Goblin Dependency

Thoughts flashed through his mind, and Xia Nan had already made a decision.

Silently applying Gravity, his legs suddenly burst with strength in the churning waters, propelling his body, which had been slowly floating in the water, forward.

The Purple Vortex Ray, attracted by the blood, hadn’t even had time to react before Xia Nan was directly above it.

"Bang!"

Enhancing with [Heavy Tide], he slammed the sturdy sword hilt onto the Purple Vortex Ray’s head, emitting a muffled sound in the water.

The wide wings convulsed weakly twice, and the Purple Vortex Ray was instantly knocked out.

Grabbing the ray’s tail with his left hand, Xia Nan oriented himself in the sea, not bothering to surface, and swam towards the fishing spot.

Before long, under the effect of Perception, a thin, almost invisible fishing line, and the sharp hook at its end, appeared in his vision.

Oddly, there were clearly a large number of sea fish swimming around the hook, yet regarding the lure attached to it, these sea fish seemed as indifferent as monks, with no intention of taking the bait.

It made Xia Nan a bit irritated.

Yet at the same time, he felt that his decision was wise.

He swam over and forcefully stuffed the hook into the mouth of the Purple Vortex Ray.

...

"Hey, it’s hooked!"

Although it was unclear why Xia Nan had swum away in another direction earlier, he suddenly swam up from the sea ahead.

But Ellison, who was watching over the fishing spot for him, upon seeing the suddenly sinking float and the taut, bent fishing rod, quickly called out.

Taking the rod from Ellison’s hands, Xia Nan remained calm.

Reeling in and pulling the rod with skillful precision.

Before long, a massive dark purple figure was gradually pulled to the sea surface by him.

Seeing how easily Xia Nan reeled it in, Ellison initially thought it was just a small fish. But now, seeing the huge shadow on the surface, he was taken aback.

"Purple Vortex Ray!?"

He couldn’t help but feel strange.

Why did such a large fish, after taking the bait, not even struggle and be pulled up without resistance?

Was it dead, or...

While pondering, Xia Nan had already dragged the Purple Vortex Ray to the shore next to him.

"No wonder you weren’t catching much earlier, you were holding out for a big one."

"Such a Purple Vortex Ray, one gold coin is definitely enough."

Removing the hook from the Purple Vortex Ray’s mouth, Xia Nan replied with an unchanged expression:

"Praise to the goddess."

...

After "catching" the Purple Vortex Ray, Xia Nan continued for another hour.

As for the results, let’s just say the fish luck was indeed not great today.

Once Ellison beside him also caught enough to meet the activity’s one gold coin value requirement, the two went together to submit their catch at the entrance.

With the three-hour Time Limit approaching its end, some adventurers who hadn’t completed their tasks became anxious.

Many could be seen tossing fish feed into the sea in front of them as if it cost nothing, trying to lure fish, while others with devious thoughts gathered to whisper and discuss cheating methods with their companions.

To this, the middle-aged man with a goatee, dressed in formal attire, sitting nonchalantly at the reception booth at the fishery entrance, seemed oblivious.

It was clear that the organizers were turning a blind eye to cheating in this event.

After all, it was a celebration activity, and even if everyone passed, it only granted eligibility for the lottery, so there was no need to take it so seriously.

Standing out in the crowd with a three-meter-long Purple Vortex Ray, Xia Nan attracted varying glances, some filled with surprise, others with envy, over the ray he was carrying.

Meanwhile, his unique [Abyssal Stream] armor style, dual swords, and black hair and eyes were noticed by some observant adventurers, recognizing him as "Haiya."

Among them, the stout man with braided beard who resembled a magnified dwarf, whom Xia Nan had once paid attention to, clearly also recognized him, his round eyes fixed on him.

Xia Nan, however, didn’t have any particular thoughts about this.

In this world, especially in the adventurer’s realm, being too low-key often invites unnecessary trouble.

Since he had already made a name for himself in the Southern Islands, there wasn’t much need to hide it; using it to some advantage wasn’t a bad idea.

It’s worth mentioning that the two companions Xia Nan previously traveled with, Sasha and Alton, were also already finished with the event’s required catch.

They were waiting for him near the entrance at that moment.

Seeing Xia Nan, they approached him.

"Wow! I’ve never seen this kind of fish before!"

"Why does the tail look like a scorpion’s? Is it poisonous?"

"Are there such big fish in the shallow sea too? Xia Nan, how did you catch it?"

The small one was, as usual, full of enthusiasm, overflowing with interest for all things novel. He picked up the Purple Vortex Ray’s tail and examined it repeatedly, then crouched down to poke its soft underbelly.

At the same time, the Spotted Cat race member Sasha beside him focused on Ellison next to Xia Nan.

"Mr. Ellison, you... are here too?"

Evidently, the crew members of the Sword of Vengeance were not entirely ignorant of their captain’s past.

Upon hearing this, Ellison’s expression was calm. He merely nodded silently in response.

Seeing the Leopard Cat Race member appear hesitant to speak, Xia Nan took over the conversation:

"Have you been waiting long?"

"Not really for me. I was worried I hadn’t caught enough, so I fished a bit longer. I submitted my catch about half an hour ago." Sasha shifted his complex gaze from Ellison to Xia Nan, "But Alton has been waiting quite a while."

As a chosen of the Goddess of fortune, the small one didn’t even calculate the exact value of the catch.

Instead, within the first few minutes of the event, he caught nearly ten fish with an astonishing one-fish-per-minute efficiency and casually submitted them, easily meeting the event’s requirements.

After that, he wandered around the fishery.

After a brief exchange with the two, Xia Nan carried the Purple Vortex Ray to the man with the carefully kept goatee.

"This Purple Vortex Ray is very impressive." The man praised after scrutinizing the ray Xia Nan presented, "On the market, it could fetch around five gold coins."

"Congratulations on qualifying for the second event, Mr. Xia Nan."

"You know me?" Xia Nan raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Of course!" The middle-aged man softly caressed his chin beard, smiling, "The famous ’Haiya’, the new member of the ’Sword of Vengeance’, the destroyer of the Corner Shark Gang and Ebbtide Gang, who wouldn’t know you?"

Xia Nan didn’t let the flattery make him overly proud. He had a certain understanding of his reputation.

He was certainly not a Big Shot, far from those high-level Senior Adventurers, only gaining some recognition recently for clearing out two criminal gangs.

In reality, just being low-key for two months without any new deeds and he’d be forgotten.

The Southern Islands sees a couple of seemingly rising stars like Xia Nan each year, though only a few actually go on to establish lasting names.

As the goatee man flattered him, Xia Nan used his Perception Ability to observe him.

Though he appeared cordial and adjusted his demeanor humbly, the solid aura he emitted suggested he was also a professional, and not a low level one.

"Hehe, I’ve heard a lot about you. Never thought you’d also participate in this Moon Tide Banquet."

The goatee man spoke some pleasantries, then unexpectedly stood up, wearing an apologetic expression, saying:

"I’m truly sorry, I haven’t even introduced myself."

"Mr. Xia Nan, you can just call me Flynn. I work for ’Algae Scale’ Lord Dodd, mainly handling the affairs related to this Moon Tide Banquet."

"If you encounter any trouble or have any questions, you can come to me. I’ll assist you."