Fig Company's compass?
Aside from seeing a masked Lionheart warrior outside Black Lion City's gates, Xia Fei rarely saw any tall figures in the city. Most of them were foreigners with wretched looks.
Just as Lionheart Emperor Oro had said, Xia Fei entered the city in his black cloak with his head lowered. He was not stopped at all, receiving nothing more than rolling eyes from the crowd. It was evident that humans were not particularly rare in Black Lion City, just that their status was relatively low.
"Very few legitimate merchants would come to a border city like this. Most of the people who come here are engaged in shady jobs, such as bandits, assassins, drug dealers, slave traders, and so on. Black goods are the essence of border trade.
"There are often forgotten tribes appearing in Black Lion City. As long as they don't interfere with public order, the city defense forces won't bother with them. Overall, it's considered a free trade hub," Oro explained.
Xia Fei nodded. He did not have a good impression of these forgotten tribes. During the Dragon Ascension Martial Hall's assessment, those Shepherdians who had attempted to disrupt the venue had caused Xia Fei a lot of trouble. Even now, he could not forget their sinister and cruel methods.
Black Lion City was well-built, and for a border city, it was quite luxurious. The wide streets were filled with people, and even though it was daytime, the taverns were still bustling with noise and chatter.
Right in front of them was a proud warrior. His head was full of tentacles, and there were suction cups on the tentacles. His mouth was as small as a nectarine, and his face was dark red, just like a squid that could walk on its own.
"The Squid Ma Tribe, one of the main tribes in this border region. Legend has it that their ancestor was some kind of mollusk due to a genetic mutation. They have a violent personality and don't like to talk."
Every time he encountered an unfamiliar, high-level sapient lifeform, Lionheart Emperor Oro would introduce them to Xia Fei, dazzling him. The prosperity of the Demon Tribe was in no way inferior to that of the God Tribe, and their racial composition was even more unique, with all sorts of strange sapient lifeforms.
Xia Fei followed Oro's directions and turned into a narrow street. After taking a dozen or so steps, he suddenly realized that it was a dead end! There was no way out!
"That's not right. I remember that this should be where the largest trading company in Black Lion City is. Why isn't it here anymore?" Oro grumbled, somewhat depressed.
Xia Fei sighed. "When was the last time you came to Black Lion City?"
"When I was young, I was a city defense officer for a few days …" The moment Oro said this, he realized that he was wrong. He was an immortal expert who had lived for countless years. When he was young, that was more than ten thousand years ago!
Though the layout of Black Lion City was the same as before, who knew how many times these buildings had been renovated. How could Oro possibly find them just by relying on his memories?
Xia Fei shrugged and retreated to the street. Oro muttered, "Things remain the same, but people are different. Things remain the same, but people are different …"
There was a rather large restaurant on the street. It was a five-story building with luxurious decorations, and Xia Fei headed inside.
"Are you hungry?"
"I'm not hungry."
"Then why did you enter the restaurant? You should've gone to a shop to buy a spatial compass, "Oro complained.
Xia Fei smiled. "What we're looking for isn't an ordinary compass, but a supreme-grade item that can travel ten billion lightyears without being tracked! I don't expect any random shop to be able to bring out goods worth tens of thousands of grade 4 Origin Crystals, so the first step is to ask around, and in this unfamiliar city, there's no place more well-informed than a restaurant. "
Lionheart Emperor Oro was someone from the past, after all. He could lead Xia Fei to Black Lion City, but he could not help him find the spatial compass he needed, so Xia Fei planned to use his own methods.
The reason why restaurants existed was not just for eating; they also served as a place to exchange information. Most of the murderous activities took place in these dark little taverns. Now that Xia Fei was in need of top-tier goods, he naturally had to go to the most luxurious restaurant to find out what he was looking for.
There were a dozen or so servants standing at the entrance of the restaurant, but when they saw that Xia Fei was a human, none of them came to greet him. Some of them even raised their heads, clearly looking down on Xia Fei.
Xia Fei felt a little stifled. This restaurant was quite influential, not even bothering to greet the servants when they saw that he was not dressed well. They were truly looking down on him.
The first floor had long tables that could seat four, and the more luxurious private rooms and private rooms were all on the second floor and above. Xia Fei picked a seat by the window and sat down, his eyes scanning the restaurant.
This restaurant was doing quite well, with customers coming in and out from time to time, but for several minutes, not a single person came to greet Xia Fei, a stark contrast to the other customers who were greeted and sent off by the servants.
"A human? Should we go up and entertain him? "
"Look at how poor he is. What's there to entertain? We're eating the commission, so we might as well wait for those high officials and nobles if we have the time. "
The conversation between the two servants reached Xia Fei's ears. The waiters in this restaurant did not earn much, and they relied on the customers to order some expensive dishes and take a commission or tips from the customers to survive. Therefore, customers like Xia Fei, who did not have much to offer, were naturally ignored by the servants, while those big-bellied customers were greeted and sent off by a dozen servants, looking very disrespectful.
Just as Xia Fei was feeling very awkward, a fat servant hurried down from the second floor, wiping the sweat off his forehead with one hand, his chubby face looking especially honest.
Seeing that no one was greeting Xia Fei in the corner, this fat servant very naturally walked over, bringing a teapot, a hot towel, and a menu from the counter.
"It's that idiot again. A few days ago, he even treated a beggar as a customer and invited him in, causing the boss to fly into a rage."
"Isn't that right? People in our line of work have good eyesight, able to tell at a glance which customers are generous and which are poor. Someone like him will never be able to save enough money to marry a wife in his entire life."
The fat servant's actions drew mockery from his colleagues, but he was indifferent and walked over to Xia Fei with a smile, respectfully pouring tea and giving Xia Fei a hot towel to wipe his face.
Xia Fei raised his eyebrows and pushed the menu back. "I'm not looking at the menu. I'm not that hungry. Just order a local specialty and a bowl of rice will do."
The servants behind him were still laughing. "Like I said; he's just a pauper."
The fat servant thought for a moment and said, "The local sand bamboo shoots are very delicious, but they mature very slowly in the desert, needing ten years to germinate. Ten sand bamboo shoots can be used to make one dish, and now is the perfect time to eat sand bamboo shoots. Why don't you try this dish? It's delicious and cheap."
Usually, the waiters in a restaurant would recommend more expensive dishes to their customers. The more expensive the order, the higher their commission, but this fat servant had recommended Xia Fei some delicious and inexpensive dishes, which was enough to show that he was quite a good person.
Xia Fei nodded. "Then I'll have a plate of sand bamboo shoots. Also, I'd like to ask you something."
"What is it, sir?"
"I'm here to buy a spatial compass, the best kind. Where should I go?" Xia Fei asked.
The fat servant pondered for a long time before saying, "There are three biggest shops in Black Lion City: Crane's Tail, Goldstone, and Salamander. This is publicly acknowledged in the city, but I've heard from customers that Crane's Tail and Goldstone are very expensive, so I suggest that you go to Salamander first. If not, you can go to the other two."
That was not all. He was afraid that Xia Fei would not be able to find the address, so he rambled on about the locations of the three shops and ended up drawing a simple map.
This took up quite a lot of time, and he missed out on many opportunities to make money. The fat servant had no complaints about this, and Xia Fei was very grateful.
Just as the fat servant said, the sand bamboo shoots were indeed delicious. It had a faint lily-like fragrance, crystal clear, and snow-white. Xia Fei was not hungry to begin with, but he could not help but have his appetite whetted when he saw this dish. He ate three bowls of rice in a row, finishing all the sand bamboo shoots on the plate. Though Xia Fei was not lacking in money, he was not used to wasting.
Seeing Xia Fei eat the entire plate, the servants looked down on Xia Fei even more, thinking that this was a sign of poverty.
Lighting a cigarette, Xia Fei called the chubby manservant over to his side. Swiping his finger across his spatial ring, he handed the manservant three grade 3 Origin Crystals. "Here's the bill."
* Zing! *
A dozen or so scorching gazes landed on him. None of them could believe that the plain-looking Xia Fei would be so generous!
"No need, not even one. Just one grade 2 is enough. Sand bamboo shoots are very cheap," the fat servant stuttered.
Xia Fei smiled. "I know. The rest is for you as a tip."
A tip!
These servants only made so much in a year, yet Xia Fei had given them a tip that was equivalent to a year's salary!
Envy, jealousy, and hatred.
The servants who had been gloating over Xia Fei's misfortune nearly had their eyeballs fall out of their sockets!
What did it mean to hide one's true self? They must have experienced it firsthand.
…
Following the map, he found the Saruman Trading Company. This famous shop in Black Lion City wasn't hard to find. It occupied eight storefronts along the street, and the trading company used the local specialty sand willow wood to make a huge signboard that could be seen from two miles away.
Xia Fei walked into the shop and casually looked at the items on the counter. Just as the fat servant had said, this shop had a variety of goods, with no lack of high-grade treasures. The prices were not too ridiculous, either, so it was probably one of the most powerful merchants in the city.
There were tables and chairs in the shop, making it convenient for customers to sit down and discuss business.
"Shopkeeper, I'm looking for your boss," Xia Fei said in a deep voice after sitting down.
This shop clearly knew how to do business. Though the clerk was somewhat skeptical, he still respectfully invited a tall, elderly man. This man was a Lionheart, though he was not as ridiculously tall as Oro, standing at about 2.5 meters tall. His face was covered in golden fur, making it impossible to tell his age.
Contrary to what Xia Fei had expected, Xia Fei very cautiously stated his intentions. After all, an unregistered spatial compass was illegal and could not see the light of day. Moreover, what he wanted was a top-grade item, a super illegal item that was not allowed to be traded in the Law Realm.
However, the owner, Ricky, did not seem to mind at all, as if it was only natural for him to trade such illegal items in Black Lion City.
A holographic projection appeared in front of Xia Fei, showing a black compass.
"The compass you want is expensive, and it's stored in the vault, not to be easily shown to others. I'll have to trouble you to take a look at the image first. If you decide to take it, I'll get someone to retrieve it from the vault," Ricky very politely said.
The holographic projection had a very high resolution, and aside from the lack of texture, it was no different from holding it in one's hand. The image could even be flipped around, not missing a single detail.
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