Chapter 846 - 422_2
It was said to be food, but it was more like a pot of potion with unknown ingredients and effects brewed by a witch hiding in the forest.
Gauss seemed to not notice the gazes of others, silently picking up the spoon and taking large spoonfuls of the food into his mouth.
Hmm.
Although it had been stewed for a long time, the sliced frog meat retained an astonishing elasticity, and during his chewing, the crystal-clear frog meat twitched and danced on his tongue.
This was definitely the most vibrant ingredient he had ever eaten, as if it still possessed life force.
Every gulp of it brought a warm stream rising from his stomach, spreading through his limbs and bones.
His entire body felt warm, as if soaking in a hot spring.
Nourished by the ingredient, even his heart, which was as strong as a Giant Dragon’s, seemed to beat more forcefully.
He couldn’t help but scoop another spoonful, a look of pleasure appeared on his face.
Unexpectedly, the Demon Frog Lord looked ugly but tasted so delicious.
The few guests sitting opposite him held their respective plates but none of them moved to eat.
Perhaps they deduced something from the intense concentration of Magic Power emanating from it.
"Captain Gauss, pardon an old man for asking, what are you eating?"
Perhaps out of goodwill, Hawkins, the mage captain of the Sky Adventurer Group asked without restraint.
Once the question was out, he regretted it a little.
After all, it might involve certain secrets of the other party.
But Gauss remained calm.
"The leg meat of the Demon Frog Lord on this level, would you like some?"
Nearby, there was also half a pot of fresh meat broth left.
Upon hearing an answer similar to what they expected, the guests looked at each other and then unanimously shook their heads, their actions remarkably consistent.
The flesh of High Level Demons cannot be turned into edible normal food with simple cooking methods, otherwise, why go through all the trouble to study alchemy?
Humans have spent hundreds of years researching to neutralize the violent nutrition and energy with various techniques and magic to turn them into mild energy that can be relatively absorbed by the human body.
Even so, some potent Magic Potions require high physical fitness of the user.
Eating High Level Demon meat directly.
How is that different from drinking poison?
Seeing Gauss appear completely unaffected and even very delighted, Hawkins blinked.
Could the young captain before him be some powerful Demon disguised in human skin?
The more Hawkins interacted with Gauss, the more mysterious Gauss’ image became in his mind.
After being refused, Gauss simply smiled.
This wasn’t him being petty.
Quickly, the delicacy that others couldn’t enjoy ended up entirely in Gauss’ stomach.
His Magic Power, physical stamina, and life force all returned to their peak state.
In fact, his Magic Power slightly increased its upper limit because of this meal.
Despite being a mere drop in the ocean for him, the added amount was about equal to the total Magic Power a regular Level 1 caster might possess.
The cold Demon flesh transformed into warm Magic Power within his body.
After dining, Gauss gathered the available seniors of the Red Dragon Team to begin formal outsourcing negotiations.
Those over ten thousand low-level Demon corpses were better contracted out early; otherwise, they’d rot on the ground.
During the past half day, wild animals or reckless demons have continuously come over trying to steal the corpses.
With the passage of time, that smell would grow stronger, attracting more targets quickly, while Red Dragon Team members needed to gather materials and couldn’t keep watch on those petty thieves.
"Which part do you want?"
"You can also check the follow-up information on site."
Gauss asked bluntly while spreading out a rough map.
This map was hand-drawn by him, roughly divided into several blocks, each marked with the type and quantity of demons.
For him, accomplishing this task wasn’t too difficult.
While not absolutely accurate, it was fairly close.
"Captain Gauss, can we have a look and discuss it?"
"Please."
The Sky Adventurer Group also needed to deliberate.
They entered the maze with more people than the Red Dragon Team, a total of over three hundred including combat and logistics personnel.
Yet a portion were still operating on the first three levels.
Even if they were redeployed later, their manpower handling and capacity to transport out of the maze were limited, contracting too much would lead to losses.
Even if it might not be severely detrimental, avoidable losses are best avoided in advance.
Besides most of the lower-level demons, Gauss also casually "sold" some elite monsters marked on the map.
Monster materials, weapons, armor, and other personal items could bring about a considerable value of Silver Coins per corpse.
Lower-level Demons have disparities among them.
Unlike the lower-level Demons in ordinary towns or remote deserted regions, Maze demons can truly be considered "wealthy fellows."
Demon frogs can yield high-value Magic Glands, while frog skins also have decent value.
And other demons, even common goblins, those in the maze can wield decent iron weapons and armor, worth some money.
As for the Elite Level demons, they’re even more valuable.
Gauss didn’t interrupt their discussion.
For him, it was more convenient.
He didn’t have enough manpower or time to deal with them, as long as the price wasn’t too outrageous, he would choose to sell it.
After some discussion, they quickly decided on a region.
Most of it consisted of frog species, totaling around three thousand, including a small portion of elite Demon Frogs.
What they fancied was those elite Demon Frogs.
"600 Gold Coins, Captain Gauss, does that sound fair?"
Hawkins made his offer.
Gauss met his gaze, instinctively sensing room for negotiation.
Perception Attribute could play a good role right now, plus, along the way, the scenes witnessed and heard by the people naturally intimidated them, making Gauss’ perception more relaxed.
"800 Gold Coins, there are nearly a hundred elite Demon Frog corpses there, several are Level 5."
Of course, Gauss didn’t go overboard.
This price was still profitable.
Those elite Demon Frogs’ corpses were the most valuable, but considering the limited living material storage space of their Red Dragon Team, he wasn’t necessarily willing to sell them off.
Seeing Gauss raise the price, Hawkins was silent for a moment, somewhat surprised.
This price was already close to his anticipated upper limit.
Throughout their discussion, he hadn’t revealed any intentions regarding the price.
So was it intuition?
He felt as if he was being seen through by the young man before him who could be his grandson in terms of age.
This feeling made him a bit uncomfortable.
After hesitating for a moment and exchanging another glance with Gauss, he ultimately decided not to haggle.
Several hundred Gold Coins were significant but not overly important for him, given the inevitable profits, there was no need to spend extra effort arguing over a few hundred.
It could also be considered as granting a favor to the young yet formidable Red Dragon Team captain before him.
Subsequent maze exploration would undoubtedly involve more contact.
"Let’s settle at 800 Gold Coins."
"Thank you, Captain Gauss, for granting us an opportunity to cooperate."
Once finalized, Hawkins generously pulled out several bags of coins.
Each bag contained one hundred Gold Coins.
The Red Dragon Team instantly pocketed 800 Gold Coins.
In the following days, other adventure group seniors gradually arrived.