The girl nodded, her expression filled with pride. "They can't snatch them away from me."
Xu An nodded slightly, but her face still showed a look of admiration as she looked the girl up and down. Ze Yuan, on the other hand, sneered from the side, "This little girl looks a bit dim-witted."
Xu An chuckled awkwardly, not engaging.
After bidding farewell to the girl, Xu An went backstage and directly asked where she could exchange supplies for money.
A man in a shirt led Xu An backstage. "Miss, this way please."
As they went deeper, Xu An followed the man to the innermost room. Pushing the door open, Xu An saw a rather elderly middle-aged man. The man was dressed in a well-fitting suit, wearing a pair of rimless gold-rimmed glasses on his nose, and his slightly graying silver hair was meticulously combed back behind his ears. He exuded an air of noble aloofness.
"Hello, miss. What would you like to sell?"
Xu An first surveyed the entire room before sitting down in front of the man. "I'm not sure about your prices. I heard that your prices are a bit higher than the official acquisition prices outside."
The man smiled at Xu An. "Actually, that's not entirely true. Rare items might fetch a higher price here, but for everyday ordinary household goods, I recommend you go to the official acquisition stations outside. The prices will be more reasonable and fair. Our prices are not higher than those outside."
Xu An understood after hearing this and felt a bit more favorably disposed towards the man. It seemed that most places here were decent and hadn't resorted to bullying newcomers or price gouging.
Xu An also smiled. "The items I want to sell are some rare objects. It seems I've come to the right place."
"But I have a question. I don't want anyone to know that I'm selling these things. Can you guarantee that?"
Upon hearing this, the man stopped wiping an antique pocket watch he had been holding and turned his gaze back to Xu An. The girl before him had neat short hair, her eyes were clear and aloof, but not aggressive. Instead, she looked very gentle. She was like a piece of uncarved jade polished by time, becoming more lustrous the longer one looked, yet her eyes also held a hint of alluring charm.
Undoubtedly, the man thought, the girl before him was a rare beauty. It was difficult for women to survive on the lighthouse, let alone a beautiful girl like this. Without some skills, it would be even harder to survive there. Her current request to conceal her identity was understandable, as wealth should not be flaunted.
He nodded. "Yes, but I need to examine the goods before I can tell you what you're selling."
Xu An breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that her identity could be hidden. She wanted to auction off the corpse of the mutated rabbit-headed monster from her space, but she was afraid of being known as the seller. After all, Xia Jin was still lurking around on the lighthouse.
"I want to sell mutated monster corpses and some rare materials. Are these acceptable?"
The man was taken aback. His slightly dismissive gaze towards Xu An instantly became serious. "Are you a mercenary? My apologies, madam, for my rudeness."
Xu An's expression remained unchanged, but internally, she was in turmoil. Her usual source of information on the lighthouse was Zhou Haimei; she herself was a complete homebody. She had no idea that mercenaries on the lighthouse were so formidable. Facing the man's sudden flattery, Xu An accepted it with a calm demeanor.
The man looked at Xu An expectantly. "We need to inspect the completeness of the monster corpses first. Is that convenient for you?"
Xu An nodded, without further hesitation. "Right here?"
Xu An looked at the intricately patterned carpet on the floor and thought about the monster corpses in her space. Bringing them out like this would surely dirty the carpet.
"It's alright, it's alright. You can place them directly on the floor. Someone will come to clean it up later, so don't worry."
Seeing Xu An's politeness, the man's favorable impression of her increased again. He secretly decided to subtly add some extra price for Xu An later.
The man respectfully inquired, "May I know your name?"
Xu An thought for a moment and casually made up a name, Zhang Lan. The man heard this and knew it was definitely not the girl's real name, but he didn't care. He only asked for a name to have a title to refer to her by. As for anything else, he wasn't a registrar, so he couldn't control such matters. He wouldn't bother to find out who Xu An really was. Their relationship was simply a transaction of goods for money.
Saying that, Xu An directly produced her芥子空间 (Jie Zi Kong Jian - Mustard Seed Space) and released all the previously transferred corpses. The man's eyes widened when he saw the first monster with a fish head and human body. Then came the second... the third. The fourth...
When he saw the final rabbit-headed monster Xu An took out, the man's jaw almost dropped. "This... this... this is..."
Xu An's eyes darkened, and she silently cursed the trouble, but still maintained a composed appearance, asking the man, "Is there a problem?"
The man's eyes were filled with excitement. "This rabbit-headed monster has been on the lighthouse mercenary bounty list for a long time. The reward is now as high as ten thousand contribution points. I never expected it to be with you."
The man, perhaps thinking of something, suddenly looked at Xu An with a different gaze. Remembering what someone had instructed him to do, his previous thought that this woman was insignificant vanished completely. He began to ponder how to trick Xu An into revealing her true identity.
Xu An, seeing the man's scrutinizing gaze, knew that the rabbit-headed monster had indeed caused trouble for her. Fortunately, when she entered, she had found a mask in her space that could cover most of her face. Relying only on her eyes, she figured these people wouldn't recognize her even if they met her on the street. This put Xu An at ease.
Seeing that Xu An had become wary, the man quickly withdrew his gaze. "It's nothing, it's nothing. I just think you're very capable. Can you tell me when you hunted these monsters?" The man's smile was amiable, but his words were laced with traps.
Xu An inwardly sneered, but her expression remained outwardly calm. "I can't recall the exact hunting times. To be honest, I'm just a broker. How could a girl like me kill these things? But as you know, the rules of our trade are not to reveal the seller's information."
"I believe you, like me, are an honest merchant, aren't you?"