The moon hung high, and the fog grew thicker.
The captain on the large boat fishing for moonlight fish glanced at the distant fog and involuntarily stopped commanding.
"What's the matter, Captain?"
A young red-haired crew member asked.
"Someone's been attacked again."
The captain shook his head, raising his right hand high and shouting:
"Everyone, light the ship lanterns, stop your work, we are going to look for other groups of moonlight fish!"
The crew looked at their captain, perplexed.
You must know, each moonlight fish here is worth between five hundred to two thousand Shell Coins! There are at least two thousand of them here!
If they could catch all the moonlight fish here, they wouldn't have to work for a month.
The captain explained, "We can't stay here any longer, Deep Sea Merchant has appeared."
Deep Sea Merchant...
As soon as the words fell, the ship plunged into a moment of silence.
They surged towards the light and then gazed into the distant fog, sighing deeply.
...
...
Right in the middle of the fog.
The lights on the small houseboat were on.
Chen Qi paced back and forth on the deck of the small houseboat, looking at the small black boat in front of him, and the black skull with tentacle-like appendages.
What was this thing again?
Chen Qi touched his chin with his hand.
He remembered that this monster was mentioned in the Witch Sea section of the guide, and he had even made a related game strategy.
This monster was dangerous, but as long as he was in the light, it wouldn't threaten his life.
However, he couldn't remember its name at the moment.
Chen Qi leaned against the ship and asked outright:
"What are you?"
The pitch-black skull on the black boat slightly lifted the lantern it held:
"Guest... I make some small deals on these seas... person.
You can also call me... Deep Sea Merchant."
Deep Sea Merchant!
Hearing this term, Chen Qi clapped his hands together; he remembered now.
Deep Sea Merchant was considered a famously dangerous monster at night in the Witch Sea.
It would steer a pitch-black small boat, approaching ships on the sea to sell some rare items.
Of course, among these, there was one item Deep Sea Merchant would pay a high price to 'buy'.
That was the ship lantern.
Deep Sea Merchant was incredibly powerful, so much so that even a fully armed Third-order Transcendent or even a large merchant ship had a tough time fighting it head-on.
That meant it could rely on plundering rather than trading.
However, it had one fatal weakness:
It feared light.
Even a slight touch of light caused its body to rapidly melt.
Thus, Deep Sea Merchant would do everything possible to destroy or buy the lanterns of ships, then devour them entirely in the darkness.
Installing a high-end ship lantern for a night voyage was essential, largely because of the Deep Sea Merchant. Only on m v|le|mp|yr
Chen Qi looked at the blood on the sea surface.
Just now, a cadre of the Black Rabbit Gang, in an attempt to approach him, had extinguished the ship lantern, and at the same time, Chen Qi had shattered his kerosene lamp.
The moment the light vanished, he was dragged into the sea by the Deep Sea Merchant, leaving no trace behind.
"Deep Sea Merchant, huh..."
Chen Qi lifted his head and flashed a villainous friendly smile at the Deep Sea Merchant.
The items sold by the Deep Sea Merchant were quite good, and players had even made guides on how to find him.
However, many people leave Moonstone City by sea, and under normal circumstances, the probability of encountering the Deep Sea Merchant was very small.
This was truly a rare event!
He and the cadre of the Black Rabbit Gang had indeed hit the jackpot!
In many people's eyes, the Deep Sea Merchant was a frightening monster, and their first reaction upon seeing him was to protect their ship lantern and then run with all their might.
But in Chen Qi's eyes, the level of danger the creature presented hadn't reached the point where he needed to flee.
Besides 'fearing light,' the Deep Sea Merchant had another huge weakness.
That was the charred lantern in its hand.
The Deep Sea Merchant's charred lantern emitted a faint glow, and only within this special light could it barely maintain its physical form while directly facing the light of the ship lantern.
Without this lantern, it could not look directly at Chen Qi's small houseboat, nor could it have come so close to his small houseboat.
This meant that although the Deep Sea Merchant's power far exceeded his own,
Chen Qi could also fire at the charred lantern in its hand and then smash the kerosene lamp at it to kill it.
As long as he stayed within the light and possessed a ranged weapon capable of attacking the charred lantern, he had a chance of killing it.
The Deep Sea Merchant was very powerful, yet also very fragile.
As the Deep Sea Merchant approached Chen Qi, the skull's neck emitted a cracking sound:
"Guest... as you can see, my lantern is broken, can you sell me one..."
"I'm not in the mood for your childish tricks. Tell me, what do you have to sell!"
Chen Qi interrupted sharply and pointed his gun firmly at the other's lantern.
He was short on time and had no interest in playing a 'cat and mouse' game with the Deep Sea Merchant.
When facing the Deep Sea Merchant, one must never show fear.
Otherwise, there was a very high chance that he would use some long-range weapons to directly attack your ship.
"..."
The Deep Sea Merchant was silent for a while.
He had drifted in the sea for many years, but this was the first time someone had been so arrogant.
He stretched out his pitch-black bony hand:
"Guest... people call me... the monster of the deep sea... do you..."
The lantern in the hands of the Deep Sea Merchant shook, he was after all a famous old monster from the deep sea.
The other party should show him some respect.
Chen Qi glanced at him coldly.
They both mingled on the high seas.
If the other was a sea monster, then he was an Enchanting Demon of the deep sea!
This guy, still expecting him to show respect...
Chen Qi examined the figure in front of him carefully.
On player forums and academic forums of Shell Country, there had always been questions about whether the Deep Sea Merchant was a special type of sea beast.
The Deep Sea Merchant was not a sea beast.
In the bestiary of the Witch Sea, only special parasitic sea beasts had high intelligence.
But even the intelligent parasitic sea beasts could only mimic some human actions.
Therefore, the "Deep Sea Merchant" was very likely a Transcendent who had embarked on the path of madness and became shell-like.
High-order Transcendents, if they chose the wrong method for advancement, could likely distort and evolve into something akin to a monster.
In the eyes of Transcendents, this kind of distortion was known as 'the path of madness'.
To avoid further transformation, they needed to complete their 'occupational tasks' more crazily to stabilize their mental anchors.
The fact that the Deep Sea Merchant showed no reaction to his deep-sea aura also proved that the other's nature was still 'human'.
For such strange creatures, there was no need for polite words, nor should one show fear.... Chen Qi propped his chin and said fiercely:
"Cut the crap! Believe it or not, I'll blow up that lantern in your hand!"
The lantern… The Deep Sea Merchant hesitated for a moment.
He was not angry, instead, he slightly stepped back.
The other knew his weakness...
The Deep Sea Merchant pulled back the lantern:
"Guest... it seems you are more knowledgeable than I thought... it seems, the Sea Goddess has brought us..."
"Say it again, I'm not interested in hearing your nonsense."
Chen Qi was getting impatient:
"Come on, what goods do you have?
And, has no one told you that as a merchant, you should polish your spoken language? Speaking so haltingly, why are you even selling things?"
The whole person of the Deep Sea Merchant stopped for a moment.
The other was too arrogant, really too arrogant!
He even mocked his speech!
After all, he did not have a normal head and his entire body was skeletal, appearing on such a dark windy night. Couldn't he be shown some respect!
It would have been nice to see a fleeting look of fear in his eyes.
The customer is god... The Deep Sea Merchant felt insulted, but still spoke amiably:
"Guest, I have many fine items here. I have a special aphrodisiac that can temporarily make you grow tentacles, greatly enhance your constitution, and let your wife experience pleasures beyond her imagination..."
The items sold by the Deep Sea Merchant were mostly strange objects.
Tentacle injections, which upon consumption, would make one's body grow tentacles, and there was a high probability of losing rationality, becoming a monster that only reproduces.
A typical rip-off product!
"Not interested, next, tell me something useful in actual combat, not this kind of deceptive trash."
Chen Qi immediately said.
Besides, he still had a tentacle monster inside his spine.
The whole person of the Deep Sea Merchant stirred.
The rejection by the other was too decisive.
Although he had only First Order strength, from the current situation, his knowledge was extraordinary.
"Guest, it seems you do not like this item. I thought you, like me, also desired to be part of a race."
He pondered for a moment, then listed his goods:
"Tentacle Potion, Tentacle Sword, Snake Blood Staff, Storm Scroll, professional sea charts drawn by the Ice Devil Pirate Group, sea snake venom, and Skill Cards for deep sea breathing, Wendy summoning scroll..."