Chapter 76: The Scarecrow's Doppelgänger

After wandering around for a while, Lu Sheng bought some items—first-tier cards, all at a minimal cost: Healing Card, Speed Card, Mighty Strength Card, Energy Gathering Card, Iron Body Card. Useful, but nothing particularly special. This round of purchases left Yuan Hui rather puzzled; in his eyes, Lu Sheng’s strength shouldn’t be weak, so why buy so many first-tier cards?

Lu Sheng’s response was simply, “You don’t understand.”

“By the way, don’t you have any cards with interesting abilities here?” After his circuit of the market, Lu Sheng felt a bit disappointed.

Yuan Hui smiled, “Cards with unusual abilities aren’t sold here. Our chamber only deals in cards with excellent stability and high demand among ordinary people. But I do know a place—a hub where card makers gather. They spend their free time experimenting with how to craft cards, and sometimes they produce cards with all sorts of strange abilities.”

Lu Sheng’s interest was piqued. “Oh? Where is it?”

“The Card Maker’s Marketplace in the eastern district of Tianniu City,” Yuan Hui replied, producing a black card. “This is your entry pass, consider it a gift from me.”

Lu Sheng thought for a moment, then accepted the black card. “Thank you.”

He then left the Xuanbing Chamber of Commerce, heading off according to Yuan Hui’s directions.

...

After Lu Sheng departed, another person followed him out.

Yuan Hui quietly watched from behind the counter, knowing exactly who was tailing Lu Sheng, and equally aware of what Lu Sheng would soon face.

None of it concerned him. Lu Sheng was merely a business associate, and the black card was simply a token of gratitude for selling him a third-tier spirit fruit of blue quality. The spirit fruit was now in his possession, and he would make up the value for the spatial stone.

...

Black Rod Gang

“Boss, Liuzi spotted a fat sheep and is tailing him now.”

“How fat?”

“He’s looking to buy a fourth-tier spirit fruit.”

“What’s his background?”

“We’re investigating. But we’ve already compared his portrait with people from all the major factions in Tianniu City—he doesn’t seem to be a local.”

“Good. Once the investigation is complete, if he’s someone we can mess with, we’ll make our move. If not, we drop it. I don’t want to provoke a force we can’t handle.”

The Black Rod Gang survived in Tianniu City by being cautious, specializing in robbing teams with weak strength who stumbled into fortune.

Though their reputation was less than stellar, Li Hei didn’t care in the slightest.

If it weren’t for his mastery of the black rod, how could he have cultivated to this level? He’d begun robbing since his days of weakness, and now he was accustomed to the thrill and ease of it.

After countless robberies, he’d amassed enough experience to establish the Black Rod Gang.

...

Card Maker’s Marketplace

Following Yuan Hui’s directions, Lu Sheng arrived at the marketplace. There was a guard at the entrance, but upon presenting the black card, he was allowed in.

Inside were many small stalls, each displaying various cards. As Lu Sheng browsed, he indeed saw plenty of strange and unusual cards.

Rapid Bloom Card… Golden Spear Stamina Card… Partial Enlargement Card… Enhanced Olfactory Card…

The variety was vast; most were of little use to Lu Sheng, such as the Golden Spear Stamina or Partial Enlargement…

Nevertheless, there were some useful items, though none he particularly needed. For instance, Explosive Trap, Quicksand Trap, Binding Trap—all decent for their purposes.

Lu Sheng wasn’t interested, until he reached a certain stall and something caught his eye.

[Scarecrow Doppelgänger]

Quality: Blue

Tier: Second

Abilities: Mimicry, Shared Mind, Remote Control

Mimicry: Imitates the user, possessing an identical body.

Shared Mind: The user's consciousness can descend into the doppelgänger to control it.

Remote Control: The original can command the scarecrow doppelgänger within a range not exceeding ten kilometers.

This stall displayed only this card, along with a sign.

Price: Fourth-tier spirit fruit, or the exact location of such a fruit.

Lu Sheng stepped forward and produced a fourth-tier spirit fruit. “I’ll take this.”

He cared little for the value of objects—if he needed something, he’d acquire it swiftly. Better to act decisively than risk complications from haggling. It was only a fourth-tier spirit fruit, after all.

The card maker across the stall was momentarily stunned. After a few seconds, he snapped out of it, quickly scooping up the spirit fruit. “Here! Take it!”

Clearly terrified that Lu Sheng might change his mind, he gave Lu Sheng no chance for regrets.

Lu Sheng was mildly amused—was it really necessary?

With the Scarecrow Doppelgänger card in hand, Lu Sheng’s mind began to make plans; this wild expedition would be secure.

After the transaction, Gu Yan—the card maker—turned to leave.

Lu Sheng hurriedly stopped him. The moment Lu Sheng grabbed him, Gu Yan reacted like a startled cat, struggling fiercely.

Lu Sheng pinned him down effortlessly; Gu Yan’s pitiful strength was like a child’s head held in place.

“What do you want? This is the Card Maker’s Marketplace! You’ll be wanted for this!”

Lu Sheng hastily explained, “Don’t panic. I just want to know if you have any more cards like this.”

Gu Yan breathed a sigh of relief, having feared Lu Sheng was about to snatch back the fourth-tier blue spirit fruit—he was terrified. Although the total cost of creating the Scarecrow Doppelgänger was roughly equivalent to the spirit fruit’s value, the trouble was, no one wanted the doppelgänger card.

He’d had it on display for ages, and no one had shown interest. Now that Lu Sheng was willing to buy it, he was naturally afraid of a change of heart.

“No, this was an accidental creation,” Gu Yan replied honestly.

Lu Sheng let him go. “Alright, never mind.”

Since there was only this one card, Lu Sheng had to consider the risk of damage. It was a functional card, not a biological entity; if it were a creature, things would be much simpler.

Clearly, he needed to equip this card with a set of gear.

So, Lu Sheng turned and began sweeping up first-tier cards of every function—offense, defense, survival—all useful cards, planning to upgrade their tiers later and fully arm the scarecrow doppelgänger to send it in his place to the wilds.

That way, he could safely remain in the settlement and grow stronger.

Yet the scarecrow doppelgänger was not powerful enough. The control range was limited—only ten kilometers, while the wilds stretched three hundred kilometers. At the very least, he needed half that range.

He would have to see what improvements came with further upgrades.

If not, Lu Sheng would simply have to consider other solutions.

Having bought a heap of cards, Lu Sheng was ready to return.

This outing had been fruitful.

As he left Tianniu City, mingling with the flow of people, Lu Sheng didn’t notice he was already being targeted by a group.

Their movements were expertly concealed; an ordinary person wouldn’t detect they were tailing Lu Sheng.

One busty woman whispered in a man’s ear, “Boss, this one’s clearly an innocent fledgling. Let me tease him a little first when the time comes.”

Meanwhile, within the Black Rod Gang—

“Boss, the investigation is complete. The target is merely a resident of a settlement, no background.”

“Good! Since he has the means to purchase a fourth-tier spirit fruit, his strength won’t be weak. To be safe, I’ll go with you all.”