Chapter 526: Spotting a Fraud

Under the threat of sharp spears and bloody swords, the mainland slaves who were violently suppressed quickly grew silent.

Their pale faces that had desperate looks in their eyes stared at the weapons in the hands of the Wizard Li warriors. Trembling violently, with the native choresmen pulling their hemp ropes, they staggeringly walked into the distant jungle.

The forest on the Hellfire island was thick and deep. Tens of thousands of slaves were lined up in a long line of over ten kilometers as they staggeringly walked on the forest path with fear in their hearts.

A few hours later, these slaves whom they had slaughtered the instant they disembarked and who had no idea what grim future was awaiting them exhaustedly came to a spacious river valley and was shocked to find that there were many narrow wooden boats parked in the fast-flowing freshwater river.

On the banks of the river, many seemingly young natives picked up pieces of shredded sautéed meat piled in wooden barrels and handed them to the slaves. With a gentle and amiable attitude, they shouted fluently in the universal language of Green Leaf Mainland in unison, “Please don’t panic. Obey orders, and we will not hurt you. Now, Sir Lutuyaya will untie the ropes for everyone, so please go onboard in turn. Those who escape will not be pardoned…”

When the young native was speaking, an energetic native whose upper body was colored with bloody red sap and four feathers on his head gradually raised his head out of the fast-flowing river.

The water that was flowing like a fountain under his feet held his feet up to the height of seven to eight meters. With proud and cold eyes, the Wizard Li chief warrior looked down at the tens of thousands of mainlanders who were gushing into the valley beneath him and opened his mouth to howl. His body expanded to become a green-colored, three-legged giant who used one of his feet to stamp his two other outer feet.

At once, the river holding the chief warrior high in the air that was frozen into ice crystals, which suddenly shattered and turned into many tiny ice blades splashing toward the mainlanders not far away. In an instant, the ropes tying hands of the slaves were cut off.

“S-Spellcasting… W-What a powerful spellcasting ability…” When the slaves first saw the native soaring up the sky with the help of the water, they forced themselves to not make any sound. However, when the ice blades coldly flew across their wrists, some of them finally lost control and cried out in surprise.

The instant they shouted out, they immediately realized that they had committed taboos and horrifyingly covered their mouths with their hands. However, they realized that the natives simply ignored them, the same with all of the natives around them—be it the gentle young man, the hard-working choresmen, the mighty warriors, or even the terrifying spell-casters—had an unusually pious expression on their faces as they muttered something under their breaths.

“H-Holby, what are these Hellfire people are talking about? Look at them! Don’t tell me that they’re planning to use us as some living sacrifices for the spiritual monsters!?” When a young man with cracked lips and whose face was covered with mud saw that the native had started to tacitly allow the slaves to speak, he whispered to a middle-aged man beside him who looked slightly frail but whose eyes were still beaming with an unusual kind of gleam in the desperate situation.

“Your Highness, those Hellfire people are indeed praying to a powerful god. Judging from their prayers, that Hellfire god actually has hundreds of millions of believers!” The frail-looking middle-aged answered calmly, “He doesn’t like living sacrifice, so these natives will not turn us into sacrifices. Instead, they will send us to a town and change our religion to believe in that god.”

“Hundreds of millions? Even if it’s just an adjective, the strength of the barbarian tribe ruled by that spiritual monster must be mighty,” The wrecked-looking young man suddenly cheered up and whispered, “So he has already tasted the belief from the natives and wants to change his taste now? Hmph! This may be an opportunity for us… An opportunity…”

It might appear to be kind of absurd for a person to have the desire to find an opportunity to resist his fate when he had already reached such a precarious stage, but it was none other than this perseverance and an indomitable trait that was usually equipped by a strong person.

Upon seeing the unyielding expression of the young man hidden behind the mud, the frail-looking middle-aged man flashed a gratifying smile. “Even if there was an opportunity, this would be something that would only occur in the future. Your Highness, what we need to do now is to survive under the ruling of these cruel Hellfire people! Only then can there be a future for us…”

When his words left his mouth, the Hellfire young men who had completed the prayer began to distribute the pieces of meat, while loudly reminding the slaves that they must embark onto the boats in order, or otherwise, they would be executed.

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At the same time, they started to guide the slaves to the wooden boat in batches together with the choresmen.

Very soon, the frail-looking middle-aged man and the unyielding young man who walked at the front of the team received the pieces of meat before queueing up in line to amble towards the river. Just as they gorged on the roasted meat and marched toward their hazy future, Zhang Lisheng had already embarked on the flagship of the mainland caravans and was chatting with Vitas, who just claimed that the Wizard Li warriors had been violent a few hours before.

“I’m a scholar, and the best trait in me is my spirit of science. The core of the spirit of science is to make bold assumptions and carefully seek validation,” Under the sunset that dyed the entire sea into a crimson hue, the young man talked with ease and fluency, “Because of this, I want to get in touch with the tribal chief from the Nutao Sea and go to that magical place to verify some of the evolutionary assumptions I made before. Actually, this would also be beneficial to the family that you’re working for, Mr. Vitas. When I’m fighting for the opportunity to conduct my biological research at the most mysterious area of ​​the Hellfire Archipelago, you can also satisfy the wishes of that indigenous aristocrat and strengthen your friendship with him…”

“Oh, Mr. Lisheng, “When Vitas heard that Zhang Lisheng made this wild boast, he unconvincingly flashed a sly smile and interrupted him, “Instead of strengthening my friendship with that tribal chief who claimed to have come from the Nutao Sea, I’m more interested in becoming your friend.” While he was speaking, this clever and hypocritical merchant pointed to the fleet around him and said, “To a businessman, there’s nothing more tempting than the promise of gain.”

The young man looked stunned for a while. After a few moments of silence, he could not help but chuckle, “Alright, Mr. Vitas, as long as I can meet with that Nutao Sea’s indigenous aristocrat, then you’ll get my friendship and promise of gain. However, how did you know my position in Wizard Li and that it’s only by relying on me did Luqi obtained the trading right on my tribe? Isn’t this matter kinda hard to imagine?”

“It’s very simple, sir,” When Vitas heard the black-haired young man in front of him acknowledging his speculation without shirking, he immediately changed the way he addressed Zhang Lisheng, “The Hellfire tribe that was trading with the caravan that can consume 25,000 slaves at one time must be huge in scale, and Mr. Luqi is only a liar who only knows how to boast and actually has little talent. Although the story that you told me of how you were originally living a hard life, which finally turned to become a comfortable life that allows you to stay on the island freely, studying animals after meeting him sounded reasonable. It’s not really backed by any logic. First, it’s because a native tribe as powerful as this would never care about the feelings of the mainland merchants who come to trade with them. They’re barbaric but not stupid; they know who is the one asking for a favor. Secondly, with Luqi’s stinginess and financial resources who only rely on his mouth to live, even if the natives really cared about his feelings, he would never pay any price to let a scholar whom he just got to know to live a comfortable life. Besides, …”

A sincere smile appeared on the face of the middle-aged man who always showed a hypocritical expression. “How is it possible for the confidence in your demeanor and that expression that is neither arrogant nor humble plastered on your face to be something possessed by just an ordinary scholar? Lastly, it’s not something unimaginable for a mainlander to be treated with lofty courtesy in the Hellfire tribe. In some hidden circles, there are indeed some ancient legends about mainlanders who are bestowed high positions in the tribes for offering valuable gifts to the barbarian tribal chief. Usually, the heroes of such stories are scholars like you. After all, a piece of useful knowledge is the most valuable treasure in any place, isn’t it?”

“I did give the Wizard Li tribesmen a lot of ‘the most valuable treasure’ as you said, and this is why they called me a ‘Pundit,’” Upon hearing Vitas’s long reasoning, Zhang Lisheng showed an impressed look on his face, “Remember this sailing route. Satisfy my requirements, and you could trade with the natives here all by yourself. After all, to a businessman, isn’t it better to have two sources rather than one?”

“Of course,” Vitas answered politely as he bowed, “Please be assured! I’ll let you get what you want in the shortest possible time, sir.”

“I look forward to it,” The young man smiled and looked at the direction of the mainland in the distance as he whispered.

Just like that, when both of them reached a consensus in a few words, the Wizard Li’s god was overjoyed because he had confirmed the fact that there was indeed a native chief from the Nutao Sea staying in the Sea Haines City. He ordered the Wizard Li headman to continue for the war preparation and to come up with the most reliable strength of the tribe to conquer the Nutao Sea in one fell swoop in the right opportunity at the sea expedition.

Vitas, on the other hand, as an agent of a powerful family in the Kattaman City State, was excited to find a new route filled with gold. During his spare time, he would always try to make good friends with Zhang Lisheng.

In contrast to their happiness, when Luqi found that Vitas had seen through his little trick and had managed to obtain Zhang Lisheng’s trade promise after just a chat, he could not help but be flared with anger.

Unfortunately, to this empty-vessel merchant who had to rely on the Wizard Li’s god on the Hellfire island to obtain the trading right and whose wealth and power was far inferior to the family Vitas was serving, there was nothing that he could do other than to be enraged. After a thorough pondering, he could only be cautious enough to disallow others to notice his anger. Otherwise, all the benefits that he gained would all become vain.

Just like this, time passed by day after day, the mainland caravan only took half a day to unload their goods but took half a month to load their ships with the specialties of the Scorpion Island.

Even Vitas, who had repeatedly promised to let Zhang Lisheng obtain his heart’s desire as soon as possible, was extremely patient in selecting goods. After all, he had risked his life to cross the Hellfire Sea to carry out the trade, so how could he possibly not want to maximize the benefits at this critical moment?

Finally, before the southern trade winds on the sea could start, the fleet’s warehouse was already filled with valuable wood, ores, beasts’ hides, and pickled ingredients that had many special functions. Fully satisfied, the merchants no longer delayed their schedules, so after giving away many flashy but substance-less gifts to the Wizard Li tribal chiefs who helped them to pick the goods, they set off with a pleasant mood and left the island.