Goblin Heavy Dependence

Chapter 438 Baron's Mansion
"The Horned Shark Gang?"

At the Three-Legged Seal Tavern, Hera stood behind the counter, her hands resting on the surface, leaning slightly forward, revealing her delicate collarbone with obvious tan lines beneath her collar.

A pair of bright green eyes gazed at Xia Nan in front of her.

Out of basic professional ethics as an intelligence professional, although she was vaguely curious as to why the other party suddenly asked this question, she still restrained herself from asking for the reason.

Anyway, it wasn't any valuable information. You could easily find out by asking around in the taverns in the saltwater area. She was just making a summary, thinking about building a good relationship with the young professional in front of her, so she didn't ask for a fee.

Instead, Xia Nan personally poured her a cup of "Siren's Tears" that she hadn't finished drinking earlier.

Hera raised her glass, took a sip, narrowed her eyes slightly, tucked a strand of dark green hair behind her ear, and then slowly began to introduce the wine:

"The Shark Gang is a small gang in the Saltwater District, whose main area of ​​influence extends roughly from southeast of Bend Lane to near Cable Street..."

It was completely different from what Xia Nan had expected.

The "Horned Shark Gang," which is suspected of kidnapping Baron Faro's daughter, is not a large force in Cocker Spa. They are not even in the prime location near the Wave Pier, let alone in "Rope Street," one of the main thoroughfares in the saltwater area.

They could only bully others from the cramped neighborhood near the bend in the alley.

Furthermore, according to Hera, the core members of the Shark Gang consist of three to five low-level professionals.

Even the gang leader "Horned Shark" Riley's highest professional level wouldn't exceed lv5.

Hera was quite certain about this.

On the one hand, given the ambition and style of the Shark Gang in the past, if Riley had broken through the boundaries of low-level adventurers and reached level 5 or above, his subordinates would never have been so "low-key" as they are now. They would have already begun to probe in all directions and expand their sphere of influence.

On the other hand, Hera's channels had direct contact with "Horned Shark" Riley last month due to some business dealings, and were able to assess his strength level.

This is very strange.

Xia Nan was filled with doubt, even wondering if he and Hai Yin had made a mistake.

Perhaps "Bloody Nose Rat" Jerry was telling the truth; he did indeed act as lookout for the Horned Shark gang this morning; and the Horned Shark gang members did indeed kidnap someone.

But their target wasn't actually Baron Faro's daughter, Ellie, but some other unfortunate soul.

However, due to the coincidence of the timing, which overlapped with the recent disappearance of the Baron's daughter, Xia Nan and his group happened to run into it, leading to the current situation.

Otherwise, there is absolutely no reason to explain why such a small, low-level gang would dare to kidnap the town's charter officer and baron's own daughter in a place like Fish Bay.

At the same time, Xia Nan breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, they were all just low-level professionals. If he had encountered a superhuman expert of level 10 or above, even if it involved a secret realm, he would have to think twice and consider whether to postpone the plan and continue to delve deeper after improving his strength.

Regardless of whether the Shark Gang has anything to do with Baron Faro's daughter, the fact remains that the [surgical knife] definitely came from the secret realm, and it's worth Xia Nan continuing to investigate.

"Do you have any information about the location of the Shark Gang's core headquarters? I will pay you."

Hera simply waved her hand, downed the remaining half of the drink in her glass, then placed the empty glass back on the table and pushed it toward Xia Nan, signaling him to refill it for her.

"This kind of intelligence isn't worth more than a few copper coins. Just remember to cooperate with me more often in the future."

Xia Nan glanced at Hera, who was smiling at him from across the table, and nodded slightly without saying a word. At the same time, he picked up the wine bottle and filled Hera's glass.

At first she might have been confused, but just as Hera was introducing Xia Nan to the information about the Shark Gang, her sensitivity, honed over many years in the intelligence industry, led her to some guesses.

She recognized the woman who had just returned with Xia Nan; it was Hein, a rare spellcaster.

Hera knew that Hein was a druid of the Coral Society, and she was also well aware of the relationship between the Coral Society and Baron Faro.

Right now, the Baron's daughter has gone missing. As soon as Hein returned, she rushed upstairs as if to look for her teammates. Xia Nan, who had somehow gotten to know her and returned to the tavern with her, immediately asked her about information about the Horned Shark Gang.

The clues were invisibly connected in her mind. If she still couldn't guess the relationship between them, she might as well quit this line of work.

Having learned the address of the Shark Gang's core headquarters from Hera, Xia Nan knew that if they had really kidnapped the Baron's daughter, they probably wouldn't be staying in their hideout right now. But it was still a clue, so he thanked the tavern owner in front of him.

"Oh, by the way, if Alton comes back first, please leave a message for me, telling him not to worry."

When Xia Nan returned to the tavern, the halfling Alton was no longer there.

Hera said he went to some casino again.

For Xia Nan, the reason he got involved in this incident was entirely for the sake of the "secret realm," a matter that was his own private affair.

It's true that the short guy and he are good friends, but precisely because of this, Xia Nan doesn't want to involve this lively friend in an event that has nothing to do with him, thus increasing the danger.

Now that Alton is not in the tavern, he will not go to the casino to look for him. Tohra's words are enough.

During the conversation, footsteps came from the direction of the stairwell.

Xia Nan looked in the direction of the sound and saw Druid Hein walking briskly downstairs.

Compared to before, there were now two tall and slender figures behind her.

twin?
Xia Nan raised an eyebrow slightly.

What came into view were two adventurers who looked almost identical.

He was probably around thirty years old. His short, light brown hair shone slightly in the sunlight streaming through the window. He had a angular face and dark brown eyes, a color common among humans.

They were quite tall, and following behind, Hein's head only reached their chests. His limbs were long and covered with solid muscles, with smooth lines, the result of long-term training and combat experience.

The weapons they used were all identical: a standard steel sword hanging at their waist, and a medium-sized iron-plated round shield on their backs.

If it weren't for the obvious scar on one of their profiles, it would be difficult to tell the two apart at a glance; they look like clones.

Thanks to his perception ability, Xia Nan was able to make a rough judgment about the occupation and level of the twins in front of him in just a few breaths.

—A melee combat type of warrior, with a class level of around lv3.

While they were pondering, the three of them had already arrived in front of Xia Nan.

Before he could speak, Hein took the initiative to introduce him:

“These are my two teammates, Ryan and Gordon.”

"They will be working with us from now on."

"This is Xia Nan, also Hera's friend. I just bought this staff from him." Upon hearing this, the two men grinned at Xia Nan and greeted him, appearing somewhat dull and not very talkative.

For Haiyin, her thoughts were actually the same as Xia Nan's.

Baron Faro's matter was originally her own private affair. She decided to help him find his missing daughter, Ellie, because of his relationship with the Coral Society and his support for her work during this period.

Having no connection with her own team, she was unwilling to involve her teammates in this mess.

The reason I returned to the tavern was out of a sense of responsibility, to inform everyone in the fleet of my next destination, so that it wouldn't seem like I had suddenly disappeared.

However, since she was the only spellcaster in the team, even though they were in the town of Suckerfish Bay, once they learned what Hein was going to do next, her team couldn't just let her act alone. They immediately sent two professional-level teammates to follow and protect her.

In fact, if they hadn't just returned from a mission, most of the team members would have been indulging in various entertainment venues throughout the town, and for safety reasons, there would have been far more than just these two following them.

Nodding to the two, Xia Nan thought to himself that spellcasters were indeed popular in a team, and could easily find teammates to help them whenever they went out to do something. It was just a pity that his intelligence attribute was average and he didn't have any talent in spellcasting. Otherwise, he could have been a mage and enjoyed core treatment in the team.

After a brief exchange, Xia Nan shared the information he had learned from Hera with the three people in front of him.

"So what we're going to do next..."

Hein looked at Xia Nan in front of her and asked about their next plan.

Behind him, Renn and Gordon stood silently behind the druid, like two iron towers.

Knowing that they would most likely act as guards in the upcoming operation, Xia Nan withdrew his gaze, waved to Hein, and walked towards the tavern entrance.

"Let's go back to the association first."

……

……

The Adventurers' Guild's request regarding the disappearance of Baron Farrow's daughter states, "For more details, please contact the relevant guild staff."

Before launching the operation, Xia Nan naturally needed to understand the specifics of the mission in detail.

The promise of a 500-gold reward for any useful intelligence has gradually gained traction among adventurers in Harbor Bay over time.

When the group of four returned to the Adventurers' Guild, the hall was almost packed with adventurers of all kinds, and the queues in front of each counter were winding around and around.

Fortunately, all four were experienced adventurers who had already obtained their professional ranks and enjoyed certain privileges.

However, after they briefly explained their purpose, Xia Nan's dedicated receptionist, Mar, rushed over to explain the details of the mission to them, and even told them the address of Baron Faro's residence—of course, Hein, who had a cooperative relationship with the other party, actually knew the address of the Baron's mansion.

After expressing their gratitude to the responsible receptionist, the group left the Adventurers' Guild again, heading straight towards the White Cliff District, as planned.

Baron Faro's mansion is located in the affluent area northwest of the White Cliffs district.

Following a wide, flat, tree-lined avenue lined with olive trees, winding upwards, a magnificent three-story building quietly stands there through the lush greenery along the roadside.

The entire structure is made of locally mined sea rock, and the surface is painted with milky white paint. Under the sunlight, it reflects light like jade. The huge arched glass window faces the sea, and the window frame is carved with the pattern of sea waves.
The roof is also covered with light-colored cyan terracotta tiles, and multiple marble chimneys, which are more decorative than practical, can be seen protruding from behind the roof. At the highest point of the third floor, there is also a suspended observation deck that extends outward, supported by an elaborate and ornate buttress below, decorated with wave-shaped carvings.

Clearly, the exact address of a prominent figure like Baron Farrow, who served as a charterer in Baron Farrow Bay, was never a secret.

When Xia Nan and his companions arrived at the Baron's mansion, a large group of adventurers had already gathered at the entrance, creating a chaotic scene.

However, they were stopped at the entrance by several guards temporarily dispatched by the governor's office and dared not break in.

"Let me in. I need to speak with Baron Faro in person!"

"I know where Miss Ellie is right now, don't stop me!"

"Get out of my way!"

500 gold coins is a considerable reward, even for a professional like Xia Nan.

For those low-level adventurers who are obsessed with money, it's an enormous number that could drive them mad.

From the moment the quest was posted on the quest wall in the guild hall, Baron Faro’s mansion was surrounded by greedy adventurers.

And the vast majority of them are opportunists trying to profit from the chaos.

They might not dare to directly deceive the baron, but they cleverly used vague language such as "maybe" and "perhaps" in an attempt to squeeze a large sum of money out of this nobleman.

The Baron is frantic with worry over his daughter's disappearance.

At first, they welcomed almost anyone who came, as long as they said they had information to provide, they would immediately let them into the mansion.

However, as the information provided by the adventurers became increasingly outrageous, and after half a day no useful information was obtained, the Baron gradually regained his senses and was no longer willing to trust these adventurers so directly.

Often, they are screened by guards and butlers before being allowed in for detailed communication.

Seeing the scene before him, Xia Nan was still wondering how he could get into the Baron's mansion.

No sooner had they gotten close than an aged voice came from the direction of the doorway.

"Miss Hein!"

They saw an elderly man with gray hair, dressed smartly, and slightly hunched over, looking at them from across the crowd.

It was Grace, the baron's butler.

Seemingly acquainted with Hein, the druid, who had been walking alongside Xia Nan, quickened his pace upon hearing the greeting and gestured for the others to follow.

They were put in without any hindrance.

"Why them..."

One of the clueless adventurers complained, but before he could finish speaking, his companion covered his mouth.

Leaving aside the connection between the group and the Baron's mansion that was revealed in those few words, let's set aside the fact that they were acquainted with the Baron's mansion.

Just by looking at them, you can see that they are all adventure teams composed of professional-level veterans, so they are not people who can gossip to each other's faces.

"Don't get me into trouble, shut up!"

　It's almost the end of the month, does anyone have any extra monthly passes?
　　
　
(End of this chapter)