Chapter 2277: Fish Market
“Is this the black market? It smells so strong.” A Yellow King believer, following Jayad, looked at the market before them with disgust. It looked like a fish market, with all sorts of seafood piled up, and the smell was overwhelming.
Many Yellow King believers were scholars, artists, or nobles. They had noble identities and elegant personalities, and they disliked this dirty and messy market environment. If Glutton believers were here, they would have liked it more.
“Yes, we inquired with some sailors. On the surface, this is a fish market, but deeper inside are black market merchants who secretly sell contraband, especially monster organs,” the Yellow King believer who greeted Jayad replied.
He was a crew member who had followed them. He didn’t care about the fish market environment at all. Moreover, they could talk to the sailors and crew on the island and use some industry slang, which allowed them to get a lot of useful intelligence, like this black market.
Jayad, on the other hand, relished the environment and walked through the fish market without any care. The slums where he grew up were much dirtier and messier than this. Even after he became successful, he often went to vegetable and fish markets to satisfy his younger sister’s craving for food, so he was very familiar with this environment.
Because it was close to the fishing grounds, the fish market on Saint Port Island had a wide variety of goods, and many were bulk transactions. Hundreds or thousands of tons of seafood were traded and transported to Europe for sale.
Around them were boxes of frozen fish, and a large number of workers were carrying fish boxes, preparing to load them onto ships. To the left, a pile of conchs was stacked, and a few workers were shucking the meat and discarding the shells.
To the right was a large red crab, as big as a small house, with a dragon skull on its back. Its two large claws, like tower shields, suggested that its meat was tender and delicious, and its abdomen was full of crab roe.
In front of them was a whale carcass, as huge as a ship and covered in wounds. People were extracting whale oil, which was an important industrial raw material and a material for casting spells and alchemy. It was the most valuable commodity. The remaining whale meat and bones would even be thrown back into the sea if they couldn’t be sold.
Seawater and blood mixed all over the ground, and various unpleasant odors mingled in the air. This was the fish market. The environment was indeed very poor.
The two Yellow King believers followed Jayad through the fish market, with the sailor leading the way. At this time, Jayad had already shared his vision with others through mental connection.
“I can feel it. Around the fish market, there are indeed the aura reactions of sea monsters, but most of them are very weak and scattered throughout the fish market,” Jayad said.
“Divine Envoy, you mean…” The Yellow King believer looked at the seafood on the stalls around them and guessed something.
“That’s right. Some of that seafood has been eroded. After all, if a large area outside the beach has been eroded, it’s impossible for sea fish and shrimp not to be eroded. The aura of sea monsters is strongest in front,” Jayad pointed forward, which was the stall where the black market boss the crew members were leading him to was located.
Strictly speaking, there was no essential difference between the black market here and the fish market. It was just that some bosses in the fish market would also secretly sell contraband or help with smuggling.
Jayad saw the fish stall owner in front hand a wrapped black bag from the belly of a large tuna to some sneaky people, or after saying a couple of passwords with someone, the owner directly handed a large clam to him, which must have hidden the traded goods.
When the Yellow King believers approached, the boss looked at them. His face was covered in scars, and he looked fierce. He didn’t look like a fish seller at all. He might have been a pirate before.
The boss saw that these people didn’t look like good people either. Although they looked refined and their clothes suggested they were noble and wealthy, the boss had been on the sea for many years and had seen many dangerous people. The dangerous aura on them was almost identical.
“What do you guests want? I have potions, poisons, and ammunition supplies. If you want to ship things, I can also recommend someone. Stolen goods are also fine, or if you want to hire some people for dirty work, I have friends who do that kind of job,” the boss said frankly.
This boss was really honest. Just his words just now were enough to get him sent to the gallows three times. He really dared to do any illegal job for a huge profit.
However, when Jayad thought of the lord’s performance and others’ evaluations, he felt that it was already quite considerate of the black market boss to use the identity of a fish seller as a disguise.
“None of the above. I heard that you have sea monster corpses here. Can you show me?” Jayad asked.
“Sea monster corpses? You mean those sea monsters that crawled out of the sea with the seaweed?” the black market boss asked.
“Yes, that kind of sea monster,” Jayad nodded. In fact, he had already sensed a strong accumulated sea monster aura from the boxes behind the boss.
“Heh heh, another one who wants to claim a bounty from the lord? Yes, how many do you want?” The boss’s next question made Jayad stunned.
Let alone Jayad, even the Yellow King believers who followed him were stunned and couldn’t help but ask, “The lord? How many… Boss, do you have a lot of sea monster corpses here?”
“Huh? Aren’t you planning to claim a bounty from the lord with these sea monster corpses? I don’t have many, only a dozen or so. But if you want, I can introduce you to some nearby pirate groups. They can get at least a few hundred sea monster corpses, right?” the boss said casually.
Jayad and the other Yellow King believers immediately realized that their understanding was a bit off, and there were some situations they didn’t understand. It sounded like these sea monster corpses were not uncommon.
As for claiming bounties from the lord with sea monster corpses, it wasn’t strange, because there had always been bounties for clearing seaweed on the bulletin board, and commissions for hunting monsters had always existed.
“Well, let’s not talk about other things first. Let me see your sea monster corpses,” Jayad said, focusing on the main point first and dealing with other issues later.
“Okay, don’t tell anyone. Although the lord has not listed sea monster corpses as forbidden goods, those Judges strictly prohibit private possession of sea monster corpses. If those lunatics find out, it will be troublesome,” the boss said, then turned and pulled down the canvas disguised on the cargo box.
His words revealed another piece of information: the lord allowed the trading of sea monster corpses, but the Judges strictly prohibited private possession of them. Moreover, the Judges, as official personnel, had the privilege of executing first and reporting later, so the boss didn’t dare to provoke them.
When he lifted the canvas, several sea monster corpses were revealed inside. They were the ones they had seen yesterday, resembling a mix of dogs and fish, relatively small in size and could be packed more tightly.
Jayad immediately keenly noticed, “How come all these sea monsters are completely dead?”
