Chapter 88: Turning a Blind Eye
It wasn’t a big deal for fishmen to live in the sea.
They also needed to breathe, change their mindsets, adapt to the shallow seas, and temper their battle strength.
More importantly, there was much more food in the shallows.
Hunting in the deeps was more challenging, the quarry was stronger and could threaten the fishmen more.
After humanity became this place’s owner, they caused some trouble here.
Because humans couldn’t breathe underwater, every time Two Eyes Island sank and rose, the island’s residents needed to be relocated.
The Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps had arrived precisely during the sinking and floating swap.
The palm yellow part was slowly sinking, and the blue-green part was slowly rising.
The first to be relocated was Hun Tong’s subordinates.
The dragonman youngster already saw that a tower had been constructed on the blue-green island.
The tall tower was slender and silver white. It was almost finished, and there were a few ant-sized people constructing the tower’s roof.
At this time, Cang Xu happened to walk by.
“Is that a mage tower?” The dragonman youngster asked him.
“Not at all.” Replied Cang Xu, “That is a light cannon turret. A new type of armament invented by the empire a year ago, it is used to detect and defend.”
“The light cannon turret was intentionally developed by the empire for the Wilderness Continent.”
“Castles under construction have weak defenses, thus building a few light cannon turrets takes precedence so one can detect roving beastmen and beat them back.”
Cang Xu paused, then said, “My Lord, preliminary analysis of the information is done.”
“I’ll hear it.” The dragonman youngster said as he gazed at the light cannon turret with narrowed eyes.
Cang Xu complied, “Two Eyes Island’s strongest power is undoubtably the feudal lord’s faction.”
“Two Eyes Island’s feudal lord, Hun Tong, is a gold level fighter, yes. But he is quite old and rarely takes action himself in recent years.”
“Two Eyes Island hadn’t been occupied by the empire until recently. Ten years earlier, the Duo Mu Clan had already taken it over.”
“Therefore, Two Eyes Island has been developed far more than Snake Rat Island.”
“Besides Hun Dun, the feudal lord’s faction has 4 silver levels. One silver alchemy level master, one silver level pharmacist, and two silver level fighters. One Eye, who we saw yesterday, belongs to that faction.”
“Under the feudal lord’s faction is the five great merchant alliance powers, the Clam Cloth Merchant Alliance, the Treasure Gold Merchant Alliance, the Flint Merchant Alliance, the Secret Medicine Merchant Alliance, and the Scale Merchant Alliance
The dragonman youngster was somewhat moved.
This was five of the six great merchant alliances of humanity. Besides the Great Myriad Merchant Alliance, all other merchant alliances had a store on Two Eyes Island.
Humanity’s six merchant alliances all engaged in different businesses.
For example, the Clam Cloth Merchant Alliance mainly dealt in clothing and foodstuffs.
Once the Wisteria Merchant Alliance had hoped that it could rise to the ranks of the six other merchant alliances. But because of their grassroots origins, they didn’t have cultivators strong enough and the imperial lords joined hands to divide it up.
Cang Xu continued, “Under the merchant alliance powers, there is the Wealth Goddess Church, the Thief Guild, and the Mercenary Guild.”
“Finally, there is the Iron Club Mercenary Corps and the Bandage Mercenary Corps. Of course, now we have added our Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps to the mix.
After listing every force, Cang Xu ran through the island’s cultivators.
The one above them all was naturally Hun Tong. He was Two Eyes Island’s sole gold level fighter and its strongest person.
It wasn’t publicly known who the strongest silver level was, but there were a lot of them.
The five merchant alliances’ store managers were all silver levels. The Wealth Church’s cathedral priest was a silver level, and the Iron Club and Bandage Mercenary Corps’ commander were both silver levels. The Thief and Mercenary Guild leader was likewise the same.
Cang Xu then said, “According to our initial analysis, Two Eyes Island has 27 silver levels, and a few powers have many silver levels.”
“There are also some well-known free spirits.”
“Such as the wandering samurai Ku Feng, the treasure hunter Hong Zhu, the card magician Shi Fa, and so on.”
The dragonman youngster attentively listened.
The features of Two Eyes Island grew more distinct to him.
“Two Eyes Island is the heart of trade for several waters; thus, it is the most important island for commerce.”
“That is the reason why this island has the most merchant alliances on it, five of the six great merchant alliances have a store here.”
“Due to the flourishing business, there is also a Wealth Goddess church here too. The presiding cathedral priest is also notary to businesses large and small. The Wealth Church’s divine spells are best used for signing and maintaining business contracts.”
“The island lord, Hun Tong, is the only gold level, while the church priest is just a silver level. Therefore, the entire island is all controlled by the Duo Mu Clan, and with a gold level protecting Two Eyes Island, it is far safer than Snake Rat Island. Security is also the foundation for developing businesses.”
“Although there are many silver levels, most of them are from merchant alliances. Fighting is not their style; they’d much rather talk things over and compromise. Due to disputed benefits, they won’t cooperate with each other. In addition, with Hun Tong suppressing them, the silver levels can’t cause too much noise.”
“We have a rough understanding of the island’s powers and cultivators. What about outside of the island? Pirates are running rampant nowadays, Two Eyes Island often has merchant ships traveling through. How many pirate powers are around?”
The dragonman youngster had thought about that too and was just about to ask the same thing.
At that moment, the distant blue-green coral island suddenly shined brightly.
It was the light cannon turret being built.
The light cannon tower was quite slender, and the top of it was a cube 3 meters high and across.
The cube had a closed eye engraved on its east, south, west, and north sides.
Above the cube was a crystal the size of a human adult.
The crystal was absorbing light and converging the surrounding light element.
Because the concentration of light element around the crystal was rising, it was growing brighter.
The denser the light was, the brighter it shined, attracting more and more gazes.
After a dozen seconds, it seemed enough light element was absorbed, and it stopped doing so.
The eyes on the sides suddenly began to glisten with light.
Then the closed eyes suddenly opened.
A light ray suddenly emitted from the depths of the eyes.
The pure white light ray was very dazzling as it streaked past everyone’s field of view.
In almost an instant, it struck the sea five nautical miles away.
A pillar exploded from the ocean surface.
What an extraordinary might!
Upon seeing this, the masses were first stunned, but then cheered. For a moment, everyone was clamoring about the light cannon turret with each other.
The dragonman youngster’s eyes contracted, and his heart was quickly assessing it.
“The light cannon has silver level might.”
“But the light ray’s flight speed is too fast, almost all gold artillery shells cannot compete with it.”
“I can’t tell how fast its firing rate is…but based on how long it took to absorb light, it shouldn’t be low.”
“But its range isn’t that big, after all a light ray is not a physical artillery shell.”
“There is also another crucial thing.”
“How much does it cost to fire a light ray?”
When he thought that, the dragonman youngster couldn’t help but laugh.
He cared about costs, but Hun Tong didn’t need to.
He owned Two Eyes Island and had astonishing wealth. He probably didn’t care about how much it cost.
The dragonman’s heart quivered, “The light cannon turret is newly built, do we know how many more will be constructed? Was it the rampant pirates that pressured Hun Tong into building it?”
The light cannon turret was considered to be a brief interlude.
Cang Xu followed up, “In the waters near Two Eyes Island, the strongest pirate group is called the Ten Touch Pirates. Their commander is Qi You, a gold level fighter and an expert at night naval battles.”
“There are three silver level pirate groups: the Stench Pirates, the Clapping Pirates, and the Lightning Pirates. Their leaders are the depraved druid ‘Yang Cong Tou’, the frogmen “Da Zhang Hu Li’, and the lighting fist, ‘Shou Dian Wan’. Without exception, they are all silver levels.”
Two Eyes Island was far more prosperous than Snake Rat Island.
Therefore, not only was there a gold level pirate group lurking about, but there were also three silver level pirate groups too.
Apart from those, there were also many small bronze and iron level pirate ships.
In this environment, the Dragon Lion Mercenary Group with their two silver levels didn’t stand out at all.
“The night inquiry got decent results.” The dragonman youngster nodded.
“We still need to keep on gathering intelligence.”
“Additionally, have we found the one who stabbed Xu Ma?”
Cang Xu shook his head, “Not yet.”
Last night, Xu Ma returned with a dagger embedded in his body and immediately reported what had happened to him.
Naturally, the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps searched for the assailant.
That same night, the dragonman youngster had dispatched a squad. Unfortunately, by the time they reached the scene of the crime, they found that all traces had been cleaned up.
They searched the tavern and asked many people, but didn’t find any trails.
Cang Xu then said, “We are gathering information, of course others are gathering information on us too.”
“Xu Ma hasn’t been a member for long, he doesn’t know much.”
“The information he knew isn’t very valuable, all of it was exposed on Snake Rat Island or during the naval battle.”
Cang Xu sighed, “Although Two Eyes Island is bustling and flourishing, it has a far more complex environment than Snake Rat Island."
“Each merchant alliance power fights and schemes against each other.”
“Outside pirates are sneaking in to dispose of stolen goods.”
“As for Hun Tong…”
Cang Xu smiled and changed the conversation, “My Lord, do you know the Duo Mu Clan’s motto?”
The dragonman youngster shook his head ignorantly.
His understanding of imperial nobles was inferior to Cang Xu’s.
Cang Xu then said, “This is the Duo Mu Clan’s motto – Turn a blind eye.”
“It is because of Hun Tong intentional indulgence that Two Eyes Island has developed this way. As this is the place pirates dispose of their stolen goods, Hun Tong profits greatly from them.”
“Based in Hun Tong’s financial resources, he could establish a mage tower. Yet he chose to build a light cannon turret instead.”
A mage tower was a very comprehensive and capable building.
Not only could it detect, and counter detect, it could also be treated as a center to control magic formations from. If an enemy attacked it, it could combine both attack and defense. At the same time, it could also be a production factory. Apprentices and magicians could make medicine and alchemy goods in the tower. It was also a place of learning where magicians could pass on the secrets of magic.
Cang Xu’s gaze remained sharp, and his words could even be said to hit the nail on the head.
“I understand.” When the dragonman youngster heard Cang Xu’s words, he immediately had a deeper understanding of the situation on Two Eyes Island.
Cang Xu continued, “Now that Two Eyes Island is changing which is sinking and floating, the old industry on the island will migrate. The old island will hold a discount market, and the new island will have an auction.”
“This time every year, all sorts of pirates will come to dump their stolen wares and will be purchased by all sorts of powers.”
“Two Eyes Island already has fish and dragons mixed in together, there is a turbulent undercurrent to it. We are foreigners, newcomers, and I fear that a hasty inquiry will cause unnecessary trouble.”
“To be frank, I don’t suggest we do this.”
“The other party could have killed Xu Ma, but didn’t, they simply requested some information.”
“The information also wasn’t significant.”
The dragonman youngster immediately shook his head, his bearing resolute, “No, we must investigate.”
“Xu Ma is one of us, no matter how long he has been a member.”
“If we don’t protect our people, then how can we expect them to be loyal and united?”
Cang Xu didn’t refute him, rather he yielded, “We go where you determine, your Lordship.”