The next morning, Alka appeared behind the cathedral.
There was a building similar in style to the cathedral, perched on the edge.
It had a hidden opening to the outside, primarily for receiving visitors from outside.
It wasn't intended for internal use.
One could see quite a few menacing individuals, though clearly not members of the church, moving about.
Alka sat at a nearby table, observing, trying not to be offensive.
This was a bounty station.
There was a simple counter, and next to it a wooden notice board with various bounties posted on it.
The bounties contained descriptions of quests.
Alka had seen this place while wandering around yesterday and was quite interested, so he came here early.
He thought he could learn something interesting here.
The people who came here were taciturn, with almost no interaction.
After walking in and exchanging a few brief words, they left after completing their business.
Most people glanced at the bounty notices on the notice board, silently tore them off, noted them down, and then left.
Alka was beside the notice board, examining some of the notices.
[Evil Sea Beast]
In the waters between Nachivo Island and Corvos Island in the Twin Island Chain, a sea beast frequently attacks passing ships.
It has already sunk four ships and damaged 13.
The number of sinkings and deaths caused by the complete loss of crew members may be even greater.
The predicted strength of this sea beast is between 54 and 80 spirals, requiring a strength of Stage 4 or higher.
Reward: 5,000 Gold Sails/Ship Customization/50 Enlightenment Slots.
Choose one of three rewards for facing a Stage 4 sea beast.
Isn't that a bit too low?
But it seems the rewards for the same level are similar, and the Church is a more official and authoritative organization.
It seems the so-called fourth-level cult isn't as formidable a force in the Boundless Sea as I imagined.
It seems they've been misled by the Southern Cross Island and its surrounding Broken Island Chain.
[Rock Cult]
A cult defected from the Holy Machine Church has been active in the Marsh Sea recently. Beware if you encounter them.
More than a dozen ships have been sunk by them, and the number is likely to be higher.
Most of the cult's members are at levels 2-3, and the cult leader's strength is no more than level 4.
Eliminate the main structure, or at least ensure the leader's demise.
Reward: [Holy Grail]-level treasure purchase qualification/7,000 Gold Sails + Baptism.
Eliminate this cult to gain treasure purchase qualification. In other words, in the Vast Sea, Holy Grail-level treasures are plentiful enough to be bought and sold.
Being eligible to purchase them means there must be a market price.
Just how much is that exactly is unknown.
The entire notice board is covered with various bounties, most of which appear to be for bounties around the Twin Island Chain.
80% of the bounties are for killing and eliminating various dangerous entities.
Cultists, cult groups, sea beasts, evil spirit ships, and so on.
Judging from the bounties offered, they have almost all caused considerable damage.
The damage they caused was so extensive that they were noticed and rewarded.
Alka took a quick look.
Most of the bounties for those at around the fourth level of strength ranged from 4,000 to 8,000.
Some slightly more challenging ones would also come with additional rewards.
There are usually equivalent Enlightenment slots available.
Based on the reward prices listed above, one Enlightenment slot is roughly equivalent to 100 gold sails.
This is just a rough estimate, inferred by Alka based on the rewards on these bounties.
Once the required strength reaches Stage 5,
Then all sorts of rewards become available, including but not limited to [Holy Grail]-level treasures, around 20,000 gold sails, and all sorts of bizarre and incomprehensible rewards.
This suggests that Stage 5 may represent the true powerhouses of the Infinite Sea.
There's a clear distinction between Stage 5 and Stage 4.
The difference in rewards between the two is quite significant.
However, such quests are rare, and a look at the bounty paper reveals that these bounties have been posted for at least years.
Clearly, few people complete these bounties.
In other words, judging by the rewards, The market price of a [Holy Grail]-level treasure starts at around 20,000 gold sails.
It's so expensive.
All the wealth Alka and his companions have acquired so far, excluding the treasures, is probably only worth around 10,000 gold sails at best.
But think about it.
If one Enlightenment spot really were 100 gold sails.
Most Holy Grail-level treasures have around 100 spots, so that spot alone would be worth 10,000 gold sails.
Thinking about it this way, it seems cheap.
But Holy Grail-level treasures do have different strengths.
Thinking about it, it seems acceptable.
If Alka sold the Enlightenment spots for his two treasures, he'd probably make 20,000 to 30,000 gold sails.
But it's just a thought.
Alka hadn't come here to accept these bounties, but simply wanted to learn more about the surrounding situation through these bounties.
To know where the dangers were.
However, it was clear from these bounties that the majority of them required a strength level of Stage 4.
Furthermore, very few of the people coming and going from this notice board were taking the bounties.
It seemed different from what he had expected.
Stage 4 was still a level above the mainstream.
Thinking about it, it made sense.
Stage 3 was already a bottleneck, lacking treasures. To reach Stage 4, treasures were required.
Although the situation in the Boundless Sea indicated that there were many treasure owners,
it was clearly not enough to make them mainstream.
These people were primarily collecting from a notice board on the other side.
It could even be said that it wasn't a notice board, but an entire wall.
There were numerous bounties of all kinds hanging on it, all with the strength requirements set at three stages.
However, the bounties offered here were not as extravagant as those on the notice board.
The targets also seemed more normal.
Most of the bounties were for assassins, villains, heretics, and the like.
The bounties were almost always for a few enlightenments, or golden sails.
The monetary rewards ranged from 800 to 2000 golden sails.
The rewards were generally determined by the number of enemies and the difficulty of the bounty.
Alka had been sitting there for so long, and almost everyone who came in to claim bounties did so from that wall, while few people touched the notice board nearby.
After a brief review, Alka left the place.
He needed to go to the cathedral library to learn more about the situation in the Infinite Sea.
Most of the information was gathered there. Sofia had been hanging out there since early morning, and Lusilia, who had arrived earlier, was also there.
The church staff didn't give Lusilia any trouble.
It was just that certain areas and books were off-limits to her.
As for Jason, no one knew where he had gone.
After wandering around the church for a long time, Alka finally found the library in this maze-like place.
As he passed the counter, he noticed what appeared to be a place for newspapers.
There were newspapers.
Curious, Alka picked one up and casually glanced at it.
Almost all the information was about the Twin Islands and the surrounding island chains, along with some simple, less-than-authentic information from outside.
It was published by the Church of the Holy Machine.
"If you want more information about further afield, I suggest you buy the Flying Fish."
The bespectacled girl, dressed in a figure-hugging clerical outfit, sat behind the counter, observing Alka's expression.
"The Flying Fish?"
Hearing Alka's voice, the girl gave him a puzzled look.
Then she explained, "It's right outside. It's a two-story blue building with a winged fish logo."
Alka nodded. "Thank you."
Soon, Alka found where Sofia and Lucilia were sitting and walked over.
…
Jason sat in a small restaurant on the corner, slowly eating the sausage on his plate.
But his eyes and attention were clearly not on his plate. Instead, he was looking at a tavern not far away.
Observing the people coming and going in the tavern.
It was just after dawn, and a few drunken people could be seen staggering out of the tavern.
According to the opening hours, these people should have been in the tavern in the latter part of the night.
Calculating the time was almost up, Jason devoured his sausage in one gulp and left the money on the table.
A slight dampness appeared on his hands, making them damp, slightly messy his hair, and wrinkling his clothes, making them look a bit slovenly.
He walked into the tavern.
The pungent smell of alcohol was immediately palpable.
The tavern was no longer noisy, save for a few drunks chatting away, mumbling something incoherently.
Jason ordered some appetizers and a bottle of wine and sat down in a cleaner corner.
He lay down in the corner and drank alone.
But his ears were incredibly sensitive, taking in every word in the tavern.
"Damn...damn pagans." A slightly overweight, middle-aged man, who was drinking alone, muttered incoherently.
"It's already daybreak outside! God bless you! I hope I can be safe on my way back."
A drunk, but seemingly in good spirits.
"Haha, old Kurt! God bless you! You damn pagan! Hahahaha."
All sorts of information spouted from these already tipsy drunks.
Jason simply drank.
A waiter was already cleaning up the surrounding area and the trash.
After cleaning up for a while and clearing most of the mess, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and came over to Jason's seat, sitting directly beside him.
"If you don't mind, how about buying me a drink? I've been in this tavern for years, so I'm pretty well-informed."
Jason looked up at him.
Two silver snakes materialized in his hands, and he placed them under the wine glass, poured it in, and pushed it across.
Then he pointed at the man who had been drinking alone and cursing the pagans.
"What happened to him?"
"You mean him? He used to be a fairly well-known merchant around here, and he was quite generous.
But I heard that on his last trip, he passed through the Marsh Sea. He was attacked by pagans, and out of a caravan of three ships, he and a few others made it back in a lifeboat.
He had built his business from scratch, and he'd lost almost all his life savings, mainly his boat."
He nodded at this.
Being without a boat in the vast ocean was fatal.
He then raised his glass and gently clinked it with the bartender.
He began to ask various questions, as if chatting casually.
"What's the Nafas treasure?"
"You can hear it from that far away? That's impressive," the bartender said, somewhat surprised.
But he still replied, "It's a famous treasure on this island. I've heard the legend since I was a child, and I think it's fake."
"Oh? Why do you say that?"
Facing Jason's curious gaze, the bartender said, "It's just to deceive outsiders like you. The Nafas were once a relatively powerful family on the island.
I heard that the family was eliminated due to some kind of struggle, but the victor didn't gain anything valuable.
In the end, because they consumed too much in the struggle and didn't gain much, they quickly declined and disappeared."
Speaking of Here, the bartender shrugged. "So the rumor spread. This family hid all their valuables, waiting for their descendants to rise again."
"But this family has been extinct for 50 years, and the legend of this treasure has been around for 50 years too. The people on this island are used to it."
"The ocean is full of these bizarre treasure tales. Not only here, but even neighboring Zuozi Island has them too.
I haven't heard of anyone actually finding the treasure. Not everyone is part of the Golden Pointer Treasure Hunting Group."
The bartender grumbled beside him, almost like a rant.
"If you're really interested in this treasure, just ask me. I'll charge a low price." He winked at Jason, joking.
"After all, many people are drawn to this treasure. Almost every few years, someone comes to the island asking about it. These people were my favorites as a child."
Great, turning this treasure legend into a revenue stream.
Jason thought with amusement.
"What's that Golden Pointer Treasure Hunt you're talking about..." Jason asked curiously.
This was the first time he'd heard of other treasure hunting groups since arriving in the Vast Sea.
They'd been in the Home Sea for a long time, and since it was a relatively small place, the treasure hunting groups knew each other quite well.
Although they'd only been in the Vast Sea a short time, to be honest, they hadn't visited many places.
The only place they could call specific was Southern Cross Island.
And judging by the size of the Twin Islands, it was probably quite remote, a relatively secluded place.
"Don't you know? Then I'm going to have a chat with you." At this point, the bartender's eyes lit up.
"The Golden Pointer Treasure Hunt is arguably one of the most famous treasure-hunting groups in the Infinite Sea. I knew one of their members when I was little."
"Their leader is said to be from the Great Stone Lighthouse. They've found countless great treasures, many of which are legendary.
For example, the ruins of the Secret City of Rata, the Kingdom of Heaven, the Scorching Heart Treasure..."
The bartender before him knew all these things like the back of his hand; it was clear he was a true fan.
"And did you know they've saved many islands, driven off invading demons, and even aided a god?"
"Assisted a god?" This surprised Jason. If I could help the gods, it would have to be...
"Um... I'm not talking about the Four Gods, but the smaller gods."
He extended his index finger and thumb, making a small gesture.
Seeing Jason had clearly misunderstood, he spoke awkwardly.
"A smaller god?" Jason was puzzled.
Aren't there only four gods? Where are the others?
Evil gods? Or perhaps some of the gods who once left have returned?
He was puzzled.
"The Goddess of Song, it's said, is a new god who ascended to the throne a few hundred years ago. Hmm... I don't know the details."
"A new god who just ascended to the throne..." The truth of this news surprised Jason.
Someone really has become a god.
He couldn't help but think of the recipe Alka had given him earlier.
This made the recipe's authenticity much more plausible.
Jason chatted with the bartender for a while before finishing the bottle of wine.
The crisp clink of coins could be heard on the table, and then he stood up and left.
"Wow!"
After Jason left, the bartender looked at the coin he had placed on the table and couldn't help but marvel.
A gleaming golden sail sat beneath his glass.
"Really generous! He seems quite impressive. I wish there were more generous customers like him."
The bartender offered a small prayer for Jason, then smiled and rubbed the coin between his palms, carefully slipping it into his inner pocket.
Outside.
Jason walked out of the tavern and aimlessly wandered the streets, his mind reflecting on the intelligence he had just obtained.
He processed the information, pondering which parts of it were true.
Which parts were useful, and which were just nonsense.
He couldn't really expect the bartender to offer anything overly credible or secretive.
While thinking, he passed a two-story blue building.
The exaggerated and unique sign on the building caught Jason's attention.
The sign was completely out of sync with the surrounding architecture and religious atmosphere; it stood out too much.
It felt like the styles were completely off-kilter.
It was a slender fish like a sharp arrow. Interestingly, it had a pair of transparent, thin wings on its back, like those of an insect.
A strange flying fish.
The main issue was the cartoon-style image.
Looking down, the sign was clearly inscribed with a special spell.
Even if one didn't recognize the words, one could still understand their meaning.
"Flying Fish Newspaper"
Newspaper?
Jason walked in curiously.
The building looked large, but the reception area had only a small window.
A piece of transparent glass blocked the way for the two of them.
Inside, various items resembling books and stacks of papers were hung, clearly visible through the glass.
An unnamed fish-man sat inside.
Seeing Jason approach, he looked up at him.
"Want to buy a newspaper? One silver snake?"
A silver snake?
Jason looked at the contents: several thin, wide sheets of black and white paper stacked together.
A silver snake for this?
But Jason still paid for it and took the newspaper.
Fortunately, he could still recognize the words.
The writing was in the common language of the Home Sea.
He didn't know the language of the left island of the Twins, but the language spoken on the right island was the common language of the Home Sea.
However, he had heard many languages along the way that he didn't understand.
But he had heard Simon speak this language before.
It seems that the language used in is a little different.