"Here, this is for you."
Inside Green Shade Town No. 37, Beverly took a thick, bulging envelope and placed it on the table in front of Dorothy. Dorothy's eyes lit up when she saw it. She picked it up and felt the layered texture of the paper inside.
'The maximum denomination of the pound is 50 pound per note, so 5500 pound is 110 notes. This thickness is correct!'
Without opening the envelope, Dorothy judged the approximate number of banknotes inside just by sight. After confirming it was correct, she smiled, put the envelope away, and then said to Beverly with a smile.
"Happy cooperation~"
"Happy cooperation. Remember to come back to me next time if you have this kind of information," Beverly replied, waving her hand at Dorothy. Dorothy then opened the envelope, glanced at it casually, put it away, and continued to ask Beverly.
"Speaking of which, do you have any information about other Xing Shu Xiu Shu Hui (Star Numerology Scripture Society) ruins? If you do, I'm willing to pay for it," Dorothy said. Currently, she planned to accumulate Spirituality while searching for a method to advance to Chalk, and such a method could currently only be found in the ruins of other Xing Shu Xiu Shu Hui (Star Numerology Scripture Society).
"Other Xiu Shu Hui ruins... So you've finished your work here? That's quite fast.
"But I'm sorry, I don't know where else there are Xiu Shu Hui ruins. Although we collect things dug out from ruins here, we don't personally go down into the ruins to excavate. If you want to know relevant information, you might have to inquire elsewhere."
Beverly said, spreading her hands. Listening to her words, Dorothy continued to ask.
"Then do you know where I can inquire about similar information?"
"Many places. For example, the archives of the An Yin Bureau record many abnormal locations within Prit, some of which are ancient ruins. I think some Xiu Shu Hui ruins should also be recorded there. Then there's the Church; they have a dedicated sacred relic recovery team that searches the world for ruins and tombs to excavate treasures. Although they mainly target Light-aligned ruins, they should also know something about other ruins to some extent."
"But if you're talking about who knows the most about various ruins and tombs, it has to be that group of treasure-robbing societies. These scoundrels roam all over the three continents; wherever there are ancient sites, their figures are there. Seventy percent of the various artifacts we receive each year come from their hands. If you can find one that's large enough, perhaps you can learn something."
Beverly said this to Dorothy. Listening to Beverly's words, Dorothy couldn't help but ponder.
'Treasure-robbing societies? So, Extraordinary organizations composed of tomb robbers? That makes sense... Various ruins and tombs in this world are full of influences from extraordinary factors. There are probably undead, mechanisms, curses, and so on. If tomb robbers themselves weren't Extraordinary, it would be too dangerous.'
"Treasure-robbing societies? There are also Extraordinary societies composed of tomb robbers, huh? So, do you have any connections you could introduce me to?" Dorothy continued to ask Beverly. In her impression, Beverly should have quite a few connections.
"Well, sorry, although I have many connections, I don't have any with treasure-robbing societies. Ancient sites in Prit are scarce to begin with, so treasure-robbing societies aren't very active. Because they don't have much presence, I haven't had much contact with them. Treasure-robbing societies are only very active in places that used to have powerful ancient civilizations and lots of ruins, like North Africa."
Beverly said to Dorothy, waving her hand. Listening to Beverly's words, Dorothy's eyes couldn't help but light up.
'North Africa? Right, if I remember correctly, Naifnis's Grandpa seemed to be a tomb robber, a tomb robber active in North Africa back then. He excavated a relic with Spirit Sight and could even give Naifnis items to resist Spirit Sight... This indicates that he is very likely also an Extraordinary, belonging to a certain treasure-robbing society.'
'Perhaps... when I have a chance in the future, I can ask Naifnis about her Grandpa. Maybe I can get information about treasure-robbing societies.'
Dorothy thought this, but currently, she was still far from accumulating enough Spirituality, so she wasn't in a hurry to start searching for other ruins immediately. For now, she still planned to focus her main efforts on accumulating Spirituality.
Afterward, Dorothy, who had just received the money, started buying things from Beverly again. She spent 860 pound to buy 3 'Lamp' storage items to take back. Because the Eight-Pointed Nest, in addition to buying 'enlightenment', also bought quite a few 'Lamp' and'Shadow' items, the prices of these two were also significantly inflated. Dorothy was afraid that the price would get higher the more she bought, so she didn't buy much.
Dorothy bought the 'Lamp' storage items not only for her daily divination needs but also to stock up a bit for the next time she 'harvested leeks'. Currently, Tivian's Craftsmen's Guild's 'enlightenment' storage items were almost sold out, and they had to wait for them to be slowly collected and transported from other places.
Once the Craftsmen's Guild had stored enough 'enlightenment' storage items and the price of 'enlightenment' dropped, Dorothy could rely on the 'Lamp' items she had stocked up to 'harvest leeks' again. This was her plan.
Besides the 'Lamp' storage items, Dorothy also spent 840 pound to buy two secret transmission books. One had the theme of'Shadow', and for the other, Dorothy originally wanted 'Lamp', but unfortunately, Beverly didn't have it, so she could only get one with the theme of'Silence'.
In fact, from the perspective of accumulating Spirituality, Dorothy's return on buying secret transmission books was far greater than buying storage items. However, compared to storage items, the source of secret transmission books was very unstable, and merchants didn't always have everything available.
Before leaving, Dorothy spent a total of 1700 pound to buy three 'Lamp' storage items and two secret transmission books. Calculating the income, expenses, and existing cash together, Dorothy now held 4450 pound in cash.
Next, carrying the largest income she had ever received in her life, Dorothy left No. 37 and returned home. She immediately sat down at the desk in her study and took out the two secret transmission books she had acquired today.
First, Dorothy started looking at the secret transmission book with the theme of'Shadow'. After flipping through two pages, she suddenly became interested.
The name of this secret transmission book was 'Poem of Suffering'. Although it looked like a secret transmission book with a poetry theme, it actually described the experiences of a poet.
The protagonist of this book was originally a frustrated poet with little talent, who was unhappy all day because his poetry collection was not appreciated by the public.
By chance, the poet provoked a gang and was beaten. In the pain of being abused, he actually felt a surge of inspiration. After returning, he used his bruised and battered body to write poems that could be published in newspapers and sold well.
After this, the poet began to actively seek pain. He let others abuse him, and even abused himself. His mental state continuously deteriorated, and he even claimed to be able to talk to spiders.
Branding irons and whipping made the poet scream heartbreakingly, yet he was immersed in it, unable to stop. He tortured himself more severely than others. In his pain, the poet's inspiration surged like a tide; the more his body was broken, the more his thoughts flowed like a spring, and he continuously produced great works.
Finally, the poet died at home due to self-abuse. Before his death, fine needles were stuck all over his body, his fingernails were all pulled out, and his whole body was covered in blood. Before dying, he left behind his final chapter of poetry, a poem praising the Deep Web Spider Queen.