Chapter 469 - 30. Shadow of the exploration company
What happens in Chapter 469 of "Demi-human Girls Completion Manual"? Alagina walked and observed with Fisher, pausing her gaze when she heard the vendorās introduction,... Read on to find out!
Alagina walked and observed with Fisher, pausing her gaze when she heard the vendorās introduction, but she stopped completely in front of a shop selling sea ghost body materials. Fisher noticed her action, recalling their previous failed hunt of a sea ghost.
"The body parts of sea ghosts are sold here... They also hunted sea ghosts."
Alagina, however, shook her head and suddenly spoke,
"Somethingās off."
"Somethingās off?"
"Yeah."
Fisher was not very familiar with sea hunting and ecology, but the tradition of the Sardinia Female Country involved going far out to sea for hunting, and Alagina knew more about these matters.
Hearing Fisherās words, she crouched slightly, pointing to the two lumps of "Sea Ghost Fragrance" displayed on the stall. This was a pale yellow natural spice found within sea ghost bodies, useful for refining perfumes or making soaps. However, those two pieces on the stall were only about as thick as Fisherās arm, which seemed too little compared to the massive sea ghosts they had seen before.
"Both pieces of Sea Ghost Fragrance are intact, but they donāt come from the same sea ghost... And I donāt know why, but the clusters are too small. The texture of the sea ghost meat has also lost its natural elasticity, which is why the price is so cheap..."
The vendor selling Sea Ghost Fragrance, realizing he was dealing with someone knowledgeable, quickly rubbed his hands and approached with an awkward smile to explain,
"Indeed, I donāt know what happened this year. There were so many sea ghosts at sea... Perhaps luck? Or maybe their homes were taken over by other, more dangerous sea monsters? Anyway, we acquired a lot of these things. But as you said, the quality is poor; who knows what they experienced at the sea floor."
The sea floor?
Seeing the somewhat shriveled sea ghost meat, Fisher suddenly thought of Moli. Her curse could extract the life energy from her surroundings, making it difficult to tell if this collective escape of the sea ghosts from the sea floor was because of her...
Just then, Fisher suddenly felt something, his body stiffened slightly, and his thoughts abruptly stopped.
"Letās go, the Magic Materials are..."
Even Alagina couldnāt glean any useful information from the chunks of rotten sea ghost meat. After examining them closely, she decided to leave with Fisher to buy Magic Materials. However, before she could finish her sentence, Fisher suddenly reached out and pressed her shoulder, pushing her back in place.
"Um..."
As she turned her head with a slightly reddened earlobe, puzzled, Fisher wasnāt looking at her; instead, he peered past her and silently gestured with a finger to his lips,
"Shush."
Alaginaās blue eyes stirred, turning towards the direction Fisher was looking. There, several men in suits were carrying a metal case and walking out from the depths of the marketplace. The leader, a blonde man, glanced around and then led the other suited men out of the market.
"Those are Nali people... Whatās wrong?"
Fisher didnāt look back, only pretending to examine the goods in front of the stall, explaining to Alagina,
"...I felt a lot of Magic on that man in the suit. If every Magic is calculated as Six Ring, he would be carrying about twenty types, and if combined with Low Ring Magic, the exact number would be unknown. So, itās even more possible that heās carrying higher, more dangerous Ring Magic."
"Heās very wealthy. In Nali, having so many types of Magic and carrying them around isnāt common, and even fewer people would show up here."
Alagina glanced at the retreating backs of the group of men in suits, suddenly realizing something and guessed thoughtfully,
"Nali Exploration Company?"
"Hmm, itās them, just donāt know what they are here for... It looks like they are here to pick up something, something inside that iron box."
Now, seeing even the Nali Exploration Company show up here, Fisherās sense of foreboding had grown stronger.
That Cloud Cat, coming from the Northern Realm, might just be related to this matter, and he just happened to want to study her... This situation felt like a challenging puzzle posed by the Demi-human Girls Completion Manual, and it was up to Fisher to gamble on whether he could be as lucky next time to encounter such a demi-human.
While Fisher and Alagina were whispering, a strong smell of alcohol mixed with a slurred speech could also be heard coming from the side,
"Heh... you can smell that vile odor from a mile away, the exploration company."
"Hey, you drunkard, go back to your stall, donāt come here."
"Stingy, what harm can it do if I stand here for a while? Are you going to die?"
"Scram, scram, scram, last time you vomited on Calioās stall... Iām telling you, Jesse, just scram!"
Ossie stood behind Fisher, curiously looking towards the man leaning against the wall behind the sea ghost meat stall. The man appeared to have just shown up, his clothes tattered, looking even more dejected than the local fishermen who covered themselves with burlap outside.
His dirt-filled hands clutched a wine bottle, and his whole body exuded a strong smell of alcohol, as if he had just climbed out of a hell brewed with strong liquor; it was no wonder others detested him so.
Seeing how unwelcome he was, the drunkard named Jesse first took a swig of alcohol, then nonchalantly waved his hand and left, heading towards a corner of the market.
As he walked, he continued muttering curses under his breath, probably none too savory, and clearly the exploration company was the target of his abuse.
Fisher watched him lie down behind a stall and continue drinking, then slowly got up and headed towards him; Alagina immediately followed to ensure his safety, leaving only Ossie wondering when they might finally eat.
The dirty old manās stall location was terrible; right next to where the underground market disposed of trash. Ordinary treasure hunters wouldnāt come near here, and his merchandise was simply displayed on a cloth heād thrown over the stall. Fisher glanced over it; most were crafts from around the world.
Fisherās gaze swept over his dirty figure; beneath the unparted wine bottle in his hands, there appeared the outline of a golden box on his grimy chestāa compass made by the Nali people.
Among the countries of the Western Continent, Nali was the first to send ships away from the continent. In shipbuilding, navigation, and mapping, the Nali people were second to none, and naturally, compass crafting was included in this expertise.
This man was familiar with Nali Company and even carried a compass with him. There werenāt many who simultaneously met these criteria...
"Do you know those people from the exploration company?"
Fisher crouched in front of his stall, just about to touch one of the crafts, when he was interrupted by the manās alcohol-laden speech,
"If youāre not buying, donāt touch; thereās no such thing as previewing goods here... The nature of the exploration company, even if they went diving in a cesspit, they wouldnāt be seen without their proper suits, and the name āsuit dogsā didnāt spread by just someone mentioning it."
The employees of the Nali Exploration Company often wore expensive suits from Saint Nali when traveling overseas for work, thus they were always seen in suits, earning them that nickname.
"Is it because youāre confident that these treasures you brought back from overseas are all rare gems? Not many navigators favored by the times end up like you."
The man reeking of alcohol squinted at Fisher, took another sip from his bottle without responding to his remark, and then directly asked,
"What do you want to get from me, Nali person?"
Fisher wasted no further words and asked him directly,
"I want to know what the exploration companyās employees came to this market for."