Chapter 442: First-Rank Rune Construct

The room was not large, or rather, it was cramped and tiny, with even fewer pieces of furniture.

Gao De's gaze swept briefly across the room, taking in everything at a glance, and quickly locked onto the suspicious object.

In such a small room, there existed a water barrel that could be called "huge."

This itself was unreasonable.

The purpose of a water barrel is merely to hold water or for bathing.

But for residents of Markako District, neither of these needs actually existed.

Gao De approached the barrel and lightly brushed his finger along its rim—a nauseating, sticky sensation came to his touch.

He held his finger before his eyes, studying the gray-black sludge, confirming it came from stinking water newt.

It was virtually certain that this barrel had once held a large quantity of stinking water newt larvae.

The problem was, such a rudimentary environment clearly could not support the breeding of large numbers of water beast larvae.

Therefore, these larvae must have been bred outside Markako District and then transported in for "release."

After reaching this preliminary conclusion, Gao De left the shack and re-closed the door.

Then he placed his hand on the door, and a gentle magical ripple slowly oozed from his palm, gradually enveloping the makeshift lock damaged by his forced entry.

Inside the lock core, the broken components began to realign, fitting together; fractured tumblers reformed into complete units.

【Repair Shu +】.

After the magical ripple dissipated, the lock had returned to its original state, as if the damage had never occurred.

Of course, all this happened in the blink of an eye, difficult for others to notice.

Shama was waiting nearby, piloting the boat.

Gao De boarded calmly.

"Do you know who lived in that shack just now?" he asked "casually."

In Markako District, there were no public lighting facilities, so most people returned to their shacks before dusk—otherwise, nighttime boating carried a greatly increased risk of accidents.

Yet the shack he had just entered was completely empty.

Precisely because it was highly likely the occupant had long since left, Gao De chose to "break in" and investigate.

"This place?" Shama strained to recall, but Markako District was vast, and he didn't live nearby—he had no knowledge of it and couldn't answer.

"Master Mage, let me ask around. If you come back tomorrow, I'll have an answer for you?" Shama ventured cautiously.

"Then I'm in your debt," Gao De nodded slightly, reached into his robe, and tossed a silver dragon coin over.

"Thank you, Master! Thank you, Master!" Shama snatched the coin eagerly, his eyes glinting faintly.

Back at shore.

In Lagos City, finding a driver willing to bring you here was easy if you paid—but finding a carriage to take you back was a fantasy.

Gao De wasn't sure when he'd finish his mission, so he hadn't booked a driver in the morning.

Worse still, he now carried extra weight—the tails harvested from stinking water newts as mission payment.

So returning now presented a minor inconvenience.

Of course, only a minor inconvenience.

After all, Gao De was a mage.

Money solves ninety-nine percent of the world's problems, but it can't buy love.

But magic can manipulate even love.

First, he cast 【Heavy Load】 on himself, tripling his carrying capacity.

Then he cast 【Wolf's Speed】, greatly increasing his movement speed, before lifting the bag full of stinking water newt tails and racing toward Lagos City at a pace far faster than any carriage.

Dusty and reeking, Gao De returned to the Palm Tree Inn.

Before entering his room, Gao De had a nagging feeling he'd forgotten something important.

He thought hard, but couldn't recall what.

Eventually, he cast 【Purify Food】 on himself, removing the stench and grime accumulated from spending a day in Markako District, before opening the door.

Gao De's eyes darted across the room, finally landing on Anna seated on the bed—he exhaled in relief.

The girl had indeed been obedient, not wandering off.

Anna heard the door open and turned toward it with wary, kitten-like eyes, her body tensing slightly.

Then, recognizing Gao De at the threshold, her wary gaze instantly softened into pitiful pleading. She looked at him, sounding utterly forlorn: "Brother, I'm hungry."

Gao De slapped his forehead—he finally remembered what he'd forgotten:

He hadn't arranged lunch for Anna!

Restaurant.

On the slightly greasy table sat four large dishes:

Cassava mash, chicken marinated with local spices and roasted, cold-stirred cassava leaves mixed with onion and tomato, and palm oil soup simmered with fish, shrimp, meat, and assorted vegetables.

Anna was devouring her food.

Gao De watched her with a touch of guilt.

Fortunately, he'd forcibly dragged the still-sleeping Anna up for breakfast this morning—otherwise, she'd have been starved by day's end.

He'd nearly been child abuse.

Though starving, the girl ate with remarkable grace, using knife, fork, and spoon to methodically and heartily shovel food into her mouth.

A girl under six years old maintaining such manners while ravenous proved her upbringing and refinement were exceptional.

"Has your work finished, brother?" Finally, after eating seven or eight full, the girl looked up, blinking her big eyes earnestly.

"The main task will take another day," Gao De replied. He'd nearly cleared the stinking water newts today; tomorrow was the main push against the demon octopus. "But due to an unexpected development, it may take a few more days."

He meant today's discovery.

With the place abandoned, finding the mastermind would inevitably delay things.

"But once the main task is done, I can help you find your sister first," Gao De added after a moment.

He didn't know whether Anna's sister had received news of her runaway.

With Jin Quehua Dynasty's advanced transportation, two days was more than enough for word to reach her.

But according to Anna, her sister hadn't revealed why she came to Lagos City.

So normally, those people back home wouldn't know how to find Aisha—and thus couldn't deliver news of Anna's disappearance to her.

Still, delaying too long was unwise.

"It's fine, brother. Your own matters come first," Anna said obediently.

You're suddenly not in a hurry at all? Gao De shrugged helplessly, unable to comprehend a child's logic.

After eating and drinking their fill, they returned to the inn room.

As usual, he practiced cultivation, then followed with rune study.

Anna, as last night, crouched nearby, watching Gao De's every move with keen interest.

But today, Gao De didn't continue practicing rune crafting—he took out a parchment and began sketching and calculating.

Anna's words last night had awakened him.

He was now in the Jin Quehua Dynasty.

In this powerful dynasty, materials for rune constructs were not hard to obtain—if you had money.

Condition met.

He was also a Sea Sentinel Mage, frequently dispatched on missions, needing the combat boost from rune constructs.

Need met.

Therefore, he decided to design a custom set of first-rank rune constructs for himself.

(End of Chapter)