Under the faint yellow candlelight, Zong Ge calmly looked at Tripleblade.
The goblin kneeling before him had a white scarf covering his mouth, however his eyes were filled with sincerity and resolve.
At that moment, Zong Ge’s understanding of Tripleblade suddenly deepened.
Apart from being his savior, Tripleblade followed Zong Ge for another reason, identity.
We are all the same, people on the fringes of society. All of us are pushed aside, suppressed, and discriminated against. If we were pure blooded humans, our lives would definitely be better. But in reality, even if we have strong abilities and have outstanding contributions, we will never receive fair treatment.
As a result, Tripleblade wanted Zong Ge to succeed compared to Zhen Jin.
Zong Ge was silent for a moment before indifferently speaking: “Tripleblade, I understand your loyalty. However……you cannot do something so rash.”
“Zhen Jin, this youngster, is very skilled.”
“He publicly invited us in spite of the opposition, during dinner he gave us roasted meat and potions in front of everyone, and even actively suggested we share information. These kinds of actions are deeply embedded into the popular feeling.
“Regardless of your justification tomorrow, as long as you challenge him, it will enrage the others. They will believe you fail to appreciate kindness and don’t know gratitude. They will surely believe that this was pushed by me and not your original idea because you follow me.
Zong Ge laughed: “It’s like how they are framing me as the captain’s murderer. The truth is not important, only the will of the people is.”
“But my Lord, if we do not take measures as soon as possible……” Tripleblade bit his teeth and showed his hesitation.
Zong Ge continued: “If you challenge Zhen Jin now, the person who would benefit the most would be him.”
“Do you know why we were invited and why we are staying in a nearby camp? Not only is he guarding against us or perhaps enticing our people, he is also deepening his influence over the sailors.”
“He only met Xi Suo today, yet he immediately ascended to leader and seized power from Xi Suo’s hands. Why did Xi Suo not rebel but would rather swallow a bitter fruit?”
“Not only is it because of Zhen Jin’s status, it is also because Zhen Jin saved the camp and their lives, and even more so on the account of our presence.
“Really.” When Tripleblade was reminded, he suddenly realized, “If I challenge Zhen Jin, it will surely cause Xi Suo to attach himself more to Zhen Jin and the gap between them will decrease to a negligible degree because of my actions.
Zong Ge nodded: “I cannot incite more conflict and increase the opposition between each other. Status and bloodlines are our weak points, we need to gain more of the sailors’ trust. If not, even if we beat them, how can we sail a ship?”
“We need to unite, at this time my and Zhen Jin’s views are identical. This is also why I agreed to come to their camp.
“This island is very dangerous.”
“I still have no idea what mysterious culprit attacked the beach camp.”
“Regardless of whether it was Xi Suo or us, we were both attacked by bat monkeys and a silver rhinoceros. This is very fishy, and I have always felt that something is pulling the strings!”
“The most important thing still is to leave this place.”
“The time Zhen Jin declared that he was inviting us was the time he challenged me.”
“However, this challenge does not only include me and him, it includes you guys, Xi Suo, and more importantly, our chances of escaping this place.”
“I agreed to come to this camp and accept his challenge.”
“I already had a premonition that this is a fight that will break a new path. Our strategy cannot be crude Tripleblade, or else we will lose.”
“Examining the ins and outs of Zhen Jin’s battle strength is something we do not need to do urgently. I had a premonition that the bat monkey and rhinoceros attacks are unlikely to stop, on the contrary, they will become more intense.”
Tripleblade’s heart shivered, and he promptly gave in: “I completely understand my Lord.”
“Ok, you may leave.”
“This subordinate is excused.”
Tripleblade respectfully withdrew from the tent just as Cang Xu entered Zhen Jin’s tent.
“Come in scholar, sit.” Zhen Jin smiled; he had already waited a long time.
Earlier when he had left the camp to rescue the boat craftsman and Xi Suo, Zhen Jin tasked Cang Xu to dissect bat monkeys and to report his findings.
Cang Xu bowed: “My Lord, before I give my report, I ask that you order the camp surroundings be lit up with bonfires and torches. This is because I have found these bat monkeys have strong fighting capabilities.
Zhen Jin looked solemn; this discovery was significant.
At night, human vision was greatly limited. If the bat monkeys attacked, without light, they would be at a disadvantage.
Zhen Jin followed his advice and immediately gave the order.
A group of people that were just about to sleep had no alternative but to get up and work after receiving the order.
Zhen Jin also did not forget to notify Zong Ge’s group.
After returning to the tent and hearing Cang Xu’s report, Zhen Jin scowled: “So according to your report, bat monkeys cannot see things at night, rather, they can produce a sound our ears cannot hear and through its echo, they can determine everything in their surroundings?”
Cang Xu nodded: “That is the case. It is like a person shouting in a valley, the valley will duplicate the shout’s contents by echoing it. Bats that soar through the night and nimbly avoid obstacles utilize ultrasound to detect any hindrances in front of them.”
Seeing Zhen Jin’s doubtful expression, Cang Xu continued to explain: “The so-called ultrasound is a sound on a frequency higher than what our human ears can hear. Likewise, infrasound is a sound on a frequency lower than what our human ears can hear. Scholars have already researched these things. I once read many books regarding this topic at the Silver Bridge College.”
Zhen Jin was even more doubtful: “Ultrasound……and infrasound……”
Cang Xu nodded: “Research indicated that there is a limit to the things the human ear can hear. There is an upper limit and a lower limit. We cannot hear anything outside of those limits. Sound above the upper limit is ultrasound. Sound below the lower limit is infrasound.”
Zhen Jin scratched his head: “That word you mentioned, frequency, what is that?”
Cang Xu was patient: “The exact definition of frequency is the number of times the source of a sound vibrates in one second. When I oscillate a plank, the plank representing a source of a sound, the more effort I put into oscillating the plank, the more the plank moves and the more vibrations per second the plank produces, thus increasing its frequency.”
“When we chime a bell, because the copper bell is struck, it will produce minute vibrations, thus producing the sound of a bell.”
“When we humans speak, because of our vocal cords vibrating, we are able produce sound.”
“So that’s how it is.” Zhen Jin felt his scope on the topic suddenly widen.
Cang Xu continued: “When I was dissecting a bat monkey, I discovered that they had strong vocal cords and that the structure of their throats resembled those of bats. At the same time, their ears are very developed, their nasal cavities look the same as monkeys, however inside their cavities, there is a large amount of folded skin. Bat noses can produce ultrasound because they have similar complex folds that can assist their vocal cords.”
“The bat monkey’s lungs, vocal cords, and nose all perfectly match up. Don’t look at the bat monkey’s small body, its lungs have excellent contraction abilities and can even double in size.”
“Bat monkeys do not have night vision, however when they fly at night, they will constantly produce ultrasound of different frequencies. When the ultrasound hits an object, it will reflect back to the bat monkey. Bat monkeys can distinguish between the echoes of different frequencies, then they will nimbly dodge, making it unlikely they will run into any obstructions.”
“So that’s how it is.” Zhen Jin sighed incessantly, “A truly wonderful bodily structure! Then are you saying these bat monkeys can “see” in thick fog?”
Cang Xu nodded: “Your Lordship understands.”
“You have worked hard Cang Xu, go rest well.”
“Yes your Lordship.”
After Zhen Jin slept in the tent until midnight, he got up and went to the barracks.
“My Lord.”
“Lord Zhen Jin.”
When those on night watch saw him, they saluted him one after the other.
“You all are working hard.”
“This is the first night and I am not at ease, continue guarding. I will go scout out the surroundings.”
Zhen Jin said goodbye to these people indifferently.
Seeing the young knight’s back from a distance, the guards could not help but quietly converse.
“Why is his Lordship entering the forest? It is very late into the night.”
“He he, didn’t you hear, Lord Zhen Jin has gone through life and death trials, he has grasped the power of the spirit and can anticipate dangers. Any sneak attack on him is ineffective.”
“He is actually so ferocious?!” The guard exclaimed in astonishment; this was the first time he had heard of this.
When Zhen Jin entered the forest, the first thing he did was transform his eye into a lizard one, after verifying that no one was around, he began to undress.
After stripping naked and putting away his clothes, he canceled the lizard eye transformation and began to transform into something different.
After the red light flickered, he transformed into a bat monkey!
Regardless of whether it was in the camp or when rescuing the boat craftsman, Zhen Jin had killed many bat monkeys. On top of what the others had killed, there were many bat monkey corpses.
Zhen Jin had asked for most of the corpses for Zi Di’s medical research, however he only gave some of them to Zi Di.
The portion he had embezzled was quietly refined by his magic crystal.
This allowed him to have a complete transformation, increasing the amount he had from three to four.
The moment he completely transformed into a bat monkey; Zhen Jin felt the entire world change!
Countless sounds imbued his ears, there was the muffled hum of insects, there was sharp whistling, there was a clamorous rustle, and there was the snapping of chewing.
Originally, the quiet forest only had the occasional nightingale or beast roar. But now, it sounded like Zhen Jin had suddenly arrived in a city center from the outskirts.
“So, this is what the bat monkeys experience, it is too noisy.” At first, Zhen Jin did not feel good, he had never heard so many sounds. The sounds mixed together into his ears like agitated multi-colored water, the disturbance made him jittery and disgusted.
Zhen Jin resisted the noises with difficulty and began to move his limbs.
Bat monkeys had similar bodies to humans, this allowed Zhen Jin to master the body quickly.
After using the bat monkey body to run and jump, Zhen Jin controlled his excitement and began to flap his bat wings in an attempt to soar.
Although he had once transformed into a fat ball flying fish that could also fly, it was very slow. Rather than saying it could fly, it would be more accurate to say that it floated.
“I can really fly now.”
“Give me air!”
The wings on Zhen Jin’s back strongly flapped and then fiercely fluttered.
The ascending force drove Zhen Jin’s small body upwards in an abrupt leap.
Thump.
After flying into the air, his head hit a treetop with a dull echo.
Soon after, he lost control, the more he flapped, the faster he fell to the ground.
Finally, he faceplanted into the soil.
“As it turns out, flying is not easy.”
Zhen Jin pulled out his face from the ground and wiped the soil and grass plastered to his face with his hand.
He stabilized his mentality, informed himself that he could not be impetuous, and began to flap his wings separately.
After the left wing flapped a few times, the right wing would flap again.
The wings’ ample strength produced a strong ascending force.
Zhen Jin tried to flap his wings together, and with putt putt, Zhen Jin slowly flew up, staggering side to side as he flapped.
He attempted to stabilize his figure at all costs, and when he soon ran into a tree branch, he reached out and grabbed it at once.
After a moment, he stopped flapping his wings, he then used his arms to turn himself over and sat on the tree branch.
That awkward matter happened again.
He did not have enough time to put away his wings, thus they got stuck between the lush branches.
Notes
Congrats MC,you managed to combine your previous failures into one as you both run into the nearest object and dive headfirst into the ground. Zhen Jin is now the flying monkey from
The Wizard of Oz
, just his talking has been replaced by less audible screeching. You would think that a camp with at least two trained accountants, one of them would have counted the bodies and noticed a discrepancy.