Chapter 254: The Shadow of the Exploration Company
Just as Fisher was about to continue walking towards the market with Captain Alagina, a trail of illusory golden text suddenly flashed before his eyes, evidently due to the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans.
[You have witnessed the Snow Mountain Affinity: Cloud Cat Breed]
[Now providing you with more details about Cloud Cat Breed samples to better locate the research subjects]
As he watched the words slowly emerge from the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans, Fisher suddenly remembered that last time after studying Aoxi’s social research, it had hinted that he had received a reward that allowed him to obtain information about the affinity without binding it. It seemed that the content displayed now was just that, able to provide more details about Cloud Cat Breed samples.
In that instant when the illusory text appeared, everything around seemed to slow down. Fisher’s eyes trembled slightly, but his thoughts raced faster, as if activating some kind of accelerated thinking device.
Immediately, the illusory text rapidly circulated, gradually transforming into the entire process of him witnessing that Cloud Cat Breed just now, only this time it was much more detailed than the fleeting glimpse before.
The surrounding crowd was darkened and turned into shadows; at that moment, it seemed like there was only the Cloud Cat Breed girl who was leaving and Fisher who was observing her, while the presence of all other people was infinitely minimized.
Fisher’s gaze swept over, and he saw the girl’s fair face had little hair, but her features were very gentle, looking as harmless and cute as gummy candy. And at her hands cradling a bread, one could see a bit of fluffy white long hair.
From whatever angle, she should just be a subhuman maid working in a café, nothing special.
But under the strange observational power granted by the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans, Fisher soon realized that her walking position was very concealed, and she kept shifting her steps among the crowd, as if she were afraid of being discovered by others.
If it weren’t for Fisher being subtly prompted by the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans to look that way, he would probably have completely missed the cat maid holding the bread.
Fisher’s consciousness slowly approached the cat girl standing concealed among the crowd; her mood seemed quite good, and under such circumstances, there was no need for her to hide her form. Moreover, she was wearing such an eye-catching maid outfit, which could very likely be a subconscious action.
In his mind, the scene continued, as the highlighted cat maid moved forward according to his previous memory. But just when Fisher’s gaze fell on her from a distance, she immediately sensitively flicked her tail, which was why Fisher could notice the length of her tail under her skirt.
At that moment, she realized he was watching her.
The cat maid reacted the instant Fisher’s gaze landed on her; except for the slight change in her tail, everything else remained normal. No, something seemed hidden beneath her tail.
Fisher keenly noticed some incongruous items next to her raised tail. When he slightly squatted down to look closer, a dagger wrapped in a sheath suddenly appeared under her skirt.
A maid working in a café hiding a dagger under her skirt for self-defense, that seems reasonable, right?
Fisher glanced at the cloud cat maid holding the bread and humming a tune, appearing innocent and harmless; it was clear that her true self was not as simple as her appearance suggested.
After she noticed Fisher’s gaze, she made no other movement, continuing to hum her unknown little tune and quickening her steps to leave. This was also why Alagina, who had been observing Fisher, turned around to look but saw nothing.
Through the special perspective granted by the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans, Fisher quickly realized that this Cloud Cat Breed had undoubtedly received professional military training, and it wasn’t just the mediocre skills of average pirates, but the kind with official backing.
And an official person from a northern country, or a spy agent appearing in the pirate-conglomerated Pat Sulshen Island was not a good signal. Moreover, this place was still quite far from the northern region; with them appearing here, it was hard to ensure that the Shivali and Nali people closer to this location wouldn’t show up.
Thinking of this, Fisher frowned. When he carefully glanced at the uniform the cat maid wore, which was usually provided by the shop, he noticed that it had the shop’s emblem sewn onto it.
There were three lines written on it, in Nali script, Shivali script, and northern script, meaning,
“Cloudtop Café”
“Leviathan Egg! A pair for only 50 northern silver coins!”
“Sea Ghost Tentacles, Sea Ghost Fragrance, Sea Ghost Meat, available for package sale; prices are negotiable.”
“Magic materials, feel free to come and take a look; all currencies accepted.”
The market selling materials on Pat Sulshen Island is underground, and markets like this typically exist in environments like this. Just as St. Nali’s magic market also sets up a canopy above, it’s because many materials cannot be kept under direct sunlight for too long and need to be stored in the dark.
Alagina and Fisher slowly entered this relatively spacious market, where most of the vendor units were stalls, with a few early and better-established ones having their own shops.
While walking and shopping, Alagina paused to look at the introduction of a nearby vendor, but stopped in front of a stall selling sea ghost body parts. Fisher noticed her action and recalled their previous hunting failure against the sea ghosts.
“They’re selling body parts of sea ghosts here. They must have hunted sea ghosts as well.”
But Alagina shook her head and suddenly said,
“There’s something off.”
“Something off?”
“Mm.”
Fisher was not very familiar with the hunting and ecology of the sea, while Sardinia had a tradition of going out to sea for hunting, so Alagina understood more about these matters.
Hearing Fisher’s words, she crouched down a bit, pointing to the two lumps of Sea Ghost Fragrance displayed at the stall. It was a pale yellow natural fragrance derived from the sea ghost’s body, used to extract perfume or make soap, but these two pieces were probably only as thick as Fisher’s arm and seemed far too little compared to the enormous sea ghosts seen before.
“These two pieces of Sea Ghost Fragrance are intact but not from the same sea ghost. And for some reason, the volume of the fragrance lumps is too small. The meat of the sea ghost as well—it has completely lost the elasticity it should have, which is why the price is so cheap.”
The vendor selling the Sea Ghost Fragrance, realizing he was speaking to someone knowledgeable, hurriedly rubbed his hands together with a forced smile and inched closer to them, beginning to explain,
“Well, this year, I don’t know what’s going on, but we unexpectedly encountered so many sea ghosts in the sea. Good luck? Maybe their old home was invaded by even more dangerous sea monsters? In any case, we’ve obtained a lot of these. But as you said, the quality is too poor, who knows what they went through at the bottom of the sea.”
The bottom of the sea?
Seeing the somewhat shriveled sea ghost meat, Fisher immediately thought of Jasmine, whose curse could draw vitality from her surroundings. It was hard to say whether these sea ghosts collectively escaping from the bottom of the sea was related to her.
At that moment, Fisher suddenly felt something; his body slightly stiffened, and his thoughts stopped.
“Let’s go, the magic materials are over there.”
Even Alagina couldn’t get any useful information from the already sliced sea ghost rotten meat. After examining it carefully, she decided to take Fisher away to buy magic materials. However, before she could finish speaking, Fisher suddenly reached out, pressing his hand on her shoulder and pushing her back to her original spot.
“Uh.”
When she turned her head, her earlobes slightly red with confusion, Fisher didn’t look at her but stared into the distance and silently raised a finger to his lips,
“Shh.”
Alagina’s blue eyes flickered as she turned to look in the direction Fisher was looking. Over there, several suited men were emerging from the depths of the market carrying a metal box. The leading man in a suit had golden hair and glanced around. Then he led the others out of the market.
“What’s up with those Nali people?”
Fisher didn’t turn back but pretended to examine the goods at the stall, explaining to Alagina,
“I sense a lot of magic on that suited man. If we count each magic at six rings, he carries about twenty-something types, and if we factor in low ring magic, the exact number is unknown. So, it’s more likely he carries even higher-level dangerous magic.”
“He’s very wealthy. In Nali, not many people can simultaneously equip so much magic and appear here.”
Alagina glanced at the retreating figures of the suited men and suddenly understood something, pondering,
“Nali Exploration Company?”
“Yes, it’s them. I just don’t know what they are doing here; it seems like they came for something, whatever is in that metal box.”
Now that even the Nali Exploration Company had appeared here, Fisher’s ominous premonition grew even stronger.
That Cloud Cat Breed from the Northern Region might very well be related to this matter, and he just happened to want to research her. This situation felt like a dilemma presented to him by the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans, leaving Fisher with the question of whether he dared to gamble on having the same luck next time to encounter such a subhuman.
While Fisher and Alagina were whispering to each other, a strong smell of alcohol mixed with a slurred voice drifted from the side,
“Heh, you can smell that stench from afar, Exploration Company.”
“Hey, you drunkard, go back to your stall; don’t come near me.”
“Cheap. What harm can I do by standing here for a while? Are you dying?”
“Get lost, get lost; last time you threw up all over Carlo’s stall. I said, Jesse, get out of here!”
Aoxi, standing behind Fisher, curiously looked at the man leaning against the wall behind the stall selling sea ghost meat. That man seemed to have just appeared here, looking more ragged than the local fishermen outside who covered themselves with burlap.
He held a wine bottle in his dirt-covered hands, reeking of strong alcohol, as if he had just crawled out of a hell of distilled spirits. No wonder others would disdain him like this.
Seeing himself so unwelcome, the drunkard referred to as “Jesse” first raised his hand to take a swig of alcohol, then waved his hand nonchalantly and left, walking towards a corner of the market.
As he walked, he muttered low curses, likely not using any agreeable language, and the target of his invectives was evidently the Exploration Company that Fisher had just mentioned.
Fisher watched him lie down behind a street vendor’s stall and began drinking again, then slowly stood up and walked towards him. Alagina immediately followed to protect his safety, leaving Aoxi behind to wonder when they would finally eat.
That dirty old man’s stall was positioned very poorly; beside him was the area for disposing of trash in the entire underground market, usually making it a place that would rarely attract treasure-seeking customers. The items he sold were simply laid out on a cloth, and Fisher took a rough glance to see that most were crafts from around the world.
Fisher’s gaze swept over his dirty body. Beneath the bottle he held tightly, the outline of a gold compass appeared on his chest, which Fisher recognized as a compass made by the Nali people.
Among the countries of the Western Continent, the first to send ships away from the mainland was Nali. In shipbuilding, sailing technology, and cartography, Nali people are unparalleled, and the compass-making technique is certainly included among them.
This man must be familiar with the Nali Company, carrying a compass with him; not many people could fit all these criteria.
“Do you know those guys from the Exploration Company?”
Fisher squatted down in front of his stall. As he was about to reach out to touch one of the crafts on his stall, he was interrupted by the man’s voice full of alcohol.
“If you’re not buying, don’t touch. I have no rule for inspecting goods here. The Exploration Company has a reputation; even if they walk into a cesspool, they’ll still be in formal suits. The name ‘Suit Dog’ isn’t something you can just call out.”
Employees of the Nali Exploration Company often wear the expensive suits of St. Nali when going abroad for work. Hence, no matter when, they always appear in their suited forms, earning them such a nickname.
“Is it because you firmly believe these treasures you brought back from abroad are all genuine? There aren’t many like you among the favored voyagers of the times.”
The drunken man squinted at Fisher, then took another sip from his wine bottle, not responding to his comments but directly asking,
“What do you want from me, Nali?”
Fisher didn’t waste more words; looking at him, he asked,
“I want to know why that group of Exploration Company employees came to this market.”
求求投票、打赏和支持，这对我来说十分重要！
万分感谢支持！
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(End of Chapter)
