Under the threat of sharp spears and bloody sabers, the mainland slaves, who were violently suppressed, soon became silent.
The pale faces with despair in their eyes stared at the weapons in the hands of the Wizard Li warriors. Trembling, they were led by the indigenous choresmen with hemp ropes and staggered into the distant bushes.
The Hellfire island was deep in the forest. Tens of thousands of slaves lined up in a long line of more than ten kilometers, walking unsteadily on the forest trail with fear in their hearts.
A few hours later, these slaves who were massacred as soon as they got off the boat, and who knew what kind of miserable fate awaited them in the future, exhausted, came to a spacious river valley. They were surprised to find that there were many narrow wooden boats anchored in the fast-flowing freshwater river.
On the riverside, many young-looking natives picked up the thick slices of fragrant roasted meat piled up in the wooden barrels beside them and handed them to the slaves. With a gentle attitude, they shouted in unison in fluent Green Leaf Mainland's common language, "Please don't panic. You won't be hurt if you obey the order.
Now, Sir Lutuyaya will untie the ropes for everyone. Please board the boat in turn. Those who run away will not be forgiven … "
When the young aborigine was speaking, a powerful aborigine with four feathers on his head, whose upper body was smeared with blood-red tree sap, slowly rose from the fast-flowing river.
The water that continued to gush up under his feet like a fountain lifted his feet up to a height of seven to eight meters. The Wizard Li chief warrior looked down at the tens of thousands of mainlanders who were slowly pouring out of the jungle into the river valley with a proud and cold gaze. Widening his mouth, he let out a silent roar and his body expanded to become a green-colored three-legged giant before stomping his outer feet.
At once, the river that supported the chief warrior to rise into the air was frozen into ice crystals. Without warning, it shattered and transformed into countless tiny ice blades that splashed towards the mainlanders not far away, cutting off the hemp ropes that tied the slaves' hands.
"Spell-Casting power! W-What a powerful spell-casting power …" When the slaves saw the aborigine soaring into the sky with the water, they resisted the urge to make a sound. At this moment, when the ice blades cut across their wrists coldly, some of them finally cried out in alarm.
As soon as they spoke, the slaves immediately realized that they had committed a grave taboo. They covered their mouths in fear, only to realize that none of the natives paid any attention to them. The natives around them, whether they were gentle youths, capable handymen, valiant warriors or terrifying spellcasters, all of them had an unusually pious expression on their faces as they muttered something under their breath.
"Hoppy, what are those Hellfire people talking about? Judging by their looks, don't tell me that they want to sacrifice us to the spiritual monsters?" When a young man with cracked lips and a face full of mud saw that the natives had already tacitly allowed the slaves to speak, he whispered to a middle-aged man beside him who looked a little weak, but his eyes still flashed with a strange brilliance in this desperate situation.
"Your Highness, those Hellfire people are indeed praying to a powerful god. Judging from the prayer, the number of believers of that Hellfire god is actually in the hundreds of millions," the weak middle-aged man replied calmly. "He doesn't like living sacrifices, so these aborigines will not sacrifice us. Instead, they will send us to a town to be reformed and believe in that god."
"Hundreds of millions? Even if it's just an adjective, the barbarian tribe ruled by the spiritual monsters must be very powerful." The battered young man's spirit rose right away as he whispered, "They've had enough of the aborigines' faith and want to change it? Hmph! This may be a chance for us! A chance …"
It might seem absurd that he was still looking for a chance to resist the manipulation of fate when he had already fallen into such a precarious situation. However, this kind of perseverance and indomitable character was a quality that a true powerhouse must have.
Upon seeing the young man's unyielding expression hidden behind the mud, the weak middle-aged man showed a gratified smile. "Even if there's a chance, it's a matter of the future. Your Highness, what we need to do now is to live and live under the rule of these cruel Hellfire people. Only in this way can we have a future …"
The instant his words left his mouth, the Hellfire teenagers who had completed their prayers began to continue to distribute the meat slices while loudly reminding the slaves to board the ship in an orderly manner. Otherwise, they would be executed if they made any abnormal movements.
At the same time, they began to guide the slaves to board the wooden ship in batches with the choresmen.
Soon, the weak middle-aged man and the unyielding young man who were walking at the front of the team received their meat slices and slowly walked to the river in a neat line. When they were wolfing down the roasted meat and walking towards the vast future, Zhang Lisheng had already boarded the flagship of the mainland caravan and was chatting with Vitas, who had declared that the Wizard Li warriors were cruel a few hours ago, on the deck.
"I'm a scholar, and the best virtue I have is the spirit of science. The core of the spirit of science is to boldly make assumptions and carefully verify them." Under the setting sun that dyed the entire sea red, the young man said with fervor and assurance, "For this reason, I want to make contact with the tribal chief from the Nutao Sea and go to that magical place to verify some of the evolutionary assumptions I've made before.
Actually, this is also beneficial to the family you're loyal to, Mr. Vitas. While I'm fighting for the opportunity to go to the most mysterious area of the Hellfire Archipelago to conduct biological research, you can also fulfill the wish of the indigenous noble and consolidate your friendship with him … "
"Oh, Mr. Lisheng," Vitas listened to Zhang Lisheng's extravagant words but remained unmoved. With a sly smile, he interrupted him, "Compared to consolidating my friendship with the indigenous chief from the Nutao Sea, I value being your friend more."
As this clever and hypocritical merchant was speaking, he pointed at the fleet around him. "To a merchant, nothing is more tempting than actual benefits."
The young man was stunned and became silent for a few seconds before bursting into laughter. "Alright, Mr. Vitas. As long as I can meet the indigenous noble of the Nutao Sea, you'll get my friendship and actual benefits.
However, may I ask how you know that I have a high position in the Wizard Li tribe and that Luqi has relied on me to obtain the trading rights? Is this really hard to imagine? "
"It's very simple, sir." When Vitas heard the black-haired young man in front of him admitting his speculation without any hesitation, he immediately changed the way he addressed him. "The Hellfire tribe that trades with the caravan must be very large for it to be able to 'eat' 25,000 slaves at once. Mr. Luqi is just a liar who only knows how to boast but actually doesn't have much talent.
The story that you said about the person who was originally doing hard labor and only managed to live a comfortable life after meeting him by chance to freely study animals on the island sounds reasonable, but it doesn't make sense at all. Firstly, such a powerful indigenous tribe will not care about the feelings of the mainland merchants who come to trade. They're barbaric but not stupid, so they know who's the one who's begging whom.
Secondly, with Luqi's stingy character and financial resources that only rely on his mouth to live, even if the indigenous people care about his feelings, he'll never pay any price for a scholar whom he just met to live a good life.
Also … "A sincere smile appeared on the middle-aged man's face that always had a hypocritical expression." How can an ordinary scholar have the confidence shown by your bearing and that expression that's neither servile nor overbearing?
Finally, it's not unimaginable for a mainlander to be treated with great courtesy by the Hellfire tribe. In some secret circles, there are many legends of ancient mainlanders who have obtained a high position in the tribe because they have presented precious things to the barbarian tribe's leader. Not only that, but the protagonists of such stories are mostly scholars like you.
After all, useful knowledge is the most precious treasure no matter where it is, isn't it? "
"I've given a lot of the 'most precious treasures' that you mentioned to the Wizard Li tribesmen, so I'm called the 'Pundit' by them." After listening to Vitas's long speech, an appreciative expression appeared on Zhang Lisheng's face. "Remember this route. If you meet my requirements, you'll be able to trade with the natives here alone.
To a businessman, having two sources of supply is always better than having one, isn't it? "
"Of course," Vitas replied politely with a bow, "Please rest assured, I will definitely fulfill your wish in the shortest time possible, Your Excellency."
"Then we'll wait and see," The young man smiled and looked at the direction of the distant mainland as he whispered.
After the two of them reached a consensus in just a few words, the Wizard Li's god was overjoyed to have confirmed that there was indeed a native chief from the Nutao Sea living in the Sea Haines City. He ordered the Wizard Li headman to continue to complete the war preparations and must bring out the tribe's strongest strength to conquer the Nutao Sea in one fell swoop when there was a suitable opportunity.
As the agent of a powerful family in the Kattaman City State, Vitas, on the other hand, was extremely excited to have found a new route flowing with gold. He would always try his best to befriend Zhang Lisheng in his spare time.
In contrast to their happy mood, when Luqi found out that Vitas had seen through his little trick and managed to obtain Zhang Lisheng's trade promise with just a conversation, he could not help but be enraged.
Unfortunately, to this empty-shell merchant who relied on the Wizard Li God to obtain the trading privilege on the Hellfire Island and whose wealth and power on the mainland were far below the family Vitas was loyal to, there was nothing he could do other than to be enraged. After pondering over it, he could only be careful, lest others would notice his dissatisfaction and make all the benefits he had obtained go to waste.
Just like this, time passed by day by day. The mainland caravan only took half a day to unload the goods, but it took them half a month to load the specialties of Scorpion Island.
Even Vitas, who had repeatedly promised to fulfill Zhang Lisheng's wish as soon as possible, was extremely patient when he was selecting the goods. After all, how could he not maximize the benefits at the critical moment when he was risking his life to cross the Hellfire Sea to trade?
In the end, before the trade wind blew from the south on the sea, the fleet's warehouse was filled with valuable lumber, ores, beast furs, and pickled ingredients with special functions. The satisfied merchants no longer delayed. After giving many flashy but impractical gifts to the Wizard Li tribal chiefs who helped them select the goods, they set sail with a pleasantly surprised mood and left Scorpion Island.
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