Chapter 538 Brief Conflict and Status Report

To an extent, for the ordinary humans of the Aifala Continent—especially those living in small to mid-sized settlements with some degree of external defense—adventurers were far more terrifying than Goblins.

Armed with power far exceeding that of ordinary people, a relative lack of oversight, and toothless punishment mechanisms, adventurers ran rampant through the streets, treating commoners as lesser creatures from a position of absolute superiority.

Although the settlement of Stodd on the Isle of a Thousand Piles was not small, the sheer number of adventurers gathered for the Lunar Tide Banquet during the Sea Rhythm Festival far exceeded the town's capacity to manage and regulate.

To put it bluntly, when the banquet's host was a notorious pirate of the high seas, how could the island's officials, guards, and sheriffs possibly handle the chaos?

The crowd of onlookers parted to the sides, eager to get out of the way of Xia Nan and Sasha, whose appearance immediately marked them as veteran adventurers.

This allowed their group of four a clear view of what was happening in the center.

Just as Xia Nan had guessed, unfolding before their eyes was a classic "adventurer–villager" incident.

There was no need for any bystanders to explain; the states of the parties involved and the details of the scene were enough to piece it together.

A burly adventurer in medium armor stood in the center of the clearing. One hand gripped a sharp, gleaming one-handed sword, while the other held up a disheveled, dust-covered young girl who was screaming in terror.

Behind him was a ruined, simple wooden house, its furniture and belongings scattered everywhere.

In front of him knelt a weather-beaten couple, begging bitterly. Though only middle-aged, their sun-darkened skin was covered in age spots and their hair had already turned gray.

Notably, the adventurer's neck was covered in a large tattoo. The image of a rapier intertwined with lightning and fierce winds marked him as a member of the Windforged Squad.

Truth be told, in the nearly two years since he had transmigrated to the Aifala Continent, Xia Nan had seen or heard of similar incidents in taverns more times than he could count.

He knew full well that such things were the norm in this world.

Xia Nan possessed neither the ability nor the grand ambition to completely overturn the status quo of the Aifala Continent.

But as an ordinary person with a relatively normal moral compass acting within his means, he simply could not turn a blind eye when such cruelty unfolded right before him.

His gaze quickly swept the scene, carefully confirming the situation once more.

Frowning, he took a step forward and was just about to speak.

Suddenly, a deep, heavily sarcastic voice rang out from the nearby crowd.

"Since when did the Windforged sink so low?"

"I was wondering why we never see you taking on any quests. Turns out you make your money doing dirty work like this?"

A figure Xia Nan found rather familiar walked out of the crowd with two adventurer teammates and sneered.

It was the very same dwarf who had clashed with them at the tavern earlier, the aggressive one who had stood on a table cursing them out.

The Raging Tide Warband and the Windforged already had a massive feud. Even though both captains had warned their men before arriving on Stodd Island to avoid escalating conflicts or starting fights if they crossed paths, it didn't stop the dwarf from taking this opportunity to mock his rival.

Faced with this ridicule, the Windforged adventurer in the center of the clearing turned livid. He gripped his sword hilt tightly, his barely suppressed fury making it look like he was going to charge forward and explode at any second.

But clearly, the adventurer still retained some rationality.

For one thing, the Raging Tide Warband had the numbers advantage, whereas he was all alone.

If a fight broke out, he would definitely be the one to suffer.

For another, starting a direct conflict would mean disobeying his captain's earlier orders; even if he took a beating, his captain wouldn't back him up.

Weighing all this, a temporary retreat was perhaps the best choice.

After a moment of hesitation, the adventurer didn't even leave any parting threats.

He merely shot the dwarf a vicious glare, let go of the young girl, and turned away, violently shoving aside a few commoners blocking his path to vent his frustration before disappearing into the flow of the street.

"Tsk, tsk—"

Seeing the Windforged Squad adventurer slink away deeply satisfied the dwarf, making up for the hidden loss he had suffered at the tavern. His gaze naturally drifted over the young girl on the ground, who was currently being hugged and comforted by her mother.

Seeing that she was tall and slender—not his type—he withdrew his gaze, waved to his two companions behind him, and left.

The dwarf hadn't spoken up out of the goodness of his heart, nor an inability to watch an adventurer oppress civilians. It was entirely due to his hostility toward the Windforged.

In a way, he would have actually preferred the man to be even more brutal. That would have given him stronger grounds to mock the adventurer and a justified excuse to exact revenge.

As for the deaths of these few commoners... he couldn't care less.

Similarly, if the roles were reversed and a Raging Tide Warband adventurer were the one bullying residents, the Windforged would have leaped at the chance to attack and mock them without hesitation.

With both factions gone, the crowd of onlookers also dispersed.

All that remained in the air were the lingering sobs of the terrified young girl, her mother's feigned calm as she consoled her, and her father's silent, ragged breaths.

With the matter resolved and no opportunity left to intervene, Xia Nan naturally didn't intend to stay any longer.

He was just about to turn and leave when a slightly hoarse voice came from behind.

"Please wait, Lord Adventurer."

The speaker was the middle-aged man who had just been kneeling on the ground, begging the adventurer to release his daughter.

Due to the angle, even though Xia Nan hadn't actually had time to act, the man had clearly seen him attempt to step forward and intervene.

"Perhaps... are you looking for a fist-sized, dark blue, translucent rock?"

Hearing this, Xia Nan raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. Do you have a lead?"

Facing the well-equipped Xia Nan, who was clearly a veteran adventurer, the honest middle-aged man didn't dare lift his head, even knowing he meant no harm. Just to be safe, he kept his eyes fixed on the dust-covered heavy boots on the ground and hesitated.

"I don't know exactly where they hid it, but—"

"Three days ago, when I was docking my boat, I saw a few sheriffs escorting a Lord Adventurer back from the shore south of the pier."

"I didn't dare listen closely, but I faintly overheard a couple lines of their conversation. Something like, 'Isn't hiding it in the sea a bit too concealed? What if no one finds it in the end?' and 'Don't worry, it's wedged right in a reef crevice. It'll be obvious at low tide tonight.'"

"I don't know if that helps you."

Without a doubt, this middle-aged man had provided an incredibly useful clue.

For Xia Nan and the others, who currently had no idea where the Deep-Sea Resonance Stone was hidden, it pointed to a clear target: the coast south of the pier, in the water, wedged in a reef crevice.

Xia Nan glanced through the open door at the ruined floor strewn with scattered furniture and belongings, and at the patched clothes worn by the man's family.

He swept his right hand over his belt pouch and tossed the man a silver coin.

It wasn't a fortune. In adventurer taverns like the Three-Legged Sea Dog or the White Chickadee, it wouldn't even buy a decent bottle of booze. Yet, it was enough for this man to buy a few decent pieces of clothing from a stall or scrape together a cheap, simple set of temporary furniture.

With the grateful thanks of the middle-aged man and his family echoing behind them, Xia Nan and his group headed toward the pier.

Meanwhile, at the heart of Stodd Island.

Inside the basement of a certain estate.

The lighting was dim. A single candle failed to illuminate the entire room, its flickering flame struggling to cast a faint glow over the surroundings.

Flynn, the man who had just delivered a calm, composed speech without a hint of stage fright in front of countless adventurers, now bowed his head with utmost reverence.

In an incredibly careful tone, terrified of angering the presence before him, he spoke piously. "Lord Dodd, the second round of the event has begun."

His answer was the faint, rustling sound of scales scraping against the ground.

In front of him, through the faint candlelight, the tall silhouette of a figure shrouded in deep shadows could vaguely be seen.

—

"And the Resonance Stones? They're all prepared, I presume?"

The voice coming from the darkness carried a thick accent. Although it spoke in Common, the words slurred together in an extremely high pitch.

If a professor versed in the languages of various races had been present, they would have recognized this as a characteristic of the dragon language.

"They have all been placed, Lord Dodd," Flynn replied, maintaining his absolute respect. He didn't dare lift his head to make eye contact, only staring at the deep shadow pooling at the figure's feet.

"It's just that the extra batch of Deep-Sea Resonance Stones we purchased as a precaution hasn't arrived in port yet. They might have encountered some unexpected trouble at sea."

To some degree, this wasn't Flynn's negligence.

After all, in the pirate-infested Southern Archipelagos, even a merchant ship loaded with goods and escorted by Class Grade adventurers couldn't guarantee a successful delivery.

Moreover, this batch of Deep-Sea Resonance Stones was merely meant as an emergency backup. They hadn't even been processed yet, so no heavy security had been arranged to escort them.

Encountering an accident midway was perfectly normal.

But at the end of the day, this was the property of Algae Scale Dodd.

Even if only a single copper coin went missing, Flynn had to report it clearly.

Otherwise—well, it wasn't as if there hadn't been precedents.

With his grand scheme approaching and preparations in place, Algae Scale Dodd didn't seem to care about the loss of a few hundred gold coins.

A long tail swayed silently in the shadows, emitting a rustling sound that made the hairs on one's neck stand on end.

"How is this batch of adventurers on the island?"

"Almost everyone who received an invitation has arrived, including the Windforged and the Raging Tide Warband—" Flynn kept his head bowed, detailing the intelligence he had gathered through the festival activities. "Also, completely outside our plans, the Blade of Vengeance has arrived on the island."

"The Blade of Vengeance? Oh, the Morton Family's daughter."

Lorraine had never publicly revealed her identity as a member of the Morton Family. However, since she had grown up in the Southern Archipelagos, even if ordinary adventurers had no way of knowing, a notorious pirate like Algae Scale Dodd—who controlled his own intelligence network—couldn't possibly miss such information.

"Yes, my lord."

Flynn hesitated briefly before adding in the most cautious, inoffensive tone he could manage, "Ellison Morton has also arrived on Stodd Island alone."

"Those two haven't had contact in years. Given the specific timing, I suspect—"

Faced with his subordinate's guess, Dodd appeared completely unbothered, his tone casual. "Both of them came? That's fine too. Saves me the trouble of hunting them down one by one later."

"What else? Aside from those two Mortons, are there any other uninvited adventurers worth noting?"

Flynn thought back for a moment. Based on the aura he had sensed during their brief encounter, the target's Class Level probably wasn't high enough to warrant attention. But considering the man's past combat record and the severe consequences of failing to report intelligence, he ultimately gave Dodd a somewhat unfamiliar name he hadn't mentioned before.

"My lord, an adventurer named 'Sea Fang' Xia Nan has also arrived on the island as a temporary member of the Blade of Vengeance."

"I took the opportunity to observe him earlier. His Class Level is Lv5 at most."

"His combat record is quite good. Word has it that he wiped out both the Ebb Tide Gang and the Horned Shark Gang, but given his Class Level, I figure those claims are somewhat exaggerated."

Laced with his own subjective impressions, Flynn provided the intelligence he had gathered.

Evidently, to Algae Scale Dodd, an adventurer who hadn't even reached Class Level Lv5 was not worth paying attention to.

Feeling that Flynn was wasting his time, he couldn't even be bothered to evaluate this 'Sea Fang.'

Instead, his tone took on a hint of displeasure as he shifted the topic. "And what about the Sahuagin?"

Instantly catching the displeasure in Dodd's voice, Flynn shuddered involuntarily and threw himself to the ground.

He cursed himself for talking too much, but knowing Dodd's temperament, he didn't immediately beg for forgiveness. Instead, he carefully and earnestly answered the question.

"As you know, my lord, those water rats have never understood reason. Cooperating with them is extremely difficult."

"But with so many high-level adventurers on the island this time—all prime material for sacrifices—they definitely won't be able to resist the temptation."

"I already arranged for scouts to keep watch by the coast. Over the last two days, we've clearly seen more and more fishmen gathering. I expect them to make their move very soon."

"Everything on my end is just about ready as well."

"Everything is proceeding according to plan."

Algae Scale Dodd had been preparing for this banquet for a very long time. He had invested a massive amount of time and energy into it, burning through an incalculable sum of gold coins.

Now that the Lunar Tide Banquet was imminent, his heart had gradually grown calm.

Hearing his subordinate report that everything was going according to plan didn't stir any waves in his mind; he merely pondered his next move.

His scale-covered long tail, like a giant python lying dormant deep in the shadows, swayed quietly under the faint candlelight.