The temporary adventurer camp named "Black Tide" is always bustling with activity.
Some people come from afar and use this as a springboard to enter that chaotic land full of crises and opportunities.
Others return, weary from the original Black Water Town area, bringing back varying amounts of supplies and personnel. Of course, not only the living returned but also bodies shrouded in burial cloths.
When adventurers who have not yet set out catch sight of the piled corpses at the back of the flatbed truck, their once eager expressions sharply retract, as if seeing their own fate.
This is the cruel part of adventuring, where people die quietly and unnoticed every day.
People only sing praises for those celebrated adventurers’ great stories, while these bodies do not even have the privilege of being mentioned by bards in a couple of strokes.
But even so, they are still lucky. Compared to those exposed in the wild, dying without a whole body, eaten by monsters, or even tortured and abused before death, being able to retain a whole body and having the remains possibly returned to their families is indeed a fortunate thing.
"Scavengers" specifically roam the wilderness.
These scavengers in the wild are not philanthropists, digging into their pockets and risking danger to bring back adventurers’ remains for free.
It’s because with the bodies they gather, they have the right to scavenge for loot.
Of course, some might wonder why, upon encountering a corpse in the wild, they don’t simply take the unclaimed property from the scene instead of going to the trouble of transporting the bodies back to town.
There is naturally a reason for this; many adventurers do not carry their assets on them but keep them in a Guild account or elsewhere.
With the deceased’s body, the adventurer’s identity badge allows them to claim a portion of the deceased’s estate corresponding to their status. This asset might not be much, but scavengers don’t mind bringing back a few more bodies.
However, scavenging for bodies in the wild is not an easy task in itself.
Firstly, adventurers’ deaths often involve battles, whether with other adventurers or demons, leaving the corpse hardly intact at the scene. Fellow adventurers who kill others would directly loot and worry that the collected corpses might contain evidence of their crimes for profit, so they often destroy the bodies to cover up. The latter will certainly not spare adventurers’ bodies, as many demons have a habit of eating humans, or rather, they eat anything.
Moreover, areas where adventurers die are generally dangerous, requiring considerable risk to enter, and there’s a chance of failing to retrieve a corpse and losing one’s life instead.
Thus, there’s no simple job in the high-risk industry related to adventuring; it’s work done with one’s head at the belt.
The more Gauss experienced, the more he realized this.
Adventuring is an extremely brutal industry.
"Wow! So many people have died."
"Perhaps they were too careless?" A young swordsman swallowed and told his childhood friend from the same village. "We must be extra cautious on this journey; it’s dangerous here."
"Don’t worry, we know the score. We’ve been partners all the way here."
The young man beside him also earnestly assured.
Gauss glanced briefly at the group talking by the street and then silently withdrew his gaze.
Just being careful won’t avoid all the crises. He sighed in his heart, merely wishing those people good luck in his thoughts.
Under the burial cloths, those faces that couldn’t rest in peace, many were not much older than them, once vibrant lives, who might have spoken similar words to their companions at this temporary camp.
No matter how well prepared mentally, no matter how sturdy the armor and weapons equipped, armed to the teeth, it might still end in death during the adventure.
After wandering around and gathering some intelligence, Gauss returned to the Red Dragon Team’s base.
Ivan was already discussing purchase prices with the heads of several merchant groups and was now transporting goods out by the basketful.
For adventure groups like the Red Dragon Team, the prices offered by merchants seeking collaboration are often not too low.
On one hand, their loot has a higher chance of containing valuable items compared to ordinary small adventurer teams, and they provide large quantities that fill the stomach. With the brand name of the adventure group, there’s no worry about them mixing deceit into it.
It’s different for ordinary adventurers; if they succeed in selling, who knows which small town or settlement they’ll flee to next time, so naturally, they seek the highest profits.
Therefore, merchants prefer collaborating with adventure groups for stable and long-lasting relations.
Upon noticing Gauss, the leader of the group, returning to the base, the merchant group leaders displayed flattery smiles, introduced themselves one by one, and then quickly left the scene.
"Looks like you had a good haul, well done."
Gauss complimented Ivan and the others who were smiling broadly.
"Yes, the purchase price exceeded our expectations by quite a bit." Ivan nodded. "Also, Leader, I’ve bought a batch of Magic Clay; it was an adventure group that raided a group of statues’ base."
Ivan had always been keen on tracking the acquisition of Magic Clay.
His leader Gauss possessed a unique mastery of Clay Magic; acquiring this type of clay might not enhance middle to high-end combat strength but could provide many fearless and tireless menial laborers for the Red Dragon Team.