High Above

  Chapter 33 Picking up Leaks

The Baisen Mountains on the edge of the Eternal Silent Ocean and the Surging Ocean stretch for nearly a thousand kilometers from northwest to south, but there is a thrilling depression at the end of it, which is a canyon torn out by geological changes during a catastrophe. source.

  The towering peaks of the coastal mountains are often surrounded by cloudy clouds, and the gaps in the canyons below the mountains are covered with towering redwoods that shade the sun, like wooden mountains.

  A somewhat dilapidated port city is located here, surrounded by many natural dangers.

  Harrison Port, which is located at the foot of the mountain, by the sea, by the river and by the canyon, is the southernmost human gathering place in the entire civilized world.

  It was afternoon, but the clouds were overcast, so the light was as dim as evening. On the road paved with gray rocks in the port, the dock workers hurriedly walked, and the fishermen had already gone to sea before the sun rose and the tide ebbed, and they are still working hard in the open sea.

   It has been raining for half a day.

There are many kinds of rain in Harrison Port, such as waterfalls, some are sparse; some are like water hammers, and some are light and silky; Refreshing.

  Today's rain is quite ordinary, it's just a July rain that the residents of the South China Sea are accustomed to. Looking up, it looks like countless silver threads hanging down from the gray clouds and connecting with the blue sea.

  Elder Purdue stood on the side of the street, frowning slightly. For this old man, the pale white mist from the drizzle did not affect his vision, and he easily locked onto a boy who was walking slowly in the fish market and looked around.

   Then, full of doubts.

  The elder said to himself in doubt: "Why is he here?"

  Ian walks in the rain.

  This kind of rain is nothing to the people of Terra, unless they are immersed in ice water at around zero degrees for a long time, otherwise they will not even lose their temperature.

  Even an eight-year-old boy can go out in rainy weather as long as he doesn't care about the feeling of getting his clothes wet.

  In the fish market, the boy looked around at all kinds of half-dead sea fish in the buckets of the fish stalls, with curious eyes.

  When Hilliard returned from his trip, he brought back some fish, a sack of potatoes and half a sack of flour.

   Immediately afterwards, he told Ian apologetically that he had just found information about his mission on the street, and he had to find out. He would disappear for a period of time in the afternoon and evening, and he would not be able to return until late at night.

  Ian doesn't have to wait for him to come back for dinner at night, just stew some potatoes, grill fish, and then use the leftover wheat at home to cook porridge for Elan.

  Considering that Ian needs to reserve a lot of nutrients to embark on the road to ascension, potatoes and grilled fish may not be enough, and the nutrition is not balanced enough. Hilliard also left a bag of local silver coins, a total of thirty-five thalers.

   This was originally used to negotiate with local residents at critical times, bribe and purchase items.

   But now that he has the status of 'Ossina', it is much more convenient to purchase supplies and conduct investigations. If he doesn't need the money, he might as well take it all out to supplement the health of his students.

  Hilliard’s original words are “Buy whatever you want to eat, don’t be stingy, and only when you know how to enjoy the joy in life can you endure the depression in practice.”

  He wasn't worried about Ian's spending. In the eyes of the old knight, his student is smart, sharp, patient and quite self-controlled, so he is trustworthy.

  So after instructing him to be cautious in his practice, the old knight went out again.

  Ian understands this very well.

  Hilliard came to Port Harrison because of a ‘mission’, and was lurking here.

  The other party must be busy with his own affairs. This sudden disappearance will happen again and again in the future. He must learn to adapt, live independently and practice, and cannot expect someone to take care of him all the time.

   Judging from Hilliard's expression, the old knight looked quite happy. It seems that Ossena's identity is indeed useful. He got the clue he wanted in Port Harrison.

  Since you have money, you don't have to treat yourself badly.

   I have to say that the thirty-five talers left by Hilliard is really a huge sum of money.

  Taler silver coin itself is a special silver alloy, which is quite strong and almost impossible to imitate and destroy by folk methods. Whether it is used as an inscription additive or normal smelting and forging, it has its value, so Thaler is extremely difficult to depreciate.

  One silver thaler can be exchanged for twelve small Bison silvers, and one small silver coin can be exchanged for ten Finney coppers.

  One Finney copper can buy more than a catty of wheat, a piece of solid black bread, and two can buy a baguette that is not too toothless.

  Before his mother died of illness, Ian also learned about local prices...Because there are very few local pastures, cattle, sheep and pigs are expensive, but fish is extremely cheap.

  Therefore, one thaler silver coin can buy six catties of high-quality beef, fifteen catties of mutton, and more than twenty catties of pork. If it has something to do with a farm or a fisherman, Lala's family can buy four lively hens and a crowing rooster, or a whole bucket of salted fish.

An ordinary farmer works hard for a whole year without natural disasters or accidents. Only then can he save one or two large silver coins, add some new farm tools to his family, raise a few more chickens, or add a lamb every few years. Raise enough money to buy a calf.

From the Ossena family, not counting the value of the sleep powder, Ian found a total of twelve half-sized silver coins—mostly small silver coins and Finney coppers, and there were only five serious thalers, including One was secretly given to the boy before his mother died of illness, as the last life-saving money.

   This is already exaggerated enough. After all, Ossina is just an ordinary clerk at the dock. This job is not bad, but it is only one Taledor a month at most, plus some in-kind subsidies.

  He himself is not frugal, how can he save half a year's salary with almost no food or drink? It must have been obtained in collusion with the natives.

   But when Hilliard took it out, it was thirty-five talers! And all of them are neat, shining big silver coins without any dirt!

   This bag weighed almost a pound of silver coins, enough to buy a dozen fine iron long swords. The blacksmith thought it was a wholesale sale, and maybe he would give away a few wooden shields and daggers.

  —This kind of silver coin usage, where does the nobleman come from.

When Ian took the money bag, Ian wanted to complain. You must know that in the folktale of Harrison Port, the Marquis who visited privately in a micro-clothes also brought a hundred talers with him for pretending to slap his face. Although it was only the emperor's golden pole, it was Suffice it to say the degree of exaggeration.

  In the eyes of his uncle and the native priests, he and his younger brother Elan were worth at most thirty talers.

  My teacher has been wanted for some time, but he still has one-third of the 'Marquis' worth. God knows what it was back then.

   "It's definitely okay to eat enough."

  Ian shook his head slightly, and sighed softly: "It's just that the teacher's silver coins are too shiny and new, so they can't be spent at all. They have to be put into the ashes to make them old."

After cooking the porridge, feeding Elan, and putting his younger brother to sleep, Ian buried the silver coins given by the teacher in the ashes that were still warm, and then took an old thaler and some small silver coins with him. Going out happily, I am going to follow the memory in my mind and go to the fish market to buy some nutritious seafood.

  One thaler is enough to purchase ingredients, and any more would not be in line with his current status and identity.

  As for Hilliard's instructions, Ian is quite sure about the cultivation of the virtual source seed.

  —The most difficult step in condensing the source seed is to create a second heart for yourself from scratch, a source organ that can penetrate the life pulse of the whole body.

  Ordinary Terrans simply can’t imagine how to control the second heart, just as ordinary people can’t imagine how to control the third hand. Naturally, they can’t condense successfully, and the failure rate of the first attempt is extremely high.

  The virtual source seed can make people gradually adapt to the existence of a "new organ that appears in the day after tomorrow" in their body, which greatly reduces the failure rate.

   Even so, there are very few people who can successfully condense the source seed within a few months.

   But Ian is different.

   He doesn't need to adapt.

  In other words, people on Earth do not need to adapt.

  Gene adjusters per capita on Earth in the same era have two hearts, two stomachs and three lungs, not to mention that Ian is still a scholar-type transformation, with more fragmentary special transformation modules on his body.

  Manipulating this organ that 'should not exist' is as simple as breathing to him.

   "After all, it is not a real genetic organ, but a seed of source quality of a different system... It is still a bit difficult to imitate and analyze."

   Mumbling to himself, Ian said softly: "One week is enough to fully adapt. But to be on the safe side, two weeks, after learning more about the path to ascension, try again."

  With this in mind, the white-haired boy walked across the street in the rain and walked towards the fish market: "Now, what I need to do is follow Mr. Hilliard's words."

   "Healthy work and rest, go to bed early and get up early, eat more and drink more, and exercise every day."

  At this moment, the noise of the fishing market can already be heard.

  The fish market is located next to a fishing pier in the northeast area of ​​Harrison Port, with bright lights.

On the gradually dimming sea, returning fishing boats arrived here one after another, and many carts, porters, fishermen and dock workers negotiating with each other were bustling, and the clerks employed by several large fishermen's fleets were counting the numbers with the fish dividers. There are a few workers on the side, and they are pulling up a huge wooden sign, which shows the harvest status of their respective fleets today, for the caravan stewards and literate citizens to identify.

   "Live sardines, one finney per plate!"

   "The moray eel from Odell Reef has a delicate taste and delicious taste, and ice cubes are provided for free!"

   "One Finney, two oysters, one Bison, one barrel!"

   "Fluorescent algae produced in the sea near Sequoia! A bundle of three Bisons, five bundles for one thaler! Two Bisons per bottle of algae oil!"

  Even at dusk, the fish market is still bustling, the air is full of the shouts of fishermen and vendors and the smell of the sea.

  Harrison Port is the largest seaport and fishing port in the south of the empire. It produces enough seafood to cover most of the southern provinces. Caravans from different cities and towns all come here to negotiate and cooperate with the fleet in order to obtain a stable supply of fish.

  Occasionally, some monster-level fish can be produced here.

It's just like the 'Odell Reef' in the cries, where several giant moray eels with a length of more than 8 meters and a maximum length of 15 meters were produced there. A wealthy businessman from Nauman City, the capital of the province, bought it at a price of 170 talers.

It is said that behind Odell Reef, in the deeper waters, there are two super-giant moray monsters revered by the surrounding Sequoia natives as the "spirit of the tide" and the "spirit of the drum wave". are their descendants.

  Thanks to these legends and actual production, a pound of Odell eel meat costs three Bisons, which is more expensive than beef.

Ian is very familiar with this place. He used to work as a fisherman with the help of several familiar fishermen in order to help support his family. Bigger, hire him as accountant for the fleet at the dock, three pfennies a day, plus two fish.

  Of course, this time Ian came here as a pure customer.

  And… try to pick up the leaks.

"let me see…"

  Among the crowd, Ian's figure was not conspicuous. He walked around casually and walked to the corner between the two stalls without being noticed by anyone.

   Then, he opened the vision horizon.

   Immediately, the hazy world in the rain changes into more hazy mist of various colors.

  Grey, white, and blue, composed of three-color brilliant clouds, re-formed the entire fishing market.

   "There really is."

   Frowning, Ian turned his head to the side and looked at the places where the blue mist was with interest.

  —In the fishing market, there are really 'rare' seafood!

  (end of this chapter)