My inventory is full of monster materials.

Inside the meeting room.

The room was specially equipped with soundproofing, making it exceptionally quiet compared to the outside.

A faint fragrance of incense wafted in the air, and a gleaming white wooden round table sat in the center, with exquisite plates adorning the seats on either side.

Vanessa pulled out a chair for Mark, served him a cup of hot tea, and asked him respectfully in a soft voice.

"Mr. Mark, would you like some sugar?"

"Need not."

After receiving a negative reply from Mark, Vanessa quietly pulled the small dish containing seven or eight sugar cubes to her side and casually swiped them into her cup.

After they both took a sip of black tea.

Vanessa couldn't wait to get to today's topic.

"The commission you submitted a few days ago has been completed. We invited you here today to verify the results."

Immediately afterwards, she picked up a long wooden box with brass-covered corners from under her feet and placed it on the table.

As the wooden lid slowly opened, a chill mixed with the smell of preservatives wafted out.

Seven palm-sized goblin shaman heads were neatly stacked on ice, with a "Completeness Verification" card attached to their foreheads.

Without exception, these heads bore faces contorted in shock, fear, or grotesque contortions... and all showed varying degrees of damage, such as cracked skull tops, mutilated half of the face, and missing jawbones...

Vanessa had worked at the Adventurers' Guild for over three years, handling countless strange and unusual monster materials, but even now, seeing this row of goblin heads in such a miserable state made her shudder.

However, Mark's eyes lit up when he saw the heads, and he couldn't help but praise them.

"Your guild's efficiency is truly astonishing! You've gathered them all in just a few days."

Vanessa explained with a smile.

"Mr. Mark, you may not know this, but according to the guild's internal statistics, the number of adventurers traveling to and from the Golan Forest every day exceeds five thousand."

"It's just that the forest is so vast that you think adventurers are rare."

Mark nodded thoughtfully.

The actual number of adventurers in Pinewood Town is estimated to be 10,000 to 20,000, which is not a small number compared to the permanent population of over 100,000.

But Mark's gaze fell back on the wooden crate and he noticed that the heads had distinct color differences: five were blue, one was red, and one was purple.

So Mark pointed to the two heads, one red and one purple, and asked.

"These five blue ones are what I want, but what's the story behind these two?"

Vanessa looked slightly nervous when she heard the question.

"These two are the heads of the Flame and Lightning species, respectively."

"An adventurer inquired about your need for biological materials for research, so he brought these two together, saying he hoped to provide you with... material diversity."

"If you don't need them, I'll remove them immediately."

Actually, Mark probably understood what he meant.

It's likely that some adventurers who had some connection with Vanessa saw an opportunity to make money and decided to take advantage of the situation to sell it for more money.

Mark did not refuse, but simply waved his hand.

"Leave it there. Let me check the Frost Seeds first."

Vanessa, sitting opposite her, finally breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Mark then picked up a head labeled "76% intact" and examined it closely.

[The Forgetful Frost Goblin Shaman's Head (White)]

Completeness: 68%

[Effect]: Memory capacity -50%

[Special]: None

Mark calmly put down the head, then picked up another head labeled "63%".

[Frozen Frost Goblin Shaman Head (White)]

Completeness: 57%

[Effect]: "Frosty Touch Lv3 (White)"

[Special]: None

Upon seeing this, Mark couldn't help but frown—why is the completeness so low?

Moreover, the commission clearly requires a completeness of over 60%, so this item is obviously a "defective product".

However, Mark quickly realized the crux of the matter.

The guild appraiser's assessment of "completeness" is definitely not comparable to that of the [character panel].

Mark even thought the forensic experts in charge of these heads were quite skilled.

Because the specific judgment options are clearly stated on the label, the output result is almost identical to the "true" result.

Mark wasn't so harsh on this, but there was one thing he absolutely couldn't tolerate—the left ear of every single head had been cut off!

This was clearly not damage from combat, but rather the adventurers "sold it twice," taking the left ear to deliver to a goblin for a long-term bounty.

No wonder the integrity of all five heads is so poor.

It turned out that these locusts had found an opening.

Temporarily setting aside his anger, Mark quickly gripped a "57%" head, attempting to trigger the "sacrifice."

The "Wise Frost Goblin Shaman Skull" in the equipment slot resonated faintly—proving that the skull before them was indeed a valid "similar material".

Fortunately, it's still usable and not too bad.

But before Mark could even breathe a sigh of relief...

He also discovered another drawback of these heads—none of them had a "special" entry.

It's important to understand that "equipment" is always subject to replacement. If you could permanently fix the attributes onto yourself through "effect solidification," the significance would be entirely different.

How do I obtain "special" entries?

A flash of inspiration struck me.

Mark recalled the moment he obtained his first "Wise Frost Goblin Shaman Head".

Phrases like "a great success in the dissection" and "fresh material" gradually came to mind.

It seems that if he wants to obtain the "special" attribute, he will probably have to dissect monster materials himself.

Vanessa felt a little uneasy when she saw Mark fall into a long period of contemplation after checking the materials, and called out softly.

"Mr. Mark, do you think this batch of mission materials... meets the requirements?"

"Um?"

Mark snapped out of his reverie, glanced at her, and stated it directly.

"From now on, any deliveries to me that are missing their left ear will be refused. Please be sure to include this in any subsequent order documents."

"No! Oh, okay, I'm so sorry...?"

Vanessa thought she had messed up, but then she suddenly realized what had happened and her eyes widened in disbelief.

"Mr. Mark, you just said 'later'—"

"Um."

Mark nodded calmly.

"Very good!"

The girl couldn't help but cheer.

The commission for this commission was nearly 10 silver coins, which was equivalent to almost half a month's salary for her.

If there's another order...

Vanessa felt as if her own little house was beckoning to her.

Seeing the girl's beaming face, Mark simply took a sip of his black tea and then dropped a bombshell.

"Next, I'm issuing a new commission. I need ten complete... no, ten complete upper-body Frost Goblin Shaman corpses. Other body parts are not required, but the heads must be intact."

He only focused on the anatomy of the skull; other parts were irrelevant.

Vanessa snapped out of her reverie, her expression immediately turning grim.

"Mr. Mark, please wait a moment. This level of delegation is beyond my authority, and I must obtain permission from my superior."

"Please go ahead."

Vanessa then hurriedly left the room.

In no time at all, the door was opened again.

Vanessa, acting as the receptionist, stood respectfully by the door.

A woman dressed in a smart and neat black dress and trousers, with her blonde hair neatly styled in a bun, walked into the room.

Her eyes, sharp as an eagle's, swept over Mark in the chair, then she sat down opposite him without a word, elegantly crossing her legs and asking.

"I am Madeline Gwennaville, the steward of the Adventurers' Guild in Pinewood Town. You are Mark, the Iron-rank adventurer from the 'White Eagle' squad?"

"yes?"