Several side dishes and a large barrel of Starwind beer were placed on the round table, and the wide-mouthed iron-inlaid wooden cup was filled with the foamy wine.
One of the two men is a mercenary wearing a mail robe, and the other has tanned snow wolf fur at his feet. He is a hunter who is good at skinning and making skins.
"Is it true that the Lord of Starwind wants to go to the Emerald Ocean?" The mercenary took a sip of ale and asked in surprise: "It is said that there are violent mechanical creations everywhere. What is there to go to?"
The hunter glanced at the other party with disdain and explained: "What do you know? Have you ever heard of dragon blood crystal?"
The mercenary shook his head naively: "I haven't heard of it."
The hunter took a big gulp of ale and sighed: "People like you don't care about the situation in the development zone or the commodity prices, so they can only serve as mercenaries for the rest of their lives."
The mercenary nodded repeatedly and said, "Why don't you show how powerful you are? Please explain to me quickly."
The hunter said with a mysterious face: "The snow wolf fur under my feet has extremely high thermal insulation and magic defense functions. It can be used to make magic defense leather armor. Those demon crystal cores you obtained on the battlefield can serve as the magic energy core of the fire staff. But that's all. Higher-level equipment treasures require higher-level raw materials to create.
"So, what resources do you think are needed to build a powerful space-time gate and a high-level god building?"
The mercenary listened with rapt attention. He was just a rookie who had just entered the game. How could he know this? He immediately urged: "Stop being so pretentious and tell me!"
The hunter chuckled and explained: "There is a kind of resource that is rarer and more powerful than high-end resources, and that is the divine resources that contain divine power. They can be called strategic resources that affect the overall situation for major forces and principalities."
"God resources can not only be used for the construction of time and space gates and high-level god buildings, but can also be used to recruit specific god-chosen warriors."
"There are many types of gods' resources, such as... star silver, which is richer in magic power than mithril, dragon steel, which is stronger than dwarf steel, etc. The output of these resources is limited, but they can still be seen in the development zone. Arrived."
"However, among several types of gods' resources, only the dragon's blood crystal has completely disappeared in the development area. As one of the highest-level gods' resources, it cannot be produced through refining. A few of its natural origins have been lost in the northern part of the continent. Apart from the occupied areas, there are only a few overseas areas that produce it.”
The mercenary asked doubtfully: "Isn't it okay to not use it?"
The hunter continued to add: "That's not possible. Dragon blood crystals are irreplaceable in many uses. The most important ones are to build time and space gates and recruit archangels! Did you know that Falkenridge City lacks dragons? Blood Crystal, the Angel Legion that suffered heavy losses has not been replaced for a long time!"
The mercenary's eyes widened when he heard this: "Is there such a thing?"
"Of course," the hunter said with eyes gleaming, "In other words, whoever can control the overseas origin of dragon blood crystal will control the output of angels in Falkenridge and the resource lifeline of the newly built space-time gate! If I were I discovered a dragon’s blood crystal mine, enough to feed me for eight lifetimes!”
The mercenary suddenly said excitedly: "Doesn't this mean that the Lord of Star Wind is about to monopolize all dragon blood crystal production? Are they still recruiting people? I want to join the fleet going out to sea!"
"Come on," the hunter shook his head and said, "The Lord of Star Wind only has one vassal organization for players, which is the Star Wind Guild of the Wolf Principality. With your ability, you can't get in even if you kill yourself, so you might as well go to the Fantasy Sea Guild. Try it.”
"Illusion Sea Guild?"
The hunter showed a thoughtful expression: "I don't know if it was stimulated by the Lord of Star Wind. The Fantasy Sea Guild released a big news a few days ago. They have already built a magic fleet with the conditions for ocean voyages, but they have been It was not announced to the public!”
"Isn't this tit for tat? The Fantasy Sea Guild is not to be outdone," the mercenary sighed. "One is a popular representative of the Ashan Aboriginal people, and the other is the president of the first guild in the Advent side and the chairman of the National Server Guild Alliance. , who do you think is more powerful, Lou Feiyu or the Lord of Star Wind?"
"Whatever," the hunter said carelessly, "They are all leaders in the pioneering area. As long as they can block the Starbreaker's attack, they will eat meat and we will drink soup. If they can't stand it anymore, we have to follow. Tough luck.”
The mercenary thought for a long time and then said: "Brother, you are right. I might as well try the Fantasy Sea Guild. It is said that they also have a player-led city in the desert, Silver Sand City? It seems to be very developed... ....”
The hunter teased: "Fackenridge has opened a teleportation route to Silver Sands City, but do you have the teleportation fee for the Time Gate?"
"No, alas!" When the mercenary frowned, an idea suddenly flashed in his mind, "Look at those players who massacred villages and made a lot of money. How about we give it a try?"
The hunter shook his head and said with some hesitation: "It's better to say goodbye. I think those Yashan people are very pitiful. Although I know they are NPCs, I still can't do it."
"A fellow-minded person!"
"drink wine!"
"drink wine!"
As soon as the two men touched their wine glasses, they forgot about the disputes in the Saran continent, their meager income, and the absurd real life.
Li Ran was listening to the whole process. Looking at this pair of brothers and sisters, he couldn't help but laugh softly.
"It seems there are still some people with conscience."
Crunch——
The door to the tavern opened and Algernon appeared holding a girl's hand.
Xuerou was less than half the height of a man, and looked quite weak in the noisy tavern hall.
She looked around and was a little scared when she saw the roaring drinkers, but when she saw Li Ran, she calmed down instantly.
Xuerou broke away from Algernon's hand, ran towards Li Ran, and threw herself on his lap without saying a word.
"Ah, we meet again, little guy," Li Ran said with a smile, "Algernon, can you help me deliver a hot milk and sandwich?"
"Okay, sir."
In front of other drinkers, Algernon reverted to his image as a steady publican and bartender.
Xuerou raised her head, her dirty little face washed away by tears, and said, "Uncle, it was you who saved me, right?"
"Huh?" Li Ran looked around with a strange expression and found that no one was paying attention here, so he lowered his voice and said, "How do you know?"
"That uncle told me just now that you asked him to defeat the bad guy and save me. And I saw that my mother was smiling at you before she died, so you are not a bad guy."
Xuerou's words sounded a bit unbearable to Li Ran. Children at such a young age were usually not very sensible.
Li Ran asked softly: "Do you know...your mother has passed away?"
Xuerou nodded blankly: "I know, mom is dead, dad is dead, everyone in the village is dead, and Xuerou is the only one left."
Li Ran asked tentatively: "Then where do you plan to go?"
Xuerou raised her head and looked at Li Ran steadily: "Uncle, please take me away. Xuerou...has no family anymore."
Li Ran was extremely surprised. Although he planned to ask Algernon to send the girl back to Starwind City, he never thought that such a young child would make such a request.
At this time, Algernon brought hot milk and sandwiches on a dinner plate and placed them on the round table.
Xuerou immediately sat on Li Ran's lap, threw herself on the table, and started eating hungrily.
Li Ran was even more surprised by Xuerou's reaction.
To this little girl, he was just a stranger she met for the first time. Why did she trust him so much?
The reason for this is naturally impossible to know except for the person involved.
Because in Xuerou's eyes, Li Ran's body always exudes a warm golden light, like a furnace in the harsh winter, making her feel safe and warm, and she instinctively wants to get closer.
Such a scene, however, was invisible to Algernon and the room full of drunkards.
Looking at the petite Xuerou like a hungry tiger pouncing on prey, Li Ran also made a decision.
"Algernon, I don't need to trouble you anymore, I'll send her back myself," Li Ran said with a smile, "Please prepare enough warm clothing for me, otherwise this lady will definitely not be able to bear the cold at high altitudes."
"As you wish, Lord Li Ran." Algernon said in a low voice.
He immediately came to the nearby wine table and politely asked the hunter: "Sir, how do you sell your snow wolf fur?"
The hunter said drunkenly: "My piece of goods has been decided. The boss of the Chamber of Commerce will pay 300 gold coins to buy it..."
Algernon smiled and said, "I need this fur urgently. Can I pay you a thousand gold coins?"
After hearing the numbers, the hunter woke up from the effects of alcohol, opened his eyes wide and stammered, "Of course, of course, I often come to your place to drink, but I don't need that much..."
Algernon took out a thousand gold coins from the space ring. The golden hard currency immediately covered the table in front of the hunters and mercenaries. As he took away the fur, he said politely: "Thank you for your help."
The golden gold coins attracted the attention of many people. The hunter hurriedly put the gold coins into the space ring. Seeing those malicious looks, he and the mercenary looked at each other and began to think about the escape route after leaving.
At the back door of the tavern, Algernon handed the thick snow wolf fur to Li Ran who was waiting here.
Li Ran couldn't help but said in surprise: "So fast?"
"Your time is precious, Lord. Of course I will try my best to save you time," Algernon said with a smile. "I still have some work to report, so I won't waste your time. I will submit it to Lord An Ke truthfully. .”
Li Ran nodded with complicated eyes: "Thank you for your hard work. You are an elite member of Star Wind Shadow. The environment of Falkenridge is complex and full of difficulties and dangers. When collecting intelligence here, you must be careful."
"Okay, Lord Li Ran," Algernon bowed slightly, "To prevent passers-by from becoming suspicious, I apologize for not sending you further away. Please take care of yourself."
Li Ran said goodbye to the Starwind Shadow operators who had traveled thousands of miles to station in the local area. He hugged Snow Wolf Fur and held Xuerou's little hand, and walked into the surging crowd of people in Falkenridge Trading District.
At the predetermined location outside the city, Selina will wait for him to appear and return to Starwind City after a long absence.
