Chapter 151. Black market

I arrived at a relatively cheap hotel where they had a place for my horse to sleep, and I rested in my room until night came over the city.

Once that was done, I equipped my Netherite armor and stealthily left the hotel.

The streets were well-illuminated by the lamps on the side, and while there were a few people on the streets, nobody seemed to see me, so I walked with more confidence towards the sewers of the city.

The people in this world don't need to go the bathroom or have genitals in general. The method they have kids it's similar to the animals, just longer.

The couple has to sleep in the same bed for a whole night, and early in the morning, they have a kid crying between them.

It's a weird concept for me to hear at first, so I didn't plan on questioning on how it worked.

So why would the people in this world need a sewer system if they don't need to use the bathroom?

The answer is trash.

The other kingdoms had a similar system but on a smaller scale, since they didn't produce the same amount of waste as the Coral Kingdom.

Since this country made a living out of custome items, a lot of splinters and other smaller materials were wasted daily.

Those were thrown in the water, where they would be washed away in the valley around the city and wait for them to disintegrate in the next month.

It was interesting to learn about this, but the biggest difference that I felt was the lack of smell since there was not a lot of food thrown out.

I walked along the poorly lit sewers until I saw what I was looking for.

A hole in the right wall that didn't have brickstone as design, Instead normal stone with dirt.

This tunnel didn't have light at all, so I had to be careful not to bump into any monsters that could've spawned.

To my surprise, there wasn't any, instead only a closed iron door at the end of the dark tunnel.

I looked through the small windows and saw a few people playing some game at a table in the corner of the room.

Should I announce my presence?

No, I wanted to try something first.

I took out my Netherite pickaxe and broke the two blocks beside the door, and no sounds were made.

Like that, I was in the same room with the guards who didn't even know what just happened.

I ignored the tired guards and opened the wooden door beside them.

On the other side, was a huge cave with stalls placed all over the place, I stayed there for a few moments to appreciate the beauty of this place.

On my right, there was an empty stall with a big sign.

-- 5 emeralds for 1 robe--

Curios, I put 5 emeralds in the hopper, and out of darkness, a dispenser threw me a dark robe, taking me by surprise.

"Interesting system."

I tried to put other items in the hopper but they didn't go through.

With my curiosity satisfied I put on the robe over my armor and went on the busy streets.

There I saw a lot of people, some wore robes like me, others just a simple mask.

Only the sellers of the stalls seemed comfortable enough to show their faces.

The wear they had was interesting as well, uniquely designed armor and swords, items like poisoned pills, honey bread, and even armor for dogs.

It was an interesting sight to see, to say the least.

I kept looking at those stalls for a while, nobody paying me any mind.

In the end, I didn't buy anything, since I couldn't find anything under 20 emeralds.

While I didn't have a problem with emeralds right now, if I intended on going on a shopping spree I would get in debt.

After I explored enough streets in the black market, I finally found something that would answer my questions.

A wooden building with a Western-style door and a big sign above it saying "Thieves Guild".

I opened the door and saw round tables with sketchy-looking people loudly playing and drinking.

With silent steps, I walked towards the bar and sat down.

"A glass of milk if you could."

I said, as I placed an emerald on the counter.

The barman was taken by surprise when he finally saw me.

"S-sure sir."

He took the emerald, opened a chest, took out a bucket of milk which he poured into a glass cup, sliding it to me.

I took the cup and took a long sip out of it before putting it down.

The barman was now cleaning a cup to calm his nerves while looking at me.

"I'm looking for some information."

I turned towards him but only darkness was under the hood.

But surprisingly the man steeled himself and entered in business mode, getting closer to me.

"What exactly are you looking for?"

"I want to know if any fisherman has seen a one-eyed fish as big as them."

The man sat in silence searching for something in his mind.

"I have something, but how do plan on paying?"

Already to payment, I hope it's not too expensive.

"How much would it cost me?"

"We only exchange information, sir. So you have to say something equally valuable."

I didn't expect this, and I didn't know what to share that would be of a lower value.

I'll throw a bait and see if he'll bite it.

"I heard an invasion is coming towards the Coral Kingdom."

This made the man stop for a moment before telling me his side of the deal.

"There's a crew in the Puperfish City that claims they saw a monster fish with big eye attacking anyone who gets close."

That sounds like the exact place I want to get to.

Unfortunately, I didn't get the exact location, only a rumor.

But it was better than nothing.

"I heard someone build a flying platform, placed 400 soldiers on it, and is heading straight here without stopping to get some rest."

With that, I drank the last bit of milk from my glass and went on my way before the man could ask any more questions.

He tried to catch up with me, but once I was out of his sight, he couldn't see me again.

I went to another shop and bought a map of the Coral Kingdome for 50 emeralds.

It was a very expensive purchase, but I needed to know where Puperfish City was, so I could visit it next.

With that done, I went back to the surface to my hotel to get some sleep.

----

The next day when I woke up, I bought some alchemy ingredients, took my horse, and left the city.

From tall colorful buildings, I was back on the gravel road surrounded by trees.

With the horse under the speed potion, I managed to arrive at Puperfish City only in a week.

This was a coastal city, and it had walls instead of a deep hole like the previous one.

I arrived there, and the line was long for me to get inside the city.

But since I had the horse with me I couldn't sneak past everyone with my armor, so my only option was to wait like everyone else.

Luckily the line was moving quickly, and after an hour it was my turn to speak with the guard.

"Name and reason for visit?"

The guard asked me once I gave him my new ID.

"My name is Trader and I am here to sightsee."

The man raised his eyebrows once he finished reading my paper and let me in for free.

No more questions asked.

Truly, this was a useful paper to have.

I passed the walls and saw houses with simple designs.

The main streets were filled with people and animals that carried carts behind them.

I was shocked the first time I saw this, but once I saw the materials they carried, it all made sense.

All of them held handmade items, and since they couldn't stack them in the inventory they had to use a different kind of transportation.

I got closer to the sea, and my breath was taken away.

There were a few hotels besides the beach with designated spots to sunbathe, and further away there was a port where I saw actual ships!

And they weren't stiff as a statue as one would expect it.

Instead, they moved along with the waves of the sea.

I couldn't even imagine how it was built, how it floats, and how it was all kept together.

So I searched for a cheap hotel where I could leave my horse, put the armor on, and left for the docs.

Once I arrived there, I could only stare in admiration at the huge wooden ships floating on water.

There, I saw a few sailors laughing on the deck, celebrating, and moving crates from side to side.

"Violet, how do you think they built this?"

And the only response I got was silence.

She was either exploring this place on her own or she didn't know the answer either.

I looked some more at the ships around me and then turned around to see the local shops.

As I expected it was full of fish and sea life.

Some sold different dishes with fish, while others went with a more 'exotic' approach like turtle meat.

You could also buy fishing roads, simple boats, or necklaces with colorful corals.

Everyone was yelling their trade and had a satisfied smile on their faces enjoying the warmth of the sun.

I stopped my walk at a bar, which looked more blocky than the last one, and sat at a table in the corner listening to the sailors around the room.

"- and now we have to fix it, but slime balls got so expensive recently!"

"Have you heard the news about the mayor?"

"I'm telling you, joining the Black Bone crew was the best decision I made in my life! Look at all these emeralds I got from there."

"No, I didn't catch a lot of fish recently, and I don't dare explore deeper waters."

For the next few hours I heard similar conversations, some were entertaining while others where funny.

Unfortunately I didn't hear anything about the one-eyed fish, but was satisfied with today in the end.

I went back to my hotel and rested until night came.

Once darkness covered the city, I went out with my dark robe and visited a certain shop.

I opened the dark door and saw a long hall with animals put in iron cages on each side, with a desk at the end of the room.

Different kinds if animals were trapped in here, untamed wolves, foxes, pandas and even goats.

But I didn't plan on buying any animals from here.

I arrived at desk, where a bald man was enjoying a book.

*Bam!

I slamed my hand on the table witch startled the man who finally looked at me with worried eyes.

"I'm sorry sir, but we're closed at this hour."

"I'm not here to buy animals, I want to use the back door."

The man's eyes narrowed as he looked from side to side in the room.

"Who recomanded this place sir?"

"Trevor the sailor."

The man didn't seem to happy to hear that name, cursing something under his breath about how non secretive he was.

"That would be 5 emeralds and an ID please."

I slammed the emeralds on the desk but no book.

"Here's the emeralds, and don't ask me for stupid things again."

I said that as I took off my hoodie for him to see my Netherite helmet.

This seems to be enough to intimate him, and he quickly backed away and pressed a hidden button.

A piston was activated, and a block from the floor disaperead, showing a staircase going deep into the ground.

I nooded my head and went down.

I was lucky to get this information as I was listening at the bar this morning.

A drunk man was bragging his connections with the underworld to his friends and told them about this entrance.

Of course, he wasn't laud enough for evyone in the bar to hear him, but it was laud enough for me to catch it and listen closer.

Now, I was curios how the black market would look like in this city.