Harvest

"So this is what exposed you?" Lin Jun looked at the pendant that had been taken out—the one taken from the noble knight's body.

"That's the only possibility I can think of." Dylan shrugged, feeling somewhat helpless.

After obtaining it initially, he'd fiddled with it for quite a while and confirmed it was a +4 Strength item. Throwing it away would be too much of a waste.

However, as stolen goods, it wasn't convenient to wear it openly, so he could only store it in his pack, planning to find a blacksmith on the return journey to reforge its appearance.

He hadn't expected this turn of events. It seemed that noble knight was very likely one of Clark's people.

Now there was even less reason to discard it. Dylan wrapped it up properly and this time placed it at the very bottom of his travel bag, even finding a seal to stick on the bottom.

After organizing his belongings, Dylan headed toward the docks.

That group practicing abyssal magic had definitely been dealt with—after all, even the Sword Saint had appeared. But after resolving the situation, there would certainly still be guards conducting follow-up investigations in the area.

So while Dylan's original inn was south of the docks, after escaping last night, he'd taken a wide detour and was now on the north side of the docks, trying to avoid running into the guards.

Regarding the Sword Saint's appearance in Clark, Dylan couldn't figure it out either.

While the Sword Saint didn't have a fixed territory like Duke Alama and had much more freedom to go where he pleased, he should be active near the borders right now. Why would he come to a western port city?

Of course, this was just Dylan's idle speculation. He knew that with the limited information he had access to, it would be a miracle if he could figure it out.

Lin Jun's focus regarding the Sword Saint was obviously different.

During their brief encounter, Lin Jun had seen something completely different from ordinary people on the Sword Saint's status panel.

【Sword's Apex】

A skill very fitting for the Sword Saint's style.

But it had no level!

This was the first time Lin Jun had seen a skill without a level, and he couldn't determine what it specifically represented.

Was it a unique skill of the Sword Saint title?

Or was it beyond LV10—the ultimate form of skills?

He really wanted to have a proper exchange with this Sword Saint, or at least see how powerful this skill was.

Unfortunately, with Dylan and the scout's current situation, they were too busy hiding to even consider approaching...

When Dylan arrived at the docks, the eastern horizon was just beginning to show the grayish-white color of oyster shells.

Scanning the area, there were only four guards on normal duty at the docks, seemingly unaffected by last night's events.

He quickly found the three-masted sailing ship docked at the pier—the Wind Feather.

"Dylan, you're quite punctual." The one-eyed first mate was waiting by the ship and greeted Dylan when he saw him.

If one looked carefully, they could see some translucent fish scales on his weathered face. This man's ancestors definitely had some fishman blood, though it had become quite diluted.

"When do we set sail?" Dylan asked casually as he stepped onto the gangplank.

If possible, he hoped they could leave immediately.

However, the first mate only glanced up at the sky: "Noon."

Dylan had no choice in the matter. He wasn't the only passenger, and generally speaking, the default departure time was noon. The Wind Feather was apparently no exception.

Fortunately, no accidents occurred. After the passengers boarded one by one, the Wind Feather retracted its gangplank before noon—it seemed everyone had arrived.

After the ship left the dock, Dylan, who had been watching behind them, noticed a group of guards appearing at the docks, led by none other than that female knight.

They were going from ship to ship among those still docked, presumably conducting some kind of search. But this had nothing to do with the Wind Feather, which had already departed.

With the dust settled, Dylan could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

The ship would pass through several islands next, including Dylan's destination of Silver Sand Bay. If nothing went wrong, they'd arrive in a month.

During this time, Dylan planned to train his combat skills for the first time in a while. Even if he couldn't make much actual improvement, it would be good to regain some of his touch.

"Have you found a good spot?" the boss suddenly asked.

"Huh? Found what spot?" Dylan didn't understand what the boss meant.

"A spot for you to sunbathe! Let me tell you, not only do you need magic power, but the scout is also low on magic power and needs you to replenish it!"

"The scout too?" Dylan looked confused. "How do I replenish the scout's magic power?"

A backpack strap moved, connecting to Dylan's back in a blind spot from everyone else on deck, immediately demonstrating how to "replenish."

Feeling the magic power being drained from his body, Dylan covered his face, already imagining that he'd probably have no clothes to wear in the days ahead...

---

Fifth floor of the Amethyst Dungeon, Poison Lake.

This place had always been used by Lin Jun as a breeding ground for dragon beasts—Mirages.

Lin Jun had been feeding these Mirages for a long time, and their numbers kept increasing.

From originally eating one puffshroom loaded with mushrooms every two days, recently they needed three every two days, or they would actively venture to the surrounding areas to eat mushrooms due to hunger.

Obviously, their numbers were increasing rapidly and had nearly reached the Poison Lake's capacity limit. It was time for a harvest.

But he couldn't just kill the Mirages directly in the lake—collecting them would be too troublesome.

And driving them out of the lake wasn't easy either.

The puffshrooms' 【Corrosion Resistance LV5】 could only support activity around the lake's perimeter; they couldn't go underwater.

As the saying goes: raise your trump card for a thousand days, use it for one moment.

This was when Little Black came in handy!

Lured by shiny temptation, the big black mushroom leaped into the lake bottom.

Don't let Little Black's puffshroom mimicry fool you—with her actual black scales' weight, she sank straight to the bottom upon entering the water and couldn't float up at all. But this was perfect for the current situation.

"Little Black, drive them up!"

Little Black couldn't see clearly at the lake bottom, so she just waved her arms while walking and stirring up the water at the lake's center.

The effect was quite good. The Mirages in the lake were disturbed and climbed out onto the shore one by one.

The puffshrooms, equipped with 【Corrosion Resistance LV5】 and waiting on shore, wrapped up each Mirage and killed them by smashing.

Mirages had scaled armor, making them difficult to damage through cutting, and mushroom cannons would blast them into too many pieces. Though the smashing method was primitive, it was effective.

There really were quite a few Mirages. It took a full half hour for the puffshrooms to smash over three hundred Mirages to death.

Little Black had come up long ago and was rolling around in the nearby mushroom field, trying to roll off the stench of the lake water.

However, when a puffshroom rolled a ruby in front of Little Black, she immediately stopped rolling.

Not caring that she still smelled, she grabbed the ruby and ran toward the mushroom house.

Her fierce appearance even scared a passing team of adventurers, who scattered in three directions. The unluckiest guy was "chased" the whole way and was already gasping for breath when Little Black overtook him.

This time Lin Jun had actually paid real wages.

This ruby wasn't any magical material—it was a pure gemstone whose only use was probably exchanging for some gold coins. However, Lin Jun had no need for gold coins, so giving it to Little Black for her collection was perfect.

Lin Jun threw all the Mirages into the swamp area.

Though these Mirages weren't high level, their numbers were sufficient to upgrade 【Scale Armor】 to LV6.

Naturally, Lin Jun hadn't killed all the Mirages. About a hundred were left in the lake. Given the Mirages' reproduction rate, with some extra mushroom feeding, their numbers would probably recover in a few months.

Just as Lin Jun finished processing the Mirages, another area of key concern sent a signal—Norris had awakened!