As the sun sets and the moon rises, darkness once again envelops Tivian. Under the new moon, the city’s lights stretch to the horizon.
In a certain high-rise building in this vast city, a young man stands on a balcony. He wears black trousers and a white shirt, his dark brown hair neatly combed back. His fair and handsome face carries a hint of seriousness as he gazes at the city’s nightscape, holding a wine glass with a small amount of red liquid.
Behind him is a lavishly decorated, brightly lit living room. On the carpet, a masked figure kneels on one knee.
"You’re back so soon? Did you already reach an agreement with the Craftsmen’s Guild? Were they that cooperative this time?"
The young man, named Berlit, turns slightly and asks the masked man kneeling in the room. The masked man responds with a hint of panic.
"No... There’s a huge problem with the Craftsmen’s Guild! It’s completely unreasonable! Sir Berlit, those merchants have gone mad!"
The masked man speaks with agitation. Hearing his words, Berlit frowns and asks sternly.
"Explain clearly. What exactly is the problem? Did those unscrupulous merchants raise the price because we were buying in bulk?"
"No, it’s not that they raised the price. The price was already outrageously high from the start. Sir Berlit, you might not know this, but as soon as we asked for the price, they quoted 3,800 pounds per Revelation storage item, and they refused to negotiate!"
"3,800 pounds... How can the price be that high? According to previous information, the price of Revelation storage items from the White Craftsmen’s Guild should have been quite low recently, reportedly less than 2,000 pounds."
Berlit turns around completely and speaks to the masked man kneeling on the ground, his tone and demeanor becoming serious.
"Did you make a mistake? Or is there something you’re trying to hide from me?"
Berlit’s voice carries a hint of danger, and his eyes reveal a trace of ruthlessness. Clearly, encountering such an unusual situation, he can’t help but suspect that his subordinates might be engaging in some underhanded dealings to embezzle the organization’s funds.
"Absolutely not, sir! I swear I only relayed the information from the Craftsmen’s Guild truthfully! If you don’t believe me, you can go to the guild and ask them yourself!"
Hearing Berlit’s words, the masked man is so frightened that he drops to both knees, trembling as he pleads with Berlit, his voice filled with fear.
Facing the terrified masked man, Berlit glares at him, locking eyes with the man behind the mask. As a faint light flashes in Berlit’s eyes, the masked man’s trembling stops, and his eyes behind the mask become blank.
"Explain carefully. What’s going on with the Craftsmen’s Guild’s exorbitant Revelation prices?"
Berlit speaks directly to the now hypnotized masked man, who, under the influence of hypnosis, answers without any lies or concealment.
"We’re not entirely sure either. When we went to negotiate with them, they were already quoting this high price. We asked them for the reason, but they refused to disclose any business information.”
"From other Beyonders at the scene, we learned that the price of Revelation storage items at the Craftsmen’s Guild suddenly skyrocketed this evening. Additionally, it’s said that they sent people to purchase scattered Revelation storage items from other mystic gatherings in the city, causing the Revelation storage items circulating in Tivian to gather at the guild, driving the price even higher.”
"By the time I left the Golden Covenant Bank, the price of Revelation storage items was 3,800 pounds. Now, it might have already risen to over 4,000 pounds."
The masked man speaks in a dazed voice. Hearing his words, Berlit’s frown deepens.
“The price suddenly surged this evening, before we even went to buy... This isn’t normal. The White Craftsmen’s Guild doesn’t usually have such drastic price fluctuations. There must be a reason for this…”
Berlit ponders this and quickly recalls the divination battle they had with the mysterious secret society earlier that afternoon.
“To figure out the specifics of the secret society that killed Claudius and destroyed the ritual site at Royal Crown University, we engaged in a divination battle with them. Unexpectedly, that secret society isn’t a small player—their anti-divination resources were surprisingly abundant... Both sides consumed a large amount of Revelation in the divination battle... And the Craftsmen’s Guild’s price surge happened shortly after. Could it be…”
As he thinks, Berlit immediately identifies the key point and continues.
“Could it be that the secret society purchased a large amount of Revelation storage items from the White Craftsmen’s Guild to replenish their losses, driving up the price? Did they go to the guild to buy items less than half an hour after the divination battle ended? That fast?”
The moment this most plausible possibility occurs to him, Berlit is startled. He’s shocked by the speed of the mysterious secret society.
Berlit and his team had decided to replenish their Revelation storage items at the White Craftsmen’s Guild just half an hour after the divination battle ended. Their decision-making and action speed were already quite fast, but they hadn’t expected the other side to be even faster, reaching the guild and placing a large order before them.
The Eight-Spired Nest has a base in East Tivian, and it’s not far from the Golden Covenant Bank. Yet, they were still beaten to the punch. Did those guys have a base right next to the bank?!
Berlit thinks this to himself. Given that the frequency of Beyonder transactions is much lower than mundane transactions, the White Craftsmen’s Guild doesn’t offer expedited telegraph order services like some mundane businesses. Everyone must go to the guild’s base, the Golden Covenant Bank, to conduct transactions.
If a secret society encounters a rare situation where they need to rush to purchase something, having a base very close to the Golden Covenant Bank is advantageous, assuming they don’t have any Beyonder abilities that can be used in broad daylight to speed things up.
Berlit and his team had considered this situation, but they thought their fast decision-making and proximity to the Golden Covenant Bank would give them an edge. However, they hadn’t expected to be outmaneuvered. Now, with the other side placing a large order for Revelation storage items first, the price has been driven up, and their situation is looking grim.
“This is bad. We were a step too slow. The other side has already bought up a lot of Revelation storage items on the market, driving the price up to nearly 4,000 pounds. We don’t know how much Revelation they’ve acquired. If they use their newly purchased Revelation to counterattack now, how much anti-divination resources do we have left…”
As Berlit worries, a slight stinging pain suddenly comes from his arm. He pauses, then rolls up his sleeve to reveal his arm, where a spider with intricate patterns on its body is crawling. It was this spider that had just bitten him.
Looking at the spider on his arm, Berlit remains unfazed. He reaches out and gently strokes the spider’s back. The complex patterns on the spider’s back begin to twist and transform into a distorted human face. The face’s eyes turn to Berlit, and a shrill voice speaks.
"Berlit, how is the Revelation procurement going on your end? The main anti-divination array’s spirituality has just been depleted. We’ve been divined! The Kingworm Priest has ordered that we must immediately replenish our anti-divination resources to a safe level!"