Alka looked at the archbishop.
He said slowly, "I need a treasure that represents harvest or autumn."
Hearing this, the archbishop glanced at him, then suddenly realized something and smiled.
"It seems your treasure hunt has encountered a high-level and powerful protective ritual. A treasure symbolizing autumn?"
He had probably already guessed it.
He began to think, and after a moment, as if he had come up with something, he turned to Alka and said, "It's hard to say whether you're lucky or unlucky.
There is indeed someone in the church on Twin Islands who possesses such a treasure. But he's currently on a mission outside, and it will take at least six months for him to return. The best I can guarantee is that he'll be back within a year."
"Six months to a year? That's too long to wait," Alka said with a frown.
Though for an orange treasure, the wait was clearly worth it.
Hearing this, the Archbishop smiled, glanced at Alka, and said, "That's why I said you're lucky."
He nodded at the book on the table.
"In recognition of your precious gift, I can help you obtain a treasure that also symbolizes a bountiful harvest."
Hearing this, Alka breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, thanking him. "Then I'll trouble you, Archbishop."
"It's no problem, but I must make it clear up front that this treasure doesn't belong to the Church, nor to me. It belongs to a friend of mine."
He frowned and said sternly to Alka, "So I can't give it to you so easily. Even if I borrow it from him, I have to offer him conditions that he's willing to give it to me."
Alka nodded. Indeed, after all, it was the Archbishop who was borrowing it. He would undoubtedly be taking a huge risk, as it was a treasure.
Even if the Archbishop himself guaranteed it, he wouldn't have handed the treasure to him for no reason, let alone if it was still in use.
Leaving a treasure unattended, without anyone's control, is a colossal waste for anyone.
Alka understood and looked at the archbishop and said, "Anything I can afford."
The archbishop nodded and said, "First, this treasure must be kept from anyone else. A powerful protective ritual will be placed on it.
If the ritual you wish to undo requires mastering the treasure, then the cost will be substantial."
Alka nodded at this: "No problem, I accept."
"Really? That's good."
"Secondly, as collateral, you'll need to provide a treasure of equal value. Of course, I'll also attach a powerful protective ritual to the treasure you provide.
When you return the treasure, this treasure will also be returned to you."
"Are these two conditions okay?" the archbishop asked, looking at Alka.
The most troublesome part is providing a treasure as collateral.
Alka nodded. "I'll accept it."
"That's good. I'll need a month, and once I'm ready, I'll let you know. You'll also need to prepare the treasure as collateral within that month."
"No problem. Thank you again for your help. I'll take my leave now," Alka said, bowing slightly.
The archbishop nodded and escorted Alka out of the room.
Alka finally breathed a sigh of relief as he left the room.
To trade an ordinary book, meaningless to him, for such help wasn't bad.
At least the church on Twin Islands had such a treasure.
Alka's biggest fear was that there wasn't one, perhaps in another church. That would take even longer and be even harder to obtain.
As he descended the spiral staircase, he spotted Marlowe, chatting with his team. After a brief greeting, Alka exited through the main entrance.
On his way out, he happened to see the Shining Blade Saint, who had been in the Archbishop's chambers, in the prayer hall by the main entrance.
She wasn't alone; a team of at least six Paladins followed behind her, praying together.
Based on the armor and insignia on their bodies, they were also knights of the Church.
Alka narrowed his eyes slightly.
This entire team was surprisingly composed entirely of Wheat Ear Knights, their strength almost reaching the pinnacle of the fourth stage.
However, Alka didn't sense any artifact-bearing light from them. It seemed that even these behemoths could reach the pinnacle of the third stage without the aid of artifacts.
Incidentally, Alka saw three artifact-bearing light spots on the Saint's body, two gold and one orange, indicating she had reached the sixth stage.
A truly powerful being.
Suddenly sensing something, Alka blinked and walked away as if nothing had happened.
The saint who had seemed to be praying just now raised her head and looked around. She seemed to be observing something, and then she saw Alka, who had already reached the door, about to leave the church.
She remembered this person.
Her eyes were covered by a metal eye mask, and her expression was invisible. But she could sense that she was looking at Alka.
"Is this an illusion?"
"What's wrong, Saint?" a knight behind her asked.
"It's okay, keep praying."
Alka soon arrived at the harbor and returned to the deck.
She boarded the ship and sensed that besides the doll girl, only Pororo was left.
Pororo was sitting cross-legged at the bow, his entire body ablaze with lightning.
Raven, spreading from his shoulders to his entire back, was gleaming with a bluish-gray light. Observing the situation, Alka sat down beside the central flowerbed without interrupting.
I wondered where the crystal dragon had gone. With its size, it would have been too conspicuous if it had been flying around.
Pororo quickly recovered from that state and came over from the bow to sit next to Alka.
"Was he praying just now?" Alka asked curiously.
After all, although Pororo believed in the Deep Sea and was even the Storm Champion of the Sea God, Alka had almost never seen Pororo pray in any religious way.
The only thing about him that seemed religious was the rituals he had performed.
That was the Trial of the Storm.
But since becoming the Storm Champion, Pororo had even shirked such trials.
So it was hard to believe he actually worshipped the Sea God.
Pororo nodded. "It requires a trial, a true bloody battle."
"What constitutes a trial?"
"A bloody battle! Dangerous and powerful!"
Alka nodded. If anything, the time they'd been dragged into the dreamland and faced the Devouring Maw could definitely be considered a trial.
It was just that it was a bit of a coincidence, so Alka easily dealt with it.
"Don't worry, the sea is never short of trials and bloody battles."
Pororo nodded. He felt the same way, and wasn't in a hurry at all.
The so-called trial wasn't a mandatory requirement; it was simply an act to gain further blessings from the Sea God.
"Where are the others?"
"They've all gone to the island, saying they're buying something."
"You're not going?"
"Why would I? I don't need to buy anything, and gold coins won't mean much to me."
Pororo waved his hand nonchalantly.
Indeed, Pororo might be the only one in their treasure hunt group who wasn't particularly interested in worldly treasures.
"When will we leave? Or will we stay here for a while?" Pororo asked.
"We'll need to stay here for about a month before leaving. The treasure symbolizing autumn will take some time to prepare."
Pororo nodded at Alka's words.
The quiet night was approaching, and although the sky remained bright, indistinguishable from daytime, Sofia and his companions had already begun to return.
Also, behind Sofia followed a middle-aged man dressed in more luxurious robes.
There was a badge on his chest, and the pattern on it gave Alka a vague recollection.
He seemed to have seen it in a large shop on the street.
After climbing onto Alka's deck, they immediately spotted the large tree, which had cleared its cover.
They looked at the crystal gems hanging from it. "So this beautiful treasure ship is yours! It's a truly remarkable vessel," the merchant said with a smile.
Alka looked over.
He saw that it was probably the member of the Chamber of Commerce, summoned by Sofia, tasked with assessing the treasures that needed to be sold.
"So, where is the treasure your group needs to sell?" Sofia glanced at Alka.
Alka nodded and gently tapped the flower bed next to him.
A vine suddenly extended from the path leading to the deck below, and a huge, filled sack was dragged up.
As the vine withdrew, the cloth loosened, revealing the various luxurious items within.
"This storage method is clearly too crude," the merchant said, hurried over, slightly annoyed by Alka and his companions' crude storage methods.
Alka looked at him without replying.
Sofia said, "These are the treasures we want to sell. I hope you can estimate a reasonable price."
"Of course. We are a legitimate merchant group certified by the Church of Our Lady and one of the largest chambers of commerce on Twin Island.
I have some knowledge of your deeds. Don't worry, we will definitely give you a very reasonable price."
Although Alka and his companions didn't make a big fuss, their treasure ship, uncovered during their last return to Twin Island, had already attracted considerable attention.
Not to mention the crystal dragon on their ship.
You can't expect a crystal dragon to stay on deck for long; it would be a torture for her.
These two factors combined were enough to draw the attention of the surrounding crowd to Alka and his companions.
Curiosity naturally led to a brief investigation.
Not to mention a Chamber of Commerce that needed to be well-informed. Even their activities in the Land of the Spirits had been reported.
After all, for a long time, Alka had seen supply ships occasionally bringing cargo to the fortress.
Alka narrowed his eyes slightly, trying to gauge the merchant's emotions.
When he first saw these treasures, he felt a sense of unnatural surprise.
When he saw the number of treasures, he was slightly surprised, and his surprise was magnified as he carefully picked up the treasures and began to examine them.
Clearly, it was unlikely to be due to their value.
Alka was more inclined to believe that he had discovered these treasures, perhaps from the Nafas family's treasury.
After all, that was a powerful family, and the secret of their treasure had been passed down on the island.
Since this merchant's Chamber of Commerce was the most powerful on Twin Island, he must have some knowledge of the Nafas family.
With just a brief thought about Alka and his companions' itinerary, it was easy to figure out that Alka and his team were the treasure-hunting team.
The three of them quickly appraised the treasures.
"These treasures are precious and well-preserved. But the time you requested is too short, so we'll have to bear the price ourselves. We can only offer around 50,000 gold sails."
"We'll stay here for a month; there's no rush," Alka suddenly said.
Hearing this, Sofia turned and looked back at the merchant.
They began to talk.
Finally, after negotiation, the price was set at around 61,000 gold sails.
The payment would be delivered in batches within a month.
This was about 10,000 more than Sofia had initially estimated.
The merchant gently placed the treasures into his pocket ring.
He then produced a card and handed it to Alka, who was sitting by the flower bed.
"This is a VIP card for the Chamber of Commerce. Our Chamber has branches on more than half of the signpost islands in the Infinite Sea. Use this card and we'll provide you with comprehensive services."
"Thank you again for choosing our Chamber of Commerce. I look forward to our next transaction."
After this, he politely left the ship.
Alka looked down at the card in his hand. It was constructed entirely of metal with some kind of spellcasting.
It was infused with a spellcasting effect that gave it a strong and recognizable texture.
A single diamond dotted the center, with the name of the Chamber of Commerce written next to it.
Salmed Gold Chest.
After a quick glance, Alka dropped the card into his pocket ring.
"So we're staying here for a month this time?" Sofia asked.
Alka nodded, "That's right."
Then, looking at the people who had gradually returned, he recounted his previous conversation with the Archbishop.
"So we have to offer a treasure as collateral?"
Jason said, his first thought being the treasure he had previously sold to Narvi.
That treasure just didn't fit anyone on their ship, and now it suddenly seemed a bit of a shame.
But Alka preferred to use his own treasure as collateral, as the lingering aura within it provided the best protection.
"By the way, have you bought the things I asked you to buy?" Alka suddenly asked, looking at Sofia.
Sofia nodded.
Then, not far away, Simon dragged out two boxes.
Of course, both boxes were empty.
"Storage chests. The area inside is 10×10×10." The units were, of course, meters.
As he spoke, Sofia dragged one of the chests over and opened it, revealing a gray, pitch-black interior. Even though it was still daylight, Sofia demonstrated the method to Alka.
Using some secret incantation, he imbued his hand with magical power. Reaching into the chest, he could store or retrieve items.
Although it was a bit cumbersome, the area inside was large enough.
"The items you can put in must not exceed twice the size of the chest opening, otherwise they won't fit."
Storage chests like these often have a shrinking spell, temporarily shrinking items before being stored.
However, such spells always have limitations; you can't expect them to shrink objects infinitely.
"How much did it cost?" Alka was curious about the cost of such a large storage chest.
After all, all spatial equipment grows exponentially in size.
Moreover, like the rings they wear on their hands, there is a limit to the range of things they can use freely.
If you want to have a big face
For storage items that require more storage, they must be made into something like a pocket box.
The maximum size for a ring is 3×3×3, and these are ridiculously expensive, far more expensive than a 10×10×10 box.
Because both pockets and boxes are much more cumbersome than rings. In combat, you can't expect a box to provide much of an advantage.
Pockets are more manageable.
So, you can roughly estimate the price of storage items.
In addition to size, the style of the equipment also affects it.
Accessories, which are free-to-use space equipment, are the most expensive and have size restrictions.
Next are pocket belts, which have openings that allow you to reach in and retrieve items.
Finally, there are boxes and the like.
You can even expand space through construction, which is a very advanced use.
At least, they had only seen such usage in Vastva's records. In this shattered world, no corresponding technology has yet been seen.
"It cost 6,700 gold sails." Hearing the price, both Alka and I raised an eyebrow. It was indeed a steep price.
It was almost half the price of a treasure.