Chapter 86: Magic Messaging Unit
The sailors looked malevolent, and their faces were ominously glinting as they grew closer to Lan Zao on all sides, squeezing him in.
In that desperate moment, a short figure burst into the hold.
“What are you guys up to, surrounding him?”
“Do you want to court death?!”
Upon sensing the iron level aura, cold water seemed to splash into everyone’s hearts.
“Ah, its Lord Di Bi.”
Everyone was startled.
“We weren’t doing anything.”
“This is a misunderstanding, my Lord. We just wanted an explanation.”
“The ships have entered port, why aren’t we allowed to disembark?”
The dangerous ambience vanished like smoke.
Di Bi was Tripleblade’s pseudonym.
Tripleblade was an iron level and Zong Ge’s trusted aide, thus his intimidation ability was greater than Lan Zao’s.
Tripleblade’s keen gaze swept across everyone.
Wherever his gaze went, the eyes of pirates looked away, none dared to look at him face to face.
Tripleblade was once a mercenary commander, and had much prestige, things Lan Zao lacked. Although Lan Zao had worked on the Hog’s Kiss for a long time, his highest position was being an assault captain, that’s all.
He had been the survivors’ boatswain for a time.
Tripleblade coldly snorted, “You aren’t aware of why you aren’t allowed off the ship?”
“You are pirates, prisoners of war!”
“You are my group’s spoils of war; it was because Lord Shi Qi advocated for expanding our forces that we took you in.”
“You think that by joining our Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps that you can wantonly act like you use to?”
“It is because you are undisciplined and impulsive that Lord Shi Qi has taken the trouble to train you. For now, you will remain on this ship to recuperate.”
“You will be clear on your status and situation!”
The hold was in absolute silence.
Tripleblade finally looked at Lan Zao.
Lan Zao sternly said, “Yesterday, Lord Shi Qi beheaded two people, this what happens to hose that don’t comply with orders.”
“If you don’t believe me, then don’t hesitate to try me!”
The sailors reluctantly smiled, “How would we dare?”
“Lord Di Bi has provided us guidance.”
“We will leave at once, at once.”
One still unreconciled asked, “Then when can we disembark?”
Tripleblade glared at the person who asked.
The sailors dispersed in confusion.
Now only Lan Zao and Tripleblade were left in the hold.
“Many thanks.” Lan Zao sincerely expressed.
Tripleblade shook his head, “You don’t need to be courteous with me.”
There was no need for such politeness between those that had survived Mystifying Monster Island together.
Lan Zao shook his head too, “If you didn’t arrive at the right time, such a wonderful outcome wouldn’t have happened.
“Although they wouldn’t kill you, they’d still teach you a lesson and likely injure you.” Tripleblade sighed when he said that, “I heard that Two Eyes Island’s market is well developed, there are many things we can buy. You must improve your strength as much as possible.”
“As you say!” Lan Zao was in favor of that.
His bronze level strength couldn’t suppress the situation.
To deal with these arrogant and obstinate pirates directly, one had to have greater strength.
However, Lan Zao’s bloodline and aptitude shackled him.
If nothing unexpected happened, his current strength would be his limit for the rest of his life.
Under these circumstances, he could only use external power like excellent equipment to increase his strength.
Lan Zao’s status was higher than most bronze levels.
But without the strength to defend his position, sooner or later, the other bronze fighters would dig at him.
This was the world of the strong.
After making his rounds, Tripleblade reported the situation to Zong Ge.
Zong Ge was the one who ordered Tripleblade to do this.
Tripleblade had outstanding strength among the iron levels. Were it not so, it was impossible for him to be a mercenary commander for so many years.
Before a riot could form, Tripleblade had successfully pacified things.
Zong Ge didn’t punish the troublesome sailors severely.
Although the pirate captives could fight, they were not excellent troops.
Their obedience was lacking, and they were hard to train.
“During naval battles, because space between ships is narrow, they often fight by themselves or in small groups.
“Therefore, individual bravery is very important.”
“If a large scale land battle happens, where particular formations and coordination is needed, these pirates will be a pile of rabble.”
Zong Ge was constantly thinking about the Wilderness Continent.
That was his stage.
On that stage, a well-trained and obedient army was strength that could be relied on.
“At present, I have to use these reluctant pirates.”
“If Kuai Tui and the others can be trained into a battle squad, when I arrive on the Wilderness Continent, they can be used to establish an army and rapidly open up things.”
Zong Ge calculated.
After leaving Snake Rat Island, he now had his own ship.
Zong Ge pondered: whether he could secretly train Kuai Tui and the others on his ship?
If he did that, how much would be exposed?
If things were exposed, how would he and the entire Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps be jeopardized?
Zi Di was traveling through a corridor.
She wasn’t along, as Cang Xu was by her side.
The two magicians were together to guarantee their safety.
Although their highest cultivation was the iron level, their necromancy spells could affect gold levels.
This was the advantage of a new path.
If they had used necromancy during the naval battle, the difficulty of victory would have been halved at the least.
What made them more at east was the defensive magic on them.
The Anti-investigation and Prophecy Spell and Deceptive Disguise Spell combined could counter legend level detection!
This was the power of a divine artifact.
Therefore, as they walked through Two Eyes Island, they didn’t provoke any suspicious attention.
“This is the place.” After a short while, Zi Di and Cang Xu came to a halt.
They were in front of a store open for business.
The signboard had the words – Wisteria store.
But Zi Di’s brows knitted.
For the most part, the stores she had walked past were bustling. There were streams of people in them and deals galore, however, the Wisteria store before them was barren, barely a person was at the door.
Not only that, but the store was also located in a remote area.
Zi Di and Cang Xu entered the store.
The girl president discovered that the store had barely any merchandise, and that there was only one product there.
On the contrary, the sales clerk was very enthused to see two people and promptly welcomed them in.
Before he could ask who they were, Zi Di took out a magic decree.
When the sales clerk saw that decree, his eyes immediately widened and he stammered, “Wisteria secret order?”
The sales clerk immediately took in the two people before him.
Zi Di and Cang Xu both wore hooded cloaks.
To the sales clerk, they both seemed to be ordinary looking middle aged men.
The sales clerk became deferential, “Two Lords, please come this way.”
After he walked behind the sales counter, he took out a palm sized alchemy device.
Zi Di put the wisteria secret order into the alchemy device’s slot.
The secret order fit snugly into the slot.
After a few seconds, the secret order glowed with purple light.
The purple light condensed into a vine.
This was how the Wisteria Merchant Alliance validated one’s identity.
The purple vine of light climbed into the air and formed seven vines.
“Level seven elders!” Upon seeing this, the sales clerk couldn’t help but rub his eyes, his face filling with shock.
Zi Di replied, “Who is the manager here? Call them in.”
The sales clerk gasped, then bowed and fawned, “Yes, yes!”
A jiffy later.
The store’s backyard.
The Wisteria Merchant Alliance manager bowed to Zi Di and Cang Xu, “Lord Elders, this humble one is Yan Yi, the manager stationed here.”
The Wisteria Merchant Alliance was once enormous, second only to humanity’s six great merchant alliances, naturally it had a complete organizational structure.
The merchant alliance had 10 levels of authority.
Level 10 was the president, level 9 was the vice president, level 8 senior elder, level 7 elder…level 3 store manager.
The two middle aged men who had suddenly arrived were of a much higher level compared to the store manager.
The wisteria secret order Zi Di and Cang Xu had taken out was the newest one.
Secret orders were a type of alchemy device, its core was a sequence of magic words. By knowing the written content and sequence, one could make a secret order.
Zi Di could make level 10 decrees as president, but that wasn’t necessary.
Level 7 was sufficient to spur on the store manager here.
“Where is the magic messaging unit? I need to pass on a message.” Zi Di asked bluntly.
“This way please.” The store manager, Yan Yi, led the way at once.
Magic messaging units were standard equipment for every Wisteria Merchant Alliance store.
It was a pillar-shaped alchemy device that could transmit messages over long distances.
Of course, the distance that it could was finite.
But through many magic messaging units, one could spread a message over a long range.
The message Zi Di transmitted from this magic messaging unit would be passed onto the nearest magic messaging unit, then to the next magic messaging unit, and then to the next.
By being passed through many magic messaging units, the message would eventually reach the Sheng Ming Continent and be delivered to the Bai Zhen clan elder.
Upon reaching the magic messaging unit, Zi Di took out a slate, the slate had a long paragraph of writing engraved into it. The words were densely packed, and all mixed up, it was clear that it needed a special cipher to deconstruct it for one to gain the true message hidden in it.
Zi Di inspected it three times, then after verifying it, she solemnly put the slate into the device’s recess.
“I won’t be able to reverse this once it’s done.” Zi Di said to herself, “Perhaps with the pearl bubbles, we can live incognito?”
The hesitation only lasted for a split second.
The pearl bubbles would be exhausted one day.
In fact, the amount of divine force inside the Mermaid Fairy Tale was always decreasing.
Zi Di used her spirit to control the pillar and began to imbue it with magic power.
The magic device activated and emitted a yellow light.
The light condensed on the slate, and the slate’s words began to move up and turn into blue light that flowed into the pillar.
The pillar’s yellow light soon turned blue, then the blue light suddenly ejected out and disappeared without a trace.
“Message transmission…successful! Now then, time to wait for a reply.” Zi Di coughed, then pushed open the secret room’s door.
A few minutes later.
Zi Di and Cang Xu returned to the back of the shop.
The store manager Yan Yin was standing to the side, he looked somewhat tense.
Cang Xu was drinking water.
Zi Di browsed the ledger, her complexion aloof.
There were many incorrect entries.
Zi Di coughed, her finger pointing at something, “Tell me, what happened to this account?”
Yan Yi stammered out an explanation.
After a few sentences, Cang Xu knew he was hearing lies.
Zi Di asked a few questions, and Yan Yi answered with a brow beaded with sweat.
“How much does the store still have in reserve?” Zi Di finally asked.
Not long after, Zi Di and Cang Xu left the store.
300
They had a small leather suitcase in their hands, inside there was 300 gold coins.
As a level 7 elder, Zi Di had the right to utilize any store reserves.
After leaving a tenth, Zi Di withdrew the rest of the reserve.
As for the store manager, Yan Yi, Zi Di did not fire him.
From an examination of the accounts, Yan Yi had obviously been embezzling store sales.
He also lacked business acumen.
But according to merchant alliance records, at the time, the Wisteria Merchant Alliance had carefully considered who to assign as store manager here.
Yan Yi and the feudal lord here, Hun Tong, were both members of the Duo Mu Clan.
They had a faint bloodline relationship with each other.
Now was the time to hire more staff, and Zi Di did not plan for Yan Yi to be doing the interviews.