The burly man knew that Ezio was mocking him, but in Jared’s presence, he didn’t dare to retaliate.
He didn’t pay attention to Mia’s elder brother. Instead, he looked at Jared, pleading desperately, “My friend, I beg you, please take me with you when you leave!”
Jared looked at the burly man and scoffed.
“Why should I take you with me? We’re neither related nor friends. We don’t owe each other anything.”
Upon hearing this, the burly man quickly interjected, “My friend, I also have a sister. I could introduce her to you, so you could become my brother-in-law…”
Jared was at a loss for words.
“Give it a rest, you big bear. There’s no way your sister could be pretty. You really think you can compete with me for a brother-in-law?”
Ezio looked at the burly man and taunted him.
The burly man’s face was clouded with discomfort as he said with a bitter expression, “Indeed, my sister isn’t particularly attractive, but… but I have a secret I can share with you.”
“What secret?” Jared looked toward the burly man.
The burly man glanced at Ezio but remained silent. It seemed like he was afraid of Ezio finding out.
“No worries, go ahead!” said Jared.
“My friend, I know of a spiritual vein mine of celestial crystal. With the current soaring prices of celestial crystals, this particular spiritual vein mine is a massive fortune. To be honest, I was caught because I had an excessive amount of celestial crystals that I was secretly selling to private collectors. If you can get me out of here, I can reveal to you the location of the spiritual vein mine. We can then split the profits equally!” the burly man whispered.
Upon hearing this, Jared was instantly taken aback. If he really knew the location of a spiritual vein mine of celestial crystals, that would indeed be a massive resource.
Compared to slowly acquiring it with purple spirit coins, this was way faster.
However, whether the burly man was telling the truth or not, Jared had no idea.
“Hmph, stop spouting nonsense here. There’s no such thing as a spiritual vein mine of celestial crystals left in Beast City. It’s all been mined out long ago. Only a few scattered celestial crystals remained, and you’ll only find it if you’re lucky. How could there possibly still be a spiritual vein mine? If it really exists, the city lord mansion’s people would have taken control of it a long time ago!”
With a dismissive snort, Ezio outright refused to believe the words of the burly man.
After all, he had been living here for such a long time, yet he had never heard anyone mention this spiritual vein mine.
“Just because you’re unaware, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Do you presume to know everything that lies beneath this Beast City?” the burly man retorted.
Ezio was taken aback, but he seemed somewhat skeptical.
“How can I trust that what you’re saying is true?” Jared turned to the burly man and asked.
“Buddy, feel free to verify this. My name is Gordon Steele and my sister’s name is Elena Steele. I’m the only one who came to Beast City for the trade this time. After you leave, I’ll hand you something. Take it to my sister. Once she sees it, she’ll show you what I’ve told you is true,” Gordon whispered.
Jared studied Gordon, who didn’t seem to be deceiving him. Consequently, he nodded and said, “Alright, as long as you’re not tricking me, I’ll get you out of this prison!”
“My friend, rest assured, I have no intention of deceiving you,” Gordon said. “This is my jade pendant that I always carry with me. If you take this pendant and head a hundred miles southwest from the outskirts of Beast City, you’ll see a large tree. My sister is waiting for me inside the hollow of that tree. As long as you give her this jade pendant and explain the situation to her, she’ll be able to confirm that everything I said was true!”
Gordon handed Jared a jade pendant.
“Great!” Jared nodded, taking the jade pendant into his hands.
Ezio was off to the side, appearing somewhat anxious. After all, he had nothing to offer. Would Jared still save him?
He had only one sister, yet comparing his sister to the spiritual vein mine of the celestial crystals, she was simply worthless.
“Don’t worry,” Jared assured, seeing the fear etched on Ezio’s face. “I’ll let you go out first thing tomorrow,” he said, a faint smile playing on his lips.
Then, Jared went to rest. Ezio was beyond relieved to hear that.
