Chapter 41 Buying Ingredients

After finishing the fruit plate, Field stretched lazily and watched Vina run off to wash the dishes.

"Are you bullying her like this when I'm not around?" Holland crossed her legs and smirked at Field.

Field knew she was joking, so he snorted, "Nobody else wants to be bullied by me like this."

"Getting cocky, huh?" Holland chuckled.

Then she seemed to notice something and stared at Field up and down for a few moments.

"What's up?" Field felt a bit uncomfortable under her scrutiny.

"Have you... changed?" Holland asked.

"Changed, meow," Qiqi nodded.

Field looked at his body, "Is it that obvious?"

Holland shook her head, but Qiqi nodded again.

"Then tell me how I've changed," Field said to Qiqi.

"Your size has gotten bigger, meow!" Qiqi said.

Holland also realized and nodded, "Yeah, it seems like you've grown taller and stronger."

Field laughed, "You got it right."

"Just now when I was delivering the task, I got into a little conflict with the Crab Gang, and I couldn't hold back, so I broke through."

"Now I'm in the gold tier."

Holland: "..."

Holland was amazed. She knew that geniuses could make rapid progress, breaking through several small stages in a row. But Field had directly jumped from silver five stars to gold five stars, not just one.

However, she was mistaken. It wasn't gold one star, but gold five stars.

Field had jumped up a major tier!

Seeing Holland's disbelief, Field showed a bit, triggering his qi and blood. A pattern of qi and blood appeared beside his hand, slowly swirling around with a golden edge shimmering.

"You really are a monster," Holland couldn't help but say.

"Thanks for the compliment," Field enjoyed it.

"But what does that have to do with you getting bigger?" Holland asked in confusion.

Field shrugged, "I have innate divine power. As my tier increases, my strength increases, so I grow a bit taller."

In fact, it was because of his giant physique. Every time he advanced, Field's size would increase a bit. That's why he was almost two meters tall at sixteen. But being almost two meters tall was a thing of the past. Now he was almost 2.05 meters tall, growing seven centimeters taller, so his clothes were a bit tight.

Holland was skeptical, but she still nodded and accepted this explanation. After all, everyone's physique was different.

For example, she, as an ice attribute mage, had a relatively dull body, but she was very sensitive.

Uh, here it means prone to allergies, nothing else... maybe also something else? I don't know, meow.

It was almost noon, and Grandma Lunla invited the three of them to stay for lunch.

Field naturally agreed, but Holland had something to do. She had to go to the Sea Capital Academy for something, probably related to Vina.

"When I'm not here, don't bully her," Holland smiled at Field.

"Don't worry," Field said with a grin.

Holland trusted Field more, confident in her ability to judge people.

After saying goodbye to Mentor Holland, Field returned to the house, only to find Grandma Lunla already busy in the kitchen.

"Vina, we're out of meat. Can you go buy some?" Grandma Lunla's voice came.

Upon hearing this, Vina softly agreed and went to get the shopping bag.

Seeing this, Field slapped his thigh.

"I'll go with you," he said.

Vina murmured softly, "You should rest at home..."

But before she could finish her sentence, Field had already bypassed her and walked out, saying, "Rest? What rest? A skilled mercenary like me can't stay idle. If they won't let me go, I'll go find those Crab Gang guys."

Upon hearing this, Vina hurriedly followed, waving her hands and pleading, "No, please don't..."

"Then let's go. I'll go with you to make sure you don't get into trouble," Field said, hands in his pockets.

"Qiqi, while you're at it, go take care of the furniture," Field tossed a bag of coins to Qiqi.

"Got it, meow!" Qiqi took the bag and dashed out swiftly.

Field just loved diligent little kittens.

"Big guy, sis, come back soon~" Tina and a group of little ones peeked out from behind the door frame, waving.

Qiqi always called Field "big guy," and the rest of the kids followed suit. But Field didn't mind, waving back and walking shoulder to shoulder with Vina towards the market.

Arriving at the market, it was still bustling, especially with the abundant seafood due to its proximity to the sea.

Field looked a bit hungry, so he turned to Vina and said, "I want to eat seafood."

Vina nodded in agreement, "Okay."

Then she approached a stall and pointed to a plump red snapper, asking, "Can we have this red snapper?"

Field nodded, "Sure, you pick."

With that, he lit a cigarette, looking forward to it.

Vina nodded and began bargaining with the vendor. Although she had been overcharged twenty coins for wine before, it was because she didn't usually buy it and didn't know its price. But she was familiar with fish, meat, and vegetables, and most of the vendors in the market knew Vina, so they offered discounted prices. Even if the vendors didn't know her, they didn't dare to cheat her with Field, the two-meter-tall giant, by her side.

Soon, Vina had filled her bag to the brim. Normally, she wouldn't need to buy so much, but with Field coming over for dinner, she spent over ten coins on ingredients. And with more meat than vegetables, she probably considered Field's large appetite.

As a result, Field was worried that Vina might trip over from the weight of her bag. So he crushed the cigarette butt in his mouth, flicked it, and it flew straight into the trash can of the nearby shop before reaching out to Vina.

Vina looked at him somewhat puzzled.

Field didn't say anything, just took the bag from her hands.

Vina hesitated for a moment, then said softly, looking up at him, "I can do it..."

"I know you can, but you're walking too slowly with the bag," Field said casually.

Vina looked at him, and after a while, whispered softly, "Thank you."

Without looking at her, Field waved his hand casually, but his ears seemed a bit red.

"Is there anything else you need to buy?" Field asked.

Vina nodded, saying, "We still need to buy some seasonings. We're out at home."

Field nodded and saw a seasoning shop ahead, so he walked straight toward it.

But when they reached the door, Field felt his clothes being tugged.

Turning around, he saw Vina standing behind him, pointing her finger across the street with her long sweater sleeve.

"Not this one..."

Field was puzzled, "Aren't they all seasoning shops?"

Vina whispered, "This one's more expensive. The other one's cheaper..."

Field: "..."

"Alright, let's go," Field nodded and walked towards the other shop.

Vina quickly followed.

Seeing that he wasn't impatient, she loosened her grip on her small hand and walked a bit more briskly.

In fact, if Field were alone, he would never bother to walk a few hundred meters extra to another shop just to save a few copper coins on spices.

But looking at the tall figure beside him, Field's usually impatient temperament inexplicably calmed down a bit.

It made him willing to quiet down and accompany her on this journey.

Before long, they arrived at the seasoning shop. However, there were several people blocking the entrance, seemingly members of a gang. The owner was currently engaged in conversation with them, and from his expression, it didn't seem like a pleasant exchange.

"We paid the security fee a few days ago, why do we have to pay it again..." the owner said bitterly.

"I don't care, these are the new rules. The security fee has increased. If you want to run a business here, you have to pay up!" the lead thug said impatiently, brandishing a stick wrapped with wire.

"How can you do this to us? We already have to pay taxes and stall fees, we're barely making any profit, and now you want to charge us more for security fees... We can barely keep this shop open," the owner said with a pained expression.

Neighbours and bystanders chimed in, "That's right, the security fee is too high..."

"How are we supposed to survive..."

"What are you all babbling about!" The thug leader suddenly smashed the counter with his iron rod, leaving a dent, then menacingly pointed the rod at the surrounding people.

"How are you going to survive? You can live however you want, but if you don't pay the security fee today, I'll make sure you won't live another day!"

Hearing this, the surrounding neighbours and the shop owner glared angrily, but more than that, they were filled with fear.

Seeing that none of them dared to speak up, the thug leader smirked arrogantly, appearing rather pleased with himself.

"A bunch of troublemakers. We, the Crab Gang, kindly protect you, and this is how you repay us... Ah!"

He was about to launch into a long-winded speech, but before he could finish, a swift kick landed on his side, sending him flying two to three meters away.

"Who the hell dares to mess with me..." The thug groaned on the ground, then angrily got up, cursing.

But as soon as he turned his head, he saw Field, cigarette dangling from his mouth, one hand carrying groceries, the other in his pocket, looking at him with raised eyebrows.

"Uh..." He immediately shut up.

It wasn't just because of Field's imposing stature, but also because he had witnessed Field taking care of the Sains' gang before, and recognized him.

At that moment, fear crept into his eyes, completely contrasting his previous arrogance.

"Awesome, collecting security fees," Field dropped the groceries on the ground, hands in his pockets as he walked towards the thug.

The thug trembled but didn't dare to run.

Come on, Field was over two meters tall and a gold-tier, he didn't think he could outrun him.

As for the five or six lackeys he brought along, none of them dared to stop Field and quickly stepped aside.

Field approached the thug, towering over him, "Tell me what's going on here."

With that, he took a drag of his cigarette and blew the smoke into the thug's face.

The thug blinked rapidly from the smoke but still wore a forced smile, "Brother, it's all a misunderstanding... a misunderstanding..."

"A misunderstanding?" Field chuckled, raising his leg and lightly kicking the thug's crotch. It wasn't too forceful, but it was enough to make him fall to the ground.

"Brother, please don't hit me, don't hit me..." The thug hurriedly protected himself, not daring to resist.

"Collecting security fees on my turf, is Sains tired of living?" Field laughed and gave him another light kick, causing the thug to wail in pain.

"Big brother, we're just forced to do this..." The thug was almost in tears.

"Forced? So you're saying I've wronged you?" 

"No... no..." The thug quickly lowered his head.

Seeing him like this, Field couldn't be bothered to continue punishing him. Instead, he waved his hand at him.

The thug on the ground blinked in confusion.

Field frowned.

The thug immediately trembled and cautiously approached Field, saying, "Big...big brother?"

"Go back and tell Sains that I'm in charge here from now on. If I see the Crab Gang collecting security fees here again, I'll personally disassemble his other arm," Field said calmly, exhaling a puff of smoke.

"Yes, yes..." The thug nodded repeatedly.

"Now get lost." Field raised his chin, and the thugs scattered as if granted clemency.

Watching them leave, Field sneered.

It wasn't that he was trying to help the street's shopkeepers or expand his gang's territory by confronting the Crab Gang. He simply didn't want Veena, who often came here to buy groceries, to encounter these thugs.

Although there were lawkeepers, the security in Seadon...was just like a border city in the wasteland. Lawkeepers were just there for show. Otherwise, why would gangs collect security fees?

Fortunately, these gangs were quite interesting. Most of them were just people seeking protection or young ones who thought gangs were cool. They mostly refrained from committing outrageous acts in broad daylight.