Chapter 857 - Fortuitous Encounter at the Pearl Divers' Port
Chapter 857: Fortuitous Encounter at the Pearl Divers’ Port
Even though the Wind God Boat was fast, it could only move sixty thousand kilometers in a day.
Han Fei regretted not engraving the Wind God Boat with speed arrays after he mastered the technique of arrays.
It was not really slow, but it still took everybody two and a half days to reach the big boat at the center of the Sea of Pearls.
It was more like a fortress at the center of the sea than a boat. Below it were what seemed to be indestructible mountains. They seemed to be nailed to the bottom of the sea.
Above the sea, there were stairs and corridors from about an altitude of three hundred meters. The higher up, the more complicated they were. It looked like a small city had been built on a boat-shaped mountain.
Luo Xiaobai said, “The pearl divers call this place the Pearl Divers’ Port. It has already been developed into a city. Although it’s not as resourceful as the Scattered Stars Island, it’s still remarkable enough. Also, because the Sea of Pearls is the source of money for the Scattered Stars Island, Thousand Star City, and the 36 towns, many magnates often stay here.”
Han Fei’s eyes glittered. “Magnates?”
Luo Xiaobai glanced at him. “Don’t try to rob them. Because a lot of wealth is kept in this place, and many rare items are auctioned frequently, there are ten Law Enforcers in the Pearl Divers’ Port at all times to prevent any accidents…”
Han Fei and the others all gasped and looked at Luo Xiaobai. “Then where are we going?”
Luo Xiaobai said, “To pay for our passes. We can’t pick the pearls without permission. There’s nothing interesting in the Pearl Divers’ Port except for those buildings in different styles. The other facilities are just similar to those on the Scattered Stars Island.”
Han Fei asked, “What about the auctions? When are they held?”
Luo Xiaobai said, “I don’t know that. The files I read said that there isn’t a fixed schedule. However, there will be notices at the front desk if an auction is to be held.”
A moment later…
Everybody was led to a departure port by Luo Xiaobai.
In fact, Han Fei and the others didn’t have to search very hard.
As long as they came to the main passage of the port, they could easily see the building that had a pointy head three thousand meters away. The other buildings were much lower.
Luo Xiaobai explained, “The registration office has two functions. They accept the pearls that the pearl divers pick up, and release temporary permission slips. Recently, everybody knows that something happened on the Sea of Pearls. A lot of people are coming to explore.”
Han Fei and the others walked to the registration office, and Han Fei asked, “What if the temporary permission slip expires? Wouldn’t it be troublesome if we have to renew it here?”
Luo Xiaobai said, “The temporary permission slip is a white badge, which will turn black once it expires. Someone will come to you if you’re still on the Sea of Pearls, and you can pay up front.”
Han Fei nodded. “How convenient! But five thousand high-quality pearls a day seems rather expensive.”
Le Renkuang quickly nodded. “Yes, that’s too expensive! We should catch more sea creatures and send them back…”
Luo Xiaobai said, “No! The Sea of Pearls is full of low-level creatures that the spiritual clams can easily catch, which makes it easier for them to make high-quality pearls. You’ll have to pay fines if you’re caught hunting these sea creatures.”
Han Fei and the others were quite surprised. They weren’t aware of such a rule at all.
Han Fei thought for a moment. “Never mind. If the temporary permission slip expires, we’ll be informed immediately? They can also locate us?”
Luo Xiaobai nodded. “Yes. The Sea of Pearls is a fairly large place. We’ll stay here for twenty days. If we can’t find anything in twenty days, we’ll leave.”
Han Fei nodded. “I agree.”
Le Renkuang remarked with mixed feelings, “Do we really have to pay 400,000 high-quality pearls?”
Zhang Xuanyu said lazily, “Whatever caught the attention of so many people must be worth more than 400,000 high-quality pearls. However, I wonder if they started the rumor just to fool more people into coming to this place.”
Luo Xiaobai shook her head with a casual smile. “I don’t think so.”
A moment later…
On his way to the registration office, Han Fei found that most of the people in the crowd were just Hanging Fishers.
Many of them were crippled. Some had lost an arm, some walked with a limp, and some wore masks.
In fact, while severed limbs couldn’t be regrown, most wounds could be healed by spirit gatherers.
Luo Xiaobai said, “They were mostly mutilated on the battlefield. It means that even spirit gatherers couldn’t heal their wounds. They couldn’t afford hiring better spirit gatherers or alchemists to treat them, so they work as pearl divers to make money. Most of them won’t work here anymore after they’re healed.”
Finally reaching the registration office, Han Fei looked up at the wall and found no notice of an auction. Finally, he walked into the registration office.
The office was lively and noisy.
Some of the counters were for pearl divers, which could be easily recognized by their disabilities.
Han Fei walked to the counter. “Hello. I’d like four temporary permits for twenty days.”
The receptionist said, “Please pay 400,000 high-quality pearls.”
Han Fei caught a lot of attention when he paid the money, mostly because Luo Xiaobai and the others were too eye-catching.
Someone from the team of pearl divers asked in surprise, “Are they here to find the secret behind the earthquake again?”
Someone slightly shook his head. “How many people have come here? They’re still not giving up? Those fireballs are nothing interesting.”
Someone said, “Idiot, do you see their waist tags? All of them are six-star Slaughterers except for one. They can easily kill you with one slap.”
The man said with a smile, “What are you scared of? This is the Pearl Divers’ Port. Nothing has happened here.”
Han Fei overheard their conversation. He turned around and looked at them. “Brothers, do the fireballs you mention appear frequently?”
When Han Fei asked them, they trembled, and one of them replied, “My lord, the fireballs aren’t frequent. They sometimes appear when we pick pearls, but they’ll soon disappear.”
Han Fei hummed and asked again, “What do the fireballs look like?”
The pearl diver added, “They’re like the flying plate coral, except that they’re fatter. A couple of them appear together all the time. They move in a row in water and can be seen from far away.”
The other person added, “A lot of people have seen their blue and purple flames. Someone has even observed them closely and touched them! But they’re actually cold.”
Han Fei asked in surprise, “So, you’ve all seen them?”
The two of them nodded. “In the Sea of Pearls, almost all the pearl divers saw them after the earthquake, but their number dwindled gradually. They’re hard to come by nowadays. However, the mysterious flames aren’t the center of attention these days.”
Han Fei asked with a smile, “Oh? Then what is?”
The man looked at Han Fei and said in a low voice, “My lord, that’s a secret.”
Han Fei nodded at the door, and the two men smiled at each other. Soon, they followed Han Fei to the door.
Han Fei smirked. “Let’s see how much your intelligence is worth.”
One of the men chuckled. “My lord, the Pearl Divers’ Port never announced it, but some pearl divers went missing recently.”
Zhang Xuanyu’s eyes flashed. “That makes more sense. I didn’t think that anybody would’ve been so interested in a few flames.”
Luo Xiaobai glanced at them. “Each of you will get a hundred high-quality pearls.”
They didn’t complain but accepted the money with a smile.
The intelligence was already well-known. They were quite happy that they earned two hundred high-quality pearls from a few words.
Han Fei looked at Luo Xiaobai and the others. “There’s indeed a secret, but I think we may be late!”
It suddenly occurred to Han Fei that Luo Xiaobai mentioned something about that when he just left the Scattered Stars Island, but Luo Xiaobai was quite casual back then so Han Fei didn’t consider it a big deal.
Some secrets seemed to be really buried in the Sea of Pearls!
While walking out, Luo Xiaobai said, “Although we’re late and someone must’ve investigated it, we may still have a chance if Little White can track down the target.”
Zhang Xuanyu and Le Renkuang quickly nodded. They were quite confident in Little White.
Han Fei chuckled. “Then let’s try our luck. If we can’t find anything, we’ll just consider the trip a vacation. We’ve been working separately since we came to the Scattered Stars Island and haven’t really hung out together. Let’s just consider this an adventure.”
Zhang Xuanyu and Le Renkuang both looked at Han Fei.
Zhang Xuanyu said, “Hey, it’s only because you’ve been occupied, alright? You were busy refining and… Then you stayed outside for so long!”
Han Fei chuckled. “It’s not too late to make up for it! There’s still two years to go until we leave the Scattered Stars Island! The time is enough for us to explore many places…”
Suddenly, Han Fei’s eyelids shivered, as he found an acquaintance, Jiang Tong.
When Han Fei saw Jiang Tong, Jiang Tong saw him too.
Jiang Tong was a man without much influence, but he was of great help when Han Fei swindled people out of money in the Wind Thunder Town.
Han Fei had seen him too in the great battle on the sea after he just came to the Scattered Stars Island.
He had never seen the guy again. At this moment, he found that Jiang Tong was already a Hidden Fisher with a six-star waist tag.
Han Fei suddenly realized that the man wasn’t simple at all. The man had obtained six stars even faster than Le Renkuang did! Also, few people recognized him, which made Han Fei rather curious.
When Jiang Tong saw Han Fei, he withdrew his gaze and moved to the registration office.
Han Fei instantly shouted, “Why are you running? Come on. Shouldn’t we catch up as old friends?”
Jiang Tong turned his head back grimly. He didn’t expect to meet Han Fei at all!
Jiang Tong smiled. “Hey! What a coincidence! Are you here to pick pearls?”
Han Fei replied with a feigned smile, “Do we look like pearl divers to you?”
Jiang Tong glanced at him and said, “No.”