Above The Sky
Chapter 157 - 157 146 Senan From the Heart 34

157: Chapter 146 Senan: From the Heart (3/4) 157: Chapter 146 Senan: From the Heart (3/4) After years of continuous trials and summaries, Ian had roughly grasped the signs represented by various colors in his Spirit Energy.

The black aura signified pure misfortune or natural disasters, such as when a tornado brought a piece of wood hurtling down, striking someone and nearly killing them—this kind of calamity, as manifested in ‘Clairvoyant Vision,’ was represented by black energy.

The denser the black energy, the more severe and inevitable it represented.

Fog that was pure black and showed no other colors was the silence of certain death, like when a group of people went out to sea and suddenly encountered a massive storm, with no leeway whatsoever.

Only the full force of life’s resistance and a sliver of miracle could shatter such inevitability.

Meanwhile, the crimson aura was related to other lives.

It did not matter whether it was a human or a wild beast, creatures wandering the deep sea, or the various types of Magical Beasts and Alien Forms in the Bison Mountain Range that could never be completely eradicated, as well as Natives who turned to banditry; they all fell into this category.

Being murdered, robbed by pirates, attacked by wild beasts, dragged down while fishing by a large fish, or even having the entire boat capsize and sink—all these were included in this category.

“It’s very abnormal.

There have been no anomalies at the offshore ruins recently.

I confirmed it last time, and there is still a considerable amount of time before a storm or similar natural disaster occurs.”

Although he had a premonition long ago, now that Ian had confirmed the entire Harrison Port was going to face a crisis, he felt heavy-hearted.

He went back to his shop, washed his hands, took a sip of warm water brewed with the blood-replenishing herb, and sat down to rest with his eyes closed, in a very health-conscious manner.

After learning professional methods of using Spirit Energy and having grown himself, Ian could now attempt to observe the future trends of multiple people at the same time.

Even for a small city district, the backlash and physical exhaustion wouldn’t leave him completely drained.

At its worst, it would only cause the rupture of capillaries and bleeding of the mucous membrane.

While it looked terrifying, it was in reality akin to stubbing one’s toe on a cabinet—painful, yes, but not a big deal.

“I’ll go to Elder Prude first, then head home.”

Opening his eyes, Ian stood up, “I’ll also have the Elder subtly mention the anomalies to Viscount Grant…

we must at least be prepared.”

Although the black fog was not too dense, proving that even if there was to be a disaster, it wouldn’t be too serious, a lack of preparation could still result in the deaths of dozens or even hundreds of people.

The black energy of a city, when it fell upon a person, meant certain death or injury.

Having made up his mind, he set out immediately.

As Ian was locking up the shop and greeting the familiar city guards patrolling nearby,

Senan hurried down the street with a look of worry.

He occasionally forced a smile in response to greetings from acquaintances, but most of the time, he walked with his head down, straight to his destination.

In the administrative system of The Empire, with one capital, three direct-controlled cities, and twelve provinces, Nanling Province in the southernmost part was vast in territory but sparsely populated, with few cities.

It has always been used as a classic place of exile.

Due to the low population density and the abundance of complex geographical features such as mountains, cliffs, and gorges, as well as many Mountain People’s Autonomous Regions and Natives’ colonies, the policy of the Imperial Capital and Nanling Province itself was to ‘control trade.’

As long as they controlled the trade routes of land-based merchants along the line from [Harrison Port], [Sancheng City], [Nauman City and surrounding valley gathering areas], with internal and external resources flowing smoothly, and ensured the waterway trade route from Whale Song Cliff via Canaan Moore to Harrison Port was unobstructed,

then even if The Empire’s control over other colonial and autonomous regional villages and towns in Nanling Province was weak, the situation in the entire Southern Region could be kept from being too deteriorated.

And since four years ago, when Viscount Grant started the construction of New City District, a large number of merchant guilds began settling down in this port.

As a result, in a corner of the New City District, a long street completely comprised of various merchant teams and shops was formed.

New City District, Near-sea Long Street.

A street crowded with shops.

The neat and clean buildings were adorned with flags, each bearing the emblem and crest of various shops.

The straight streets stretched along the Ivoke River all the way to the edge of view, with shop signs exceptionally eye-catching.

Some large stores even opted for fluorescent structures that sparkled like sparkling gold even in broad daylight.

It was the gloomy time before the rain right now, and the luminance of the fluorescent signs was simply radiant.

The streets were swarming with people—a myriad of rare ores from the Bison Mountain Range, precious herbs collected from the surrounding Redwood Forest, alchemical creations from The Empire and even from Canaan Moore, Seaborn Longswords from Whale Song Cliff, and blessed ornaments from the distant Yanjiang.

On the waterfront avenue, you could find everything.

Adventurers and professional mercenaries delivered their quest targets here, while customers, rich or poor, eyed the merchandise in the display windows, gauging whether their purses held enough Talle.

Senan made his way through the crowd; he used to enjoy this bustling atmosphere, which gave him a sense of accomplishment, as if he and his hometown were growing together.

But now, he just frowned as he walked into a shop that was not particularly high-profile but remarkably tidy.

[Platinum Iridium Workshop]

“Captain Senan?

You’re here so early today?”

The dark-skinned White Folk, clearly a regular, was recognized immediately as the door guards bowed and let him through, and the receptionist at the front desk came to the entrance to greet him enthusiastically, “You’ve been working so hard traveling to so many places for us recently, the master is waiting for you in the reception room…”

“Hmm.”

Senan was obviously one to wear his heart on his sleeve.

Noticing his displeasure, the receptionist didn’t say much and directly led him to the reception room on the second floor.

“Captain Senan?”

The ‘master’ referred to by the receptionist was currently chatting and laughing with a blond young man sitting across from him.

When he heard the news from his employee, he couldn’t hide his surprise, and then looked up at Senan, who was already standing at the doorway: “What’s the matter?”

“Has the appraisal been completed already?”

He was somewhat puzzled.

Although he had only just arrived at Harrison Port today, Platinum Iridium Workshop’s collaboration with Senan had been going on for several months.

It was precisely because of a breakthrough in their partnership that they had traveled from the Imperial Capital to this frontier land.

Just today, Platinum Iridium Workshop made a significant discovery on Senan’s ship, but they lacked a professional appraiser to analyze it in detail.

Despite being one of the top three workshops in The Empire, with the backing of the imperial Marquis Erlen Family, expecting them to equip such a remote place as Harrison Port with professional tools and a full-time appraiser was wishful thinking.

Even if there was someone, and an appraiser was willing to come, the workshop itself wouldn’t be willing.

—Is the progress really that fast?

Or have the folks below already produced results and are now flattering me with good news, knowing that I was coming?

It’s no wonder the ‘master’ was suspicious.

With his status, such occurrences were all too common.

Consequently, though he wasn’t particularly surprised, he still displayed an appropriately joyful demeanor: “Have you made any discoveries, Captain Senan?”

“Master.”

Unexpectedly, however, the White Folk captain shook his head gravely and then spoke in a somber tone, “I’m sorry, I think I must terminate our partnership.”

He placed a sack of Fluorescent Algae on the floor and bowed awkwardly, “This deposit, I can only return it.”

“I apologize, but starting today, I won’t be setting sail for at least a month.”

The blond middle-aged man’s face stiffened instantly upon the direct rejection, and the blond young man sitting beside him couldn’t help but want to laugh, but he quickly tightened his face.