“In any case, Lord Zhen Jin, are you able to use battle qi?” Cang Xu inquired.
Zhen Jin shook his head to state that he could not.
He originally planned with Zi Di to conceal his inability to use battle qi. However, since they had reached this point in their discussions, hiding it was meaningless.
Zhen Jin still concealed his amnesia however.
Cang Xu sighed: “If anyone was able to activate gold level or below battle qi, it would disprove my conjectures. This rotten old man actually hoped his conjectures were wrong.”
Zhen Jin asked: “So Mr Cang Xu, do you have any good ideas to overcome the magic beasts and environment on this island to reach our destination smoothly?”
Cang Xu laughed bitterly: “My lord, you have overestimated me. I am only an old man with one foot already in the grave.
1
I have served the Sha Ta Clan for most of my life, and the reason I left in the last stages of my life is because I want to see the beastmen in person, to explore the Beastmen Continent’s unique ecology, and to complete one of my book of sciences.”
“I have named this book <
The Theory of Evolution>
.
2
Although I believe that the cycles of life and balance in nature remain in good condition, the different life forms that live in it are not static. Regardless of whether it is humans, dragons, or perhaps beasts and monsters, all of us are slowly evolving.”
“Evolution is closely linked to the changes in the natural environment and the changes in the way organisms live.”
1
Zhen Jin nodded: “This is bound to be a classic.”
Cang Xu sincerely bowed: “It was my misfortune to be involved in a shipwreck, but encountering so many strange monsters here has made me ecstatic. Because this perspective will provide strong evidence and proof for my <
Theory of Evolution>
. It is because of this that I applied of my own accord to join the exploration team with the goal of coming in contact and examining these monsters personally.”
“It is my honour to meet your lordship here. During these times, I will serve you with all of my strength and loyalty!”
“I am ashamed to fail any of your expectations my lord, but I can only ask you to forgive my incompetence. After all…I am just a scholar.”
“I understand.” Zhen Jin nodded.
He had noticed that while Huang Zao and Lan Zao had sold themselves as his servants, Cang Xu did not want to surrender to him.
What Cang Xu meant was this: During the time they were on this island and needed to escape from all sorts of danger, he would fully assist and devote himself to Zhen Jin. And once they reached the Beastmen Continent, he would part with Zhen Jin and move on his own to finish his book, <
The Theory of Evolution>
.
“If I become the lord of White Sand City, I will be sure to help you gather information on the beastmen.” Zhen Jin replied.
“Then I am truly grateful!” Cang Xu deeply bowed once again.
Zi Di then spoke suddenly: “If Mr. Cang Xu’s hypothesis is true, then both this island and the magic beasts were all transformed. In that case, this island is bound to have a central hub. Say, what do you think will happen if we find this central hub?”
This was a bold idea!
Lan Zao promptly replied: “Isn’t that too dangerous? An existence that can transform an entire island and also create so many magic beasts is something that we cannot resist. This is simply asking for death!”
Zi Di smiled and shook her head: “Not really.”
“Think carefully, according to our previous analysis, there are two strong possibilities.”
“Possibility one, the island master is away and not on the island. This is the most opportune time for us to launch an attack on the central hub.”
“Possibility two, the island master has always been here, but they have not been observing us or making us struggle, and might not care about us at all. But if we were to successfully escape from this island, they would definitely take action to dispose of us to maintain their secrets.”
“Therefore, rather than letting that happen, it is better to storm the central hub directly.”
2
“Once the central hub is destroyed, we would be able to stop the teleportations and restore the island’s normal environment. We would then be able to use magic and battle qi while those terrifying beasts would perish as a result. This would be extremely beneficial for us to escape.”
Lan Zao was dumbstruck, it makes sense when you think about it this way!
Zi Di once more looked at Zhen Jin, her eyes glittering: “Lord Zhen Jin, we are heading to the Beastmen Continent to fight for White Sand City. If we can obtain this kind of magic technology, we can mass produce silver level and even gold level magic beasts. Even if these vicious beasts can only last a short period of time, they can still self detonate. Don’t you think this would be a huge advantage for us?”
For a split second, Zhen Jin felt a rush of excitement.
3
Gold level subordinates were an extravagant thing!
In addition, the words “mass produce” sounded wonderful. 。
What was more wonderful was that the manufactured beasts would be fearless and fight to their death. This would give their enemies an extreme headache and even induce dread.
Zhen Jin looked at Zi Di’s crystal-like purple eyes and they seemed like they were glowing with gold coins at this moment.
Zhen Jin’s understanding of Zi Di suddenly grew deeper.
The teenage knight couldn’t help but think that the girl before him deserved to be called the president of a merchant alliance. For the purpose of pursuing huge benefits, she would even temporarily throw her life to the back of her mind.
But Zhen Jin didn’t state his position yet, instead he looked at Cang Xu.
“Mr. Cang Xu, what do you think?” Zhen Jin was displaying how much he valued Cang Xu.
His previous remarks improved Zhen Jin’s evaluation of Cang Xu. Within him, Zhen Jin sensed the great power of knowledge.
Cang Xu’s broad mindedness, rich knowledge, and profound experiences helped reveal a layer of the mysterious fog surrounding this mysterious island to Zhen Jin and Zi Di.
“My Lord.” Cang Xu spoke slowly, “I do not agree with Lord Zi Di’s proposal.”
“First, we do not know the specific location of the central hub. Looking for this central hub is bound to take us all over the island, we would need to confront all kinds of strange and terrible beasts as well as this nasty and harsh environment.”
“Second, say we found the central hub. Common sense predicts that the island master is sure to put stringent and formidable defenses around it. Can we even get past the defenses by relying on just ourselves? If we recklessly attacked the central hub, would we not alert the island master who might be away?”
“Third, concerning the island master’s existence, the terrain changes, and these fierce beasts; these are all just my speculations and conjectures, I have no direct proof. Perhaps my guesses are wrong, and this island is extremely unusual amongst heaven and earth and we can never fathom the power and will of nature.”
“Fourth, despite there being a teleportation mechanism, there is still a time interval between each activation. In theory, as long as we maintain a correct direction and advance quickly enough, we will be able to cross the mountainous forest and other zones and return to the beach. Even if we get teleported midway once more, there is a high probability that the teleportation is random. Therefore as long as we repeat these steps constantly, it is likely we will reach our destination.”
Zhen Jin pondered over it for a moment and then nodded: “Your analysis is good. The central hub is covered in fog, the risk is too high, and our strength is lacking. Our first objective is to join with the larger groups and make a ship to escape this island as soon as possible.”
“I will obey your command, master.” Lan Zao replied immediately.
Cang Xu seemed to be relieved.
Zi Di opened her mouth and tried to say something but hesitated and in the end did not say anything.
“Go out and tell them to rest for another 15 minutes, and then we will set out.” Zhen Jin ordered.
“My Lord.” Cang Xu opened his mouth, “I have a small suggestion.”
“Please tell me Mr. Cang Xu.”
“My lord, please allow me to report to you a joyous discovery.” Cang Xu pointed to the mountainous forest zone on the small map, “Here, in the front ahead of our current exploration,there is a large flock of goats, at least one thousand.”
“I strongly recommend hunting this flock of goats. This way, we will have plenty of food.”
Zhen Jin furrowed his brow slightly: “A large flock of goats, numbering in the thousands?”
The youngster looked at Cang Xu and then at Lan Zao.
Lan Zao replied immediately: “Master, there really is a flock of a thousand goats. We have already tried and succeeded in hunting two of them. They are timid and gentle and only think of escaping. They are not at all dangerous. Many exploration team members feel that this is a gift from the gods!”
“But, our current food reserves are very abundant.” Spoke Zi Di.
“For now, they are.” Cang Xu nodded, “However, we still need to guard against the occurrence of many mishaps and surprises. For example, say the teleportation mechanism activates and sends us to the desert zone once again.”
Cang Xu looked at Zhen Jin again, he knew Zhen Jin was the one who could make the decision: “According to our investigation, the leader of this flock of goats only emits a bronze aura.”
“Lord Zhen Jin, there is no need to worry too much. This flock of goats is on the lower end of the natural circle, there must be many many beasts, even gold level beasts feeding on them. Perhaps the white bone feathered deer is also among them. Therefore, the biggest risk in hunting the flock wantonly is not the flock itself, but rather other predators.”
“This point is easy to guard against, after all we are not in direct confrontation with these predators.”
Zhen Jin pondered quietly and didn’t reply.
Cang Xu spoke again: “Lord Zhen Jin, the main reason why the exploration team set off was to gather sufficient food for the ones constructing the ship. Although we have been lost on this island for many days, if we bring back enough food, it will definitely uplift their morale and be of great help to them. At the same time, it will also be of great help to you, my lord.”
Zhen Jin nodded: “This is a good proposal, in that case it seems we need to modify our itinerary a bit. First we will hunt the goats, then we will set off on our journey.”
Based on their previous experiences, Zhen Jin knew that there weren’t many opportunities to hunt easily on this danger-filled island.
Giving this up now meant that there was a possibility of never having such a good opportunity in the future.
According to their plans after that, he did not intend to go as deep into the island’s hinterlands as he had now.
Therefore, he was willing to follow their good advice.
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, not the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”
Charles Darwin Zhen Jin and Zi Di getting feelings of euphoria on the concept of mass production is one of the funniest things in this chapter. Also if you think the name of Cang Xu’s book is familiar, it's because the title of it is the literal Chinese translation of Charles Darwin’s work
A Theory of Evolution
. Of course natural selection within a novel tends to favor the named rather than the unnamed as it is far easier to kill off a bunch of nameless placeholders rather than a single person with whom the audience connects with. But such quandaries are not going to stop our band of misfits from speculating like a bunch of ASOIAF nerds.
Translation Notes
(行将就木: to approach one's coffin (idiom); with one foot in the grave ) (The is the literal translation of Darwin’s theory of evolution) (怦然心动: to feel a rush of excitement (idiom)) Editor Notes
(this sentence kind of doesn’t make sense, since evolution = survival of fittest, so it doesn’t make sense for it to be integrated with itself. I think the author is having trouble separating explaining evolution to readers who already know the definition and the characters who don’t even know what it means. He should be explaining what evolution means here)(I big brain it with mtl) (for some reason my brain wants to say “it would be better.” Not sure why this sounds better to me and I can’t justify it technically. Edit: I think it’s the hypothetical context: “This is a possibility, so rather than letting this hypothetical scenario take place, it
would
be better to …”)(yea she is referring to an actual situation rather than a hypothesis.)