Chapter 44

The "Arrow Shooting Technique" had already left a deep impression on Time Water Vapor with its extremely high damage.

"Such a heartless little waste of space, don't you know that ruining a woman's appearance is no different from murder? Can't you choose a gentler way?"

Time Water Vapor's eyes were filled with resentment, but she was restrained and couldn't turn her head, and her legs couldn't move, so her seductive gaze was useless. She leaned forward slightly,

"Oh, you're killing me,"

Alpha's arms immediately went numb... Alpha hadn't expected her to lean forward, and the direct result was that Alpha felt like the arms restraining the female wanderer had fallen into a sponge pile, specifically from the arms to the chest, a 34D, no less.

To put it simply, the difference between D and ABC is... unimaginably large.

Therefore, it was no problem for it to completely cover Alpha's not very thick arms. As for the other soul-stirring sensations, they were indescribable. In such a situation, even if one clearly knew that the other party was deliberately seducing, few would choose to die in the 34D chest.

Of course, Alpha was one of those few exceptions—only our Jade Brother could enjoy and be sarcastic at the same time:

"Maybe you were ugly to begin with, and I'm just giving you a makeover."

"Oh, you're so rough, sister is bleeding, you know girls are anemic,"

Time Water Vapor shook her chest, and Alpha, with a thick face, pretended not to know, continuing to enjoy the warmth and softness on his arms, thinking that whether she was anemic or not was her business. Even if she was bleeding or on her period, he wouldn't willingly spend an hour in the resurrection temple.

"Isn't it comfortable? Why don't you take off sister's mask and see if she needs a makeover?

—Little handsome, you're afraid sister will make a move when you pull off the mask, right? How about sister removes her equipment herself? That way, we don't need to move, just hug and lean on each other... Ah!!"

-434!!!

The short crossbow bolt directly exploded with 434 points of high damage on Time Water Vapor's forehead. This was a critical hit, quadruple damage, and it easily took down Time Water Vapor, who had only 300 HP, without any sense of achievement.

But to be honest, the feel of the "Sleeve Arrow" was really strange. Normally, at such a close distance, with the other person in his arms, it would be impossible to attack, but once he used the "Sleeve Arrow," the short crossbow bolt flew out sharply, perhaps due to the internal force driving it.

This wasn't a hidden weapon; it was clearly a Desert Eagle!! And the internal force was pure gunpowder...

Alpha rubbed his wrist, looked at Time Water Vapor's lifeless body on the ground, shrugged, and spat out regretfully:

"Whatever... the feel was good, but the IQ was too low—anyone could tell you were stalling for time to wait for help."

...

...

Time Water Vapor was definitely going to spend an hour in the holding cell. Alpha didn't care if the girl would be lonely and quickly went to retrieve the letter, pulling out the "Spatial Backpack" Lancelot had sent him and equipping it. This backpack, said to be enchanted with spatial magic to connect to the Astral Plane, wasn't cheap, costing at least 50 to 60 gold coins.

Of course, the four 10-cubic-meter spaces combined weren't that large, similar to a small room, but it was more than enough to store in-game equipment and items.

However, Alpha didn't know when he would fill this small room. At least now, he had nothing to store, just a bunch of short crossbow bolts and the "Heroic Way Scripture" whose purpose was still unknown.

—With the "Solidifying Essence Technique" and its "Meditation" effect, Alpha didn't even need to carry the essential player food and drink for non-combat HP and MP recovery.

After finishing up, Alpha headed straight to the cargo station. When he arrived at Old Joel's station, he found Old Joel already dressed and waiting for him. Today's Old Joel was completely different from the one Alpha had seen yesterday.

Yesterday's Old Joel was greasy and dirty, but today's Old Joel was much more presentable:

A dark blue high-quality velvet suit with gold-embroidered cuffs, paired with a top hat, giving him a noble air. Especially the black eye patch, now replaced with a black crystal monocle, added a scholarly touch.

Of course, his scarred and wrinkled face still fit the image of a veteran mercenary who had seen many battles:

"This is the style the Murloc like, luxurious but not flashy,"

To prove his point, Old Joel raised the short stick in his hand. In fact, Alpha couldn't figure out what use this stick, barely longer than an adult's palm, could have—more like a handle, with obvious anti-slip patterns carved on it.

Moreover, this short stick didn't match Old Joel's description of luxurious but not flashy:

It was a bright silver metal stick, possibly mithril or some other metal. It was indeed flashy in the sunlight.

"Let's go, and show the Blackwater Murloc how to deal with a trustworthy but somewhat violent merchant."

Old Joel waved at Alpha, his single eye gleaming with a cunning light. Yes, cunning, Alpha was sure of it.

This old man was clearly not as impulsive and passionate as he seemed, nor was he a fool who would use such a stupid way to intimidate his trade partners.

According to the NPCs in Northshire, Old Joel became one of the richest and most peculiar merchants in Northshire mainly because of the Blackwater Murloc's pearls and corals. This veteran almost monopolized the marine jewelry market in Silvermoon—mainly pearls and corals.

In other words, if Old Joel wanted to make money, pleasing the Blackwater Murloc was much more valuable than killing 100 of them.

Alpha hadn't thought much about it yesterday, but today he found it suspicious. After pondering for a while, he suddenly remembered something and lightly turned the "Servant Ring"...

...

...

Old Joel's legs were very agile, not at all like an old man, and he was almost as fast as Alpha with the "Swift Shadow" skill.

When they reached the Blackwater Coast, Alpha was considering whether to fight his way in, but from Old Joel's calm expression, it was clear he had other plans. So Alpha followed Old Joel to see how he would communicate with these not-so-bright "trade partners."

In fact, Old Joel just blew a sea snail the size of a human head, and the problem of being attacked by the Blackwater Murloc was immediately solved.

—A few minutes later, a Murloc in a ridiculous robe, clearly taller than the others, appeared in their field of vision, wobbling up to Old Joel:

"Cunning... human... what... have you... brought?"

"Things King Ranus will like, shiny but not glaring."

Old Joel smiled and twirled the short stick in his hand. The tall Murloc tilted his head:

"Charles... will... like it too, follow... Charles."

Charles waved to Old Joel and Alpha. The Murloc's exposed arms had light green scales that glowed softly.

Old Joel whispered that scales and size were the only indicators of a Murloc's strength. The cleaner the scales and the larger the size, the stronger the Murloc.

"Charles is the only Blackwater Murloc besides King Ranus who can master arcane and divine magic. He is their tribe's high priest. According to your standards, Charles should be a 24th-level wizard, a 24th-level fighter, and a 24th-level cleric.

—Oh, and he has the elite template."

Alpha shivered. It was lucky he hadn't encountered Charles yesterday. A 24th-level elite multi-class monster was not something he could easily defeat.

With Charles leading the way, everything became much easier. The Blackwater Murloc who had been snarling at him yesterday were now docile, though some still brandished their fishbone spears. But they all backed off when they saw Charles. Old Joel whispered:

"The Murloc have a very strict hierarchy. They won't attack what the higher-ups don't attack. They are the only fish people who follow lawful evil."

"So, to intimidate them, we just need to make sure... King Ranus doesn't attack us?"

Old Joel glanced at Alpha, didn't answer, but smiled and nodded, a cunning smile, at least in Alpha's opinion...

"Cunning... human... what... have you... brought?"

King Ranus and Charles were almost identical except for their height, so much so that if they were alone, Alpha couldn't tell them apart—except for the crown on King Ranus's head, which looked more like it was hanging there.

King Ranus looked formidable, both in stats and size.

As a fighter, cleric, and wizard, King Ranus was a 30th-level boss, much taller than Charles. The difference between a boss and an elite was like the difference between a house cat and a cheetah.

—For example, Charles had only about 8,000 HP, while King Ranus had over 20,000 HP.

In other words, if the intimidation failed today, Alpha would definitely die here.

Not knowing what Old Joel was up to, Alpha glanced at him. The old merchant was leisurely twirling the short stick, bowing to King Ranus with a fawning smile, and said slowly:

"Old Joel always takes care of his partners, especially the noble king—my King Ranus..."