South of the city, the "Stinky Ditch."
The name is quite descriptive.
The entire area is built upon the city's sewer System, and the damp air is mixed with the pungent stench of moss, sewage, and various unknown fermented substances.
Dim magical light filtered out from the low shacks and filthy alleys, illuminating the diverse faces coming and going. Most of these people concealed themselves with hoods or masks, their eyes vigilant and their steps hurried.
This is Osterburg's Black Market, a gray area operating outside the law.
The Young Miss "Hakime," played by two small Dragons, walked through this foul place, her tall figure towering over the surrounding low shacks and crowds.
Caesar controlled his steps; the head resting on his shoulder was also surprisingly quiet tonight.
Cecilia remained motionless, her hood pulled low, almost covering her entire face. She wasn't trying to look cool; she was desperately trying to maintain her last shred of dignity.
If she moved her head even slightly, the few strands of Silver Dragon hair carefully arranged to cover them would slide away, revealing two shameful bald patches on her scalp.
The "North-South Bald" look was more unbearable for the beauty-loving Silver Dragon than having a few scales pulled out.
"This place... stinks," she complained softly in a voice only Caesar could hear, her tone thick with a nasal quality, clearly having cried hard earlier.
Caesar ignored her.
Following the information provided by the scar-faced thief, he navigated the winding alleys. The stalls here were disorganized, selling a wide variety of goods: rusty armor, magical scrolls of unknown origin, and even things supposedly "Griffin Eggs."
"Hey, shorty, do you have any [Arcane Leather] here?"
Caesar stopped in front of a Goblin's stall and asked in a slightly hoarse voice.
The smile on the Goblin's face froze. He glanced around and lowered his voice, "Customer, this stuff is rare now. You can barely find a few sheets in all of Osterburg..."
Caesar didn't speak, merely watching him silently.
An invisible pressure spread out from the shadow of the hood.
The Goblin's scalp tingled under the gaze, and he quickly changed his tune: "However... I, well, I was lucky a while ago and received one sheet. It's just the price..."
Caesar tossed out two more gold coins.
"Is that enough?"
"Enough! More than enough!" The Goblin beamed, quickly and carefully pulling out something wrapped in oilcloth from under the stall.
He opened it like presenting a treasure, revealing a palm-sized piece of dull-colored leather.
Caesar's gaze fell upon it.
[Arcane Leather (Quality: Bronze)]
[Description: Made from the hide of a creature containing weak magical power, treated with crude Alchemy. Low quality, extremely poor magical conductivity.]
Caesar fell silent.
The air in front of the stall instantly became heavy.
Seeing him motionless, the Goblin thought he disliked the small size and quickly explained, "Customer, don't mind its size. This is the only item of its kind in the city right now! Absolutely unique!"
Caesar reached out and pinched the leather. The magical fluctuation transmitted through Shadow Claw was so faint it was almost nonexistent.
This thing was too hard to even use as an insole, let alone for making [Weather Ball].
In a sense, that thief leader hadn't lied; there was indeed [Arcane Leather] here.
But this information was barely better than nothing.
Caesar released his grip, turned, and walked away.
"Hey! Customer! Customer, don't leave! The price is negotiable!" the Goblin desperately shouted from behind.
Caesar paid him no mind.
"What do we do?" Cecilia whispered, "Did we come here for nothing? Those few gold coins..."
She felt distressed about the three shiny coins.
"It's fine, I already took them back," Caesar said.
Over the next half hour, Caesar visited every leather stall in the entire Black Market.
The results were largely the same.
Either they only had junk, or the stall owners mysteriously told him they were "out of stock."
One human profiteer, not knowing his place, even tried to pass off a dyed piece of pigskin as Fire Lizard skin, only for Caesar to shove the pigskin directly into his mouth—specifically, into the merchant's mouth.
"Ptooey, ptooey... what is that taste!" Long after they left the stall, Cecilia was still complaining from atop Caesar's head. "Ugh, that human was so disgusting. The pigskin was all greasy."
"Shut up."
Caesar was in a foul mood.
He stopped in a dark corner, leaned against the damp wall, and began contemplating the life of a Dragon.
The situation was more troublesome than he had anticipated.
The skill [Weather Ball] was the cornerstone of his next tactical System.
As a System that requires weather to maximize combat power, without [Weather Ball], his tactics would remain mere fantasy. Caesar desperately needed a Rock-type skill now.
However, the core Material for synthesizing [Weather Ball], [Arcane Leather], had now become a major obstacle.
The entire city was out of stock. He wondered which bastard had bought everything up.
This was quite interesting.
Although Caesar wasn't exactly a high-intellect type, he had at least watched hundreds of anime and read hundreds of novels.
This kind of plot, where "a key item is monopolized by a mysterious force," was a textbook RPG Game opening.
According to the standard script, what should the protagonist do next?
Best Plan: Leave Osterburg and try his luck in other cities.
But this was unrealistic. First, he didn't have much time to run around; the Legendary Red Dragon and even the True Dragon Imperial Court could strike at any moment. Second, since someone was acquiring this strategic Material, the situation was likely the same in surrounding cities, not just Osterburg.
Medium Plan: Do it himself, self-sufficiency.
Go hunt Silver-tier Magical Beasts in the wild.
But there was a problem. Skinning was a technical skill, especially skinning perfectly while preserving the magical properties. Caesar only knew how to shred his prey; asking him to meticulously skin something with a small knife was like asking him to embroider. Furthermore, the raw hide needed to be processed by an Alchemist to become [Arcane Leather], which meant he couldn't bypass human workshops and Guilds.
Worst Plan: Go to the Adventurers Guild.
This was also the most standard "Hero's Route."
Go to the Guild to post a quest, then accidentally register an identity, take on a few investigative quests, starting from D-rank tasks, helping old ladies find cats, helping farmers weed, then slowly accumulate reputation, gain access to the Guild's upper management, and finally "accidentally" discover the mastermind monopolizing the leather during a mission, expose a shocking conspiracy, save the city, and incidentally get the Materials he wanted. Dragging it out for dozens of chapters.
Sounds perfect, right?
Perfect my ass!
Caesar slammed his tail against the wall, shattering a brick into fragments.
He was a Dragon! An Evil Dragon!
Asking him to be a grunt for humans? To run errands for those stupid two-legged sheep?
And he had to fill out that damned form, flash a flattering smile at the Young Miss behind the counter, only to be mocked by a bunch of low-level, rookie Adventurers saying, "Yo, a newbie?" Then shine brightly during the ability test, followed by a sequence of showing off and face-slapping?
Dream on.
Moreover, the risks were outrageously high.
He was currently a wanted criminal with a fifty-thousand gold bounty. Although the "Hakime" disguise was relatively successful, the Adventurers Guild was full of hidden masters, and there might be Appraisal Spells or Detection of Evil Magic Circles that could see through his disguise.
Once exposed, breaking through the encirclement would be a challenge in itself.
And most importantly—
It was too slow.
This step-by-step process irritated him immensely; he didn't have the patience for "Hero Cultivation."
The Dragon wants it, the Dragon gets it!
If he can't buy it, he'll steal it.
If he can't find it, he'll force the people who know to tell him!
That is the logic of an Evil Dragon.
"Earth Dragon... are you angry?"
Cecilia's cautious voice came from above his head.
Although she couldn't see Caesar's expression, she could feel the muscles beneath her butt tightening.
"No."
Caesar's tone was flat.
He was just adjusting his thinking.
Since he didn't want to be a rule-abiding player, he might as well be the rule-breaking BOSS.
Just then, a commotion came from ahead.
"Hurry up! Protection money time! The 'Gutter Rats' are doing business, so all of you smarten the hell up!"
They saw several shiftless guys, tattooed with rat designs on their arms, collecting so-called "Protection Fees" from stall to stall. The stall owners dared not speak out in anger and could only resign themselves to their bad luck and hand over the coins.
The leader was a burly Orc who kicked over the stall of a vendor who refused to pay, cursing fiercely: "Hey, Bro, you're refusing a favor, huh? If you want to operate in Osterburg, you gotta follow the rules of our family! Open your wallet yourself!"
Caesar watched this scene, his eyes narrowing under his cloak.
Gutter Rats... one of Osterburg's Local Tyrants.
This name gave him a new idea.
Searching everywhere like a headless fly was too inefficient.
These Local Tyrants were like a neural network rooted in this Earth. They might not know the full picture of every disturbance in the city, but they definitely heard the rumors.
Since the conventional route was blocked, he would use unconventional means.
Want to know who bought up all the [Arcane Leather]?
Asking these Local Tyrants who live in the city's shadows is much faster than posting a quest at the Adventurers Guild, isn't it?
Furthermore... Caesar looked at the swaggering Gang members, his dragons maw silently spreading into a grin, revealing stark white teeth.
He was in a very bad mood and was looking for a place to unleash his frustration.
Isn't this convenient?
Tonight, Osterburg's Black Gangs should get a new master!