Chapter 454: Ignatius’s Fur Shop

About ten or so minutes later, Nie Yan arrived at a rather remote area.

Here, a few dilapidated houses were scattered about, swaying precariously in the wind. The roads between the houses were extremely narrow, with sewage flowing everywhere. This was clearly a slum district.

When the wind blew, a foul stench occasionally wafted over, causing nausea. It was the smell of decaying corpses.

Nie Yan saw several corpses of monsters stacked outside some houses. Some residents of Hilton, dressed in ragged clothes, were skinning the monster corpses. The scene was somewhat bloody.

Following the map given by Blavens, after passing through one narrow alley after another, Nie Yan saw, in the center of an open space in the distance, a somewhat shabby shop. On it hung a worn-out signboard, written in common tongue: “Ignatius’s Leather Shop.”

This was the place!

After seeing the shop across from him, Nie Yan showed a trace of excitement on his face.

He checked his backpack, which contained more than 200,000 gold coins. It should be enough to cover the expenses this time.

Nie Yan stepped into Ignatius’s Leather Shop. This somewhat narrow shop was piled full of various kinds of leather, one stack after another. In the center was a narrow open space with a wooden counter. A short old man wearing gray leather armor looked over from behind the counter. His skin was wrinkled, his appearance gaunt, and his sharp triangular eyes gleamed with piercing light.

This old man was Ignatius!

“This place doesn’t welcome strangers. Please leave,” Ignatius said in a harsh tone, looking at Nie Yan unfriendly.

Because of Nie Yan’s several impressive titles, Ignatius was merely a bit harsh in tone rather than cursing him outright. Nie Yan had heard that in a previous life, many players who came here were verbally driven away.

“Respected Mr. Ignatius, it was the healer Blavens who recommended me to come here. Here is his letter of recommendation,” Nie Yan said, taking out the recommendation letter given by Blavens.

Ignatius glanced at the recommendation letter in Nie Yan’s hand, and his expression softened slightly.

“I came here to purchase some monster leathers and tailoring blueprints,” Nie Yan stated his purpose.

Ignatius did not reply but changed the subject, asking, “Scholar Nie Yan, was it you who cast the Grand Prophecy just now?”

“Yes,” Nie Yan nodded. The dazzling divine light from his casting of the Grand Prophecy had been seen by almost all the NPCs in Hilton Fortress.

“Then may I ask what you foresaw?” Ignatius asked curiously. The Grand Prophecy was the most mysterious of all skills, possessing unpredictable power.

“A catastrophic disaster,” Nie Yan replied. Suddenly, he thought that Ignatius was friends with many high-ranking generals and had close relationships. Perhaps he even knew the governor of Hilton Fortress.

“May I ask what kind of disaster it is?” Ignatius’s tone became slightly more polite, though his eyes still held doubt.

“Hilton Fortress may be destroyed. Mr. Ignatius, can we not talk about this topic?” Nie Yan said. He noticed the change in Ignatius’s tone and became unhurried instead.

Most NPCs only had basic intelligence. They could only issue and receive quests and engage in simple conversations. Advanced NPCs like Ignatius possessed medium intelligence. They had certain thinking abilities and emotional expressions and could weigh pros and cons. However, they could not possess the high-level intelligence that humans had.

“…” Ignatius was slightly taken aback. He hadn’t expected Nie Yan to suddenly interrupt the conversation.

“I want to purchase some monster leathers and tailoring blueprints here,” Nie Yan said, looking around.

“Alright,” Ignatius replied, looking somewhat preoccupied. Obviously, he had been affected by Nie Yan’s words.

Nie Yan leisurely opened the trading interface and began examining the various goods displayed. Bundle after bundle of leather were all high-quality goods of level 7 or above.

Leather was categorized into basic monster leather, intermediate monster leather, advanced monster leather, supreme monster leather, and legendary monster leather. Advanced monster leather was relatively common, while supreme monster leather was rarer, and legendary monster leather even rarer. Supreme monster leather could be used to make sub-legendary leather armor, and legendary monster leather could be used to make legendary leather armor.

Of course, making these items required a certain level of tailoring skill. Supreme monster leather required at least a master-level tailor to cut.

Currently, there were quite a few advanced tailors, but no one had yet reached the master-level tailor tier.

Nie Yan looked at the monster leathers sold here. They were all below the advanced level, not even seeing any supreme monster leather.

Nie Yan flipped through several pages. The following were tailoring blueprints, none of high rank. The highest were advanced blueprints for advanced tailors, and there were quite a few, about dozens. These items were relatively rare outside but not entirely unavailable. Every day, at least five or six high-level blueprints were sold in the four auction houses in Carol City.

It seemed that Ignatius had not brought out the good stuff!

Nie Yan suddenly had an idea. He showed a disappointed expression and said, “So this is all you have here. It seems I came here for nothing.”

Nie Yan pretended to leave. Ignatius was taken aback. Seeing Nie Yan walking toward the door, he hurriedly called out, “Scholar Nie Yan, please wait. I still have many high-level items I haven’t brought out yet. I’m sure there are things you want.”

“Oh, really?” Nie Yan stopped walking but did not turn back, appearing uninterested.

Ignatius rummaged behind the counter and took out several pieces of leather, placing them on the counter, along with a stack of blueprints.

When Nie Yan looked at the trading interface again, the items for sale had completely changed. The interface was now filled with various supreme monster leathers, more than twenty or thirty pieces in total, and even two legendary monster leathers. The prices of these leathers were at least two or three thousand gold coins, with the highest priced, the hellhound leather, costing 20,000 gold coins. As for the tailoring blueprints, there were as many as fifty or sixty, all at least master-level, with some grandmaster and supreme grandmaster-level blueprints priced at several thousand gold coins.

These items were simply unobtainable for money outside!

Nie Yan calculated that buying all these items would cost at least 300,000 gold coins. The money he had brought was not enough!

However, these items absolutely could not be missed. Even if he had to transfer more money, he had to buy them all.

“Respected Mr. Nieyan, if you tell me the results of your Grand Prophecy, from now on, you can enjoy a 50% discount on anything you purchase here,” Ignatius lowered his stance. He held a very high status in Hilton Fortress and thus had a rather eccentric temperament. Except for those high-ranking generals, he paid no attention to anyone else. However, Nie Yan held the key to Hilton Fortress’s lifeline, leaving him no choice but to yield. He wanted to know what kind of disaster would befall Hilton Fortress.

“I don’t have time to come here often,” Nie Yan replied indifferently.

Seeing that Nie Yan did not relent, Ignatius said, “From now on, anyone who comes here with your recommendation letter can also enjoy a 50% discount.”

Nie Yan understood that Ignatius had already offered the lowest price possible. If he continued to pressure Ignatius, he would definitely offend him. He could just use Ignatius to spread the word of his prophecy, without needing to ask the high-ranking general Brexpyr for help.

With prices halved here, purchasing all these items would cost around 100,000 gold coins. Nie Yan didn’t hesitate to stash all the items into his bag. With these materials, after a couple of months of effort, he could cultivate at least one or two grandmaster tailors. Moreover, he would have the chance to produce a substantial number of sub-legendary and legendary leather armors.

Of course, completing this task would take a long time.

“Mr. Ignatius, do you know the governor of Hilton Fortress?” Nie Yan asked.

“Yes,” Ignatius nodded.

“Mr. Ignatius, what I’m about to say, please take it seriously and relay it to the governor,” Nie Yan said solemnly.

Ignatius’s expression became serious as he replied, “I will.”

“The Anfrate Volcano has recently become more active than usual. The lava underground will drive the subterranean monsters to the surface, which will be a great disaster for Hilton Fortress. If these monsters cannot be stopped, Hilton Fortress will become a wasteland,” Nie Yan said.

“Anfrate Volcano erupted twenty years ago, causing only unrest among the subterranean monsters. Mr. Nieyan, aren’t you exaggerating?” Ignatius said doubtfully.

“Mr. Ignatius, are you questioning my Grand Prophecy?” Nie Yan stared at Ignatius and asked sternly.

“No, Mr. Nieyan, please forgive my ignorance,” Ignatius replied fearfully. The Grand Prophecy was the closest ability to divinity, capable of communicating with deities. He dared not blaspheme against the divine.

“In five days, the unrest will begin. An endless tide of subterranean monsters will surge toward Hilton Fortress, overwhelming it. This is the result foreseen by the Grand Prophecy. If you don’t believe me, you can wait five days to see, but by then it might be too late,” Nie Yan said. Having said this, he had nothing more to add.

Upon hearing Nie Yan’s terrifying prophecy, Ignatius’s face changed.

“Please relay my words to the governor. I hope Hilton Fortress can survive this disaster,” Nie Yan said calmly and walked toward the exit of the leather shop.

After leaving Ignatius’s leather shop, Nie Yan headed toward the direction of the slave trading market.

Watching Nie Yan’s gradually receding back, Ignatius remained silent for a while before hurrying toward the central administrative hall of Hilton Fortress.