Goblin Heavy Dependence

Chapter 414 The Wooden House on the Cliff
Unlike the open and flat southern beach, the northern part of Qiaoyan Island is filled with bare, towering reefs. The dark brown rock pillars have been forcibly glued together by the great power of nature, forming sharp and craggy peaks.

Millions of years of wind and rain erosion have left the base of the rock pillars riddled with cracks, the widest of which is no more than a hand's length, yet the inside is bottomless, and standing on it one can only see pitch blackness.

"Hey..."

The leather boots landed, the soles sinking into the dark green moss on the rock surface, like stepping on some kind of water-soaked sponge, accompanied by a sluggish splashing sound and a sticky, slippery sensation from the soles of the feet.

It's damp all year round; if you gently wipe your hand against the rock wall, your fingers will be covered in cold water droplets.

Xia Nan focused intently, controlling his center of gravity and carefully taking each step, cautiously walking between the rock walls.

All I could hear was the noise of the sea breeze, the splashing of waves against the rocks, and the strange whistling sound of air flowing from the crevices in the rock walls on both sides.

If he were to turn his head and look down at this moment, he would see that the light below has been swallowed up by the rock wall, leaving only a deep, dark sea and dark brown reefs reflecting the waves.

If you lose control of your body even slightly and slip, you will be smashed to pieces.

In my previous life, even the most experienced extreme athletes would not have dared to climb it without extensive preparation and expensive, meticulous professional equipment.

If an ordinary person were to climb this terrain, it would undoubtedly be suicide.

Many people, let alone inch their way forward along the rock face, would be terrified just by looking down at the sheer height of the cliff. And with the howling sea breeze blowing in, they could close their eyes and prepare for their doom.

Before transmigrating, Xia Nan was just an ordinary office worker. She didn't have much courage. Occasionally, when she took a taxi, she would grab the roof handrail if the driver drove too fast. The highest mountain she had ever climbed was a dirt slope in the park next to her company. She rarely went on trips, let alone to any dangerous places.

But now, his mindset has changed significantly compared to his previous life.

Xia Nan's exceptional physical abilities, including agility, strength, and perception far exceeding those of ordinary people, allow him to keenly avoid easily crumbling sections of the rock face and maintain his balance in narrow passages where only one person can pass sideways. He relies on his muscle strength to stably support his body movements for extended periods without losing his composure or composure.

【Tidal Shaping】 grants it the ability to walk freely on most unstable surfaces, while the balance bonus from 【Bone-Binding Iron Legs】 makes it even harder for it to fall.

Even if the worst-case scenario comes, such as accidentally falling off a cliff.

The [Gravity Control] skill, unleashed at maximum power regardless of cost, combined with the [Tidal Shaping] skill's constant fall damage reduction effect, is sufficient to minimize the damage he receives.

As long as Xia Nan still has a breath left, [Tears of Spring Breath] and [Echoes of Ember] can pull him back from the brink of death.

The margin for error is maximized!
With his current overall abilities, to a certain extent, unless in extremely harsh environments such as lava or in space, ordinary seaside cliffs like this do not pose much danger to him.

Of course, we still need to be careful.

He took each step very steadily, making sure his foot was firmly planted before lifting it to take the next step.

Fortunately, the place where Mr. Morton, whom the village chief Steven had mentioned, used to live was not too far away. After walking for about half an hour among the rock walls, a small wooden house came into Xia Nan's view, set against the backdrop of towering reefs and the sky above.

Its location is extremely peculiar, almost as if it grows in a rock crevice.

Located precisely between two vertical cliffs, it allows falling rocks from above to slide past on both sides; three large, protruding dark brown reefs above form a natural canopy, blocking most of the rainwater; while offering a wide view, its unique position hidden behind the cliffs also blocks most of the view from the sea.

Clearly, the location was carefully considered.

Even though the wooden house itself is thirty or forty years old, it doesn't look dilapidated at all. It seems to be regularly maintained. Only some of the joints between the wood pieces have inevitably rotted and become moldy due to the humid air by the sea.

Xia Nan didn't rush into the house to search for the key to the [Dream Corridor], because it was right next to the wooden house, on a stone cliff platform that extended outwards.

A middle-aged man wearing a brown-green hooded cloak sat motionless on the tip of a cliff, holding a bone-white curved fishing rod in his hand. The transparent fishing line at the end extended all the way to the undulating sea below, and the small fishing float could be vaguely seen bobbing in the waves.

He guessed that this must be the guest from Barracuda Bay that Steven had mentioned.

His perception ability worked silently. Although the other person had his back to him, Xia Nan could sense that the hooded man had already noticed him.

Of course, he didn't deliberately hide his footsteps.

In such an unfamiliar environment, the two were still alone. From a polite point of view, and to show that he had no hostile attitude, Xia Nan did not approach, but just stood at a distance.

I had just organized my thoughts and was about to say something.

Suddenly, a "sizzle" sound rang out in the air!
As the float sank, the fishing line, which had been slackly hanging down, suddenly tightened, and the fishing rod bent sharply.

Fishing!
Strangely, compared to the dramatic changes in the fishing rod and line in an instant, the man's reaction was remarkably stingy.

He was like a stone statue standing on a cliff, completely still.

Grip the rod firmly with both hands, but don't immediately pull it up. Instead, deliberately let the line drop two inches, making the prey think it has succeeded and subconsciously bite the hook deeper.

He carefully sensed the subtle changes in the force transmitted through his palm until, at a certain moment, the prey took the bait completely, with no possibility of escape.

Then he stood up and swung the rod with force.

The difference between a novice and a veteran is vividly demonstrated at this moment.

In Xia Nan's eyes, the man in front of her moved with perfect naturalness when he pulled the lever, as if he had practiced it thousands of times. His waist and legs coordinated, his left foot stepped back half a step and landed firmly, his right knee was slightly bent in a bow stance, and the force of his whole body was as steady as the rising tide.

The reeling in of the line is like breathing, with a rhythmic tension and relaxation.

He even suspected that the other party could sense the changes in the prey's physical strength under the hook through the force transmitted through the hand, deliberately relaxing when struggling and reeling in the line sharply when resting.

The figure standing on the cliff is connected to the vast ocean below by a transparent fishing line. With the surging tide, it seems as if he is fighting against the entire ocean when he lifts the rod.

"Boom."

From the depths of the waves, there was a soft splashing sound.

A silvery-white fish, about two feet long, was pulled out of the sea.

Its body is long and slender, hanging from the end of the fishing line. When it struggles, its body swings like a silver dagger chiseling at a cliff.

Suddenly, a powerful hand shot out from the side, precisely and swiftly gripping the indentation at the back of the fish's gills. As if possessing some special technique, the fingers inserted into the gills gently bent, and the once lively silver fish seemed to have been struck in a fatal spot, instantly losing all its strength and entering a state of paralysis.

After unhooking the fish, the man held the silver fish in his hand and nodded with satisfaction.

Then he turned around and looked at Xia Nan, who was patiently waiting not far ahead.

He slightly raised his chin towards the wooden house, while raising the silver fish in his hand.

"The silver barracuda of Limnia is so rare that you might not see even one in a day at the entire fish market at Broken Wave Wharf. It tastes even better than chicken soup that's been simmering all day."

"How about it, want to try it?"

……

……

Colin suddenly realized that life as a sailor wasn't so boring after all.

The long voyage, lasting five days, seemed to have swallowed his entire soul, as if the endless roar of the waves at sea had engulfed him.

And that is why, when he finally stepped onto land after so long and his feet touched the ground, the emotion he felt was indescribable.

Meanwhile, in Cliff Village, a remote village he had never heard of before, Colin experienced a feeling of being respected and revered like never before.

As he sat at the dining table in the village chief's hall, he witnessed a villager who looked even older than his own father bowing slightly and politely calling him "Sir" as he poured him a drink.

This boy, who came from a remote village, had a dreamlike inner world.

At that moment, he seemed to have truly become the powerful adventurer he had always dreamed of, a sailor who had sailed the seas and was respected by all.

Fortunately, the elusive state of both feet leaving the ground was only momentary.

The next second, he regained consciousness.

Just as they received preferential treatment on the Black Gull because of Mr. Xia Nan, the villagers behaved this way not because of their great reputation or any contribution they had made to Qiaoyan Village.

It was only because of his status as a crew member of the Black Gull that he received hospitality from the residents of Cliff Village.

Stripped of this title, he was still just an ordinary rookie who was new to the game, trembling in battle and vomiting at the sight of a corpse.

Colin took a long breath and calmed himself down.

Suddenly, a large, thick hand reached out from the side and slapped down on the boy's shoulder, startling him.

"Colin, kid...eat meat!Drink alcohol! Good!"

A mixture of alcohol and bad breath, and a wave of heat hit me.

There stood Bone, an orc from the "Silver Claw Osprey" squad, who was pulling Colin close like a chick with his arm around Colin's shoulder, his greasy, filthy hands clutching a piece of meat.

"Eat! It's delicious!"

With a stiff smile, Colin took the steak from the orc's hand, forced himself to endure the discomfort, and took a big bite under the orc's gaze, chewing and swallowing.

The orc then burst into laughter again, his hot, smelly saliva splattering all over Colin's face.

To be honest, Boneka didn't really have any bad intentions towards Colin. This was just a deliberate act by the intellectually challenged orc to try and build rapport with someone.

However, due to their weak communication skills, the final result often backfires.

Since the battle with the "Flying Fish Oil Barrel," Xia Nan's status on the Black Gull has skyrocketed.

No one dared to offend this ruthless figure who could behead four professional adventurers in five seconds.

Even the act of currying favor was avoided because of the extremely brutal and gruesome battle scenes.

As a result, the only two people on the entire Black Gull ship who had any connection with Xia Nan, "Colin" and "Alton", became highly sought-after.

As Xia Nan's proper teammate, the latter was fawned over by many crew members almost on the afternoon of the day the battle ended.

Although the former did not seem to have a very close relationship with Xia Nan, he still received more preferential treatment on the ship.

The three members of the "Silver Claw Osprey" squad showed hostility towards Xia Nan when he first boarded the ship, with the orc Bone Card being particularly noticeable.

Right now, it's naturally the human-animal hybrid who's more worried.

Seeing that Alton was dancing and playing the lute at the same time, they did not dare to disturb him.

So he thought he'd come to Colin's place and try to build a connection with him.

But for some reason, even though he had already given the best cut of meat to the other person, this skinny, cowardly human child still pretended to be happy.

Damn it, what if he's going to badmouth me to that dark-haired guy later?
Bone didn't think he had any bad intentions, nor was he foolish enough to believe that getting rid of Colin would solve everything.

He just wanted to curry favor with Colin as much as possible, hoping that Colin would say a few good words about him to Xia Nan, so that he could save his own life.

At present, it seems that food is not a useful tool.

Given that orcs come from grassland tribes and have a simple, primitive value system resembling that of wild beasts, it seems that there is only one way left to win the favor of another male.

His naked, murky gaze swept over the villagers who were being served at the table, but found no suitable target.

Bone immediately stood up, wrapping one arm tightly around Colin's shoulder. The height difference almost lifted Colin's feet off the ground, and he let out excited guttural sounds:

"Colin, kid... Bonecard will take you to eat... Okay!"

Just then, Captain Greg of the Black Gull saw the two figures leaving the house. He hesitated for a moment, stood up slightly, but only paused briefly before finally sitting down.

Meanwhile, Nick, the leader of the "Silver Claw Osprey" squad, was on the second floor discussing something with Village Chief Steven, completely unaware of what was happening downstairs.

The two people walked straight to the street outside the house without any hindrance.

The tedious five-day voyage nearly unleashed the pent-up bestiality within the orcs.

After landing, while the village chief was introducing the environment of Qiaoyan Village, he had already secretly locked onto his target:

—A slender human woman with relatively delicate skin among fishermen.

Bone Card clearly remembered that when he and his companions passed by, the other party hid behind a half-open door, peeking at the exposed figures.

Although from his beast-like perspective, those voluptuous females possessed greater fertility, based on his observations of the humans he had encountered, they seemed to prefer the former.

Colin had no idea why Bone Card had brought him out here.

Those arms, as strong as steel, bound his body tightly, making it difficult for him to break free.

He was carried by the orc to the edge of Cliff Village, in front of a simple stone house.

For some reason, he suddenly felt the arm that was holding him stiffen and then suddenly loosen.

This caused Colin to fall to the ground.

He frowned in pain, his mouth agape as if he was about to say something.

Suddenly, an extremely strong smell of blood rushed into my nasal cavity with each breath.

"crunch..."

The door was tightly closed, but a strange sound came from inside, like the tearing of flesh and the chewing of sharp objects.

The orc bone card remained motionless, frozen in place.

But Colin, who was slumped on the ground, noticed the hairs on the back of the other man's neck that suddenly stood up, and the muscles in his arms that were swelling and trembling.

"boom!!!"

(End of this chapter)