Having already obtained the core address of the Hammerhead Gang from Hera of the Three-Foot Sea Dogs, Xia Nan and his party's plan was proceeding very smoothly.
Especially with the help of the guards dispatched by the Baron, the thugs in the Saltwater District were not so blind as to challenge official law enforcers from the Governor's Office at this particular moment.
They encountered no obstructions along the way. After leaving the Baron's manor, they reached the Hammerhead Gang's headquarters at nearly the fastest speed possible.
The guards had even cordoned off the entrances and exits of several nearby streets and alleys.
As for the result... it was exactly as Xia Nan had predicted
—The place was empty.
It was as if they had been prepared for evacuation long ago; the items within the headquarters had been cleared out completely, without so much as a single copper coin left behind.
By the time Xia Nan and the others arrived, the two-story building was a shambles. There was nothing useful to be found, let alone any clues that could point to the current location of the Hammerhead Gang members.
"But at least this further proves how suspicious this gang is."
After all, if they had merely kidnapped a random passerby, a gang with professional practitioners like the Hammerhead Gang would never have made such a scene, decisively abandoning their own nest.
Such an action was absolutely abnormal!
One couldn't help but connect the gang's erratic behavior with the disappearance of the Baron's daughter that had occurred yesterday.
Standing amidst the scattered debris, Xia Nan walked slowly, his attention highly focused. He expanded his perception, carefully searching for anything suspicious.
As a Druid, Heinn also possessed a decent perception attribute, further aided by "A-Yin" on her wrist. The woman and the snake wove through the piles of junk inside the house.
The twin warriors following behind her seemed to know they were unskilled in this regard, so they kept their mouths shut and contentedly played the role of guards. One followed Heinn to prevent any sudden emergencies, while the other stood quietly at the door, responsible for external vigilance.
Time flowed quietly. In thirty minutes, Xia Nan and Heinn had turned the entire building upside down—stopping just short of digging up the foundation—yet their harvest was meager.
Staring at a rusty blade he had unearthed from a corner, Xia Nan scanned the virtual attribute panel floating above it. Seeing nothing unusual, he tossed it back into the pile of trash on the floor.
Xia Nan turned his head toward Heinn on the other side of the room. Just then, she turned to look back, and their eyes met.
The Druid shrugged.
"Looks like we won't find any useful clues here," Heinn said helplessly, with a hint of disappointment.
"I recall there should be tracking-type spells, right?" Xia Nan's dark eyes shifted slightly, his gaze lingering for a moment on the [Practice Staff] at the Druid's waist. "Do you know any?"
"I do..." Heinn's expression looked hesitant. She looked down and scanned the trash on the ground again. "It's just that there are certain conditions for using them."
She was indeed a spellcaster, but that didn't mean she mastered every spell of a corresponding level in this world.
On one hand, as a Druid of the Coral Society, her spell list was restricted to a relatively narrow scope. There were limits to the spells she could learn and memorize, far less freedom than that of formal wizards.
On the other hand, reality was not a game.
It wasn't the case that as soon as your professional level increased by one with a "ping," a skill tree would mysteriously appear before your eyes for you to pick from.
Aside from a few "innate spells" granted by one's school or bloodline, spellcasters truly had to toil through sleepless nights to expand their spell lists—memorizing book after book, carving spell models into their minds, remembering the conduction method of mental power for each spell, and becoming intimately familiar with the corresponding materials and incantations.
Often, even for a basic [Light] spell, spellcasters had to spend many days and nights conducting targeted research just to get the brightness, duration, or range to an ideal level.
And as long as one is human, or rather, a sentient being, energy is always limited within a certain range.
Even if a treasury containing every spell in the world were placed before them, few would study everything within it.
After all, to some extent, the cost-performance ratio of tempering mental power to increase professional level was far higher than blindly expanding a low-level spell list.
The terrifying power of a third-circle [Fireball] could not be matched by any variety of zero-circle cantrips.
Moreover, spellbooks on the Efara Continent were expensive. Sometimes, even if one specifically wanted to learn a certain spell, they might not be able to find a reliable spell model.
Facing the current situation, while Heinn was a spellcaster, she didn't necessarily know more than Xia Nan.
"I think... perhaps we can ask the nearby residents about the situation. We might discover something."
As she spoke, Heinn's expression looked somewhat embarrassed. As if to alleviate the awkwardness, she deliberately raised her right hand to wipe non-existent sweat from her forehead.
Xia Nan had no objection to the Druid's suggestion.
At the same time, his keen perception noticed a flash of purple-blue at the cuff of her right wrist as she raised her hand.
"Is that your fleet's tattoo?"
Calling to the twin warrior guarding nearby, Xia Nan walked toward the exit of the house with Heinn, asking in a casual tone.
The same tattoo appeared on the side of the twin warrior's neck.
Xia Nan had originally thought it had no special meaning, but seeing that Heinn also had one, a spark of interest rose in his heart.
To this, Heinn was only slightly stunned before reacting quickly.
There was no sign of concealment; instead, with a strong sense of pride, she proactively rolled up her sleeve to show Xia Nan the specific pattern of the tattoo
Two crossed scimitars, dripping with blood.
"'Blades of the Sworn Vendetta,' it's our fleet's banner!"
Mentioning the team's name, even Heinn's voice grew slightly louder.
"So every adventurer in your team has this tattoo?"
"Of course!" Heinn waved her arm toward Xia Nan. "Or rather, only official members are qualified to keep the team's banner on their bodies."
Xia Nan remained noncommittal.
He respected the local customs of this world and fully understood the maritime culture of the Druid's fleet.
But if it were him, unless the team had truly done a great deal for him and he felt a sufficient sense of belonging, he would never leave such a thing on his body.
As for the reason, on one hand, he felt that tattoos were exceptionally troublesome to remove—essentially things that would remain on the skin until death. If his thoughts or perspectives changed in the future and he regretted it, he wouldn't even be able to wash it off, so it was better not to start in the first place.
On the other hand, it was a certain obsession with his perfect body. Having worked so hard through grueling training to hone himself into his current form, how could he let some random patterns obstruct the smooth and power-filled aesthetic of his muscle lines?
In contrast, the name "Blades of the Sworn Vendetta" attracted Xia Nan's attention more.
Every day he lived in Barracuda Bay, he diligently caught up on his studies, urgently gathering various information and intelligence about this bay town.
And regarding the "Blades of the Sworn Vendetta" adventure group, he had naturally heard of them.
He had heard they were a fairly famous adventure fleet in the bay that had undergone years of tempering.
Their overall strength was much greater than that of the "Flying Fish Oil Barrel." Over the years, they had become a medium-sized team with considerable notoriety across the Southern Archipelago.
Anyone who had spent a few years hanging around the Wave-Breaking Pier could not have failed to hear their name.
Of course, Xia Nan had only glanced over the name of this adventure fleet while reviewing the relevant powers of the Southern Archipelago, noting it in his mind as an impression without delving deeper. Therefore, he didn't know the specific composition of its members.
Now, suddenly hearing this familiar name from Heinn, he couldn't help but feel some surprise.
"So when you went back to the tavern earlier, it was to report to your captain?"
"Yeah!" Heinn nodded. "The captain specifically asked me to bring along Rain and Gordon."
Quite a bold move.
Given the scarcity and importance of spellcasters in conventional adventurer teams, if Xia Nan were the other party's captain, even if he didn't follow personally, he would at least call back those teammates enjoying themselves at casinos and drinking tables to protect the spellcaster.
Since they had known each other for less than a day, Heinn didn't discuss too much about her team with Xia Nan; after a few words, she quickly changed the subject.
The twin warriors continued to follow silently behind. The group left the Hammerhead Gang's headquarters, intending to ask the ordinary civilians living nearby about their target.
But unexpectedly, just as they stepped out of the small building, while still within the depths of the winding alley.
A sudden, inexplicable clamor erupted from an inconspicuous house by the roadside.
Perhaps it was an unlicensed establishment known only to locals; the roadside shop had no sign hanging outside, and from the exterior, it seemed no different from an ordinary residence.
But Xia Nan could hear the lively voices coming from inside, and more distinctively, the noise created by a large number of dice violently colliding with wooden cups.
—A small casino.
What gave him a strange sense of déjà vu was the faint hint of chaos and agitation within the noise.
His perception kicked in. Almost by instinct, he subconsciously stopped in his tracks and stood still.
"What's wrong?" Heinn looked back in confusion, and the twin warriors also looked at him with puzzled expressions.
Xia Nan didn't answer immediately. Instead, he began to count down in his heart for some reason
Three, two, one...
*Creak.*
The casino door was suddenly pushed open from the inside.
The white feather on the pointed soft cap swayed gently in the wind, and small, high-top leather boots embroidered with four-leaf clover patterns stepped out in alternation.
A short Halfling with a brilliant smile on his face, tossing a copper coin up and down in his hand, stepped lightly out of the door.
Then, at first glance, he spotted the young black-haired adventurer across the street.
His smile grew even warmer. He stood on his tiptoes and waved, calling out loudly
"Xia Nan! Over here, Xia Nan!"
"..."
Xia Nan's original intention was not to drag the little guy into a conflict that had absolutely nothing to do with him. But if they happened to meet on the street and he didn't even say hello before turning to run, it would seem far too exaggerated and deliberate. That was why he had paused upon sensing the movement.
And when Alton, with his natural familiarity, struck up a conversation with Heinn and the twin warriors beside him, and then asked Xia Nan about their purpose for being here.
Xia Nan naturally could not be perfunctory or lie.
Thus, the subsequent development was obvious.
Upon learning that Xia Nan and the others were searching for Baron Faro's missing daughter, even though it had nothing to do with him, Alton volunteered with great enthusiasm and actively requested to join the mission.
Few people would refuse the malicious-free enthusiasm of a Halfling, especially when the other party was a blessed of the Goddess of Luck.
"So, do you possess any tracking-type skills, similar to the one used by the Half-Elf in the 'Silver Claw Osprey' squad back at Crag Isle?"
Holding onto a sliver of hope, Xia Nan asked the little guy in front of him.
"I don't!" Alton answered in a high tone, but before the others could speak, he dragged out the end of his sentence as if keeping a secret. "But..."
The Halfling tossed the copper coin in his hand with a grin.
"The Lady is very satisfied with my sacrificial rituals over the past few days."
"You mean..."
The fame of the former "Eyebrow of Tymora" in Barracuda Bay was too loud. Now, combining the commotion inside the casino with Alton's identity as a Halfling, Heinn could roughly guess that the "Lady" he referred to was the Goddess of Luck.
Hearing this, she suddenly became energized.
"What do we need to do? Prepare an offering? Or go in and gamble a few rounds?" she asked urgently.
To this, Alton replied with only three words
"I don't know!"
"Uh... you don't know?"
"I just don't know." Alton's attention was suddenly drawn to a seagull flying overhead. He tilted his head back, his gaze following the soaring bird across the street. "Just let nature take its course!"
Heinn didn't understand, nor did she know how to respond to such a situation. She could only look at Xia Nan beside her with a bewildered expression, hoping he could help explain the "Zen" in his little friend's words.
Unexpectedly, as soon as she turned her head, she found that Xia Nan was currently staring intently at the coin being tossed in the Halfling's hand... no, his gaze wasn't focused on the coin, but further back...
Heinn subconsciously followed the direction of Xia Nan's gaze.
She suddenly froze.
"That's..."
Coming into view was a familiar figure she had seen not long ago today.
A tall thug with bandages wrapped around his right hand was walking out of the casino with a heavy sigh, looking withered as if he had lost all his possessions.
It was one of the two lackeys who had been following "Blood-Nose Rat" Jerry!
Heinn felt a stir in her heart, as if the progress of the mission had been quietly pushed forward by some unseen force.
*Clap.*
The coin landed softly in the Halfling's palm, and his five fingers closed, gripping it.
"Well, did you find a clue?"
Still wearing that grinning expression, Alton asked the two people before him.
(End of Chapter)