Super Righteous Player
Chapter 477 - 18 Trade and Plunder_1

Chapter 477: Chapter 18 Trade and Plunder_1

"The Secret Eye?"

Upon hearing Niusel’s words, Naifertali slightly frowned.

She was a young lady with skin as pale as a marble statue, yet her hair was a deep red like flames, full of strange vitality.

Her figure and skin were well maintained, but correspondingly, it was impossible to determine her approximate age at a glance. The fiery glow danced in her eyes, as if through that pupil, one could see a bonfire burning fiercely.

She was one of the "wise women" of this city.

She was also a friend Niusel had known since childhood.

"Are you sure that’s what they’re called?"

"Yes, they claim to come and resolve nightmares."

"The nightmares of the Sporogenesis Mill? Are they serious?"

Naifertali paced around the room twice, her expression turning slightly grave, and asked Niusel again, "Have you verified their identities with the Decree Spell?"

"Of course, I have done so; I have done everything within my jurisdiction. My spell tells me they are not lying—they truly belong to such an organization, and they are indeed part of it. But beyond that, I can’t uncover anything; I myself have never heard of this name before."

Niusel shrugged helplessly, looking somewhat uneasy at Naifertali, who was pacing ceaselessly in the room, with a pale green light seeping from his eyes: "That’s why I came to see if you might know more than I do."

"Unfortunately, Niusel, I haven’t heard of this name either."

Naifertali furrowed her brows tightly: "But I might have a lead... the problem could be quite serious. Wait a moment, I need to conduct an experiment."

"—What? Neve, what have you thought of?"

Niusel’s eyes lit up as he followed closely behind Naifertali, peppering her with questions incessantly.

"Don’t stand so close to me—you stepped on my shoe, fool! Now, bring me the barrel of Knowing Worms from the basement; I’m going to start a ritual to verify my suspicion."

Watching Niusel trailing behind her like a large dog, stepping on her shoe and knocking it off, Naifertali felt her blood pressure rise in an instant.

"Take the whole thing? Or just one?"

"We only need one for the ritual, but how do you plan to take it out?"

"...How to take it out?"

Niusel asked, following Naifertali’s line of questioning.

The woman’s mouth twitched, feeling a momentary headache, and added helplessly, "That’s why I said not to take it out! Bring me the whole barrel!"

"Oh, oh, if you had said so earlier, that would have settled it."

The supervisor Niusel, with brown hair and blue eyes, muscular and handsome, nodded repeatedly and ran to Naifertali’s basement.

Naifertali pressed her temples hard, trying to calm her emotions.

Niusel was good in many ways. He had a smart brain, but he never used it in everyday situations...

She quickly set up the ritual site with crystal powder—a hexagram formed by two overlapping triangles. Taking out the polished citrine fragments, she placed one, two, and three crystals respectively at the 2 o’clock, 6 o’clock, and 10 o’clock points of the star, and positioned three light sources behind the citrine.

"Is it this barrel?"

Niusel came up carrying a small oak barrel, speaking with some puzzlement, "This is the only ’barrel’ I saw..."

Though it was called a barrel, it was actually about the size of a beer can.

It had previously been immersed in ice water, so it appeared somewhat wet.

Before handing it over to Naifertali, he diligently picked up a cotton cloth from the table and wiped the damp, cold barrel.

"Yes, just watch, no need to leave. But don’t disturb me."

Naifertali warned, "This is a ritual that directly connects with the Mysterious Lady—from now on, until I say it’s okay, do not make a sound."

Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh.

Niusel silently nodded again and again, watching Naifertali perform the ritual without shifting her gaze.

Naifertali shook her head helplessly and placed the bucket in a corner of the table.

She opened the lid of the bucket, revealing the white, semi-translucent worms inside, numbering around a dozen.

They resembled children’s ring fingers, and as the temperature gradually returned to normal, these frost-covered ’Knowing Worms’ started to wriggle their bodies, slowly regaining activity.

Using a glass vessel resembling a grape picker, Naifertali picked up three worms and carefully poured them into the very center of the ceremonial site.

These are the magical creatures known as "Knowing Worms."

In ancient times, ritualists believed that if a person suddenly became obsessed with learning or reading, it was generally due to the parasitism of a Knowing Worm.

Upon contact with living flesh, they would immediately turn into transparent spiritual bodies and merge as one with it; if they encountered any metal, they would become extremely fragile, to the point where they could be easily split in half with a trembling hand holding metal chopsticks.

The higher the temperature, the more active they become, turning into transparent spiritual bodies; at lower surrounding temperatures, they solidify into physical forms. This was the ancient understanding of why one’s mind doesn’t function well in hot weather.

Of course, modern ritualists have long realized that the ancient view of Knowing Worms was incorrect.

Or rather, it’s the other way around.

It’s not that being parasitized by a Knowing Worm causes an obsession with knowledge, but rather that the desire for knowledge is refined and materialized through the ritual to produce the "Knowing Worm." Once this "desire for knowledge" is extracted, the original intention to seek knowledge vanishes with it. Unless inspired by some event to strive again, one henceforth no longer delves into skills or acquires knowledge, becoming half a waste.

For various reasons, the ritual "Activation Extraction: Knowing Worms" has become widespread, but to date, only the Underground Federation has been able to mass-produce Knowing Worms.

This is because it has the most people in the world willing to learn, to study, striving to become "wise," intelligent individuals.

It also has the most who are willing to "sell themselves" in exchange for money, these "intelligent individuals."

Whether through passive plundering or active selling, the Underground Federation exports a large batch of Knowing Worms each year.

Indeed, the wise are the founders of the Underground Federation.

But at the same time... not all the wise are willing to selflessly dedicate their wisdom to others.

Wise individuals do not kill.

That is not a "mystical action."

However, some wise individuals also do not wish for their city to have multiple wise individuals.

They will set up rituals to directly steal others’ wisdom or give them curses that gradually deteriorate the mind, or take away the other’s "desire to learn"—even providing them with a life of excessive comfort, inviting them to eat, drink, and be merry. The methods of the wise vary according to character.

But even wise individuals who do not produce their own Knowing Worms will still inevitably buy some from others.

Whether it’s using the Knowing Worms on themselves to study hard for a while or utilizing them in rituals to gain fleeting prophetic spell abilities, they are very practical "consumables."

Yes, consumables.

In the free Underground Federation, trading relationships are also quite unregulated.

In the hands of these "wise" individuals who are skilled in various rituals, anything from common commodities like lifespan, health, wisdom, strength, and parts of the body, to the desire for knowledge, someone’s love for themselves, the ability to master a certain language, a beautiful face, a moving singing voice, and even the elusive fate, can all be freely transferred through rituals.

What can be transferred... also means it can be sold.

Being able to complete formal transactions means that such behavior itself is also protected and supervised by the Silver Baron.

Therefore, in the Underground Federation, where anything can be sold, anything can be bought.

Only "taxation" is absolutely inevitable.

This is not tax paid to a non-existent "King."

It’s about recognizing the trade through "taxation," allowing the Silver Baron to acknowledge it as a "transaction."

—And not plunder.

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