The staff member who had just been arrogant and overbearing, upon seeing the skull on the table, was completely dumbfounded.
"This, this is impossible! All king-level BOSS kills are recorded by us! Where, where did you get this skull?"
Jiang Kai looked at him coldly, "Is it any of your business? I'm just asking you, is this a special item or not?"
"A summoning skull is a necessary item for opening a new map, of course it's a special item!"
Jiang Kai snorted coldly, "I don't think so." After speaking, Jiang Kai directly put away the summoning skull and turned to leave.
That staff member leapt out from behind the counter in a single bound, quickly caught up to Jiang Kai, grabbed Jiang Kai's arm with both hands, and begged bitterly, "Big brother, big brother, I was wrong, I really was wrong, let's talk properly, please don't leave!"
Jiang Kai couldn't be bothered to deal with him and continued walking out.
The surrounding crowd, upon seeing this scene, already began to question their sense of reality.
A military resource recycling specialist was desperately begging that guy just so he would stay... This kind of scene hadn't occurred in decades.
What is the status of the military? It exists at a level far above all guilds.
In public view, a military staff member disregarding their image—truly rare.
"Bro, I was wrong, my attitude was bad, I looked down on you, please don't go! You can hit me, scold me if you want! Without that skull, we can't open the new map!"
Such a major responsibility, this small recycling specialist obviously couldn't bear it.
Of course, he didn't know that Jiang Kai's summoning skull was actually an extra one, but Jiang Kai naturally wouldn't bother to tell him, letting him misunderstand as he pleased.
"When I wanted to talk to you, you didn't listen. Now that I don't want to talk, you want to have a chat? How can it work like that." Jiang Kai continued walking out.
The commotion here immediately attracted more attention.
From the direction of the warehouse, over a dozen people rushed over in a hurry.
The leading man appeared to be around forty-five years old, talking with his subordinates while walking quickly over.
"It's Brother Jiang Kai!" The man came to Jiang Kai's front, blocking his path, "I'm Qin Mian, head of the Resource Recycling Department. A pleasure, a pleasure to meet you."
"We've already understood the situation just now, it was indeed Xiao Zhang's attitude problem. On behalf of Xiao Zhang and the military Resource Recycling Department of District 18, I sincerely apologize to Brother Jiang Kai."
Jiang Kai glanced at Qin Mian and, seeing his sincere attitude, finally stopped walking.
Qin Mian immediately reprimanded Xiao Zhang in person, "Xiao Zhang, we've long told you about your work attitude. Those who come here to exchange resources are all contributing to Huaxia's pioneer efforts on the ghost star. We must all receive them patiently!"
"How about this, tomorrow you'll be transferred to the safety zone, responsible for guarding the supply point!"
After that, Qin Mian stepped up to Jiang Kai and spoke in a low voice, "Brother Jiang Kai, actually Xiao Zhang is quite diligent in his work. He receives dozens of people a day, and it's just because of those who like to cut in line that his attitude is this bad. I've already punished him. I'm also comrades-in-arms with Regiment Commander Lu. Can you let this matter go for his sake?"
"If you pursue this further, Xiao Zhang might get fired. Think about it, under normal circumstances, who could've guessed that you'd come in with a summoning skull? He mistook you for one of those queue-cutters... Please, give him another chance."
Jiang Kai took a deep breath and glanced at Xiao Zhang's miserable face, "Forget it, seeing that your attitude's not bad this time, I won't press further."
"That Xiao Zhang doesn't need to be transferred either. He'll stand at the door for seven days straight. Whenever someone comes in, he must shout 'Welcome!'—let him learn what service attitude is!"
Qin Mian was overjoyed, nodding like pounding garlic, "Yes yes yes, Xiao Zhang, aren't you going to thank Mr. Jiang Kai!"
Xiao Zhang looked at Jiang Kai with grievance and lowered his head, "Thank you, Brother Jiang Kai, I'll learn properly..."
"Hurry up!" Qin Mian shouted sternly.
Xiao Zhang immediately ran to the main entrance and bowed to greet every person entering, shouting "Welcome!"
This really startled those guild representatives who came to exchange items.
Since when did the military offer this kind of service? Did they come to the wrong place...
"Um, Brother Jiang Kai, how about we talk inside?" Qin Mian asked cautiously, fearing Jiang Kai would get angry again.
Jiang Kai had calmed down and was willing to talk now, "Then let's go, Brother Qin."
Arriving at the warehouse, Qin Mian personally appraised the skull. After seeing the result, he was still extremely shocked.
"Recently no guild has gone to kill a king-level BOSS. Brother Jiang Kai, where did this skull come from?"
Jiang Kai said lightly, "You'll know in a few days, it's the BOSS skull from Taiping Mountain Road."
"Hidden map?" Qin Mian half-raised his eyes and asked tentatively.
Jiang Kai was stunned—there was no way to continue this conversation now...
But thinking again, the military had detailed information on all BOSSes. Since this skull didn't match any known BOSS, the only possibility was that it came from a hidden map!
A comrade of Lu Jun really wasn't simple.
"Yes." Jiang Kai simply admitted.
Only then did Qin Mian let out a breath. Though hidden maps were rare, they were at least traceable and better than being completely unaccounted for.
"Brother Jiang Kai, if you're willing, you can sell the hidden map information to us. We'll buy it at a high price."
Jiang Kai thought for a moment and said, "I'll sell you the hidden map info after a while."
"Understandable, understandable, you definitely want to first clear as many beasts from there as possible within your ability. Then for this skull... I'll have someone immediately transfer the star coins and guild points to you on the spot."
Jiang Kai nodded, meaning he agreed to sell the skull.
"Brother Qin, I'd like to buy equipment from your side. Is that okay?"
Qin Mian replied at once, "Buying isn't allowed—you should know, making money is the Exchange's business. We only deal with guilds, so you can only use guild points to redeem items."
"Oh, I see..."
Speaking of the Exchange, Qin Mian looked a bit proud, "Actually, the items at the Exchange aren't as good as what we have here..."
Jiang Kai thought about it. Judging by Qin Mian's confidence, the things here shouldn't be bad. "Brother Qin, since you know your own goods so well, recommend something for me."
"Of course, what do you want to exchange?"
Jiang Kai said, "A sword—preferably one that can be upgraded, so I don't have to keep changing it."
"A sword? Don't you use throwing knives?"
Jiang Kai chuckled, "But swords are cool."
At this point, the 8 million star coins and 10 guild points for the skull had already been transferred. Qin Mian personally led Jiang Kai into the warehouse.
Qin Mian had his subordinates bring out a list according to the request and placed it before Jiang Kai. "The equipment we collect is all top-tier among their levels. I've selected the best of them. Some items haven't been shelved yet, but you can pick freely. I'll handle the paperwork afterward."
Jiang Kai examined the list item by item.
After reviewing it once, Jiang Kai promptly selected a sword.
Seeing Jiang Kai's choice, Qin Mian nodded, "This Purple Lightning Phantom Blade has very high attributes. As for special effects, even at level one, it can increase movement speed by 40%, attack speed by 20%, and adds heavy injury and paralysis effects. In terms of attributes alone, within the same level, I haven't seen a faster sword."
"But the upgrade materials are a bit difficult to obtain—it needs Outer World Thunder Stone, which is one of the top-tier forging materials."
The higher the grade of forging material, the greater the weapon's potential.
And Purple Lightning Phantom's attributes were exactly what Jiang Kai needed, so he spent a hefty 300 guild points without hesitation to buy the sword.
After purchasing the Purple Lightning Phantom, Jiang Kai left the recycling department, rented a white deer at the relay station, and galloped toward Huaxia City!
There were still two and a half days left until the gambling competition—he had to get to Huaxia City in time!
(End of this chapter)