Chapter 469: Section 256: Snow Elf’s Inspection
Ku Feng’s reaction was even faster than the Little Prince’s cry for help.
He grabbed Cang Xu by the collar and dragged him back.
Cang Xu was startled awake.
He was horrified to find himself unknowingly leaning over the side of the ship, his upper body protruding out, about to fall into the Nether River.
“Newcomer, you actually dare to stare at the Nether River; that’s truly ignorance and fearlessness,” the Little Prince exclaimed, patting his ribs with his small palm.
“Do not gaze at the Nether River; it will absorb your soul,” Ku Feng explained.
“Thank you,” Cang Xu said, shivering with a lingering fear.
Compared to veterans of undead life like the Little Prince and Ku Feng, his knowledge seemed very shallow.
In fact, conventional books would never record the taboos related to the Nether River.
Any knowledge related to the undead was tightly controlled by major powers. And with the increasing activities of undead mages, the controls had only gotten stronger.
The Little Prince sighed, “It’s a pity that the Black Iron cloaked man didn’t follow us. Since he could travel through the Shadow Plane, he should also have the ability to break into the Netherworld through it.”
“If he came here without a ghost ship, he would definitely have been absorbed by the Nether River.”
The Nether River was extremely perilous; figures like Qing Xin could only survive on a ghost ship, for on her own, she would likely have been absorbed by the river before she could react.
Cang Xu steadied his emotions and once again glanced at the Nether River, but this time, he only used his peripheral vision and constantly shifted his gaze.
He uttered a heartfelt sigh, “The Nether River, what a mysterious and marvelous entity. During the process of my soul being absorbed, I felt infinite peace, as if a weary traveler had returned to a warm home.”
“I also saw a shadowy figure in the Nether River; I don’t know what it was.”
Ku Feng’s expression changed instantly upon hearing this.
“What, newcomer, what did you just see?” exclaimed the Little Prince.
Cang Xu became nervous, “I wasn’t clear; it looked like a blurry figure, vaguely resembling a human figure.”
The next moment, a wailing sound arose as a ghost emerged from the Nether River and blocked the path of the ghost ship.
A Golden Level Water Ghost!
Cang Xu was startled, but then he slightly relaxed, “Thank goodness, it’s only Golden Level.”
But the Little Prince and Ku Feng both became panic-stricken.
The Little Prince’s voice changed in his urgency, “That’s nonsense! In the Nether River, Golden Level entities usually survive in groups.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the wailing intensified.
A dozen Golden Level Water Ghosts ascended, blocking the way for the ghost ship.
Both Cang Xu and Qing Xin were shocked.
“Captain Ghost, help, save us!” the Little Prince screamed.
In fact, there was no need for the Little Prince to shout; Captain Ghost had already been alerted by the enemy situation.
“Everybody, get into the cabin; I’m returning to the Main World!” Captain Ghost called out.
Cang Xu and others hurriedly scrambled into the cabin.
Fortunately, the group of Water Ghosts lacked spiritual intelligence; they were completely eroded by negative energy, and even their memories were erased.
The Water Ghosts retained only a hatred for living beings.
From this ghost ship, they vaguely sensed the presence of life but were confused.
While they were circling the ghost ship, the space fluctuated violently, and the ghost ship dispersed like mist.
“We’re back!” When Cang Xu and others returned to the deck, what they saw were blue skies and white clouds and a deserted island not far away.
“Where is this?” Qing Xin asked.
Cang Xu then took out his palm compass to determine their direction.
Captain Ghost’s voice rang out, “This is one of my strongholds, containing some of my resources. Most importantly, there’s a Sorrowful Song Tombstone here. It provides the spatial coordinates that allow me to quickly return to the Main World.”
“Wait a moment,” Cang Xu felt something was off as he looked at the sunrise in the east, “The timing is wrong; it was only afternoon when we left Songfeng Island.”
The Little Prince laughed mischievously, “You’re so clueless, newcomer.”
“Do you think traveling on the Nether River only involves changes in space?”
“The flow of time between the two planes is different; to be precise, this is already four days after the Battle of Songfeng Seas.”
Cang Xu widened his eyes in realization, “So that’s how it is!”
Captain Ghost’s voice came again, “I need to heal my injuries; let’s rest here. We cannot stay too long, as Fin Spirit has become a traitor, making this place no longer safe.”
On mention of Fin Spirit, the Little Prince snorted coldly, his anger quickly rising.
Just as he was about to start berating, from one side of the deserted island, a fleet of ships appeared.
On the ghost ship, everyone’s faces changed color simultaneously.
“Oh no, it’s the Petal Snake Pirate Group of the Sea Snake Lady!”
Upon entering the Ice Sculpture Sea Territory, everyone in the Dragon Lion Mercenary Group felt the same thing—
The temperature was dropping.
As they approached Ice Sculpture Island, the temperature dropped even further.
When the undead mages encountered the fleet of the Sea Snake Lady, at the forefront of the Dragon Lion Mercenary Group, another fleet also appeared.
“This is the Ice Sculpture Sea Territory, territorial waters of the Ice Sculpture Kingdom. We are the kingdom’s 17th Patrol Fleet. If you wish to land on Ice Sculpture Island, please stop your ships for inspection and registration,” the Fleet Captain, a Silver Level fighter, announced through a loudspeaker.
“Two Silver Level, three Bronze Level demon energy ships,” observed the Dragon-man youth from a distance, sensing the aura of the opposing fleet.
Bai Ya, who was assigned to clean the deck that day, exclaimed in amazement upon hearing the patrol fleet’s announcement, “My God, they are only the 17th patrol fleet; this implies there are at least 16 other fleets of similar size, huh? The strength of Ice Sculpture Kingdom is incredible!”
The mercenaries by his side immediately began to ridicule him, “Young man, you know too little. Ice Sculpture Island is not on the same level as Snake Rat Island or Twin Eyes Island.”
“Its land is vast, hosting at least a dozen cities and up to eight major ports.”
“The patrol fleet is not even the main naval force of the Ice Sculpture Kingdom. The kingdom has three main fleets, including the royal fleet whose flagship is of Holy Domain Level!”
Bai Ya was dumbfounded as he listened.
With substantial naval power, Ice Sculpture Island ensured the security of its waters.
In fact, while still some distance from the island, the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corp had already encountered the patrol fleet.
Judging from this distance, the area patrolled by the fleet was at least a hundred times larger than that of the Twin Eyes Island’s patrol team!
The Dragon-man youth ordered the ship to halt and prepare for inspection.
Stopping a ship at sea is quite challenging, as sometimes the anchor struggles to reach the seabed.
However, the patrol fleet did not require the ship to remain completely still. They sent out an inspection team comprised of Transcendents who jumped over from five or six meters away.
Snow Elves!
Most of the mercenaries’ eyes widened in astonishment as they took in these people.
Technically, these were not people but members of the Elf Clan.
The Elf Clan included many categories, like Wood Elves, Dark Elves (Zor), and Sea Elves. These were Snow Elves, one category among them.
Snow Elves exhibited the typical traits of the Elf Clan. Regardless of gender, they were handsome with tall and slender figures.
They possessed the characteristic long ears of the Elf Clan, while their white hair and eyebrows were distinctive bloodline traits of Snow Elves.
Members of the Snow Elf investigation team all wore leather armor and were armed with scimitars.
They carried special alchemy tools to search for hidden items.
Zong Ge quietly observed and noted that one small investigation team consisted of seven members, including at least one Mage.
The ratio of Mages to fighters was 1:6.
This number was quite astonishing!
This was also an advantage of the Elf bloodline—their magical talent was very strong, far surpassing that of the Human Race.
Two investigation teams jointly inspected the Triangular Love Ship.
This was their main object of inspection.
“Stay back, Human Race,” the Snow Elf said arrogantly, wielding a long-handled alchemy item, scanning back and forth.
The item featured an iron ring at its tip, emitting a blue glow.
From the ship’s ladder into the next level, the investigator stopped in front of a cabin door and did not move.
His long-handled iron ring emitted a red light.
“What’s in here?” the Snow Elf investigator asked sternly, “Please open this so we can continue the inspection.”
The Dragon-man youth ordered the cabin door to be opened.
A room filled with weapons and armor was revealed to the Snow Elves.
The Snow Elves, upon seeing the walls adorned with alchemy crossbows and firearms, twitched their eyelids.
These ranged weapons came from the War Merchant’s arsenal and were naturally well-crafted.
Such a sight was rarely seen by the Snow Elf investigator.
“This is the armory. Under normal circumstances, all these equipments are stored together. They are only issued in emergencies during wartime,” explained Lan Zao, who accompanied them.
The Snow Elf investigator nodded. “A very fine system.”
“Look what I have found!” another Snow Elf investigator couldn’t help but whistle.
His long-handled iron ring was also emitting red light.
In front of him was a cannon.
A Golden Level cannon.
Chi Lai stood beside the cannon and told the Snow Elf investigator coldly, “It is my treasure, as you see. It needs repair.”
The Snow Elf investigator nodded, took out paper and pen, and said while recording, “My country has many excellent Alchemists; Bing Bing Liang’s Alchemy Workshop is among the world leaders. You’ll get it fixed. Of course, that assumes you’re prepared to pay substantial repair fees.”
Chi Lai nodded, remaining silent.
Meanwhile, the Snow Elf inspector responsible for the Iron Lump surveyed the Feathered Serpent Sail with critical eyes, “It’s hard to imagine that you’ve mounted such a beautiful sail on this clumsy guy. My goodness, it’s only a temporary mana conduit setup. Don’t you realize that this kind of mana transfer is unstable? Using the Feathered Serpent Sail this way is shortening its lifespan! It’s sheer wastefulness.”
The investigation team inspected thoroughly, almost clearing the bottom of the ship.
Zong Ge remained stony-faced.
Being a general, it was extremely displeasing and even humiliating for his team’s secrets to be thoroughly scrutinized like this.
The results of the inspection were reported to the captain of the patrol fleet.
“Three demon energy ships, the Black Iron Level Triangular Love Ship, the Bronze Level White Bandage and Iron Lump.”
“Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps… squad leader Long Fu of Silver Level, Vice Captain Lion Flag also of Silver Level. Besides, a few other Silver Level fighters.”
“A Golden Level cannon, the same level of the Feathered Serpent Sail…”
“For a small mercenary group, to possess Golden Level items! The number of Silver Level items is also substantial. Truly a deep foundation and full of talent.”
“But…” the patrol fleet captain mused with a strange expression, “What’s going on with this team? They have members of various races.”
“Dwarves, Water Pigmen, Shiba Inu, Human Race, Half-Giant, Dragon-men… Are they running a circus?”
“It’s too chaotic!”
The patrol fleet captain worried for the Dragon-man youth. Such a multi-racial and multi-faith team, how could it possibly be managed?
If he knew the Dragon Lion Mercenary Group also included Half-Beasts, goblins, and even an Undead Mage, who knew what he would think.