Chapter 70: Dock Union

Chapter SeventyDock Union

Xio had been in the bounty hunter trade for a long time. Many things no longer needed thought; she could respond by pure instinct.

The moment she saw that the customer who had entered was almost two meters tall, she instinctively lowered her head and continued eating her pork sausage and fries as though nothing had happened.

Food entered her mouth, but she could not taste a thing. She endured bitterly for dozens of seconds before slowly lifting her head and pretending to casually scan the room.

Soon, she saw the customer who had just entered sitting at the bar, waiting for his beer and lunch.

Soft, slightly curled pale-yellow hair; dark-brown eyes like a wild beast’s; slightly drooping corners of the mouth; a withdrawn, fierce aura… Detail after detail entered Xio’s pupils, gradually overlapping with the image inside her mind.

It is him!

It really is that suspected murderer!

The murderer who killed Williams!

Xio lowered her head again and slowly stuffed the remaining food into her mouth.

Several minutes later, she brought her plate and beer mug to the bar together, then left the Workers’ Union Tavern without looking sideways or turning back.

Because her boots had been padded up quite a bit, she had effectively concealed her most obvious feature.

Once outside, Xio slowed her footsteps and found a secluded place nearby, where she observed the people entering and leaving the tavern.

After waiting for some time, she finally discovered an acquaintance: Burton, a skilled worker who lived in the East Borough and worked at East Balam Dock.

This young man liked giving himself a mug of cheap rye beer at noon or in the afternoon. His salary could only support this kind of beer, and even then he could not drink it every day.

Xio darted over nimbly, patted Burton’s shoulder, and lowered her voice.

“It is me. Xio.”

“Xio?”

Burton examined the short man beside and behind him from top to bottom. He almost failed to recognize that this was Xio Derecha, the Arbiter well known across certain streets of the East Borough.

“I have something to ask you.”

Xio pointed toward the corner nearby.

Burton followed with confusion. Only after reaching a concealed spot did he seem to realize something.

“You are working on a bounty?”

He had heard that Xio was also a bounty hunter.

“Mm.”

Xio perfunctorily nodded. She took out five one-penny copper coins, tossed them lightly, and asked, “Do you know that very tall man in the tavern?”

“You mean the one this tall, with pale-yellow hair, who looks very fierce?”

Burton gestured.

“Yes.”

Xio immediately took out the folded portrait, unfolded it, and said, “You must confirm carefully.”

“It is him. Recently, for the past two or three months, he often comes to the taverns around here. I had never seen him before that. He is very fierce, completely unreasonable, and extremely good at fighting. You had best not provoke him.”

Burton carefully glanced at the portrait a few times and sincerely offered advice.

Mm. When I saw that person just now, it was like meeting a wild beast as a child. I felt he was very dangerous, that I was not his opponent, and that I had to avoid him immediately…

Xio quietly exhaled and asked, “Do you know who he has close contact with?”

“I do not. He does not fit in. He rarely speaks, and no one even knows what his name is. We gave him a nickname ourselves. We call him Giant,” Burton said, shaking his head and curling his lip.

After thinking for a moment, Xio asked again, “Apart from the tavern, where else have you seen him?

“You may ask your friends the same question. Remember, they must be friends trustworthy enough.”

Burton thought back and said, “When I went to the dock union to handle business—mm, the dock union at East Balam Dock—I occasionally saw him appear nearby. Xio, why are you not part of the union? You are so fair, while those fellows not only take one and a half soli from us every week as membership dues, but when other…