Otherworld Bone Dragon Operation Guide

Chapter 385 Shopping
Su Ming looked around and found that the number of human residents here was quite considerable. Many houses, with their tall lintels and wide windows, were clearly built for humans. A single floor of one house was as tall as two typical goblin houses, making them stand out from the surrounding low-rise houses.

Violet clearly saw the doubt in Su Ming's eyes and took the initiative to explain, "The trade volume between Greenthorn Harbor and the surrounding human kingdoms is enormous. Moreover, most of the trade goods from Dragon Valley are also transshipped through here."

"Why?" Su Ming asked, puzzled. Geographically speaking, Dragon Valley didn't seem to need to detour through here as a transit point.

“There are two main reasons,” Violet analyzed clearly. “On the one hand, the development and management rights of most of the mineral resources and specialties in Dragon Valley have been contracted out to large merchant guilds of humans and goblins, and the headquarters or core hubs of these guilds are basically located on the Gray Ridge side. On the other hand, and more importantly,” she paused, “Dragon Valley itself lacks the logistical support facilities and technological industries needed to maintain ocean-going vessels.”

Su Ming frowned upon hearing this; it didn't sound like something to boast about.

Violet's gaze lingered on the street signs around the square for a moment before finally pointing in the direction of "Scrap Cloth and Textiles Trading Area," and the two walked along the uneven cobblestone path.

Sure enough, there were many shops lining both sides of the road, but the storefronts were generally low and narrow, a typical size designed for goblin customers.

Su Ming took out his phone and casually snapped a few photos of the market, which had a distinctly exotic feel.

“By the way,” he remembered what had happened earlier and asked Zijin beside him as they walked, “what did you do with the phone you borrowed from me just now?”

"Why don't you just look through the photo album?" the girl whispered a suggestion.

Su Ming did as instructed, opening her phone's photo album and swiping forward on the screen. A few pages later, a photo popped up.

The background of the photo is a fair and delicate skin tone, on which four round, teardrop-shaped purple scales are clearly visible. They are delicately overlapped and arranged, and the gaps between the scales faintly reveal a dreamy pale purple halo.

The area outside the scales... was evilly covered with a thick, completely obscuring mosaic.

Su Ming instantly understood what this meant—Zi Jin had actually taken a picture and shown it to him.

"Now you've satisfied your curiosity, haven't you?" Violet pulled her oatmeal-colored coat tighter around her neck. She crossed her arms, her tone slightly teasing.

"Hmm." Su Ming responded casually, his gaze lingering for a moment longer on the picture that was mostly covered by a mosaic. "You're quite a man of your word."

****
Zi Jin suddenly stopped, and Su Ming, who was distracted, almost bumped into the girl's slender back. He quickly looked up and realized that the two of them had unknowingly arrived at the entrance of a shop specializing in human clothing.

"Did you really invite me here to buy a hat with the intention of doing so?" Violet turned around, her tone clearly showing dissatisfaction, and slightly raised her chin. "Also, do you really enjoy staring at my scales?"

Su Ming immediately put away his phone and explained insincerely, "This... the scales of the fairy dragon are indeed very special, with a unique beauty."

"Hmph." Violet snorted softly, "If you encountered me in my dragon form, covered in scales, wouldn't you be absolutely smitten?"

"Uh, maybe, it's possible," Su Ming said, not entirely sure.

Zijin sighed softly and stepped into the dimly lit shop first. The shop's interior was designed to be human-sized, with a spacious layout, but the shopkeeper was still a short goblin. A counter and chairs that were clearly several sizes too small were placed at the shop entrance. As soon as the shopkeeper saw a customer, he immediately dropped the crumpled newspaper he was holding and stood up quickly to greet them.

"Quiet, we'll see for ourselves!" Violet commanded swiftly and coldly before the goblin's shrill voice could even utter a sound.

"Ah! Distinguished guests, allow me to introduce you to our latest offerings—" The goblin was clearly used to this kind of cold reception, and with a professional smile on his face, he continued his sales pitch as if he hadn't seen anything.

Violet wasn't buying it. With a flick of her finger, a precise silencing spell instantly silenced the goblin's incessant, annoying chatter, leaving him futilely opening and closing his mouth.

The two were able to browse in a relatively quiet environment. Most of the clothes in the shop were piled up, and the styles were not displayed very clearly. Fortunately, their main purpose for the trip was just hats—or rather, buying hats was more of an excuse to stroll around together.

However, the goblin shopkeeper's aesthetic taste was truly questionable; the hats on display were bizarre in style, some even bordering on comical. Su Ming searched among the shelves for quite a while before finally finding an exquisite apricot-colored knitted hat.

But when he picked it up, he realized he had drawn an SSR.

It feels soft and warm to the touch, with a delicate and even knit texture. In particular, a pair of fluffy cat ears stand out prominently on the top of the hat, on either side.

The ears are full and realistic, with a soft texture, just like a kitten that has just sensed something and is alertly and curiously raising its ears.

The hat is also adorned with several small, adorable pink paw print embroidery details using silk thread in the same color scheme, adding a touch of playfulness and fun. The stitches are fine and even, exuding the warmth unique to hand-knitted fabrics.

Su Ming's gaze unconsciously drifted towards Zi Jin, imagining what she would look like wearing it, and the latter immediately rolled her eyes at him in annoyance.

"Don't be so narrow-minded." Su Ming chuckled and shook the knitted hat in her hand. "Trust me, you'll look even cuter wearing it."

Zijin was clearly unimpressed by this "cuteness" and turned to head to the next shop. Su Ming, however, seemed determined to buy the unique cat-ear hat.

Su Ming snapped his fingers, and the silencing spell on the goblin shopkeeper was finally lifted.

He was furious that these ungrateful customers were trying to refuse the great goblin shopkeeper's sales pitch!

His first instinct was to call for the patrolling guards, but when the goblin saw that Su Ming was holding the hat and seemed to be interested in buying it, he rolled his eyes and immediately held up a short, thick finger.

"One copper coin?" Su Ming looked at his finger, quite surprised. So cheap?

"One gold coin! And you have to buy another pair of gloves with it!" the shopkeeper screamed in exasperation, spitting as he spoke. "This is punishment for your disrespect towards the great god Hecgra! Be careful, or I'll go and call the guards right now, and you'll be in big trouble!"

(End of this chapter)