Chapter 26: The Merchant Ship
"These people… they're from Qihai Studio, aren't they?"
"What kind of grudge is this? They just sicced their pet on someone without a word?"
"What's the big deal? It's Fishfolk — that's the pet of the top-four leaderboard big shot, 'Horse Coin Bro.'"
"No wonder then. Qihai Studio had people surround him back then, and he got hacked up pretty badly. Of course he's going to kill them on sight now."
"……"
There were quite a few players nearby. Watching the scene unfold, they gossiped casually enough — but their bodies told a more honest story, quietly edging away. This top-four leaderboard big shot apparently held a serious grudge.
Chen Sui, for his part, didn't particularly care. Even setting aside the matter of venting his anger, if the people from Qihai Studio ever got back on their feet, they'd most likely come looking for revenge anyway.
Showing mercy to your enemies is cruelty to yourself.
So what Chen Sui did was simply an act of mercy toward himself.
The two sides had a feud — kill on sight, nothing more to say.
But… who came up with the nickname "Horse Coin Bro"?
"Brother Chen, over here."
The person in charge of Quhua, Lu Yaoren, along with Lu Chengzhi, waved from a distance. Their group had already gathered outside with the other players, waiting.
Behind them, a massive merchant ship was moored at the shore. The vessel was grand and enormous — easily dozens of meters tall. Its hull was crafted from some special type of wood, painted in a base coat of gold and red, with both ends tapering to sharp points. The great sails bore the emblem of a colossal sea serpent.
A huge white sea serpent coiled around the hull nearby. Its head — the size of a truck — poked out from behind the merchant ship, a red forked tongue flickering as it regarded the crowd with cold, unblinking eyes.
[Territorial Sea Serpent]
Chen Sui could only see a name, which meant this great serpent clearly belonged to someone as a pet.
"A creature of this size… it must be a Rare Quality sea beast."
Chen Sui thought to himself.
Lu Chengzhi's studio group stood at the entrance to the merchant ship. A golden gangway had been lowered from the hull, and a few figures in peculiar attire stood guard outside. Their outfits used black and gold as the base colors — somewhere between a tailcoat and a suit of armor — with metal armor plates sewn onto key positions.
They looked like guards.
"What's the situation?"
Chen Sui strode over in a few quick steps and glanced around. He noticed only two or three people standing beside Lu Chengzhi. "Why are there so few people? Where is everyone else? Sleeping?"
"The person in charge inside just announced that each person needs to pay 300 Fish Coins to enter. Everyone went to scrape the money together."
Lu Chengzhi shook his head.
Chen Sui found it a little odd:
"Just getting in costs three hundred, and who knows how expensive the stuff inside is. Even if they manage to scrape it together, what could they actually buy in there?"
But then it clicked. "Oh, oh, oh — they handed their money to you."
"Right. We only need one person to go in. I'll buy things on their behalf and bring them out."
Lu Chengzhi nodded.
Chen Sui's expression turned a little strange:
"That really is expensive. This doesn't seem like the kind of place an ordinary NPC could afford to patronize."
"Yeah. It's probably an event aimed at us players. Apparently the ship carries goods from all sorts of different places — hopefully we can find some decent items."
Chen Sui said nothing more.
But inwardly, he was turning something over in his mind. An event aimed at players?
That was interesting. Azure had only been in open beta for a few days, and the existence of Chosen Ones hadn't been known for long either. So why would there suddenly be an event specifically targeting Chosen Ones?
Chen Sui thought it over carefully but couldn't arrive at a satisfying explanation.
The thought faded without resolution.
About half an hour passed, and the others gradually trickled back. After a round of greetings, the atmosphere around them grew lively.
"Brother Chen, have you decided what you want to buy?"
Lu Chengzhi handed over a list from beside him. It was densely packed with dozens of entries.
"What's this?"
"It's a summary of everything we currently need to buy, ranked by priority. If you don't have a plan yet, you can use this as a reference."
Lu Chengzhi explained.
Chen Sui listened, then looked back down at the list in his hand.
1. Pioneering (clues, items, or treasure maps).
2. Whereabouts of rare sea beasts, or methods to obtain them.
3. Better Capture Nets (high demand).
4. Sustainable development items (e.g. property deeds, tokens…).
5. Skills (sea beast dismantling, information on more niche professions).
6. Ships (related sailing permits or methods to obtain vessels).
7. ……
Dozens of densely packed entries made Chen Sui's eyes swim.
But he had to admit — as a gaming studio, the strategy guide they'd put together was genuinely forward-thinking.
The fact alone that they'd placed pioneering items at the top of the list showed their philosophy wasn't about protecting their iron-clad livelihood, but about chasing the game's mainstream content as aggressively as possible.
"Pretty good — very useful as a reference. Since we're going in together anyway, let's share whatever we find in the group chat and avoid wasting money on duplicates."
Chen Sui said.
"Great minds think alike. Information and resources — including skills and the like — we share across the board. The goal is to form a proper organization as quickly as possible." Lu Chengzhi smiled. "Games like this usually develop large-scale organizations later on — guilds, settlements, that sort of thing. Big shots like Tianxing are already preparing in advance. When the time comes, as long as the conditions are right, one rallying cry and a massive organization springs up in the blink of an eye."
"So this is getting ahead of the curve?"
Chen Sui thought it sounded pretty good. Having people behind you was always better than going it alone — not only did it make many things more convenient, it also opened more doors.
Lu Chengzhi: "More or less."
It was clear that Lu Chengzhi had included himself in that picture. Chen Sui didn't mind — it actually suited him quite well.
About ten minutes later — clang, clang, clang —
A metallic ringing rang out from the ship, followed by a voice: "Attention, everyone. Trading has begun. Please pay 300 Fish Coins and enter in an orderly fashion."
"Let's go."
Lu Chengzhi looked up at the towering gangway and spoke.
The three attending the trade fair this time were the heads of the two major studios and Chen Sui — three people in total.
The three of them climbed the gangway one by one. After paying 300 Fish Coins each, the guards stepped aside and allowed them to enter.
A figure standing nearby called out a reminder:
"The merchants aboard this vessel hail from islands across the seas. If your eye isn't sharp enough and you end up buying fakes, the consequences are entirely your own responsibility. The Golden Serpent Trading Company accepts no liability. Furthermore, please maintain proper trading etiquette — our guards will expel anyone who disrupts order, and in serious cases, they will eliminate you outright."
"Understood."
The three nodded and stepped inside the ship.
The interior was divided into trading sections by cabin. Each cabin was roughly the size of a basketball court, filled wall to wall with vendors and their stalls.
They walked into the first cabin.
A bewitching fragrance drifted to their noses. The air buzzed with noise, and a dazzling array of goods flooded their vision all at once.
From sea beast hides dozens of meters long, down to jewels and agates from every corner of the world, to items of unknown function — everything was on full display, laid out openly on the ground without a hint of shame.
The vendors in their outlandish garb were busy spreading out their wares, presenting their goods for sale.
Chen Sui casually reached out and touched a piece of merchandise on a nearby stall.
"Hey, don't poke at things if you're not buying."
The vendor snapped.
"My apologies."
Chen Sui straightened up and turned to the other two. "The items here don't show any item information — it must all be blocked."
"Makes sense. After all, they said outside that buying fakes is your own problem. If you could just read the item info and spot the real ones, that rule would be pointless."
Lu Yaoren, the person in charge of Quhua, nodded.
"Let's head deeper in and have a look around."
The three set off, ready to split up and explore on their own.