Goblin Dependency
Chapter 1041 - 517: Black Tide Hunter (Part 2)
Upon hearing this, Xia Nan slightly shook his head.
Although having been to the Southern Islands for a while, encounters with such harsh weather are still relatively rare. Without enough experience, regardless of how keen the perception may be, it’s hard to make an accurate judgment.
"The only thing certain is that the scale of this storm should be much smaller than the one we encountered last time."
The Vengeance Blade Blade is a specially modified ship, and it also has multiple Professional Level strongmen on board, while the ordinary crew members are also quite experienced.
The previous awkwardness was mostly because of the Saw-tooth Shark Fish Swarm hidden beneath the sea surface.
If it’s just an ordinary storm, it’s not difficult to handle.
Not to mention, there is so much time to prepare.
Seeing Hai Yin standing beside him, Xia Nan, as if recalling something, suddenly asked:
"Moon Tide Banquet, you’ve participated in it before, right?"
"Of course."
Though not very old, Hai Yin is almost among the earliest members to join the Vengeance Blade Blade Ship Group, and has been following Lorin for many years.
Even though the Sea Rhythm Festival occurs only once every three years, she has followed the red-haired female captain to participate in the Moon Tide Banquet countless times.
"Specifically, what’s it like, anything special?" Xia Nan continued to ask.
"It’s just a grand banquet, quite lively indeed, but not of very high class." Hai Yin recalled, "Those High level Transcendent and Legendary Level professionals, unless it’s a special situation, basically never show up, the attendees are usually adventurers of our level."
"Including Algae Scale Dodd?" Xia Nan raised an eyebrow slightly.
Hearing him ask this, Hai Yin thought for a moment, then, with some hesitation, nodded.
"In recent years, Algae Scale hasn’t shown up much, and there are few reports of him taking actions personally."
"But... he shouldn’t have reached the ’Transcendent’ level. Otherwise, given his past behavior, he wouldn’t be so low-key."
With the information he gathered during his investigation, Xia Nan nodded internally, remaining cautious but also preparing for the worst-case scenario.
"By the way, with your current fame, you don’t really need to follow us; you could find a ship on your own to sail over, and no one would stop you."
Seeing the atmosphere a bit heavy, Hai Yin suddenly changed the subject.
What she said was also true.
How to participate in the Moon Tide Banquet, Xia Nan had already inquired about it with Hera when he first arrived at Suo Yu Bay.
There are two methods in total.
The first method is to find a famous person with the qualification to attend the banquet and go with them, just like he is doing now with the Vengeance Blade Blade Ship Group;
The second method is to make a name for oneself in the Southern Islands to get the qualification to attend the Moon Tide Banquet.
When Xia Nan trekked to the Southern Islands, there were only a few months left before the Sea Rhythm Festival. Feeling that there wasn’t enough time, he chose the first method to attend the banquet and made connections with the current Vengeance Blade Blade Squad through Hera’s networks.
He didn’t expect such twists and turns in these few months that he managed to make a significant reputation within a short time.
Only the spread of the "Haiya" codename still required some time, otherwise, if he had half a month more, he might have been directly invited.
But as Hai Yin mentioned, given his current notoriety, even without an invitation, he could likely receive the same treatment as other banquet attendees by just standing at the gate.
Regarding this, Xia Nan had no extra thoughts.
His cooperation with the Vengeance Blade Blade Ship Group was very pleasant, and he even shared the same goals with their captain, Lorin, already forming plans for collaboration.
He didn’t mind attending the banquet with them as a temporary member of the ship group.
After casually conversing with the Druid beside him about matters related to the Moon Tide Banquet, Xia Nan intended to enter the cabin with them to see if any help was needed.
However, a tense alert suddenly sounded from the lookout above:
"Southeast direction! Unidentified ship approaching!"
Xia Nan’s gaze followed suit.
In the distant sea, amidst the undulating waves, a medium-sized ship was vaguely visible heading in their direction.
The unfamiliar ship was slightly smaller than the Vengeance Blade Blade, but its design was distinct from the common fishing and commercial ships at the dock, clearly having undergone special modifications.
Adventurers? Or maybe pirates?
Xia Nan pondered silently.
His pitch-black eyes fixed on the distant ship, concentrating on the flag at the top of the mast indicating identity.
A black background with white patterns, depicting a sharp fish spear slashing down across waves, with the chain at the end entangling the edge of the flag.
Xia Nan hadn’t seen this flag before but seemed to have encountered related information somewhere before, vaguely feeling some familiarity.
While recalling, the correct answer reached his ears.
"’Black Tide Hunter’ Ship Group?"
Unbeknownst to him, the captain, Lorin, who heard the lookout’s warning, had already come out of the cabin.
With her vast experience, she instantly recognized the identity of the distant ship at first glance.
Black Tide Hunter?
With her reminder, Xia Nan immediately remembered the information he previously learned while brushing up on the Southern Islands regarding this ship group.
Adventurers are, at the core, merely a group wielding powers exceeding ordinary people, living off association tasks as a special group.
Those at the relatively low end do not have particular requirements regarding task types; the same difficulty level could range from collection to hunting — as long as it pays, almost anything goes.
As adventurers’ strength gradually increases and they form fixed teams or even tread the path of professionals, the type of tasks they take will be targeted based on the expertise of the team members.
Some adventurer teams specialize in various bounties, becoming traditional "Bounty Hunters";
Others pursue legendary treasures, with tasks duration often measured in years, but success yields rewards covering ordinary teams’ expenses for years, even amassing a fortune overnight to become genuine tycoons.
The core business of the "Black Tide Hunter" adventurer ship group involves tracking and hunting various marine demon creatures, with income mainly derived from task rewards and sea beast materials.
They rarely interact with other adventurer teams but often return to port dragging large sea beast carcasses, fetching high prices.
Xia Nan had previously heard about this team at the tavern, and under others’ descriptions, he learned about their fleet’s flag.
At that time, he didn’t pay much attention but didn’t expect to encounter them at sea this way now.
But...
Xia Nan’s mind raced with thoughts.
While "Black Tide Hunter" ostensibly makes its primary revenue through sea beast hunting, given his understanding of adventurers in this world, encountering the so-called "fat sheep" in the unregulated open sea would likely tempt them to temporarily shift roles and engage in piracy.
The adventurer identity, at this particular time and place, inherently poses a threat to the Vengeance Blade Blade Ship Group.
It’s difficult to ascertain friend from foe.
Moreover, given that the opposite ship proactively approaches, who knows what intentions they harbor.
Fortunately, as far as he knew, the combat capacity of the Black Tide Hunter Team wasn’t very high, likely inferior to the Vengeance Blade Blade Ship Group, with him and Alton as temporary members.
Nonetheless, caution was necessary.
Simultaneously, beside him, Lorin evidently shared the same concerns as Xia Nan.
Without relaxing vigilance knowing the other party’s identity, she convened the team members into formation, directing the deck crew to prepare for battle.
In merely ten minutes, the "Black Tide Hunter" wooden ship sailed close to the Vengeance Blade Blade amidst the waves.
This allowed Xia Nan to see the situation on the opposing deck more clearly.