Manado is located at the mouth of the Manado River, and this largest river in East passes through the capital city of Ito. Logically speaking, Port Manado should be as big a port as Doro, but in fact, it is a little smaller than Gutenberg. There are many ships and busy traffic. Countless cargo ships and merchant ships from the middle and upper reaches of the river use this place as a transit point to turn to the Port of Mater, 30 kilometers north.
It is said that Manado was the territory of a certain prince two hundred years ago. That prince wanted to rebel. Although he failed, the king gave up the entrance to the sea in order to suppress his power and vigorously develop Matt, which has a better harbor. The city of Manado only developed it into a transit port after regaining this territory.
Autumn and winter are not the peak seasons for maritime trade. The port is somewhat deserted, with only dozens of river ships parked at the dock. At lunch time, the workers all took a break and gathered in bars and restaurants of various sizes, chatting while filling their bellies.
It was at this time that Ming Na dragged her grandfather into a tavern. As time passed, she also learned that every time her grandfather visited a new place, if he wasn't going to the local branch of the Xiao family, he would be going to the local tavern to eat and get information. There is no Xiao family branch in Manado, only a simple office. They did not go there. They only planned to find a place to eat and then set off for Matt Port.
They walked into the tavern, and everyone inside suddenly looked over and shouted happily: "It's finally here, we've been waiting for a long time!"
Xiao Tianjian looked at his granddaughter helplessly and whispered: "That's the trouble with being a hero..." Before he finished speaking, a voice came from behind him: "What are you waiting for me to do? What else do you want to know?" Xiao Tianjian's face turned pale. Stiff, he was immediately pushed to the side. A fat man walked in the door and was immediately surrounded by people in the store enthusiastically.
Ming Na glanced at her grandfather's depressed expression, smiled secretly, and was hit on the head by him: "Find a seat quickly, why are you standing here?!" In fact, Xiao Tianjian blushed a little.
The grandfather and grandson sat down and finally called the clerk who was attracted by the fat man to come over and order food. Only then did they pay attention to the conversation between the fat man and others.
"...So, those treasures were left to you by the stranger when he died? Where is he from?"
"I don't know either." Fatty said, "He looks similar to us. His eyes are black and his hair is yellow, but the roots are black. He is quite young. I guess he is less than 18 years old. He is thin and small and has no strength. I can’t understand what he said. He kept talking nonsense when he had a fever, saying..." He said a few words, which seemed to be "Wow", "Ye", "Hui", "Qi" ”, no one else can understand it.
"I said...this man doesn't know Common Language. Is he from another continent? Tell me, where did you find him?" someone said.
The fat man said: "It's on the seaside. I originally thought he was from Bath. Aren't there many Bath people who were sold to the mainland as slaves? But then I didn't think it was the same. At that time, he was unconscious on a small boat, so The elephant had been hungry for several days and was seriously injured. I rescued him out of kindness." He looked compassionate.
"You are so kind, and you are not at a disadvantage." Others sneered, "I heard that he had a lot of treasures on him. When he died, you took them away and sent them to Wood Auction House. I heard that Boss Wood offered a thousand Where are the gold coins, right?”
Everyone exclaimed, one thousand gold coins is really a lot. For hard workers like them, it is a wealth that they can't even imagine.
However, the fat man seemed not satisfied: "What is a thousand gold coins? A big boss said that in a big city like Matt or Ito, ten thousand gold coins are not enough. Wood Auction House wants to buy it at a low price It’s impossible for me to agree to my treasure.”
Everyone was even more surprised. 10,000 gold coins, isn't that something only a noble master can possess? Someone whispered to the fat man to stop being greedy, but he didn't take it seriously. Another person said: "No matter how much it can be sold for, just let us see what the treasure looks like and open our eyes." Everyone agreed in unison.
The fat man said contemptuously: "You poor devils, the treasure has been sent to the auction house a long time ago, how can I show it to you?" He took a sip of wine slowly and saw everyone around him sighing in disappointment, with a proud look on his face. Smiling: "But... I do have one gadget left here. I originally planned to keep it for myself to play with..."
Everyone immediately crowded in front of him, and Ming Na, who had been listening in her seat, also poked her head in with interest. Xiao Tianjian suddenly felt a twinge of excitement in his heart. He was just listening casually, but now he stood up and took a few steps in the direction of the fat man.
What the fat man took out was a flat rectangle less than ten centimeters long and two fingers wide. It was a blue and transparent tube with a colorless sperm inside. The stopper was made of silver metal with a black It was a small, chip-shaped mechanism. When the fat man pressed the mechanism, fire would come out from one end of the plug, which was five or six centimeters high, shocking everyone in admiration.
Ming Na also lamented that she had never been able to learn fire magic. If she had this thing, it seemed that she could light a fire without magic.
Xiao Tianjian, on the other hand, was already stunned.
That thing was clearly a lighter.
Ming Na watched the discussion of the group of people not far away with great interest, and secretly judged what the thing in the fat man's hand was made of. The blue transparent flat square tube did not look like crystal or gems, and neither did the plug. It's silver. I don't know what the substance in the tube is, but it seems to be related to the fire coming out of the mouth of the tube. Could this be an alchemical product? Does it have any other functions besides ignition? If it could only light a fire, it would be somewhat similar to a product ignition stick made by the alchemist Han Lin, except that it was larger than this one, had additional lighting functions, and used fire crystal fragments as energy source.
The conversation among the drinkers continued. The fat man said proudly: "This is a good thing. Magicians, you know, right? They can create fire at any time, but with this, even ordinary people like us can light fire anytime and anywhere."
"Isn't that similar to flint?" someone asked.
The fat man immediately blushed: "Nonsense! How does this compare to something like flint?! Do you see it? This is made of sapphire!"
The others were amazed again and wanted to get closer and touch it, but the fat man refused, thinking that they would dirty his treasure. Someone was not happy after hearing this and said: "Then baby, why don't you just send it to Master Wood together? Maybe you can sell it for a few hundred gold coins."
Someone next to him sneered: "Mr. Wood is not a fool, so why would he pay for this thing? I think it has no other use than igniting fire. It is worth a few gold coins at most. With so much money, it is enough to buy a ship of flint." ”
This seemed to hit the fat man's heart, and he said angrily: "You poor devils have no discernment, and I am not as knowledgeable as you! If I hadn't thought that someone might come to the stranger's home, I wouldn't have stayed." Master Wood offered several hundred gold coins for this treasure, but I’m not even willing to sell it!” Everyone was dubious after hearing this.
Ming Na had already returned to her seat, snickering secretly. Hanlin's fire sticks only sold for two silver coins each, making them the least valuable of his works. The thing in the fat man's hand was not made of sapphire at all. If it could only be used to light a fire, even if it was novel, it might not be able to sell for a gold coin. Flint is also convenient and cheap to use. If Mr. Wood was a competent businessman, he would never spend money to buy such a thing. This fat man is just bragging.
She quietly said to Xiao Tianjian: "Grandpa, that fat man is lying." She waited for a long time, but did not see her grandfather respond. She turned to look at him strangely, only to see him staring blankly at the fat man and the thing in his hand. , the expression on his face changes. She asked doubtfully: "Grandpa, what are you thinking about?"
Xiao Tianjian woke up with a start, shook his head and said: "It's okay, I just... think that thing is quite interesting." Ming Na became even more suspicious, what's so interesting about it? She glanced at him several times, but didn't see anything. At this time, the waiter brought the food they ordered. Her stomach was already growling, so she hurriedly started eating.
Xiao Tianjian drank quietly, suppressing the excitement in his heart. That one was indeed a lighter. So, the foreigner that the fat man was talking about was most likely from time travel! He has dark eyes, dyed black hair, and what he said was clearly "I want to go back." He must be Chinese! He has lived in this world for decades, always looking forward to, if he can't go back, at least there will be someone else who can keep him company. Unexpectedly, he finally met him today!
Unfortunately, that man is already dead...
Xiao Tianjian felt an indescribable sadness in his heart, but soon he thought that the reason why he fell in the Yaluo Forest when he came was because there was "that" in the forest. This compatriot appeared on the beach of Manado. Could it be that he was here? Is there "that" too
Just as he was thinking about it, there was a sudden noise at the door of the tavern, and a group of big men rushed in, aggressively pushing away other drinkers and rushing straight to the fat man. Everyone in the store was startled and quickly stepped aside.
The fat man was originally arguing with someone about the value of the lighter. Seeing this situation, he was a little at a loss. He smiled and bowed to the visitor: "Sir, Deputy Steward, are you looking for me?"
"You liar!" The tall and lanky man who was the leader of the group of men angrily threw a small bag of things on the fat man, "How dare you come in front of our boss and cheat money?! These so-called treasures of yours are simply fake! What? They can light up, sing, and draw pictures instantly... What did you do when you demonstrated them? Our boss wanted to watch them just now, but he found that they didn't move at all!"
The packages were scattered on the ground, revealing two strange objects. Xiao Tianjian's sharp eyes recognized that it was a mobile phone and an MP4 player.
"How is that possible..." The fat man trembled and picked up the mobile phone and MP4. He pressed a few times on them. The mobile phone did not respond, but the MP4 screen lit up. He said happily: "Look, look, it lights up..." The light suddenly disappeared. , his face turned pale, and he kept pressing various buttons, but the MP4 never lit up again.
People around were talking in low voices. The fat man trembled even more after hearing this: "This is impossible, I obviously... I have tried it several times... Mr. Deputy Steward, you have also seen it with your own eyes. I am not lying. It is really true." It can light up and sing..."
The deputy steward glanced at him contemptuously: "Liar! Return the deposit quickly! Also, you are committing a crime! If you don't want to go to jail, just pay the money!"
The fat man was sweating profusely. When he heard someone commenting next to him that he had spent money very generously in the past two days, his legs became weak. He suddenly remembered: "Are there a few other things? That small luminous crystal ball ornament, the tea-colored crystal Glasses, high-grade tobacco, and that leather bag..." He took out the lighter he showed off earlier: "This is also worth a lot of money."
The deputy steward quickly grabbed the lighter and stuffed it into his pocket: "How much are these things worth?! It's not even enough to pay the fine!" He called to the men who were following him: "Tie him up! Take him back to the police. The boss apologizes!”
The big men tied up the fat man with all kinds of tricks. When they saw him struggling and yelling, they took off his hat and stuffed his mouth, and then left the tavern behind the deputy steward. The people in the store didn't dare to say anything to stop them during the whole process. They only started to move after they left the door.
Ming Na watched from the side and felt that although the fat man was not lovable, the fact that the deputy steward kidnapped him so cruelly was even more annoying. After being deceived, you can just get your deposit back, but you still swallow other people's things. It's really too much!
She approached her grandfather and was about to say something, but she saw him getting up at some point and walking out the door. She quickly grabbed him and said, "Grandpa, where are you going?" Did grandpa want to save the fat man? She rolled her eyes and grinned: "I want to go too!"
Xiao Tianjian looked down at his granddaughter, and suddenly realized that this trip was different from the past two years. He had a child under ten years old with him. He couldn't leave her alone in such an unfamiliar place, but he couldn't either. Take her to an unknown place. But that fat man probably has clues about his compatriots, how could he just let it go
After this hesitation, the fat man was escorted by the group of people and disappeared around the corner. Xiao Tianjian sighed and patted his granddaughter on the head: "Where are you going, little devil..."
Minna glanced at him and knew he was pretending, but even if her grandfather failed to follow, it didn't mean they couldn't find the place. She waved to a clerk, stuffed a silver coin over, and asked in a low voice: "Brother, who were those people just now?"
(The result after the chapter adjustment...)