Chapter 30: The Big Shopping Spree
Chapter 30: The Big Shopping Spree
"Miss Lan."
The guard who had just delivered the VIP Card to Chen Sui returned to Lan Lian's office and called out respectfully.
Lan Lian heard him but didn't rush to respond. She finished processing the document in her hands first, then unhurriedly set down her pen and looked up at him.
"He accepted it?"
"He took everything and the arrangements have been made."
The guard replied respectfully.
A faint smile curved the corner of Lan Lian's mouth. "As long as he accepted it, that's all that matters. You may go — the rest is none of your concern."
"Yes, ma'am."
The guard gave a nod and turned to leave the office.
Lan Lian leaned back against the sea beast hide chair behind her, crossed her legs, and let a relaxed expression settle over her face.
As far as she was concerned, the matter of the Fishfolk was already set in stone. Chen Sui couldn't escape the palm of her hand.
Over all these years, Lan Lian had clawed her way up from the very bottom to where she stood today. She had met more people than she could count and experienced more than she could remember.
She understood one thing clearly: every situation had its trick, and every person had their weakness.
As long as you knew how to exploit them, nothing was impossible.
Her first impression of Chen Sui was that he was reckless and ruthless, yet possessed a sliver of reason. He could throw aside the rules of the merchant ship and kill someone without a second thought, yet he could also rein himself in afterward when she intervened — suppressing the urge to strike down that merchant a second time.
But when all was said and done, his recklessness outweighed his reason.
People like that were actually quite simple-minded. They were guarded against everyone, yet when their guard was down, they could be surprisingly warm.
That was precisely why Lan Lian had taken no action after the incident — she wanted to lower his vigilance.
Let that period pass.
And afterward, once Chen Sui inevitably provoked someone he couldn't afford to provoke and found himself with nowhere to turn, she — Lan Lian — would step in to stop it. All she would need to do then was show a touch of sincerity and a hint of reluctance, and whatever she wanted, Chen Sui would hand over with both hands.
Lan Lian didn't think Chen Sui would leave. After all, she had already given him a woman, a discount card, and the privilege of having merchants' goods appraised for him.
Anyone would stay — Chen Sui especially.
"…A Superior sea beast at ninth tier Wavecrest Rank shouldn't be too hard to deal with. The people I arranged should already be in position by now."
Lan Lian mused to herself.
Just then, a conch shell resting beside her hand let out a sound: "Miss Lan, there's a situation."
It was a Sound-Transmission Conch — a device that served as a means of communication.
"What is it?"
Lan Lian's face carried a smile of someone who had everything under control. "Has he arrived at your location, or did he go to Cabin No. 3?"
The voice from the conch fell silent for a few seconds. "Neither."
"Neither?"
"He… got off the ship."
"What?!"
* * *
By this time, Chen Sui had already returned to the sea beast recycling shop. The wounds on his face had been healed with a recovery potion he'd bought along the roadside — which made him marvel, once again, at the conveniences of being a player.
On his way back, he had stopped to pick up a few articles of clothing from a street stall to bring to Hai Linlin.
"Brother… these are way too big. I can't wear them."
Hai Linlin held the clothes up and found they were a whole size too large for her.
"Those are for your sister. Isn't she cold, sitting alone in the water?"
Chen Sui said with a smile.
"My sister isn't in the water— wait." Halfway through her sentence, Hai Linlin's eyes went wide. "My sister isn't outside!"
Sure enough — her sister was that Mermaid.
Kids were so easy to trick. One leading question and it all came spilling out.
Chen Sui laughed inwardly, but kept his expression perfectly neutral.
"No matter where she is, she still gets cold, right? Take these clothes back with you and tell her you bought them with your own wages."
"But…"
"But what?"
"Nothing. Thank you, Brother." Hai Linlin gave a small nod and sighed, a look of resignation on her face. Young as she was, the long months of running had sharpened her. She wasn't naive — she knew that with one slip of the tongue, Chen Sui had learned everything he needed to know.
"Do you know why there are so few people in the fishing village today?"
Chen Sui nodded, then casually brought up something else, as if in passing.
"Hm?"
Hai Linlin looked up, a slightly blank expression on her face.
Chen Sui continued:
"A merchant ship arrived. It's carrying a wanted poster for the Mermaid princess of the Abyss Kingdom. Be careful — stay indoors as much as possible these next few days. If you need to, I'll have a word with the boss and get you a few days off."
At those words, the color drained from Hai Linlin's small face in an instant.
It was as though some terrible memory had been stirred. Within seconds, a cold sweat broke out across her skin. Her eyes flickered with unease and anger, and her small frame, perched on the stool, seemed on the verge of toppling over.
"I…"
Her head swam with dizziness, and just as she was about to lose her balance, a hand reached out and steadied her shoulder.
Hai Linlin threw her arms around Chen Sui's waist like a small child.
Chen Sui said nothing. He only sighed inwardly, and gently stroked Hai Linlin's hair from time to time.
"Brother, here — take this. Thank you for looking after me all this time. I'll always remember you."
Hai Linlin suddenly reached into her pocket and pulled out a bracelet made of small shells, holding it out to Chen Sui.
"Why do you sound so final about it? Are you leaving?"
Chen Sui didn't take it and asked instead.
Hai Linlin blinked, then shook her head.
"I'm not leaving. I just wanted to give you something. Does giving someone a gift mean you're saying goodbye?"
"Not necessarily, but you really did sound like it." Chen Sui let out a breath of relief and accepted the bracelet. It was strung together from tiny shells, and no item panel appeared — meaning it had no special properties whatsoever.
Under Hai Linlin's gaze, Chen Sui slipped it onto his wrist. The little shells caught the sunlight and shimmered. "It's beautiful. Very skillfully made."
"Pretty, right? My sister gave it to me."
Hai Linlin broke into a sweet smile.
Chen Sui ruffled her hair. She really was a sweet, simple-hearted little girl.
Not long after, Chen Sui brought Hai Linlin to a nearby inn and got her a room to stay in. He then headed to The Docks, arriving just in time to meet up with Lu Chengzhi as he came out.
Only then did Chen Sui relax. It seemed the other party hadn't tried to forcibly detain them after all.
Whatever that woman was scheming, he wasn't setting foot on that wretched ship again.
"Brother Chen!"
Lu Chengzhi and Lu Yaoren came over with the other studio members, both of them beaming from ear to ear.
Lu Chengzhi shared the information on several items to the group chat. "Everyone in the group is one of us — people I trust — so I'll share it directly. Just don't let this leak out."
[Sacred Azure-Class Medium Fishing Boat Blueprint]
Quality: Rare
Can be used to construct the Sacred Azure Kingdom's proprietary vessel model, but requires the corresponding sea zone's navigation rights. Private construction is generally prohibited.
[Water Walking Skill Book]
Quality: Rare
Allows a Ranch Master to learn the Water Walking skill.
[Crimson Barnacle Cultivation Method]
Quality: Superior
A cultivation guide for raising Crimson Barnacles. The Crimson Gems produced by Crimson Barnacles can be sold as luxury goods at high prices to merchant ships that come to trade.
[Method for Sea Beasts to Break Through the Wavecrest Rank]
Quality: Superior
An ancient tome passed down through the ages, recording the ritual methods by which sea beasts can break through the Wavecrest Rank.
A rare fishing boat blueprint, a skill book for players, an economical sea beast cultivation guide — and the very book Chen Sui had been desperately searching for: the method for sea beasts to break through the Wavecrest Rank!
Was this right?
These items were all excellent, but Chen Sui couldn't help feeling a little sour inside.
Were they really on the same ship?
He seriously doubted it. The drop rates on the two sides couldn't possibly be the same!
The comparison was brutal — how could they just casually buy things and end up with such incredible items? He had bought over a dozen things and only scraped together two that were barely passable.
"Holy crap, these are amazing. They couldn't have been cheap, right?" someone asked. "Boss, does our studio really have that kind of funds?"
"Brother Chen fronted forty thousand," Lu Chengzhi explained. "Without that, we couldn't have afforded any of this with the pocket change we had."
Hearing that, Chen Sui felt a little better. The items weren't his to buy directly, but investing in someone with good luck — that counted as his own luck too, in a way.
"With all of this, we can build our foundation here quickly."
Lu Yaoren was all smiles as well.
Everyone here, except for Chen Sui, made their living grinding in virtual games. With these items as their foundation, it meant that as long as Azure didn't shut down, they'd never go hungry.
"Alright, let's divide up the work," Lu Chengzhi said, beginning to assign tasks. "We'll split into a few groups. Since we can build a ship now, let's start with that. Once the ship is ready, we can head out to sea and start pioneering the ocean zones."
He was, after all, the head of a large studio — internally, they already had teams accustomed to this kind of division of labor.
Every detail was swiftly arranged and assigned, and the group moved into action without delay.
There really was something to be said for having a team.
Just as Chen Sui was thinking he could sit back and slack off, Lu Chengzhi turned his gaze toward him.
"Brother Chen, there's something I need your help with."