Treasure Hunting System： The Ocean Conquerer

Chapter 648: Chapter 299: Espionage

「The next morning.」

Alka appeared behind the Great Cathedral.

Here, there was a house similar in style to the Church, standing at the very edge. It had a concealed outward-facing entrance, primarily for receiving outsiders, and was not a place intended for internal use. One could see many individuals with rather fierce demeanors, clearly not Church personnel, coming and going.

Alka sat at a nearby table, observing with as discreet a gaze as possible. This was a bounty post. There was a simple counter with a wooden notice board beside it, posted with various bounty notices. The bounty notices detailed various tasks.

Alka had noticed this place while wandering around the previous day. Finding it quite interesting, he had returned early this morning. He felt he could learn some interesting things here.

The people who came here were taciturn, with hardly any interaction. They would enter, speak a few brief words, conclude their business, and depart. Most would glance at the bounty notices on the board, silently tear one off, jot down the details, and then leave.

Alka was standing by the notice board, examining some of the listings.

[Malevolent Sea Beast]

A Sea Beast frequently attacks passing ships in the waters of the Gemini Island Chain, specifically between Nakivo Island and Kovos Island.

It has already sunk 4 ships and damaged 13 others.

The number of ships sunk and lives lost due to entire crews perishing is likely higher.

This Sea Beast’s estimated strength is 54-80 Spirals. Hunters must be Fourth Stage or above.

Reward: 5,000 Golden Sail / Custom Ship / 50 Enlightenment Spots.

Choose one of three rewards for facing a Fourth Stage Sea Beast? Could it be too low?

But it seems rewards of a similar level are all about the same, plus the Church is a fairly official and authoritative organization.

It seems the so-called Fourth Stage isn’t as formidable in the Endless Sea as I imagined.

Looks like my perception was skewed by Southern Cross Island and its surrounding Broken Island Chain.

[Roke Sect]

A renegade Cult Group from the Holy Machine Church, has recently been active in the Sea of Moisture. Exercise caution if encountered.

They are known to have sunk over a dozen ships, and the actual number is likely greater.

Cult members are mostly Second or Third Stage; the Sect Leader’s strength does not exceed Fourth Stage.

Eliminate its core structure, ensuring at the very least the death of its leader.

Reward: Purchase qualification for a Holy Grail Level Treasure / 7,000 Golden Sail + Baptism.

So, clearing out this Cult Group grants the qualification to purchase a Treasure. This means Holy Grail Level Treasures are common enough in the Endless Sea to be bought and sold.

Having the qualification to purchase implies there must be a market price.

I’m just not sure what the specific price would be.

The entire notice board was covered with various bounty notices, most of which seemed to be for the areas around the Gemini Island Chain. Eighty percent of the bounties were for eliminating various dangerous entities: Cultists, Cult Groups, Sea Beasts, Evil Spirit Ships, and the like. Judging from these bountied entities, they had all caused considerable destruction. It was because they caused so much destruction that they were noticed and had bounties placed on them.

Alka took a general look. For bounties requiring roughly Fourth Stage strength, most rewards ranged from 4,000 to 8,000 Golden Sail. Slightly more difficult ones would also offer additional rewards. Usually, an equivalent number of enlightenment spots were also offered as an alternative.

Based on these reward prices, one enlightenment spot was roughly equivalent to about 100 Golden Sail. This was a rough estimate Alka had inferred from the rewards on the bounty notices.

And once the required strength reached Fifth Stage, all sorts of rewards appeared, including but not limited to Holy Grail Level Treasures, around 20,000 Golden Sail, and various strange, incomprehensible rewards. This indicated that Fifth Stage might represent the truly powerful in the Endless Sea. There was a clear watershed between Fourth Stage and Fifth Stage, as the difference in rewards between them was quite large.

However, such tasks were rare. Judging by the state of the paper these bounties were written on, they had been posted for years, at least. Evidently, few people completed such bounties.

So, judging by these rewards, the market price for Holy Grail Level Treasures starts at around 20,000 Golden Sail.

So expensive!

All the wealth Alka and his companions had accumulated so far, excluding Treasures, likely amounted to only about 10,000 Golden Sail in total.

But it makes sense when I think about it.

If one enlightenment spot really is worth 100 Golden Sail, and Holy Grail Level Treasures usually offer around 100 spots, then the spots alone would be worth 10,000 Golden Sail.

Viewed this way, it even seems cheap.

However, Holy Grail Level Treasures also vary in strength.

Considering this, it seems somewhat acceptable.

If I were to sell the enlightenment spots from my two Treasures, wouldn’t I make twenty or thirty thousand Golden Sail?

However, it’s just a thought.

Alka hadn’t come here to accept these bounties. He merely wanted to understand the current situation and learn which areas were dangerous.

However, from these bounties, it was clear that the vast majority posted here actually required roughly Fourth Stage strength. Furthermore, the people coming and going seldom took any bounties from this board.

This seems different from what I initially thought.

Fourth Stage is still a tier above the mainstream.