Inside the basement of the Nostra Family's Nostra Estate, Kevin stood in a spacious underground area that had been completely transformed. This hidden secret room, built when the estate was first constructed, had never been properly utilized until now. But Kevin had clear plans for it.
Standing in the renovated space, he couldn't help revealing a satisfied smile. Being in this room felt like being in a future world. Various pipelines were densely arranged throughout, and the central design platform held the latest model mainframes and accompanying servers. The entire basement's outer walls were reinforced. To access this underground server, one had to pass through multiple checkpoints.
Kevin held a laptop—a thick machine with a robust style, similar to a special-purpose computer. He took out a cable connected to the computer and inserted it into the machine's interface beside him.
Immediately, a strange doll image appeared on the screen.
Ickshonpe.
This was the name of the doll before him. Ickshonpe was also a Hunter, and a powerful, well-known one at that. In today's society, rapidly moving toward the information age, his ability seemed particularly unique. Initially, when Kevin asked Bisky about hacker Hunters or similar professions, he received her recommendation.
As for Ickshonpe's specific Hunter type, Kevin wasn't certain. He only knew that Ickshonpe claimed to be a 'real-world resident' and even believed that people from the real world, like Kevin, were actually virtual. However, other Hunters regarded him as a hacker Hunter.
Well, Hunters always had quirks—Kevin had gradually gotten used to this. As long as their strength was sufficient and professional skills excellent, nothing else mattered.
Ickshonpe was indeed quite formidable. The anti-counterfeiting and reading settings for previously constructed cards were all completed with his help. The potion shop website Kevin planned to build naturally couldn't be completed without his assistance. Even the server setup before him was only completed under his direction. This cost considerable money.
Fortunately, the medicine launched successfully this week. Wealth poured in continuously, so funding concerns were minimal.
"Is this sufficient?" Kevin asked.
The doll on the screen didn't speak; it just held up a drawing board showing text. Even though direct voice communication was possible, it insisted on displaying messages.
[This is sufficient. According to your requirements, the real-world site security you constructed is adequate. I've also completed the firewall for you. Though server specifications aren't large, they're fully sufficient for your described usage scenario.]
Kevin nodded. "Thanks. I've transferred payment to the account you provided."
[Pleasure working with you, virtual world person.]
The screen flickered, returning to the computer desktop.
"So, the final step for the shop is finally complete. It can officially open for business." During this time, Kevin had prepared a large quantity of potions. He'd almost completely scoured the market for related materials, causing prices to rise sharply due to large-scale purchases. This was necessary—these materials were difficult to obtain, already expensive, with low transaction and storage volumes. When someone made sudden large purchases without preparation, prices naturally rose.
Kevin left the server room—it was simply too noisy here. Above the server room was the estate's computer data room, also with extremely high protection specifications. The room was filled with various computers, display devices, and electronic equipment, densely packed.
Holding the laptop, Kevin found a seat and took out a pure white card. In the center was only the Red Stone logo—no other patterns or icons. This was the administrator card.
Kevin made six such cards. By swiping on a reader, one could enter the website's management interface. This card type was the highest specification Kevin made, higher than Member cards and Supplier cards. It was a pure product of Nen ability application, with mysterious characters engraved inside. It would react according to each person's different Nen, with a certain binding procedure.
At this stage, only one card was bound—the bound Nen was Kevin's own. The other five were blank cards, not yet bound. Only Kevin knew the specific binding process.
Kevin imbued the card with Nen and swiped it on the nearby reader. The computer screen immediately jumped to a special website. The first thing visible was the iconic irregular Red Stone pattern. Scrolling up entered the website interface.
Depending on the card swiped, the functions displayed differed. What Kevin saw at this moment was the internal administrator website.
Through the backend data, Kevin could view consumption details and purchase lists for every Member account. Currently, only a few test data items existed—serving as demonstration.
"Let me see—first, I should list the items." Kevin clicked the 'Items' option, selected 'List,' and began editing pictures and information. He entered all prepared information, categorized purchasable potions by different levels, and after completing these operations, the listing was successful.
After handling these matters with the administrator account, Kevin took out a Member card and logged in again to check. The page instantly refreshed. On the simple, orderly page, only three options existed: [Introduction], [Personal], and [Products].
The [Introduction] section, as the name suggested, provided detailed explanations of the shop, the entire website's purchase process, and various Member systems. After all, the website's main purpose was building a sufficient network of [Suppliers]—everything else was byproduct.
The [Personal] section displayed Member account information—simple and clear.
The [Products] section was the website's core page. Opening it, potions the current Member account could purchase were listed at the top. Depending on Member level, grayed-out potions below could only be viewed for introduction but not purchased. A simple attraction method.
After confirming everything correct, Kevin edited a text message and sent it to an unknown number.
In a room somewhere, Rock stood by the window when his phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket. He took it out—the text was from a number he'd specially marked.
"Finally, news. Exactly three months—truly punctual." Rock opened the message; it was indeed from Kevin.
[What you want is ready. This is the transaction address. I'll wait for you here.]
The transaction location wasn't far from his city. Rock immediately began arranging his itinerary. He'd been anticipating this potion for a long time.
After sending the text, Kevin left the room and walked through the estate. Taking a stroll, he found that besides Neon watching TV, the entire estate seemed exceptionally quiet.
"Everyone's very busy." Kevin sat down on the sofa.
Since hearing the prophecy interpretation and Pairo stating the three would handle mafia-related issues, Kevin hadn't inquired further. Correspondingly, Pairo and the others started getting busy with company affairs alongside Light.
Judging from the prophecy, no major problems should occur this month. However, the Tedolka Family might make a move due to Red Stone Pharmaceuticals' popularity. Problems might arise next month. After all, this was their first time handling such matters—they made early preparations.
This could be considered the correct way to use Neon's Nen ability—detecting danger in advance through divination and preparing to deal with it, ensuring preparedness. Otherwise, what would be the point of prophecy? Prophecy itself was meant to help people change the future's course.
A few days later, at night.
In a brightly lit shopping mall, a small shop stood around the corner. The shop was empty, with only a small counter, a computer beside it, and a bookshelf behind filled with various books on animals, medicine, plants, and minerals. One could even see many books similar to children's books and folk tale collections.
At first glance, this place didn't look like an operating shop—more like a storefront waiting to be sold.
Behind the counter, Kevin leaned back in a reclining chair, holding a book and reading intently.
"Facing the goose that laid golden eggs, the greedy farmer finally raised his butcher knife and cut open its belly, but there was nothing inside—" After reading one story from the collection, Kevin rolled his eyes helplessly.
"'Killing the goose that lays the golden eggs'?" He looked at the cover: "Distant Books"—a collection compiling local customs and folk tales from various places worldwide. He reluctantly turned to the next chapter.
"—He met a talking fiery red bird, a wise bird—He helped the red bird, but he suffered incurable injuries. The red bird shed sad tears, and the kind carpenter lived happily ever after."
—What the heck? How did the prologue not match the epilogue, yet it looked like another fable? Teaching people about truth, goodness, and beauty or something. He'd seen talking birds, but not red ones. This one's credibility was quite high.
At this moment, he was no longer at the Nostra Estate, but in the pharmacy shop located outside. This shop was one he'd purchased before, located in a bustling downtown area—a large, twenty-four-hour shopping mall. The reason for having a physical store was actual sales demand.
The main reason: the city where the Nostra Family was based was relatively remote. Just a small city. Though Light's Nostra Family was the local underground overlord, transportation and other facilities weren't convenient enough. That place gradually couldn't meet Light's expectations for company development. Red Stone Pharmaceuticals' company location and pharmaceutical factory were initially set up in another city—a large coastal port city. This city had convenient transportation to the estate's city; a round trip by private airship took less than a day.
For Red Stone Pharmaceuticals, this was undoubtedly an excellent choice. Kevin's pharmacy shop was naturally also chosen to be here.
At this moment, he was on duty at the shop. Though the pharmacy hadn't officially opened, he'd already arranged to meet Rock here.
Just then, a knock came at the door.
"Come in."
Following Kevin's response, Rock—whom he hadn't seen for a long time—pushed the door open and walked in. Rock looked around at the shop's decor and couldn't help commenting, "It's a bit unexpected that you chose to set up here. But aren't you being too perfunctory?"
In his opinion, this was at least a business, yet the layout was truly hard to compliment.
Kevin, leaning back in his chair, rolled his eyes and said casually, "This isn't a traditional shop in the usual sense. Am I supposed to actually put potions on shelves? If a troublemaking lunatic came, wouldn't I suffer a huge loss?" After all, he was selling potions. Though they wouldn't damage if dropped, they were still easily harmed by deliberate attacks. Furthermore, large quantities shipments were unlikely—customers could simply come to the shop to order directly.
"It seems I'm your first customer?" Rock pulled over a nearby stool, sat down, and asked with a smile.
Kevin thought for a moment and nodded. "In a sense, you could say that." He closed the book and set it aside. Saying this, Kevin took a gold card from his pocket and handed it to Rock. "Membership card. Mid-tier."
Rock took the card and examined it back and forth. "How do I use this?"
Kevin pointed to the computer beside him. "Just like using a hunter license—swipe it."
As soon as he finished, Kevin felt a resentful gaze shoot toward him. He turned to look at Rock, paused, then slapped his forehead. "Ah, sorry—I forgot you didn't pass the Hunter Exam."
Rock stared at Kevin expressionlessly, seriously suspecting he was doing it on purpose.
"Do you need me to explain how to use it?"
"No—I understand this much information." Rock said with emphasis, then picked up the membership card and swiped it on the machine.
Through the membership card, Rock directly accessed the shop's website.
"Online sales model?" Rock murmured to himself. Then, based on the website's introduction, he checked his membership card benefits and the shop's relevant information. After understanding usage, Rock nodded.
To be honest, he was tempted by the Supplier level cooperation terms. But after carefully reviewing specific cooperation matters, he could only shake his head helplessly—this wasn't his area of expertise, and he lacked corresponding channel resources. Clearly, the materials Kevin needed weren't ordinary common items. Looking at these potions' effects, one could see that.
"Since it's online sales, why do you still have a physical store?" Rock asked.
Kevin explained helplessly, "Of course, to receive non-Member users. They also have two purchase quotas per year—any Nen user who can use Nen can purchase." After all, one important purpose of opening this shop was attracting Suppliers. Whether potential Suppliers found through his own connections or recommended by other Members, a physical location was needed for communication and verification. Material acquisition and some potion sales also required physical operation.
At the same time, this addressed various situations—some Nen users had quirks, and some would be unwilling to conduct online transactions or provide specific shipping addresses. These Hunters—or rather, Nen users—were very cautious.
Overall, a physical shop, a fixed real-world location, could solve many potential troublesome issues. Even in this world not yet fully entered the information age, even if complete informatization was achieved in the future, a physical operational headquarters would still be needed. Even a small shop like Kevin's was no exception.
Rock nodded, understanding. "So, I can order potions directly online from now on?"
Kevin confirmed—this was indeed the most convenient method.
Rock frowned slightly. "Won't there be risks? It feels quite dangerous." After all, these potions were valuable—even small transactions involved considerable money.
Kevin was also somewhat helpless. He shrugged. "Some things are difficult to make perfect. If problems arise, we'll deal with them." Issues during logistics—cargo hijacked, lost cargo—were all within Kevin's consideration. But currently, he had limited available personnel, and no better solution existed for now. He couldn't deliver goods himself—that would put the cart before the horse.
Kevin looked at Rock. "So, you have other ideas, right? I don't think you're just here to trade for potions." He and Rock could only be considered acquaintances. If pressed on familiarity, they clearly weren't at that level.
For a simple transaction, according to Rock's personality, he should leave after completing the deal and understanding the shop's operating mechanism. But now he was asking around, wanting to know more.
Rock smiled. "Before I came, I just wanted to buy potions from you. But after I got here, my idea changed."
Rock was also a person with considerable ambition. He keenly sensed Kevin's needs. He put away his membership card and straightened his clothes. Clearing his throat with a light cough, he put on a professional smile, then took out a business card from his pocket and handed it to Kevin.
"I am not talented, but I am the president of a global logistics company."
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