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Jacob finally decided to put the matter of Cottonee aside for the time being and finish exploring the rest of the underground black market first. After all, it was already midnight, and he should head back soon. He couldn’t keep Teacher Nina out all night again. What if the gatekeeper found out? How would Teacher Nina manage to live down the embarrassment?

As the night progressed, the underground black market grew more and more lively. All kinds of shady characters emerged from the shadows, and more vendors set up their stalls.

“Let’s continue looking around,” Jacob said.

“All right,” Nina replied. After walking around for such a long time, she hadn’t purchased anything and had perfectly fulfilled her duties as a bodyguard.

The two of them had now explored most of the night market, and so far, they had only seen one Elite-level Pokémon. This made Jacob sigh at the realization that this was the level that ordinary people could only access. In a top-tier underground black market like the one in Drakehold, after traversing most of it, there was only a single Elite-level Pokémon to be found. It was easy to imagine that underground black markets in other locations might not even have Elite-level Pokémon at all. It seemed virtually impossible for ordinary people at the bottom of society to become Elite-level trainers.

Jacob couldn’t help but wonder why his King-level Noibat’s egg had appeared in that place. The presence of a Noibat egg among the Zubat group meant that there must have been a female Noibat or Noivern nearby.

Jacob couldn’t figure out what was going on, but he didn’t dwell on it. He had already obtained the Pokémon egg anyway.

As the night grew later, Jacob had to speed up and use the system’s power to make frantic purchases.

“It’s rare, anyone who buys it is a fool.”

“Overlord level, just barely acceptable. I can’t get any more Pokémon eggs now, so I don’t want it.”

“This is a Pidove with ordinary qualifications. Damn, it’s so worthless. Whose Pidove laid this egg? Definitely leaving a bad review.”

In the remaining third of the underground black market, Jacob’s luck wasn’t so good. After visiting almost all areas, with only a small section left, he hadn’t encountered a single Pokémon egg of quasi-King level or above. This left Jacob feeling somewhat frustrated. At that moment, he suddenly heard an argument breaking out in the crowd.

“I was the first one to see this item. You’re a disrespectful young man,” said an older gentleman in a traditional suit, about sixty years old, but in good health and full of energy.

“The highest bidder wins. There’s no such thing as first come, first served,” replied the person arguing with him—a young man in a suit, wearing gold-rimmed glasses that gave him a gentle appearance.

Jacob and Nina, wearing masks within the crowd, also gathered around to watch the commotion.

The well-mannered man in the suit spoke up again, “I’ll pay 40,000 Pokédollars. You’re just taking advantage of this honest old man who wants to buy such a fine Pokémon egg for merely 20,000.”

Everyone looked at the old man who was selling the egg. He wore dark, worn clothes covered in dust. His face was weathered and dark, and his fingernails were black with dirt, which evoked sympathy from onlookers. He held the Pokémon egg obediently and watched the two people arguing in silence.

“I found this Pokémon egg near Wyvern Mountain a few days ago. I asked someone to examine it, and they all said it was a Dragon-type Pokémon egg. I came here to sell this Pokémon egg to get money for my son’s betrothal gift.”

Jacob and Nina, who were at the edge of the crowd, exchanged glances when they heard the words “Dragon-type Pokémon.”

“Let’s go in and take a closer look,” Jacob said quietly to Nina.

“There are so many people here. How do we get closer?” Nina looked at Jacob with a frown. The crowd was packed so tightly that they couldn’t squeeze through even if they wanted to.

“Watch this.”

Jacob scanned the crowd, his eyes landing on the elegant back of a woman. His eyes lit up with an idea, and he suddenly shouted, “Look, the famous star Rosa is here! The actual Rosa is here in person! It’s really Rosa—I recognize you even with makeup on! I’m your biggest fan, Rosa! Please give me an autograph!”

As Jacob shouted, the crowd that had been watching the argument turned to look outward and saw that in the direction Jacob was pointing, there was a woman whose figure somewhat resembled Rosa.

“Is it really Rosa?”

“Real or fake?”

“Rosa, I’m your fan!”

“Those legs are definitely Rosa’s. I’d recognize them even in black stockings!”

The crowd rushed out, and Jacob seized the opportunity to grab Nina, protectively positioning her in front of him, as they frantically squeezed through the opening. I’m the only one who gets to take advantage of Teacher Nina—no one else can!

By the time the crowd realized they had been tricked, Jacob and Nina had already made their way into the center of the gathering.

Meanwhile, the three people were arguing fiercely when a simple, honest-looking man in the crowd suddenly exclaimed, “Wyvern Mountain? Is that the Wyvern Mountain more than 60 kilometers north of Imperial Capital?”

“Which Wyvern Mountain?”

“Why haven’t I heard of it?”

“Of course you city folk wouldn’t know. Only those of us living in the villages near Wyvern Mountain know that Dragon-type Pokémon eggs have been found frequently there in the past year or two. There’s even been a Legendary Pokémon spotted in the area.”

The heated discussion among the crowd helped everyone understand the whole story, and their eyes grew eager when looking at the Pokémon egg.

“This is it!” Suddenly, someone seemed to have discovered something important. Looking at the Pokémon egg, he shouted, “One price—I’ll give you 100 million Pokédollars. Old man, sell this egg to me.”

The elderly gentleman who had made the first bid was furious when he saw the price soar from 20,000 to 100 million. He said, “Well, you clearly don’t want me to buy it. In that case, forget about anyone buying it!”

The angry older gentleman in the traditional suit shouted loudly, “This Pokémon egg contains a Trapinch, whose final evolution, Flygon, is a Pokémon with both Ground and Dragon attributes. It’s extremely powerful. The qualification of this Pokémon egg is definitely above the Quasi-King level.”

As the old man finished speaking, the crowd became extremely excited and surged forward to carefully examine the Pokémon egg.

“It really is a Trapinch egg. Such a large egg—it must have extraordinary potential.”

“I’ll pay 110 million!”

“I’ll pay 120 million!”

Nina, standing nearby, was also very excited when she saw the Trapinch egg. The egg had a shiny surface and deep mud-yellow patterns, representing rich Ground-type energy. At the same time, the egg was also large in size. One could tell at a glance that this Pokémon egg had extraordinary qualifications.

The price quickly soared from 120 million to 200 million, but only Jacob watched the proceedings with a cold, calculating gaze. He could clearly see that this was a dead egg—the Trapinch inside had already perished.

The reason the pattern was so bright and the egg so large was because the seller had coated the outside of the eggshell with some substance, forcibly thickening the egg and increasing its size, then carved mud-yellow patterns on it. After aging the egg, it looked deceptively authentic.

After realizing there was something wrong with this Pokémon egg, Jacob observed the people who were arguing, as well as the person who had just mentioned Wyvern Mountain in the crowd and the one who had raised the price. He sensed that something was off about all of them. They were probably working together, waiting to trap unwary buyers.

The Capital is indeed a big city, and the tricks are complex, Jacob thought. Fortunately, I have my system and am one step ahead. This could have been really dangerous.

Jacob wasn’t fooled, but it was obvious that others had been. Seeing that Nina beside him seemed about to place a bid, Jacob gently squeezed her hand, which made her snap back to reality. Until that moment, the two of them had been holding hands, and they quickly let go.

Jacob whispered, “There’s something fishy about this. Don’t buy it.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep