The God Virus

Chapter 530: Quite Sure

"Yes, I have my own connections and sources. So, I'm quite sure I can get it for you." The middle-aged man guaranteed with confidence.

"Hmm, alright, but what's your final price? Five thousand sounds a bit expensive, don't you think so?"

Waving his hand, however, the shop owner refused to budge. "Unfortunately, five thousand is the minimum price. I'll be honest with you, I buy it for around four thousand and five hundred Qi Ingots myself and the remaining five hundred is for the time and effort I put into the matter."

"Alright, I understand. I'll be back when I have enough money." Discerning no trace of falsehood on the man's profile, nodding in agreement, Virus no longer bothered him and left the store.

As he was on the move again, however, Virus started feeling the lack of his money once more.

In case he had enough capital right now, not only would he have been able to purchase the Forgotten Pen and start selling techniques at the shop again, but buying off Aily from the brothel would've been possible too.

Furthermore, with access to enough Qi Ingots, he would be capable of exchanging Qi Ingots with Clan Credits which literally gave him unconditional access to the clan's resources as long as his talent class was high enough.

Albeit, all Virus currently possessed was around a hundred Qi Ingots which wasn't even enough to buy a single Forgotten Pen. 'Getting my hands on a Forgotten Pen and pushing Cultivation Trust back into business takes priority…'

"Ah, young master, why do you need a Forgotten Pen?" Breaking the silence all of a sudden, Arsalan asked inquisitively.

Sighing powerlessly, Virus provided the teenager with a vague reply. "Well, just know I have a special use for it, alright? Unfortunately, I don't have enough Qi Ingots to get one," with a brief pause, an idea brightened Virus' mindscape, "Which makes me wonder, can you perhaps think of a solution to help me earn some quick cash?"

"Umm, is something wrong with you, young master? You're behaving so lost today, I mean you should know this stuff that is related to the clan much better than me, and yet here you are asking me…" Scratching his head in absolute uncertainty, Arsalan was bewildered.

On the other hand, as the situation was developing exactly per Virus' plans, a smirk crept over his face.

Since he had determined Arsalan a trusted confidant of Blaze, Virus had long chosen and initiated a scheme in order to make the procedure of obtaining information from him much easier.

Hence, since Arsalan finally inquired about the question he was leading him at, putting on a sincere expression, Virus answered, "Uh, actually… before I tell you that, promise me you'll keep what I tell you next between us. No one is to know about it since it may deteriorate my already low position to an even lower extent."

"Hmm, young master, you didn't have to remind me that, I won't utter a single word about you to a soul, even if they torture me to death. I never have and I never will!" Even more worried now, Arsalan was dying to get behind the matter as soon as possible.

Nodding in contentment, Virus proclaimed at last, "Truthfully, I've forgotten about everything…"

"Huh?! What do you mean?" With his eyeballs nearly bulging out of their sockets at this unexpected bomb that was dropped on him, Arsalan screamed.

"I mean precisely what I'm saying, a day ago, the first thing that started my memories was getting beaten up by two guys as they kept smashing my head to the floor. Prior to that moment, I don't recall a single thing… just now, I didn't even know who you were until I talked to you more." Pretending to be full of sorrow, rubbing his temple, Virus elaborated.

"Ah! W-who dared to harm you like that, young master?!" Hatred and rage boiling within Arsalan's eyes, he inquired impatiently. There were even traces of tears on the corner of Arsalan's eyes. "Although the Deity chief usually doesn't care about you, if he hears about this, he'd still punish the perpetrators."

Surprised at his intense reaction, Virus proceeded, "I don't know their identities. You don't need to be concerned though, I feel like it's temporary amnesia due to the hard battering I received in the head, I'll probably remember everything in a while again. But until that happens, I need you to be my memory."

"Young master…"

"Don't look at me with those eyes, it's really okay." Feeling amused by the way Arsalan kept looking at him, Virus continued, "Anyhow, let me repeat, how can I earn some quick buck?"

To that, after some serious consideration, Arsalan replied, "A-about that… the only thing I can think of is the Mission Center… depending on the difficulty, the mission center will reward you with a certain number of Clan Credits which you can then exchange with Qi Ingots…"

"I see, I guess you're right." Having gone through the facility guidebook, Virus was aware of the fact the Mission Center was another construct of the wide river of Inner Ricando which was in charge of distributing a variety of tasks and duties to the disciples.

"Guess our next destination is the Mission Center then." Virus was just finished murmuring that sentence when he came across a carpentry store that had a variety of doors put on display.

Entering the shop, it only took Virus a few minutes to select and purchase a door before being on their way back to his cottage.

Before they could leave the vicinity of Inner Market, however, Virus perceived an empty shop that had an announcement attached to it.

[This shop is up for rent, monthly rent: 10,000, deposit: 50,000]

Whistle~

Whistling at the expensive announcement, Virus inquired, "Arsalan, can anyone rent the shops that have been put up for rent in the Inner Market?"

"Ah, not really, you at least have to be an inner disciple in order to be allowed to rent a shop. Servants or the outer disciples can't really rent anything here." Rejecting the notion with a shake of his head, Arsalan told him.

Since he had been entrusted with the grave responsibility of acting as Blaze's memory, he tried to be as detailed as possible in his explanations.

"Outer and Inner disciples? What's the difference between the two?" Even though Virus had an assumption regarding the matter, he still asked for further clarification.

"Well, all those disciples you see in Inner Ricando are 'inner disciples' while all the disciples in Outer Ricando are obviously 'outer disciples' who aren't allowed entry to the inner region." With knitted brows, Arsalan stated.

"I see. Okay, I understand now."

…

Subsequently, returning to his doorless hut, Virus and Arsalan installed the new entrance.

"Alright, let's visit the Mission Center now. Lead the way." With that command, they started ambling toward their new destination in mind.

However, it was at this point when a few questions he had been curious about for some time now bubbled up in his head. Thus, after a brief observation of his servant's countenance, Virus decided to hurl the questions at the boy and clarify some of his doubts if possible.