The deeper Leilin followed the direction the dagger pointed, the more remote the surroundings became.
The clamor of Pirate's Port seemed to gradually recede and fade away, and a sense of gloom and isolation began to coil around Leilin.
This feeling grew even more pronounced after he descended a flight of stone steps.
"It really does feel like walking down into hell!"
Leilin smiled faintly. A wizard's extraordinary perception had already allowed him to detect three waves of hidden surveillance lurking in the shadows.
The sun overhead was obscured by massive dark clouds, casting enormous shadows below.
Leilin pressed his palm against a moss-covered grey boulder, and a gap instantly appeared in the wall beside him.
Without hesitation, he slipped inside, all the while sensing several sharp, astonished gazes piercing toward him.
Beyond the wall lay a short passage, ending at a wooden door fitted with iron rings.
Clang! Clang! Leilin rapped directly on the iron rings, producing a sound that echoed far into the distance.
Creak! The door cracked open just enough to reveal the face of an old man holding an oil lamp.
The muscles on his face had almost entirely withered away, making him look like a desiccated corpse under the flickering lamplight. His two eyeballs stared blankly, barely moving at all.
"The night is always lonely!" the old man said slowly, his voice dry and raspy, as though he hadn't spoken in a very long time.
"For those who seek the light!" Leilin replied with a smile, and a dagger flew into his hand, dancing with the delicate grace of a butterfly.
"Come in, brother of the dark world!"
The old man gave Leilin a long, penetrating look, then opened the door.
By the light of the old man's oil lamp, Leilin could make out a deep, pitch-black passage that seemed to bore all the way down to the center of the earth.
But as he kept walking, the faint sounds from up ahead steadily grew louder, until they eventually sounded like nothing less than a bustling marketplace.
Thud!
A pair of great doors were flung open, revealing a far vaster subterranean world beyond.
What greeted his eyes was a hall carved out of an underground cavern, filled with all manner of people — though most had cloths wrapped around their faces, leaving only pairs of eyes gleaming with wariness.
A few rows of wooden structures stood nearby, and a massive bulletin board towered straight ahead, with a large crowd of masked figures gathered beneath it, pointing and discussing.
Although these people kept their voices low, the sheer number of conversations merged into a constant hum.
"Welcome to the Thieves' Guild! Kid, is this your first time?"
A lanky, reed-thin man immediately sidled up, forcing a few stiff, awkward smiles onto his face. "Do you need a guide? I—"
"No!" Leilin cut him off flatly.
This was the entire dark underbelly of Pirate's Port — how could there possibly be anyone good here? Even hired help would pounce on you like a pack of wolves the moment you showed a single weakness, tearing you apart and splitting everything you had!
"Sir, I just—" The thin man clearly wanted to say more.
"Scram!" Leilin shot him a glance, and the killing intent that surged forth — like an aura forged from mountains of corpses and seas of blood — sent the reed-thin man staggering back several steps.
Having killed someone wasn't that unusual; at the very least, everyone here had one or two lives on their hands. But Leilin's killing intent was something else entirely — it was the kind of presence that could only belong to someone who had walked a real battlefield and survived multiple rounds of savage combat. That marked him as someone you did not want to cross.
As a thief, knowing your limits was an essential skill.
The thin man managed an awkward laugh, then melted back into the shadows. He had a feeling that if he lingered any longer, the consequences would be something he'd deeply regret.
"So this is the darkness..."
Sensing the bloodlust and brutality that flowed through the air, along with that pure, unadulterated malice, Leilin — a dark wizard by origin — let a look of nostalgia cross his face.
He cast a casual glance around, then began walking toward the massive bulletin board.
The closer he drew, the larger the board seemed to grow, until it looked almost like a small hill.
Magical letters of every kind flickered across its surface. Simply maintaining this effect must cost dozens of gold coins a day — a degree of extravagance that made Leilin nod inwardly in approval.
"Mission: Trace the whereabouts of a shipment of silk!"
"Mission: Investigate the cause and circumstances behind the annihilation of the pirates on Mermaid Island!"
"Mission: Assassinate Baroness Lolin!"
"Intelligence for sale: The recent shipping routes of the Haigell Trading Company!" "Poison recipe for sale: Tears of Molin! Serious inquiries only!"
A flood of information and messages flickered across the board. The assassination contract and the investigation mission especially drew a soft exclamation from Leilin. "I didn't expect word of what happened on Mermaid Island to spread here so quickly. And they openly post assassination contracts against nobles..."
The only impression this place gave Leilin was madness. With enough money, these assassins would dare do anything!
Leilin stared fixedly at the board as the Chip rapidly scanned and collated the myriad tasks, weaving them into a coherent picture.
Even just from the mission titles alone, Leilin gained a clearer understanding of the situation in the Outer Seas.
"Sin and chaos... I like it." Even seeing just this small corner of the dark world was enough to show Leilin that the Outer Seas were far from the calm, peaceful place some pretended they were.