Chapter Fifty-Two: No Business Without Deception

“Boss, one more time.” Heath smiled warmly as he pulled out a hundred Alliance coins and handed them to the scruffy uncle. The uncle accepted the money with a grin, then had Heath sign an agreement before calling out the Circle Bear.

“Trainer! This guy is obviously a scam, why do you keep throwing?” Zoroark anxiously bounced beside Heath, making Heath worry whether his head might soon become a dance floor under Zoroark’s restless paws.

“Forget it, two more times.” Heath produced another hundred coins. The boss took them happily and even slapped Heath on the shoulder with a proud smile, wishing him good luck.

Heath smiled, while Zoroark was nearly losing his mind. But Heath had a reason for this bold move. He pulled out a piece of chewing gum from his pocket, popped it into his mouth, and chewed thoughtfully. Then he turned to the Circle Bear standing before him, who looked rather reluctant to play along with this foolish game.

“Circle Bear, do you see that? Isn’t that the tissue? That’s exactly the tissue you’re supposed to press on, right?” Heath said cheerfully, pointing toward the spot where the Pirate King manga lay. The Circle Bear stared blankly for a moment, then nodded.

Heath took hold of Circle Bear’s paw and tossed him in that direction. The bear complied smoothly, walking over and collapsing atop the manga volumes. His round body perfectly pinned down the comics beneath him.

“This…” The scruffy boss stared dumbfounded. What was going on? He glanced at the device strapped to his wrist—there was no indication of any psychic abilities. So why did Circle Bear choose to cover that particular manga?

“Trainer, you’re amazing!!!” Zoroark’s excited shout nearly made Heath’s head explode. This guy got way too hyped sometimes. Heath sighed and rubbed his ear, amused by the little creature’s enthusiasm.

Still, Heath was very satisfied with the result. After all, he had used a special piece of Enchantment Gum he’d gotten earlier to pull this off. He hadn’t expected the gum’s effect to be so powerful. Looking at the other circle in his hand, Heath smiled. Next up was to get his hands on the Dragon Notebook computer. With a laptop, Zoroark wouldn’t be bored anymore.

“Not bad, kid,” the scruffy uncle said with a smile as he came over, carrying a large box. He had already packed the entire manga set inside—Heath had seen it with his own eyes, no issues there.

“Uncle, you’re pretty sharp yourself,” Heath smiled. Without the Enchantment Gum, he might have ended up with just three packs of tissues after spending three hundred Alliance coins.

“Ah, well, I’m not losing out anyway.” The uncle didn’t look upset or angry; he calmly handed the box over. Heath raised an eyebrow. If he wasn’t losing out, perhaps there was something wrong with this set of manga?

“Something wrong with the manga?” Heath frowned. But then he recalled the agreement clearly stated that the goods couldn’t be returned or disputed. Judging by the uncle’s indifferent demeanor, maybe the manga did have some issues.

“Heh heh, it’s a pirated copy, but it doesn’t affect reading, right?” The uncle grinned. Heath was speechless—old foxes were always the craftiest. And judging by that, the so-called author’s autograph was probably fake, most likely signed by the boss himself.

Although the pirated manga wasn’t cheap, it was definitely nothing compared to the high price of the genuine article. Heath sighed helplessly. This boss was really something. If that was the case, then the laptop was probably fake too.

“Looks like you’re planning to trick my Dragon laptop, huh? Actually, that’s a fake as well. It looks like a laptop, but once you open it, you’ll find it’s a 3D Dragon Cube and Pikachu World launcher—only good for those games,” the scruffy uncle whispered with a sly smile. Heath twitched at the corner of his mouth. So basically, everything at this stall was counterfeit. Even if something happened to Circle Bear, the boss wouldn’t lose much.

“Aren’t you afraid of getting caught?” Heath glanced sideways at the shameless merchant beside him. This was the Quartz Alliance, after all. Did the vendor think Officer Junsha wasn’t tough enough?

Heath had witnessed Junsha in action before. There was a thief who came to Evergreen City, caught red-handed stealing. Junsha, passing by, immediately sprang into action. All the officers got excited, and Junsha subdued the thief with a single fighting move, knocking him down and dislocating both his arms on the spot.

The incident even made the Evergreen City news. A city as safe as Evergreen actually having a thief was astonishing.

The thief’s trial was broadcast live, marking the first inmate sent to Evergreen City’s prison—previously, it only held offenders from other cities. This showed how low the crime rate there truly was. Heath also heard from Feng Jie that the thief was forced to stay alone in an empty holding cell awaiting sentencing, with Officer Junsha shadowing him constantly, driving the thief nearly insane.

“Of course I’m not afraid. I’ve prepared everything carefully. Look at this Pirate King copy — doesn’t it say ‘study edition’?” The scruffy uncle chuckled. Heath was speechless. This guy was truly shameless.

“Look, if you don’t go for a second circle, I can refund your money and even throw in a few genuine Pirate King volumes. How about that?” the uncle offered with a grin.

“Why?” Heath was puzzled. Since none of these items were worth much, why not just keep them as a collection?

“If too many people realize the fakes, can I even keep doing business?” The scruffy man shrugged. Heath frowned; something about this sly merchant felt off.

“What’s your real intention? You can tell me. I won’t tell anyone else,” Heath asked again, chewing his gum.

The man’s eyes flickered briefly. Then he leaned close, lowering his voice to whisper a few words into Heath’s ear. A satisfied smile spread across Heath’s face. Goodness, he almost fell for the trap.

This old fox had a whole chain of schemes planned.