While Alex was in a full betting mood aiming to reap a huge amount as if he wanted to prove his qualifications as King Of Gambles.
Alice and Riya sneaked out from the group with a plan of their own.
They headed to the underground alliance area which had one of the biggest black markets of Kinley and naturally the products sold here were quite legit.
Walking down the dusty narrow lane, Alice with a mask on her face stared at the small children eyeing them with hunger which could arouse sympathy in the cold heart person.
But after staying here and learning the information, she naturally knew that these were all acts and these children work to assess one's wealth and also act as spies.
They have been trained from a young age after these orphans are taken.
If they dare to show them a soft spot, they will try their best to sabotage you, so Alice tried her best to ignore them even though her inner self was screaming to help them.
Still, she decides to hand them some food when she returns.
The small dirty alleyway leads to a small shop which has access to the black market.
She knocked in three times and a small lid of the door opened.
"Password"
'Was there a password to get into this place?'Alice bit her tongue and tried to maintain a cool front as she spoke.
"You swine. You dare to ask me for a password. Do you know who I am?"
"There is no one as noble as me in the whole Kinley."
"If I reveal my identity, you will fall onto my knees and beg for mercy," Alice said, puffing her chest with pride, after all, she wasn't boasting nor telling a single lie.
If she really revealed her identity she feared that they might piss in thier pants.
"Madam, please forgive me. Do you have the token?"The other side spoke with an embarrassed expression.
Nobles generally had tokens and asking them for a password was kind of an insult for them.
Alice was startled again for a moment as she didn't even have that.
She had only heard that the Lone wolf didn't have so much access to the black market and was having trouble gaining the information so she thought of giving a helping hand to her dear brother but who knew it was so complex?
"I have money.." Alice tried to negotiate but she was cut short by Riya.
"Is this the token?" Riya asked and taking out a badge placed it for the other side to see.
"What!"
"A Diamond token."
The man verified the token and accessed it.
"Shit! Open the door." The man on the other side screamed in bewilderment and opened the door quickly and fell onto their knees.
"Please forgive us for showing you our unpleasant side."They apologised.
Riya nodded and strolled forward pulling Alice who stared at the man with a shocked expression.
" Excuse me, this token has great authority."
'Great authority! Are you kidding me? You came with her and don't know about it.'
"Mam, the password is for normal people while tokens are for VIPS. There are grades from bronze, silver, gold and diamond according to their authority and till now only 82 diamond tokens have been issued."
"Each black marker had different passwords but the token can be used in any black market."
"Really!" Before Alice could shout, Riya pulled her away quickly so that others may not become suspicious of them.
" Big Sis from where did you get this token?"
"Do you remember the place I used to work before? I got it from one of the men and the leader allowed me to keep it."
"Then why didn't you say you have this?" Alice asked.
"Because I remembered about it just now."
"I didn't know that this token could be used for all black markets. I only used it in Zenith." Riya muttered.
As soon as they departed, the guards wept their sweat and stared at each other.
"We should inform higher-ups and let them handle it."
Alice looked around with eyes filled with excitement and anticipation.
The black market was filled with all sorts of interesting stuff.
You can find everything ranging from weapons to potions. There were even places where you can buy information about others or put a bounty on an individual and circulate it throughout the Empire making him a hunting target.
Various types of secret forces laid here have vast connections.
They planned to find an information guild and ask about it.
It was a place where you could do anything you wanted so they also wanted to seize other opportunities before telling Alex about this.
Clex, an outlaw city exists only because of the support of the nobles and others. This place can be used for both good and evil deeds.
"Big Sis, let's buy a potion. We lack it a lot but are they all genuine?" Alice asked.
"Yes almost everything found here is genuine and since most of the things are either smuggled or stolen, the prices are also quite low."
Riya and Alice went on a shopping spree even forgetting about their initial goals.
They checked the quality of the things carefully and even tested the things before buying these things.
As they kept on buying, their shopping was suddenly interrupted by a set of guards looking for them.
They circled Riya and Alice who raised their vigilance seeing them.
"Mam, don't be afraid of us. We are not here to seek trouble."
"We have come here to invite you on the behalf of our lord."
"Who is your Lord?" Riya asked.
"Our Lord is the Vice President of the Underground alliance."
Riya pondered for a moment thinking about what to do next.
"Big Sis, we should go. If worse comes to worst, we have to reveal my identity. I have this ring which can be sent to emergency signals. If they dare to harm us, my father will surely flatten the place."
"Your brother might burn it to ashes before that" Riya chuckled and followed them.
They arrived at a huge mansion. The servants greeted them and took them to their Lord.
"Welcomes Ladies!"
A man wearing a white mask greeted them and asked them to sit down.
"Why do you want to meet us?" Riya asked.
"It's because we wanted to see which diamond token holder entered now. As you all know the situation in the Zenith is quite chaotic due to someone's forthcoming."He chuckled.
"Some are even talking that it might be marked as the Fifth Prince's return. So, we now have quite a several requests"
"What kind of request?" Riya asked.
The man raised his head and said"You need to specify the authority for that. You can't know the request for diamond grades. You can only inquire about the lower ones."
"Tell me the most common request for the gold token holders," Riya inquired with an aloof expression.
"The most common request is to gather all information about King Alex and his military strength."
Alice stared at Riya who was talking with authoritative and an overbearing tone which was in stark contrast to her geek self when she was with Alex.
After chatting casually for some moments.
The white masked man smiled underneath and took out a box and handed it to Riya and spoke.
"What is this?" Riya spoke.
"A token of gratitude for saving me, Queen of Shadows."
