Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The Mariana Islands was the name for the hundred-odd islands in the archipelago. They got the name as they were situated close to the Mariana Trench that was deep beyond comprehension.
It was rumored that there were once fishermen who stayed permanently on the islands many years ago. Slowly, as more and more people settled down there, they created an island country with a population of nearly a hundred thousand people. Unfortunately, its past glory was destroyed in the Land-Sea War that happened over five thousand years ago.
Five thousand years ago, the Church had countless followers and many powerful fighters, their influence ballooning. In their wild ambition, they attempted to spread their faith to the Sea Tribe, sending out a large number of missionaries who knew their way in the water to the sea in order to spread their teachings. They employed a mixture of threats and rewards, sometimes even massacring many Sea Tribes in the name of executing cultists, in order to warn the rest of the Sea Tribes. They employed the barbaric means of spreading their faith they had used on the continent.
The Tailun Continent was large, but it was several times smaller when compared to the vast ocean. In terms of population, the population of the Sea Tribes was greater than even all of the intelligent races on the continent put together.
Originally, the Sea Tribe had already wanted to move to the continent and stay there, greedy for the premium natural conditions on the continent. The Church’s barbaric ways of spreading their faith ignited fury within the many Sea Tribes, giving the leaders of the various Sea Tribes a perfect excuse.
Thus, the first Land-Sea War in the history of the Tailun Continent occurred, the intensity of the battles far more than what both the parties had imagined!
At the start, the Church had led the allied human forces and got into a deadlock with the Sea Tribe. Later, with the Sea Tribe forcing them back, the elves, Beastmen, Orcs and the rest of the intelligent races got embroiled into the war.
After both sides suffered heavy casualties, the strength of the Church decreased drastically, having no choice but to return to the continent, never to attempt to spread the faith to the Sea Tribes ever again. After having countless divine temples and tribes destroyed, their elites nearly exterminated, the Sea Tribe had no choice but to return to the ocean. Even the great battle was over, the Sea Tribe harbored a great animosity toward the intelligent races on the continent from the on, never once again engaging in trade with the continent like they had before the war.
After handing the tamed Horned Eagles over to Ashnamov and getting him to set up a team of Horned Eagle Knights, Yang Ling would either head to the cabin to train, or enter the Wizard Pagoda’s Space to spar with the Dark Dragon King, strengthening his abilities when it came to close combat. He learnt many practical techniques from the Dark Dragon King whose physical strength was famed all around the continent.
While not wearing the Ice-sealing Throne Armor, he could get a draw against the Dark Dragon King if it did not use the Dragon Realm.
The Dark Dragon King was unable to penetrate Yang Ling’s powerful protective Wizard Power, its sharp claws unable to severely injure his strong physical body. Yang Ling was unable to do any serious damage to the Dark Dragon King and his body of black scales.
As long as the blow was not fatal, the wounds on the body of the Dark Dragon King would recover quickly. The immense utility of the Ancient Wood Dragon Crystal made the Flying Dragon King Seylius who was watching the battles from the side jealous.
If the Dark Dragon King were to use its Dragon Realm, Yang Ling would not be a match for him if he did not use Wizard Techniques that attacked the soul and relied on physical strength alone. He was still a little weaker even if he cast his Ice-sealing Domain.
The Ice-sealing Armor could block the giant sharp claws of the Dark Dragon King, but it could not withstand the heavy impact!
In the Dragon Realm, the strength and speed of the Dark Dragon King was boosted several times. His continuous barrage of lightning-fast attacks could flatten even the strongest Star Metal. No matter how powerful Yang Ling’s body was, he did not dare take the attacks head on.
However, Yang Ling did not mind that he was a little weaker than the Dark Dragon King in terms of physical ability. It was hard for the Dark Dragon King to evolve its Dragon Realm, and unlike it, Yang Ling’s improvements were always alarming after he absorbed a large amount of energy.
As long as he advanced to become a high-level Divine Wizard, or could further harness the power of the Ice-sealing Throne, his body and powers would undergo a significant improvement, and that would naturally improve his physical abilities! Furthermore, what he specialized in was not the ability to engage in close combat, but the power to control souls.
The targets we wanted to surpass was not the Dark Dragon King nor the Chief Elder Faern, but mysterious Divine-level Experts like the Chief Elven Priest and God of Swords!
Time passed as he was training quietly. In just over two days, the fleet had approached the Mariana Islands.
“Sir, the scouts had captured two pirates, Sir…” This day, just as Yang Ling was about to enter the Wizard Pagoda’s Space to train, the troop Orlando walked quickly toward him, looking much better.
Even though Dogmen could swim, they were miles away when compared to the Galapagos Tortoisemen or Frogmen. When they had just set off, Orlando had nearly vomited his bile out. Luckily, he had slowly acclimatized himself over the days.
“Good, lead me there, let’s go!”
After instructing Orlando to lead the way, Yang Ling followed quickly behind him. He had seen many movies on pirates while he was still schooling, and felt that they were a mysterious group of people. After having strangely came to this world, Yang Ling did want to see if the pirates in this world were any different.
Two blood-soaked pirates were tied up on the deck, one of them having a swollen face, and the other limp. It looks like they had been through a lot.
Ashnamov, the Corpse Wizard King, Sofia and the rest had already come to see them long ago, and the little imp Annie was one of the firsts to arrive, her large eyes moving between the pirates, as if having some kind of wicked idea.
“Sir, we found two Skeleton Plaques on them, similar to the plaque left behind by the pirates that launched a surprise attack on the Wissen Castle in the past!” One of the small leaders responsible for interrogating the pirates reported the situation to Yang Ling, then clenched his teeth as he said, “But this two would not say just who they are no matter what we did. They did not reveal anything!”
They’re keeping mum?
Yang Ling let out a cold grunt as he looked at the blood-covered pirates. One of the major reasons for coming out to sea this time was to exterminate the pirates led by Ymir’s father. How would he be willing to miss this opportunity now that he had finally come across a clue?
Even though the two pirates were covered in blood, they were muscular and had a fierce gaze. One look and Yang Ling knew that they were gangsters who did not fear death. However, Yang Ling had ways to obtain the intelligence he needed from a lunatic or even a dead person, much less a gangster.
Following the improvement in his Wizard Power and mental energy, Yang Ling felt that his Soul Tampering Technique had once again reached a new level. If these two pirates were asking for death, he did not mind letting them taste the agony of having their souls devoured!
“Tell me, tell me your identities and everything you know, and I’ll let you off easy, otherwise…” Yang Ling let out a cold smile as he looked at the two pirates who refused to speak.
Orlando who was observing by the side understood his intentions, stomping on one of the fingers of a pirate and pressing down with force. In that instant, the pirate became covered in sweat in his pain, his body trembling. However, no matter how much force Orlando used, he tolerated the pain, unwilling to confess, at the most letting out two dull grunts. It looks like they were hardened criminals.
Perhaps the scouts had unintentionally captured two big shots!
Otherwise, if all of the pirates were this fierce and stubborn, all of the cities by the sea in the Tailun Continent would have become their territory.
“Tsk tsk, not bad, quite the personality, I like it!” Yang Ling let out a cold smile as he looked at the stubborn pirates, summoning the Golden Giant Python that had been resting in the Wizard Pagoda’s Space, “This is a worm that I had captured a few days ago. It has not eaten in several days. I’m curious, just how does it feed?”
How does it feed?
Hearing Yang Ling say this, then looking at the giant python slowly slithering toward the pirates, the group knew what was going to happen even without Yang Ling elaborating on it. The fearless little imp Annie let out a scream before hiding to the back of Elder Berger, unable to move.
“Brother Yang, this…”
Sofia had wanted to get Yang Ling to stop, but after thinking about the arrogant look Ymir had when he was going to massacre the elf tribe and remembering the innocent townspeople who had died by the hands of his father, the One-eyed Dragon, she did not say anything more, turned her head around just like Anna did, unwilling to witness the scene.
In the Royal Elven Family, other than undergoing the purification of the Chief Elven Priest, she had also witnessed many of the brutal history of the elves. Coupled with the fate that her tribe had undergone, she knew that many of these things were out of one’s control. If they were charitable to the pirates today, they might die to their blade the next day.
“Hehe, I am also curious, do pythons like this swallow their food whole or bite them in sections before swallowing?” Looking at the two pale pirates, the Corpse Wizard King by the side added fuel to the fire.
“I dare wager that they definitely swallow their food whole!”
“No, I heard from a brave warrior that went travelling many years ago that Black Mamba Giant Pythons would normally first swallow large prey whole, then return to their caves to spit them out and chew them into mush, slowly savoring the taste of their prey!”
“Yes, yes, yes, I heard that some of the unlucky fishermen had to stay a night in the stomach of the giant pythons and cry loudly for help and struggle with all their might the second day when the python spat them out!”
…
Under the lead of the Corpse Wizard King, the soldiers exchanged words, attacking the mental state of the pirates time and time again.
The Tailun Continent had a long coastline, with many aboriginal tribes situated around the area. There were areas where they believed in what the soldiers had said.
As pirates who had wandered around the world, the two people who were tied up had obviously heard of similar rumors. Looking at the Golden Giant Python slowly approaching them, seeing its raw red tongue and smelly gaping mouth, they turned pale, cowering in fear, their souls almost leaving their bodies.
Hiss…
Under the fearful gaze of the people, with Yang Ling’s instruction, the Golden Giant Python pounced forward, biting down on the legs of a pirate, forcefully pulling him into its gut.
Ahhh…
In that instant, the little imp Annie who was watching the scene through the slits of her fingers screamed, leaning tightly on the body of Elder Berger. As for the unlucky pirates, they nearly passed out in fear.
No matter how tough one’s mental state was, they would probably break down as they saw their body gradually get consumed by a giant python.
“Sir, I’ll speak, I’ll speak…”
After having half his body swallowed by the python and touching the sticky throat of the giant python, the pale pirate could no longer hold it in. He pleaded loudly for mercy, voluntarily telling everyone his identity and the secrets behind his journey even without interrogation.
He did not fear death, but death this way was too terrifying!
As it turned out, the two pirates were the personal guards of the One-eyed Dragon. They had come out this time as they were responsible for transporting the beauties the pirates had captured over this period of time to their secret gathering spot, as well as notify the nearby pirates to gather at the Ajax Island over a thousand miles away from here a month later.
