The night breeze gently blew away much of the restlessness.
Ya and Zhanxing finished their performance and flew down. Su Yao showered them with praise. Ya managed to stay composed in the face of Su Yao's compliments, only blushing slightly, while Zhanxing, never one to be reserved, got so excited that it flew back up and performed again.
The performance ended once again, and Felix hurriedly pressed the dragon into the house. At this moment, the three Peng brothers also brought out their gifts.
Peng Yi said, "Over the years, we have saved some things, but before coming to the hotel, they were scattered for various reasons. Now, this is all we can offer."
Peng opened his hand, revealing a string of pearls.
"This string of pearls is too feminine, so my brothers and I have always overlooked it. Unexpectedly, by ignoring it, we ended up keeping it. Compared to the things they gave, this isn't very valuable, but my brothers and I sincerely celebrate your success and thank you for saving us."
After so many years of wandering and hardship, the three Peng brothers had forgotten what it felt like to stay in one place and feel at ease. Upon arriving at the inn, they finally experienced the beauty of life, even the irritable and arrogant Peng San had mellowed. Peng Yi was truly grateful for Su Yao's help.
"Of course not! How could I possibly dislike it?" Su Yao happily accepted the string of pearls.
This string of pearls might not be worth much on the Longyin Continent, but in Su Yao's heart, it was beautiful. It represented the goodwill of the three Peng brothers, and that made it valuable.
[It! Really! Is valuable!]
"What?" Su Yao had just put the pearl into the system's material pouch when the system exploded.
[Deep Sea Clam Pearl: Universal currency of the underwater world.]
These are twenty-two pearls. Under the sea, they are worth twenty-two coins, but on land, they are equivalent to two hundred and twenty gold pieces.
Su Yao was stunned. What a coincidence! She had just obtained the Water-Avoiding Pearl, and now she had the common currency of the underwater world. It seemed that exploring the underwater world was inevitable.
[Congratulations to the host for killing the treasure-guarding monster Giant Skeleton*1, magic experience +1119, current magic experience is 1930/10000. Congratulations to the host for starting the weapon forging business.]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining the Water Repelling Pearl, unlocking the ocean map [Click to view].]
[Hidden main quest ① completed. Congratulations to the host for obtaining 5 card draws and 1 seeder blueprint.]
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining the first piece of underwater currency, reward: harvester blueprint *1.]
[Limited-time task issued: Manufacture a seeder within five days. There is no reward for completing this task, but failure will result in a locust plague.]
"Wait!" Su Yao hadn't even had time to rejoice over the reward she had received before the time-limited task hit her like a ton of bricks, leaving her dizzy. "What do you mean, success has no reward, but failure brings a locust plague?"
The host has been here for two months now and has gained experience in completing various tasks, so the system has modified some of the reward and punishment measures. The main purpose is to urge the host to complete tasks as quickly as possible and to take them seriously.
"When it comes to dogs, you are the best!"
At this moment, Su Yao still held onto a glimmer of hope and tried using the mechanical card on the materials needed for the seeder.
I saw that a... a short essay quickly appeared on the card!
Densely packed with all the necessary materials!
What rest? There's no rest at all, just day and night grinding!
"What's wrong, A-Yao?"
Just a moment ago, you were so cheerful. How did you suddenly become so downcast?
Su Yao sighed, "I still can't rest properly. I need to make a seeder, which requires a lot of materials."
The three Peng brothers heard this and immediately said, "No problem, just tell us what you need. We go out every morning and work hard!"
The meaning of the word "grind" was something they learned after hearing Su Yao say it multiple times upon arriving at the inn. After using it frequently, they got used to referring to going out to fight evil spirits and chop trees as "grinding."
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Su Yao shook her head and read it out loud to the shop assistants. After she finished, the expressions of the three Peng brothers also became much more serious.
"So many things!" Ya calculated for a moment. If they were lucky and the evil spirits and wild beasts they defeated all dropped materials, it would still take their group of clerks four or five days to gather everything. Moreover, there were some items they had never even heard of.
Su Yao propped her face on her arm, lying dejectedly on the table. The dust and bloodstains on her face had not yet been cleaned, making her look very pitiful.
Even Lian Zhanxing couldn't help but start thinking of ways to help Su Yao. "How about this: tomorrow I'll go out and transform, driving a bunch of evil spirits and wild beasts over here. Then Xiao Peng and the others can start killing them. Wouldn't that make things more efficient?"
Felix also suggested an idea: "I saw a recycler at the entrance of the hotel, maybe we can use it."
Felix walked over to the small blackboard, tried to move it a bit, and, finding it movable, continued, "Send this thing to Gerard and have him help find some mercenaries. There are plenty of mercenaries on the continent; as long as you pay them, they'll do the job."
"Indeed, as long as there's enough money, there will be plenty of people willing to help."
Su Yao seriously considered these two methods and felt that both were feasible.
Sure enough, there is strength in numbers. This saying not only applies to store clerks helping to come up with ideas but also to hiring people for assistance. With more people, gathering materials will inevitably be faster.
"Then let's mark out an area." Su Yao called Zhan Xing and the three Peng brothers over. "We can drive the evil spirits and beasts together and then kill them, but it's best to do it farther away. We shouldn't interfere with the people exploring the Misty Forest, nor should we disturb the peace around our inn."
A few people and a dragon discussed and decided on a place rarely visited by others.
Annie's parents had almost fully recovered after a day's rest. When they heard that Su Yao needed help, they immediately raised their hands to show their support: "We'll help for free!"
The team of the three brothers from the Zhanxing Jiapeng family expanded once again.
Yashi, being slightly weaker, had to stay behind at the inn to watch the shop as usual. Su Yao had also had a hard day, so she stayed to rest, which conveniently allowed her to help take care of Annie.
In the end, only Felix was left. He was responsible for contacting Gerard using the communication card and for moving the small blackboard to the entrance of the Misty Forest to collect the items.
To be more specific: tonight, Su Yao and Felix will communicate with Gerard to explain the situation. Gerard will then post the task at the hiring hall, and the mercenary carrying the items will go to the entrance of the Misty Forest to find Felix for repayment.
"This way, there won't be any problems. Go and rest now."
Su Yao's exhaustion was evident at a glance, and the staff couldn't bear to trouble her with this matter any longer, so they quickly sent her back to her room.
The little snake and the man-eating flower had done quite a few things along the way, so Ming Tian didn't assign them any tasks for tomorrow and just let them rest well at the inn.
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The war in the north hadn't reached the south, but the residents of the south were still greatly affected. Recently, there were more and more unfamiliar faces on the streets, and the southern residents unanimously stopped their nightlife. As soon as night fell, they would go home early and lock their doors.
Gerald was the same. Ever since the situation with the rice paddies had stabilized, he would come home on time and not stay out any longer. When he received Su Yao's call, he had already locked the door and was sitting in the yard with his mother and sister.
"Let's not go today. Tell that boss about our situation and see if we can go tomorrow morning, okay?" Gerard's mother was very worried that Gerard might run into bad people if he went out now. "I heard from the lady who sells flour at the entrance of the village that she has a brother in a small town to the north. When something went wrong in the north, many strangers came to their town. Her sister-in-law had a dispute with these people on the road over a small matter and ended up getting her leg injured."
"We can't afford to provoke them, so let's just hide. It's too unsafe at night."
"I know, I'm not going out tonight. The boss also told me to go tomorrow."
Gerald's mother was relieved: "That's good. Our boss is indeed a good person."
Gerald nodded earnestly; there was no better boss than Su Yao.
Because he was thinking about Su Yao's task, Gerald got up very early the next day. He spent three gold coins to take a carriage to the city center, as that was the only place with an employment hall.
The mercenary organization is an entity independent of the cities and the counts' powers. No one knows who is behind the Mercenary Hall; they only know that the Mercenary Halls are spread throughout the entire Dragon Roar Continent. Each city's hall is interconnected, sharing information, and mercenaries can take on tasks from across the continent at any hall.
Although the mercenaries came from various places and belonged to different factions, they were all very "well-behaved" when in the hall; no one dared to cause trouble there. Especially when dealing with the task issuers, the mercenaries all tacitly agreed to protect them. Therefore, this force of mercenaries was highly respected by the common people, even surpassing the local mayors in some areas.
During the day, there weren't many strangers wandering the streets, and Gerard safely arrived at the mercenary task hall. The reward Su Yao offered was quite substantial, and the list of required items was long, so a group of mercenaries quickly gathered in front of Gerard's task board.
Gerald explained the task clearly and repeated it to the mercenaries on site.
A robust middle-aged man listened to the entire conversation in the crowd, but he still raised a question: "Are you really not deceiving us? Why do we have to go to the Misty Forest to hand over the items?"
The safety of the mercenaries is also a concern. In an unfamiliar place, they would definitely not feel at ease exchanging goods and payment.
"Because my boss happens to be over there recently, she wants to venture into the Misty Forest and is in need of these materials to craft potions and weapons."
Gerald actually didn't know what Su Yao was up to, but the materials she wanted were indeed useful for potions and weapons.
Moreover, Gerard deliberately mentioned potions and weapons. On the Dragon Roar Continent, alchemists and weapon smiths are extremely rare and precious. Even those with mediocre skills can earn a lot of money, so criminal organizations wouldn't have people like alchemists and weapon smiths. Gerard used this point to reassure everyone, hoping to make them believe.
Many people indeed believed it, but it was a little girl with glasses who raised a crucial point: "The alchemists and weaponsmiths are all in the north. Everyone knows the current situation up there. How could an alchemist and a weaponsmith appear alone down here in the south?"