CLATTER CLATTER CLATTER—
In an instant, the Teleportation Array in the center lit up. A squad of fully armed soldiers teleported out and charged toward the room with the flashing red light.
Lin Yu took a step to the side, clearing a path for the soldiers to pass through.
He faintly overheard the soldiers' voices.
"It's the energy signature of the God of Wild Hunting."
"Ready the fire-resistant gear. Switch to freeze mode."
...
The soldiers gathered outside the room with the flashing red light, seemingly waiting for something.
A few minutes later, the door to the room opened.
The soldiers cautiously glanced at the scene inside the room before swarming in.
A short while later, they dragged out a person with disheveled hair.
From a distance, you could see his crimson eyes, which seemed to have flames burning within them. His exposed skin was covered in dense black hair.
The man's head drooped as he mumbled something listlessly.
As they drew closer, Lin Yu could faintly make out some of his words.
"Don't take me, I was forced."
"If I didn't become a believer, I would have died!"
"I didn't know the god was an enemy of the Empire before!"
...
The group quickly departed through the Teleportation Array.
Witnessing this scene, Lin Yu suddenly understood why none of the information he found had mentioned being teleported to the "Teleportation Service Center" after the first stage.
It was all to screen for abnormal lords after the stage ended. The information was deliberately withheld to prevent them from finding a way to teleport elsewhere.
After all, gods were omnipotent; you couldn't rule out the possibility of a god teleporting a favored believer somewhere else.
Lin Yu felt a wave of retrospective fear. Back in the Divine Hall of the God of Wild Hunting, he had nearly bowed down himself.
If he had become a believer of the God of Wild Hunting, he would have likely faced the same treatment upon returning to Cuiwei Star.
In that case, it wouldn't have mattered how awesome his Lord's Heart was. His body was still that of an ordinary person, completely powerless against these armed soldiers.
'Yes, when I get back to my territory, I have to be nicer to Phantom. Thanks to it, I managed to avoid falling into this huge trap.'
Lin Yu silently made up his mind.
After the soldiers left, Lin Yu stepped into the Teleportation Array. A flash of light later, he found himself in a large hall.
The hall was buzzing with activity. People were gathered in small groups, chatting and laughing, creating a lively atmosphere.
Around the hall were numerous stalls, with many people standing in front of them, talking about something or other.
Lin Yu found an empty stall and tried using it. He just had to use his wristband and pay a small point fee.
The stall allowed one to place items, set a price, and sell them automatically—it was essentially an automated vending booth.
Lin Yu enthusiastically studied the goods at the other stalls. When he noticed something strange, he couldn't help but ask a middle-aged uncle who was watching from the side.
"Big bro! Why can they sell things from their territories? I can only sell the treasure chests from my personal inventory."
"New here?"
"Yeah, I just passed the first stage trial."
"Once your Lord's Heart level is higher and your connection to it becomes stronger, you'll be able to retrieve items from your territory's warehouse even when you're far away! Keep at it, little brother!"
The uncle chuckled and patted Lin Yu's shoulder.
"Oh, I see. Thanks, big bro!"
Returning to his stall, Lin Yu priced his items based on what he'd observed. He took 10 white treasure chests from his inventory and placed them in the stall (gray chests were worth too little for anyone to want them), setting the price for each at 2 points.
White treasure chests had a 90% chance of yielding 1,000 units of various resources and a 10% chance of containing items of various grades.
Considering the exchange rate in the Point Mall was 1 point for 1,000 units of resources, Lin Yu figured his price was quite reasonable.
The uncle who had been chatting with Lin Yu saw him setting up shop. He walked over, took a look, and then fell silent for a moment.
The moment Lin Yu finished placing the treasure chests, the man bought every single one on the stall.
╭(⊙o⊙)╮ Lin Yu stared at him in astonishment.
"Little brother, let me teach you another lesson," the middle-aged man said in a serious tone.
"That's not how you sell treasure chests. Don't just look at the fact that they mostly contain resources. Occasionally, they can yield very valuable items."
"What kind of people buy treasure chests? Gamblers!"
"If they were purely after resources, everyone would just exchange for them at the mall, right?"
"Look around. See anyone else selling treasure chests?"
"Ah, right, right, right!" Lin Yu replied.
"That's because all the treasure chests on the market get bought up. There are always people who are natural-born gamblers with incredible luck, who can often unbox high-value items."
"That's why every treasure chest on the market sells at a premium of 3 to 10 times its base value!"
"I've bought all your chests. Just consider it your tuition fee!"
As the uncle spoke with such confidence, Lin Yu silently took out another 10 white treasure chests and listed them for 10 points each. The moment he put them up, the man before him bought them all.
So, he listed another 10 white treasure chests at 12 points each, and once again, they were swept clean.
Finally, he took out the last 7 white treasure chests from his personal inventory and priced them at 15 points.
"That's all of them, right?"
"That's it. These are the last ones."
Before the words were even out of his mouth, the 7 treasure chests were gone again.
"Uncle, didn't you say the market price was 3 to 10 times the value? Why did you buy them for 12 and 15 points too?"
"Hehehe, young man, it's because most of the treasure chests on the market pass through me. It's a monopoly!"
"So if I listed them for 20 points, you'd still buy them?"
"I wouldn't. At that price, you'd have to see if you could even sell them."
"Also, if you're looking to buy or sell chests in the future, come directly to me. Bulk orders get a discount!" The uncle chuckled, turned, and disappeared into the crowd.
After a moment of silence, Lin Yu also left the stall, deciding to wander around and see what else was there.
Leaving the hall, Lin Yu explored for a while. This was a recreational area for the lords. Besides the trading hall with stalls set up by lords near the Teleportation Array, there were also supermarkets selling ordinary goods, an auction house, and various shops selling Extraordinary Items.
There were also bars, dance halls, and foot massage parlors catering to the lords.
Lin Yu lingered in front of a foot massage parlor for a moment but ultimately walked away. He had been a virgin in both his past life and this one, and he felt like losing his 'first time' here wouldn't be worth it.
As he wandered, Lin Yu was about to enter a hall with large, closed doors when a guard at the entrance quickly stopped him.
"I'm sorry, sir. This is the New Lord Activity Hall. A briefing for new lords is currently underway, and only lords participating this year may enter."
"But I am participating this year!"
"How come I didn't know about any briefing?"
Lin Yu was a bit surprised.
"You might have missed the announcement. The organizers sent a message to the regional chat channel in every zone during the trial."
"If you wish to enter, please present your wristband. There are only fifteen minutes left before the briefing ends."
Hearing this, Lin Yu figured out why he'd missed the message. At that time, he had been busy dealing with four hero-rank enemies. By the time he was free to check the chat channel, all he saw was a flood of "Goodbye!" and "See you in the next stage!" messages, so he hadn't looked closely.
After that, Lin Yu showed his wristband to the guard.
Since he was already here, he might as well go in and take a look.