Chapter 258: Danitz, Who Wants to Make Money
"Lachi, are you alright?"
Lorne looked at the Orange Cat in front of him, whose fur seemed even more lustrous than before, and asked with some curiosity.
"Meow—"
The Orange Cat extended its pink tongue and slowly licked its front paw, seemingly sensing the changes in its body after its advancement.
"How do you feel? Have you awakened any new abilities?" Lorne reached out and stroked Lachi's soft back, asking curiously.
"Hiss—Meow—"
Lachi's eyes showed a very human-like confusion. It seemed to have awakened something, but didn't yet know how to express it to Lorne. It could only rub its head against Lorne's fingers, a purring sound coming from its throat, its face full of eagerness—
"How do I feel—you seem a little cuter than before?" Lorne looked at its bewildered yet eager expression and couldn't help but murmur to himself.
"But—the name of the Instigator potion, it sounds like it needs to be digested by interacting with others, stirring emotions, and causing disputes, right?" Lorne stroked his chin, falling into thought.
"How would you, a cat, do that? Go find other cats, incite them to fight over dried fish or territory?" He imagined a scene of a group of cats hissing and puffing up their fur at each other under Lachi's 'instigation,' finding it somewhat comical.
Just as he was still seriously contemplating feasible solutions for Lachi to digest the potion, the Orange Cat in his arms seemed to have run out of energy, tilted its head, and lay down.
"Lachi?"
"Lachi?"
Lorne called out twice, confirmed it was just asleep, and shook his head helplessly.
"Sigh, never mind." He sighed, carefully picked Lachi up, and placed it on the soft bed.
Then, he returned to his desk and pulled a letter from his Huai. It was Cattelya's reply, which Queen Mystic Bernadette had just given him.
"Tsk—"
He actually didn't really want to read this letter right now. After all, in Lorne's opinion, he had just been 'betrayed' by the other party—
But as soon as he thought of the strange occurrences he had encountered earlier, and the troublesome Full Moon Eating Speech on Fors, Lorne still suppressed that emotion in his heart.
After repeatedly confirming through divination and Spirit Vision that there were no tricks played on this letter, he finally opened the envelope and read it carefully.
"I'm glad you wrote to me. Regarding your question, I happen to have some research—"
Glad? I'm not glad at all—Lorne silently complained in his heart after reading the first sentence of the letter.
"Worm of Time—"
So that strange worm that came out of my mouth is called a 'Worm of Time,' and it's related to the high Sequence of the Marauder Pathway.
"Marauder"?!
Hazel's figure instantly flashed in Lorne's mind.
Could it be—her acts of theft weren't just a simple habit, but a form of 'Acting Method'? She's a Beyonder of the Marauder Pathway?! But she doesn't really seem to understand the Acting Method—
No, it's definitely not a coincidence that she would act as a Marauder.
Lorne initially thought that Hazel might just be a wild Beyonder who stumbled into the mystical realm by accident. After all, people from their upper-class society have a much higher chance of encountering Beyonder powers than ordinary people.
But now that he thought about it carefully, perhaps there was also a 'teacher'-like figure behind her. That person was guiding Hazel to digest the potion, but hadn't told her all the knowledge of the Acting Method.
So, the Worm of Time I spat out is related to Hazel?
"I'll have to test Hazel again another day." Lorne noted this thought and continued to move his gaze across the letter.
"Abraham family—Apprentice Pathway—Full Moon Eating Speech—"
The origin of the Full Moon Eating Speech is related to this ancient Abraham family. So, Fors's string of gemstone bracelets came from an item belonging to this family?
Because she used something from this family, the curse carried by this family also fell upon her?
"Abraham—Hiss, why does that name sound familiar?" Lorne always felt like he had heard this surname somewhere before.
"However, even if I know that Eating Speech is some kind of curse, I don't know how to lift it." Lorne was a little disappointed. The letter did not mention specific ways to lift the Full Moon Eating Speech.
No, according to the letter, it's still uncertain whether the Abraham family itself even has a way to resolve this curse—
"Sigh, I'll tell Fors these messages first, at least let her know what she's facing. Then we can figure out a solution together—" Lorne carefully put away the letter, deciding to visit the Author lady another day.
"The stock market is booming—the index has risen seven consecutive points—"
The next morning, Lorne held the latest issue of the Backlund Post, looking at the news on the economic page.
"There's really a lot of news about the stock market recently—"
"Should I—also join in the fun and try my hand at it once?" Looking at the series of pleasing growth figures in the newspaper, Lorne was also a little tempted.
—
After all, no one dislikes having more money, and all his plans require a large amount of financial support.
"Sigh—never mind." After a brief impulse, reason regained the upper hand, "Money is needed everywhere.
Upgrading the equipment for the gun factory will cost several thousand pounds, and there are also workers' wages, material procurement—the cash on hand cannot withstand such a risk."
Moreover, once you enter the stock market, it's like a deep sea. Whether before or after his transmigration, he had never seriously played stocks.
Rashly investing funds in a completely unfamiliar field could very likely lead to losing everything—
Stability was his top priority at this stage.
He flipped the newspaper to the back and found another piece of news that caught his attention.
"The 12th case! Devil reappears in Backlund, police claim to have locked down the culprit!"
Devil—could it be the Monster I encountered last night?
At the same time, on a distant colonial island.
"Damn it! The Backlund stock market is actually so profitable!"
Danitz, far away in the colony of Bayam, looked at the newspaper in his hand and had the same thought.
"Directly earning forty percent! This is much more promising than being a pirate—"
He mumbled to himself, then suddenly reacted, spitting fiercely, "Damn it! What am I thinking? How can following the Captain not be promising! Being a pirate—being an adventurer is the most promising!"
Despite saying that, his gaze couldn't help but stick to the numbers on the newspaper that symbolized growth, his heart pounding.
"If I invest over four thousand pounds and do two or three rounds, wouldn't I earn over ten thousand pounds?"
As the Kingdom of Loen's most important maritime colony, the local newspapers in Bayam naturally had a lot of news about Backlund itself, with the most being about Backlund as the capital.
Honestly, Danitz's mood these past two days was quite depressed.
The Storm Church had finally relaxed its maritime controls, returning to its previous state. Their Golden Dream had finished resupplying at the port and was preparing for a long voyage, but shortly after setting sail, they encountered Vice Admiral of Disease's fleet at sea. The other party attacked them fiercely without a word.
Due to the suddenness of the incident, and the fact that Vice Admiral of Disease's fleet seemed to have recently been upgraded and was exceptionally fierce, they suffered a considerable loss this time. The only consolation was that there were no casualties on board.
But after this incident, Danitz clearly noticed that the others on the Golden Dream looked at him a little differently.
Although the Captain said nothing.
But his bounty of up to seven thousand pounds had already spread far and wide. Many people on the ship were already privately discussing that Tracy's reason for attacking them was entirely because of him.
Because he had offended Vice Admiral of Disease, leading to the other party seeking revenge, which caused them to be innocently implicated and fall into such a passive situation.
Being talked about behind his back was unpleasant, and what frustrated Danitz the most was that he himself believed it. Considering what he and Brando had done back then, it seemed perfectly reasonable for Tracy to hate him.
This internal and external frustration made him urgently need to find an outlet, or do something to prove his worth and divert his attention.
Making money was a very good way to relieve pressure, and it wouldn't make one feel tired.
Once this thought arose, it was difficult to suppress. The more he thought, the more feasible it seemed. He casually grabbed a bottle of strong liquor, put on what he considered his friendliest smile, and knocked on the door of the adjacent cabin.
"Ironhide, I remember you seem to have a relative in Backlund, right—"
Two more days passed.
"Lachi, I'm going out for a bit, you stay home and be good."
Lorne disguised himself, planning to visit the Beyonder gathering and also pay a visit to Fors to tell her the contents of the letter.
"Meow—" Lachi nodded obediently, the tip of its tail gently swaying, looking very 'obedient.'
However, after Lorne left, it silently slipped out of the window and landed lightly on the street.
This time, it planned to run a little further, to test its newly acquired Instigator abilities.
Utilizing the Assassin's abilities and the inherent agility of felines, Lachi easily traversed several streets.
Too many people, too flashy, no good—It deftly avoided the bustling market.
Too secluded, not even a ghost in sight, also no good—It quickly passed through the abandoned factory district.
After some twists and turns, Lachi arrived near Empress Borough. The number of people here was just right.
Who to start with—Lachi crouched on a low wall, scanning the sparse pedestrians on the street: a hurried postman, a maid carrying a vegetable basket—
Just as it was carefully selecting its first 'instigation' target, a figure caught its attention.
It was a Golden Retriever with its tongue out, a light gait, and a face full of 'joy' and 'silly happiness,' trotting happily out of a small garden nearby.
Meow ~