Chapter 344 - 316: Fishman Cave
Qin Ziwen scanned his surroundings, feeling like a customer picking out goods at a fish market.
With his naked eye, it was difficult for him to distinguish which Fishmen had real talent and which were just for show.
But it didn’t matter. He wouldn’t use his naked eye; he would use Insight.
[Ordinary Fishman: One Star]
[Ordinary Fishman: Three Stars]
...
[Ordinary Fishman: Five Stars]
Qin Ziwen’s gaze was sharp as he inspected them like a general reviewing his troops.
"You."
"You."
"And this one."
The Fishman Race Leader grabbed Qin Ziwen’s arm. "Don’t pick any more! This is enough. I’ll arrange the rest."
’If I let him keep picking, he’ll take every single one of my tribe’s skilled fighters!’
Qin Ziwen shot him a sidelong glance. "You said you’d let me choose myself."
"Let’s try another way," the Fishman Race Leader said. "The ones you’re picking are all elite fighters. Our tribe needs to keep some for hunting, or the others will go hungry.
I can give you some artisans. They are of the Artisan Race and are skilled craftsmen. I can even give you some who know how to build Fishman Sea Ships."
Qin Ziwen thought that was acceptable; he couldn’t push the leader too far. "Then what about the ones I just picked?"
The Fishman Race Leader grimaced but relented. "Take them all."
In the end, Qin Ziwen left the Fishman Tribe with twenty Muddy Race Fishmen and two hundred Artisan Race Fishmen.
Even within the Fishman Tribe, there weren’t many Muddy Race Fishmen.
This was because they were large and had huge appetites; it was too costly to support a large population of them.
The stout, walrus-like Muddy Race Fishmen, with their thick waists and broad shoulders, ambled along behind him.
Following them were one hundred strong Artisan Race Fishmen. These Fishmen were generally over 1.7 meters tall, which was considered tall for the Artisan Race. The lowest among them had a Star Level of Three Stars, with a few Four-Star and Five-Star individuals mixed in.
These Artisan Race Fishmen were lean and powerful, with fierce eyes. They were normally the elite main force for the Fishman Tribe’s hunting expeditions.
The remaining one hundred Fishmen were similar in build to Pura. Among them were many artisans with various technical skills who, given the right positions, could quickly shine.
By the time they returned to the island reef, night had fallen.
The sky was filled with brilliant stars, and by the reef, some students were casting fishing nets, trying to catch seafood.
"I’ve netted something!" Qi Xiang shouted in excitement.
"You fucking netted your dad!" Cao Biansheng’s head popped out of the water, his face dark and a fishing net draped over him.
Qi Xiang stared at the head that had emerged from the sea, rubbed his eyes, and after confirming it was Cao Biansheng, he burst out laughing. "You bastard, pretending to be a Fishman."
"Hurry up and get this net off your dad before it gets damaged." As soon as Cao Biansheng finished speaking, more heads began to pop up around him.
One by one, Fishmen emerged from the sea, floating on the surface.
Many of the Fishmen had fishing nets on their heads. One of the Muddy Race Fishmen, feeling uncomfortable, scratched its back and tried to roll over. Its webbed claws reached out, snagged the net, and gave a hard pull.
The net nearly snapped.
"My net!" Qi Xiang’s eyes went wide, and he wailed in despair, "Brother Cao, I worked for a whole week to save up enough to buy that net!"
Cao Biansheng turned and shouted something. The Muddy Race Fishman that had been moving immediately froze, staring intently at Cao Biansheng with its small eyes, a look of complete innocence on its face.
Seeing this, Cao Biansheng gave a helpless smile. "You guys dive down for now. Come back up from a direction where there aren’t any nets."
He had to gesture several times before the Fishmen finally understood and obediently dove back down.
Watching the obedient Fishmen, Cao Biansheng thought that they were actually quite easy to get along with.
Even though they had the faces of beasts, they seemed to have the hearts of men.
In reality, most Fishmen were very simple-minded.
They possessed an untainted innocence.
As long as you weren’t on their menu, they would listen earnestly to what you had to say.
But if you *were* on their menu... well, sorry. What’s all that gibberish you’re spouting? Let me just have a bite first.
News that Qin Ziwen had returned to the Gated Community with a group of Fishmen quickly spread.
𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢
It alarmed quite a few people.
Some were curious.
Others were nervous.
"These Fishmen aren’t here to take our jobs, are they?"
"We fish from the sea, how can we compete with Fishmen who catch fish directly in it?"
"These Fishmen look so strange... That one is huge, like a small mountain!"
"I wonder how strong they are."
"Very strong. I’ve sparred with one before. Their arms look skinny, but they’re shockingly powerful," someone who had fought alongside the Fishmen on the opposite island testified.
Jia Liangcai hurried over. He dispersed the crowd of onlookers and then stepped forward to receive his instructions.
"Take these Fishmen to the Home first. Tell them to be careful," Qin Ziwen said, gesturing to the group behind him. He needed to go back and construct a building for them.
Once on land, the Fishmen looked somewhat awkward. A few of the Muddy Race Fishmen were like giant, wobbly sausages, squirming in place and making strange noises in their throats.
Back at the Home, Qin Ziwen first took out a Card and used a Blank Expansion Card (Large).
He chose a location to the north of the Ghost Ship Dock, to make it convenient for the Fishman artisans to get to work at the dock.
The gray fog at the border was pushed back, and a large new area was successfully expanded.
Qin Ziwen took out another card: an Advanced Building Card.
Fishman Cave.
In an instant, a brilliant white light enveloped the entire area.
When the light faded, the once-empty area had been completely transformed.
It had become a massive, deep pool.
The edge of the pool was dotted with numerous rocks. The water in the center was a deep blue, as calm as a mirror.
Along one edge, a long stone staircase was carved, extending from the bottom of the pool up to the surface.
Not much could be seen from the outside. Qin Ziwen thought for a moment, then walked to the edge of the pool. He gazed at the deep, quiet surface before him. ’For someone with claustrophobia, this is definitely not a good place.’
Fortunately, he wasn’t afraid of such things.
He walked down the stone stairs, one step at a time.
The underwater space was immense, nearly a hundred meters deep.
It was like a gigantic hollowed-out bottle, with the surface being just a small opening.
The bottom of the pool was not pitch-black. Large patches of moss that emitted a faint, blue, fluorescent glow grew on the walls.
They bathed the bottom of the pool in an ethereal blue light.
The surrounding walls were riddled with densely packed caves.
Their entrances, round or square and of varying sizes, were layered like a honeycomb.
’This must be where the Fishmen will live.’
Forget the two hundred and twenty Fishmen he had now; these caves could easily accommodate ten times that number.
The only downside, however, was the large empty area in the center of the bottom.
’What a waste.’
After climbing out of the water and returning to the surface of the Home, Qin Ziwen took out three more Building Cards, preparing to use them.
The Home’s small orb of light popped up.
[Same-series Building Cards detected. Merge?]
This kind of merger had happened once before. The Blacksmith Shop and Leather Armor Workshop had fused with the Yanwu Military Equipment Supervisor, and the new building had inherited the effects of both original structures.
Qin Ziwen looked back at the Fishman Cave.
He had a good idea of how these three Building Cards were going to merge.
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