Sail Shadows in the Sea of ​​Fog

Chapter 33 Underground Auction
"Captain, does your ship need crew?" Yun Ji asked bluntly as she put down her breakfast.

"You're planning on getting a job on my ship?"

Cheng Lang looked at the other person curiously. This tall girl was beautiful, but he would not trust her hastily just because she was beautiful or because she was a dark elf.

The reason why he was willing to save these two people and even reveal his true face in exchange for their trust was simply because their names or the format of their names seemed too special in this alien world.

This made him feel somewhat familiar, and inevitably made him curious about what kind of existence dark elves or elves were in this world.

"Shenba and I hope to at least take your ship back to Pirate City. In the meantime, we are willing to work for you to pay for the tickets."

Yun Ji looked at Cheng Lang and replied, "We run a hotel in Pirate City. We hope to return to Pirate City and continue our previous life."

Our next stop is Pirate City.

Cheng Lang pondered for a moment and then generously replied, "You can disembark in Pirate City. During this time, you can work as my captain if you wish. Speaking of which, I always want to know what kind of work you can do."

"I" Yun Ji fell silent when she said this. She seemed to have no idea what job was suitable for her.

"It's okay, let's help Yafuso first."

Cheng Lang said casually that they were far enough away from the Pirate City and he had enough time and patience.

Moreover, through the heavy armor he had helped to strip off the other party before, he had guessed that this beautiful girl might not be as "harmless" as she looked.

"Thank you"

Yun Ji breathed a sigh of relief and quickly nodded in thanks, "I'll go help Yafuso right away."

"it is good"

Cheng Lang nodded, watched the other party leave, helped close the door from the outside, and then began to enjoy breakfast.

Magic Mirror

"I'm here, dear Captain." A pale, flattering face appeared in the mirror beside the table.

"I'll go to the dock and take a look around. You keep an eye on the ship."

"I will keep an eye on the entire ship and our guests," the magic mirror promised quite "intelligently".

"Is there anything worth visiting at Pier 12?" Cheng Lang asked, changing the subject.

“There is a long history of underground black market here”

The magic mirror immediately said, "It's literally an underground black market, located in an abandoned mine beneath the town. If you want to go there, it's best to prepare a cloak in advance."

"What's on the black market?" Cheng Lang asked curiously.

“Everything that can be traded and cannot be traded”

The magic mirror said flatteringly, "The most common trade here is slaves, captured pirates, and sailors captured by pirates. These are the most popular commodities in the Suzaku Islands. On this island, there are countless sunless mines waiting to be mined."

"There must be some rules, right?" Cheng Lang asked.

“No weapons allowed”

The magic mirror replied, "Armed fights are not allowed. Otherwise, you will be hunted down by the entire docks. Therefore, the security in the underground black market is relatively good. However, you must be extra careful of pickpockets. Theft is almost semi-legal in the underground black market."

"interesting."

Cheng Lang muttered to himself, but it did not stop him from taking off all the valuables on his body and putting them into the stair compartment, leaving only the purse containing a hundred gold coins.

"When does the black market start?" Cheng Lang asked excitedly.

“The underground black market has always been operating”

The magic mirror replied, "The entrance is at the deepest well in the dock town. Just follow the crowd and you'll find it."

"I'll leave the boat to you." As he said this, Cheng Lang had already put on a hooded cloak and pushed open the door.

Leaving the Valkyrie, which was still busy repairing itself, and the closed dock, Cheng Lang walked along a cobblestone path towards the town in the distance.

It was already bright outside the dock, and the sea fog that had filled the air at night had dissipated. With the bright sunshine, he could clearly see the town in the distance, the farmlands on the hillsides surrounding the town, and the occasional windmill.

After walking about five or six hundred meters along the cobblestone road, he discovered that everyone he met along the way was wearing a cloak with their hood covering most of their face.

Although the pedestrians' attire was a little strange, just as Captain Senfa had said, the scenery at Pier 12 was indeed more beautiful than that at Pier 17.

If you deliberately don't look towards the sea, this place looks like a country town on the edge of forests and farmland.

Along the way, he even saw "authentic" elven bards and dancers in the town.

These elves, both men and women, have hair of a distinctive white-gold color, and wear either loose, soft milky-white robes or dark blue tight leather armor.

Their ears are indeed relatively slender, but they do not look big and attract attention, and most of them wear varying numbers of earrings on their ears.

Just from the male and female spectators surrounding them, one can tell that these elves really meet the aesthetic standards of most people, which also allows them to earn a lot of copper coins and silver coins from their "street singing".

Without stopping, Cheng Lang bought a bamboo tube of freshly squeezed juice for two copper coins, continued to wander around the town, and finally found a huge well.

The diameter of this well is a full ten meters, and there is a circle of stone steps on the inner wall that can only lead downwards.

Cheng Lang spent 5 silver coins to buy a painted shell mask which was equivalent to the ticket price. He put it on his face and walked into the well along the stone steps.

The area beneath this huge well was much more spacious than he had imagined. Under the dim light, various small shops were lined up and it was bustling with activity.

However, everything here is more expensive than on the ground. The same bamboo tube juice only costs two copper coins on the ground, but it costs 20 copper coins here.

Of course, although the prices are high, the shop will give you a colorful underground map no matter what you buy.

This map details the location and number of every store in this underground town. On the back is an introduction to the corresponding number, briefly stating the types of goods sold in each store.

With the help of this map, he successfully saw the "human street" where slaves were auctioned in this well-connected underground town.

This so-called human-powered street has a mine-like tunnel with cage-like shops on both sides. The cages contain more or less laborers. Outside the cages is a small wooden platform, and the shop owner sitting on the edge of the platform, also wearing a cloak.

Walking along this human-powered street, I saw that most of the people locked up in the cages were smelly sailors.

They either looked listless or enthusiastically asked passersby for help in redeeming their freedom by offering various prices.

He didn't know if it was because of some "unspoken rules", but he didn't see any women or children for sale here, which gave him a somewhat good impression of this place.

Walking through the bustling streets, small shops selling various weapons began to appear on both sides.

The doors of these small shops all have eye-catching signs such as "Treasure Maps for Sale", "Treasure Map Analysis", "Armor Pieces and Poseidon's Blood for Pre-order" and so on.

He even saw shops with signs saying "Accepting Armor Refining" and "Commissioned Treasure Hunting".

The overly enthusiastic shop owners at the doorsteps of these shops also made him subconsciously think of the deceptive saying, "If you don't open for business for three years, you can make a living for three years after you open."

After pushing away another pickpocket who was deliberately leaning towards him, Cheng Lang, holding his wallet tightly, also saw a two-story shop with pink lights on - the Mermaid Hotel.

This is the auction house of this underground town. Of course, in addition to auctions, it also provides the most popular erotic services among sailors at sea.

Although the girls standing at the door of the store looked pretty good, their body odor, which could not be suppressed even with heavy makeup, still made Cheng Lang, who had a huge amount of money, give up his plan to try something new.

After paying another 5 silver coins for an entrance ticket, Cheng Lang was taken into another mine behind the shop by a girl in maid clothes.

The mine has a sunken semicircular structure as a whole, and many people are already sitting on the circles of stone steps that have been directly carved out.

On the stage in the middle, several beams of light reflected by mirrors and then gathered together were covering the item waiting to be auctioned, which was a rapier.

"One last time, 12 gold coins! Deal!"

As the auctioneer shouted enthusiastically, a scantily clad woman took 12 gold coins from a robed and masked figure in the fifth row and brought them to the stage. At the same time, another girl, barely dressed, picked up the rapier on the stage and handed it to the man who had bid for it.

After taking the rapier, the latter stood up and followed the woman out of the auction house, leaving from another mine tunnel opposite and going somewhere unknown.

"The next item to be auctioned is a woman!"

The auctioneer snapped his fingers enthusiastically, and two beautiful girls in scantily clad clothes came in with a small mining cart pushing a not-so-big cage.

A woman was curled up in the cage, wrapped in a thin gauze that was barely visible, revealing a beautiful face, a pair of white rabbit ears, and a neck covered with delicate scales. Her cheeks were opening and closing rapidly.

"She is the daughter of a Serpent Siren and an Extreme Sea Hare Orc Sailor."

The auctioneer winked and said, "I think this introduction is sufficient. The starting price is one gold coin!"

"10 gold coins!" Before the auctioneer finished speaking, a man in the first row, whose fat body could not be concealed even in a cloak, shouted excitedly.

"Someone bid ten"

"15 gold coins!"

"20!"

“I’ll give you 40!”

"50!"

Under Cheng Lang's stunned gaze, the value of the girl trapped in the cage on the stage soared to a terrifying 160 gold coins in just the blink of an eye!
But this was far from over. In the new round of bidding, which took less than 5 minutes, the woman was offered a high price of 310 gold coins!

"310 gold coins! 310 gold coins at once!"

The auctioneer shouted excitedly, "310 gold coins twice! Three."

"400!"

"Seven gold coins!"

The auctioneer's tone became even more excited, and he shouted almost hoarsely, "Someone bid 400 gold coins! 400 gold coins once! Twice! Three times!"

"500! 500 gold coins!"

The fat man who made the first bid stood up and shouted, then looked back at the audience provocatively.

"500 gold coins! Once! Twice! Deal!"

Before he finished speaking, the two scantily clad girls on the stage lifted the cage together and came down to the stage, placing it next to the fat man. The fat man generously threw a bulging purse onto the stage.

But the fat man didn't seem to be in a hurry to leave. Instead, he arrogantly put his feet on the cage. Obviously, he was ready to continue participating in the auction.

"The next item up for auction is a piece of polar sea ice core!"

The auctioneer shouted enthusiastically, and at the same time, a scantily clad girl brought a tray and placed it on the table.

Seeing this, everyone present, including Cheng Lang, pulled out their binoculars and looked at the table on the stage.

On the tray was an ice-blue stone the size of a human head. Even through a telescope, everyone could see the white mist lingering around it.

The auctioneer introduced it loudly, "Just one cup of Poseidon's blood. It can release low temperatures for 10 years. While the temperature can't freeze water, it's enough to provide sailors with ice-cold beer. It's also a must-have in wine cellars and taverns! Starting price: 10 gold coins!"

Unfortunately, the auction house fell silent this time. Although many people were willing to bid for the woman in the cage just now, no one was willing to pay 10 gold coins for the ice lump on the stage.

Isn't this just a refrigerator?
Cheng Lang couldn't help but feel a little excited. He wanted this thing!

"Is there any bid?"

The auctioneer on the stage didn't seem surprised by this scene. "Or we can start with nine gold coins. Still not enough? Then how about eight?"

"Take this garbage away quickly! Don't waste our time!"

The fat man who took the photo of the woman urged impatiently, "As long as you go to the Extreme Sea, you can always get an ice core if you're lucky, but who would be willing to waste a cup of Poseidon's blood on such dispensable garbage!

And if I'm not mistaken, even if such a small ice core releases low temperatures, how large an area can it cover?"

"You're right!"

The other man who had just shouted a high price to the woman in the cage echoed impatiently, "Hurry up and move on to the next one!"

"Sell it to me for five gold coins! We're all waiting for other interesting things!"

Cheng Lang also said in an impatient tone, "Don't waste our time!"

"Five gold coins! Deal!"

The auctioneer completed the transaction happily based on the idea that he would not lose money if he sold it. The sexy girl on the stage immediately came to Cheng Lang with the ice core on a tray and exchanged it for five gold coins from him.

"What a rich fool"

In front of Cheng Lang, a man also wearing a cloak muttered something in a neither loud nor soft voice.

"Poor Ghost"

Cheng Lang cursed in a pretentiously arrogant manner. The main reason he bought this ice core was just out of curiosity.

As for whether he was willing to pour a cup of Poseidon's blood on it, that was a matter for after he returned.

"Thank you to this generous captain, we will now proceed to the next round of auctions."

The auctioneer took a monocular telescope, roughly the size of a bowl, from his assistant. "This time, it's inlaid with armor plates, crafted from the finest crystal. Just look at its diameter and you'll know how excellent it is. So, the starting price is 10 gold coins!"

"This is what we are interested in, 20 gold coins!" The fat man once again made the first bid.

"21!"

"25!"

"26!"

This time, the bidding price increased more normally, but even so, the final transaction price rose to 109 gold coins, and it was once again bought by the fat man.

"Next is an oil lamp"

The auctioneer waved his hand and his sexy assistant brought up a not-so-big oil lamp on a tray. Inside the spherical lampshade of the oil lamp, there was a small flame the size of a soybean burning.

"This was discovered two months ago by an expedition team in an ancient shipwreck in the Fenglei Sea area."

The auctioneer snapped his fingers as he spoke, and the beams of light covering the stage went out one after another, and the auction hall also became dim.

At the same time, everyone saw that the flame of the oil lamp also grew a little bigger.

"Snapped!"

With another snap of the fingers, the ship lights around the stage were lit again, and the beams of light reflected by the numerous mirrors around them once again covered the stage.

"The shipwreck is over a hundred years old, but it has been burning since the lamp was salvaged."

The auctioneer said, "The owner of the mirror paid a high price and had several armor refiners appraise it, but unfortunately, none of them could recognize the function of the oil lamp, and they were not even sure if it was an armor weapon.

So the owner decided to put it up for auction to make some money, and its starting price was only one hundred."

"ah--!"

Before the auctioneer could call out the starting price, a woman in a cloak beside the fat man screamed and ran away like a rabbit, shouting, "He's dead!"

Everyone looked over following the sound, only to discover to their horror that the generous, fat man had been stabbed through the heart by a long, sharp knife! The sharp tip of the knife peeked out from behind his heart, not even a trace of blood on it!
Not only that, just at the moment when the lights were turned off, the woman in the cage worth 500 gold coins was gone!
(End of this chapter)