Chapter 96: Praise the Angler!

"Interesting."

Lan Qingyou muttered to herself.

After all, no matter how she looked at it, a person from a council tinkering around with something like a research society simply wasn't normal.

The Hierophant: "Oh! A newcomer arrived? And just in time, I caught a big fish today, so there's a share for everyone."

Right at this moment, The Hierophant, whom she had never seen before, made his appearance.

Lan Qingyou immediately checked his personal information: [The Hierophant, Nemo, Male, Age 51. Title: 'Sailor of the Raging Waves']

[Ding! The Hierophant sent a red envelope to the group 8/8]

The High Priestess: "Haha, we have fish to eat again today! Praise the Angler!"

The Chariot: "Praise the Angler!"

The Magician: "Praise the Angler!"

The Empress: "Praise the Angler!"

Wheel of Fortune: "Praise the Angler!"

The Fool: "...Praise the Angler!"

The Tower: "Praise the Angler!"

Seeing that everyone had sent this message, Lan Qingyou naturally followed the crowd, then tapped open the red envelope.

Thud!

!!!

Lan Qingyou was startled.

Originally, she had thought it was just a fish—nothing special.

In the end, a chunk of sectioned fish meat fell out, completely occupying her entire magic desk.

And this was only one of the eight sections it had been divided into.

At the very least, this fish had to have been eight or nine meters long.

Truly, praise the Angler!

[Red Black Eel (D)]

[Function: Effectively increases fire resistance.]

[Introduction: Wow, there's actually someone capable of fishing up this bunch of fellows that inhabit the underwater volcano next to Moon Bay! That's simply the existence of a master-level expert.]

Upon seeing the appraisal results on the small screen to the side, Lan Qingyou didn't even have to think before sending it directly to Gu Xiaobei.

Along with it, she also sent over the oven, rice, and cabbage.

She didn't know how to cook anyway.

She might as well dump everything onto Gu Xiaobei.

Gu Xiaobei: "Boss! I was just saying I'd deliver your meal, and you go and send over so many things."

Lan Qingyou: "Then it's better to remake it now."

Gu Xiaobei: "Of course! I've never seen these ingredients before. Let me sell off your original portion, and then I'll get to making it."

After saying that, there was no further news from Gu Xiaobei's end.

Needless to say, she had definitely gone to process that eel.

Meanwhile, Lan Qingyou turned her gaze back to the banter in the group chat. However, this time it was mostly everyone discussing how to eat the eel meat.

After bandying it back and forth, everyone finally reached a unified conclusion: grill it and dip it in ketchup.

And so, one by one, they clamored to trade with The Empress for the tomatoes she had just harvested today.

Right at this time, Lan Qingyou asked a question.

The Tower: "By the way, does the group still need people? I know three people here. They've cooperated with me for over a month, so there shouldn't be any issues regarding their character."

Judgement: "What kind of people are they?"

The Tower: "A titled chef who developed delicacies and obtained the recognition of the world's will, a slippery merchant who loves manipulating the market, and a suit-wearing thug with an S-rank magical combat talent. As for whether the merchant and the thug have titles, I'm not entirely sure."

The High Priestess: "A titled chef!"

The Empress: "What!"

The Chariot: "Quick, quick, quick! Our manor needs talents exactly like this!"

Once they heard there was a chef, everyone became excited.

It couldn't be helped.

Looking at how this group of people had discussed eating their food earlier, it was evident that they were just like Lan Qingyou—neither of them were well-versed in preparing food.

Now that they heard there was a chef, wouldn't they fall all over themselves begging her to come over?

As for the other two people mentioned, they didn't even have the spare time to pay them any heed. It was clear just how miserable their days had been.

Judgement: "Do the merchant and the S-rank combat personnel you mentioned have titles?"

Finally, someone paid attention to them.

The Tower: "I'm not sure. I haven't asked."

Judgement: "As you know, our manor is primarily focused on communication and learning. Merchants and combat personnel don't seem to fit the manor's requirements."

Even though it was someone with an S-rank combat talent, Chu Yuan didn't seem to have any interest so long as they didn't engage in research.

It was evident that this founder maintained extremely strict control over this aspect.

No, it should be said that, as a member of the council, he probably didn't lack such thugs under his command, right?

Lan Qingyou hesitated inwardly.

The Tower: "To speak plainly, our research into these things is all for the sake of better surviving in this unfamiliar world. Therefore, I feel that a manor like this requires at least one merchant to get things flowing. Only this way can the products we research be better utilized."

The Tower: "As for combat personnel, we indeed don't lack them, nor do we need them. But what if this combat personnel could help us complete some magical hypotheses? After all, I previously experimented with several potions on him and received positive feedback to improve the formulas."

Feigning ignorance of Judgement's true identity, Lan Qingyou stated her own opinions.

The reason she was working so hard to persuade them was nothing else but to simply have a few more people she was familiar with in the manor, so it would be easier to get things done.

After all, whether it was Gu Xiaobei, Shang Chuan, or Li Huai, they were all in District 666. If there were any issues, it would be good to have someone to lend a helping hand.

At the very least, she firmly believed in her 'popularity' within District 666.

As for the others, after seeing the exchange between Lan Qingyou and Chu Yuan, perhaps they were busy grilling their eel, or perhaps they were doing something else, but in any case, none of them interjected.

However, when Lan Qingyou pushed her point thus far, someone spoke up.

The Empress: "Indeed. Although Judgement has constantly been purchasing our items, having a professional merchant to evaluate their value might be better."

The Empress's words were very fair and very blunt.

Chu Yuan had always been acquiring things. However, because everyone was not in the same district, they could only use their own district's commodity prices to weigh the specific value of things.

If there was an extra merchant, at the very least, there would be an additional channel for three-way cross-referencing, wouldn't there?

Furthermore, listening to the Witch's tone, this merchant seemed quite formidable.

Since this was the case, having such a 'jonin' didn't seem to be a bad thing.

As for that combat personnel, Lan Qingyou's mention of 'experiment' had truly struck a chord with them.

Having a positive feedback platform capable of giving opinions on their own bodies wasn't a bad thing for researchers like them either.

Especially when this combat personnel possessed an S-rank talent. Even to them, this was a rare find.

Wheel of Fortune: "Originally, I thought the Witch would be the icy, cold type. But in reality, just like The High Priestess's title, it's completely unreliable."

The Empress: "That's a stereotype on your part."

The High Priestess: "Hey! Why am I being dragged into this! I don't want that broken title either!"

Brutal Fanatic...

No matter how you looked at it, it felt completely incongruous with an approximately twenty-year-old girl.

But since the world's will had bestowed it upon her, it proved that this girl definitely had real capabilities.

The Hierophant: "Alright. Since two options have presented themselves, let's have everyone cast a vote."

With the eldest person in the manor speaking up, everyone fell deep into thought.

Subsequently, based on the tally—0 to 9—Lan Qingyou won.

The High Priestess: "Hm? Why did Judgement vote in favor too?"

Judgement: "I never said I disagreed. Furthermore, The Tower's points were very well-founded."