Chapter 57: Business Instance, Sports Instance

Vellen Pearl lost all his memories of the return journey because he had fallen unconscious shortly after.

When he woke up again, without opening his eyes, he caught the familiar scent of aromatherapy, and tears streamed down his face first.

"He seems to be waking up." "My lord, are you alright?"

Opening his eyes to look around, this was the Pearl family's estate in Stone Tower Town. Beside the bed stood the noble butler, the servants, and the town mayor.

The candlelight was gentle, casting a warm glow on everyone's face.

"How did I get back?" Vellen spoke, and the physical discomfort had subsided so greatly that even he himself found it astonishing.

The mayor and the butler exchanged a calm, knowing glance.

The butler asked softly, "My lord, do you still remember who rescued you?"

"I remember, a three-eyed black skeleton. But it wasn't the Grim Reaper; it was alive. He—he is a miracle, a miracle! He stepped upon a silver steel ship, the ocean waves were the steed beneath his command, and the seagulls were his eyes. Believe me, this is not the raving of a madman."

The mayor nodded repeatedly, his smile barely contained. "We believe you."

Vellen fell into a dazed reverie, his tone drifting: "I even touched his palm. He was so kind, and he even bestowed garments upon me. Yes, the windbreaker I was wearing just now—where is it? Bring it to me, yes, I want to wear it!"

The butler gestured for the other servants to leave, and soon only he, the mayor, and the viscount remained in the bedroom.

The mayor gave a light cough. "My lord, could I take a moment of your time? Please allow me to introduce to you the proxy of the Five Gods, the Savior of all mortals—the Miracle Walker."

"So you know of him as well?" After listening to the mayor's brief and concise explanation, the viscount regained his composure.

"Yes."

"Did he say anything to you? Such as demanding I offer up wealth, land, or a peerage title?" Vellen stared intently at the two members of the congregation before him.

Silence was his answer; both of them shook their heads.

Vellen did not know whether to rejoice or despair. He closed his eyes, raised a hand to gently stroke his cheek, feeling the bones beneath his skin, and only opened them after a moment. "Let me join you. Who should I look for?"

"Go to the church, my lord. But before that, please rest. We bought medicine from the lighthouse keeper, and we've already instructed the kitchen to brew it. Please take it on time," the butler said softly.

"The lighthouse keeper—yes, that night watchman! He knew the hurricane was coming, I must see him!"

"It is too late now. You cannot see him." The mayor shook his head. "Go to the lighthouse tomorrow evening."

The viscount twitched the corner of his mouth, just about to say something, when he suddenly noticed the solemn expressions on the faces of the two men before him, and a wondrous association instantly formed in his mind.

He understood, so he softly replied, "Very well." The three of them looked at each other in silence, a tacit atmosphere enveloping the place, evoking a sense of yearning.

***

Cape Lighthouse.

The generator set hummed in a low drone, and the coffee on the corner of the desk had already cooled.

Just moments ago, Lin Bo had been discussing residual echo usage strategies with a few friendly netizens.

He currently had one relatively weak residual echo and four faint residual echoes. If he directly consumed the relatively weak residual echo, based on affinity ratios, it would only generate "religion"-related dungeons.

Speaking of religion-related dungeons, they were closely related to the magic side as well. In such dungeons, occupational groups such as clerics, paladins, and warlocks were extremely common, and they were spellcasters as well.

Lin Bo's initial plan was to perform residual echo purification and mixed sacrifice.

He planned to use the faint-grade [Family Matriarch Small Stone Statue (Religion 72%)] to purify the religious affinity of the [Sea God Shrine Statue], and then perform a mixed sacrifice of the [Friend's Plush Doll (Spirituality 55%)] and the purified [Sea God Shrine Statue].

In this way, he would have a fairly high probability of drawing a 3-5 level dungeon with "spirituality" affinity.

Upon second thought, however, there was really no need to leave it to luck.

He could completely change his approach: directly consume the [Friend's Plush Doll] to draw a low-level magic-side dungeon, and then consume the [Sea God Shrine Statue] to draw a level 3-5 dungeon.

The former would be used to search for a mage trading platform, while the latter would be used to raise his occupational level. One leaned toward commerce, the other toward progression. He could have the best of both worlds.

[Agillon] had told Lin Bo that although player trading was thriving, within the current version of the Omninet, reliable large platforms like multi-link trading hubs were scarce, and trading representatives could not be encountered in every single dungeon.

The inventory of Omninet dungeons was simply too vast, causing the number of platform traders, despite being plentiful, to become mere drops in the ocean when dispersed. This was especially true for low-level dungeons.

The higher the dungeon level, the smaller the inventory, the more resident players, and the more traders stationed on the trading platform.

Regardless of whether he ventured to draw a level 3-5 magic-side dungeon or a level 1-3 dungeon, the probability of encountering a mage trading platform was practically the same.

"So it all comes down to my luck." Lin Bo picked up the cold coffee and finished it.

"Use residual echo."

The residual echoes of the [Friend's Plush Doll] and the [Sea God Shrine Statue] were consumed one after another.

[Searching the collection library...]

[Spacetime slice matched successfully, invitation letter generated, has been distributed to the player's inventory.]

Two letters appeared in his inventory.

A garishly painted white envelope was held in Lin Bo's fingertips.

Upon opening it, he pulled out an exquisitely crafted circus event flyer. The header featured colorful animal patterns with obvious modification scars on their bodies, and the animals wore expressions of enthusiastic laughter while their eyes were all glowing a fiery red, giving anyone who looked at them an intensely unsettling feeling.

Dungeon Name: The Mad Gnome's Alchemical Circus (Remaining challenge attempts today: 3)

Level: 1-3

Difficulty: Simple

Clear Reward (Level Penalty): Gray-quality item (Low probability)

[Omninet Prompt: Death within this dungeon will cause the player to fall into a soul-weakened state (1 natural day).]

[Please clear the dungeon to unlock more difficulty levels.]

Lin Bo opened the chat interface, and a new message came into view.

[The Mad Gnome's Alchemical Circus Strategy Channel invites you to join. Do you accept?]

"Accept."

[Omninet Prompt: Player "Lighthouse Keeper" has joined the current channel.]

[Chat text translation module loaded.]

[Current channel online count: 23]

[Lighthouse Keeper]: Hello everyone.

[Dragon Demon Madman]: A newcomer. Are you male or female? If we're bros running maps together, fine; if you're a chick, forget it.

[Rogue Gentle Breeze]: Pay him no mind. He drinks too much alchemical potion; this Dragonborn's brain isn't working right.

[Dragon Demon Madman]: (Angry) Flat-chested elf female, get lost! And you call yourself a brother, you lying fraud!

[Bed Grew on My Back]: Purgatory difficulty team, 1=3, professional front-line, strong alliance! You two above, stop bickering. Free to run maps together if you've got time.

[Lighthouse Keeper]: Are there any big shots from the trading platform in the channel?

[Augean Splendor Garden - Merchant Tothrus]: (Auto-reply) Is someone calling upon this old man? Young spellcaster, if you seek wisdom, come to the Augean Splendor Garden.

Lin Bo's spirits instantly lifted. He had actually found a mage trading platform—his luck was phenomenal!

[Lighthouse Keeper]: Alright, let's add each other as friends.

Lin Bo sent a friend request, but a quarter of an hour passed with no response.

[Lighthouse Keeper]: Brother Tothrus, please accept the friend verification.

[Casting Flame Arrow]: Just wait. That's an auto-reply triggered by keyword searching; he himself has definitely fallen asleep again.

[Lighthouse Keeper]: Is that so? Okay, thanks.

Lin Bo took the advice, temporarily putting this dungeon aside and turning instead to open the other invitation letter.

The envelope of this invitation letter was damp and wrinkled, with a reeking smell of algae and brine rushing straight to his nose. Inside the envelope was a pristine white seashell, and the dungeon information appeared in relief patterns across the convex surface of the shell.

Dungeon Name: Sea Spirit Altar of the Demon-Summoning Village (Remaining challenge attempts today: 2)

Level: 3-5

Difficulty: Simple

Clear Reward: Omninet Disaster Coins *60, Universal Experience *300, Gray-quality drop (Medium probability), White-quality drop (Low probability), Universal skill book (Extremely low probability).

[Omninet Prompt: Death within this dungeon will cause the player to fall into a soul-weakened state (1.5 natural days).]

[Please clear the dungeon to unlock more difficulty levels.]

[Sea Spirit Altar ofuring Village Strategy Channel invites you to join. Do you accept?]