[3rd POV]
Drake's eyes widened.
Even with all his years of experience in Gotham City, Drake had never seen such a car that died in it.
"So you're saying… at least five people have died in this car?"
"Not exactly."
"Come on, man. What's the real story with this car?"
Drake pressed further, "I've worked with you for so long, and not once have I seen this car before."
Johnny sighed and probably knew this scary car couldn't be sold anymore.
"You swear don't tell anyone, alright? This car used to belong to a small-time leader in the Falcone Family. After he had an 'incident' while driving it, the car got passed along and put up for sale. It was handled under their family's criminal operations, but every time someone bought it, something bad happened. The worst case? Four people in the car got their heads blown off by two shotgun shots."
"This car was sold three times, and six people who bought it died from car accidents to gang shootouts. The craziest time was when a car dealer found a quiet place and tried to ditch in a quiet place. That same day, he got into an accident at lunchtime, went to Wayne Hospital, and was in the morgue by the evening."
"The Falcone family thought this car was really cursed and gave me two thousand dollars just to get rid of it. However, I fixed up the car and even spent over five hundred dollars of my own money to fix it. I even had to pull out nearly half a pound of bullets from the thing."
"What else could I do? I sold it again. The car came back with just broken glass, a flat tire, and some scratches, but this time, two more people died inside."
"By my count, nine people have died because of this car. I sure as hell don't want to be the tenth. If you know anyone with a death wish who's looking to buy a car, send them my way. I won't even charge them and give it to them for free."
"No."
"…?"
Johnny looked around in confusion.
Johnny's reaction was almost perfectly mirrored by Drake, who was standing beside him, shaking his head in disbelief.
"No..."
Tony said, standing off to the side, repeating himself calmly, "At least three thousand."
"What the hell, what are you doing, bro?!"
Drake's eyes widened as he stared at the composed him, "This car has claimed nine lives, dude..."
"Damn! Awesome! It's a deal!"
Johnny exclaimed, overjoyed, "No backing out! I'll go grab the keys right now!"
"You make sure you bring the money too."
"Huh?"
Tony repeated, "I said, make sure you bring the three thousand dollars along with the keys, or I'm not taking the car."
"Huh???"
"Dude, are you serious?"
Drake exclaimed in disbelief, "You're taking his cursed car, and you're asking him to pay you three thousand bucks?!"
"I'm saving his life by taking this cursed car and charging him three thousand dollars for it."
Tony corrected him.
"This is something dangerous that three grand is honestly not expensive."
"You sure?"
"Do you want it or not?"
Tony said, flicking a Pocky stick out of his snack box and putting it in his mouth like a cigarette.
"Hurry up. If you refuse, I'm out of here. And when some other unlucky dealer gets this car, I'll use the information from today to make him pay me five thousand dollars."
The car dealer's expression flickered uncertainly.
After a long pause, Johnny finally turned and brought over three thousand dollars in cash and a set of car keys.
"You'd better pray for yourself."
"You better watch your mouth because if something happens to me, this car's coming right back to you."
...
After spending two hundred bucks to get the tires changed, Tony sat inside the car while Drake stood outside.
They stared at each other.
"You're not coming with me? Get in."
"I'm taking a taxi."
"..."
"Why are you staring at me? You drive it back yourself."
Drake said, pulling Tony's phone from his pocket and showing it to him.
"You better remember this speed dial. It's the number for Wayne Hospital."
Tony let out a cold chuckle, took back his phone, casually pulled out a shiny silver car key, started the engine, and, with a press of the accelerator, left Drake far behind.
[Divine Key]
[Price: $300]
[Description: This key can trap or seal a spirit inside it and can be used anywhere with a keyhole but can only used once.]
When the key slid into the ignition, Tony thought he heard a faint, creepy scream full of anger coming from inside the car.
But just a few seconds later, the spooky, cold feeling in the car disappeared completely.
"Beep, beep, you damn bastard!"
The voice sounded more like it was sulking than truly angry.
Tony ignored it and casually turned on the car's air conditioning again.
Fortunately, it only blew out warm air, and the icy cold mist from before had disappeared entirely like it was never there.
He pulled over to the side of the road, took out the silver car key, and it had completely darkened to a gloomy gray-black color within seconds.
Opening the system interface once more, Tony noticed the text description had changed.
[Side Mission: Keeping Up With the Times]
[Description: Mr. Evil Spirit had already been roaming all around in this car, and it looked like he was still trying to find his tenth person to haunt. The priest in the church might not be willing to take on the task of exorcising a car, but you, my friend, you know exactly what it means to keep up with the times… right?]
[Status: Completed]
[Reward: After capturing the evil spirit, you can trade it for an amulet that can protect you from harm nine times.]
Tony casually chose to trade.
The black key vanished into thin air, and a shiny cross necklace appeared in his hand.
It looked like it was made of iron, but it didn't feel cold when he touched it and instead it gave off a soft, warm feeling.
He glanced at it briefly, then hung the necklace around his neck and continued driving home.
The cross necklace was worth about five thousand asset points in the system's store.
Since he still vividly remembered the Divine Keys from the store, Tony didn't hesitate to accept this task and made a small profit.
As for converting the necklace into asset points, Tony wasn't considering that for now, and luck obviously mattered more in Gotham.
...
150 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter
250 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter
450 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter
1000 Power Stones = 2 Extra Chapters
2000 Power Stones = 3 Extra Chapters