Richard came closer and flipped through the book with the Black Spirit Empire logo. He saw that many pages were damaged due to poor preservation, and some of them had signs of water damage and insect infestation. In a sense, this is not a book at all, not even half a book.
After flipping through a few pages, Richard furrowed his brows as he glanced at the contents, feeling a little familiar.
"If a male slave makes a mistake, then you can punish him like this. Strip him naked, tie him to a wooden frame, and use a wooden stick to hit his lower body hard until he makes a woman's sound in pain, and then..."
Richard raised his eyebrows, turned the book to the first page, and saw a line written on it that was not surprising: My Autobiography—Moratos.
This turned out to be a duplicate book that I already owned.
this…
Richard shook his head and prepared to restore the book to its original state, but because he turned the pages too much, he touched the red line. The small copper bell that was immediately connected to the book made a "ding-dong" sound.
The strong black man who had stopped people at the door quickly appeared nearby, looked over, and asked in a buzzing voice: "Did you ring the bell?"
"No." Richard shook his head and explained, "I just accidentally touched it!"
"Accidentally?! Hey, there is no such thing as being careless here!" The strong black man said in a deep voice, "In the Forbidden Bookstore, when the bell rings, there are only two possibilities. Either you are going to buy the book, or you are going to steal it. Books. If it’s the former, just pay for it. If it’s the latter, I won’t care if you were recommended by the great scholar Suratis, I will kill you! Which one do you choose?”
"..." Richard was silent for a while. He really didn't want to get into a ridiculous fight with the black man over this kind of thing, so he asked aloud, "How much?"
"150 low-grade crystal coins, or 2,000 gold coins." The strong black man said.
"How much?" Richard raised his eyebrows.
I have to say that the price is really a bit high. You know, at the auction, seven intact books handed down from the Black Spirit Empire were auctioned by a young man, and they were only worth 1,000 low-grade crystal coins, which was considered a premium several times over. And even so, if converted, it would cost less than 143 low-grade crystal coins per book. Now the black man wants 150 low-grade crystal coins directly, which is a bit too much.
The strong black man said unceremoniously: "Here, a book costs this price. I have told you the rules a long time ago. If you want to buy a book, prepare the money in advance. There is no bargaining here. , and it’s not like a poor guy can just come in.”
Richard narrowed his eyes slightly, looked at the strong black man for a while, reached into his arms, took out one high-grade crystal coin and five medium-grade crystal coins and handed them to the strong black man.
The strong black man was stunned and took the crystal coin slightly unexpectedly. It was obvious that he did not expect that Richard would pay for it so happily. In his opinion, Richard might have to be like other people and spend a long time in ink.
After accepting the crystal coins, the strong black man's expression softened a bit and said to Richard: "Wait a moment and I will take down the book for you."
After saying that, the strong black man turned around and left. After a while, he came back with something in his hand - a ball of white cotton and a sharp black dagger.
After carefully stuffing the cotton into the copper bell, the strong black man lifted the red string and began to cut it with a sharp dagger.
Only then did Richard realize that the thin red thread was far stronger than imagined. Even though he was a strong man like the black man, he held the dagger and cut for a long time before cutting the red string, which was more difficult than cutting iron wire.
After cutting off the red string, the strong black man handed the book to Richard. After thinking for a while, he took out two nameplates three fingers wide and seven or eight centimeters long from his pocket - one gold and one silver.
Handing the two nameplates to Richard, the strong black man said: "After you purchase a product here, you are considered an official guest. From now on, you can enter and leave here freely with the golden nameplate without being blocked.
As for the silver nameplate, you can give it to others and regard it as the person you recommend, and they will also be qualified to enter the bookstore. However, you only have one chance, so I hope you will be careful. "
Richard took the nameplate, put it away, looked at the strong black man and asked, "There is also an internal bookstore here, right?"
According to the previous great scholar Surades, this forbidden bookstore is divided into two parts: the inner and outer parts. The difficulty of entering from the outside is not too high, just someone recommends it. But this is not possible internally, the conditions are more stringent and the threshold is higher. Suradi did not say the specific content, but said that there would be more books to choose from inside.
After hearing what Richard said, the burly black man frowned and asked aloud: "Do you want to enter the internal bookstore?"
"There are no books I want here. I'm going to take a look inside, can't I?"
"Yes, yes, but..." The strong black man looked at Richard, looking up and down, as if he was appraising something, and said slowly, "But... you need to pass our test."
"Huh? Test, what test?" Richard asked.
"This is a test of your strength. You have to show your strength and reach a certain standard before you will be allowed to enter the interior of our forbidden bookstore." The strong black man said with a serious look on his face.
"After all, our place is prohibited. The degree of prohibition inside is more serious than outside, and there are more prohibited items. Wouldn't it be bad if we let people in casually and were forced to come out outside?" continued the black man. , "So, if you want to get inside, you must show that you have the ability to protect our internal secrets."
"Is that so..." After hearing this, Richard narrowed his eyes slightly. I don't have much worry about showing my strength. But he was thinking, would his disguise all along be exposed
He was introduced by the great scholar Suradis, and his identity was made public. If he showed excessive strength or even magical abilities, would the great scholar Suratis know about it
I would like to speculate maliciously. Did the great scholar Surades ask him to come here with the purpose of deliberately exploring his background
Even if this possibility is not very big, he still has to pay attention to it and sail the boat carefully. After all, ever since the auction, he had been suspecting that the identity of the great scholar Surades was not as simple as it seemed. What if it has something to do with White Rock Tower Academy
In this case…
Gently grabbing the two nameplates in his hands, Richard thought for a while and decided that it would be better to be cautious. He looked at the strong black man and said, "If a test is needed, then I think... I need to think about it."
"Whatever you want." The strong black man raised his hand and said, "The choice is yours."
"Okay." Richard said, "I will come again when I think about it clearly."
"Okay." The strong black man responded, and then made a gesture of invitation toward the outside of the bookstore.
Richard didn't pay attention and walked out, then left the underground market and returned to the laboratory.
…