Chapter 51

"Ah, I remember, the specialty of the Blackwater Mudflats..."

Lancelot drew out his words excitedly, while Alpha impatiently urged him, "Spit it out already," without a doubt, this guy must have given Alpha the middle finger in private chat before continuing:

"I remember there's a seabed of [Native Iron Ore] near the Blackwater Mudflats. Take as much as you can."

"I can probably only take two items. Besides, is [Native Iron Ore] useful? Can the merfolk just give it away?"

"Of course it's useful. [Native Iron Ore] is the best primary ore for [Smithing]—the seabed ore isn't a good thing for the merfolk. Just take it, do you have enough strength and space?"

Strength is related to carrying capacity. If the carrying capacity is insufficient, the amount of items you can take is limited, especially for heavy items like ores.

"Is 16 strength enough? I still have the 4 [Spatial Backpacks] you gave me."

"Enough, enough—hey? It's a bit more? What's going on?"

Lancelot knows Alpha's attributes better than Alpha himself. Alpha had to check the attribute interface to report the "16" value.

Alpha sent the attributes of the level 7 [Solidifying Technique] to Lancelot, who cursed:

"Damn, a fool has a fool's luck... 16 strength is enough. Load up as much as you can, fill all 4 backpacks... It's him, it's him, no doubt, slow him down... Yes, this guy is from League of Legends, I'm coming, villain, I know your evil deeds, for Monica's dog... [Holy Punishment]!!!"

Sure enough, he's bullying someone from League of Legends again, and even "for Monica's dog"...

With the target for entering the Blackwater Merfolk Treasury clear, Alpha ignored Lancelot and hung up the private chat, digesting Lancelot's advice:

"Recipes and skill books related to life skills, [Native Iron Ore]... no equipment."

Alpha muttered to himself, pondering whether to take anything else. Originally, Alpha wanted to take the light blade sword from old Joel—this energy weapon was clearly not easy to obtain.

However, considering the information about the Tower of Forgetfulness was more important, and he had already gained access to the merfolk treasury, he feared overstepping and angering old Joel. But he could still get something from the merfolk, like...

Alpha showed three fingers to the spitting old Joel, his face beaming with a chrysanthemum-like smile.

Old Joel, who had already tricked King Ranus into logging in, rolled his eyes and nodded at King Ranus:

"That evil mage who can decide Charles' fate wants to take three items. What do you think, great King Ranus?"

"Evil mage... can't touch... Ranus'... crown!!!"

Saying this, King Ranus clutched the golden crown on his head. Alpha was surprised—could there be something fishy about this crown? But seeing old Joel glaring at him and shaking his head like a rattle, Alpha quickly nodded:

"Of course, of course, the crown belongs only to King Ranus—the noble and wise King Ranus."

King Ranus was clearly very satisfied with Alpha's decision and words, proudly and smugly indicating for Alpha and old Joel to follow him. He was clearly pleased with his noble demeanor and wise decision to protect the crown. Old Joel finally breathed a sigh of relief.

—The Blackwater Merfolk Treasury, three items, but no touching King Ranus' crown. Alpha's conditions were settled, but what was the catch with that crown? Alpha was really curious.

"That crown is actually gilded copper, I gave it to this stupid fish. The gold paint on the inside is almost worn off, you can see the green copper on the back of Ranus' head."

Old Joel whispered to Alpha, who was following King Ranus to the Blackwater Merfolk Treasury. Alpha looked up, and a hint of green was faintly visible on the head of the tall Blackwater Merfolk King, like the taste of spring...

...

...

...

The entrance to the Blackwater Merfolk Treasury was a submarine cave behind King Ranus' throne, requiring a dive of several meters to reach.

Old Joel gave Alpha a [Underwater Breathing Potion]. After using it, Alpha found gills growing on both sides of his neck, and his breathing became almost as normal as on land, though using gills was not as efficient as using his nose, and Alpha felt a slight oxygen deficiency with each breath.

Holding onto King Ranus' back, Alpha and old Joel were "dragged" into the depths. After descending a few meters, the surroundings were pitch black.

If it weren't for the Blackwater Merfolk's orderly faction, Alpha would have suspected King Ranus was dragging them to the bottom of the sea to kill them. In this ocean-enclosed area, even the powerful old Joel was helpless. Here, King Ranus was the true king.

Whether it was the pressure of the water or the limitations of breathing, the merfolk's combat power was amplified to an extreme.

Alpha also realized he couldn't play the role of a bandit or plunderer, even with old Joel... Well, Alpha had thought about it, whether to directly kill King Ranus and clear out the Blackwater Merfolk Treasury... No, let's not think about being a bandit for now...

The darkness lasted only a few seconds, and soon a soft light appeared before Alpha, clearly the entrance to the Blackwater Merfolk Treasury.

Alpha had planned to use [Flash] to get a moment of illumination but immediately dismissed the idea. After all, [Flash] would cause a slight blinding effect, and the nervous King Ranus might misunderstand and think Alpha was trying to attack, forcing Alpha to play the "bandit."

Passing through the entrance into the treasury, Alpha discovered the source of the soft light.

—It was the soft glow emitted by pearls embedded in the stone walls. Hundreds of pearls together illuminated the underwater cave, which was about 100 square meters in area and 5-6 meters high, making it exceptionally bright.

As expected, the Blackwater Merfolk Treasury was not as grand as the name suggested. There were no piles of gold and jewels, and the pearls used for lighting seemed firmly embedded in the stone walls, making it difficult to remove them without value and risking angering King Ranus.

The real treasures here were probably the scattered equipment and books on the black stones.

Magical items protect themselves in various environments, so these pieces of equipment and books had a thin layer of air around them to prevent seawater erosion, especially the scroll books, which would have turned to pulp without the magical protective layer.

Following Lancelot's advice, Alpha didn't rush to sort through the equipment but first collected large chunks of stone into the [Spatial Backpacks].

It must be said that Lancelot's [Spatial Backpacks] came at the right time. Without them, even with 16 strength, Alpha wouldn't have been able to take any [Native Iron Ore]. The [Spatial Backpacks]'s weightless attribute was fantastic, allowing Alpha to fill the 4 [Spatial Backpacks] with [Native Iron Ore].

—As soon as Alpha touched the large stones, he saw the item attributes.

[[Native Iron Ore]: Smelting yields iron metal, with a certain chance of smelting companion minerals.]

As Lancelot said, King Ranus didn't care about Alpha picking up stones, just closely watching Alpha's hands to prevent him from stealing treasures. This made Alpha even more enthusiastic about picking up stones, and within ten minutes, he had filled the 4 [Spatial Backpacks].

"Cunning guy,"

Old Joel sneered. He wouldn't expose what Alpha was doing, as he would have to explain the use of [Native Iron Ore] to King Ranus. If this big stupid fish knew that the Blackwater Merfolk territory was full of iron ore for making weapons, who would buy his shoddy weapons?

"4000 units of [Native Iron Ore] can smelt how much iron?"

"Collected so much? [Native Iron Ore] yields twice as much iron as regular ore... hmm... 2000-3000 units, I guess."

"What's that enough for?"

"Smelting and forging, enough for a blacksmith to reach mastery—crafting life skills level up faster."

After dealing with a League of Legends player, Lancelot seemed to have completed his task for the day and wasn't as busy, at least not shouting "Shoe Slash"—oh, sorry, "Evil Slash"—while chatting with Alpha.

"Should I learn forging? Aren't you a blacksmith?"

"Paladins can't have a secondary profession. How do you not know anything—though I do suggest you learn forging. Forging can make many blacksmith-specific weapons. You throw projectiles, right? Crossbow bolts, shurikens, and other projectiles can be made, I remember there's an arrow-making skill."

Lancelot suggested.

"Alright, I'll hang up."

"Hang up your sister, wait, wait, wait, what did you get?"

"Nothing yet, just busy collecting iron ore."

"Don't take equipment, just take recipes and skill books, any level is good."

Lancelot, fearing Alpha would suddenly hang up, said succinctly. Alpha had already moved to the pile of messy equipment and, hearing Lancelot, shifted his gaze to the bubble-wrapped papers and books.

"... [Minor Fire Resistance Potion Recipe]... useful? Alchemy..."

"No, learn it directly from the alchemy master."

The first recipe scroll was immediately passed by Lancelot. Alpha picked up a bound book, looked at the title, and suddenly smiled:

"Comrade Li, guess what I got..."

The page turned, and the AD began.

The page turned, and the AD ended.