Miles left the cave with the giant bag filled with honey and a brand new orb he took from Porseila. Even though she wanted him to escort her to the stronghold, Miles refused it and walked in another direction to take a longer route. The small walk inside the cave was enough to drive Miles mad. He couldn’t stand her any longer.
Miles arrived at the stronghold and caught many people’s eyes. He was already a minor celebrity, and now that he was carrying a giant bag filled with honey, people started to gather around him.
“Hey, isn’t that the Marooner?” Someone in the crowd asked.
“Hogwash! Of course he is the Marooner. Can’t you see his armor? What is that honey though?” A girl asked, then shouted to Miles.
“Hey, Marooner. Is that the Lonely Cave’s honey?”
“Yes. I just collected 50 liters.” Miles said. He was in a good mood.
“Do you, by any chance, sell it?” The girl asked again.
“Sure. I will sell it.” Miles thought about it and decided to sell.
He and Porseila were the only two people who knew the cave was now empty. So, he could go back and collect more if he wanted to.
“I will buy all of them, name your price!” A voice came from behind the crowd. “It will be a great gift to my grandfather!”
Miles looked at the person and sighed. ‘Not again.’
It was Tian Ling, walking towards him with his goons.
Miles turned to the lady and said, “First come first served. How much do you want?”
When Tian Ling heard what Miles said, his face turned sour. But he instead looked at the girl.
“What is the price?” The girl asked timidly. She looked like she wanted to hear the price first before she could reject it because of Tian Ling. She didn’t want to cross the self-centered bastard.
When Tian Ling understood the girl's intentions, he snickered and looked at the Marooner with his posture saying, ‘See. This is how you should act in front of me.”
“How much would you like to pay?” Miles asked once again. He wasn’t going to let Tian Ling act as he liked.
“On second thought, I don’t have money on me. Sorry, sir. I shouldn’t have taken your time.” The girl said and apologized, before turning around and running away.
Miles clenched his fist and looked at Tian Ling, then he shouted, “I will auction the honey in an annual auction at the end of the year. Those who want to buy it, can buy it there.” He then left the square, leaving Tian Ling and his men unable to do anything.
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Tian Ling got mad when he heard the Marooner ignoring his presence and denying selling the honey to him. But he got his composure back in a short time, “I will buy all the honey at the auction anyway. The problems can be solved with money, they aren't problems.” He thought to himself and snickered. “But, I will remember this one, even if you are the hero of the people, you should learn how to act in front of me.”
Miles left the giant bag filled with honey in his private quarter before going to the Trade Center to sell the orbs he earned.
He killed more than fifty wasps in the cave, and unluckily none of them except what he got from the Queen was an orb. Because of their poison and piercing attributes, they were still valuable materials. Miles earned more than 600.000 UN just by selling more than fifty orbs.
“I earned big this time, but the end of the month is closing in, and I will have to pay for some other things. Still, after I see the honey, I can spare some of the money for that thing.” Miles left the Trade Center and walked to the backyard filled with vendors. On them, there were different types of orbs with different colors and attributes.
Miles walked them one by one to check what they were selling.
There were all kinds of weapons, starting with swords, spears, daggers, bows, arrows to rarer weapons such as machetes, polearms, axes, staffs, and more. Armors were rarer because no one would sell them if they had use for them, but other utility orbs were also common.
Miles saw goggles with dark vision, wrist braces increasing speed, leather shoes increasing strength. But what he was looking for, was not there.
He approached one of the vendors and asked. “Do you sell any transportation orb?”
“Are you kidding me? Do I look like I can possess a transportation orb?” The vendor said with rage and was about to shoo Miles away then his eyes caught Miles’s armor. “Th-The Marooner!”
Miles looked at him without saying anything.
“Sor-Sorry, I thought you ar-you were just messing with me.” The vendor said intermittently, “I don’t have any, but that guy over there sells an automobile. It is too expensive though. I heard it has a speed element.” The vendor said and pointed at an inconspicuous vendor.
Miles looked at the person standing behind the counter. He had gray, shaggy hair almost entirely covering his fine-menacing face. Narrow green eyes, set dreadfully within their sockets, reading a hard copy book without any care in the world.
Miles approached the guy, and asked, “I heard you have an automobile orb.”
“Welcome, customer!” The guy looked at Miles with a giant smile and said, “I certainly do sell an automobile orb, but it is not cheap.”
“How much is it?” Miles asked.
“A hundred millions UD.” The guy said and took out an ivory orb. “It is a high-tier Albino Elephant Orb. Has a rare speed element, and can go up to 400 km/h. Its defense is adequate, and can take hits from high-tier monsters. Because it is not a Psychic element, you have to drive manually, or you can let your AI drive it. There is a special bumper that can crush the obstacles in your way.”
Miles read a lot about transportation type orbs, but he never drove one. When he was still living with his family, he once saw one, but it wasn't a car. It was a battle type, close to tanks. That is why he always wanted one of his own. But a hundred millions UD was too expensive, he didn’t have that much money.
“Too expensive.” Miles shook his head and said. “I can’t afford it at the moment.”
“Oh, that is too sad, Mr. Customer!” the guy said with the same smile that made Miles shiver. His eyes were like snakes.
“Do you accept trade?” Miles asked and fished out his newly earned orb.
Even though he didn’t know what it was yet since Porseila was carrying it with her, it must be something valuable.
“Sure, what do you have?” asked the vendor.
Miles charged the orb with the help of Coin.
The orb melted in Miles’s hand and formed a staff. But then, at the top of it, there was a hair net.
“A fishing net?" The vendor, stupefied by this trade joke, could not believe what the customer offered before him.
Miles could also not believe the item in his hand and just held the anger back in his throat.
"Damn you Porseila!”