svetikya Page 433
Page 433
He originally wanted to look for Jennifer and the others, but he didn't expect that these monsters, though not very tall, would form a wall when they gathered together, blocking his view. Helpless, he had no choice but to lead his teammates to search for valuable items.
"Silver-scaled breastplate, five shrimp coins per piece!"
"Limited quantity, first come first served, buy now while supplies last, guaranteed 10 times compensation for any counterfeit!"
The calls of vendors from a short distance caught Latis's attention. He chuckled and squeezed past five or six stalls to reach a stall where only one mantis shrimp was being sold.
Looking at the stall owner lying on his side, eyes closed, beard swaying, and shouting incoherently, Latis glanced down at the so-called silver-scaled breastplate for a moment, then coughed lightly and said to the stall owner who had just opened his eyes in a daze:
"Boss, give me a fake one."
Chapter 423 Night Market in Progress
"..."
The mantis shrimp, lying on its side, was momentarily stunned. After scrutinizing Latis's appearance for a moment, it calmly said:
"Even if you want to buy a fake, you probably don't have any shrimp coins, right, guest from out of town?"
"Wow, you've got some skill."
Latis couldn't help but become interested. Although the rows of stalls were crowded, the monsters' sales methods were still at the level of very simple bargaining. It was the mossy mantis shrimp in front of him that attracted Latis's attention because of its unique sales pitch. Unexpectedly, after interacting with it, it really showed a different kind of spirit than other monsters.
He glanced at the mantis shrimp behind the stall for a moment, his gaze lingering on its various accessories before his brow furrowed as he looked at the lichen and moss covering its back.
Perhaps this moss mantis shrimp has heard about other things, such as the demon king outside the moss tribe.
Latis thought for a moment, then smiled and said:
"Your guess is quite accurate. We are new here and do not have the currency of the Moss Tribe. We originally planned to go to the king to accept the mission to subdue the Demon King and get some funds, but the king refused to give us even ten copper coins and canceled the mission. We had no choice but to wander around here for one night and then leave the Moss Tribe."
"Hmm? A raiding mission?"
A hint of surprise appeared on the mantis shrimp's face. He glanced at Latis and the others' equipment, his eyes darting around, and then he said with a chuckle:
"I've never heard of this Demon King you're talking about. I don't know what you're babbling about. If you don't have Shrimp Coins, you can't even buy a fake Silver Scale Breastplate. Shrimp Coins aren't everything, but you absolutely can't do without them!"
"Don't worry, although we don't have any shrimp coins right now, there are stalls around here that buy items." Latis chuckled and said in a completely unassuming manner, "We'll go to the docks and get some shrimp coins, then we'll come back to you to buy counterfeit goods."
"The docks...are those three-legged fish's territory...?"
The mantis shrimp instinctively raised its antennae, then quickly regained its senses, extended its pincers to stroke itself, and calmly said:
“The three-legged fish have too narrow a vision. You’ll definitely get ripped off if you try to sell your goods there. Why don’t you sell them to me? I also buy items… Hmm, that sword you have is pretty good. Five shrimp coins, want to sell it?”
"My sword?" Latis glanced at the Dream Nail hanging at his waist, which he hadn't yet sheathed, stroked his chin, and then chuckled as he looked at the Mossy Mantis.
"So, in your eyes, my sword and your Silver Scale Breastplate are items of the same quality? Could you tell me more about the Silver Scale Breastplate you have? I'd like to consider it."
"It's easy."
The mantis shrimp cleared its throat, sat up straight, and said:
"This silver scale breastplate is made of 'non-attribute mixed silver' from a distant land. With the ingenious skills of skilled craftsmen, it has been made into a fish scale-like structure and has a 'hydrophobic' property."
"As everyone knows, 'Non-Attribute Mixed Silver' easily absorbs energy of different attributes. Therefore, compared to normal armor, the Silver Scale Breastplate's cushioning function is absolutely superior. Whether it's magical power or divine power, the moment it hits, it will be diverted by the scale structure, and what cannot be diverted will be absorbed and cushioned."
The mantis shrimp finished its long introduction in one breath, then stroked its whiskers and laughed:
"Therefore, the Silver Scale Breastplate is known as an essential item for home and travel! How about getting one?"
"That sounds quite plausible..."
Latis glanced at the piles of silver-scaled breastplates on the stall for a moment, smiled, and said:
"It's okay, I'll buy it after I get some shrimp coins."
"No, man."
The mantis shrimp arched its back instantly, prompting me to exclaim:
"I introduced you to so many people, and you're just going to leave like this? What a cruel, heartless man! What a jerk!"
"Ah, you really want me to buy it?" Latis shook his head and sighed. "There's really nothing I can do. After all, no one else is buying your Silver Scale Breastplate except me, right?"
"Wha, what?!"
The mantis shrimp's face turned red, and it quickly explained:
"I just think it's a shame that such a good prop is being wasted! You can buy it or not, it's up to you!"
"Alright, since you don't really want to either, then forget it."
Latis grinned, shrugged, and turned to leave with Snyder and Holnet, saying as he did so:
"Hopefully, your Silver Scale Breastplate won't be sold out by the time we've finished our tour, haha..."
"……hateful."
The mantis shrimp watched as Latis and the others gradually disappeared into the market. Its heart was uneasy as it stroked its whiskers. After a moment, it took a deep breath and murmured:
"No, the sword he carries... it's probably the legendary sword... To kill the Demon King, we have to trick him into giving us the sword; we can't let him take it away..."
It crouched down and darted into the bustling horde of monsters, mingling with the many similar-looking moss mantises, before stealthily following in Latis's direction.
……
"Alright, we'll come back to find that shrimp later."
Latis turned to look at Holnet and Snyder, who were calmly watching him, released their hands, and smiled:
"I've already made some progress, I'm having pretty good luck tonight."
Holnet withdrew his hand, subconsciously twisted his wrist, then put his hand back into his cloak, asking with a hint of curiosity:
"What did you find? I didn't find anything strange about that shrimp at all."
"It's just some fragmented discovery, and I'm not entirely sure."
Latis smiled and was about to explain when he noticed that Snyder was almost pushed away by the crowd of monsters. Helpless, he had to take two steps forward and grab her back.
“Um… sir.” Snyder tightened his mask slightly, a little embarrassed, and said in a low voice, “It’s too crowded here, I’m sorry…”
"It's alright. I didn't expect there to be a tribe with so many monsters in the underground world." Latis looked helplessly at the monsters swarming on the ground, thought for a moment, then picked up the petite girl and leaned against the stall behind him.
There was nothing they could do. Although these monsters were only knee-high, it depended on whose knee it was. For a slender girl like Snyder, who was only 1.5 meters tall, these monsters were already enormous.
Thankfully, Leafa and Geeta have become strong enough through their knight training... Speaking of which, where did Jennifer go? Does Miss Hines even have money from the Underworld...?
Latis shook his head, looked at Holnet, and continued:
"That mantis shrimp I just saw, its advertising style sounded a bit like a human businessman, so I made a brief contact with it, and I didn't expect to find something was actually a bit off."
"First, there's the material 'Non-Attribute Mixed Silver,' which I've encountered before; it's a specialty of the Wilderness Territory. Second, there's the moss and lichen on it, which grows some vegetation from the human world, and I happen to have plant-related abilities to identify it."
“So it’s a monster that has been to the surface.” Holnet nodded slightly, then asked, “But that’s normal, isn’t it? There are so many sunlit courtyards here, it’s only natural that there would be passages leading to the surface.”
“Yes, so I’m still not sure if it can provide any clues,” Latis said, stroking his chin.
"But if it's a shrimp that has been to the human world, then at least it means that it has been exposed to a wide range of things outside the tribe, and that it has survived all kinds of ambushes by the Ball Monsters and survived to this day. So it might also have some understanding of the Demon King."
"Makes sense."
Holnett thought for a moment and said:
"Speaking of which, when I saw it asking you for the Dream Nail, it seemed like it really recognized the equipment... I don't know if it was just my imagination."
"Really? I didn't notice that. They all look pretty much the same..." Latis couldn't help but rub his forehead.
"Sir, I also feel there's something wrong."
Snyder carefully gripped Latis's shoulder to steady himself, then whispered:
"Although the coming and going monsters have disturbed the aura, I can still sense a faint aura of light on it, just like the king's, only much dimmer, as if it has been a long time."
"This is quite a discovery. The little girl is really amazing."
Latis smiled and praised Kwasnyder, then lowered his voice and whispered, "Then its affairs are indeed a bit complicated: the human world, the aura of light, the silver-scaled breastplate..."
"Silver Scale Breastplate?"
Suddenly, a surprised, gruff voice came from the stall behind them. Latis turned around and saw a large moss crab slowly crawling out of its sand-covered state, shaking off the sand, and sitting on the stall, asking:
"Could it be that you just encountered that mantis shrimp named Zha Zha? You didn't buy its silver-scaled breastplate, did you?"
"Uh... hello." Latis scratched his head and said:
"I don't know its name, but it is indeed a mantis shrimp that is selling silver-scaled breastplates. It looks very experienced."
"Hey, that's an old liar."
The vendor, pushing through the throngs of customers lurking at his stall, grabbed a hard-shelled tree fruit from a fruit bowl resembling a giant Indian cup, brought it to his mouth, cracked open the shell with his pliers, and, sucking on it with his mouthparts, casually remarked:
"Instead of managing the tribe properly, it spends all its time trying to imitate its hero friends by wandering around searching for treasure. It swindles money and then leaves the tribe, but unlike the gathering teams, it never brings anything back. It always returns empty-handed. Look at its long whiskers, it's so old and still so irresponsible. We moss crabs at its age would have already laid hundreds of eggs on the warm shore! Don't go yet, let me tell you something..."
Latis and his teammates listened to the moss crab vendor's rambling, and for a moment they looked at each other, all showing helpless expressions.
……
……
"These monsters seem to really enjoy browsing stalls..."
Leafa, carrying a snail-shell backpack, tossed in a piece of green wheat bread that Jennifer had just bought. This bread was made from green wheat, a specialty of the Moss Tribe. Although Leafa, a farmer girl, thought it was just an early-maturing variety of wheat from the human world that had mutated under prolonged dim lighting, she decided to buy it to take a look since her master was curious.
Her snail-shell backpack is now filled with a whole bunch of things, including but not limited to green wheat bread, lichen hop seeds unique to the Moss Tribe, message in a bottle from the human world that the Crab Tribe picked up from the stream, and sweet algae juice used by the Shrimp Tribe for confessions of love (it is said that sweet algae needs to be taken out to bask in the sun when the first rays of sunlight fall every morning in order to grow, and the sweeter it is, the longer it has been cultivated)...
As for where the shrimp coins they had came from... Although Jennifer didn't usually wear accessories, she would still carry some expensive emergency items in her baggage, such as jewelry from the Hines City treasury, or holy light crystals used for decoration in the Holy City.
Therefore, Leafa now has three hundred shrimp coins, enough to buy sixty pieces of silver scale breastplate.
"Maybe it's because there's not much going on usually..."
Geeta's gaze lingered on Jennifer's luggage for a moment, and she couldn't help but sigh helplessly.
If her family's wealth were to be counted, it wouldn't be much weaker than Jennifer's. However, all of that vanished after she slashed at Black Hat with her sword. Now, she has voluntarily donated all of her family's inheritance to the Holy City, and the few silver coins she had left were "scammed" away by Latis, leaving her penniless.
So even if she wanted to buy something now, she was powerless to do so.
Finding Holnet is useless. The Dark Knight has been living underground for many years. He has everything he needs, except money. He's a complete pauper.
"No, haven't you noticed? Based on my years of experience guarding the Golden Hall, I can completely determine the direction the crowd is heading just by observing their movement."
Jennifer glanced back at the two knight girls behind her, smiled mysteriously, took a step back, stood between them, and put her arms around their shoulders, saying:
"Look, all the mantis shrimps are walking behind us empty-handed, but carrying things in front of us. This means that most of them are buying things for the mantis shrimp gathering area ahead."