Chapter 24: The Old Man Has Caused Trouble

"Is it worth a lot?"

Sia's seemingly innocent and naive expression delivered the final, fatal blow to Pot; he felt like coughing up blood.

Nonsense, of course it was valuable! The measly gold coins he had earned from the back-breaking labor of digging up and selling pots weren't even half the value of this Wind-Swept Cloak.

The price the imperial nobles in West Coast were willing to pay for a Wind-Swept Cloak rose with every passing day. This piece of equipment, which could be worn close to the body and perfectly complemented formal evening attire, had become a status symbol for the aristocracy.

Anyone who possessed a Wind-Swept Cloak would see their prestige soar instantly.

For these nobles, whose morality had rotted to the bone, one-upmanship had become one of their few remaining pleasures; the more extravagant something was, the more they craved it. If he could only take that Wind-Swept Cloak to West Coast, he could surely fleece them for a fortune.

Pot truly regretted his actions down to his very marrow. His hands—his accursed, itchy hands!

His brothers had a habit: once they had sold most of their pocket pots, they would open the remainder themselves. Partly because it wasn't worth the effort to keep drumming up business, and partly because they were addicted to the thrill. The moment a pocket pot shattered, it triggered one's most excited nerves; it was just like gambling, and just as easy to get hooked on.

*Clatter.*

Pot smashed his fist into the pocket pot he held—the one he had forcibly traded from Sia, the one he had judged might contain a legendary item.

A common-quality white knuckle-duster appeared, slapping him in the face once again.

A legendary item traded for a white-tier piece of junk—and he had done the trading himself!

"Alright, let's go. We have important business to attend to."

Tana called out with a smile. The sudden windfall had put her in a fantastic mood; after all, who doesn't love unexpected wealth? Sia’s money was Yelin’s money, and Yelin’s money was her money. Following that logic, she had essentially gained a legendary item for free. Seemed perfectly sound to her.

How clever!

"You guys go ahead; I’ll catch up shortly."

Yelin leaned in close to Pot, staring at the few small holes in the jar covering his head, as if trying to discern the face of the man beneath.

"I heard that beneath the jar-head, Pot is actually a handsome man."

He spoke to himself with a meaningful tone. Pot felt a jolt of anxiety, unable to figure out what the man was implying.

"Where are you from, friend? And where did you dig up these pocket pots?" Yelin asked with feigned curiosity.

"Haha, can't say. That’s how our expedition team makes a living."

Pot laughed, waving his hands to signal that one shouldn't probe into others' livelihoods; it was considered quite improper.

"My apologies, that was intrusive of me. Give my regards to Leon Heinrich III on behalf of us all. The cattle over there are lowing again."

Yelin cupped his hands in a parting salute and quickly strode off to catch up with the others waiting just outside the crowd, leaving a frozen Pot behind.

"Leon Heinrich III? That sounds familiar..."

"Yeah, who was that again?"

"I can't recall at the moment."

The adventurers nearby murmured among themselves, while Pot, now drenched in cold sweat, quickly packed away his remaining pocket pots and fled in a panic.

Leon Heinrich III was the former name of the current Emperor!

He was a man of the De Los Empire, and his purpose in coming to Elvenguard was to investigate the long-sealed Billmark Testing Grounds.

It was a place the Empire claimed was decommissioned and hazardous due to toxic miasma, yet recently, there were reports of deep, guttural roars and mechanical grinding noises emanating from its depths.

Ordinary civilians knew little of Billmark, but among powerful adventurers and the upper echelons of the Empire, it was no secret—it was the site of a failed experiment.

If Billmark, which had been declared completely destroyed and supposedly inhabited only by Catters and Goblins, still harbored unpurged, special test subjects, it would be a breach of trust for the Emperor, and his authority would suffer a severe blow.

That was why he had come to Elvenguard under the guise of selling pocket pots.

But now, a mysterious individual—likely an Awakened—knew this secret. It was rumored that only the Awakened could venture deep into Billmark.

This was not good news for the Empire.

"I have a feeling that jar-head isn't a good person."

Sia held the Wind-Swept Cloak, lost in thought. Although she had made a profit from Pot, she felt an instinctive revulsion toward him.

Seria nodded vigorously, a chill appearing on her small face. "Of course he's not a good person. He was actually making money in my territory!"

"Well, any merchant who suddenly appears and drains the pockets of all the adventurers in town isn't exactly a saint."

The group of five followed Yelin's map through the Mirkwood, with Keraha leading the way directly toward Graka.

Graka was vast. If they went around, it would not only waste a great deal of time, but Keraha wouldn't know the way either.

It was quite embarrassing; for all these years, she had wandered only in a corner of the Grand Flores, never having ventured very far.

"Graka is the territory of the Tauren King Saudata. They say that when Saudata is enraged, his giant axe falls and the earth itself trembles and cracks."

Graka was filled with jagged rocks and dense, tangled jungles. The lighting was much brighter than in Mirkwood, but it shared the same hidden dangers at every turn.

If the Poison Cat King had the intelligence of a three or four-year-old, and Keno the Lightning had that of a seven or eight-year-old schoolchild, then the Tauren King Saudata was on par with an adult.

Extraordinary strength combined with significant cunning made Graka a forbidden zone that ordinary people dared not enter.

It was only because Sia and Tana were by his side that Yelin had decided to cut straight through Graka to reach Pinos, the owner of the fire-attribute enchantment cards.

Once he found Pinos, he’d start by taking a hundred cards...

A hazy memory slowly surfaced in Seria's mind, and she murmured, "The Tauren race were once peace-loving warriors. How did they end up like this?"

"That’s a story involving a great fire and two other women..." Yelin shrugged, but did not elaborate.

Graka, led by the Tauren King Saudata, had established a hierarchy similar to the Goblins: Tauren Soldiers, Tauren Guards, Tauren Vanguards, and so on.

His strategy was to trap them if possible, and eliminate them if not.

Even without Tana intervening, Sia and Keraha’s strength allowed them to handle things with ease; there wasn't much pressure.

As for Yelin himself... "The boss is amazing, the boss is peerless, the boss looks so cool..."

*Roar!*

A loud, heaven-shaking beast roar suddenly erupted from the jungle. Immediately after, the earth began to rumble and shake. Nearby trees rustled violently, and the ripples on a nearby pond grew frantic, as if an army of thousands were charging toward them.

While Yelin remained unmoved, Seria and the others grew tense. With such a display of power, it could only be Saudata!

Sia and Keraha gripped their weapons, swallowing hard. If it were truly the Tauren King Saudata, they might be in for a bitter fight.

Minutes later, as several giant trees toppled and the pond splashed from the tremors, a massive Tauren appeared in their field of vision.

His build was comparable to a Behemoth but even more robust. Scars crisscrossed his ancient, cyan-colored skin, and he bore a mane of red bristles along his neck and back. He wielded a giant axe taller than a man, and metallic decorations hung from his horns and waist. A fierce, savage aura washed over them.

Yelin’s expression finally changed when he saw the Tauren King. Oh, the old man has messed things up...

Black Nightmare!

There was a faint aura of black energy around the Tauren King Saudata. He had been entangled by the Black Nightmare, and he had already passed through the dormant stage—he was wide awake!

One of the major reasons Yelin had decided to cut through Graka instead of taking the long way around was that, apart from Sharan and Xiulan, the Tauren King Saudata was one of the few—or perhaps the only—being who intuitively sensed that Seria was of the Elven race.

He had hoped that through Seria’s healing and the power of the World Instrument, he might be able to awaken the Tauren King Saudata, but the Black Nightmare spread by the old man had intervened, and all those hopes vanished into thin air.