Chapter 206
"Is it still open?" Denos was dumbfounded when he saw the mummy with a missing arm at the door.
He knew it was twelve, but it was fine yesterday. How come the arm fell off on the second afternoon?
"Please come inside." Twelve acted rather casually, as if he had only lost a finger.
Even if he cared, it wouldn't matter; it had already happened. He had lost an arm, and the wound was burned. Recovery was virtually impossible.
Unless he gets some opportunity, he will always have to endure living with only one arm.
What's done is done; thankfully, I survived.
He had already fought back, resisted, and tried his best to stop it, but looking at the several large craters that hadn't yet healed, he knew just how inhumane the ordeal had been.
Looking up from the inside window, you can see the figure fighting with dozens of weapons on her back. Each weapon she casually tosses possesses divine power, instantly eliminating any lingering calamity.
Not all calamities are difficult to deal with; dragons are the most perfect of them, making them especially difficult to handle. However, most calamities are merely products of distorted and deformed magic, containing vast amounts of chaos within their bodies, and even simple contact can cause an explosion.
The dragon is difficult to deal with because the chaotic elements are hidden in its abdomen and used as a means of attack, or it seems to have condensed into dragon scales.
Logically speaking, such a thing should become chaotic after losing its mind; if not, it's just that big guy squatting there in front of you.
Being a dragon is so cool, Twelve thought sincerely. This creature has high physical resistance first, and high magical resistance second. Some can even use spells, and their powerful bodies are impervious to any melee combat. Their natural wings allow them to hover in the sky with minimal energy expenditure. Even their magic cores are hard to find; if their minds weren't destroyed, they should be quite intelligent.
This is what perfection is all about.
"I don't know if you two have made a shopping list. I'm sorry, we haven't had time to display all our goods yet." Twelve led the two to a restaurant on the airship and had them sit down.
He took a list from the shelf and handed it over, along with paper and a pen.
“I will bring what I wrote to show you both,” he said, then stared at Denos’s face for a while before hesitatingly asking, “Have I seen you somewhere before?”
Denos chuckled twice and shook his head helplessly.
Indeed, now that he has tidied himself up, many people don't recognize him anymore.
But it's really gratifying that this guy can still remember the gist of it.
“Perhaps you should remember me too.” Nina pulled off her cloak, revealing her beautiful face, and smiled at him. “Do you remember me?”
Twelve hesitated for a moment, then pressed his nose with his hand.
“I’m sorry, it’s pointless for you to look at my face. I recognize people by their scent.” Twelve paused and said, “After all, appearances are too easy to change, miss. I would have preferred you to come earlier, so that you could have seen me while I still had my arms.”
After a moment of silence, Denos looked at him and said.
"We did see him, in the place where we were looking for that demon."
Twelve paused for a moment, then nodded.
Perhaps it was there that many people were changed.
Three years ago, I was a sinner within the church, transformed into a monster because of my magic core. Back in that city, I was a fool who only knew how to kill, and I even died once. Although I was resurrected, the original Twelve was probably already dead. Now, I'm just an empty shell.
The only person who left a deep impression on him there was Carl, the guy who fought him to the death, and he almost defeated him, but he almost didn't make it out of there alive.
It was just a close call, just a close call, and the things I would have to go through would have been completely different.
"To see you in a place like this, have you also encountered misfortune?" Twelve said softly.
After all, if they hadn't encountered misfortune, none of us would be in this situation now. In that city, no one was lucky. Whether good or bad, mad or wise, noble or righteous, everyone suffered misfortune there. Their destinies were forcibly altered.
"I suppose so." Denos thought about what happened back then and smiled helplessly: "After all, we experienced something as rare as the Blood Sun together. To be honest, as an ordinary human, it's really lucky to be able to see something like that, something you only live to see once in your life."
They chatted for a few more minutes, and Denos looked at the price list that was handed to him.
To be honest, the variety of goods was quite extensive. Everything was available, and the sheer number of items far exceeded Denos's expectations.
Because he had once been a member of a caravan, when he saw the abundance of goods here, he suddenly thought that if they had had such a huge airship back then, perhaps everything would have been much better.
“I’d like to take a look at these beautiful stones,” Nina said, pointing to the notes section of the price list, which listed a special item: some pretty stones she had casually collected.
Ghost Lord referred to these things as crystals and gems, indicating that in his former homeland, such items were so expensive that buying them was like tearing off a piece of his own flesh.
But here, what use is something that can't be eaten, drunk, kept warm, or used as armor, or even stored like gold and silver as currency? The only money needed is for shipping.
"Shall I show you around?" In the corner, a woman looked at Nina and said, "Don't let my appearance fool you, I'm a member here too. Since you're a pretty girl, I'll definitely give you a discount."
“Okay,” Denos said casually, and then started writing the list himself.
Sure enough, there would be no romantic shopping trip with him around. As someone who has been doing accounting for merchants for over a decade, he can tell at a glance what is a good buy, what can be resold for a small profit, and even the price list reveals how outsiders perceive this place and the current situation.
Having considered the above factors, and combining them with his own needs and long-term requirements, he was able to immediately use the money he had to buy enough goods.
Nina, however, was unaware of this; all she knew was to trust Denos. All she needed to do was follow this beautiful woman to see the pretty stones and dress herself up beautifully.
Denos wrote half of it, then hesitated for a moment, looking at one of the items above and thinking.
Then a jar of sugar was added.
This stuff isn't cheap, but he figured he was quite wealthy, so buying that fleeting, sugary happiness with money might be just right.
He rested his head on his hand, deep in thought, looking at the bill above.
Suddenly, he felt like he remembered that guy.
Ultimately, what does Ark mean to him in his own mind?
Is he even human? Does he?
I don't know, I'm not sure.
I just feel a little empty inside; that guy is gone. He might have been through anything, and when they parted, everyone knew it was goodbye forever.
He thought to himself, "Isn't he just immature?"
Everyone understands the principle, but when he looked at the bills he had subconsciously compiled, he seemed to remember the things that guy had taught him.
Perhaps what he was thinking about wasn't Ark, but simply freedom.
The moment that thought crossed his mind, he suddenly felt relieved.
Yes, yes, when he saw this airship, he suddenly felt nostalgic for the past.
It's not that I miss Ark; Ark isn't as precious as Nina. If I had to choose between Ark and Nina right now, I would abandon my brother and choose the girl without hesitation.
But he was once a member of a caravan and had been to all sorts of places.
The sounds of roaring and monster howls came from outside.
It's really annoying to hear it every day; there's always that monster making noise.
Someone will always kill them; it's either someone else or yourself. Almost every day someone dies; it's either someone else or yourself.
......
"How much is this?" Nina picked up a black crystal, which was clear and transparent in the light.
It was also simply carved, like a blooming flower.
"I sell this to people based on who they are. Someone as pretty as you, I usually buy it for a very low price." She rested her head on her hand and looked at the crystal. "But I can tell it's very cheap. I saw your boyfriend writing a long list, and he might give it to you as a free gift later."
"Huh?" Nina held it in her palm and looked at it carefully.
Upon closer inspection, one realizes that the workmanship is extremely exquisite; under the light, the patterns on it actually resemble some kind of writing.
"What does it say?" she asked casually. The writing didn't seem to be in use, nor did it seem like fake. It looked very regular; perhaps it was something that had been abandoned in the past.
“The divine text says: When the sun was extinguished, darkness and chaos came into being, and the people on earth were afraid and hid in their houses, trembling with fear.”
"What's the point?" Nina was taken aback. She had never read the scriptures before. Were they written in this script? She didn't know. That system had always been a very troublesome thing, so she didn't want to know about it.
"It's meaningless, I just carved it for fun." Xie Ying waved his hand to indicate that there was no need to care about the details: "If you don't like the ones with engravings, there are many other options to choose from."
“Okay,” Nina said, looking at the small room.
At first I thought there were only a few, but when I actually saw several boxes made of animal hides and wood in a small room, each containing such a thing, I felt how cruel reality was.
These items are so cheap they're practically free, but nobody's buying them. Nobody even glances at them.
Inside were many, many beautiful gems like these; any one she picked out would make your heart flutter.
She didn't need to worry about saving money because she and Denos had an irreplaceable arrangement that resulted in a high income. And this was the only time of year she could actually use the money.
They brought all their savings from the past year; there was no need to leave them behind, since the city still operated on a distribution system. Money was essentially worthless except when trading with outsiders like these merchants.
She grabbed a handful and handed it to Xie Ying, waiting to pay at the final settlement.
"Hey, would a big sister like you buy something like this?" She heard a girl's voice, turned around and saw a girl slightly shorter than herself smiling and saying, "Hello, I'm Dilire."
“I am Nina.” She looked at the child and tilted her head. “I didn’t take anything you liked, did I? If so, I can exchange it.”
"No, no, it's just that this is the first time I've sold something like this." She pointed to one in her hand: "That one was carved by me."
It was a little mouse, a lifelike mouse.
"Wow! It's beautiful," Nina said with a smile. "It's very well carved."
Then she saw a little mouse dart out from above her head.
"Whoa!" She was startled, but quickly realized it wasn't an attack. She smiled, looked at the girl over there, and shook her head helplessly: "I should have known. How could anyone be with these monsters?"
At first, I thought she had to be at least human, but now it seems I was incredibly naive. The chances of a human existing in a place like this are extremely slim.
"At least I was once human." She stuck out her tongue, and when she opened her eyes again, they were black with red pupils.
Like a rat, but not in a frightening way; it just gives you a slight shiver.
Fortunately, at least the girl with such eyes is beautiful. For her, such eyes aren't even considered a flaw.
Nina then noticed that there were rats everywhere. These rats didn't run around; they just stood there, watching her like sentinels.
It seems like this guy is hostile towards me, but I don't know why.
This was probably the first time I'd met her, so there was no need for me to harbor any animosity towards her.
"Don't do that, she's still a guest after all." Xie Ying shrugged. "I know she has a grudge against your boyfriend, but don't disturb our business."
"No, I just came over out of curiosity." She tilted her head and then bowed slightly, as if to apologize.
"Your boyfriend?" Nina was taken aback, looking at the guy standing at the end of her field of vision.
That was Yan. He looked a little annoyed. He picked up Dilire and carried her away, bowing slightly as she yelled.
Indeed, there was a past conflict. When I was still a Witcher, we had a brief encounter in the square of that city.
Neither side gained the upper hand, and the brief battle was forced to end due to their fear of Karl.
Time is a strange thing; so little time had passed before she met this guy again. And this time, he was holding coffee instead of a broken sword, and she was holding a jewel instead of a staff.
They met again, and were all well.
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