Chapter 663: Chapter 662: “Sea Fireflies

Xia Yu had indeed broken the bank.

The fantasy insect known as “Tears of the Sea” was actually a firefly, but one that lived in the sea, hence simply referred to as sea fireflies. When Jintan Shun introduced them, he mentioned that these creatures had extremely long lifespans; with proper care, they could easily live for 10 years. Upon hearing this, Xia Yu’s worldview shattered. In his past dealings with fireflies, he knew them as creatures with only a few days to live, burning brightly before their swift demise, right?

Thump, thump!

The insects were striking against the glass jars, producing a crisp sound.

Three jars were displayed prominently on the countertop, each housing a firefly the size of a thumb, which was almost an insult to call mere “insects” given how exquisitely beautiful these pets were.

At first glance, the sea fireflies looked like they were made of jade, especially the tail end, which resembled a tiny, delicate crystal.

Suddenly, the lights inside the tent went out. However, it didn’t plunge into complete darkness as the three glass jars glowed like light bulbs, emitting a milky white halo.

“…You can take them away if you bring out any three high-quality fantasy ingredients, with each ingredient no less than 500 grams,” a faint voice came from behind the counter. A woman had suddenly appeared; she must have been crouching behind the counter, draped in a magician-like black top hat and cloak, lending an air of mystery, “But before you purchase, as a matter of seller’s ethics, I must warn you that these ‘sea fireflies’ are delicate creatures. Their larvae are carnivorous, but the adults only sip dew, nectar, and pollen,—and they will not feed on ordinary sustenance. Do you have a garden for cultivating fantasy flowers? If not, I would advise you to reconsider.”

“I’ll take them!”

Xia Yu didn’t hesitate to respond, “However, my ingredients are not stored in the IGO warehouse. Give me a delivery address, and I will arrange for IGO to courier them to you later.”

“So it’s like buying on credit?”

The woman in the black cloak let out a low laugh.

In a proper trade, bartering goods, the IGO warehouse served as an intermediary guarantee platform; after all, rare ingredients could not just be brought out onto the street for sale. For the transaction between two parties, it was certain that one party would have to transfer out their stored goods.

“Catherine, I’ll pay for him first!” Jintan Shun handed over his phone. The woman behind the counter slightly raised her head, revealing a fair and round chin. Xia Yu could feel her gaze on him, watching him for a while before she took the phone to conduct the transaction with Jintan Shun.

The IGO’s app had a face-to-face transaction system, which was very convenient.

The woman took back her phone and opened her personal center, where she found that three food storage entries had been added to her account. She clicked on them and could see the details of each ingredient, including name, place of origin, weight, and so on, all verified through strict inspection by IGO. If there was any doubt about the information, one could click on the inquiry link below the information to have staff provide a short video recording.

“These ‘sea fireflies’ are adults and have a certain level of intelligence. After being fed with nectar and dew for about 10 days, they will start to recognize their owner. Then, you can release them from the bottles…” said the female store owner.

She then watched as a group of people walked out of the tent.

Click!

The lights came back on, but someone was lifting the curtain at the rear door of the tent. The light shone on his burly figure; this was Lei Zhe, known as the ‘Research Maniac’ and a leader of the research faction.

His brown hair was shaven on the sides, with a tuft of long hair left on the top and dyed silver-white. A white lab coat was cast over his body but stretched taut by his muscles; at first glance, he looked more like a powerful, humanoid bear rather than a famously meticulous researcher.

“Heh, I didn’t expect to bump into him here!” Lei Zhe’s voice was cold, as he stared at Xia Yu’s group which had disappeared into the crowd outside the tent, then turning his gaze back to the woman who stood silently behind the counter.

“Catherine, what do you think, should I have declared to him that the ‘Jade Dragon Pot’ won’t stay in his hands for long?” Lei Zhe’s laughter was tinged with neuroticism.

The woman lifted her hood, revealing a cascade of silky black hair. Her eyes were deep and fixed on Lei Zhe without a ripple of emotion.

She was Catherine.

Since the Sapporo competition, she had been publicly known as a supervisor for the gourmet society. However, in secret, she was one of the gourmet society’s Lin Giants, nicknamed ‘The Witch of Breeding.’

“Lei Zhe, according to our leader’s wishes, we are not to act rashly,” Catherine’s voice was hollow. “You know well that the ‘Gourmet Society’ is under close surveillance. We stay still and let other covetous figures test the waters first. Most importantly, we must ascertain the exact location of the ‘Jade Dragon Pot.’ If the Xia Family intends to take the kitchenware back to the Chinese Continent…”

Lei Zhe snorted coldly, “I’m sorry, but I’ll have to resort to force!”

…

Xia Yu didn’t know he had encountered Lei Zhe by chance.

But as for Catherine, he did know about her, and because of this, as he left the tent and skimmed past the crowd gathered due to the noble ladies’ quarrel, he couldn’t help but ask Jintan Shun, “What do you know about Catherine?”

“That woman is a confidante of the Gourmet Club leader, and out of the eight Lin Giants, her relationship with the leader is probably the closest—some say she is the leader’s daughter, others his mistress, but who really knows?” Jintan Shun shrugged. “Anyway, from her nickname ‘The Taming Witch,’ you can guess her area of expertise.”

He glanced over at Zhu Qing and Tiqie Eriina, who were holding glass bottles and admiring the ‘Tears of the Sea,’ with sparkling eyes. One was a single, older woman, and the other a naive young girl, yet both were captivated by the gem-like insects.

“It’s only her who can breed all sorts of incredible pets to trade for ingredients,” Jintan Shun envied.

“Once I get back, I’ll return the three types of ingredients to you…”

“There’s no rush!”

Waving his hand, Jintan Shun suddenly stopped and said to Xia Yu in a low voice, “Let’s continue our earlier discussion about hiring. I’m very interested!”

Recruiting powerful Food Mercenaries to safeguard his premises had always been part of Xia Yu’s plan.

Not to mention Xia’s Shopping Street, the bustling district, where the order within the Tokyo area was still reliable. Even the most despicable gangs wouldn’t dare to bully a tycoon on the board of the Far Moon Kingdom.

But Xia’s Farm, which was gradually expanding, urgently needed strength to guard its precious crop of land.

‘Rainbow Tree,’ ‘Fertile Seed,’ ‘Indira Moon Orange’…

As the number of rare species planted increased, so did the chances of incidents. This time returning to Far Moon, Xia Yu planned to push the farm’s expansion towards the Far Moon Back Mountain, where a vast, unused wasteland could be cultivated further. Additionally, he intended to develop livestock and aquaculture, laying the groundwork for establishing a large-scale tourism farm.

Xia Yu hoped his tourism farm would attract more visitors and be more lucrative than an amusement park. In any case, he had already outlined the future kingdom’s contours in his mind—

Agriculture, aquaculture, and a food park akin to the shopping street.

For the time being, these were the three pillars of his kingdom.

…

The next day.

The celebration of the Gourmet Hunters continued.

Yet, early in the morning, Xia Yu, Zhu Qing, and Tiqie Eriina took a vehicle to secretly leave Sapporo, shaking off various pursuers, and headed south. In the evening, they reached Hakodate City at the southern end of Hokkaido, met up with Dojima Yin and Saito Chiyokuro at Hakodate Port, and, without a break, switched to a yacht to cross the strait back to the main island of Japan.

Another day passed, Aomori Prefecture.

“Whirr…”

There was the sound of rotating propeller blades outside. Xia Yu pushed open the window to see a helicopter slowly descending onto the lift platform of the manor nestled in the mountains, then stretched and said, “After all this hiding, we can finally return to Tokyo!”

The TV behind him was broadcasting news about the Far Moon Team’s villa in Sapporo, now empty of its occupants.