Relying on this clever method, Suren stayed in the basement for several days, burying himself in deciphering the diary's contents.

The diary contained a great deal of encrypted content, and he selectively studied only the part concerning the research on the aberration suppression agent.

Oh, and it wasn't just cipher text, but also language.

Fortunately, he had mastered Old Norn, a written language commonly used by ancient alchemists, when he stripped his soul before. Otherwise, mastering this ancient language alone would have taken years.

Even so, the difficulty of deciphering was still considerable.

The diary involved many obscure terms from ancient medicine.

The worst part was that some ancient nouns did not refer to the same things as they do today.

Suren relied on *The Code Book* and the convenience of the All-Knowing Eye, translating with difficulty for several days, and actually deciphered seventy or eighty percent of it!

He was certain that this part contained the complete crafting method for the "Aberration Suppression Agent".

But the remaining twenty or thirty percent he couldn't translate, or the translated content was inaccurate.

Suren gave that part, which required too much profound professional medical knowledge, to Danny half a block away to look at.

As for the part that he really couldn't translate, he planned to ask the erudite Mr. Black for guidance.

Coincidentally, he saw information about the black market circle gathering in the newly delivered *Old Lundon Daily*.

........

This day.

Suren, who had been holed up for several days, finally walked out of the basement.

No strangers cast curious glances at him on the street, which was a good sign.

It meant that their robbery operation a few days ago was done cleanly, and no one had found Green Street yet.

He rode his motorcycle to the black market in Shadow Alley.

He put on his cloak and arrived at the secret space on the bottom floor of the black market five minutes before the appointed time.

The participants seemed to be very punctual. In the few minutes after he arrived, more than a dozen people came one after another.

This time it was even livelier than last time. By the time Mr. Black finally arrived, there were already more than twenty people standing around the stone table.

Then came the familiar process, starting with the information exchange session.

Sure enough, as soon as it started, someone immediately asked about the explosion in West City.

"Does anyone know what happened to the explosion in the desolate park in West City a few days ago? I heard that even the cadres of the Steam Party weren't qualified to approach the explosion site. Many mysterious people came from the inner city to deal with it. It seems they were from the Umbrella Organization."

"I got some information that there was a secret laboratory there. I don't know why, but it suddenly exploded."

"Heh, a laboratory set up in the outer city, could they be doing some extremely harmful research?"

"..."

Those who could advance to Tier 2 were not fools, especially in the outer city. These cloaked figures were mostly big shots with wide-ranging intelligence networks.

As soon as they heard that the explosion was in a laboratory, they immediately deduced a lot of information.

Suren quietly listened to these big shots exchanging words, and it was almost exactly the same as what he had guessed.

"I got news a long time ago that those Steam Party guys have been secretly capturing vagrants for a long time. But no one in the inner or outer city has heard of anyone eating those goods. It seems that the missing population has a lot to do with that exploded laboratory..."

"Live experiments? Those damned guys from Black Tower really don't treat the lives of us outer city people as anything."

"I'm not too clear about other things, but I'm sure that the one who caused the explosion is the one at the top of the wanted list now. By the way, I want to ask if any of you know any clues about her, tsk tsk... I'm very interested in that bounty."

"I did have some information, but someone already took it to exchange for the bounty. Someone saw her at the 'Black Duke's Club' in West City before. She killed the population trafficker Damu in Knight Street, and then set the club on fire. Now that I think about it, she should have been inquiring about the whereabouts of the population..."

"Yo? So that's why the Black Duke's suddenly caught fire, it was her! Hahaha, why do I feel a little happy about that explosion after hearing you say that..."

"I do have the latest information. There was a big battle in North City last night. The people from the Umbrella Organization somehow discovered her, and after a fierce battle, they seriously injured her."

"So, the person was caught?"

"No."

"She could still escape?"

"..."

When the topic got here, the person who provided the information seemed to have some concerns. After a moment of silence, he said again, "I heard that a third force intervened, tore open the Umbrella Organization's encirclement, and then she took the opportunity to escape."

"..."

Suren listened, and sure enough, the blame for saving the person was pinned on him by her.

But hearing the last part, the person's mention of a "third force" also surprised everyone present.

Suren also felt that in Old Lundon, there was actually someone who dared to oppose the "Umbrella Organization"?

Then he thought about it, wasn't there one right in front of him?

Suren also noticed that when the discussion reached this point, no one continued to talk about it, as if they all had some concerns.

Mr. Black was as calm as ever and didn't say anything.

The subsequent information exchange wasn't worth paying attention to, so Suren also contributed a bit of his own speculated information, which was considered participation.

Then came the item exchange session.

The most discussed topic in this session was still the information about the "Dawn City" ruins.

Recently, many ancient relics have been unearthed one after another and sent back to Old Lundon. These big shots in the black market also had a lot of high-level cursed objects and materials that could be exchanged.

After a lively exchange.

Suren also saw some very strange things.

During this time, he also found an opportunity to ask again about the "Mental Power Secret Method" and the news of the [Wailing Witch's Cursed Hair], but no one responded.

It was also expected.

However, near the end, a cloaked figure made a purchase request that caught his attention.

"I need a set of 'Frost Giant Battle Armor', it must be a complete set of ready-made goods. I'm leaving the city in three days. As long as someone can get it within this time, I'm willing to pay 20 million to buy it, or a cursed material of corresponding value..."

When Suren heard this, he silently didn't say anything.

Among the goods that he and Kai had intercepted before, there were indeed five sets of finished battle armor.

But this thing was very special, and there were only a few places where the source could be.

He felt that this guy was very likely fishing.

Moreover, the other party's question was also very clever.

He wanted it urgently, offered a price higher than the market price, and specified the time limit.

If someone really had a channel to sell the goods, they would definitely try to sell them, after all, time waits for no one. Moreover, that kind of goods was very sensitive, and it wasn't easy to find a buyer who dared to buy them.

Suren didn't speak, and the scene was silent for a moment.

At this time, another person spoke up, "I can get it, but the time is uncertain. And... it may not be a complete set."

Judging from the tone, it sounded a bit like the person who had the channel to get the battle armor last time.

Hearing this, the person who was asking for the purchase also wrote a note and replied, "This is my contact information. But I'll only wait for three days. If you can get it in time, the price is still negotiable."

.......

With the end of the trading session, this small gathering was coming to an end.

Suren found Mr. Black who was about to leave, and explained his intention: "Mr. Black, I've encountered some difficulties in ancient knowledge and need to ask you for some guidance."

He didn't know if Mr. Black could see through this concealment cloak, but he obviously recognized him.

Mr. Black seemed very interested in ancient knowledge, "Oh? Tell me about it."

Suren took out the note with the sentences he didn't understand that he had copied from the diary.

When he asked, this [Erudite Scholar] really knew.

He casually translated a few sentences.

"This sentence is a common metaphor used by ancient warlocks. 'The wheat falls to the ground and dies' means that mercury dies in saltpeter and sulfuric acid. The flowing 'quicksilver' mercury becomes solid and dies, a double entendre. It is usually used when a certain material is being refined..."

"'The fire dragon's belly hides magic steel, take four parts of the fire dragon and nine parts of the lodestone.' This sentence is a very advanced alchemical process, the corresponding materials are..."

"Hmm... This sentence is very difficult. This is a professional term in the field of ancient medicine, using a double encryption method... I will probably need some time to look through some materials to ensure that it is correct."

"..."

Suren listened to him casually translating the secret words that he had racked his brains to guess, and although his expression was no different, his heart was full of emotion.

This Mr. Black was truly knowledgeable and seemed to know everything.

When he thought about his talent ability, Suren felt that erudition + mind reading was such a perfect fit.

It was as if before he even made a move, those wise eyes could see through everything about the enemy.

After all, it involved too many ancient medical professional terms, and Mr. Black couldn't translate some of the content accurately for a while, but he didn't refuse to help with this little favor: "How about this, give me this note, and I should be able to decipher it at most the day after tomorrow. Then I'll leave the note in the usual place..."

Suren listened and nodded, and asked: "Mr. Black, may I ask what price I need to pay?"

Mr. Black said indifferently: "These precious ancient knowledge are the best rewards you have already paid."

After a pause, he smiled again: "Translating ancient scrolls is one of my favorite jobs. If you have more similar knowledge in the future, you can come to me, and I will be happy to help."

As gentlemanly as ever.

Even if he guessed that Suren must have more ancient scrolls in his hands, he also subtly hinted in a way that was least annoying.

"Thank you for your generosity..."

Suren sincerely thanked him.

He wasn't in a hurry to sell the stolen goods in his hands, and prepared to ask after the storm had passed for a while.