Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The worm that had a pair of beautiful butterfly wings was called the spitfire bird. It was produced in an isolated island at the edge of the Wizard Li’s newly conquered archipelago.
It as an island with an area of less than 10,000 square kilometers and was only 500 kilometers away from the unpredictable, dangerous Nutao Sea. There were all kinds of strange animals living on the island, and the spitfire bird was one of them.
From its name, one could straight away tell that the attack method of this bird that had neither sharp teeth nor sharp and powerful claws was a jet of flame. By just relying on this rare ability, it could stay magnificently at the top of the food chain of the island. It was full of attacking flair, and even they had already domesticated it, the bird would still show its wild and intractable instinct. Right now, the spitfire bird underneath Zhang Lisheng was throwing its temper.
“Hroo, hroo…” Upon seeing the mount bulging up its body with its head swelling up like dough, the chief choresman who mastered the taming method cursed in his heart and quickly stood up to shout loudly at the spitfire bird. Just when he managed to get two words out of his mouth, he suddenly saw a thorn protruded out of the black reef underneath the spitfire bird’s head without warning, piercing through the entire head of the strange bird.
After being fatally hit, the spitfire bird still showed incredible vitality and could even twist its body around to struggle with all its might. Unfortunately, seven to eight more thorns continued to protrude out of the reef and pierced its body till it couldn’t move anymore, relentlessly taking the life of the strange bird instantly.
When the chief choresman saw that his mount had just died just like this, he could not help but tremble all over and kneel down once again. This weak native thought he was going to be sentenced to death, for his spitfire bird had angered the god, and even though this ‘partner’ that only had the attribute of war was a treasure that he had worked hard to get, at this time, there was no ounce of pain in his heart. Instead, there was nothing but terror and panic within him.
Zhang Lisheng was not bothered by the state of panic of the native at his feet. After successfully crushing the reef into the soil and transforming it into thorns to kill the untamed mount, he smiled and opened his mouth to blow a moist air that was separated to become a few gusts of wind enveloping the thorns.
In an instant, that sturdy ground thorns began to meltdown as though they were some candles in the middle of a raging fire before covering the vast expanse of injuries of the spitfire bird and merging with its outer skin.
A few seconds later, the strange bird, a flicker of black brilliance, suddenly appeared in the eyes of the dazed lifeless round eyes of the strange bird. It began to tremble and flapped its wings as well.
Soon, the flapping of the colorful wings grew stronger
“The Living Corpse Refining Technique is really quite convenient,” The strong wind in the air blew the young man’s robe till it fluttered loudly. Zhang Lisheng reached out a hand to caress the soft back of the strange bird with a satisfied look on his face.
He was very proud of the ability to refine a living corpse with just some soil and water that he mixed with some divine power, without the need of splitting any life. It was only until the strange bird had landed at the Red Mountain Harbor that his smile began to disappear when he saw Luqi.
“Mr. Luqi, I’m thrilled to see you again. May I ask you why you’re looking for me?” With a few native choresmen following behind him while carrying a few wooden trays of local Scorpion Island’s specialty fruits, Zhang Lisheng walked into a wooden house near the harbor and asked the empty-vessel merchant who was wearing a captain’s hat and noble-looking silk uniform who had short beards on his face that did not cover his youthful look without beating around the bush.
“Dear respected scholar who conquered the barbarians with wisdom, I’m honored to meet you once again,” When Luqi saw the short and robust natives kneeling on the ground while placing fruit plates in front of Zhang Lisheng one by one before quietly retreating, Luqi’s eyes lit up and politely bowed. “Looks like your position in the tribe has become nobler.”
When the young man saw that the sly businessman did not answer his question but took the opportunity to probe him, he remained silent and gestured him to sit. Then, he proceeded to sit on the animal skin carpet and chowed down on the delicious fruits.
As Zhang Lisheng’s eyes darted around in silence, Luqi also sat without hesitation before picking up a plump red fruit and sink his teeth into it.
The thick fruit juice that was rich in sugar trickled down the corner of the businessman’s lip as a satisfied smile appeared on his face, “God really treats these Hellfire people well. Their usual wild fruits alone are already so delicious. Mr. Lisheng, I’ve brought you the greetings from friends, Madam Someril, Miss Allison, and the rest. They miss you very much, and on top of that,” The luxuriously dressed young man pointed at the hundreds of ships docked at the harbor, “I’ve also brought 25,000 living slaves.”
“Looks like you’re good at using some of your business crafts skillfully, Mr. Luqi,” Zhang Lisheng smiled as he replied.
Although Zhang Lisheng did not have many opportunities to run a business in person, as the founder of LS, he still knew many of the little tricks in doing ‘business.’ He knew that even in a war-era with sufficient ‘supply,’ 25,000 slaves were still not a small number. Luqi must have used the trading right that he had with the Wizard Li tribe as bait to organize such a large-scale caravan.
“This is all as per your request,” When the businessman heard the double meaning of the sentence, he did not refute and merely said sincerely, “My partners and I had earned about triple the profit when we traded almost 10,000 slaves with the Wizard Li last time, so this has given me an excellent reputation. Now, if I only have to give the Atandin’s slave trader a one-fifth deposit to get a slave… Well, let’s put it this way, the quantity and the cargo ships are no longer a problem. What we, the caravan that I’m leading, are afraid of is that your tribe would suddenly tell us that your tribe no longer needs any slave and that our trip ends in vain…”
“This is impossible, Mr. Luqi. Please be rest assured that no matter how many mainland slaves you bring over, we, Wizard Li, could definitely digest it,” The Wizard Li’s god who had controlled over 5 million square kilometers of land, with hundreds of millions of believers said without scruples to Luqi. He who had wealth would speak louder than the others after all.
“Business is unlike research, Mr. Lisheng. Many things won’t settle just by imagination alone.”
“Like I said, Mr. Luqi, no matter how many mainland slaves you bring over, we, Wizard Li, could definitely digest it.”
“Oh, it looks like the scale of the Wizard Li tribe is far above my expectations then…” A brilliance flashed across Luqi’s eyes as he chuckled.
This took Zhang Lisheng aback. Frowning, he did not speak a word.
Upon seeing the reaction of the young man, Luqi was washed with a sense of irritation. To him, who was good at misleading people with his witty talk and ingratiating manner, he hated those who were silent on the surface but who had firm opinions in their hearts the most.
However, it was fortunate that he had seen through the other party’s weakness. Upon thinking about this, the merchant smiled proudly and put on a solemn demeanor before speaking in all seriousness, “Mr. Lisheng, I need your help.
“Mr. Luqi, I’ve already given you all the help that I can.”
“Mr. Lisheng, you should listen to the favor I ask of you and the rewards I can give you first before you give me any answer,” The luxuriously dressed young man caressed the short beard on his chin and smiled confidently, “I heard McCardy said that you’re a scholar fascinated with studying animals. To you, a mountain of gold coin is not even as precious as a strange animal carcass. The reason you venture across the sea is to look for a ‘fresh’ research object. For this reason, you would rather stay on the pristine island where the barbarians live…”
“Mr. Luqi, my time is limited. Please get straight to the topic.”
“I can give you many research objects that can make your heart pound, Mr. Lisheng. Monkeys that can generate lightning on their skin, lizards that can shrink their bodies into a ball and can flow around like water, poisonous snakes that can spray acid from their tail… I can give you all sorts of strange animals, as long as you can tell everything about the Hellfire tribe on this island that we’re currently on right now.”
“Mr. Luqi, there’s a saying in my hometown, ‘Greed is the source of all evils!’” Zhang Lisheng was stunned for a while. He leaped to his feet and stood up before snarling angrily, “Do you want to plunder the wealth of the Wizard Li tribe? You’re not qualified enough…”
As the young man roared, over ten mighty warriors armed with spears and swords rushed into the bark house.
It was ludicrous to have a group of teeth-barring dwarfs who barely reached their chests to threaten him, but to Luqi who was used to listen to bedtime stories depicting Hellfire people as evil characters since he was young, there was nothing ludicrous about facing the Wizard Li warriors in a battle formation at all.
Colors drained from his face as he stood up, trembling. With great difficulty, he maintained his calmness, “Mr. Lisheng, w-what do you mean. I-I…”
“Isn’t the reason why you want to know about Scorpion Island is to assemble pirates to plunder the wealth of the island? Although I’m a person who studies science, I’m not an idiot who doesn’t understand anything other than biology!” Zhang Lisheng had a disdainful look in his eyes, “If I told you the information you need now, then I don’t think you’d spare my life when the pirates came to plunder the island, right?”
“P-Pirates? Y-You thought I intended to organize pirates to rob a Hellfire tribe that is not satisfied despite having taken in tens of thousands of slaves?” Luqi’s jaw dropped as he spoke in bewilderment, “Y-Your imagination is too wild! If I had such ability, then I’d have long become a governor in several cities in the Kattaman City State! Why do I even have to risk my life doing maritime trading in the Hellfire Archipelago?!”
“Oh yeah, you have a point,” Zhang Lisheng pretended to come to his realization but did not order the native warrior to retreat. Hesitantly, he asked, “Then, why do you want to get the information of the Scorpion Island?”
“To open up another more profitable route, Mr. Lisheng,” Lu Qi, who originally planned to bargain and not tell the young man about the truth, answered without hesitation due to the spear pointing at his throat, “You have stayed so long in the Hellfire tribe, so you must have heard about the Nutao Sea, right? There’s an intelligence officer of a strong tribe there who wanted to know more about the Scorpion Island. I’m merely carrying out an order for him.”
Zhang Lisheng was planning to attack the Nutao Sea, so when he heard the luxuriously dressed young man’s answer, he could not help but be shocked. However, as his train of thought changed its course, he felt that this matter was too bizarre, so he blurted out, “Mr. Luqi, I think you really wish to die. How dare you make such an absurd lie?!”
