Chapter 234: Chapter 231: What’s Wrong with Boss?

On the vast ocean.

A cargo ship with traces of repairs all over its hull and slightly worn sails is gently sailing towards the port city of Angus, whose outline is already faintly visible in the distance.

Because Dylan had been chased in Clark, he wasn’t sure if the lord there had issued a warrant for his arrest. To be safe, he had no choice but to choose a merchant ship heading to the northernmost port city of the Kingdom, which meant the journey was much longer than before.

This voyage was not smooth sailing.

It wasn’t due to any pirates or deadly mist, but because the mage responsible for condensing fresh water on the ship had died of old age.

Who knows if the captain was trying to save money, but the water-making mage on board was an old man with only Tier Two Magic skills. Given his age, suddenly dying of old age wasn’t surprising at all.

The old mage passed peacefully, but the entire ship’s crew fell into a freshwater crisis.

The reserve of clean water wasn’t enough to sustain the remaining journey, and the captain was forced to find a marked freshwater spring on a deserted island and detour to fetch water.

As misfortune would have it, while detouring in unfamiliar waters, the ship struck a reef. Fortunately, the reef wasn’t fatal, and the sailors desperately plugged leaks and made repairs, ensuring the ship didn’t sink.

However, after such a string of accidents, the journey was greatly delayed.

The outline of Angus Port gradually became clearer in view. They hadn’t narrowly escaped death, but everyone was elated and relieved to have finally reached their destination after enduring hardships!

Except for Dylan.

“Boss? Boss, say something!”

Inside the cramped bunk of the cabin, Dylan held the corpse of Scout Puki, feeling a pounding headache.

A few days ago, the boss suddenly went silent, and Scout Puki inexplicably detached from mimicry, becoming motionless.

Dylan initially held onto a glimmer of hope, but after a few days, Puki’s body became shriveled, blackened, and hardened, emitting an air of decay. Now it seemed… it was definitely dead!

What exactly happened?

Dylan desperately recalled the last message left by the boss before losing contact—

“Got… got sucked in!”

Dylan scratched his increasingly thinning hair, utterly puzzled by the meaning behind the boss’s last message!

“Calm down, calm down! Think further back…” Dylan tried to recall their earlier conversations.

“Dylan, let me tell you, the Underground City is really fun now, everything you can imagine, but when you come back, you probably won’t see such a spectacular scene. Anyway, I’m off to do some minor repairs.”

Bang!

Dylan’s fist slammed heavily onto the edge of the hardwood bed.

“Boss! What exactly have you encountered?!”

The boss’s current life status was unknown, and judging by Scout Puki’s condition, the situation didn’t look promising. Dylan felt he needed to hurry back!

Dylan knew his limits; he was an adventurer barely scraping the entry-level threshold of Gold Level due mostly to the boss’s enhancements and equipment accumulations.

The trouble the boss couldn’t solve, if he returned, he probably wouldn’t even qualify as cannon fodder.

But… what if?! What if he could somehow help?!

The boss had saved Dylan’s worthless life and helped him search for his daughter. Dylan couldn’t stand by knowing the boss might be in trouble and do nothing.

He had to hurry back!

As soon as the ship docked at the Angus Port wharf, before the plank was securely attached, Dylan squeezed past the captain and sailors still arguing with the port guards who were extorting money.

As for the dead Scout Puki, Dylan could only give it a tearful sea burial.

On the dock, he casually found a friendly-looking porter to ask for directions, then made a beeline for the local Adventurer’s Guild’s Post House, only to hit a wall.

“Silver Level?” Behind the counter, a lanky guild-uniformed man lazily pinched the adventurer badge Dylan had handed over, didn’t even lift his eyelids, and tossed it back to him. “Sorry, no dice. New regulation, single actions below Gold Level, no rental.”

“Why?” Dylan was puzzled, “Just months ago, there wasn’t such a rule!”

“That’s why it’s the ’new’ regulation!” The lanky man clicked his tongue impatiently, finally looking at Dylan. “It’s chaos outside right now! We’re catching Demon Race spies, there’s a grain shortage; there’re more highway robbers than feral dogs out there! You, a lone Silver Level adventurer, get robbed and killed, who do we go to? The couple of silver coins for deposit, are they enough to compensate for a good horse?”

“Can’t you make an exception?” Dylan discreetly pushed two silver coins across the counter.

The lanky man’s fingers swiped them away swiftly, his expression eased slightly, but he still shook his head firmly: “Buddy, it’s not that I don’t want to help, but regulations are strict. No amount of bribe can make anyone risk it; gotta keep our job secure.”

Just as Dylan was about to curse, the lanky man leaned closer and whispered: “Here’s the deal… in the innermost stall of the stable, there’s a dark red old horse, ready to retire and plow the fields but still fit for long-distance runs. If you need it urgently, negotiate with the old cripple managing the stable. Six to seven gold coins should suffice. This is higher than the deposit, but you can resell it later and not lose too much.”

Having laid things out, Dylan could only nod.

But the problem was… he didn’t have that many gold coins!

He had spent all the way through relying on Scout Puki’s ability to “find” money pouches anywhere and managed to scrape together travel expenses; now he had, at best, three gold coins altogether, barely half of what was needed!

This amount would suffice to shuffle back with a caravan, but the pace would be too slow.

“Damn it…” Dylan clinched his empty wallet, staring at the direction of the stables, furrowing his brow tightly, “Where can I rustle up some money?”

Think, think, Dylan!

What have you learned in over forty years of life about making quick cash!

Among the swirling thoughts, the first idea that jumped up was: Find the hidden Demon Race spy base, pretend to be an ally, and scam some operational funds…

As soon as this thought emerged, Dylan gave himself a crisp slap—looking for death was not done this way!

In the end, Dylan tearfully pawned his Phantom Cloak.

Now, he could buy not just an old horse but a warhorse too!

Anyway, he ultimately took the dark red horse; the lanky man wasn’t lying, its skeleton is robust, its eyes gentle, its four hooves hit the ground with a steady force. Dylan patted its glossy neck in acknowledgment of this companion.

Without delay, Dylan prepared some dry rations and, following the boss’s plan, selected four Red Coral Fruits with relatively intact skin, without obvious rot or compression marks, to take along.

All set, he then approached the local half-black-market fish worker group, sealing the transaction quickly with the jingling of silver coins.

Soon after, an inconspicuous little dinghy carried Dylan away from the city.

What Dylan didn’t know was that if he had been a day later, he might not have made it out…

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