The few islands piled up by black reefs revealed half of their backs on the shallow sea, lying quietly in front of Zhang Lisheng.
Looking down through the clear seawater, the part of the island that was hidden at the bottom of the sea occupied an area of at least seven or eight square kilometers. Compared to an island, this size could be said to be insignificant, but if it was the remains left behind after the death of giant beasts, then the size of these ancient beasts when they were alive was simply unimaginable.
Standing at the bow of the ship, the young man, who was staring at the reef island in the distance, seemed to feel an itch on his face as he reached out to scratch it. As his fingers moved, the waves around the island closest to the flagship of the fleet suddenly became turbulent.
In the surging undercurrent, thousands of thin streams of water mixed with sand seeped into the reef, but it did not attract anyone's attention.
"Even though the powerful tribes in the Nutao Sea admit that their ancestors are Hellfire tribesmen, they no longer call themselves Hellfire tribesmen. For this reason, you must pay special attention when you communicate with them.
Lumoluki has a very high status in the Nado tribe, so the token he gave you should be very useful. But don't ask for too much … "At the last moment of the voyage, Yaj told everything that she should say to the black-haired young man beside her. Before she could finish her words, she suddenly saw that his originally full spirit had become dispirited in a very short period of time. She could not help but ask in surprise," What's wrong with you? "
"It's nothing. I suddenly feel a little dizzy. Maybe I'm seasick." Lowering his head to hide the horror that he could not hide in his eyes, Zhang Lisheng took a few deep breaths and forced himself to calm down. Pointing at the reef island in the distance, he asked, "Yaj, are there many small islands like that rumored to be weathered from the remains of a primitive giant beast in the Nutao Sea?"
"Not much.
The Three Nutao Islands are just too big! "The sea was calm, so Yaj, who had sailed with the young man for a few months, naturally did not believe his explanation of seasickness. However, the woman knew that she would not get any other answer even if she asked again, so she made a note in her heart and replied nonchalantly," I'm afraid that the area of the Rovan Island alone is already comparable to the Kattaman City State.
I don't dare to say that there are only five Black Reef Islands in the entire Nutao Sea, but I've never seen any similar islands before. "
"Since it's so rare, can we take a closer look?"
"Of course not. This is the Nutao Sea. The established route absolutely cannot be changed." This was the first time Zhang Lisheng made a request to Yaj in a pleading tone, but he was immediately rejected by the woman in revenge.
The fleet continued to sail majestically. After approaching the Rovan Island, they began to slow down under the guidance of the navigator and slowly sailed along the edge of the island.
From time to time, a barren native tribe would appear on the shore. Most of those natives wore dirty cloaks woven from leaves and used ragged animal skins to cover their private parts. They were driving flocks of cormorant-like seabirds that were six to seven times larger to fish on the beach.
Somehow, they cast a deep-seated hatred at the mainland fleet passing by in front of them, but none of them made any hostile or threatening action. They only cut open the fish's internal organs one by one, smeared coarse salt on them, and dried them on the sand as they worked numbly.
Standing at the bow of the ship, Zhang Lisheng shielded his eyes with his hand as he looked at the shore. The more he looked, the more he felt that something was wrong. Baffled, he said, "Yaj, these Hellfire people are poorer than any of the native tribes I've seen before.
Their leader with feathers on his head doesn't even have a complete piece of animal skin to cover his buttocks. Don't tell me that this is your so-called strange civilization that is not inferior to the mainland? "
"Sir Lisheng, you're really rude in front of a lady." Yaj frowned in annoyance and replied, "Those natives wearing bark and leaves are all slaves.
On the Rovan Island, the natives of the grand tribe call themselves the Rovan people, and they're the rulers and slave owners. The natives of the weak tribes are still called Hellfire people, and they're the objects of slavery. As far as I know, there are already more than 100 slave tribes working for Nado alone. "
When the woman was speaking, the setting sun shone on her impeccable face, emitting a soft luster that reflected the surrounding blue sea, like a beautiful painting. Just the side of her face alone had already caused the crew on the deck to become dumbstruck. Only Zhang Lisheng could still 'look down on everyone' as he digested the news he had just heard.
The more the young man understood about the real situation of the Nutao Sea, the more he felt that this area that occupied more than a quarter of the total area of the entire Hellfire Archipelago was different from the ordinary Hellfire islands.
While he was in contemplation, the flagship of the caravan under his feet brought him along the winding terrain of the shore and slowly turned around a bend. After driving forward for a while, several dozens of long ripples suddenly surged on the mirror-like sea surface. A group of monsters with ugly human heads and octopus-like lower bodies leaped out of the waves and waved their splayed tentacles, crawling along the hull to the deck.
The instant the monsters went out to the sea, Zhang Lisheng snapped back to reality. However, because Yaj, who was by his side, was not nervous at all despite being attacked, instead, she had a charming smile on her face and did not act rashly.
The horrifying wet look of the human-headed sea monsters when they climbed up the ship made some of the old sailors who were very familiar with them turn pale.
A few new crew members who were sailing the Nutao Sea for the first time were even more horrified. However, Yaj, on the other hand, bowed as though nothing had happened and said, "Brave Ocean Patroller, we're friends who bring prosperity and trade to Nado. The Golden Velvet Flower Family has been protected by the Black Lion Dynasty for thousands of years."
"Miss Yaj, I've already recognized your caravan. What good things have you brought this time?" The flexible tentacles that were roughly equivalent to the feet and hands flicked as the monster leader jumped onto the flagship of the fleet and agilely moved to the front of the woman on the wooden plank. Propping up his body, he looked down at her and asked with a tone that was half as tall as her.
"There's a sculpture by a master of art, a gorgeous cashmere blanket, exquisite gold and silverware … and the armor 'Thunder' that His Highness Adalu personally ordered me to send over …" As Yaj spoke, she took out a black oval badge from the leather bag tied on her waist and handed it over.
"May His Highness transform into the most ferocious Black Lion and tear the most powerful enemy into pieces!" Upon hearing the name 'Adalu,' the chief patroller praised in awe.
After that, he shook his tentacles and gently touched the badge on the woman's palm. Seeing that the badge immediately softened and stuck to his tentacles like a living thing, he nodded and threw the badge away. "Tell your fleet to follow me, Miss Yaj." Then, he brought his subordinates and leaped back into the sea to guide the fleet forward.
Under the leadership of this group of octopus monsters, the speed of the fleet had obviously increased a lot. More than ten minutes later, when the last afterglow of the sun was about to disappear, a splendid harbor that could compete with the sunset finally appeared in front of everyone.
The harbor was located in a flat deep bend that extended to the sky. The entire beach was covered by a layer of light black rocks that extended to the bottom of the sea while the other side was integrated with a huge city on the shore.
On the rocks, tens of thousands of thick trees that had the shortest to be three to four meters and the tallest to be more than ten meters were scattered. Those trees did not have any leaves or branches, so they emitted a soft beige light that illuminated the harbor brilliantly.
In the light that was as bright as day, a variety of completely enclosed strange ships that looked like submarines were docked at each of the berths. The shore, on the other hand, was a sea of human-headed monsters.
"Is this the Seaside Monster Paradise?" On the flagship of the fleet, Zhang Lisheng looked at the harbor from afar. Even though he was already mentally prepared, he still had a strange smile on his face as he could not help but blurt out.
"Those people on the shore are the warriors of the Nado tribe, but they're using the god-bestowed shell that only Rovanians can use. In fact, they're actually a kind of strange 'war partner,'" Yaj casually explained.
"War partner? No, no, no! This is not a war partner at all …" The young man became silent for a while as he stared at the monsters that were cruising in groups on the coast in boredom. Concealing the ecstasy that was stirred up in his heart, he muttered.
At this time, all the mainland merchant ships had already slowed down and were ready to enter the harbor.
It was a huge project for a fleet of more than 500 cargo ships that stretched for several dozens of kilometers to dock at the berth. However, the navigators and captains who were qualified to sail in the Nutao Sea obviously had excellent sailing skills and rich experience. After the flagship was docked first, the other ships began to approach the shore in an orderly manner.
The chief of the sea patrollers completed his own piloting work and jumped onto the shore. Using the eight tentacles on his lower body to support his body, he swayed and walked quickly towards a group of human-headed lion-bodied monsters in the distance.
Those 100 monsters had hair like a lion's mane. Their upper body was a human with black fur while their lower body was a powerful lion that was more than two meters tall standing on the ground. One of the lion-bodied monsters that was clustered in the middle was more than four meters tall, a head taller than the other monsters.
Being tall, it was only natural that they could see further. When they saw the chief of the sea patrollers with three feathers on his head walking towards them, the tallest lion-bodied monster asked loudly, "Xilunan, whose fleet is docked?"
"It's the fleet from the Sea Haines City's Golden Velvet Flower Trading Company, Lord Tumo," The sea patrollers lowered their heads and replied respectfully.
"The Sea Haines City's Golden Velvet Flower Trading Company? No wonder they can form such a huge fleet. What kind of 'good goods' did they bring?"
Upon hearing the question of the lion-bodied monster, the octopus monster hesitated for a while before whispering, "They brought the battle armor called 'Thunder' that His Highness Adalu personally ordered. There's a total of 1,000 of them, Lord Tumo."
"How can the mainlanders' battle armor be comparable to our Rovanian's' body '? Brother Adalu is really obsessed with the mainlanders' culture to the point of going crazy. This is not the blessing of the Nado tribe!" Tumo smiled gloomily. "However, no matter what, the Golden Velvet Flower Trading Company has been protected by the Black Lion King for generations. As the chief of the harbor guards today, I have to go and express my welcome."
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