anovelconsole Chapter 309 - 306 -
Chapter 309 - 306 -
Chapter 309: Chapter 306 - "But This Is About Saving Lives"Are you from out of town? Here for sightseeing, treasure hunting, or to join the Maritime Banquet?"
Seeing that he didn’t speak, the boss began smoking.
The mixed smell of tobacco and alcohol filled the air, causing Su Ming’an to slightly frown.
"I guess all of the above," he replied.
"Looking at you, you don’t seem to be lacking in gold and jewels," the boss said with a smile, "Yet you’re interested in that self-destructive event?"
"Aren’t you interested, boss?" Su Ming’an saw that the other locals seemed to be very interested in it.
"No," the boss exhaled a ring of smoke, "... I haven’t lived enough yet. Those madmen, they’re tired of living and want to ascend to Cloud City, but I can see the reality clearly. That place said to be where the deities reside is not so easy to enter... By the way, are you here alone to gather information? Where is your family?"
"Just me," Su Ming’an asked, "Boss, what exactly is the Maritime Banquet about?"
Seeing as this familiar boss seemed not to be leaving, Su Ming’an simply started asking.
"What else could the rules be, but to fight against each other?" The boss chuckled, "Every year the specific rules of the Maritime Banquet change a bit, but they aren’t that different. Contestants kill each other off in this broken-down city... The victorious team gets to meet the Princess, and they earn a pass to Cloud City."
... Which was pretty much what Su Ming’an had understood.
Seeing that there’s not much information on the Maritime Banquet, Su Ming’an turned to what he was actually interested in.
"Boss, do you have a map?" He leaned back slightly, dodging the cloud of smoke exhaled by the boss.
"What kind of map?"
"A map of the city."
"Well, isn’t that a coincidence, lad," the boss said, tapping the table with his thick knuckles, "I’m the only one in the east of the city selling maps. Others here are fishermen; they don’t sell maps."
"Price?" Su Ming’an said.
If there was one advantage he had so far, it was the pile of Yate Stones he carried. He had previously counted them, enough for one hundred and twenty tallies - the entire stock from the Yate Vessel.
He had asked Eilina if local currency was accepted, for he had a bunch of Blood Bottles and equipment he’d retired, but the response was negative. It seemed the instance didn’t want to give players such a loophole; NPCs did not accept equipment brought over by players.
If you want to trade locally, other than using the local currency, you can only use special items produced in the current instance like Yate Stones.
So, Eilina wasn’t wrong calling him a "fat sheep."
In fact, he was carrying enough to buy an entire city.
Upon hearing his words, the boss’s eyes moved slightly.
He got up,
He looked over the map layout—the Pulaya had ports to the northeast, southwest, facilitating the arrival of travelers from various places. The east and west of the city were residential areas, filled with all kinds of shops and houses, while the north was close to the Royal City, inhabited by the Pulaya royals and nobles. The south was home to the Cloud Church and the headquarters of Soul Hunt.
In the center of Pulaya, there was also an Island Library, which contained books on Pulaya’s history and knowledge and should have a lot of clues.
Su Ming’an’s current primary target was still the Soul Hunt registration point in the east of the city. There were three Soul Hunt registration points in Pulaya, one each in the east, west, and south, and the one closest to him in the east was just two waterways away.
As he studied the map, the couple that had been saved cautiously approached him from behind.
"Um... thank you for saving me and Xiaona," the young man spoke first, still having a red mark on his forehead where the club had left its trace.
The girl named Xiaona seemed somewhat shy, hiding behind the young man without speaking.
Seeing the couple’s attitude, Su Ming’an guessed they were NPCs with traveler identities.
If these two were players, at this point, they would probably be using gamer jargon, such as asking to team up or sharing clues. That they were so sincere in giving thanks most likely meant they were NPCs.
"It’s okay," Su Ming’an said.
"Rinna and I came from the eastern Krissa Empire, simply wanting to experience the exotic scenery of some island cities, but we didn’t expect this place to be so chaotic..." the young man said, "Um... with your impressive skills, are you a Soul Hunt master from another country? Rinna and I’s ship is still involved in trade and can’t return for now, I—I would like to hire you to protect Rinna and me for a few days."
At this moment, a system prompt also popped up.
It was a C-level task, the objective being to ensure that either Kassan or Rinna survived until the fifth day.
Looking at the task, Su Ming’an felt puzzled. Although it seemed the difficulty of the task wasn’t low since Kassan and Rinna lacked combat abilities, and protecting them for two nights would be a heavy burden for the player, it was only categorized as a C-level task.
He refused Kassan’s request. A task with only a thirty Points reward was barely better than nothing for him and would be a waste of time.
"Doesn’t your fleet have Soul Hunters?"
"No," Kassan shook his head, "Soul Hunters require a special talent, they are quite rare... Our Krissa Empire is only a small country, without any formidable Soul Hunt masters... I heard that Pulaya is blessed by the Deity, with many Soul Hunters, so I dared to come here boldly, but I never expected the locals to be so treacherous..."
Su Ming’an nodded and walked away.
With a map already in hand, he had no need to interact with these NPCs anymore.
"Wait, wait a moment!"
Just then, the timid Rinna spoke up.
"Soul Hunt master, aren’t you going to kill those people in the tavern?" she called out to him.
Su Ming’an stopped in his tracks.
He suddenly smelled a strange scent on Rinna.
It was like the smell of disinfectant, the odor was so distinct, as if it naturally emitted from her body.
"Why should I kill?" he didn’t dwell on the scent on her, replying instead.
"They—they are all slave traders! Their sins are heinous, don’t they deserve to be executed on the spot?" Rinna said, her emotion rising, "If you let them go today, they will continue to engage in such sinful trades tomorrow! By letting a single evil person go, you’re harming countless good people!"
Su Ming’an turned his head, "Pulaya has royal laws that forbid outsiders from killing locals."
He had already learned this information from chatting on the channel.
"—But isn’t this about saving people?" Rinna said loudly, "We are punishing criminals, not killing good people, I believe the people of Pulaya would understand..."
"You’re foolish," Su Ming’an simply lifted his foot and walked away.
From the information he previously got, he knew Pulaya wasn’t a good city at all.
The fact that one could encounter such incidents by walking into any tavern indicated that the slave trading business was rampant in Pulaya.
Indeed, it was this sinister industry that had sustained them up to this point, luring outsiders enticed by wealth to come and explore.
Once those who make the rules and those tasked with enforcing them are in cahoots, the so-called influence of outsiders is worthless.
Challenging the rules, trying to assert "justice," is seen by those in power as challenging their authority. In such an island city constructed by the locals, "justice" has no value.
He quickened his step and left, hearing the quiet exchange between the man and woman behind him.
"Don’t be afraid, Rinna, if the Soul Hunters won’t protect us, I’ll do everything in my power to protect you..."
"Kassan, but I’m scared, I’m afraid of those from the Soul Clan..."
"Don’t be afraid..."
"Kassan, you’re so kind, would you accompany me to the park? I want to give you a reward..."
The voices of the man and woman gradually faded away.
Su Ming’an circled around the water channels to a deserted alley, with the Memory Stone of Su Rin appearing in his hand.