Fish Tyrant Stirs Up Trouble

Kerry had decided to buy the Golden Body Strength Battle Method from among the two cultivation manuals. Soul cultivation was awesome too, but having a good body was more important if he wanted to live his ideal life of eating, sleeping, then eating again after waking up, and having kids whenever he had nothing better to do. He needed a healthy body for that.

"These two cost the same, 100,000 Points each. If you buy both together, you'll get a 1% discount. How about taking both?" the big-headed stall owner said casually, as if he were asking whether Kerry wanted two sodas.

Kerry suspected his system was actually a Dimensional Scam Merchant Exchange. Why were all the merchants he encountered such scammers? The manual clearly said that to practice it, one must first castrate oneself... No, wait, one must first cripple one's cultivation. And this big-headed freak wanted him to buy both? He would not buy them even if the second one were half-price for an anniversary sale.

"Why would I buy both? To prop up a table leg? They're too expensive—I can't afford to use them as table props. The manual already says you have to cripple your cultivation before practicing it," Kerry snapped.

"Uh! You're a newcomer, right?" The big-headed monster ignored the remark about table legs and instead gave Kerry another thorough look.

"So what if I am?"

"Nothing. No wonder you'd ask something like that. Look at this Learning Device." The big-headed shopkeeper pointed at the VR pod beside him.

Without waiting for Kerry to speak again, he continued, "Learning Devices aren't anything rare. Pretty much everyone in the Dimensional Exchange has used one. One of the more famous methods is to learn the contents of multiple books at once. But that puts a great strain on the user's brain and mental strength. If their mental strength is insufficient or their brain isn't strong enough, they may faint and have their learning interrupted."

So it had been a misunderstanding. Kerry felt a little embarrassed and said awkwardly, "Sorry, I didn't know these cultivation manuals could be learned simultaneously through a Learning Device. Sorry for my tone just now." If he was wrong, he apologized. He was still a good kid.

Whether in his past life or this one, Kerry's basic moral character had been fairly decent. He might not give up his seat to every middle-aged woman, but he would give it to the elderly, the weak, the sick, the disabled, and pregnant women.

"It's fine. You're a newcomer, so ask more questions if you don't understand something. I was the same way back then. Anyway, 198,000 Points. Do you want them?" The big-headed shopkeeper was fairly easygoing, though business was still business. A 1% discount on 200,000 Points was all he got; being a newcomer would not earn Kerry any further discounts.

"Yes, but can I pay in installments? I don't have that much money." Kerry really wanted them, but just when he thought he had become rich, he discovered that when it came time to buy something, he was still broke.

"Installments? Let me take a look." The big-headed stall owner took out a pair of glasses, put them on, and carefully examined Kerry. Kerry had noticed that many Dimensional Merchants carried such glasses. They felt like standard-issue equipment.

"You still only have tourist privileges. Sorry, you need to become an official member first. I know a super member. Once you become an official member, I can introduce you to him. As long as you have something to put up as collateral, you can borrow money from him."

After checking Kerry through his glasses, the big-headed shopkeeper spoke regretfully. It seemed the glasses were used to look up information.

Super members could lend money to official members; the system description mentioned that. But Kerry had nothing he could use as collateral. Even if he became an official member, he still would not be able to buy the two cultivation manuals. Besides, the manuals required a huge investment of Points before he could even start learning them.

Though disappointed, Kerry was not someone who gave up easily. After confirming that the owner would still set up his stall here next month, he headed to the next stall to continue his sightseeing tour.

The next day, shortly before noon, Carson's rhythmic knock sounded at the door, and Kerry finally crawled groggily out of bed.

He had wandered through the street stalls until three in the morning the day before.

Today, the market would close at noon for the month. Luckily, he had arranged to collect the final batch of jellyfish before eleven, or he would have missed the deadline.

Butler Carson had knocked on Kerry's door at this time because Kerry had said the day before that he would purchase the final batch at eleven.

By the time Kerry arrived at the dock, it was already five past eleven. Instead of the imagined scene of wooden barrels filling the entire pier, there were only a scattered hundred or so barrels. Kerry wilted. He had been hoping to upgrade to an official member today.

"What's going on? The entire dock should have been filled with barrels. Mr. Carson, did you find another place to store them?" Though Kerry knew perfectly well that he had never arranged for another storage location, he still asked Butler Carson uncertainly.

"Young master, since I know you have Space Equipment, why would I go through the trouble of moving and storing the jellyfish elsewhere? This is all of it." Carson sounded helpless. He had no idea why the dock, which had been so bustling yesterday, had become so deserted.

"Find someone and ask. I don't believe all the jellyfish in this sea could have been caught in a single day." Kerry instructed Butler Carson to find someone. Soon, the fisherman who had previously taken Kerry and Frank to Little Nose Bay Port City was brought over.

The fisherman's name was Tom—Tom Hanks. Hearing that name, Kerry could not help comparing him to the Movie Emperor Hanks from Cast Away. He really did look a little like him.

"Baron, I heard from Old Bach that Greedy Cat Jack from Little Nose Bay Port City intercepted the nearby fishermen and the jellyfish they salvaged," Uncle Tom said. His reactions were still somewhat slow, but he more or less explained Kerry's confusion.

Ignoring who Old Bach was, Kerry knew that this guy, who looked like the movie emperor from Cast Away and had the personality of the movie emperor from Forrest Gump, needed to give him a proper explanation of what Greedy Cat Jack was all about.

After Movie Emperor Uncle's introduction, Kerry realized he had run into trouble. Damn fish tyrant. Greedy Cat Jack was Little Nose Bay's notorious fish tyrant and part-time gangster. This time, he had hijacked the jellyfish salvaged by the fishermen overnight in order to extort Kerry.

When the local tyrant Greedy Cat Jack learned that the new lord of South Australia Island had arrived with only an old butler, and that he was collecting jellyfish within his territory, his bad intentions and dreams of getting rich came flooding out together. This was the perfect opportunity to squeeze out a huge profit.

Greedy Cat Jack suspected that Kerry wanted to deal with the jellyfish disaster in his territory. Those wealthy noble lords from the royal capital were actually paying those trash fishermen to work for him. If all that money were given to Jack instead, not only could he make the fishermen work obediently, he could even charge Kerry a little less.

If Kerry had been a great noble, Jack would not have dared do anything. But he had already found out that Kerry was some down-and-out nobody, a seventeen-year-old kid who had come here to farm with only one butler. There was nothing to fear.

Since you had money but did not invite me in, then do not blame me for making a fortune off you.

When Kerry took a fishing boat to find Greedy Cat Jack, nearly all the fishing boats that had participated in the jellyfish salvage operation were gathered around Jack's boat. Kerry even saw the man putting on a show as he gave a speech to the fishermen.

"You're all old brothers of mine. Listen to me this time, and I guarantee you'll earn even more. But if anyone drops the ball, don't blame Greedy Cat Jack for turning his back on you..." a bald, burly man shouted.

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