Chapter 310 - 283: Cooperation
(PS: I wasn’t feeling great yesterday, so this Chapter is to make up for the one I missed.)
Hearing Pura’s voice, the Fishman at the gate, who had talked until his mouth was dry, shot him a resentful look. ’If you’d come out sooner, I wouldn’t have had to tire myself out talking so much,’ he thought.
At Pura’s words, he rushed forward to speak with him.
The two Fishmen began chattering in a series of gurgles.
After a moment of discussion, Pura turned to Qin Ziwen. "Master," he said, "he says a great disaster is about to arrive. They want to invite us to cooperate in hunting the source of this disaster. If we can successfully contain it, they are willing to offer an Apocalypse Card as a reward."
Qin Ziwen stopped short. "An Apocalypse Card? What’s that?"
With Pura’s explanation, Qin Ziwen understood. This Apocalypse Card was the same thing he knew as a Card.
The mention of Cards was a sore subject. As soon as he heard the word, Qin Ziwen was reminded of the figure he had failed to catch beneath the waves.
’He thought of the underwater altars. ’If these Fishmen can take the Cards, just how many have they accumulated over the years?’
"I want to know how they know about Cards, and more importantly, how they can take them."
Pura went to speak with the messenger again. When he returned to relay the message, Qin Ziwen’s expression darkened.
It turned out the altars didn’t respawn Cards constantly. They only did so after beings like him—whom the Fishman Race called the "Apocalypse"—arrived.
So, whenever the Fishmen found that the altars in their territory had new Cards, they knew an Apocalypse had arrived.
’Well, well, well. No wonder I couldn’t find any altars last time. You’ve been secretly taking them all.’
Qin Ziwen made a mental note to settle this score later.
"My question was, how are they able to take the Cards?"
Pura turned to ask.
Pura quickly returned with an answer. "Master, he says they are born with the ability to take Cards."
"Born with the ability..." Qin Ziwen frowned. ’Could these Fishmen also be descendants of Home?’
’Or maybe they have some other method.’
He couldn’t figure it out. With too few clues, Qin Ziwen couldn’t be bothered to guess. It was enough to know that the Fishman Race could take Cards.
"What’s this great disaster they mentioned?"
Pura relayed the question and then answered, "They call it the Thousand-Eyed Death God. Every time an Apocalypse arrives, the deceased Thousand-Eyed Death God revives from the depths of the sea to devour all living things."
"The Thousand-Eyed Death God?"
Qin Ziwen frowned in thought.
He suddenly thought of something else. Both names contained the words ’Thousand-Eyed.’ Could it be related to the Thousand-Eyed Snake on the Celestial Ladder List?
"Tell them if they want to cooperate, they can start by bringing over an Advanced Card to show their sincerity. Since they know these Cards are useful to us, they should also know that giving them to us sooner will be beneficial for our collaboration, won’t it?"
Hearing Pura’s translation, the Fishman looked a bit dazed. He felt there was some logic to the demand, but he wasn’t in a position to make that decision.
The Fishman prostrated himself before Qin Ziwen, bowing respectfully.
Then he slowly backed away and returned to the sea.
On the surrounding reefs, the other Fishmen remained seated. In the sky, the torrential rain continued to pour.
After a good while, the Fishman surfaced.
He placed his hands on the reef and hauled himself up with a heave of his arms.
After reaching Qin Ziwen, the Fishman tapped the center of his own forehead and then bowed.
He then turned to speak with Pura.
"So you’re saying their leader agreed? He’s willing to give me a Card first, but he wants something as a show of trust."
At this, Qin Ziwen’s brow furrowed. "What does he want?"
Pura stammered, "Respected Master... they hope you will take his daughter as your wife."
"He wants me to marry his daughter!?" Qin Ziwen recoiled.
He glanced at Pura, with his hunched back and peculiar features.
Then he turned to look at the other misshapen Fishmen nearby. Finally, his gaze landed on the three moving "piles of filth" at the edge of the reef.
He flew into a rage. "I will not be subdued by force, nor corrupted by riches! What kind of person do you take me for!"
Seeing his master’s anger, Pura shrank back. He knew his master would never agree.
"Pfft—" Qin Ziwu nearly burst out laughing. He teased, "Big brother, why not just go for it? We’re talking about a Fishman Princess here. In stories like this, there’s always one stunningly beautiful, fairy-like princess in an otherwise ugly race, you know."
Qin Ziwen shot him a sidelong glance, then suddenly looked thoughtful. "How about I send you for the marriage alliance? That seems like a great idea. You’re my own brother. Besides me, there’s no one more suitable."
Qin Ziwu was instantly stunned.
Qin Ziwen averted his gaze. "Pura, tell them they’re the ones begging us, not the other way around! And if you’re going to beg, you’d better show the right attitude! We can forget about the Card for now, but have them send some Fishman Warriors over. Otherwise, they can deal with that snake on their own."
Pura relayed Qin Ziwen’s message. Unexpectedly, the Fishman Race actually agreed to send him a contingent of Fishman Warriors.
They also gave him a palm-sized purple fish scale as a token of command.
With this token, he could command the Fishmen who had come ashore.
Qin Ziwen’s gaze fell upon the group of Fishmen around him.
He had never imagined the phrase "a sorry-looking lot" could be so aptly applied to so many Fishmen at once.
"Are all these your fellow Artisan Race kinsmen? And those three in the back, are they from the Hunting Race or the Muddy Race?"
"Master, those three are from the Muddy Race."
"Not a single one from the Hunting Race." Qin Ziwen was somewhat surprised.
Then, a knowing smile touched his lips.
’They can’t even send anyone from the Hunting Race to put up a decent front?’
’It seems this Fishman tribe is even weaker than I thought.’
𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢
’Weaker is better.’
When Qin Ziwen presented the fish scale, the eighty-six Fishmen before him prostrated themselves as one.
According to Pura, the Fishman tribe had a strict internal hierarchy, and now Qin Ziwen could see it. They prostrated or knelt at the slightest provocation.
This was also his first time seeing the Muddy Race. "Come here," he said.
He beckoned to the three large members of the Muddy Race.
"AARGH! AARGH! AARGH!" The three fat Fishmen scrambled up. They were surprisingly agile, their wriggling movements seemingly effortless.
As they drew near, Qin Ziwen saw that they were quite large, over four meters long and built like walruses.
Their bodies were bare and hairless.
Rolls of fat were stacked upon each other, making them look like mountains of flesh.
’To be so heavy yet so agile, their strength must be immense.’
’What’s interesting is that with a build like this, they’re only considered Muddy Race, not Hunting Race.’
’Just how strong must the Hunting Race be, then?’
Qin Ziwen summoned Jia Liangcai and explained the temporary cooperation with the Fishman Race. Jia Liangcai felt his lord had handled the situation perfectly.
They were currently dealing with another Gated Community, so it was unwise to open a second front. Securing the Fishmen for now was the best course of action.
Furthermore, his lord had managed to borrow troops from the Fishmen, which provided the perfect opportunity to test their combat strength.
Once they dealt with Hongding Mansion, they could slowly figure out their next move regarding the Fishmen.
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