Chapter 452 Transaction Completed and a Coincidence

Unlike the taverns and casinos in town, the Adventurers' Association was noticeably quieter at night than during the day. The entire hall felt vast and empty.

Of course, it was only relatively quiet. A few adventurers still bustled about handling their business, just without the crowded clamor of the daytime.

Following the receptionist, Mar, Xia Nan crossed the hall and arrived at the trading room on the second basement level.

"Knock, knock, knock."

The crisp knocks echoed in the damp air.

"Come in."

The male voice sounded slightly muffled through the door, yet inexplicably familiar.

Xia Nan raised an eyebrow and pushed the door open.

Sure enough, a familiar figure caught his eye.

"Ellison?"

Sitting across the table at that moment was a dispirited middle-aged man wearing a windproof fishing cloak. It was none other than Ellison, someone Xia Nan had briefly met during his trip to Cliff Rock Island.

He remembered encountering the man by the wooden cabin on the North Cliff of Cliff Rock Island while searching for clues about Morton. He had been treated to a meal of grilled fish, and before leaving, Ellison had provided a clue about a coastal cave on the island.

It was precisely because of this that Xia Nan had been able to regroup with the Silver Claw Osprey Squad, ultimately encountering the Shark Beast inside that cave.

He had assumed Ellison was just a passerby he happened to meet during a quest. Little did he expect this man was actually the buyer of his [Tide-Surge Lure Pole].

Thinking about it, there had already been hints connecting them.

When Mar helped him inquire about the buyer's whereabouts, she had mentioned the person had gone deep-sea fishing; and when Ellison chatted with him on Cliff Rock Island, he had mentioned he was from Barracuda Bay and came there to fish every so often.

It was indeed quite a coincidence.

Meanwhile, Ellison stared at Xia Nan in the doorway, his expression freezing in surprise. He hadn't expected him to show up here either.

"Xia Nan?" He stood up, glancing at the Association receptionist Mar as she closed the door behind Xia Nan. His expression was slightly surprised. "So you're the one who consigned this equipment?"

"Clearly."

Xia Nan nodded, unbuckling the twin swords from his back and taking a seat across the table.

"Sorry, sorry." Perhaps Xia Nan's attitude had caused a misunderstanding. The dispirited, weather-beaten middle-aged man chuckled awkwardly. "I thought you wouldn't arrive until next year, seeing as it's quite a distance from Rivervale Town to Barracuda Bay, so I went on a long trip."

His main reason for coming to Barracuda Bay was to find the encryption key for the [Dream Weaving Corridor]. Selling equipment was just a side task, and he wouldn't have minded keeping it for himself if it didn't sell. Even though Ellison had returned a few days late, Xia Nan didn't really mind.

Glancing across the table, he saw that apart from the [Tide-Surge Lure Pole] they were trading, there was surprisingly a medium-sized fish tank.

Swimming listlessly inside was a fish about the length of a forearm. It had a flat head and a grayish-white body covered in cow-like black spots, looking extremely bizarre.

"Looks like you had a good haul?"

"A piebald whale. This one is just barely an adult," Ellison explained. "It was just for this little guy that I stayed on Cliff Rock Island for so many days."

'A piebald whale?'

Pondering the name of this bizarre fish, Xia Nan subconsciously glanced toward the [Tide-Surge Lure Pole] again.

As an ultimate chumming artifact, the only restriction on the [Tide-Surge Lure Pole] was that its spear tip had to stab a live, healthy cetacean creature at a frequency of sixty times per minute for ten continuous minutes.

In Xia Nan's mind, a "cetacean creature" should be a behemoth measuring ten to twenty meters long, completely impossible to carry around.

If one had to specifically hunt down a whale every time before fishing just to trigger the equipment, it would be far too exhausting.

Therefore, even after he had kindled a gradual interest in fishing, he still felt the [Tide-Surge Lure Pole] was a useless trinket with no practical value.

But now, if this piebald whale—which was only about the length of a forearm—could actually satisfy the trigger condition for the [Tide-Surge Lure Pole]...

"So you specifically caught this fish just for the pole?" Xia Nan asked, finding it amusing that there was such a workaround.

"You could say that," Ellison nodded. "I normally go deep-sea fishing around this time every year anyway. I just remembered catching this kind of piebald whale at Cliff Rock Island before, so I wondered if I could catch another one to raise and test the trigger condition once the pole transaction was complete."

"I can't guarantee it'll work," Xia Nan replied rather cautiously.

Although he had the Attribute Panel and could confirm the special effects of the [Tide-Surge Lure Pole], he wasn't sure if the loophole Ellison was trying to exploit would actually work.

To avoid any bad blood later on, he felt it was better to make things clear right now, even if it meant the transaction couldn't be completed.

"It's fine. Even if it doesn't work out in the end... I can try other methods."

Clearly, when it came to such an "ultimate chumming artifact," the patience of a fishing enthusiast was beyond the ordinary, and their sheer drive went without saying.

Even though it had the flair of the emperor's golden hoe, Xia Nan suspected that if a powerhouse at the Transcendent Tier, or even the Legendary Rank Tier, obtained the [Tide-Surge Lure Pole], they might really dive into the sea to hunt down a whale before every use...

Compared to the twists and turns of their meeting, the transaction itself was extremely smooth.

Perhaps as compensation for standing Xia Nan up for so long, Ellison's offer was very high.

For a piece of secondhand white-tier equipment like the [Tide-Surge Lure Pole], which had demanding trigger conditions and no practical combat value, his first offer went straight to 120 gold coins, far exceeding Xia Nan's expectations.

And after a bit of haggling, the final price reached 135 gold coins.

Deducting the Association's 5% transaction fee, Xia Nan netted about 128 gold coins.

After completing the trade, the two didn't immediately leave the room, but casually chatted instead.

"It's a little over a month until the New Year. Do you plan to head back inland?" Ellison asked with feigned casualness, lowering his head to take a sip of the meeting room's tea.

"I still have some matters to handle in Barracuda Bay. I'll be staying until at least February."

He still had to attend the Lunar Tide Banquet, so naturally he wouldn't leave so early.

"So you're staying at the tavern all this time?"

"Yeah, the Three-Legged Sea Dog. You can come find me for a drink when you're free. I remember saying I'd treat you to a meal, right? Come by anytime, and I'll make good on it."

"Heh." Ellison smiled amiably, speaking with pointed meaning. "The Three-Legged Sea Dog isn't cheap. For a place where adventurers gather, one meal probably costs as much as a whole day's expenses at another inn, doesn't it?"

That was true. Just as Ellison had said, whether it was the White Chickadee in Rivervale Town or the Three-Legged Sea Dog in Barracuda Bay, the prices inside were much higher than the market rate.

On the other hand, for an adventurer like Xia Nan, money was certainly important, but if spending a few extra gold coins meant he didn't have to stay vigilant on night watch or worry about his property being stolen while out adventuring, it was completely worth it.

Moreover, looking strictly at the returns, if one casually ordered a dinner and sat in a crowded area of the tavern hall for a while, carefully listening and discerning the chatter, picking up just one or two useful pieces of intel from those adventurers would be worth the tavern's premium prices.

Based on Xia Nan's understanding of Ellison, it was impossible for a veteran like him not to understand this reasoning.

By asking this, he clearly had another motive.

So Xia Nan didn't answer immediately. Instead, he grinned in agreement while silently staring at the man with his dark eyes.

"Alright, alright." Knowing his intentions had been exposed, the dispirited middle-aged man waved his hand and said helplessly, "I'll just say it straight."

"Do you have time recently? I have a commission and need to find a reliable adventurer to handle it."

"Oh?" Xia Nan shrugged. "Shame it's a bit late."

"I just agreed to join someone else's squad. I'm afraid I won't be able to spare any time in the short term."

"Temporary member?" Since Xia Nan had mentioned during their previous chats that he didn't have a fixed Adventurer Squad, Ellison quickly caught on.

"Yeah, the Blade of Vengeance, Lorraine. You should have heard of them."

It wasn't information that needed hiding, so Xia Nan answered honestly.

But unexpectedly, the moment he finished speaking—or rather, the instant he mentioned the words "Blade of Vengeance" and "Lorraine"—Xia Nan keenly noticed a sudden change in the middle-aged man's expression.

His pupils trembled, his nostrils flared unconsciously, and his lips parted slightly.

This was definitely not a normal reaction.

In the next second, Ellison instantly recovered. His instinctive, feigned calmness to cover up his shift in expression only confirmed Xia Nan's suspicions.

"What, you know Lorraine?" Xia Nan asked directly, not hiding his thoughts.

But Ellison clearly didn't want to explain. Squeezing out a smile, he replied, "The Blade of Vengeance has such a resounding reputation. Having stayed in Barracuda Bay for many years, I've definitely heard of them."

"I just didn't expect you to become a member of their squad. I remember their requirements being quite high; normally, even boarding the ship as a sailor requires a period of probation."

"Congratulations."

That wasn't the truth.

With his acute Perception, even though Xia Nan hadn't studied psychology and lacked experience dealing with people, he could still clearly sense whether someone was lying.

Without a doubt, these were deliberate excuses Ellison made to hide his true thoughts.

But... it had nothing to do with him.

Xia Nan wasn't a detective, and the man wasn't a criminal.

Since Ellison didn't want to reveal his connection to the Blade of Vengeance, Xia Nan wouldn't pry. There was no need to sour his relationship with the man over this.

Keeping it in mind was enough. If he was truly curious, he could just ask Lorraine about the specifics later.

The transaction was already complete. He had planned to just say his goodbyes, but after thinking it over, Xia Nan brought it up one more time before leaving:

"Regarding that commission of yours, could we talk about it in detail? If the conditions and timing are right, I might be able to help out."

"Of course!" Ellison nodded.

"It's nothing major, really. I just heard some news recently that something I might be interested in has appeared in a certain sea area. I need an adventurer to go investigate. Whether you find special items or strange maritime phenomena, you just need to record them."

"Where exactly?"

Ellison hesitated for a second before slowly saying:

"The Twin Oceans."

...

...

Xia Nan truly hadn't expected that trading a useless white-tier item that should have been sold half a month ago would lead to news about the Secret Realm.

He naturally wasn't a stranger to the name "Twin Oceans." After all, he had just heard this location from the thugs of the Horned Shark Gang earlier that day.

That alien Scalpel came exactly from there.

He had even planned to use the downtime between the squad's commissions to go there alone and search for clues about the Secret Realm.

Hearing this name suddenly coming from Ellison's mouth, Xia Nan felt rather peculiar and naturally asked about his source of information.

Ellison didn't reveal his specific channels, but Xia Nan could roughly gather that it was because many items full of alien styles had recently appeared on the black market. Although none were enchanted equipment or special props, and could only be used as collectibles, they still piqued the man's interest.

The reason Ellison gave was that he suspected the Twin Oceans held some treasure left behind from ancient times. Hmm... Xia Nan remained skeptical.

But regardless, since it was related to the Secret Realm, he definitely had to make a trip there no matter what. So he conveniently accepted Ellison's task.

In the blink of an eye, three more days passed.

Xia Nan's life in Barracuda Bay didn't change much, even though the annihilation of the Horned Shark Gang caused his reputation to spread among the town's adventurer community, earning him "gazes of attention" when entering and leaving the tavern, and even a new nickname: "Sea Fang."

However, this didn't disrupt his daily routine of "eating, training, and resting."

It was worth mentioning that during these three days, the wrap-up work on the Baron's end was completed, and the previously promised rewards were fully distributed.

The members who had participated in the quest gathered to divide them.

As for Hein and the twin Warriors, Xia Nan had no idea what they did with their money. But Alton, the Halfling blessed by the Goddess of Luck, rushed into the casino with all his gold coins the very afternoon he received his reward. As for the result...

In any case, when Xia Nan saw the little guy in the tavern, he was sitting at the bar chuckling while tossing his copper coin—and Xia Nan had to pay for his drinks.

As for Xia Nan himself, while chatting at the Baron Estate later, Baron Farrow learned he was thinking about refurbishing his ship and originally wanted to give him a new ship directly as his quest reward.

But considering that the value of a seagoing ship was likely far greater than the reward he was supposed to receive for the quest—which might impact the huge favor he had left with Baron Farrow—Xia Nan declined after some thought and proposed using ship refurbishment fees as his compensation instead.

Calculated out, it was at least a four-figure sum in gold coins, which would save Xia Nan a massive amount of expenses and leave enough funds to pay for the forging of his new armor.