Goblin Heavy Dependence

Chapter 432 Gold Coin Income and Strange Atmosphere

Fish Bay, saltwater area, Rope Street.

Standing beside a crowded road, the two swords on his back rose and fell slightly with his breath.

Xia Nan held a small bag of mandarin oranges she had just bought from a roadside stall in her left hand and a half-peeled orange in her right hand, her mind unconsciously replaying her experience at the "Salmon Roe" general store.

He happened to run into a local gang collecting protection money, and because of his relationship with the shop owner, the attitude of the thugs on the scene changed.

The same thing happened once before when I went to Newme for a promotion quest. I remember that later he had some contact with that gang of thugs during the quest, I think it was called something like "Black Badger Gang" or "Grey Badger Gang", I don't know what happened to them now.

In fact, Xia Nan doesn't mind using his reputation or professional status to get some help from Paddy Collin and the others in their daily lives.

He simply noticed, through his keen senses, that the group of thugs, especially the short one who seemed to be the leader, looked a bit strange.

But since it had nothing to do with him and the other party had already escaped, he didn't bother to investigate further.

"You! Come here!"

"What's your name? What do you do?"

Suddenly, a stern questioning voice came from beside me.

His brow furrowed slightly, and his gaze instinctively turned towards the direction from which the sound came.

On one side of the crowded and bustling street ahead, several guards dressed in the Governor's Mansion's standard armor were questioning an orc dressed as an adventurer.

As a low-level adventurer who had not yet obtained a professional rank, the orc clearly did not want to offend one of the three major forces in Barracuda Bay. He behaved extremely obediently, answering almost every question.

However, he seemed to be very unfluent in Common Tongue, and his answers were hesitant and stumbling, which made the guards surrounding him increasingly suspicious. He himself also gradually panicked because he could not express himself fluently.

It made "ooh" and "gao" sounds, using its hands and feet to speak in the tribe's orc language. Its light green face was flushed red, and it looked panicked and frightened.

Xia Nan's gaze swept over the group of people, and he seemed to be deep in thought.

He hadn't paid much attention before, but now that he thinks back, in the twenty-minute journey from when he left the grocery store to where he is now, he has seen at least three groups of guards from the governor's mansion.

In saltwater areas, this is quite unusual.

I couldn't help but think of the strange behavior of those thugs and ponder the relationship between them.

As he pondered, as if sensing his paused gaze, one of the guards in the squad ahead turned his head and looked in Xia Nan's direction.

The two looked at each other in silence.

Also wanting to avoid trouble, Xia Nan was already secretly preparing a plan in his mind, considering how to deal with the other party.

Unexpectedly, the guard only glanced at him up and down, his gaze lingering briefly on Xia Nan's arm before looking away, and even giving him a slight nod.

Xia Nan was taken aback.

Subconsciously, I looked down towards the direction of my arm.

A small cloth bag filled with tangerines was swaying gently in the air.

Only then did he realize what was happening, and a forced smile involuntarily appeared on his lips.

Most of the time, Xia Nan's first impression on others should be that of a cold and stern young elite adventurer.

But right now, the cloth bag slung over his arm and the half-eaten mandarin orange in his hand are like the Starbucks coffee that a black man used to carry, adding a touch of everyday life to his overall demeanor.

A proper town resident!

In addition, there are already quite a few adventurers traveling on the road, so they will not become suspicious targets for questioning.

"Xia Nan, are you done on your end?"

A cheerful greeting came from nearby.

Alton, the halfling, walked out of a roadside casino with a bright smile on his face, tossing a copper coin.

The noise from the gambling den behind him could be faintly heard.

It is clear that a ritual to please the goddess of fortune was performed there.

"Yes, I just went there to take care of some business, I didn't stay long."

Xia Nan handed over a tangerine and replied.

After returning to Barracuda Bay from the goblin's lair, he first went to the inn to take a shower, washing away the bits of flesh and blood on his body, before going to the salmon roe grocery store.

Since Alton was planning to hold a ceremony, they decided to travel together.

"How about you? Did your ceremony go smoothly?"

After all, according to the custom of the halfling ritual, their aggressive behavior at the card table and their exaggeratedly high winning rate could easily lead to their being interrupted halfway through before they lose everything in the last hand if they encounter a less rational gambling den owner.

In response, the halfling simply smiled at Xia Nan and waved the copper coin in his hand.

Of course!

"May the smiling lady bless me!"

Come to think of it.

It might be hard to say in other places, but in Suyu Bay, probably every casino employee has heard of the legendary figure named "Ah Lin," who was once like a gambling god.

If you encounter a short person who behaves in the same way as the other person, you'd be too scared to even step forward and interfere.

Knowing what was going on, the two chatted casually, one tall and one short, as they walked toward the tavern.

……

Five days have passed since Xia Nan returned from Qiaoyan Island.

The spoils brought back from the sea have mostly been processed.

Just as the sea elf hybrid said, after Xia Nan highlighted the special effects of the [Azure Wave Blade] and listed it in the Adventurers' Guild's local consignment catalog, he immediately received more than one offer.

Although it didn't reach the point of looting, the reaction was quite enthusiastic.

After all, its effect of "increasing stamina recovery speed by 20% when the user is wet" is almost a perfect match for the environment of the many sea areas of the Southern Islands.

In addition, the scimitar itself was of excellent quality, and it was also due to the reputation of its former owner, "Oilhand" Byrne.

In just three days, the price was driven up to nearly four figures before the price increase gradually slowed down.

Ultimately, Xia Nan sold it to a professional-level veteran ranger for a price as high as 968 gold.

After deducting the association's "5%" handling fee, the actual amount received was 920 gold.

Nick and Leda's dual swords and longbow from the "Silver Claw Osprey" squad were sold as a package to a blacksmith shop that also enjoyed a good reputation in Barracuda Bay.

The two decent-quality white-grade equipment pieces earned him a total of 275 gold. With that, aside from the [Practice Staff] still listed for sale at the guild, he had essentially sold off everything else from his trip to Cliff Island.

In addition, there were the [Fishbone Snail] staff and the scrapped [Purgatory Pulse] that had been sold to "Pearl Spinner" for 295 gold and 175 gold respectively on the day of their return, as well as the 100 gold coins allocated from the Black Gull.

一共是“295+175+100+275+920”……

1765 gold!
If we add his nearly nine hundred gold coins in the bank...

Xia Nan's net worth has now soared to "2785 gold, 6 silver, and 3 bronze"!
It was enough for him to buy his former dream, the full-body heavy plate armor from the "Rockhammer" blacksmith shop, which cost a whopping 1500 gold.

He could use it all to make mushroom soup, and even if he drank it three times a day, it would be enough for him to drink for more than forty years.

If he were a laborer who moved goods at the Suyu Bay dock, he would need to work for fifteen years, more than five thousand days and nights without eating, drinking, or making any consumption, to save up that amount.

Even for the wealthy and aristocratic families in Baiya District who live in luxury and live in mansions, this is undoubtedly a huge sum of money.

To be honest, and not afraid of being embarrassed, when Xia Nan first saw the numbers in his bank account, his emotions really did surge twice.

Receiving so many gold coins at once would stir up emotions in anyone, unless they were either so rich they were numb to money or wealthy children who had grown up with a silver spoon in their mouths and had no concept of money.

Not to mention Xia Nan, an adventurer who risks his life for money and ties his head to his belt.

He knew perfectly well what a large sum of money meant, as killing a goblin only cost three silver coins.

Unlike other adventurers, he didn't squander the gold coins at the card table or in brothels, but patiently waited to calm himself down.

Even when buying mandarin oranges, he managed to haggle down the price slightly by using his charm (six points) when faced with a fruit vendor whose price was significantly higher than average.

Xia Nan knew perfectly well that although his strength was growing stronger, not every mission would yield such results.

The reason this trip's income exceeded four figures is largely due to the "Flying Fish Oil Barrel" adventure fleet that was encountered by chance at sea.

The weapon alone, the Azure Wave Blade, provided Xia Nan with an income of over nine hundred gold coins.

He himself is not the kind of person who would lose his humanity and kill indiscriminately for a little money, nor is he the kind of person who would switch back and forth between the identities of "pirate" and "adventurer".

Just like the fluctuations in the stock market in a past life, there are ups and downs, days of great harvests, and naturally, there are times of loss.

Maintaining a calm and composed mindset is very important for adventurers.

Of course, the reason Xia Nan was able to view this huge sum of money in his bank account with a relatively calm attitude was because...

It's also because in a few days, this money will probably be transferred to another account before it's even had a chance to warm up.

The enchanted equipment that Xia Nan commissioned from the "Pearl Spinning" tailor shop, using materials from shark-like monsters hunted on Cliffy Isle as the main materials, has already been reviewed by him in five days.

A tight-fitting inner lining paired with outer armor.

Two completely enchanted pieces of equipment!

According to the half-elf's idea, wearing them together might have a similar stacking effect as the sets from their previous lives.

Xia Nan guessed that these two pieces of equipment might be the first blue-quality armor he would obtain after transmigrating to this world.

I was filled with anticipation.

Currently, it is still in the planning stage and has not entered the formal forging process. In accordance with the custom of "pearl spinning", Seliane has not collected a deposit.

However, based on Xia Nan's understanding of the prices of enchanted equipment in this world...

These two blue-quality armor pieces will definitely not be cheap.

Even if he has already provided some of the main materials, the remaining surplus shark beast materials can be used to reduce the cost to a certain extent.

However, the items he still needs to pay include: labor costs, the special metal for the outer armor, forging auxiliary materials, etc.

Considering that the [Ember] straight sword is of the same blue quality in its normal state, even with the main materials already provided, it still cost me more than a thousand gold coins.

Even without the rare material "Yangli Iron Plating Powder," these two blue armor pieces would still cost over a thousand gold coins in total.

Based on this calculation, his savings of 2785 gold coins are only "barely enough" and not enough to squander.

As a result, Xia Nan's original plan to renovate the "Flying Fish Oil Barrel" was also temporarily shelved due to concerns about insufficient funds.

Otherwise, we'll need to recruit crew members, replenish supplies, and purchase equipment, and the total cost might not be enough.

Xia Nan even considered that if he didn't need to go to sea alone in the short term, he could rent out the pirate ship and earn some extra money.

Fortunately, no matter what, the "pearl spinning" project is progressing relatively smoothly.

The tailor shop owner, Sérianne, is a perfectionist with a touch of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

They might be a bit troublesome to get along with in everyday situations, but as "Party B," they are almost perfect.

Xia Nan still remembers the huge stack of drawings, as thick as a palm, that the other party handed her when she went to the store to look at the first draft yesterday.

Even the details of the cuff buttons were designed with exceptional care.

We spent the entire afternoon discussing just the preliminary design.

The half-elf even took into account the changes in muscle size after Xia Nan's physical attributes improved in the future, and adjusted the parameter margins of the future finished product based on the measured data of various parts of the body.

Although this tactic might not be very useful given my ridiculously high rate of armor loss.

But he also genuinely respected and admired Céleigne's meticulous and perfectionist craftsmanship.

As long as the project can be completed within the timeframe, a few days' delay is no big deal, and he doesn't find it troublesome no matter how cooperative they are.

……

Chatting with Alton as they walked down the street, occasionally stopping at roadside stalls, the two returned to the "Three-Legged Seal" tavern in just over twenty minutes.

"My treat, want to have a drink?"

Because of the halflings' selfless contributions during the mission, Xia Nan had previously agreed with them that he would cover Alton's meals during his stay in Barracuda Bay.

Since it was just a few drinks and didn't cost much, the short man didn't refuse.

He stuffed the copper coins in his hand into his pocket, braced his palms on the high stool, and with a hop of his legs, his short and light body sat down in front of the bar.

Xia Nan sat down next to the other person, took out a gold coin from his pouch, placed it on the counter, and pushed it to Hera, the tavern owner behind the bar.

"Two bottles of 'Siren's Tears', please."

"Hehe, okay!" Looking at the black-haired adventurer in front of her, Hera raised her hand and tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear, replying with a smile.

Suddenly remembering the guards from the governor's mansion on the way back, Xia Nan stroked the silver ring on his right ring finger and casually asked:

"Has something happened in town these past few days? I feel like the atmosphere in town is a bit off."

(End of this chapter)