I Hate Systems

[Don't become a System for the time being. There's a good chance that Fourth can sense it.]

[I know, dad. I'll just be a regular human before him. What about you though? Are you going to reveal yourself?]

[No chance in hell. If he gets captured by the Systems in the future, then all my efforts in the Cultivation World would be for naught. I'm going to approach him as Teto only.]

[Can't we just capture him and interrogate him? We're strong enough for that, right?]

[Brat, don't be arrogant. System Slayers can wield multiple Core Skills. And they can also employ a variety of System Fragments. Killing him is possible but capturing him isn't very likely.]

[I can use my choker on him. My powers even overpowered the Happy-Go-Lucky System, a level 88 System. I'm sure I can do the same to a System Slayer too.]

[The Happy-Go-Lucky System that I gifted you was thrashed by me completely. It was weaker than the weakest System at that time. So, you can't rely upon that example. You are strong, but never underestimate Systems or System Slayers. Common sense doesn't apply to all of us. The Luck-based Systems had underestimated me a little and that led to their destruction.]

Stencil frowned, digesting the information as she stopped, smiling as she looked at the hawker before her, pointing at a piece of crystal, "Uncle, how much is this?"

"821 Common Xetuka." The hawker replied in fashion, not even batting an eye.

"That's expensive." Stencil retorted in an instant, "Why don't you sell it to 138 Common Xetuka?"

"Are you robbing me?" The hawker replied but was sweating profusely internally. After all, the price quoted by her was actually the crystal's cost price.

This meant that he wouldn't be able to rip her off much, for she was aware of its value. Every Kingdom or Empire had money minted in their respective names.

The Xetuka Kingdom's currency was named Xetuka and was sub-divided into three: Royal Xetuka, Noble Xetuka, and Common Xetuka.

One Royal Xetuka was 100 Noble Xetuka and 10,000 Common Xetuka respectively. And they were minted with gold, silver, and copper respectively.

And even here, money was minted using the Gold Standard, as it was the purest metal to be found in nature, immensely conductive of mana.

Stencil and the hawker continued to banter before eventually, he raised his hand, "I cannot go below 240 Common Xetuka. That's my bottom line."

"Fine," Stencil nodded and paid the sum, obtaining the crystal, smirking in response as she looked at her dad.

[Dad, this is an interesting item. I can refine it into a good weapon to use]

[There's more of the same crystal in other shops. Let's buy them all then]

[You're the best. Do we have enough money?]

[Don't worry about money when I'm here.]

Compass Carburettor smiled, watching Stencil's face beam with a smile. While on the journey the past six months, he sold a couple of their 'belongings' to Horan and obtained some travel funds.

These 'belongings' were bought from the Astral Network though.

Even after discovering Fourth, they didn't just meet him directly. Nothing would happen after that. So, the best way was to force Fourth to approach them.

For that to happen, he had to obtain a mysterious item powerful enough to garner Fourth's attention. After all, it seemed the other party had arrived at this market for a reason.

He smiled, watching Stencil happily haggle the value of the goods before buying them from one hawker after another. He slowly began to affect the environment through a tangible power.

Lord of Wealth!

This mysterious power couldn't be detected, even by Stencil, allowing him to see through the true nature and value of all items in the market. Soon after, his attention fell upon an earring; it was a sphere dangling beneath a hook, connected by a thin thread.

There were marks of wear and tear all over it, as if it was an item dug out from a grave. The hawker peddling it was a frail old man, obviously lacking enough strength due to old age.

And it was definite that he had plundered the items from a grave as all of them had obvious signs of usage. But as none of them seemed to have any value, he wasn't able to sell anything.

"I see..." Compass Carburettor nodded, sensing a mysterious power hidden within this earring, one in which the wails of countless souls resounded nonstop, in agony.

It was a diabolic item.

"Old man, how much is this?" He approached the hawker, asking while pointing at the earring.

"Twenty Common Xetuka." The old man said, barely controlling his smile.

"Sure," Compass Carburettor nodded and tossed the sum to the old man, grabbed the earring, and walked away.

Fourth was only a few shops away, feeling something the moment Compass Carburettor picked up the earring. His senses were triggered as he realised that the item he was searching for was bought by someone else.

'Dammit! I was a step late!' Fourth grunted in anger as his eyes shone with a dangerous glint. He then mixed among the crowd, tailing the father and daughter pair, intending to make a transaction with them once they leave the market. Or if the transaction were to fail, he could always...

Thinking as such, he trailed after them, failing to realise that his targets were aware of his actions from the beginning.

[Alright, he'll make contact with us shortly after.]

[Dad, that was amazing. How did you determine the item he was searching for so quickly? What sorcery did you use?]

[It's in my nature. Anything related to money or profit, I can find without any problems.]

[But, you have taken the item Fourth is searching for. Wouldn't he try to kill us after this?]

[He shouldn't be that reckless. If he were, he would have died long ago. He'll try to make contact with us first. Anything beyond that will depend on our response.]

Following that, Stencil continued to buy the crystal that had caught her eye from all the hawkers before they left the market, making their way towards a restaurant nearby, taking a seat by the window on the terrace.

Right as they sat and finished ordering their food, a figure approached them.