SSS SKILL: DUPLICATE

In an inconspicuous alley in a particular place in Manila, there is a rusty brown gate. The rusty gate is just a disguise. On the other side of the gate, it is colored silver with many runes. Even bazooka cannot immediately destroy the gate.

There are two guards guarding the gate. They are wearing suits and are currently smoking.

There is a stair that leads to the underground. The stairs aren't straight but curved. In the underground space, there are stores and stalls. Most sellers and buyers are wearing masks.

There are stores with piles of magic stones, beast cores, magic materials, and magic weapons. Others are selling magical plants. Small stalls laid a cloth on the ground and presented their merchandise.

A buyer picked up a magic staff. The buyer formed a magic circle, and then fireballs appeared. The buyer is satisfied. He disperses the fireballs and pays with the currency of the underground market. It is a gold coin with runes. It could be exchanged for money or magic stones in the exchange outlet of the underground market.

Above the underground space is a club. There are young guys and girls dancing on the floor. At the center of the floor, there is an elevated platform. A seductive foreign lady is dancing on a pole. It is a hologram. A fire lady is flying in the air, moving in a circle above the dance floor. Her whole body is made up of flame. A fireball formed on her left hand, and she threw it at dancing guys and girls. The fireball turned into shimmering orange lights. The fire lady disappears. It is a 3D character. There is a 3D screen and disco lights on the ceiling.

In a private room of the club, Kalras, the Death Guild member who supervises the underground market of the guild in the Philippines, is talking to his subordinate while sitting on a black couch. His age seems to be in the thirties. He has a black tattoo on half of his face and neck. His gray hair that reaches his shoulders is neatly combed back. He is wearing a black jacket, pants, and pointed shoes. He has a necklace with the capital letters DG and a scythe, the crest of the Death Guild. His subordinate is also sitting on a couch with a glass of brandy in his hand. 

Karlas raised his right finger, then cast magic.

SOUND BLOCKADE

A white ball of shield formed on his finger, then expanded to the whole room.

"Boss, I already talked with other guilds that control the underground markets in Metro Manila. The women and magic materials will be delivered according to schedule. They will be shipped on time. They don't directly say it, but they want their guild to serve under our protection," said the subordinate of Karlas.

Karlas chuckled when he heard it.

"The Philippine government is wary of us. They can't stop us from controlling the underground market of Palawan Island, but they are trying hard to prevent us from expanding in their country. They won't even allow the branches of the Poison Guild to establish an underground market, so the guild is forced to act behind the scenes. A guild is controlling the market on their behalf, but they will be punished together according to law if they find evidence that they are colluding together."

As Karlas is speaking, a black magic circle appears beneath his feet. A rotating black cloud appears on the ground not far from him, and then a white skeleton rises. Its eyes look like burning black flames. Karlas controls it, then the skeleton walks toward a cabinet and takes brandy alcohol. It went back to Karlas, and he poured the brandy alcohol into his glass. The skeleton just stands beside Karlas like a waiter.

"Underground market is illegal, but it is hard to prevent, so local governments reached a tacit understanding with guilds. That law will only be imposed on disobedient guilds, but they are foxes. Only small fries are punished because there is no direct evidence that directly shows the guild's involvement. The government is not a fool. If a guild exceeds its limit, they will still be crushed even without solid evidence unless a world-top guild is protecting them, like the case of Poison Guild, which is protected by our guild."

Karlas took the glass filled with brandy and drank it. He raised the glass, and the skeleton filled it again with brandy. He drank a bit and continued what he was saying.

"They thought warning those guilds would prevent them from cooperating with Poison Guild and us, but their greed knows no bounds. Those guilds do not deserve to join us. If they have a member that passed a gate of inheritance, then we can consider that. They will just become a burden if we accept guilds like them, but don't clearly reject them. Drag the time until our hidden pieces take control of their guild," said Karlas.

"Boss, your plan is amazing. The government and guild leaders are being fooled," said the subordinate with admiration.

"Hahahaha, I'm just following the practices of our guild around the world. As long as there is greed, we can find many ways to use it. No government can stop our expansion," said Karlas. He put down the glass, took out his phone to look at the time, and then smiled.

"Come on, let's take a look at the underground market that we will own later," said Karlas with a grin.

Edgar is walking in a dim alley. An indigo magic circle appears beneath his feet, and his outfit changes as the magic circle moves up to his body. He is now wearing a black jacket, pants, a shirt, and rubber shoes. His face is covered with a white mask. His hair turned red and long. A black bag with magic materials appears on his left hand. Storage space is still rare. He doesn't know if the 8th circle could create storage space like him, but most magicians are using magic equipment as their storage space. Someone greedy could target him if they saw him using a storage space.

He looks at the corner where the alley and underground market are located.

LIFE DETECTION

He saw the Death Guild members moving down using a secret staircase from the club. He already used life detection earlier and detected their high level of energy, so he paid attention to them. He saw the crest of the Death Guild on Karlas.

"As I thought, those Death Guild members are here for the underground market. The government will definitely stop their expansion in the country. If they control the underground market here, it should have been raided a long time ago. Is the guild behind the underground market secretly cooperating with them? The guild that controls the market should have reached a tacit understanding with the local government.

I thought I would find heinous transactions here, but all I found is a normal underground market. The transactions that are beyond what the government can bear should be done in a more secret place. The government should have someone secretly monitoring the underground market. Why are those death guild members blatantly showing their faces? Are they that confident in themselves?" Edgar thought as he walks to the alley. He put his right hand in his pocket and took out a black card with magic runes from his storage space.

He reached the rusty door of the underground market and knocked on it with a pattern. A small window appears on the door, and the guard fiercely looks at Edgar.

Edgar gave the card to the guard. The card is a recommendation card. Edgar and other ordinary people paid a hyperbeing for the recommendation card before entering the underground market. They cannot enter the market without it. The card has an expiration date. The card cannot be easily given. If someone makes trouble, the person who made the recommendation will also be in trouble.

The guard behind the gate cast magic on the card. The runes on the card lit up, and a number appeared on the card. He took out a small, thin tablet with a transparent blue screen and pressed his fingerprint. The blue screen expanded. It became three inches wide and four inches long. It is a limited experimental product of a world-top technology company.

The guard inputs the number of the card, and the data immediately appears. The hyperbeing that recommended it, its expiration date, and when the holder entered the market. The guard gave the card to the other guy and nodded. He pressed a button on the screen. The blue screen shrinks and returns to its previous size. The guard put the small tablet in his pocket and continued smoking.

The other guard opened the door and gave back the card to Edgar.

Edgar walks on the stairs toward the underground market.