“Ah!”
“Ah!”
Howls of pain were heard one after the other. When watching from afar, the whole of the pirates’ ship seemed like a playground—countless pirates were knocked into by the boss, and with a swoosh, they were flung up into the air. Then they dropped down, bounced up and dropped down again…
‘Wow, this plan really works,’ mused Lin Jie as he rubbed his nose. His original plan was to make use of the Boss’ speedy Forward Charge skill and let it bounce right into the sea. It would be even better if the Boss could attract a few sharks and be eaten by them.
Yet now, this seemed more exciting than throwing the Boss to feed the sharks!
Just when Lin Jie took a deep breath and decided to continue his massacre, a beam of light shone upon the surface of the sea, and the sun rose up gradually from the far horizons.
It was daybreak now—the morning had arrived!
“Darn it, Dinghy, what the hell are you doing?” shouted a furious voice. It was as if a tiger had awoken from its deep slumber and was giving its first and most majestic roar of the day! With a slap of his hands, the rolling Boss was pinned to the ground—it was the captain of that pirates’ ship. Just like the image of a typical pirate recorded in the epic poems, this pirate captain also wore an eye-patch and grew a long beard. However, the gun he held in his hands shimmered slightly and gave off Dark Gold specks of light, hinting at its extraordinariness.
“Our guest is about to appear, and you all are still fooling around with a human being from the alternate realms?”
“Set the sails! Our transaction is more important.”
With the captain’s order, the ship started to steer away from the beach.
“Silver-Feathered Eagle, follow them.” Lin Jie had only moved his lips ever so slightly, but the intelligent Silver-Feathered Eagle immediately understood what he meant. It gave a long screech and circled the skies.
Whoosh—
A black shadow shot up and penetrated the Silver-Feathered Eagle’s body.
Ding~
—’Your contract pet: Silver-Feathered Eagle is deeply wounded. You are unable to summon it for one day.’
‘Darn it, what’s that!’ Lin Jie thought back to the last scene he saw using the Spirit Vision: four pirates who painted weird patterns all over their faces were seated quietly within a corner of the pirates’ ship. One of them held a wooden arrow between his fingers, and with a flick of his hands, he had instantly wounded the Silver-Feathered Eagle.
What tier of Bosses were they? Dark Gold? Epic? Sub-Legendary?
A shiver ran down Lin Jie’s spine as he realized that he definitely would be defeated if he continued to pursue on! Right now, as the pirates left the shore, his Mission List already indicated that he had completed the mission.
‘Baili Xuanyuan, I guess I owe you a thanks this time round.’ Lin Jie scoffed as he looked at the direction of the retreating ship. He must rush over to the transaction place after he made a closure to the mission here. At the very least, he must bring Gion with him! Only in that case would his safety be more or less guaranteed.
After a night of crazy killing, Lin Jie gained a lot of rewards! All of the Simon Pirates were filthy rich, and even a small underling would carry a few pieces of silver coins on him. Lin Jie had accumulated 15 gold coins alone just by killing the monsters—and this amount hadn’t taken into account the Bronze and/or Silver equipment the Simon Pirates dropped, including numerous Simon Pirates’ Symbols!
Meanwhile, his experience points bar increased to 75% of Level 30! It wasn’t far from reaching Level 31 now.
“Come, let’s go put an end to this mission,” said Lin Jie as he and Gion walked back to the Nagas’ living quarters. Along with the Naga Prophet’s self-sacrifice, the ceremony was finally completed. The curse upon the Nagas was lifted, and they were back to health. The Naga babies stopped their crying, and the fog around the Crying Bay, including all the disturbing mental interference effects, and Spirits gathered around the region gradually faded away.
“Human, I thank you on behalf of all my people,” said Gion in a respectful tone as he caressed the Naga’s Trident, which the Naga Prophet was holding on to tightly before it died.
“Since our Prophet has returned to the embrace of the Son of Sea, I shall give you your deserved rewards.”
Ding~
—’You have completed the Epic mission [Rescue]. You received 750,000 EXP and [Gratitude from the Nagas].’
—’You received the [Naga’s Trident].’
[Gratitude from the Nagas]: You received a package filled with gratitude from the Nagas. Open it, there’s a surprise waiting for you.
When players rescued a species, tribe, or land, there would be a random chance of receiving a rewards package. According to the difficulty levels of the mission, and the residents’ abilities, the items in the package would be different.
Lin Jie did not open the package now. If he opened it now, he would only get a random reward. The rewards would be better if he opened the package at special timings.
Dozens of ferocious-looking Nagas bowed respectfully to Lin Jie. “Thank you, Human from the alternate realms.”
“My Lord, this trident…” Gion held the Naga’s Trident in its hands, and said in a reverential voice, “This is the belief totem of our Lord Prophet. After it returned to the sea’s embrace, I am afraid no one in the entire Naga species will be able to wield it. Please accept it as our token of appreciation.”
Lin Jie took the trident from its hands in a respectful manner. This Epic weapon’s attributes were very good, and it would provide great help, especially when one was in the sea. Even if one did not take into account its powerful effects of ‘All skills level +1’, the skill of [Advanced Underwater Combat Techniques] would make people crave for it!
This mission finally had proper closure. Lin Jie then put on a grim expression as he asked, “I will require your help for this particular issue.
“I have an enemy who is involved in the unscrupulous act of trading slaves. Today is the day when he will trade thousands of captured Night Elves with the Simon Pirates. I hope you can help me stop this transaction!
“Gion, I will send the potions that I promised you earlier once I have completed this mission!”
The Nagas looked at Gion in surprise, and some started asking in a low voice about what the ‘promised potions’ meant. When they finally understood this meant that there was a way to save the Naga babies, which did not have much time to live, most of them were elated. Their expressions looked like how an infertile woman would look like when she was told that she was pregnant.
Yet Gion hesitated and stuttered, “My Lord… You need to believe me, I really want to help you, but it’s not up to me to make this decision. You also know that our tribe has just recently lost our Prophet. Without his guidance, there’s a risk of us being wiped out with every step we take. Besides, the Simon Pirates are too strong, and we do not have any warriors who can fight with them. I am afraid we may even become your burden if we agree to help you…”
Lin Jie was disappointed. He didn’t expect that he would get such replies after this whole while.
‘Indeed, it is difficult to get NPCs to intervene in players’ affairs!’
He sighed heavily, and said, “Oh well, if this is the case, then no worries, I will stop them by myself. I will have to make a move first. Gion, I will still send the potions that I have promised you, so please don’t move to other places.”
After Lin Jie bade goodbye, he turned and left suavely.
One female Naga who just recovered from the curse trembled as she stared at Lin Jie’s retreating figure. Suddenly, she took hold of one Naga baby, and bugging it in her bosom, she mumbled something softly to it.
A few seconds later, the Naga baby nodded its head obediently. It stretched out its small arms and pinched its plump thighs, wailing out loud in pain.
All the other Naga babies blinked. Following which, they all started pinching their thighs, as if in some competition.
…
‘How come the fog got thicker?’ mused Lin Jie as he wriggled his nose.
After completing the mission, Lin Jie left Naga Island and headed out for Crying Bay.
The higher the risk, the greater the rewards—this was a universal truth that could be applied to any situation. Although it was dangerous to go ahead alone and nab Baili Xuanyuan, there was still, nonetheless, a slight possibility of him succeeding to bring Baili Xuanyuan down if he managed to gather evidence of the slaves’ trade! Lin Jie felt that as long as he was careful enough, he should be able to escape from being caught. If he was successful, Baili Xuanyuan and the Three Alliances would face the wrath of the Guild of Light!
However, the surrounding fog was thicker than when he had first reached Crying Bay. It had not dissipated like what Lin Jie expected. Instead, it became even harder to make out a person’s presence within the fog, especially if the person was standing some distance away. Spirits’ shadows drifted in and out of the surroundings, haunting the whole region.
‘Well, it’s good that there’s a fog! I have the Fog Concealment skill, and no one will expect that a Warrior can be in Stealth mode!’ Lin Jie brightened up and increased the speed of rowing. The sun’s rays were blocked by the fog above the sea, making the whole region seem extremely eerie.
A ship suddenly entered Lin Jie’s vision field.
Lin Jie held his breath. Upon further inspection, he saw that the ship had the flag of a pirate’s skull, and the flag was now was flapping violently in the cold winds that blew across the waters—this was the Simon Pirates’ ship!
Not far away, a cargo ship was steering close.
‘It’s actually the Flying-Wing Cargo Ship! How much money did Baili Xuanyuan invest into The New Age exactly?’ Lin Jie was shocked beyond words.
As its name suggested, the Flying-Wing Cargo Ship was a cargo ship that had two wings on both sides. To build a Flying-Wing Cargo Ship, one would have to kill at least thousands of Pegacorns to get the necessary materials. The cost of building such a ship was akin to building a whole city!
The money Baili Changcheng spent on rebuilding Saint Malo Town was not even one-tenth of the amount that one needed to spend on building this ship.
The Flying-Wing Cargo Ship could carry three times as much load as a normal cargo ship. Despite this, the ship weighed very light, and it could travel at a very fast speed. It would not cause any waves when roaming upon the sea, making it an extremely difficult target for sea demons and pirates alike. When it encountered danger, its signature function could be activated—the ship could lift itself out of the waters and fly over the sea for some distance. Hence, this was really one of the best ships anyone could own!
‘Hmph, even if you own the Flying-Wing Cargo Ship, you are still unable to escape from the system’s punishment for committing such hideous crimes! Wait till you are captured: your ship will be taken over by the authorities. Considering how precious this ship is, it will definitely be a great blow for you!’
Lin Jie’s expression turned grim as he rowed closer to both ships. When he was near enough, he took out the Naga’s Trident and dove into the sea, abandoning the boat.
With the great skill of being able to breathe underwater, Lin Jie’s hiding capabilities were increased by several folds! After all, such grand rewards were deserving of an Epic mission!
A black figure stood on the Flying-Wing Cargo Ship’ deck. As it was too far away, Lin Jie was unable to see the figure’s face clearly. However, judging by the person’s stature, it looked a lot like Baili Xuanyuan—after all, the equipment this person had were of no ordinary grades, and one could see them giving off Dark Gold vibes.
Besides that figure, one could make out another iron-pillar-like shadow—and that was Baizhan Yusheng!
After hiding for so long, they finally crossed paths again! A cold gleam flashed past Lin Jie’s eyes as he ducked his body deeper into the waters, and held onto the bottom of the Flying-Wing Cargo Ship. The bottom of this expensive ship was painted with a coat of Pine Wood Solvent, which could repel water and even had the function to store air. Shipwrights could just dive underwater and breathe using the air stored by the Pine Wood Solvent while repairing the ship, which made the process much more efficient.
Breathing within the sea was definitely not as comfortable as breathing on land. Lin Jie took a deep breath and scraped off the Pine Wood Solvent from the bottom of the ship carefully. 100 sets of Pine Wood Solvent would be able to produce a new set of Pine Wood Solvent Essence after Smithing.
It would be stupid not to take Baili Xuanyuan’s stuff!
At this moment, rustling sounds were heard from the ships above. The wooden bridge between the two ships was set up.
“Simon? Here are the promised 1,000 female Night Elves. Check the goods now.” Baizhan Yusheng’s voice was heard. Immediately after, Lin Jie heard many messy footsteps—the pirates were boarding the ship now.
