Child of Destiny

……

“What do you mean of being in war with each other?” asked Shin curiously.

Crazy Jiang thought for a couple of moments before replying. “Well, from what I know, every player that is able to arrive in the Sky Island will get a special quest where they are going to choose a particular tribe to become their ally.”

“The tribes of the Wingmen residing in the Sky Island are currently hostile with each other and keep on waging wars to other tribes to gain more territory.”

He then paused for a moment as he opened a virtual screen in front of him where a certain list was being displayed.

“There are a lot of Wingmen Tribes in the Sky Island but there are five particular tribes that stood up among the rest – and they are the Silver-winged Tribe, One-horned Tribe, Five Talon Tribe, Scavenger Tribe, Freedom Tribe,” said Crazy Jiang while highlighting the tribe names that he just said.”

“If a player is lucky enough to become a part of either of these tribes, then the benefits that they are going to get are without a doubt going to be massive,” he added before looking at the group silently as if he was waiting for their question.

“If every player is going to choose a tribe among that list, then what do you mean about those two Pioneers being at war with all of the players?” asked Shin once again.

Already expecting that, Crazy Jiang tapped the virtual screen a couple of times, moving all of the tribe names to the side while adding another name on the other side of the screen, written in large font.

“It is because all of these tribes have a common enemy, the overlord and true ruler of the Sky Island, Garuda,” said Crazy Jiang while pointing at the large text on the other half of the virtual screen.

“I see, then that means all of the tribes want to overthrow this ‘Bird King’ or something, right? But they can’t do it on their own, which is why they are asking some help from the players,” said Leonard, thinking deeply.

“Then does it mean those two Pioneers are on Garuda’s side while the players of the Primal Kingdom are with this so-called Wingmen’s tribe?” asked Cloe for a little clarification.

“Precisely, Miss,” said Crazy Jiang noddingly.

“So, you want us not to choose any tribe when you arrive at Sky Island,” said Cloe.

Hearing that, Leonard nodded his head while commenting. “It may be quite dangerous for us since we are going to venture on that place with a lot of enemies surrounding us. But at the same time, it is better to move that way since we don’t have to worry about anything else.”

“And it is easier to be friends with those mysterious Pioneers too,” added Cloe while nodding her head repeatedly before turning her head to Shin. “What do you think?”

Unfortunately, Shin seemed to be distracted about something else and didn’t hear what they just said.

Seeing that, Cloe felt a little annoyed and quickly tugged his arm with her elbow before asking. “Hey! What are you thinking this time?”

Shin snapped out of his distracted state and immediately turned his head to look at Cloe before wearing a bright smile while replying to her. “Sorry about that, I’m just thinking that we may have missed something important.”

“And that is?” asked Cloe with a knitted brow.

But instead of answering her, Shin turned his head towards Crazy Jiang and asked. “Are there any other guys who knew about what you said to us? That certain information about not choosing any tribe?”

Hearing that, Crazy Jiang thought a couple of moments before giving his reply. “About that-… Maybe there are a few people who figure out not to choose any tribe if they want to befriend that pair of Pioneers. After all, I’m not the only one who is interested in studying the myths and legends of this game.”

Shin then nodded his head and replied. “I guess, I need to investigate it personally.”

A couple of seconds later, he suddenly asked. “May I know where you get all of your information about Sky Island?”

“Don’t worry, I will keep it confidential – we can even sign a contract if you want to,” he quickly added with a serious tone.

Crazy Jiang felt a little uncomfortable answering that question. After all, for an information merchant such as himself, the source of information was like their own life. So, it was natural for them not to share it with others.

But at the same time, he also couldn’t bring himself to refuse Shin since his instincts as an information merchant was telling him that Shin would be able to discover something that he couldn’t uncover.

Caught in a dilemma, Crazy Jiang could only look at Leonard, trying to ask what needed to be done. After all, Leonard was his sole customer since there were no other people willing to work with him because of the previous incident that he had caused before.

Seeing Leonard nodding his head, Crazy Jiang gritted his teeth before replying. “Okay, I’ll tell you. But I need you to form a contract with me where you can’t disclose the location that I’m going to tell. You are also obligated to tell me everything that you are going to discover in that place whether I already know about it or not.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem,” answered Shin instantly and not even showing any sign of hesitation.

After signing the contract with the system, Crazy Jiang immediately sent the coordinates of the place where he got the information about the Sky Island to Shin alongside the map that would lead them to it.

Meanwhile, Shin took a look at it before closing it immediately after.

He then turned silent for a couple of moments before asking all of a sudden. “How about some useful information about those two?

Hearing that, Crazy Jiang immediately shook his head while answering instantly. “Unfortunately, I don’t have any more useful information about them.”

“No. It is more accurate to say that no one really knows about those two,” he immediately added.

After that, he started thinking for a few minutes before continuing. “Aside from their genders and class, there is no other information about them. They are a pair of a boy and girl with similar age as us while their classes are Archer and Magician respectively; which also seem to be special classes at the same time.”

“Their races are still unknown, but the guy most probably belongs to the Wingmen Race since he shows a pair of wings during all of his battles. And it is not a skill either since it seems to have no time limit as long as his stamina can handle it.”

Shin knitted his eyebrows for a moment before asking. “How about their skills then?”

“The Magician Girl is as strong as the common Titled Rankers at the very least while the mysterious Archer can stand against the top experts of the Powerhouse Guilds in this Kingdom on an equal footing,” answered Crazy Jiang almost instantly.

“Do you have a copy of their battle videos?” asked Shin.

“Of course! It is a part of my job after all,” answered Crazy Jiang.

Hearing that, Shin started grinning from ear to ear before saying. “Send it to me then.” 𝒃𝙚𝙙𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡．𝙘𝙤𝙢

After that, Shin asked a few more questions about the Powerhouse Guilds of the Primal Kingdom alongside the other organizations and powerful Adventurer Teams that could stand against them.

Crazy Jiang was quite confused at why Shin was asking about them. He thought that it might be because the latter wanted to know about his opponents first before challenging them.

Having that in mind, Crazy Jiang answered each of Shin’s questions honestly while also adding a few details that only a skilled Information Merchant could put their hands on.

The discussion lasted longer than they had expected. But at the very least, it was also much more fruitful than what they originally thought.

Shin stayed silent for a few more moments as he organized all of the information that he just got inside his head. And at the same time, the other also turned quiet while waiting for Shin to finish formulating his own plan.

After some time of thinking, Shin finally raised his head and looked at Crazy Jiang before saying. “If you did not forget anything, then we are going now. Thanks for the info – we are going to handle your demands later after we are done with the current matter at hand.”

“See yah~!” he said before walking towards the door to leave.

Seeing that, the others also stood up and followed after him after bidding their farewell to Crazy Jiang.

Meanwhile, Crazy Jiang was looking at the group with a weird expression on his face as he watched them walk out of his workshop one by one. He only snapped out of his daze when he suddenly heard an explosion not far from him.

Boom!

“Ahh!!! Godd*mmit! How dare you forget about your brother and leave him behind! I will murder all of you when I catch up to you!” shouted Arthur right after freeing himself from the binding spell that Cloe had cast on him.

He then charged through the wall of the workshop to get outside and chase after that group, not even bothering about Crazy Jiang’s current feelings.

On the other hand, the poor Information Merchant was staring blankly at the broken wall of his workshop before muttering to himself with watery eyes. “M-my W-workshop.”

…