Chapter 71

The All Souls Festival has a long history and is held every two years. People from all over the mainland celebrate the birthday of the god who is said to have created the continent of Cnidus.

In order to be fair, the main venue for each celebration would be set in a different city, with the nobles and wealthy families in the city jointly funding and decorating the venue.

This year's celebration happened to be held in the city of Nadine.

Therefore, Jiang Zhulang sent Martin and Cross out of the laboratory in order to make some arrangements in advance to prepare for exposing the crimes of Jeff and his gang at the upcoming celebration ceremony.

Martin, who shoulders an important responsibility, works very hard.

Or, it would be more accurate to describe it as spending money with extra vigor.

Thanks to the money that Jiang Zhulang had left for Dada, the number of beggars under his command has expanded to hundreds, enough to cover the entire mixed crowd of Nadine City.

Although this force is inconspicuous hidden in the dark, it cannot be underestimated in terms of spreading information.

After receiving the commission from Brother Lannuo conveyed by Martin and taking into account the trend of gold coins, Dada summoned all his men to gather at the garbage dump in the slums and assigned tasks one by one.

Although he didn't understand how this tiny bead could affect the survival of the entire mainland, and he couldn't understand what experiment the stupid Martin was talking about, he still seriously instructed his men to do their work seriously.

Dada sat with his legs bent on a high pile of garbage, a few gold coins reflecting the dazzling and tempting light, tossing them up and down in his palm.

The beggars gathered here, their eyes filled with desire as they followed the gold coins moving in an orderly manner.

"Ahem!" Dada cleared his throat and said, "Leaders of each street, come up and claim this stone. Listen carefully, this thing is very important, you must keep it well until the celebration begins."

"Boss, this black raw bead looks no different from a stone, how can it be so important? Are we going to sell it to those rich idiots at the party?"

Dada glared at the person who made the noise and waved the gold coins in his hand: "Why are you asking so many questions? After the task is completed, each person will get one gold coin, and the leader will keep two coins."

After hearing what Dada said, everyone present widened their eyes and stared at him stupidly. Their dark round eyes had turned into the shape of coins. A buzzing sound arose and the scene became extremely lively for a while.

"Gold! One gold! Three coppers will buy you a loaf of freshly baked black bread. One gold..."

"——enough bread to last us a lifetime!"

"Hmph, you are useless. What do you want with bread? Then I will eat meat and drink wine like those nobles!"

"I want to eat meat and drink wine, too! Chicken drumsticks, smoked fish, malt wine... slurp."

"Why do you only think about food? I want to buy a house. I don't want to live in a shed anymore. I want to buy a house with a roof, doors and windows, a house with firewood and a warm bed..."

"Then I want to buy clothes!"

They chattered away, still imagining their life after becoming rich, full of longing and yearning.

For children born in slums, the best thing they yearn for in life is to have meat to eat and clothes to wear. Even the delicacies they imagine are so simple.

Looking at those faces full of longing for a better life, Martin was unusually silent. He was usually cheerful, but at this moment he felt particularly heavy-hearted.

Although he was not as good as Lan Nuo, who had to spend three or five gold coins on snacks, a meal still cost at least one gold coin. Now, he only gave money for a few meals and a few clothes, but the children were so excited that they almost jumped up. The "luxury goods" in his mouth were what he would never even look at in the past.

Martin suddenly realized that he wanted to do something for them.

But what else can he do besides giving money?

He was racking his brains and couldn't think of a suitable solution for a while.

Forget it, he will discuss it with Lannuo and Luoshia after they escape from the devil's cave.

Dada saw Martin's frowning face in deep thought, and he mistakenly thought that Martin was dissatisfied with his subordinates' noisy thoughts, so the smile on his face also faded.

He glared at his unpromising subordinates and shouted, "Be quiet! There are still so many days before the celebration. Have you completed your mission yet you are already thinking about the future? If you don't take this stone seriously, you will get nothing, no matter how many gold coins, silver coins, chicken legs or big houses you have!"

The beggars shuddered and looked serious.

"Don't worry, Boss. Don't say this is a black, round stone. Even if it is a pile of shit, I will keep it close to me. If it is here, I am here. If it is gone, I will do my best to find it back!"

"That's right, sir, don't worry! We will take turns to look after him, three people at a time, and we will never let him out of our sight!"

For fear of losing the precious stone worth one or two gold pieces, each leader who received the photo stone wiped it clean carefully and placed it close to their body in the place they thought was safest.

Martin saw that some of the men even put it down their crotches.

MARTIN: Oh, it’s unbearable to watch!

Dada doesn't think much of his subordinates' wild and simple way of collecting. After all, the crotch of their pants is the least damaged and strongest part of their body fabric.

"Well, it's good to know how precious it is, let's disperse it."

After explaining the task, Dada dismissed his beggars. He walked over to Martin and said hesitantly, "Uncle Martin, by then... will Brother Lan Nuo come?"

He lowered his head, his feet moved awkwardly, and his two small hands kept rubbing the hem of his clothes, rolling it up and then putting it down.

Martin was shocked when he heard the word "uncle" and his first reaction was to touch his face.

"No, why do you call Lan Nuo brother and me uncle? I'm not much older than him, just one, two, three, four, five... well, only ten years older!"

Dada tilted his head, his eyes were particularly kind and full of doubts: "Ten years? Isn't that a big gap? Uncle, you look so much older than me, I can't call you brother, right? Also, uncle hasn't answered me yet, will brother Lan Nuo come by then? Will he... come to see me?"

"Of course, I don't miss him. I just want to see how my dad's benefactor is doing. It's definitely not because I want to see him!"

Martin: "...Thank you so much. Your words should be more obvious than obvious."

He wordlessly ruffled Dada's messy hair and said, "Your brother Lan Nuo needs to do something very important by then, so he can't come."

Dada let out an "ah" and was very disappointed, his lips almost turned down.

Martin couldn't bear to see him like this, so he patted his chest and promised: "Don't worry, he will definitely come to find you after he defeats the bad guy! Then let's go pick up Brother Lan Nuo together, okay?"

Dada's eyes, which had been dim, brightened up again, "Really? Then let's make a deal, uncle, you can't lie to me. I will definitely do what Brother Lannuo asks me to do, and I won't let him down!"

After saying goodbye to Dada, Martin returned to the hotel.

There is still some time before the All Souls Festival, but the city of Nadine is already crowded with people. Traveling merchants push their covered wagons and spontaneously organize mobile trade markets.

Martin saw what Dada and his beggars had said, three coppers of freshly-stoved black bread, and smoked fish.

The black bread probably had a lot of bran added to it, and was occasionally mixed with some sand and gravel. It was hard enough to be used as a weapon in the hand.

As for the smoked fish, it had a strong fishy smell and was as black as charcoal, completely different from the delicious, slightly yellow fish fillet he had imagined.

Martin tried to bite the bread, and it made a "crunch" sound, almost breaking his teeth. He held the bread in his mouth, softening it with saliva for a long time, and finally swallowed it. He only felt that his throat was sore from the grinding. Even though it was fresh out of the oven, it did not have the sweetness of bread at all, but instead had a sour taste.

He tore off a small piece of smoked fish and could smell its unbearable fishy odor before he put it into his mouth. He held his breath, stuffed it into his mouth, and swallowed it whole. The taste in his mouth was fishy and bitter, unbearable.

"Tsk——"

He held onto the wall and vomited. No matter how hard he tried to mentally prepare himself, he was unwilling to eat these "delicacies".

He thought that after the All Souls' Day, he might as well take the children out for a few big meals.