Silver Sand Bay, this large island's most prosperous area, was located on the western side, where a crescent-shaped natural harbor was embedded like a jewel.
The easternmost part of the island, however, remained in its primitive natural state due to treacherous undercurrents, clusters of jagged reefs, and a lack of valuable development resources.
At this moment, on the eastern coast, a mycelium ship with its hull completely worn flat lay tilted on the shore. The already patchwork hull had now almost completely fallen apart—this was the price of forcing a landing.
Two mermaids had broken free from the mycelium tentacles and escaped during the final chaos, but at this point, Lin Jun didn't care whether they got away or not.
Most of the red reef fruit loaded on the ship had been preserved. Since it wasn't suitable to carry them around constantly, Lin Jun hid them under a pile of rocks.
Since Dylan's current appearance was far too beggar-like, Lin Jun had to use his exquisite blade skills to help Dylan trim his scraggly beard and overgrown hair. The entire process only resulted in three cuts.
"I never expected we'd arrive directly at Silver Sand Bay."
Having figured out their location, Dylan felt somewhat grateful for his good luck. He had originally thought they would first end up on some other island and would need to take another ship to get here.
"Don't celebrate too early. Think about how much time you've already wasted on this journey—it's hard to say whether you'll still be able to find your daughter," Lin Jun poured cold water on his optimism without mercy. "Let's go to the tavern first."
Dylan scratched his head. Going to taverns to gather information was indeed standard procedure, but—
"Boss, we don't have any money right now..."
Dylan's gold coins had sunk into the sea along with his luggage bag in the mist. He had been considering how to earn some money since earlier.
"That's exactly why we're going to the tavern to make money," Lin Jun said matter-of-factly.
Since the boss put it that way...
Dylan pushed open the door of this tavern called "Broken Sword and Leftover Soup," and upon entering, was nearly driven back out by the smell inside.
Although Dylan himself reeked, for the past month he had been breathing fresh natural air. Suddenly entering such a smoke-filled environment where cheap alcohol and body odor mingled was quite overwhelming.
Especially the tobacco smell inside—he hadn't encountered such a pungent variety back in Mute Wind Town. Dylan guessed it might be a specialty of the archipelago.
"S-sir..."
A timid voice called out. It was a slave servant carrying a tray of drinks, wearing an iron collar around his neck.
Only then did Dylan realize he was blocking the already crowded passage.
Silently stepping aside, Dylan couldn't help but take a closer look at the slave servant.
The body was emaciated, with old and new whip marks crisscrossing the wrists and calves, and a slave brand burned into the back of the neck by a branding iron.
Back in the kingdom, although slavery existed, it was mostly concentrated in noble estates. No boss would use a slave as a tavern servant, but the culture here in the archipelago was obviously different from the kingdom.
Just as Dylan was about to look away, a foot suddenly extended from the shadows, precisely tripping the slave servant.
Bang!
The drink tray flew from his hands, pottery cups shattered, and murky alcohol splashed across the floor.
The slave fell hard onto the greasy floorboards, pottery shards cutting his skin, his muffled groan drowned out by the eruption of laughter.
"Look at this fool!" The man who had extended his foot slapped the table in laughter, and the surrounding crowd joined in.
The boss behind the counter frowned at the puddle of alcohol and shards on the floor, impatiently saying to the slave: "Useless thing, clean it up."
Then he addressed the customer who had tripped the slave with displeasure: "This loss goes on your tab."
The customer shrugged—that little bit of money meant nothing to him.
Dylan watched the slave crawling on the ground picking up pottery shards. If Bella had also become like this...
His hands unconsciously clenched into fists.
"Dylan, let's go around from over there."
"Huh?"
Following his boss's instructions, Dylan stepped over the slave crawling on the ground and made a circuit around the left half of the tavern.
"Like this?" Dylan asked.
"Alright, alright, that's enough."
The scout backpack suddenly quietly slipped a small pouch into Dylan's hand. Taking a look—it was a money pouch.
"This is..."
"I found it!"
Dylan's eye twitched, but he wasn't some paladin, and they did indeed need money right now...
With money, everything became easier. Two silver coins got the tavern owner to point Dylan toward an information broker.
A glass of ice fruit wine was pushed by Dylan toward a small man sitting in an inconspicuous corner.
The small man casually took a sip and said: "Haven't seen you before. You should know it takes more than just a drink, right?"
Ten silver coins were tossed on the table. The small man pursed his lips, collecting the coins while muttering: "Just ordinary news..."
Then he began speaking about recent common knowledge on his own.
From Giant Horn Island being completely swallowed by mist, to the increasingly hostile relationship between the archipelago's three major slave owners, as well as a major incident that had just occurred at Silver Sand Bay a few days ago—Glossa's secretary had been brutally murdered in the latrine, yet Garrison Commander Oruk had incompetently let the killer escape, resulting in his dismissal and replacement by a newcomer who had been making waves recently.
After he finished, Dylan asked: "If I wanted to inquire about a specific person..."
The small man squinted, tapping the table twice with his finger.
After providing another 30 silver coins, Dylan received a name and a location.
Just as Dylan was about to get up and leave, an argument suddenly erupted in the tavern.
"There's... no rule about running tabs here," the tavern owner said coldly, setting down the glass he was wiping.
The fellow who had just tripped the slave was anxiously searching his entire body but couldn't find his money pouch anywhere.
"It... it must have been that slave! He was right next to me just now, stole it during the commotion!"
The owner was too lazy to listen to his excuses: "No money? Leave your weapon as collateral and come back with money to redeem it!"
The surrounding onlookers occasionally burst into gleeful laughter. They loved watching slaves make fools of themselves, but they loved watching customers make fools of themselves even more.
The mocking laughter provoked the man, who drew the curved sword from his waist and shouted at those around him: "What are you laughing at?"
However, this action only earned him more jeers.
Meanwhile, the owner silently took down the short axe hanging behind the counter.
Bang!
The door was kicked open, and an arrogant voice called out: "What's going on here? Could hear the racket from outside. Looking for trouble right after Lord Tianqi takes office?"
The speaker was a guard who pushed through the suddenly silent crowd.
Behind him, the middle-aged man called Tianqi entered with more guards.
His gaze swept across like he was surveying his territory, finally locking onto the man holding the sword.
"Garrison Commander, sir, this man was trying to dine and dash and then wanted to draw his weapon," the tavern owner suddenly spoke up.
"I... I wasn't..." the man tried to defend himself, but Tianqi had already waved his hand, having the guards apprehend him.
Though the man held a curved sword, he didn't dare move against the guards. Not everyone could be like that killer from before, committing crimes in Silver Sand Bay and still managing to escape...
Seeing the averted gazes of the others, he nodded with satisfaction and turned to leave the tavern.
After he left, the small man beside Dylan whispered: "That's the rising star I mentioned—the new Garrison Commander."
No one noticed that a backpack was hiding behind a chair, avoiding the Garrison Commander's possible line of sight.
Lin Jun recalled the Garrison Commander's status panel with complicated feelings.
【Name: Tanaka Hidehichi】
【Race: Human】
【Level: LV18】
【Skills: Memory Deletion LV4...】
【Title: Hero】
What the hell?
There are other heroes?
And he's Japanese?
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