Black Sail
Chapter 273: CCLXXIII. Famine

Chapter 273: CCLXXIII. Famine

During Liszt’s absence, the entire inn’s decor underwent a massive transformation under Dreya’s exquisite taste.

The room’s dark-toned solid wood furniture, horseshoe-leg styled table legs, classical columnar panel designs, and the plaster carvings on the walls meticulously detailed made the bedroom quite refined.

Liszt heard some commotion downstairs and wanted to go check it out, planning to give Mo Yutong a heads-up before leaving.

Mo Yutong propped her hand against her cheek, still needing to establish detailed personnel structures, salary packages, and external delegation systems, among many other provisions.

If time permitted, she would also need to develop a VI visual identity manual to bolster external influence and internal cohesion.

VI essentially served the same purpose as the coats of arms used by Western Continent nobles, involving some form of totem or symbolic motif to infiltrate people’s minds, except that VI extended into a series of symbolic motifs, ranging from the LOGO to various details in corporate apparel.

Fen realized that in this matter, Mo Yutong was far more professional than he was, truly worthy of being a professor at Aran Royal Technical College; even he felt that some of her ideas broke through the limitations of the era, being overly advanced.

Though the man and woman were considered outsiders, Fen had already made up his mind about them, still marveling at their expertise as he entrusted Mo Yutong with these tasks.

Continuing her work in the bedroom, she put on a pair of gold-rimmed glasses with decorative chains, slightly nearsighted.

Liszt had intended to leave, but upon a closer look at Mo Yutong, although her attire had already integrated well with the local style, leaning slightly towards androgyny with a business-like appearance, the silver-and-black striped suit she wore, the high heels she stepped into, the slender waist, eyebrows like distant hills, and soft black hair that fell to her shoulder blades made Liszt suddenly lose his desire to go downstairs. What was his status that he should personally go?

"Um..."

"Do you need anything else?"

"About New Year’s Eve..."

"Yes, I’m listening."

"It’s nothing, just that your earring is really beautiful."

Liszt made his move, lifting a strand of hair to tuck it behind her ear while pretending to look at the earring, but actually caressing the edge of her ear, and then commented, "That was given to you by my wife, right?"

Liszt was well aware of Dreya’s little schemes; even Goria’s ears had been pierced—perhaps that woman took the opportunity to sink her teeth in, feigning a vampire’s bite to seduce, well, he certainly must make good use of the guilt!

Mo Yutong’s ears instantly burned hot.

And in the inn’s lobby.

It was still semi-closed, with tables and chairs not completely arranged, and a throng of people crowded at the door, led by figures that had the look of troubling characters.

Old Wei, using a towel to wipe a glass, stopped the group of people. The current situation was special, and though Liszt had said Doringger wouldn’t touch him, it was difficult to say what might happen during this period.

"The inn is temporarily closed. Is there something I can assist you with?"

Old Wei offered a kindly smile that was like a breath of fresh spring.

Unexpectedly, Fisher and his companions appeared quite aggressive, being debt collectors whose presence couldn’t be understated; if they were intimidated by the other party, the journey of nearly a month, traveling all this way, would be a futile effort.

"Which one of you is looking for Morison? Is he among these people?"

Fisher asked the substitute Honor Level.

Honor Level shook his head; the person had a very distinct appearance, half of his face completely disfigured, even more so after carving a dozen or more fierce cuts into the burnt area, making it seem somewhat more harmonious.

"Are you here for him?"

Old Wei followed up, sensing that the group’s capability was significant; outside the castle, aside from Liszt’s alliance, the rest were of questionable quality, and they might be outsiders or possibly sent by Doringger to stir trouble.

Fisher continued to ignore him, shaking off some snow and mud from his boots directly onto the threshold of the inn, grinding his heel in a few times.

"Alright, brothers and sisters, let’s go inside and look around."

Without another word, Fisher led his group into the inn.

Old Wei had now been hired as the company’s security consultant and the inn’s manager, having signed an employment contract with a basic monthly salary of twenty Golden Dragons, free medical benefits, and self-determined work hours, a princely sum compared to what High Order Clergy would earn in a year and a half.

It was just a gust of chill wind that passed through.

No movement at all.

Old Wei remained standing behind the bar near the door, holding a small knife for peeling fruit. On the foot Fisher used to sharpen his shoes with, three red lines appeared, soon to crack and ooze with blood serum.

He counted them, nineteen people in total.

"I’d advise against doing that again," Old Wei said, pointing to the mud on the threshold, adding, "If there’s anything you need, feel free to speak up."

He continued to smile warmly.

The Female Archer, Female Mage, and Demon Swordsman standing behind Fisher all braced themselves for combat.

He, however, slightly raised a hand to keep them from acting rashly, carefully observing the old man—somewhat familiar, yet he could not recall where he had seen him before.

Fisher didn’t get a chance to speak.

Rein and Mika were coming down from the second floor, chatting and laughing merrily, Mika’s face nearly split open with his grin. He was about to take over a tavern previously under the Twin Group, planning to convert it into a hospital and in the process recruit staff.

Rein found it amusing—he had nothing else to do and decided to go help, help out.

"Fen’er said to try and hire men, they have strength and stamina, necessary for moving equipment and some immobile patients."

Rein didn’t think it was reliable though.

"He doesn’t know anything. Men lack patience, and they can’t handle frustrating tasks. We need women—if there’s someone who can’t walk, move them if possible, otherwise, let them wait for death."

Mika leafed through the "Military Firearm List," mumbling, "If I were to become the Green Emperor, I’d make peach blossoms bloom with him, even if relationships like dew are but a play, when there are benefits, these sisters should be remembered. Once they join a legitimate organization, we must save these fallen women with all our might."

"Truly a compassionate heart of a healer, of old there was "Bencao Gangmu," now there is a prostitute’s transcription; human life is of the utmost importance, worth more than gold—such benevolence is beyond this."

Rein was too exhausted to retort.

Upon reaching the first floor, he happened to see Old Wei handling a bunch of clueless people, which amused Rein, even though he did not understand why Old Wei was so tough—nothing ever went wrong in the inn.

"Life’s so boring, corpses pretending to be human. They cracked us up—what’s going on, Old Wei?"

Rein coughed twice, pretending to drink. He contemplated borrowing a wheelbarrow to come up with a director—what a triangle kill, too showy.

Old Wei explained the situation; these people were looking for Morison.

"Brother Sha, go check on Charlie!"

As a Werewolf from Chenfeng Plateau, Rein’s voice carried very far.

"Goddamn Charlie, playing Don’t Starve."

Mika also hoped to quickly resolve this matter; the whole place was swarming with... wait a second! He spotted the Female Archer and Female Mage, suddenly showing signs of raising his own standards.

The situation grew increasingly tense for Fisher; both were wanted criminals listed on Warrants, one an adventurer who had embezzled a birthday gift of eight thousand Golden Dragons from the Minister of Aran, the other a hangman-turned-forensic doctor who had poisoned the former Lord of Chenxi Port—also an official. The latter was exceptionally sinister for her work with cadavers, thinking she could deceive Heaven and Earth and frame others. She had been imprisoned but later escaped from jail.

Morison was teaching Gawain and Weber how to play apocalypse-themed board games upstairs.

"Where did Charlie come from in broad daylight? If this keeps up, we’ll have to turn his intestines inside out."

Morison came down, a director of a large company from the East Sea, still wearing his torn, cracked crocodile skin jacket adorned with scrap metal.

"Is this the person you spoke of?"

Fisher asked the Honor Level adventurer.

He nodded.

After Fisher assessed the situation on the island, he naturally wasn’t about to confront it head-on. Skilled enough to rob a train, the place was also full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers—only a strategic play would do.

"Are you the former adventurer and job leveler actively operating in the Northwest?"

Fisher intended to use this as a starting point to later seek out Liszt himself.

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