Chapter Forty-Nine: Intelligence

The matter of unwavering valor is a grave one. Although Zhao Nan did not understand why the Grand Duke of the Empire of Night needed such a blessing, he could only quietly offer his apologies from the depths of his heart to that unseen noble. Then, together with Finina, he traveled discreetly through the streets of Dongyuan City.

The Blood Shadow’s actions were swifter than anticipated. Wanted posters had already appeared on every corner, the privileges of the guild making such bounties possible. Yet the image on the poster was nothing more than a dark, indistinct silhouette, with only the names of the two fugitives beneath. Due to the attack, Zhao Nan and Finina’s names were automatically included in the notification. They knew only their names and gender, not their appearance, and Zhao Nan found himself grateful that his circle of friends was small.

There seemed to be other powerful figures within Blood Shadow, which explained how they could organize this manhunt within just two days, and why no further rumors had surfaced besides the guild master’s death. Perhaps it was true, as the saying goes, that the military harbors many extraordinary individuals.

Indeed, Blood Shadow’s origin lay in a recruit training camp on the outskirts of Dongyuan City.

...

Even at night, the Mage Hall on the long street was ablaze with light. Golden pillars were carved with strange designs, unlike any style found on Earth. The massive double doors gleamed with a muted black sheen, each bearing half of a six-pointed star magic circle.

As time went by, the Mage Hall grew livelier.

After a month of hunting monsters, if one could not earn enough to purchase a few basic skills, life ahead would be bleak. Zhao Nan looked up, his face devoid of emotion, blending in with the hurried player-mages entering the hall. Like them, he would walk in under the pitying gazes of those who had failed.

As a Sky Sword Saint, skills appeared to him naturally. Thus, inside the Mage Hall, Finina took the opportunity to visit Heidian. The emissary was no longer the owner of the weapons shop; after finishing his storyline, he could only appear within the Mage Hall.

This time, Zhao Nan shopped for skills alone.

First was "Corrosive Vine."

Once mastered, "Corrosive Vine" allowed learning its advanced skill, "Thorn Vine." At level one, "Thorn Vine" could summon five thorny vines to entangle foes. Though it inflicted no attack or added damage, it had a unique property.

If a "Thorn Vine" was cut, it dealt 50 points of fixed damage to the restrained target. With proficiency raised to mastery, one could summon ten vines, each severed vine inflicting 100 points of fixed damage.

"Thorn Vine" was famed as the most difficult skill to master below level 25 in the dark arts branch, as proficiency was not merely a matter of repeated casting—it depended on its effect.

At this stage, unless one possessed a hidden class, swordsmen could at most learn combo skills, and even at mastery, they could only chain five hits. But for Zhao Nan, what ordinary swordsmen could not achieve, Finina, as a Sky Sword Saint, could accomplish! With Star Combo, he could quickly master "Thorn Vine."

"Thorn Vine" was Zhao Nan’s main skill for tackling level 10 dungeons. Next, he acquired several advanced curse skills from the dark arts branch, followed by a few level 15 support skills from other branches. For Zhao Nan at this stage, a handful of low-level, mastered attack skills sufficed.

Such relentless magical assaults left the enemy no room to breathe. Enough ants could devour an elephant.

And so, about two hours later, the pair strolled through Dongyuan City’s nighttime streets. Zhao Nan seemed to favor walking at night, a habit Finina had noticed. Yet, after six years at his side, she cared little whether it was day or night.

Zhao Nan twisted a lock of hair at the nape of his neck; Finina knew this was his sign of deep contemplation, more so than touching his nose, so she wisely kept silent.

---

Similarly, Zhao Nan found that hearing the gentle footsteps beside him helped quiet his mind as he pondered a question—the matter of rumors.

All intelligence about Blood Shadow was hearsay, passed from mouth to mouth. How much was true, how much mere gossip? Between Zhao Nan and Blood Shadow, the situation was one of geographical opposition—he was hidden while they were exposed; in the realm of information, the reverse was true. Uncertain how much intelligence Blood Shadow truly possessed, Zhao Nan felt a twinge of unease.

In reality, the city’s safe zone was the least safe place of all.

Zhao Nan needed intelligence—anything about Blood Shadow. With this realization, the notion of testing unwavering valor was cast aside. He took Finina’s soft, boneless hand, and like a pair of nocturnal rats, they wove through the streets of Dongyuan City, turning left and right.

Few knew—or perhaps no one yet knew—that Dongyuan City housed a native profession eager to interact with adventurers.

Their race was the elves, specifically the wind elves. They had another title—Information Merchant.

Dongyuan City’s Information Merchant was a homeless man who slept beneath a park bench from morning till night in the area that was once, and still is, the city park. He was utterly filthy, with a wild mane and a gray-white beard nearly covering half his face.

Thanks to this disheveled appearance, no one realized that the tramp was a beautiful elf, famed as the most elegant wind elf. Nor did they know that this vagrant beneath the bench held vast intelligence about Dongyuan City.

“Information Merchant, Afanti.”

“You’ve got the wrong man.”

“Afanti, I’m willing to offer you enough fire plum seeds.”

Zhao Nan stood before the bench, relaxed and at ease. He knew that only fire plum seeds would move this tramp, the sole price for exchanging information.

Afanti’s curled form suddenly stretched; his dark legs protruded from one end of the bench, and his head appeared from the other. He looked at Zhao Nan, only his eyes clearly visible. After a moment of silence, he licked his lips and grinned strangely, “What do you want to know?”

“How much intelligence does the Blood Shadow guild have about that wanted person?” Zhao Nan asked directly.

Since it was a transaction, there was no need for pleasantries.

“Gender, name. They’ve been asking around these two days, but haven’t found much. Also, Blood Shadow seems to have two factions—let’s call them the radicals and the conservatives. The radicals want revenge; the conservatives prefer to investigate thoroughly before deciding. The price for this answer is forty fire plum seeds.”

Zhao Nan touched his nose, unfazed by the demand, and pressed his lips, “What about their strength?”

“At present, they have two hundred official guild members and over three hundred affiliates, all part of the same collective, but limited by the guild’s member cap, so split apart. Average level is seven. Their highest levels are two twelves—one Barbarian Throne Warrior, one Fire Dragon Mage. Thirteen at level eleven, forty-seven at level ten, all standard classes. Hmm, that intelligence costs fifty seeds.”

Zhao Nan nodded, expressionless, “I’ll pay ten extra seeds. Tell me the name of the second guild established in Dongyuan City.”

Afanti suddenly shook his head, arguing, “Customer, that information isn’t worth so little!”

“Just the name, no other details.”

---

“All right,” Afanti conceded, as if doing business at a loss. He slumped back under the bench, then the words “End of the World” drifted out.

“I’ll bring your payment at this time tomorrow,” Zhao Nan said, leaving with Finina, a radiant smile on his face.

Gao Mingyang had not disappointed him.

“Strange, why would that old man tell you the information without even taking a deposit first?” Finina wondered aloud, counting the blue stones beneath their feet as they walked the quiet street.

“Because he hears so much that, without payment, your secrets—down to the color of your underwear—might be spread through the city in no time,” Zhao Nan replied softly.

Finina stuck out her tongue, clutching her collar nervously, her clear eyes wide and lips trembling, “Pervert!”

Zhao Nan laughed, pulling her into his arms under the starlight, whispering, “He only does that when employers refuse to pay. Information Merchants are forbidden from invading personal privacy. If they do, they’re punished and lose all ability to gather intelligence.”

“Thank goodness!”

...

...

At dawn, the glorious sunlight spilled from the clear sky, mischievously piercing through the swaying leaves and falling upon a host of cold corpses.

Sweat had already begun to bead between Finina’s hair. The field of monster seed corpses before her was her handiwork.

This was the level ten monster zone, the strange seed area.

Here, fire plum seeds could be harvested, and the place served as a training ground to hone their skills.

As the weather grew hot, Zhao Nan carefully counted the seeds he had gathered, wiped sweat from his brow, and squinted up at the rising sun... The first update was just around the corner.