The Abyss World, the Kemono Girl Encyclopedia Project!

What a shrewd businessman! So he was waiting for them here all along?

As a clever person, when Zhuohua sensed that something was amiss in the recent environment, the only person she could consult was Lingdang, a traveling merchant. Lingdang, however, seized upon this thought and sold the information at a high price.

Zhuohua was slightly taken aback, then pinched her chin with one hand and lowered her head in deep thought. This price was definitely beyond their reach. At this moment, Wang Yan tugged at her sleeve and quietly slipped a hard object into her palm.

Upon touching that round object, Zhuohua immediately understood and said:

"Okay, I have something else here. Can you tell me how much it's worth?"

Upon hearing this, Little Bell became interested. Could it be that they had something good they hadn't brought out yet? She had to take a good look now.

Seeing the small pocket watch that Zhuohua had taken out, Lingdang's eyes widened. She snatched it from Zhuohua's hand and played with it for a while. Seeing her reaction, Zhuohua chuckled and explained:

"This pocket watch was a prize bestowed upon the Rat Knights by Royal Tooth XVI. I don't need to elaborate on its composition, do I?"

The implication was that she was telling Lingdang that she knew her stuff and that there was no way she could lower the price.

Lingdang picked up the pocket watch and wiped it against her chest. The golden case looked simple yet noble. Her eyes darted around twice before she continued, "..."

"This is a fine item, a gift from the royal family of the Rat Kingdom. Even I have seen very few of these. However... I remember that these royal pocket watches usually have a picture of the Rat King inside. Why isn't this one?"

Before handing the pocket watch to Lingdang, Wang Yan tore off the picture of Royal Tooth XVI from the pocket watch. This thing might be useful when encountering other rats in the future. Zhuohua didn't know this, but she just raised her eyes slightly and answered her question.

"This pocket watch was given to us by a ratwoman who had fled from Ratpotato City as a way of repaying us after we rescued her. When we got it, there wasn't much left inside."

Bell had naturally heard about the fall of Rat Potato City, and this explanation made sense. After a moment's thought, she scratched her head and said apologetically:

"Oh dear, this thing is indeed confirmed to be an item made by a rat tribe craftsman, but without a photo of the Rat King... it's hard to tell that it was specially made for the rat tribe's royal family... Well then, how about this, I'll give you 2000 silver, which is exactly equivalent to two pieces of information. Everyone gets a good deal, what do you think?"

Zhuohua sighed slightly, but she could accept this result. After all, the information she wanted could only be obtained from Lingdang. Since Wang Yan wanted to trade this pocket watch, it meant that it was of little use to him. Taking a step back was not out of the question.

"Alright then, this pocket watch is yours. Now, tell me about your information."

Lingdang chuckled, then put the gold-plated pocket watch into her pocket and snapped her fingers.

"As expected of the salamanders, you are so straightforward. I love doing business with you salamanders. You are all smart people, which saves me a lot of trouble."

"Then I won't keep you in suspense any longer. To be honest, these two things aren't really related. I'll just talk about what I know."

Bell spread her hands, recalled her memories for a moment, and then slowly revealed the information she had gathered:

"The problem with the alien beasts is actually quite simple. Recently, a group called the 'Deadwood Church' has appeared in the lower levels. However, in my opinion, this group is more like a cult. They are active in the lower and middle levels. I don't know how they do it, but it seems like they can control the direction of the alien beasts, causing panic among the people in the middle levels. Anyway, it's causing a lot of trouble, and some people have already started to lead a campaign to suppress them."

"So, it's not that the intensity of the attacks by the alien beasts at the lower levels has changed; it's that the entire middle and lower levels are in complete chaos. The culprit is that so-called Deadwood Church. I remember they seem to be able to sacrifice living people—oh right, the fall of Rat Potato City is also related to this group."

Apart from Wang Yan and Zhuo Hua, the remaining little beast girls were completely confused. What were they talking about? What cult? What sacrifice? They couldn't understand a word.

"That's pretty much it. But controlling alien beasts is really too abnormal. It has already attracted the attention of the top officials. I think it won't be long before the Deadwood Church is destroyed by the top officials. At that time, the alien beasts will return to their normal strength. Just keep an eye on them these days."

Zhuohua nodded slightly, understanding the situation, but she was still secretly apprehensive. Manipulating and controlling strange beasts was something she had never heard of before.

"Okay, I understand. What's the other thing?"

"To be honest, you probably wouldn't be able to get the answer to this question from anyone else, because this matter isn't as big a fuss as it was before. The problem of the ferocious beasts migrating only exists in this small area of ​​your territory; it doesn't happen in other places."

"Some distance above you, something extremely powerful seems to have arrived. It hasn't caused any disturbance, and I don't know what it is. I only know that the ferocious beasts nearby were all frightened away by its scent, which is why it moved down to your side."

After saying that, Lingdang shrugged, looking indifferent: "I only noticed this by chance. Although it hasn't caused a big stir yet, I feel that it won't be long before people notice it. Nobody knows what will happen then."

That's all I have to say. The pocket watch given to me by Baiguo was exchanged for two pieces of information. Although both were somewhat ambiguous, they were still credible. Moreover, both were troubles that would likely be resolved by someone else after a period of time. Zhuohua couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. At least she could figure out what was going on, and as long as she stayed at home, there wouldn't be any problems.

Once everything was cleared up, the transaction was considered complete. The little beast girls all got what they wanted and happily disembarked from the cloud whale. Zhuohua, holding the bell, exchanged a few polite words, said goodbye to each other, and then also disembarked from the cloud whale.

The bell whistled softly, and the cloud whale let out a long, mournful cry, like the whistle of a steamboat before its departure. It retracted its fins that were draped over the cliff edge, gave a thud of its tail fin, and disappeared into the vast sea of ​​clouds as if it had plunged into the ocean.

Standing atop the cloud whale, the wind was still, only disturbing the strands of Lingdang's hair. She gazed in the direction of Zhuohua and his group's new home, recalling the salamander and the so-called "stud," lost in thought.

"Is he really a stallion?"

She curled the corners of her lips into a smile, as if she had encountered something that interested her.

"It seems...it's necessary to investigate this..."