that Author, he just used it as a social gimmick. But the two had written many letters, and at least in the letters, their relationship was good.
The novel she wrote seemed to be called "Wuthering Heights" and was quite popular. Perhaps I could write to her and ask for some advice.
"Woah—!"
"What?"
The Orange Cat, which was gnawing on the fish, suddenly bristled and let out a low growl. For some reason, Luo En, who was deep in thought, suddenly felt a tightening in his heart.
"I heard you want to become an 'Assassin'."
An ethereal yet seductive female voice came through.