Chapter 27: Postwar Discussion
On a sailing ship, the dragonman youngster held his head high
Traces of blood seeped from his dragon scales, and his chest faintly ached.
Although not broken, he at least suffered a bone fracture.
This had been caused by Rou Zang’s flying palm battle skill.
However, the pain as diminishing.
The dragonman youngster knew this wasn’t a bad feeling, as it was a sign of him recovering.
The dragon race’s bloodline had a prominent recovery ability, and the Flame Dragon King bloodline surpassed even that.
Countless gazes focused in on the young man.
His scares did not diminish his grandeur, instead it made others perceive him as more heroic and braver.
Admiration and veneration filled nearly everyone’s heart.
Rou Zang was an ominous name that propagated deeply into the hearts of men, and these pirates and fisherfolk had seen with their own eyes the vicious might of Rou Zang and had despaired before it.
They never expected that the silver levels, Long Fu and Shi Qi, along with the others working together actually managed to beat Rou Zang!
Silvers prevailed over a gold level.
This was a rarely seen event.
Fighters had a qualitative change to their battle strength upon reaching the gold level. Rou Zang was also a veteran cultivator who had defeated at least ten other gold level fighters.
But he had lost to the dragonman youngster.
From this, it could be seen how special the young man was!
There was prolonged clamor.
A pirate excitedly ran to the young man, stooped his head, and asked, “Lord Captain, what shall we do next?”
The respectful bearing was very different from before.
The dragonman did not speak as he swept his eyes across the battlefield.
Blood dyed the ocean surface red, the ship Rou Zang had already sank was nothing but hull splinters floating in the waves as many people were struggling in the water. Some clung to casks, while even more were clutching to planks.
On the remaining five ships, crowds filled the decks. The survivors of this calamity were celebrating, shaking their arms, shouting loudly, and adoring the dragonman youngster with pleasant surprise.
On the horizon, the sorry figure of the Bath Tub was disappearing from the dragonman’s field of view, it had already shrunk to the size of a palm.
“We will berth on that barren island for the time being, clean up the battlefield, and rescue the survivors.” The dragonman youngster said, then sighed and added, “After all, I am not Rou Zang.”
The young man’s command was carried out quickly.
Compared to before the battle, his prestige had exploded in growth.
The people began to fish out those overboard, tried to save the shipwreck, and counted up the damages.
Zong Ge returned to the ship he was responsible for, and with Tripleblade’s help, they completed their assigned tasks.
Tripleblade and Zong Ge were the only ones in the captain’s room.
“My Lord, the captain can actually transform into a dragonman. I think this definitely has something to do with the Bloodcore!” Tripleblade guessed.
After the culling of Mystifying Monster Island, the survivors were not dim lamps.
Tripleblade more so.
Before pledging to Zong Ge, he had been a mercenary group commander, he had attained the iron level, and had lived a rich life.
Zong Ge nodded, and provided his own analysis, “If he could have used it on Mystifying Monster Island, he would have done so. This is obviously a new form of his.”
“He was a transformed beast person made by War Merchant, and on Mystifying Monster Island, he kept the Bloodcore for himself.”
“The Bloodcore should be the key to making transformed beast people, and after he mastered it, he grew.”
Tripleblade replied, “My Lord, the Bloodcore, the Mermaid Fairy Tale, these were all spoils we captured together.”
Zong Ge nodded, then shook his head, “The Bloodcore is an advantage to him in his hands. However, it is also advantage to others, for without it, we couldn’t have forced Rou Zang to withdraw.”
“It would be for the best if it was left with him.”
“Don’t forget, we are comrade-in-arms, and if we hadn’t fought side by side and trusted each other, we wouldn’t have escaped Mystifying Monster Island.”
“Even if we verified that the Bloodcore is also useful to us…now is not the time to discuss such things.”
Everyone had consented to atoning for their crimes against the empire.
Furthermore, the Blood Light Punishment Institution had raided Mystifying Monster Island, which made the survivors realize how urgent things were.
They had to unite together, collaborate sincerely, and do everything possible for more time to ensure a greater chance of success.
The goblin nodded, “I understand, my Lord.”
The two did not converse for long, as Zong Ge was summoned by the young captain.
Tripleblade stayed behind to continue running the ship and preside over the situation there.
After Zong Ge arrived on the young captain’s ship and entered the captain’s room, he noticed Cang Xu had arrived there earlier.
The dragonman youngster, the half beastman, and the necromancer were assembled in this room.
Nevertheless, Zi Di was the first to speak.
The Deep Sea Monster Fish transmitted her voice into the room.
“Due to Rou Zang, we lost one pirate ship.”
“38 people are dead, and 11 are crippled.”
“170 kilograms of food and 22 barrels of potable water have been lost.”
“In total, these cost roughly 58 gold coins.”
“The young captain was calm as he faintly nodded.
Not much had been lost.
On the one hand, Rou Zang’s main goal was not the pirates and fisherfolk, rather it had been their leaders, Zong Ge and the dragonman youngster.
On the other hand, due to their timely salvaging, much of the food and water were recovered. After the dragonman youngster’s command, most of the water had been returned to the ships.
“There are bound to be traitors mixed with the castaways. Pick them out and execute them publicly.” Said the dragonman youngster. He was charitable, but not stupid.
Zi Di immediately responded, “No problem. The entire battle has been recorded by the Deep Sea Monster Fish, as long as we check the magic images, we can know who rebelled.”
Zong Ge raised his own suggestion, “Although we forced Rou Zang to withdraw, his troops are completely intact, and the Bath Tub never entered the fray. Based on Rou Zang’s temperament, after he stabilizes his injuries, he is bound to attack us again.”
“We need to leave this place as soon as possible and go to Snake Rat Island’s port.”
Snake Rat was the closed island that belonged to the empire. The island port there had a garrison, a Shen Ming Sect church, and although it didn’t have a gold level, it had many silver levels and defenses that allowed it to remain fast in the ocean.
As long as the survivors got to Snake Rat Island, it would be hard for Rou Zang to touch them.
Furthermore, the Green Jade Gold Coffin had been teleported to Snake Rat Island by Jia Sha. Recovering the divine artifact was another important goal for the survivors.
“We are still 750 nautical miles from Snake Rat Island.” Zong Ge’s finger moved across the sea map on the table, “In other words, we still need three days.”
Da Zhao’s pirate group’s ships were ordinary, and had a speed of roughly 10 knots, nothing special.
If they abandoned these ships and only used the Deep Sea Monster Fish, they would travel faster and only need two days.
However, the survivors needed a layer of camouflage, and the Deep Sea Monster Fish was better as a hidden trump card.
It would also be a pity to renounce these ships and people.
Cang Xu nodded and said, “It seems these three days will be quite dangerous. IF I were Rou Zang, I would attack within these three days!”
Zong Ge replied, “It would be good if we don’t need to expose the Deep Sea Monster Fish.”
“I suggest we remodel the remaining five ships to deal with a possible counterattack from the Bath Tub.”
The young captain looked at Zong Ge, “Do you have any specifics to this plan?”
Zong Ge already had a mental outline and let it slip, “We have alchemy puppets, we can quickly remodel ships.”
“My plan will have most of the people on the flagship, and that we refit the flagship with oars. In crucial times, we can order everyone to row and accelerate our speed.”
The other four boats can have a skeleton crew, and during that critical moment, they can abandon ship and use them to hinder the Bath Tub.”
“Although the Bath Tub can turn invisible, seeing how it ambushed us the first time, its invisibility has a systemic problem.”
“We can use mass long range firepower to block the Bath Tub’s pursuit.”
The early stages of naval battles all started with long range barrages.
But Rou Zang decided to hide behind a barren island and wait until the survivors’ ships got close before ambushing them.
Zong Ge continued, “We have a gold level cannon, a ship cannon that can be placed on the flagship.”
We also have alchemy crossbows and firearms, all of these can be given out.”
“If Rou Zang pursues us, we can give him a big surprise with our long range weaponry!”
“Of course.” After pausing, Zong Ge elaborated, “Those we give crossbows and firearms must be carefully selected. We have those magic images, we can investigate that. Whoever did well in the last battle will be issued one.”
“We still need to set up a military equipment storehouse to deposit these arms. The military equipment storehouse should be guarded by our own people or the swordsman guards, and only when the enemy appears should its doors be opened.”
The reason why they didn’t give out these weapons was because it was recklessly dangerous.
The survivors’ fleet was a temporary organization, the will of its people was still in doubt. If someone betrayed them, they would have used these issued alchemy weapons against the survivors.
But now, things were different.
Rou Zang’s cruel tyranny and his utter disregard for life was displayed when he crushed the defecting pirates.
This caused the remaining pirates to become disillusioned, and, after the previous battle, abandoned such notions.
The fisherfolk also weren’t so lucky.
Though there was another reason why they weren’t given these arms.
The survivors were worried it would expose their identities as a result.
After all, these things were taken from War Merchant’s stock.
This concealed danger also faded away.
The Deceptive Disguise magic formation had been built to outstanding effect and the tower spirit had been deceived. It was now personally building an Anti-investigation and Prophecy magic formation.
The Deep Sea Magic Fish had these two formations, unfortunately they only affected the alchemy ship itself.
The Anti-investigation and Prophecy formation being built could affect lifeforms.
Zong Ge’s military proposal was very normal, causing the young man to mutter to himself, “Cannon fodder tactics are not necessary.”
“Even if they abandon these ships, they won’t hold for long.”
“Right now, we seem to only be looking at the damage, when much has been gained. We have gained the allegiance of these pirates and fisherfolk, their confidence in us has multiplied.”
“Where does loyalty come from? It is nurtured step by step.”
“If we offhandedly abandon some, it will cause friction between us and those remaining.”
“Then if Rou Zang pursues us, they will scatter and flee.”