Mermaid and Mist Generator

"No wonder that Old Deng dared to fire four shots in a row. That bastard was cheating!"

Stay Away From Gambling, Drugs, and Vice came to her senses and slammed the table as she rose angrily. "Once I make a comeback, I'll cut off his scrotum and throw it into the sea to feed the sharks!"

"You'd better keep your voice down. If the attendant outside hears you, even I won't be able to save you."

Ling Chu felt rather helpless. This woman really is something else. She lost two fingers before and still didn't learn her lesson. This time, she even gambled herself away.

Stay Away From Gambling, Drugs, and Vice hurriedly fell silent. She stuffed another Butter Biscuit into her mouth, yet still muttered unwillingly, "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river. I'll definitely avenge this."

"When you picked up the revolver, didn't you check its equipment information?" Ling Chu asked curiously.

If equipment was being worn by someone else, players could not see its attributes. But if they held it in their own hands, they could see them. This was one of the system's functions.

"I did, but the Data Panel showed that it was just an ordinary revolver." Stay Away From Gambling, Drugs, and Vice had also thought Karl Claude was overly confident to gamble his life against hers. But anyone capable of running a casino was more or less a little crazy. She had never imagined that the gun itself was the problem.

Ling Chu understood. She had likely seen the equipment's attributes through the Eyepatch, and they differed from what ordinary players could see.

While Ling Chu and Stay Away From Gambling, Drugs, and Vice were chatting, several more slaves were auctioned off. Then, the Auctioneer's smile suddenly widened. He took a deep breath, and his voice abruptly rose, full of theatrical flair.

"Ladies! Gentlemen! The next lot is one of a kind, a treasure so enchanting it will leave you intoxicated! She is a tear of the deep sea, a dream beneath the moonlight, a living creature found only in the depths of the ocean... a live mermaid!"

With a sharp sweep of his arm, a mechanism at the center of the stage slowly raised a massive transparent Glass Tank filled with seawater.

Curled up in the water was a slender, petite figure.

She was a creature who looked like a maiden. Her skin was so pale it was nearly translucent, carrying a pearlescent sheen. Long, dark green hair like seaweed drifted through the water, obscuring part of her face. Her lower body was a long fish tail covered in crystal-clear scales that reflected a deep blue gleam.

Strange Metal Rings that restrained her movement encircled her wrists and neck. Her pale blue eyes lifted, gazing somewhat fearfully toward the boxes. Her eyes were pure and spotless, like flawless sapphires.

"Gentlemen!" the Auctioneer said in an extraordinarily bewitching voice. "Look upon this perfect creation! Her song can make you forget all your troubles! It is said that her blood holds the power to restore youth! Her scales are the most brilliant gemstones in the world! To possess her is not merely to own a slave, but a living legend—the ultimate symbol of your power and wealth! Starting bid—fifty Chips!"

The entire venue instantly erupted.

"A mermaid!"

"And a young female at that. That's quite rare."

"My father happened to see a mermaid once when he went to sea in his youth. He still couldn't forget it before death."

The ringing of bidding bells resounded without pause, nearly drowning out the Auctioneer's voice.

"Fifty-five!"

"Sixty!"

"Box 9, seventy!"

"Box 12, seventy-five!"

The price surged all the way upward, swiftly breaking past one hundred Chips.

"So fairy tales really are true. That mermaid is so beautiful..." Stay Away From Gambling, Drugs, and Vice stared fixedly at the venue. People were always drawn to beautiful things.

Ling Chu's gaze fell on the Metal Ring around the mermaid's neck, and mockery flashed through her eyes.

When butterflies saw beautiful flowers, they lingered for them. When fierce tigers gently sniffed roses, it was also for fear of disturbing the beautiful butterflies resting upon them. Only humans, upon seeing something beautiful, thought of destroying it, of claiming it for themselves.

Ling Chu had originally intended only to stand aside and watch this absurd scene unfold. She had no interest in collecting mermaids.

However, the instant the mermaid lifted her eyes, the Necklace Blessed by Mermaid on Ling Chu's chest suddenly grew hot without warning. A faint yet distinct throb came from within it, as though it had resonated with the mermaid somehow.

The mermaid seemed to sense something as well and looked toward Ling Chu's box. Those gemstone-like eyes held a trace of sorrow and pleading.

"...One hundred twenty!" The price was still climbing, though the pace had slowed. Only two or three boxes remained in the bidding.

Ling Chu no longer hesitated and directly pressed the bell.

"One hundred thirty." Her voice rang clearly and calmly through the transmission device, echoing throughout the venue.

After a brief silence, a hoarse voice sounded from the box opposite hers. "One hundred thirty-five!"

"One hundred forty." Ling Chu raised the bid without hesitation.

"One hundred forty-five!" The other party seemed determined to win.

"One hundred sixty!" Ling Chu directly named an extremely high price, raising it by fifteen Chips at once and displaying her resolve to secure it.

The price silenced the entire venue completely. The opposite box fell quiet, seemingly weighing its options.

The Auctioneer's voice trembled with excitement. "One hundred sixty! The lady from Box 7 bids one hundred sixty Chips! Is there anything higher? One hundred sixty, first call! One hundred sixty, second call! One hundred sixty... third call! Sold!"

The gavel fell heavily, its sound especially crisp.

"Congratulations to the esteemed lady of Box 7! You have won this peerless treasure—the mermaid of the deep sea!"

Ling Chu could feel countless gazes mixed with curiosity, jealousy, and scrutiny attempting to pierce through the curtain.

She ignored them, merely pressing lightly against the necklace over her chest as it gradually returned to calm. This mermaid had some connection to her necklace. It was only to uncover what that connection was that she had decided to buy her.

After buying the mermaid, she still had eight hundred and thirty-two Chips left, which was fairly ample.

The fish tank was too large to move into the box. The attendant said that once the auction ended, the mermaid would be delivered directly to Ling Chu's ship.

"Are you interested in Mermaids too?" Stay Away From Gambling, Drugs, and Vice asked her.

Ling Chu casually made up an excuse. "I've never seen one before. I'm buying it back to take a look."

"..."

Stay Away From Gambling, Drugs, and Vice was speechless. If she only wanted to look, couldn't she just watch from the stage? She was actually buying it specifically to take home and look at? She only had eight Chips, while this Mermaid cost over a hundred Chips. What a spendthrift!

The Mermaid seemed to be the grand finale of the slave segment. The items that followed were no longer slaves, but equipment. The first few pieces were too ordinary to interest Ling Chu. The only somewhat valuable item was a thirty-six-slot Portable Space Bag, but Ling Chu already had the Ring of Bones, and her storage space was more than enough.

Then another auction item caught her attention.

It was a complex brass device covered in copper pipes and Glass containers. At its core was a Sealed Crystal Jar that slowly rotated without stopping, filled with churning grayish-white mist.

The Eyepatch revealed its true attributes.

[Mist Generator]

[Quality: Unique]

[Ship Facility. Can be installed inside a ship's cabin and connected to all sides of the hull through special pipes.]

[After activation, it directly electrolyzes Seawater to generate a vast, dense mist around the ship. It can effectively block vision and interfere with conventional detection methods. Within the mist's range, the ship's presence is greatly reduced, making it difficult for marine creatures and hostile players to detect. The hit rate of long-range attacks will also decrease.]

[Illusion Projection: Can generate one or more blurry illusions of the user's own ship within the mist to confuse enemies. (Consumes Low-grade Mana Stones)]

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