Chapter 389: Algae-Scale

Regarding the so-called "second floor" of the Suoyu Wan branch that only professional-level adventurers were qualified to enter, Xia Nan already had a guess in his heart when he followed the stairs at the association entrance and saw its sunken "atrium-corridor" design inside.

And the final result was just as he expected.

After getting a positive answer from Maer, this incredibly serious and responsible receptionist lady very considerately led him out of the small meeting room.

The destination was the wall on the southeast side of the atrium corridor.

Just when he first arrived at the association, because of the adventurers coming and going in the surrounding shops and the building structure itself, Xia Nan didn't pay attention.

Now, after Maer's reminder, looking again, a small and inconspicuous staircase was quietly located there.

However, the spiral sea rock stone steps inside extended in a direction not upward to the second floor like in River Valley Town, but spiraled all the way down, falling into the deeper part of the underground that could not be reached by sight.

Obviously, because of the unique geographical environment of Suoyu Wan, and the special location of this branch station sitting by the bay.

The "association second floor" Xia Nan originally imagined had become "underground floor one" here.

The staircase leading downwards was not hidden, and to some extent, it could even be said to be completely exposed to the sight of all adventurers in the atrium.

Xia Nan also didn't detect any strength detection or movement restriction type spell effects near the stairs.

But the association had been established for so many years, which had long made these adventurers who handed over their lives to gold coins and ran rampant in towns develop the habit of having to abide by the association's rules.

The queues in front of the counter that looked chaotic but actually maintained order amidst noisy pushing were a glimpse of it.

Unless they were truly professionals who had obtained professional levels and completed promotion tasks, basically no one dared to violate the rules set by the association and force their way downstairs.

Even for the occasional few greenhorns who just entered the industry and didn't understand the rules, they might just get close and reveal the intention to go downstairs, only to be stopped by their teammates, and severely explained the restrictions and possible consequences.

After all, sometimes the association's punishment for adventurers violating the rules was not only aimed at individuals, but also involved their affiliated teams.

Perhaps precisely because of this, when Xia Nan followed the receptionist lady into the staircase, he noticed several gazes from surrounding adventurers sweeping over him, lingering extra on his face and equipment, as if surprised by Xia Nan's youth and the excellence of his equipment.

And when Xia Nan looked back in the direction from which the gazes came, the gazes of those few adventurers instantly converged, not daring to look at him, as if they didn't want to leave an impression in the heart of this professional.

Compared to the stairs at the association atrium entrance, the steps leading to the underground were significantly narrower, but because of the "professional" entry restriction, there was basically no one in the staircase, resulting in a more spacious actual experience.

The material of the steps was polished pitch-black rock, with traces of water erosion on the surface, refracting soft light under the illumination of fluorescent pearls inlaid on the walls on both sides.

The further down he walked, the cooler the air became, and he could vaguely hear the sound of water flow after layers of isolation from the stone walls, as if leading to the heart of the ocean.

There were no doors.

When Xia Nan followed Maer to the end of the stairs, the entire underground floor also came into his sight.

The overall shape was a sunken semicircle, backing against the rock wall and extending towards the seabed, although the area was not as spacious as the upper floor, the extremely superior height and the greatly reduced number of active people made its sense of space increasingly clear and magnificent;

Completely below sea level, the noise from above was isolated by special dark wall rock, leaving only the low echo of seawater gently hitting the outer wall;

The cool air was not stuffy or astringent because of the underground closed environment, and could even be called fresh, filled with a faint fragrance similar to seaweed plants; the light source was no longer the bright sunlight above the dome, or any oil lamps, but replaced by natural daylight filtered through seawater and the soft radiance of fluorite inlaid on the wall surface.

There were actually many layouts on the entire underground floor worth mentioning, such as sea hemlock shelves lined with dazzling local specialties and artworks, strange high-backed chairs made of fish bones and black wood, small fountain statues like sea sirens...

But the one that left the deepest impression on Xia Nan, almost attracting all his attention the first time he came here.

Was the curved transparent crystal located on the southernmost side of the hall, with a visual effect that could be called shocking, occupying the entire wall.

It was already located underwater, and its incomparably clear and translucent material allowed Xia Nan to even clearly see the tiny ripples and bubbles brought by the surging water flow outside.

Among the colorful coral clusters, beautiful small fish of unknown breeds swam and shuttled, a few white crabs with thick shells crawled over the reefs below, and above were schools of silver-scaled fish sweeping past like mist;

Mushroom-shaped jellyfish glowed like ghosts, contracting and drifting past slowly, disappearing into the distant lightless dark blue; in the deep shadows, one could vaguely glimpse the blurred outline of huge creatures passing by on the seabed.

"The surface of this crystal wall is attached with a waterproof and reinforced magic barrier, which can withstand the pressure and erosion of seawater while maintaining transparency, and also has a repellent effect on some powerful marine magic beasts with strong curiosity."

Beside him, Maer's introduction sounded at the right time.

"Please rest assured, we will regularly maintain such facilities, and there has never been any event of damage or water leakage since the branch was established."

As she spoke, this responsible and enthusiastic lady walked directly to the wall and knocked with her knuckles, bending her fingers.

"The view here is very good, suitable for observation and thinking, and many adventurers will sit in the hall for a while before taking tasks, letting the seawater soothe the restlessness in their hearts."

It had to be admitted that although the technological development level of this world was far inferior to his previous life, productivity could not be called very developed.

But combined with the existence of supernatural power, gods dotted the sky like stars, extremely long history, and prosperous and vigorous civilization, their aesthetics were at a level that was quite high, at least in Xia Nan's view.

It was now afternoon, and the brilliant sunlight penetrated the sea surface, refracted and scattered through the water flow and crystal wall, turning into patches of colorful light spots on the floor that moved slowly with the water flow outside the window, turning the entire underground floor into a near-dreamy dark blue.

Standing by the window, in a trance, it felt as if he were truly submerged in the deep sea, quiet and peaceful.

If it weren't for the fact that there were things to deal with right now, with Xia Nan's personality, he could really sit in front of this huge glass wall for an entire afternoon, watching the water flow and swimming fish outside.

Taking advantage of Xia Nan's opportunity to enjoy the sea view, Maer very sensibly did not disturb him, but took the initiative to help him find relevant staff for an appointment, and only smiled and greeted him when Xia Nan moved his gaze from the crystal wall to her.

"Mr. Xia Nan, shall we go directly to the information room?"

The short contact allowed this experienced receptionist to slightly figure out the personality of this young adventurer in front of her, knowing that the other party didn't like to be slow, so she went straight to the point.

Xia Nan had no objection, followed the receptionist lady to a small room on the east side of the hall.

Maer consciously stopped and waited at the door.

Xia Nan pushed the door and entered.

The area of this so-called "information room" was not large, about twenty or thirty square meters, with cedar bookshelves and sealed filing cabinets arranged on both sides of the wall, and each drawer containing documents was marked with tiny words and patterns for classification.

A middle-aged man in his fifties with a weathered face and sharp eyes was sitting behind the wooden table in the center of the room, seriously copying something, the quill pen in his hand dancing on the parchment, and in the silent air, only the sound of water flow and the "rustling" of the pen tip could be heard.

Maer had already registered for Xia Nan, so the staff member didn't feel surprised by his entry into the room.

Signaling him to sit opposite the table, he then put down the quill pen in his hand, cleared his throat, and asked:

"Mr. Xia Nan, may I ask what you want to know?"

After pondering slightly in his heart, Xia Nan didn't directly mention the issue related to the key to the other party, but first asked about the situation regarding specific charges. ===== CHAPTER 390 =====