Chapter 1102: Chapter 709, Fishman Warrior
The fishmen of the ‘Thornfin Sea’ evidently possessed a higher intelligence.
Not only did they exhibit courtesy, but they also wished to have a conversation with Fang Hao and inquire about certain situations.
It seemed there was no difference from any ordinary power.
*Fang Hao even suspected that these fishmen had been watching the battle from afar and only came over to ask questions after it concluded.*
“What did they just say to you?” Fang Hao asked.
“They asked about my origin, whether there was any news of the Father God, and the force to which I am currently loyal,” the ancient blood priest replied in a muffled voice.
Priests and clerics, in races that have faith in deities, always held very high status.
The appearance of a long-lost priest naturally drew the attention of these fishmen.
Even though the ancient blood priest was now merely a living dead retaining a fishman form.
“They’re able to communicate?”
“They can communicate. I informed them that I had been dead and lacked the information they required, and that it was you who revived me, and I now serve you,” the ancient blood priest continued.
Undead heroes crafted had their memories altered.
Clearly, Nelson had erased the part where Fang Hao attacked the temple and fought with him, replacing it with Fang Hao reviving him.
Fang Hao nodded, continuing, “Well, have the person they want to talk with come over. I am also willing to maintain peace with the fishmen.”
Even the ship’s bow had been changed, indicating no desire for a war with the fishmen.
At least, unsure of whether there were treasures at the location of the rumored chart, he did not want to engage in war with the fishmen.
There was no need, and after all, the ocean was not the development direction he intended.
“Yes, my lord.”
The ancient blood priest left, returning shortly with a fishman across the ranks of the undead.
With a leap, he sprang from the water onto the deck.
[Kautz General – Glukiro (Purple Tier 4 Hero)].
Purple hero.
This ‘Kautz General’ bore no overall difference from the fishmen encountered previously.
The scales were more vibrant, and its back had spines protruding one by one.
The body was slightly larger compared to ordinary Kautz fishmen.
The upper body was mostly bare, with only two round Heart-Preserving Mirrors on the chest.
They looked somewhat like women’s lingerie.
In the sunlight, they glittered.
Yet, it was certain that this fishman was definitely male.
The lower body equipped with a skirt armor, holding a trident in hand, with hammer- and nail-shaped tools hanging at the waist.
They seemed purposely designed to hammer the ship.
*Fang Hao further suspected that if he hadn’t dealt with that fleet, these fishmen might have come to hammer holes in the ship.*
“I’m Fang Hao. What does this commander wish to discuss with me?” Fang Hao spoke first.
The fishman opposite also took a moment to study Fang Hao and the few heroes beside him.
For fishmen, Lizardmen and Orcs were still rather rare to see.
“Glukiro, welcome, human friend,” the fishman expressed amicably, then continued, “We heard fighting and came to verify the situation.”
The fishman’s tone was peculiar, but the system provided a translation.
Fang Hao nodded and said, “That fleet saw I only had one ship and tried to plunder me, so I had to teach them a lesson.”
“Recently, there have often been battles between ships occurring here,” the fishman commented.
“Yeah.”
The fishman general continued to ask, “Where is the destination of your journey? We may escort your sea vessel over.”
Possibly, the bow totem played a role.
The fishman showed ample friendliness, even offering to escort their sea vessel across.
In Bai Xuan’s intelligence,
fishmen typically did not engage with foreign forces in any exchange. If any fleet entered the ‘Thornfin Sea,’ they would get attacked.
Such inquiries like this would never occur.
Therefore, the Federation and the Sea Tribe believed fishmen were an uncivilized race, impossible to communicate with.
Fang Hao smiled and said, “Actually, our purpose for this journey is to go to the ‘Thornfin Sea’ to discuss cooperation with you.”
“Cooperation?”
This reply was evidently beyond the fishman general’s expectations.
Fishmen were known never to contact the outside world, let alone cooperate.
“Yes, I have some equipment that you can use and would like to trade with you,” Fang Hao explained.
It had been somewhat unwise to straightforwardly say he came to the center of their territory looking for treasures.
A simple and reasonable excuse was to see if there really were treasures, then make further decisions.
The fishman pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, “I will convey your message back. You can wait here for my news.”
“Sure, these two sets of equipment I intend to sell, you can take them back,” Fang Hao handed two sets of gear from his storage space.
One was the blue ‘Agile White Steel Set,’ usually fishmen equipment.
The second was the purple ‘Wanderer’s Set,’ also obtained from a treasure chest in the Fishmen Temple.
“Alright, don’t leave this area,” the fishman took the two sets of equipment, said another sentence, then jumped back into the sea, leading the fishman troop away.
Fang Hao could not leave for a while.
After all, the items in those sunken ships had not yet been salvaged.
“Gulrukubagu, continue having people salvage items of value, bring them up before the fishmen return.”
Watching the fishman general depart, Fang Hao continued to give orders.
“Yes, my lord.”
Splash!
All the ocean undead immediately dispersed, proceeding to the location of the sunken ships to continue salvaging items.
…
Very soon, the deck was piled high with assorted goods.
Over a hundred field cannons, various types of gear, weapons, and even fire shot pellets covered the entire deck.
Additionally, there were gold and silver utensils, chandeliers, carpets from the ships, water barrels, mops, and even various vegetables and foods.
The variety was truly vast.
Field cannons salvaged were immediately exchanged by Fang Hao as soon as they were brought up.
After all, the deck space was limited.
Demitrija and Anjia were tallying the quantity of trophies.
Meanwhile, Fang Hao turned his attention to the Book of Lords beside him.
During a transmigrator’s death, the Book of Lords wouldn’t vanish immediately.
Fang Hao hadn’t tested the exact duration.
But clearly, the time had not yet arrived for these dead ones to disappear.
Without hesitation, he began to devour the books one by one.
[Capable of devouring 52 Books of Lords.]
Then, a stack of Books of Lords transformed into stars and merged into Fang Hao’s Book of Lords.
[You have gained decisiveness over 52 territories.]
[Occupy/Abandon]
[Occupy: It will become your subsidiary territory and can continue to develop.]
[Abandon: You will gain 50% – 80% of the territory’s resources, and the territory will be abandoned.]
Fang Hao glanced at the positions indicated on the map.
It was in a further southern location, according to the nautical chart in Captain Bai Xuan’s cabin.
It should be the location of ‘Giant Claw Island.’
He chose to occupy one of them.
All the other 51 were abandoned.
[You have occupied 1 subsidiary territory, owning the territory and its affiliated city rights.]
[You can establish ‘deputy governor’ in the Book of Lords.]
[You have abandoned 51 subsidiary territories, gaining 80% of their territory resources and 50% of their building resources as a return.]
A massive supply of goods was transported over from the direction of Giant Claw Island.
Directly into the main city’s warehouse.
On the Book of Lords’ map, those abandoned territories were shrouded in mist once more, making them unobservable.
[Book of Lords elevated to level eleven, marching speed +8%, resource exploitation +10%, unit attack +5.5, regional/world channel speech +110.]
Though the levels of these people’s Books of Lords weren’t high, the sheer number made up for it.
It elevated Fang Hao’s level from eight directly to eleven.
[New blueprints unlocked: Dark Reef Fortress Construction Blueprint (Purple), Pearlescent Fish Pond Farm Construction Blueprint (Blue), Coral Aquatic Prison Construction Blueprint (Blue), …, White Steel Katana Construction Blueprint (Blue), Hard Silver Katana Construction Blueprint (Blue), …, Sailboat Construction Blueprint (Blue), Large Sea Tribe Vessel Construction Blueprint (Purple) …]
Blueprints were unlocked one by one.
With the advantage in numbers, the quantity remained quite sufficient.
From buildings to weapons and armor, and even sea vessels, sails, and various tools.
But it was also evident that they were all related to the ocean.
[Dark Reef Fortress: Hard and Resilient Wood 1500, Fine Crafted Bricks 850, Reefs 450, Cast Iron blocks 220, Metal Parts 150.]
(Description: The looming and concealed reef becomes the strongest fortress, blocking enemy navigation.)
According to its description, the Dark Reef Fortress was an obstacle designed to impede ships’ progress.
Yet, with its purple rating, it likely had some special uses.
[Pearlescent Fish Pond Farm] is a building for culturing marine life, corresponding to the land’s farms and ranches.
Effect: Growth +15%, Reproduction +10%.
This blueprint was quite decent, at least functional for him.
[Coral Aquatic Prison] corresponds to buildings like blood prisons or dungeons.
The inclusion of coral walls in the materials signifies its function to imprison underwater captives.
As for land captives, imprisoning them in Coral Aquatic Prisons would lead to their drowning; it was unnecessary to go through that trouble.
Having looked through the building blueprints,
Fang Hao quickly scanned through a few equipment blueprints.
Ultimately, his attention fell on the two katana designs.
[White Steel Katana: Hard and Resilient Wood 2, Cast Iron block 5, White Steel Ingot 5, Metal Parts 6, Linen 3.]
[Hard Silver Katana: Ironized Wood 1, Cast Iron block 8, Fine Iron 3, Mithril 2, Metal Parts 5, Soft Leather 1, Linen 3.]
The White Steel Katana belonged to the blue weapons category; it could be manufactured and sold on the channel.
[Hard Silver Katana] had already reached purple quality, with the addition of fine iron and mithril in the materials.
The weapon itself increased sharpness by 7%.
It was suitable to equip ‘Beiyehu’ with two katanas, as she didn’t bring any weapons or equipment when summoned.
After glancing at the ship blueprints, Fang Hao also looked at the remaining household items.
They were not particularly interesting.
These were little things he had no use for and couldn’t sell well on the channel.
They were merely items that were neither here nor there.
…
During the wait for news from the fishmen,
Fang Hao exchanged for several fishing rods, sitting with Anjia and others on the railing to fish.
Not that they really aimed to catch anything.
Just to pass the time.
If they truly wanted to eat fish, the simplest way would be to have the underwater units catch some, filling several barrels quickly.
If they fancied shark, it could be arranged too.
Splash!
The ancient blood priest emerged again from the water, “My lord, the fishman who left has returned.”
“Let him come over then.”
Soon, the departing ‘Kautz General’ leaped back onto the deck, saying, “Come with me then, I’ll lead you in, but make sure to restrain the surrounding undead.”
*Upon hearing the agreement, Fang Hao also smiled.*
*The plan proceeded more smoothly than anticipated.*
“Alright, let’s go!”
The fishman dove back into the sea, leading a group of fishmen ahead as guides.
With a wave of his hand, Fang Hao directed the White Satin Queen to move slowly, following closely behind the fishmen.
…
The journey delved deep into the ‘Thornfin Sea.’
More and more fishmen gathered around the sea vessel, gazing downward.
Everywhere he looked was a dense swarm of dark shadows.
The number of fishmen exceeded his expectations by a large margin.
Soon, the leading fishman lightly knocked on the boat’s side, “We’re here. Come down with me!”
Go down?
Fang Hao was about to say descending might be inconvenient for him.
But that fishman splashed down at once.
He had to release the Deomn Doll, then followed suit into the sea.
“Gulrukubagu, come along and have a look,” Fang Hao controlled the Deomn Doll, saying to the ancient blood priest.