Can a Frankenstein's monster be an adventurer?

Chapter 107 No Merchant is Without Deceit

Having cleared his mind, Rom stopped dwelling on it and turned to Villard, his tone instantly switching back to that of a seasoned warrior: "No matter when reinforcements arrive, double the sentry posts tonight. Villard, please summon some spirit owls to keep an eye on the west. Report any movement immediately."

Villard nodded, took out a small bottle of green powder from his pocket, and handed it to Roland and Rom: "The direction of the western mine? I know—by the way, this is the Druid's [Tranquility Powder]. Sprinkling it on the armor can slightly protect it from the erosion of the chaotic aura."

Villard gave Roland a deep look, his gaze lingering on Roland's armor, which was much cleaner than Rom's: "It might not be of much use to a strong person like you, but it's better than nothing."

Although Luo Lan wanted to complain in his heart: Why should I resist any chaotic aura?

The so-called "Chaos Erosion" had become a specialty of Luo Lan himself, but in order not to be too different from ordinary people, Luo Lan still thanked Villard and accepted the powder.

After the handover was completed, Villard climbed back onto the wooden watchtower.

"Shh"

With his thumb and forefinger at his lips, Villard let out a loud whistle.

As the whistle fell, three eerie green, semi-transparent owl spirits appeared outside the watchtower.

With a wave of his hand, Villard sent the beast spirit owls flying westward outside the village.

Every few miles, they would find a tall, dead tree and stand guard atop it.

With this skill, an area of ​​about ten miles west of Grayrock Village is within Villard's vigilance range.

The ten-mile buffer zone, designed to guard against potential monster attacks, is more than enough for the villagers of Grayrock Village to react in an emergency.

Seeing that Villard had already sent out a whistle using druidic magic, Rom patted the Tranquilizing Powder on himself and turned to walk towards the other side of the village entrance: "Griff is still fixing his beat-up car. I'll go talk to him about the cargo."

As Rom had said, in the open space at the village entrance not far away, the goblin merchant Griff was squatting with his butt sticking out next to a badly damaged rune steam engine, with several roughly assembled wooden crates piled up beside him.

The goblin merchant was munching on a shriveled loaf of bread in his left hand, while in his right hand he was holding a dark rune pen, crookedly drawing the [Spatial Expansion] rune array on a wooden strip.

It's clear that they've been busy since the car accident happened in the afternoon.

Hearing Rom's heavy footsteps approaching on the sand, Griff raised his long-haired green head, glanced at Rom's empty hands, and immediately tossed the half-eaten bread back onto the box.

A goblin's distinctive shrill voice immediately rang out, as unpleasant as fingernails scratching an iron pot: "I knew it! I knew you old cripple would come back empty-handed. With your old bones, saying you'd bring back the core of the Rift is pure bragging. Forget the core, not even a single other magical item or scroll?"

Rom stood there, somewhat embarrassed, touching his nose with his rough hands. He chuckled and pointed to the not-yet-dry green bloodstains on his body: "We didn't find any cargo—but we killed all the goblins who attacked you, except for the goblin shaman you mentioned earlier."

Griff looked in the direction Rom was pointing.

Even under the cover of night, the goblin's foul-smelling bodily fluids were conspicuous and served as the most direct proof that Luo Lan and his companions had killed the goblins.

With most of the goblins who had ambushed him now dead, Griff's grim expression softened slightly. He squatted back down beside the wooden crate, picked up his rune-engraving pen, and muttered, "That's more like it—those disgusting beasts should have been wiped out!"

Luo Lan happened to walk over at that moment.

He watched as Griff repaired the runes on the wooden strips, drawing crooked lines with a rune engraving pen that immediately emitted a faint glow.

This scene subconsciously reminded Luo Lan of the strange goblin on the scree slope who used mud and engine oil to complete the runes.

Luo Lan looked at the goblin and asked, "Griff, are you goblins naturally gifted in runes and technology?"

Luo Lan's inexplicable question made Griff pause for a moment while holding his pen.

The goblin merchant looked up and sized up Luo Lan's blood-stained heavy armor, then rolled his eyes without any politeness: "Huh? Who are you? We goblins aren't good at runes, but do you think a tin can like you is?"

Ignoring the goblin's rude attitude, Luo Lan continued, "What about goblins? If a goblin can also complete a rune, would it be considered skilled in runes?"

Luo Lan's words were like igniting a powder keg.

Griff suddenly sprang to his feet, the dark engraving pen in his hand pointing straight at Luo Lan's face. His green face had turned purple with rage.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

The goblin roared, his shrill voice emphasizing each word until it almost cracked. He then turned and pointed dramatically at the newly lit [Spatial Expansion] runes inside the wooden crate: "I swear by the names of the God of Commerce and the God of Machines! If the goblins can complete the runes, I'll gnaw this plank alive!"

Luo Lan stared at the goblin standing there, panting heavily, his pointed ears trembling with anger, for a while.

The reaction to mentioning goblins to a goblin was even greater than Luo Lan had anticipated.

It seemed that unless he saw it with his own eyes, Griff wouldn't believe anything Roland said. Roland paused for two seconds, not wanting to dwell on the matter, and simply changed the subject: "Let's not talk about that. Do you have any alchemical materials here to complete the [Transformation] runes? I'd like to buy some."

Upon hearing the word "buy," the goblin's volatile temper subsided miraculously, as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head.

The anger on his face receded, giving way to the shrewdness of a professional businessman, but he still looked at Luo Lan with the same eyes that looked at an idiot: "[Transformation] rune? You're just a tin can, you're not going to repair a T-800, are you? Don't bother, the parts are already broken, what's the use of just repairing a rune? — But, since you want to buy it, go ahead."

Griff turned around and rummaged through an undamaged box behind him, pulling out a small glass bottle, no bigger than a thumb, filled with a murky liquid. He shook it in the moonlight: "One bottle of [Essence of Magic], 10 gold coins!"

Luo Lan was taken aback, her voice rising a notch: "How much? So expensive?"

Luo Lan's reaction was clearly expected by Griff. He put away the bottle and glanced at Luo Lan disdainfully: "Where is it expensive? It's been this price for years. Don't spout nonsense; it's hard for us to move goods. Where is it expensive?"

Griff brazenly sized up Roland's worn-out armor, heavily tarnished after activating [Optical Camouflage], and scoffed, "Judging by your attire, you must be an adventurer, right? Sometimes you should examine yourself. Have you earned any more gold coins over the years? Have you been seriously taking risks?"

Griff placed the rune pen on his palm and tapped it repeatedly.

"However—if you really can't afford it, that's fine too. As long as you can get my stolen Rift Core back, I'll not only give you this [Essence of Magic], but I'll also give you an extra 100 gold coins—"

Before the words were finished, a streak of icy blue light flashed through the air.

Emily floated in front of Griff's nose, her cheeks puffed out in a huff.

The little sprite pointed at the goblin's long, pointed nose, indignant on Luo Lan's behalf: "Wow! You green-skinned, pointy-nosed thing, not only do you look like a goblin, but your heart is as black as a goblin's! A Rift Core, even the cheapest one, costs at least 300 gold coins! How come you only gave me 100 gold coins?"

Emily's clear and loud voice echoed in the open space at the village entrance.

Being told his bottom line was reasonable and then being called "like a goblin," Griff was so angry he stomped his feet and waved his engraving pen wildly in the air: "Who are you calling a goblin? Huh?! Who are you calling a goblin? I hadn't even finished speaking when you interrupted me, you little brat!"

""

Griff pulled out a matte black card, his voice so loud it seemed to be trying to hide his guilt.

"In addition to 100 gold coins, I'll also give you a Dark Iron membership card from our Goblin Merchant Guild!"

Within the Goblin Merchant Guild's business system, the [Goblin Merchant Guild Black Iron Membership Card] is considered a basic form of VIP customer authentication.

With it, you can get a 10% discount on all items below Diamond tier when shopping under the Goblin Merchant Guild, with no upper limit on the discount amount.

Griff's face flushed red: "A 10% discount! A 10% discount! Do you even know what that means? If you can bring the core back, I'll give you that bottle of magic essence right now, plus 100 gold coins and a Black Iron membership card. I promise!"

After saying that, Griff angrily squatted down again, took the rune engraving pen, and stabbed hard into the wooden board.

Rom, who had been standing at the back listening, finally stepped forward.

Trying to balance the tense atmosphere between the goblin merchant and Emily, he was caught in the middle and felt somewhat helpless.

The veteran looked around and could only choose Luo Lan, who seemed easier to talk to. He gave a wry smile and said, "Although that old man Griff has a foul mouth, his membership card is quite useful in the city. If you can help him bring back the core when you go to the mine tomorrow, it won't hurt you."

Then, Rom lowered his voice and added, "Brother Rom, don't take it to heart. If you think it's not worth it, just don't do the deal with Griff—after all, Grayrock Village needs a goblin traveling merchant, and Griff has been running this route for a long time."

Having experienced various discount coupon promotions on Blue Star, Luo Lan naturally understood that the so-called 10% discount membership card, while sounding extremely tempting, was actually just a business tactic used by the Goblin Merchant Guild to lock in customers and stimulate large-scale consumption.

A simple calculation will make it clear that even if the Rift Core is valued at the lowest estimate of 300 gold coins, Griff only gives 100 gold coins.

It's like using the difference of 200 gold coins to buy this so-called "cost-effective" 10% discount gift card.

Afterwards, it would take at least 2000 gold coins to recoup the cost.

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