Chapter 226: Bloodline Investigation
The sun gradually rose.
The sea breeze slowly increased, the wind half bulging the sails.
Lan Zao was inspecting on deck.
His skin was tanned by the sun, his body was strong and muscular, and his eyes were sharp. He was fully equipped with bronze level equipment, amplifying his power and influence.
Lan Zao stopped walking, and shouted, “Who tied this knot?”
“It, it was me.” A mercenary stepped forth.
“The knot is wrong. Are you not a sailor?” Lan Zao asked.
The mercenary lowered his head, “Yes, that’s right, I haven’t gone out to see much.”
“That won’t do. Come, I will demonstrate, watch, then follow my instructions!” Lan Zao stooped down to untie the knot then demonstrated how to tie it in front of everyone.
He first pulled the rope straight, setting it level on the deck.
Then he bent the middle of the rope, then loped it to form the figures of 8s.
After that, he took the head of the rope and pulled it through the loops in the 8s.
Finally, he pulled the rope taut, evenly distributing the 8 shaped knots across the rope.
Lan Zao got up and gazed at the mercenary, “This is the consecutive figure eight knot, look at it, its knots are very big, and when you need to save yourself in emergencies, you can grasp it and not worry about slipping.”
“Do you understand?”
The mercenary nodded repeatedly.
Lan Zao threw the rope back to him, “Untie it, then retie it.”
“Yes, Lord.” The mercenary immediately began to do so.
Lan Zao was once a head sailor on the Hog’s Kiss, had come from a fishing village, and lived on the seas for many years; he knew these things by heart.
He inspected the deck, the ship cabins, and other places assiduously, meticulously, and wholeheartedly devoted his strength to this corps.
“Lord Lan Zao, I tied it, can you check if it’s right?” Soon after, the mercenary finished tying the consecutive figure eight knot.
But at that moment, a mercenary carrying an over ran over, “Lord Lan Zao, the Lord Commander has summoned you.”
“Oh, his Lordship is summoning me?” Lan Zao stepped over the rope, and in spite of the mercenary’s impatient expression, quickly strode towards the captain’s room.
The mercenaries behind him whispered apprehensively.
“I heard Boss Lan Zao is very appreciated by the Commander.”
“That’s just how it is.”
“Look at his animated attitude, who wouldn’t like such a subordinate?”
“Shut up, how can you evaluate Lord Lan Zao on a whim?”
Knock, knock, knock.
The captain’s door was tapped on.
“Come in.” The dragonman youngster permitted.
Lan Zao pushed the door open, came in, and respectfully saluted, “Commander, you summoned me?”
The dragonman youngster smiled, “There is something I need to say to you, come in.”
After saying that, he took out an acoustics box and put it on the desk.
It was a small alchemy device that could stop sound from spreading.
Not only that, but there were also many scouting puppets guarding inside and outside of the captain’s room.
Seeing the dragonman youngster doing this, Lan Zao immediately realized that this discussion would be quite secret, and he shut the door at once.
Lan Zao came in front of the desk.
The dragonman youngster indicated to him to sit down, then took out alchemy item for one’s arm.
This was a tool Zi Di had built with the Deep Sea Monster Fish’s alchemy formations to draw blood.
Lan Zao didn’t sit down, and he smiled, “My Lord, I am fine standing.”
The dragonman youngster looked serious, “I permit you to sit, do sit down.”
“I want to use this to draw a bit of your blood.” The dragonman youngster presented the device, “Before the battle, our people were tricked, and their willpower was temporarily distorted, it was very awful.”
“Therefore, we plan to make some medicine that can guard against such methods.”
“One of the main materials for this magic medicine is the user’s blood.”
Lan Zao nodded, and without hesitation, he took the armband.
The armband slightly contracted, fastening itself to his forearm, then it pricked him with a syringe that precisely pricked Lan Zao’s vein to begin drawing his blood.
While this was happening, the dragonman youngster asked, “Lan Zao, If I am remembering correctly, you cultivate the Water Grass battle qi.”
Lan Zao’s body snapped up like a ramrod and he respectfully answered, “That’s right, your Lordship!”
The dragonman youngster pointed at the chair, “Do sit back down.”
After Lan Zao sat back down, he continued, “Previously, you tried other battle qi, and some of them worked to an extent.”
“Yes.” Lan Zao snapped back up again to a standing position, “After we just left Mystifying Monster Island, you gave us many battle qi techniques that we could try cultivating. After I tried them all, there indeed were a few battle qi techniques that suited me.”
“But in the end, I didn’t change my battle qi technique, because their cultivation efficacy was about the same as my Water Grass battle qi technique.”
Lan Zao was already used to using Water Grass battle qi. His battle skills also paired with the Water Grass battle qi too.
More importantly, changing one’s battle qi was a very troublesome affair.
Since the earnings weren’t worth it, why would anyone invest the manpower, physical resources, time, and other costs to do an unnecessary change?
The dragonman youngster put his pen to paper, “Tell me what battle qi techniques work with you? In addition, please sit down, don’t be so tense.”
Lan Zao laughed, “My Lord, I am not tense.”
“I just like standing.”
“Just let me stand.”
“In front of you, I don’t have the qualifications to sit down. Standing will put me more at ease.”
The dragonman youngster couldn’t help but laugh, “Fine, then stand.”
Lan Zao listed off a few battle qi techniques, and seeing that the dragonman youngster was writing them down, he curiously and cautiously asked, “My Lord, do you want to set up a battle squad? I don’t know, do I have enough qualifications to change to another battle qi cultivation technique?”
Lan Zao mistook the dragonman youngster’s intentions.
The dragonman youngster muttered to himself, “At present, it is indeed still in consideration.”
Lan Zao instantly grew excited, “My Lord, we should really do that! The Quick Knife battle squad was trained by Zong Ge, now it has become that guy’s force. He is also starting to train those water pigmen. In the future, he will have two battle squads, while we will have none.”
“My Lord, what battle squads do I have the qualifications for?”
Lan Zao’s loyalty to the dragonman youngster was nearly overflowing.
This kind of loyalty was not one a soldier had to their superior, but a mix of zealotry and worship.
This was created by the special experiences on Mystifying Monster Island.
The dragonman youngster didn’t answer Lan Zao’s question, instead he inquired, “Lan Zao, think carefully about your relatives or ancestors, were there any cultivators among them? If there are, what battle qi technique did they cultivate? What was their bloodline?”
Lan Zao stared blankly, then forced a smile, “My Lord, my ancestors were all poor people. Only my generation had the qualifications to become a cultivator.”
When he said that, Lan Zao involuntarily thought of his youngster brother Huang Zao, and his face went dark.
The dragonman youngster questioned closely, “How much do you know of your bloodline, do you know what it specifically is?”
Lan Zao shook his head again, “My Lord, I don’t know, there are too many bloodlines that can cultivate Water Grass battle qi, and I never used a divine spell to measure it. Too expensive! To me, being able to become a cultivator and knowing that the Water Grass battle qi is the most suitable for me is enough.”
“My transcendent bloodline is very low, I can only be a bronze level, what use is measuring it?”
The dragonman youngster nodded, then wrote a few words on the paper, “So in that case, did any cultivators pop up in the coastal fishing village you came from?”
Lan Zao recalled for a while, then replied with uncertainty, “There seemed to be one, in my grandfather’s generation, there was a bronze level. He could hold his breath underwater for a whole hour and he had a robust physique. When the villagers spoke of him, they were all very envious.”
The dragonman youngster asked a few more questions, then after that was done, retrieved the blood drawing device from Lan Zao’s arm.
“How is the mercenary corps doing?” The young man asked before Lan Zao left.
Lan Zao swiftly said, “It is much stronger than before.”
“Although we lost many people on Two Eyes Island’s port, our remaining comrades are more unified and elite.”
The dragonman youngster encouraged, “I heard some people are supporting you, you’re doing pretty good.”
Lan Zao replied, “Everything is thanks to your Lordship!”
“With the money you lent me, I was able to buy a set of bronze level equipment. My strength increased and I was able to suppress them.”
The young man laughed and shook his head, “Not only that, during the battle, your heroic performance saved many people and killed many fishmen, continue working.”
“Yes, my Lord!” Lan Zao walked to the doorway, then hesitated before during around and said shamefully, “My Lord, I know my strength is meager and my gifts inadequate.”
“I am a mere bronze.”
“But please make use of me in spite of that!”
“Even if the battle squad’s battle qi doesn’t fit me and will reduce my strength.”
“But I am loyal!”
“You can trust me one hundred percent!”
“I will use all of my strength to help you make a new battle squad.”
The dragonman youngster was very touched, he gazed into Lan Zao’s eyes and nodded vigorously, “Don’t worry, I will use you in crucial moments, I am not at all miserly!”
Then he thought an additional sentence, “You will have a greater purpose, and you will have greater talent, you won’t remain a mere bronze.”
After obtaining the dragonman youngster’s promise, Lan Zao immediately perked up with intense inspiration and joy.