I, Stone Golem, only want to forge.

Chapter 123 The Relic Merchant

For the first time in her life, Sylph discovered that she possessed such eloquence.

Murphy was incredibly fast.

In less than an hour, almost all the urgent documents with red labels in the prime area were processed by it one by one.

It's not a lot, but it's not a small amount either; it adds up to about ten items.

Murphy's actions were like an assembly line process: pick it up, open it, and glance at it.

The process of adding the runes, closing the box, and pressing the button was seamless, without a single unnecessary pause.

The old man leaning back in his chair, drinking tea, stared wide-eyed, his cup hovering in mid-air, forgetting to bring it to his lips, until the tea had almost gone cold.

These tasks were easy for Murphy.

But for Sylph, who was explaining its identity and negotiating the price, it was a complete headache for the elf.

Before one batch of clients could even leave, the next batch was already rushing over, like chives in a field, one crop after another sprouting up.

Sylph had just finished explaining to an orc, "It wasn't me who fixed it, it was that stone man in the top hat who did it. I was just helping to negotiate the price," when a human came up to her and called her "Sir Stone." She had to explain all over again.

She hadn't done much foreign affairs work before.

It's really putting her in a difficult position to suddenly have to do these social engagements in such a rush.

Her pointed ears remained perked up throughout the entire process, twitching occasionally out of embarrassment.

However, in general, perhaps because of the urgency of the matter, these clients were also eager to get things settled, so their attitudes were quite respectful, and their communication with Sylph was relatively smooth.

No one made things difficult or cheated, which saved Sylph a lot of trouble.

As for the price, these clients were surprisingly generous with their payments.

Sylph didn't even need to test him or say anything like "this is actually quite a lot of work to fix," before he simply emptied all his money onto the table without even flinching.

Especially the orcs, they came one after another.

Each one was carefully inspected first to make sure there were no problems.

Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief as he untied the entire money pouch from his body and pushed it out to Sylph with both hands.

During a break in the reception, Sylph carefully observed the things that the orcs had entrusted to her for repair.

She discovered a very interesting phenomenon.

These urgent documents are basically of little practical value.

Even if it's repaired, it can't be used for work, can't be used in war, can't improve production efficiency, and it won't even bring convenience to daily life.

Most of them were like the starry sky projector lamp that the first mother brought.

These are items whose commemorative or emotional value far outweighs their practical value.

Some are old music boxes that can produce a certain melody, but several of the gears inside are missing teeth, and even if they are repaired, they can only barely make a sound.

But when the orc who came to pick up the package heard this, his eyes immediately welled up with tears.

Combined with the orcs' fragmented words and their expressions when they received the items.

Sylph had a guess in her mind.

These orcs should come from the same region, or at least not too far apart in general.

Moreover, they must all be forced to go somewhere for some special reason.

That place is inaccessible by commercial means and is closed to the outside world, which is why these orcs took their most valuable possessions with them before leaving.

He took out all his money and possessions just to repair these old objects that carried memories and emotions.

It's fixed now, and I feel more at ease carrying it with me.

Sylph suspected this in her mind, and the more she thought about it, the more convinced she became that it was almost certainly true.

Since she didn't have any new clients at hand, she asked a question out of curiosity.

Looking at the female orc who had arrived first, he asked, "So why are you all relocating? Is it because of the flood season?"

The female orc shook her head: "Because the water source in our area is gradually drying up, and it seems there is little possibility of survival, the elders of the tribe discussed it for a long time before finally deciding to consider relocation."

As she said this, she looked up at the dome of the underground cave.

The glowing minerals embedded in the rock face shone dimly in the humid air, a far cry from the real sky.

"But the flood season is just around the corner, and a cold wave will follow soon. Once it snows, the roads will be even more difficult to travel. The elderly and children in the tribe—will they be able to make it through safely? Nobody can guarantee it. Sigh—"

The female orc shook her head and remained silent for a moment.

Then he looked down at the starry sky lamp in his hand, a smile that was hard to tell whether it was self-consolation or comfort, and said softly, "My daughter left us early, which is a good thing in a way. At least she doesn't have to go through such a difficult time anymore."

Sylph opened her mouth, but for a moment she didn't know what to say.

Fortunately, after Murphy finished processing all the urgent cases, he stepped out from between the counters and asked, "Are you done talking?"

After Murphy finished his work temporarily, he actually glanced in this direction several times.

Since the work here seemed like it wouldn't be finished anytime soon, it stopped taking on new commissions and stopped working on the one it was currently repairing.

"We're almost done talking."

Sylph nodded.

"The things they're repairing are weird, they're not very useful. What are they going to do with them?" Murphy asked. "It seems the river over there with the orcs has dried up, so they're planning to relocate."

Sylph summarized the information she had just heard and relayed it to Murphy in the most concise way possible: "Because they didn't know if they would survive on the road, they didn't need the money and it would be a waste to keep it, so they planned to spend it however they wanted. Since you fixed their things, they took out all the money they had."

Murphy nodded, paused for a moment, and then asked unnecessarily, "Is it the one located on the east bank of the middle reaches of the Kulun River?"

This location wasn't just a guess.

Murphy had previously looked around the middle reaches of the Kulun River, and as far as he could remember, that was the only major dry river in that area.

The river basin further downstream is basically human settlements, and has little to do with orcs.

In other words, if these orcs really do live by the river, they are either upstream or midstream, and the area wouldn't be too far off.

"We live upstream."

The female orc shook her head, then added, "Actually, we're not leaving entirely because of the water shortage. A cold wave is coming soon, and if we stay here, even if we still have enough water, we won't survive the heavy snow that blocks the mountains."

That's why the two things happened at the same time, forcing us to leave.

We plan to move eastward; we've heard the winters there aren't as harsh, but we haven't gotten there yet, so we're not sure.

"Where did you get all this stuff?"

Murphy steered the conversation toward what he was truly interested in.

Upon hearing this, the female orc paused for a moment, scratched her head with her large, fan-like hand, and looked somewhat confused.

Sylph sensed that the statement sounded somewhat like an insult, and quickly interjected to add, "Mr. Murphy, are you asking where those relics from the previous era you have come from? Where did these ancient machines you're using to repair originate?"

"Oh, the female orc suddenly realized."

"Below our tribal settlement, a short distance south, it's probably a bit above the middle reaches."

There is a relic buried underground. We don't know exactly how big it is, but the exposed part is already quite large.

Occasionally, orcs or human merchants from the south would bring things back from there, like this lamp, and the one we just saw.

That music box was most likely salvaged from over there.

"Remains?"

Murphy's interest piqued, and he pressed for more details.

"Yes. But I've never been there myself, I've only heard about it from those daring young people."

The female orc lowered her voice, as if she were telling some incredible rumor, "I heard that place is very strange. It seems like it's not finished. There are quite a few passages and rooms, but many of them were only half-built before construction stopped."

The weirdest thing is that there are said to be many tentacled things clinging to the walls and ceiling. It's unclear whether they are alive or dead, but they look creepy.

Those who have been there say that when they went deeper, they felt the tentacles seemed to be moving, which terrified them so much that they grabbed their belongings and ran away, never daring to go any further.

The female orc vaguely recounted what she had heard from her people.

Clearly, this information has been passed down through several rounds of word-of-mouth, and has deviated significantly from the truth.

But even just these few words piqued Murphy's interest.

Unfinished buildings, tentacles clinging to the walls.

If the female orc's description is largely accurate, then these tentacles are very likely the engineering devices that Murphy has been trying to develop.

If they could find a batch that was still usable, Murphy's entire construction plan could take a giant leap forward.

Murphy thought about it more and more and felt that this possibility was not low.

He looked up and asked the female orc, "Do you know anyone who's been there?"

"I don't know him."

Her answer was honest, but just when Murphy thought the lead was about to go cold, she continued, "However, a merchant should come to our tribe in a few days. That merchant has been collecting secondhand goods in this area for many years. He has seen everything and been to all sorts of places."

He might have gone down to that site.

If you're interested in these things, wait a couple of days and then go visit our tribe; you might just find him there.

Although we're moving, we still need to pack our things for a while; we won't be finished moving anytime soon.

Murphy nodded, made the message to himself, and said nothing more.

Two days isn't a long time; it's just enough to finish up what I need to do.

When the time comes, I'll take a trip to the orc tribe. It would be best if I could run into that merchant. If not, I can at least find out the exact location of the ruins and go explore them myself.

After getting a general idea of ​​the situation, Murphy looked down at the level card he had just received.

The card, originally golden, has changed color after completing ten commissions in a row.

It changed from pure gold to a white gold with a silvery sheen.

Seeing this, Sylph nodded to the female orc as a farewell, and quickly jogged after her.

The Platinum Zone had far fewer urgent items than the Gold Zone, and the tables were spaced further apart. Each item was placed in a metal tray with a transparent lid, making it seem several levels higher than the junk in the Gold Zone.

Murphy scanned the tray, picked out a tray with a red "Urgent" label, and picked up the first item to get started.

Then a coincidence happened.

The label on this Platinum Express mail item had a completely different description in the request section compared to the previous Gold Zone requests.

It didn't specify the repair cost or that the price needed to be discussed in person. Instead, it displayed a line that surprised Murphy.

The price after repair is split 30% of the sales revenue.

In other words, the client does not pay in a lump sum, but instead links the repairman's fee to the final price of the item.

The better the products sell, the more money the repairman gets.

This profit-sharing model is clearly not what ordinary retail investors would demand. Retail investors want to get their money and leave as soon as possible, while only businessmen have the patience and ability to sell the goods before settling accounts.

The person who left this item here for repair was clearly a merchant who specialized in scavenging from ruins.