Code Collector

"Finally," Jeremy grinned after he saw the Wandering Trader. "I was waiting for you here all these days. Where have you been?"

"Waiting," Allen replied. "It would be dangerous if I show up right after the blame was brought down on me. My name was further tainted when the news of the man in the alleys attacked a police officer involved with the Smith sisters."

"I'm sorry about that," Jeremy massaged his forehead. "Media is crazy. Even if the cases were completely unrelated, they would always find a way to connect things just for the clicks."

"That doesn't matter now," Allen said. "I'm here to complete the deal as well as upgrade it, just so the balance would flip lightly in your favor."

The Wandering Trader's words were like wedding bells on Jeremy's ears. He looked at the masked man with a skeptical look, thinking if he could trust him or not.

"I'm here to listen to your new offer," Jeremy said. "But it will be me who will decide whether we go with this or go back to the first offer. Let's equalize things."

Allen shrugged. "Fair enough."

"What is it then?" Jeremy asked. "Tell me your new offer."

"At your end, it will be the same. My second wish is for us to trade, while the last one is for me to get you to do something," Allen said. "But for me end, it will be different. I will add something for my part other than you injuring Chen to the point of no return, and keeping your real identity."

"Oh, so you're going to add one more for you?" Jeremy smirked. "That's interesting. And why not just kill Chen completely? It would most likely be the same as injuring him to the point of no return, ain't it?"

"I don't kill humans. Let's start with that," Allen said. "But I do take care of my clients, and it's been quite a while since I want to clear my name. I know who's behind the Phantom Cunt ploy."

Jeremy's eyes widened. He looked at Allen's eyes who were barely visible under the mask. He narrowed his own eyes and was trying to search for any signs of trickery from Allen, but they had none. The Wandering Trader was sincere. His eyes held no remorse nor signs of evil.

"So, what will it be—"

"Deal," Jeremy said. "We have a deal."

The police officer offered his hands, "Let's grant your second demand."

Allen didn't bother to hide his grin. He took Jeremy's hands and received the Codes from the man. He flipped their hands so that it was him who could send this time.

"These Codes…" Jeremy trailed off. "They're really both Rare grade. And both of them aren't found in this region."

Allen only shrugged while he looked at the Codes he received. He gave Jeremy some of his leftovers while he got Jeremy's valuable Codes.

< Hidden Mark >

Type: Skill

Grade: Rare

Effect: When used on a target, the user will have the target's real time location for three hours.

< Steel Bat >

Type: Weapon

Grade: Rare

Damage: 10

Effect/s: Every six hits to a single target, the sixth hit will strike an extra electric bolt that will stun the target for 1.2 seconds. The hit stacks will not vanish until the sixth hit is struck.

The Codes were indeed valuable. The first one was a Code for a tracker, one that Allen could use in the future while tracking clients. The other one was a weapon that stuns target.

What the most intriguing and perhaps what raised the value of the weapon was the stacks system it has. If Allen hits a target five times for today, he can still stun the target next time they meet, that is if he hits the target for the sixth time.

Usually, stacking-type effects would disappear after a couple of seconds. Some would last for a few hours, but it is seldom that this kind of effect would happen.

In return though, the second effect for the weapon was lacking. Allen figured out that this was the case after the first effect absorbed the second effect.

"I see the curiosity in your eyes," Jeremy smirked. "But yes, I did tweaked the weapon for a bit. I have a friend who's able to add conditions and limitations to weapon type Codes, so I asked him for help. The old effects were quite similar to this one, but she added the conditions."

"I see," Allen said. He hummed and thought about it for a moment. If the new effect would be somewhat similar to the old one, he knew exactly what the old effects was. "The first effect from before was the same as the current effect, but instead of having six stacks, I assume it only has three?"

Jeremy was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect for Allen to catch on to that so quickly. "C-Correct."

Allen hummed, "And the second effect was still connected to the first. Is it when the same target has been stacked before was successfully hit by the stunning strike, you can have an additional stunning strike?"

"Only if it reaches two strikes, wow," Jeremy clapped his hands. "No wonder everyone is talking about you. You really know your stuff."

Allen's improvement on his intelligence had something to do with Sebastian's training. After he was able to complete his training and the special grass was completely green under him, a new feature unlocked.

It was from one of his stats, an additional one called Intelligence. He had 5, and there was an additional 5 after he successfully completed a quest from the Snake that involves slimes and frogs.

"But your only problem is that you space out a lot," Jeremy smirked. "Be careful, your enemies might use this to their advantage. They could strike without you knowing."

"I'll keep that in mind," Allen said even after he knew that it was impossible for the Hunters of Haven to hit him. His instincts would instantly kick in the moment something ominous get near him. His body would instantly respond by dodging, making it hard for them to lay a single attack on him.

His reflexes, movement, and even instincts were all enhanced when he uses the White Saber equipment set. He was practically invincible for Hunters that haven't ascended to Paradise yet.

"But I am impressed about your perception," Jeremy said. "You knew about the effects before I reforged them. That's not something everyone can do so easily."

"I am a man of a few tricks," Allen said. "Now, for my last demand I only want one last thing from you, and this one is connected to your third benefit."

"Interesting," Jeremy said. "What is it?"

"Catch the one who ruined my name," Allen said with clenched teeth. "I want them to rot in prison and die there for ruining my reputation. I have only started my business, but they already ruined it."

"You know, don't you?" the police man asked, making Allen smirk and shrug. "You have had enough, so you decided to tell me who it is that's behind all of this. You knew all along who the ones responsible for the ploy. I assume you held back before? Because you didn't trust me enough. But now that you have been accused of the crime that you haven't committed, you're finally ready."

Allen wanted to snicker about how far Jeremy was with his guess, but it seemed like this would help him. A little white lie wouldn't hurt, especially when it wasn't too far from the truth.

He did held back before, just because he didn't know how much he could trust Jeremy. But after spending time with him as Allen, as a friend, he knew how much justice meant to the man and he feels like he could offer this piece of information to Jeremy.

The only thing he was lying was about the fact that he knew who the person behind the Phantom Cunt ploy was. Before he met Sebastian, he didn't have any clue to who it was. His three suspects and John Smith were too far off his radar.

Who would've known that the twins would use something that almost killed them to their advantage by taking over it? This was a power move from them, and they have been moving for too long.

Now, it's Allen's turn.

"You know well enough," Allen smirked. "So, I'm here to tell you who it was."

"This is actually a pretty good deal," Jeremy said. "But you have to help me catch them and not just blurt out the information. The Phantom Cunt for Chen. The both of them, we'll get our revenge."

"Fair deal," Allen smirked. "I have always wanted to check on them after what I did anyway."

"Wait," Jeremy raised his hands as his face scrunched in confusion. "What do you mean after what you did?"

"I did it to them," Allen grinned. "I tried to ruin their face, but it turns out even scars can heal."

"You don't mean—"

"The Smiths sisters, your sisters, are the Phantom Cunt."