Chapter 1 The Arrival at Roman

"Captain, we've arrived at Roman!"

"Hahaha... Finally, I can get off the ship and have some fun."

"..."

Suren and Qiandiao were still in the captain's cabin testing the alchemical gargoyle when they heard the cheers from the crew on deck.

After sailing at sea for so long, the days of going ashore to resupply were the happiest times for the crew.

Suren put away the gargoyle and went to the deck with Qiandiao.

As soon as they came out, they saw the coastline in the distance was already very clear.

The azure sky was cloudless, and the sea and sky merged into one color.

Because it was close to the coast, seagulls appeared in flocks near the sea ship. Some soared in the sky, some hunted in the sea, and some landed on the deck.

Legend has it that seagulls bring good luck, so sailors like these messengers of the sea very much. These birds were not shy and happily accepted the crew's feeding.

Suren stood at the bow of the ship, looking into the distance. On the coast, there was a giant city built against the mountain, and those white and blue buildings could be seen from a long distance.

On the cliffs by the sea, there was a temple built from hundreds of huge stone pillars, magnificent and spectacular.

That was the "Agaparnon Temple," the most sacred place in the entire Roman Kingdom.

The Romans were warlike and produced heroic epics and gladiators.

They believed in the God of War, and the Agaparnon Temple was dedicated to the God of War.

Roman had no royal family, only dozens of free city-states, each with its own magistrate, considered half a city lord.

Before them was the largest city-state among the dozens of Roman city-states—"Moros."

Because this city-state had the best deep-water port, and was also the most concentrated place for Roman foreign trade, it was naturally the most economically developed city.

It gathered a large number of pirates, speculative merchants, slave traders, and adventurers from all over the world.

......

"Everyone be careful after disembarking, and try not to be too conspicuous. Notify me in time if there are any situations."

"Yes, Captain!"

"Hahaha, let's go, I heard the gladiatorial arena in Roman is very lively, let's go and have a look."

"..."

The Dawn Group, flying an inconspicuous pirate flag, sailed into the port.

Hundreds of various pirate ships were docked in the deep-water port. After the advent of the Great Pirate Era, a large number of these "new" pirate groups appeared in the North Sea. One more ship did not attract anyone's attention.

The crew disembarked happily and went to the city in groups of three or five to have fun.

Suren and Qiandiao, along with the sword-bearing little follower Lolota, walked off the ship and strolled on the dock. They saw the Sea King-class warship "Princess Skadi" and eight escort ships were all in the port.

Neither of them was surprised.

After all, Dr. Banks had already sensed that the submarine that had been marked was in the seabed nearby.

Qiandiao only glanced at it, then retracted her gaze and whispered, "That Frost Moon Princess is also in the city now. I don't know what she's doing here."

Suren stripped the memory of the former deputy fleet commander of the Eighteenth Fleet, and knew some confidential information, and said, "It should be waiting for the opportunity. After all, the sea area near the Void Ruins is very dangerous. You have to wait for the right wind direction and ocean current to pass, which may only happen a few times a year."

There were many ancient devices in that Void Ruins, and the pirates' level could not digest them at all, so they planned to jointly develop them with the technical staff of Mafa.

There was nothing to see about the warships anyway.

Now that the people of Princess Shuangyue were in the city, they could just look for opportunities to inquire about Kay's news.

If they really wanted to save someone, the conditions here were much better than in the pirate city of Hasterlin.

The three of them entered the city unhurriedly.

......

Following the stone steps up from the dock, they saw a beautifully renovated white stone city wall, with delicate carvings on the battlements and arrow towers.

This was the most beautiful city wall Suren had ever seen.

The Romans not only liked war, but they were also very accomplished in art. This country once produced many master-level painters, musicians, and poets. They created many epoch-making works of art...

In all the details of the buildings in the city, you could see the pursuit of artistic beauty flowing in their blood.

At the gate of the city, there was a team of guards wearing armor and holding spears.

Unlike the guards of other city-states, they looked very strong. Their bare arms had bulging muscles, their eyes were sharp, and they had a murderous aura.

These were just ordinary guards.

Suren couldn't help but take another look.

There was no inspection, and the three of them entered the city smoothly.

No wonder pirate groups always came back here to recruit crew members. Romans were born warriors.

After entering the city, they realized that the rumors were true.

Pure Romans all had blond hair and blue eyes, which were easy to identify. On the street, you could see bare-chested adult men everywhere. Each of them might not be tall, but they were all as strong as cheetahs, with wheat-colored skin and muscles all over their bodies, shining brightly in the sunlight.

It was rare to see pot-bellied fat people.

Even the children chasing and playing on the roadside could clearly see their blocky abdominal muscles.

Weightlifting, wrestling, sword fighting, and throwing javelins... these were the children's games.

They were proud of being strong.

Roman was still an agricultural society with almost no industry. The women on the street mostly wore loose linen clothes, and wealthy women and young ladies would wear cotton long skirts imported from overseas. But the styles of these skirts were very simple, and could not cover much privacy. As long as you paid attention to look closely, you could see the breasts half exposed under the skirts, and the slender beautiful legs were also unobstructed. Especially those young girls, did not hesitate to show their delicate figure, and walked back and forth on the street as usual. They worshiped heroes and were very willing to have a night of pleasure with the strong.

As the legend said, the folk customs here were bold.

Suren walked on the street and also found it quite pleasing to the eye.

The buildings in the city were very dense, and it was easy to tell which were residential buildings and which were public buildings.

"Central Gladiator Arena", "Senate", "Moros City-State City Hall", "Muse Opera House", "Public Bath", "Trading Market"...

The public buildings were all very large and had a unique architectural style.

......

There were also many foreigners in the city, and the three of Suren were not conspicuous.

In addition to strolling around and seeing the local customs, their top priority was to inquire about some information.

The Roman Kingdom was now nominally under the jurisdiction of the "North Sea Kingdom", and the mace flags of the North Sea Fleet were hung everywhere in the city.

After all, Suren and the others had just destroyed several teams of the North Sea Fleet, so they naturally had to be careful.

Fortunately, he had been prepared for a long time. In the previous battles, he had deliberately stripped away some city information. Suren also knew some safe information exchange points and reliable information merchants.

Before long, when they walked out of a tavern called "Lavender Tavern", they had roughly figured out the information they needed.

"Kay was sent to the arena as a slave gladiator. It seems that he is going to participate in some kind of 'Hero Trial'. There will be a match tomorrow..."

"Try not to fight if you can avoid it. I spent some money on the arena and found a middleman to inquire about the news. When the time comes, I will find someone to contact Kay, and I should be able to find a way to rescue him. Moreover, there is also a group of royal knight slave gladiators from the capital of Lu Ying in the arena. I suspect that they are the people Barrett and the others are looking for. Pay more attention to them..."

"..."

Qiandiao and Suren walked along the road, exchanging the information they had just obtained.

The current situation was quite ideal for them. Although this place was nominally Oleg's territory, the North Sea Fleet did not have much say in the arena.

As long as they were willing to spend money, there were many ways to find a way to save people.

Moreover, the focus of the current situation was not on them, but on "Frost Moon Princess" Skadi.

"The situation in the city is very complicated now. The Lu Ying royal family, Duke Raphael, and some other great lords are all staring at Princess Frost Moon and her party. A large number of foreigners have mixed into the city. We can guess that they are going for the space ruins, and those people can naturally guess that too. There may be a big commotion recently."

"That Princess Frost Moon has not shown her face much recently, probably because she is afraid of being assassinated. But even if she hasn't gone out, there are rumors outside about her and Oleg's second son, Onis Popov... Tsk tsk, this princess is really not at peace."

"Hehe... The liveliness is also good."

"..."

Another good news was that Suren had not heard of anyone wanted for the Dawn Group.

On the other hand, the wanted orders for the "Holy Judgment Fleet" were posted everywhere on the black market, and the reward price was soaring more and more exaggeratedly.

As for the three pirate teams of the Eighteenth Fleet that were wiped out, they were currently defined as "missing".

Someone was offering a reward to inquire about the news, but no one knew what had happened.

This was a great benefit for Suren and the others, because they did not leave anyone alive before, and this news should be able to be hidden for a long time.

......

There were some shops selling fruits, jewelry, and clothes on the street, but the three of them were not interested.

They did go to the blacksmith shop, and the quality of the swords and armor was good, so they bought some for the crew on the ship.

Now that the news had been inquired about, Suren had spent money to find a local snake to operate, and all they had to do was wait for news.

The three of them strolled on the street.

They had been at sea for more than ten days this time, and the sea breeze had given them a fishy smell.

This was unbearable for Qiandiao, who liked to soak in hot springs.

At this time, she said, "I heard that the public bath in Roman is good, with natural hot springs and a large pool. I plan to try it now. Suren, do you want to go together?"

Suren nodded, "Okay."

Roman's bathhouses were indeed well-known in the North Sea. The folk customs here were open, and there was also a very famous mixed nude bathing.

But as soon as he answered, he thought of something again, and said, "But I want to go to the trading market to take a look. Why don't you and Lolota go first, and I'll come later."

Compared to bathing, he still felt that going to the market was better.

The high-level magical beast materials here were very cheap, and buying some materials and magic crystals could save a lot of money.

Maybe he could even find a bargain.

The more remote the place, the more likely valuable things were to be covered in dust.

Qiandiao was a little impatient to go to the hot springs, and did not say much: "Okay, contact me if anything happens."

With that, the three separated.

Qiandiao and Lolota went to the bathhouse, while Suren strolled in the city and headed to the market area on Shell Street in the north of the city.

......

The winter in the Roman Kingdom was very long, accounting for three-quarters of the year.

Summer was only two or three months, so Roman produced very little grain and had a great demand for grain imports.

Moros, as the "No. 1 City-State of Roman", was able to have such a large population scale because this city had a large number of grain merchants.

Romans were very warlike. In addition to fighting, they usually hunted magical beasts and sea monsters, so this place was rich in various high-level magical beast materials and weapons. Those speculative merchants transported grain to exchange for those magical beast materials that could be sold at high prices elsewhere, so as to make huge profits.

These businesses had also lasted for thousands of years.

Grain, slaves, weapons, and magical beast materials... these were the most popular bulk businesses in Moros City.

Before Suren entered the market area, he heard the noisy shouts.

The trading market here was not much different from other cities, just more primitive.

Grain was piled on the ground in heaps, and so were slaves.

Romans were warlike and had a high birth rate. There were often wars between city-states, so a large number of war slaves appeared on the market.

Men were mostly sent to the arena, or sold to pirates and nobles as warriors.

Women were stripped naked in the slave market, chained in rows, and stood on the street. Most of those on display were young and good-looking, and could be sold for a good price.

Buyers could touch and knead at will, and the female slaves looked numb, as if they had accepted this tragic fate.

Suren was not interested in slaves and walked straight into the depths of the market.

He strolled around a few material shops, and the magical beast materials here were even several percent cheaper than in the pirate city. And he could also find many high-level materials.

Things like the blood of seventh and eighth-order elemental magical beasts were necessary materials for drawing high-level runes, and it was difficult to buy such complete sets elsewhere.

This was also what Suren urgently needed now.

He did not skimp on money and bought a pile.

The situation in Moros City-State was somewhat complicated now, and the trading market, which gathered a large number of foreigners, was even more mixed.

As Suren walked along the way, he saw many guys who looked like intelligence personnel. In the harvested memories, there were also some familiar faces.

He was not interested in the spies of all parties, and after strolling around a large shop, he headed towards the flea market.

Those stalls were all small vendors, and they also had many good things in their hands.

"Come and see, ancient secret stone tablets, scrolls, and classics just produced from the ruins... Cheap prices."

"Fragments of the three-thousand-year-old *Book of the Dead*, come and see if you need them."

"Professionally selling all kinds of secret treasures, [Blackbeard's Treasure Map], [Ancient God Stone Tablet], [Akavia Era Memorial Inscription], [Aladdin's Lamp], [Magic Flying Carpet]..."

"Sperm whale feces, the best material to ensure safe navigation, only 100,000 Lisol per ton."

"..."

The noise was constant along the way, and the stalls had all kinds of strange things.

The world had a large population base, and there were many lucky people.

Maybe a cave collapsed in the mountain, and it was the tomb of an ancient king. Those burial objects could make people rich overnight, and would also produce many ancient treasures.

Suren walked all the way and identified them with All-Knowing Eyes all the way.

There were many fakes, and some "small treasures."

But things like cursed objects of the "Forbidden Object" level, even if they were blind, could feel its extraordinary curse characteristics.

So the possibility of finding a big leak was very low.

Suren's main target was things like classics, secret volumes, and documents.

He always remembered the teachings of his teacher Serreia, that alchemists must be knowledgeable.

This world buried countless treasures of civilization eras. No one knew what things had not been excavated underground, and no one knew what secrets were hidden in those documents.

All-Knowing Eyes saw [Crude Imitation], [Inferior Antique]...

And he could skip them directly.

He strolled around the stalls very quickly.

When he encountered genuine goods, he didn't even need to read the content. Suren would directly buy them if he encountered a reasonable price.

He simply ignored those who asked for a lot of money.

In pirate circles, almost no one was interested in these ancient documents that were like waste paper.

It was rare to have such a customer, and the stall owners were very enthusiastic to take out their treasured treasures.

Commodities had a certain regional nature, especially ancient relics.

The antiquities produced in this Roman country were also difficult to see in other places.

Suren also gained a lot.

But as he strolled around, he unexpectedly found that the proportion of puppet materials in these flea markets was relatively high.

Such as special wood, silk thread, puppet energy cores... and some related materials.

This made him a little strange.

The puppeteer was a very niche profession, and the materials were usually not easy to find on the market.

But here, Suren found quite a few.

He even saw a few professionals who were obviously puppeteers!

Moreover, at this time, as Suren walked, he also found a special stall.

He looked at the dolls on the stall and exclaimed in his heart: "Rune Golems?"

Suren did not expect to see someone selling golem products here.

......

The stall owner was a young girl with coffee-colored braids and slight freckles on her face. Looking at her facial features, she did not look like a native of Roman.

At this moment, she was sitting cross-legged on a blanket, and her whole person was "suspended" in the air.

Suren saw at a glance that she was suspended by transparent silk threads, a very obvious puppeteer technique.

Many stall owners in this flea market liked to use those strange ways to attract customers' attention.

What caught Suren's attention was not this person, but the things she was selling on her stall.

Some were obviously materials needed for puppets, and there were also a few finished golem dolls carved with runes. They were the two most common types, [Howling Doll] and [Smiling Doll].

Suren was an expert in this field, and he naturally saw at a glance that the quality of those rune golems was not high.

Whether it was the level of rune carving or the efficacy of the finished product, it was much worse than what he carved himself.

It seemed that the original blueprint was incomplete, and there were some changes, adding some new functions.

But this could not help but surprise him.

"This... could it be that the 'Golem Master' lineage has been passed down?"

Suren found it very curious.

His inheritance came directly from Serreia, the founder of the Rune Golem lineage a thousand years ago.

Now that a thousand years had passed, perhaps some techniques had really been passed down.

Suren thought that they might be "fellow apprentices", so he walked over.

At this time, he saw that there was also a man flirting with the female stall owner.

He was not bad-looking, but slightly frivolous.

"Kama, can I invite you to dinner tonight?"

"No, I have to set up a stall. I don't have time!"

"Hey, Kama, don't set up a stall. How much money can you earn from this? I am now a small team leader of the North Sea Fleet, a proper lieutenant officer, with a monthly salary of 30,000. If you marry me, you won't have to worry about life in the future."

"Eber, I told you that I am not interested in being a pirate. Those despicable pirates killed my parents and plundered our manor. Have you forgotten?"

"That was in the past. Forget it. Now the North Sea Fleet is a regular army of the royal family. And you have to know that my father is now the team leader of the Third Fleet, with great power. If we form a family, we will definitely be very happy in the future."

"Sorry, please don't interfere with my business."

"Then how much do these things cost? I'll buy them."

"I won't sell them to you!"

"..."

Listening to the content of their conversation, the two seemed to be acquaintances.

But listening to the girl's tone, the two did not seem to be that familiar.

Suren roughly understood.

Thinking about it, he walked to the stall and asked, "Miss, how much does this wooden puppet cost?"

......

Seeing that a passerby had come, the man who was flirting was embarrassed to say more, so he left with a sullen face.

The female stall owner, seeing that someone had finally asked for a price, quickly introduced her products: "This is not an ordinary wooden puppet, but a 'Rune Golem'. It has very special effects. This is a [Smiling Doll]. Activate the energy crystal core, and it can release visual illusions in a range..."

Suren was naturally very familiar with rune golems, and he knew what was going on with one look.

But he also listened patiently.

It looked like this female stall owner made it herself.

In other words, she was really a "Golem Master".

Suren did not plan to ask about her inheritance and family background as soon as he came, but tentatively asked some other normal questions: "By the way, I am taking the liberty to ask. I just came to Moros City-State, and I found that there seem to be many puppeteers in the city. Why is this?"

Hearing this question, the girl's face obviously showed surprise, and she said in surprise: "Ah... Don't you know? Aren't you here for that [Four-Color Elemental Heart]?"

"???"

Suren frowned, feeling that she seemed to have said a very powerful puppet treasure.

Thinking about it, he seemed to have seen this name in the classics, and tentatively asked: "The [Four-Color Elemental Heart] you mentioned, could it be the powerful energy core in the legend of the ancient goblin civilization?"

The girl said: "That's right!"

Suren's eyes lit up as he listened.

This place actually had that legendary treasure?