Chapter 389 White Cliff - Cormorant - Saltwater

A middle-aged man in his forties or fifties with graying hair and a beard walked out from the back room of the Salmon Roe grocery shop.

He was thin but didn't look frail. Instead, he seemed lean and capable, as if years of wrestling with wind and waves had stripped away all excess fat. His skin was rough and dull, his cheeks lined with wrinkles—especially around the corners of his eyes and mouth, the physical toll of a small merchant who constantly had to greet people with a smile.

He was clean and tidy, wearing a fitted dark blue wool vest over a linen shirt. The gray-and-white stubble on his chin and upper lip was neatly trimmed, and his medium-length, silver-streaked hair was slicked back with cheap, faintly scented pomade, revealing a sharp, clean hairline.

His sharp Perception silently took effect.

Xia Nan's gaze swept imperceptibly over the man, organizing everything he observed in his mind to form a first impression: a not-so-wealthy, somewhat unsuccessful small merchant who still strived for decency.

But only somewhat unsuccessful—he was far from destitute.

At the very least, based on the man's appearance and spirit, Xia Nan could judge that his financial situation was passable; he clearly didn't have to worry about food or clothing.

"Welcome, you two!" The middle-aged man squeezed out an impeccably standard customer-service smile born of muscle memory as he stepped up behind the counter to greet them. "I'm Paddy, the owner of the Salmon Roe grocery shop. Is there anything I can help you with?"

At the same time, those light blue eyes carefully observed the two new customers in the least offensive way possible.

Operating for years in a fiercely competitive place like Barracuda Bay—even if his business never grew large—and sustaining a living up to now was proof enough of Paddy's capability.

He might not be exceptional, but he was at least above average.

And as a veteran merchant, the ability to read people was of the utmost importance.

Between the two customers, the black-haired young man standing slightly ahead was clearly the leader.

He looked very young, probably not even twenty, but he was quite tall, approaching 1.9 meters.

His temperament was cold and steady, entirely lacking the frivolity and impulsiveness typical of young men his age.

The gear he wore—

Paddy's expression suddenly froze.

Having worked in the trade for years, his experience was undeniably vast.

Almost at first glance, he recognized that Xia Nan's equipment was anything but ordinary.

He couldn't make out the full shapes of the two sheathed straight swords on the youth's back; with only their hilts visible, they were hard to identify.

But he could clearly see the silver-gray iron armor covering the young man's upper body, as well as the exquisite leg armor that gave off a lustrous gleam under the shop's lighting.

Even without touching them up close to determine the exact forging materials, the refined craftsmanship and the unique sense of toughness inherent to high-quality metal goods were enough.

Paddy could already make a definitive judgment.

Even if these two pieces weren't enchanted gear, they were definitely excellent items of superb quality and condition among conventional equipment!

Coupled with the imposing, experienced aura radiating from the black-haired young man himself—

There was no doubt about it.

This was an outstandingly strong, veteran Adventurer who had perhaps even obtained a Class Level!

These thoughts flashed through Paddy's mind in an instant, and the smile on his face grew a bit more natural, seemingly coming straight from the heart.

His gaze continued past him, landing on the clearly much younger, greenhorn boy behind the black-haired youth.

Compared to the youth in front of him who was likely a Class Holder, this tender-faced young fellow perfectly fit Paddy's stereotype of a child that age.

He hunched his back slightly as he walked, his head lowered and his eyes unconsciously looking down—nervous and lacking confidence.

His clothes were exceptionally plain. There was no sense of design to his linen garments, and frequently worn areas like the elbows and cuffs were patched up.

He should be an ordinary kid from the countryside—

"Huh?"

Looking at the rustic boy in front of him, Paddy seemed to suddenly realize something.

He no longer hid his gaze; instead, he stared straight at the increasingly familiar face, comparing it to a figure in his memories.

The two gradually overlapped.

Paddy rested his hands on the counter, leaning forward subconsciously as he probed, "Are you... Colin?"

Finally seeing the relative he hadn't met in years, and hearing his own name called out by someone else in a foreign land, Colin became extremely excited.

He snapped his head up, looking at the middle-aged man behind the counter.

"It's me! Uncle Paddy, it's me! Father, Mother, and older brother asked me to say hello to you!" Colin's tone wavered from his surging emotions as he pulled a letter—dictated by his family and penned by the literate village chief—from his bag, took two steps forward, and handed it over.

Having not seen his family from his hometown for a long time, Paddy could no longer maintain his customer-service smile. His expression morphed into one of indescribable, profound emotion.

His eyes studied the boy in front of him, who was already nearly as tall as he was, constantly comparing him to the much younger child in his memory.

He reached out to take the envelope and, carefully opening it, asked in a gentle tone, "How has the village been lately? Has anything happened?"

Faced with his relative's question, Colin was exceptionally honest. Regardless of whether the people involved were close to his family, and regardless of whether the matters were big or small, he spilled everything he vaguely remembered all at once. "Uncle Jack ran into a maddened wild boar while gathering firewood outside and got his leg broken; the village chief's youngest son caught a fever two months ago and hasn't recovered, so he might not survive this winter; and as for Aunt Lina, they say—"

Paddy showed no signs of impatience at this.

He simply lowered his head to read the letter sent by Colin's family, waiting until the boy had emptied everything on his mind before speaking again. "What about our family? Have your parents or brother run into any trouble recently?"

After getting a negative answer from Colin, he breathed a sigh of relief.

No one in their family was literate, nor had they ever received a systematic education.

Naturally, there was no beautiful or flowery rhetoric in this letter dictated by them and ghostwritten by the village chief. However, in extremely simple yet sincere language, it introduced the family's recent situation, expressed their helplessness over Colin's insistence on going out to forge his own path, and apologized for the trouble he would likely cause Paddy.

Of course, the letter also mentioned the goblin tribe around the village that had already been completely wiped out, as well as their commission and promise with Xia Nan.

Standing behind the counter, Paddy carefully read the entire letter top to bottom twice.

Only then did he finally raise his head, carefully fold the letter, and lock it inside a cabinet.

He looked toward Xia Nan, who was currently waiting patiently and observing the store's wide array of goods, and said with a sincere tone, "Mr. Xia Nan, thank you so much for helping our village."

"If you hadn't lent a hand, I'm afraid the village would be gone by the time I went back next."

"It was no trouble. Besides, I received compensation in the form of supplies, so it was nothing." Xia Nan waved his hand, signaling him not to mind it.

"Also, this brat Colin must have caused you trouble. If he offended you in any way on the road, I apologize on his behalf," Paddy said with a serious face. He cared deeply for his youngest nephew and was terrified the boy might have angered this veteran Adventurer out of youthful ignorance.

"I'm ashamed to say that, at my age, I still haven't made a name for myself in town. The influence I can muster is not worth mentioning compared to yours. But after doing business here for so many years, I do have a few channels and a decent understanding of the various aspects of Barracuda Bay. If there is anywhere I can be of assistance, please don't hesitate to ask."

Hearing this, Xia Nan nodded slightly, not intending to be overly polite.

After all, the reason he had been willing to slow his pace slightly and bring Colin all the way to Barracuda Bay was precisely to use this connection with Paddy to help himself understand and integrate into the local environment.

He stated his request straightforwardly, hoping Paddy could find some time to show him around Barracuda Bay and explain the local power factions and various hidden taboos.

"Not a problem! Not a problem!" Xia Nan stating his needs so directly actually made Paddy breathe a sigh of relief.

He decided to close shop right then and there. Walking out from behind the counter, he locked the slightly more valuable items from the shelves into a cabinet and immediately led the two of them out.

In Paddy's own words, "Business has been slow lately anyway, so taking a day or two off won't hurt at all."

Guided by a local, this maze of complex, narrow alleys suddenly seemed much friendlier and more familiar.

The route Xia Nan and Colin had originally struggled through, wandering in circles for tens of minutes to complete, took less than ten minutes to traverse behind Paddy, bringing them from the desolate alleys back to the bustling main street. Along the way, the middle-aged man who had done business here for years introduced Xia Nan and Colin to the current general situation of Barracuda Bay.

Just as the two had seen from their high vantage point when they first emerged from the cave, the architectural styles and street layouts were vastly different and distinctly segregated from district to district.

Based on geographical structure and functional roles, the entirety of Barracuda Bay was divided into three districts.

First, the uppermost layer, which was also the area furthest from the docks: the White Cliff District.

The Governor's Mansion, the maritime court, large shrines, private manors; kingdom nobles, wealthy maritime merchants, high-level Class Holders—

Those who came and went or lived there were essentially all the big names and prominent figures of Barracuda Bay.

It was exactly the quiet district Xia Nan had seen earlier, its sights blocked by dense tropical foliage.

Although there were no explicit travel restrictions on the surface and commoners could enter for sightseeing, when the price of any random item in a street-side shop equaled a full year's income for a commoner from the lower district; when a passerby you accidentally offended could be your boss's boss's boss, capable of deciding your life and future with a single word; and when, even if you did nothing wrong, you would be inspected by guards three times just walking down a single street simply because your attire didn't meet the White Cliff District's standards... people were invisibly segregated on opposite sides of the district borders by power, wealth, and strength.

The middle layer was called the Cormorant-Goose District.

Barracuda Bay's famous Silver Anchor Avenue, Gannet Plaza, and Bank Street were all located here.

The Adventurers' Association branch, the Bay Chamber of Commerce office, the Church where ordinary people prayed—

It served as a buffer zone between the upper-class elites and ordinary commoners. Neither the pedestrians on the road nor the buildings on either side possessed such overwhelmingly strong hierarchical attributes.

It was also one of Xia Nan's destinations for this trip.

Finally, the area closest to the port, which was also the largest of all three districts, was naturally the Saltwater District where the three of them currently stood. It was packed with dense buildings and countless alleys—disorderly yet possessing its own order, bustling yet concealing shadows.

Wave-Breaking Wharf, Tidal Market, Winding Alley—this area housed nearly sixty percent of Barracuda Bay's population. Fishermen, smugglers, pickpockets, and bottom-tier Adventurers lived together here in a motley mix of fish and dragons.

To a certain extent, in the eyes of the lords in the upper district, this was the slum of Barracuda Bay.

Right now, the three of them were walking along Cable Street, one of the main roads in the Saltwater District.

Stepping out of the alleys, Xia Nan consciously retracted his Perception to avoid excessive mental drain, all while carefully listening to Paddy introduce the general situation of Barracuda Bay up ahead.

He increasingly felt just how wise his choice had been.

Although he had already learned a lot about Barracuda Bay before coming, knowing it was divided into the White Cliff, Cormorant-Goose, and Saltwater districts, it was only after Paddy's introduction regarding the general situation of each area that Xia Nan realized he understood far less than he had imagined.

Given the vast distance between Rivervale Town and Barracuda Bay, even the most precise intelligence would inevitably be distorted, let alone information that mostly came from the drinking tables of tavern guests.

Slight exaggerations or artistic embellishments tailored for bragging were commonplace.

For instance, regarding the Saltwater District, Xia Nan had originally assumed it would be like the slum in Nym, filled with massive numbers of starving laborers and gang factions.

But after learning the reality, he realized just how massive the Saltwater District was. It essentially merged the areas where ordinary commoners lived with the so-called slums.

Only a few specific streets possessed the traits of a slum, gang territory, or underground syndicate base.

As for the unspoken rules of the upper White Cliff District, without a local's introduction, he would have been completely clueless. He would have just hit walls everywhere, feeling as if everyone were targeting him.

If Xia Nan had barged straight into Barracuda Bay alone, relying purely on the one-sided information he had gathered in Rivervale Town as he originally planned, who knew how many traps he would have stepped into.

And many of those pitfalls couldn't be avoided simply by relying on his status as a Class Holder or his personal strength.