Chapter 50

Thank you to Longjian Tianxia Xing, Lazy Yinglong mk145465a for your generous rewards and reviews. Your support has brought Alpha a bountiful harvest of 40 Blackwater Fishman Warriors, boosting his level to 19. His martial arts skills are as follows: [Pressure Point Hand] Level 7, [Hidden Arrow] Level 7, [Solidifying Essence Technique] Level 6, and [Swift Shadow] has even broken through to Level 8, approaching the final Level 9.

— Although Alpha is not yet certain if there are only 9 levels, he believes he will soon find out.

Even the equipment drops were plentiful, though most of it, except for [Fiery Fist], was not useful to Alpha and did not sell for much—after all, they were only around Level 20 fine and enchanted equipment.

Now, Alpha is about to deal with the High Priest Charles. Oh, no, to be precise, he is about to harvest him. The duel has not ended, so King Ranus cannot make a move, which means the High Priest can only take the beating and cannot fight back...

Alpha glanced at the task bar:

Blackwater Fishman Warriors: 40/40,

High Priest Charles: 0/1.

Alpha did not rush to act but turned to the old man Joel instead.

"Do you want to talk, Mr. Joel?"

"Of course."

Old Joel twirled the hilt of his light sword, his weathered face breaking into a smile. The old merchant's reaction was surprisingly quick, and he immediately understood Alpha's intention.

King Ranus and High Priest Charles, who were in the middle of the duel and could be harvested by Alpha at any moment, tilted their heads, puzzled by the cunning, deceitful, and evil humans. After all, even ignoring the fishmen's intelligence, Alpha's rapid speech would take them a while to process.

"Forgetful Tower, huh?"

Old Joel muttered, then beckoned to King Ranus, who grumbled in his large fish mouth, clearly in a bad mood. Old Joel paid no attention and said to King Ranus:

"A cart of weapons for more jewels and spices, to be precise... double the amount. What do you say?"

"Deceitful... human...!!!"

From the two pauses, it was clear that King Ranus was very angry.

This was the way Old Joel had previously traded with him: a cart of weapons or armor for a certain amount of jewels and spices. Now, Old Joel suddenly demanded that King Ranus pay double the "currency." Our fish king clearly had not yet figured out what had made Old Joel shamelessly raise the price.

"Double the amount, and spare Charles' life!!!"

Old Joel pointed his light sword hilt at the High Priest, then looked at King Ranus and Alpha. Alpha smiled ambiguously, twirling his short crossbow, and finally curled his right index finger and thumb, giving Old Joel an "OK" sign.

King Ranus fell silent instantly. Clearly, the High Priest Charles' life was very important. King Ranus wanted the High Priest to live, which was a significant temptation for him.

And Alpha? He was overjoyed. What he received was not just a temptation but a tangible benefit:

"Task Change,

Duel Trade: Choose to kill High Priest Charles or propose to end the duel. Task Level C."

The task changed again, of course, due to Alpha's personal actions, such as asking Old Joel. Alpha was thrilled about this.

Alpha knew that, compared to King Ranus and High Priest Charles, Old Joel was even more unwilling for Alpha to win the duel.

The duel was a losing proposition for Old Joel. If Alpha killed Charles, King Ranus would inevitably pursue and kill Alpha or be killed himself after the duel. Given the style and depth of this young mage apprentice, King Ranus would not have a good outcome.

In either case, the lucrative weapons trade between Old Joel and the Blackwater Fishmen would be destroyed.

That was a trade empire Old Joel had built up over more than a decade. If it were to be lost, it would be a significant blow to his wealth. The deep-sea jewels and spices of the fishmen had contributed greatly to Old Joel's fortune. He would rather be impaled by his own light sword than let so much wealth go to waste.

— People always have some aspirations, right? Even if those gold coins were not very useful to Old Joel.

In fact, Alpha did not understand why the wealthy and lonely old mercenary still lived in a poorly ventilated and poorly lit stone house, just as he could not understand why Gobseck played mind games with his daughter or why Yan Jiansheng was still thinking about the extra wick on his lamp before he died...

... What's the point of earning money if you don't spend it?

But Old Joel did not think that much. He was still focused on how to protect the fish trade.

If he could negotiate with King Ranus using Charles' life, the trade line might survive. As long as King Ranus made a promise, Old Joel would not lose anything and would even gain greater benefits. After all, the Blackwater Fishmen were a lawful evil race, and extortion always worked.

Alpha had also figured this out and decided to talk to Old Joel:

... To protect his fish trade, Old Joel would do his best to meet Alpha's demands—anything that did not conflict with his fish trade. This way, Alpha could easily obtain information about the Forgetful Tower, which would not affect Old Joel's money-making plans.

In fact, Alpha had not initially expected to obtain information from Old Joel through conventional means.

From Old Joel's behavior of making Alpha kill 100 fishmen and then offering him to King Ranus for credit, it was clear that trying to please Old Joel to get information about the Forgetful Tower, as Jennifer suggested, would be very difficult. This guy was ruthless, and following the rules would definitely lead to being tricked by this cunning old man.

— Speaking of which, Old Joel's strength was somewhat surprising to Alpha.

Being able to crush a Level 30 boss leader required at least Level 50 or even a hero-level expert like Lancelot. Given that NPCs are generally stronger than players, it seemed that Old Joel was at least close to the hero level. His ability to enter the Forgetful Tower multiple times was indeed impressive.

Therefore, Alpha did not hesitate to seize Old Joel's throat, and from Old Joel's reaction and the task prompt, Alpha's judgment was entirely correct.

So the choice was simple:

Alpha would naturally spare Charles' life, and Old Joel was well aware of what he had to pay. On this point, both understood each other. However, Alpha was not satisfied with just profiting from Old Joel. Since King Ranus would retain his most capable assistant, Alpha also wanted some benefits from him:

"I suppose the wealthy Blackwater Fishmen wouldn't mind giving me some benefits, right?"

"..."

Old Joel made a helpless gesture and added to King Ranus:

"Spare Charles' life, and my benefits will double. Additionally..."

Old Joel pointed at Alpha:

"Let this young man visit the fishmen's treasure vault and choose two items to take away—You know, Charles' survival depends on this young man's decision."

"Deceitful human!!!... King Ranus... agrees!!! Roar!!!"

The Blackwater Fish King roared in anger but reluctantly agreed to Old Joel's terms. Alpha selected the option to end the duel in the task menu while looking at Old Joel with confusion and sent a message to Lancelot:

"What is the fishmen's treasure vault?"

From Old Joel's expression, it seemed Alpha had a great deal. Was it because of the fishmen's treasure vault? What was it?

Lancelot's reply was as prompt as always:

"Just a treasure vault, a nest of treasures, all good stuff."

No matter when Alpha contacted Lancelot, this guy was always online. Sometimes Alpha really wondered if this guy was a professional player or if Bella was a professional player, or if both were professional players. Anyway, Lancelot, this "professional player," was a failure, spending money without earning any.

"Cut the crap, I'm asking about the fishmen's treasure vault."

"Just the fishmen's nest of treasures... Wait, you're in? Block him!!! [Evil Slayer Slash]!!!"

This guy was using his paladin's authority for personal vendettas again. Who knows which guild was in trouble this time? Could it be the League of Legends group again?

"Probably soon, what should I take?"

"Damn, you're entering the treasure vault at less than Level 20?!... Seriously, have you never played an online game before? Are you hiding your history?"

Lancelot was surprised, and Alpha, impatient, replied:

"Cut the crap, hurry up."

"What attitude is this?!... The treasure vault, lots of good stuff, but not everything is good. Generally, you can't expect the best equipment. At your level, you're probably entering the Blackwater Fishmen's treasure vault... I'm not wrong, right?"

Lancelot's words were filled with pride, clearly confident in his judgment. It had to be said that Lancelot's game experience was quite extensive, and he had accurately deduced the level of the fishmen's treasure vault from Alpha's level.

Alpha grunted in agreement and listened quietly as Lancelot continued:

"Level 20 to 30 equipment isn't very meaningful; it will be obsolete in a few days. You might want to look for items related to life skills. Lower-level fishmen's treasure vaults often contain some practical small recipes and skill books. Hmm, if there's [Divine Power]... [Heresy Slayer]!!!"

Lancelot roared in anger, clearly still in the middle of a hunt. A scream came through the private chat, sounding like another unfortunate victim. It was probably the League of Legends group again. The paladin hummed in satisfaction and continued:

"Besides these, materials are also significant... Let me think... Blackwater Fishmen territory..."

Lancelot pondered for a moment, then seemed to remember something:

"Right, materials!!! I remember, the specialty of the Blackwater Mudflats..."