The Great Worm Lich

Fjodna, who noticed the midgets suddenly having internal strife with each other in the distance by the edge of the forest, realized that something was wrong. With all his might, he yelled, “The midgets may attack us! Sailors, retract the suspension ladder immediately! Guards, prepare to shoot! Sailors who are holding the fire axes stand in the front row! Those who are without weapons, pick up the branch nearest to you and defend yourself!”

The captain’s approach was on point! Unfortunately, most of the people he commanded had never experienced any troubles before. It was very hard for the urban young men to react correctly according to the orders immediately in a situation where the formation was completely dispersed and in such a relaxed mood.

When the aborigines rushed towards the group of young men beneath the ocean stone pillars while yelling “Ohhh ohhhh —” like a beast, nobody actually picked up the branches burning with fire to fight with the midgets. Instead, after being stunned for a moment, they began to fight with the midgets empty-handed in terror when the midgets got close to them.

When the healthy young men with an average height of 180 centimeters fought with the midgets who were 130 centimeters tall at most, in theory, they should be gaining the advantage like an adult fighting with a kid.

However, the reality was just the contrary, the midgets’ ruthless and effective killing techniques, along with their thick body, allowed them to quickly slaughter the flinching young men.

Other than having two midgets strangled to death by a few sailors who were fighting thanks to an outburst of natural instincts at that moment of final despair when they were about to lose their lives, no other casualty could be seen on the midgets’ side.

The beach that looked like it was covered with countless tiny razors also brazed the exposed faces of several dozens of young men till thousands of scale-like tiny wounds appeared.

The midgets licked the blood off the young men’s faces like how they licked the chocolate cream cake just a while ago. Baring their teeth, they glared angrily with a ferocious expression at the guards and sailors who were gradually retreating back to the edge of the forest. These guards and sailors had rushed halfway to the kids’ rescue and realized that they could not make it in time as their faces turned grave.

The ruthlessness of the indigenous midgets sent chills down everybody’s spines. Only Zhang Lisheng, who was using the blanket to block the sun, muttered with interest, “It seems like strength and body size are not the most important factor that allows these midgets to win in this mass killing. After these aborigines are fully enraged for the sake of the beliefs in their hearts, an unexpected level of combat ability bursts out of them, despite having short fangs and weak claws. Well, I guess it’s good if I think about it. The more enraged they are, the bigger the gain I obtain when I make my hunt later…”

“Lisheng, t-these aborigines are just too cruel! Don’t tell me that you’re not going to go down and rescue them?!”

“Tina, this is a different world. Who knows whether we’re able to consume the animals, plants, and fruits here or not. The longer the duration carried out by the method of thermal expansion and contraction to destroy the stone pillars, the greater our possibility of success. For this reason, we must use our food sparingly…”

“Use our food sparingly? Y-You mean j-just watch them die?”

“Yes, I can only watch them die, Tina. I’ve said before long ago that I’m not an omniscient God! I must first protect Trish’s, Sheila’s, yours and my life when such a disaster occurs.” Zhang Lisheng’s statement was extremely direct to the point, so direct that nobody could refute it at all.

Trish, who was by the side, suddenly whispered, “Lisheng, your choice is correct from the perspectives of human nature but the voyage this time is only a short distance. The fuel of the Elizabeth Holiday is not enough to keep the cold storage on the ship running for a long time. For this reason, even if everybody under the ship dies, the food won’t last for too long too because of the temperature. In that case, it’d be much more beneficial to us if more people live on.”

As the girl was speaking, the midgets had already bared their teeth and started to attack the Earthlings standing by the edge of the forest. As a deafening gunshot resonated, the advanced weapon began to demonstrate its deadly power to the island of a different world.

When the tough body of the aborigines was hit by the rifle, though it did not cause a terrible laceration, it was still penetrated easily. In the situation where a close-range distance allowed them to shoot clearly, the guards of the ship could basically kill one aborigine with every shot they made.

As for the sailors who were holding onto their long-handled fire axes, even though their attacks were not as powerful as the guards who were holding the rifles, the sharp ax that could cut through thick steel bars could also slash the aborigines’ bodies open as effortless as cutting a butter using a table knife. Relying on the help of powerful weapons, the humans suddenly took the upper hand in the initial chaotic combat.

Unfortunately, there were only a few dozen guards and sailors who were holding the weapons, still limited compared to the several hundred midgets. Gradually, the violent midgets, who were fearless, turned the situation around once again.

Just as the humans under the ship fell into a desperate situation, Zhang Lisheng sat on the deck thinking for a moment before standing up all of a sudden.

He wrapped the blanket around his shoulder before whispering to the three girls by his side, “I’ll warn you guys one more time. It’s better to close your eyes if you’re afraid.” Then, he proceeded to mumble.

A few seconds later, on the battlefield of the mountainside, the few midgets who bent their bodies as they agilely moved left and right just like how they usually were when they went hunting, suddenly froze. Then, as though their flesh and blood were sucked out by an invisible force, they slumped onto the ground for no reason, before transforming into a withered pile of skin.

Then, a few midgets suddenly had a huge and bloody wound crack open on their backs. Even their backbones and their pink organs that were covered by skin were all exposed before they fell onto the ground struggling for a few moments and finally ended up dying from blood loss…

As blood splattered behind them, a long slender giant lizard appeared and hissed, opening its mouth wide, before pouncing towards the few midgets not far away.

At the same time, as if catering to the hissing sound of this horrifying beast, a deafeningly loud “hwroooh —” sound resonated from the ocean.

The surface of the ocean that was originally calm suddenly turned choppy.

A giant crocodile with a body that was about 40 to 50 meters long, that was as huge as a yacht, slowly popped his head out from the waves. Gliding his four limbs, he appeared to be creeping towards the shore in a seemingly slow, but actually fast speed with its mouth wide open, before charging towards the midgets by the edge of the forest.

Taking them on off guard, the giant crocodile stamped and shredded several dozen midgets into a ground covered with shredded meat in just one go.

“I-Is that a crocodile? Look at that mouth, it must be a crocodile! Lisheng, i-is that giant crocodile your new pet?” Watching how the giant crocodile killed and swallowed the hundreds of midgets in a few minutes together with the Island Dragon, Tina opened his mouth and asked dryly while pointing at the Crocodragon.

“Yes.” Zhang Lisheng, who sensed that there was no effect in the wizard power in his flesh and blood, nodded. Suddenly, he looked at the red-haired girl beside her. “Trish, tell me. When a devout believer guards his faith and is suddenly killed a monster, why is it that no negative emotions of anger and fear could be elicited at all?”

The girl was stunned for a moment before blurting out, “A true devout believer will never feel angry or fear when they dedicate themselves to God.”

“Oh, I see.” Zhang Lisheng was hit by a pang of realization as he nodded. He motioned for the giant lizard to conceal its body. After the Crocodragon used its thick tail that was more than ten meters long to break a countless amount of trees, it gradually crept towards the ocean and sank into the water.

The humans beneath the ship who were rescued by the giant beasts who appeared out of nowhere were so horrified that they became silent. After a long time, somebody finally cried a meaningless “Ah… Ah…” before slumping on the ground.

At this moment, the old captain who was panting finally yelled out loud, “We’re saved! Those two giant beasts killed all the midgets but didn’t harm any of us. Not only that, they had even broken a countless amount of trees for us as well! They are the messengers sent by God to save us! God has always been with us! He’s watching us and will protect us till we get back to the civilized world of New York! Rise, young men! Let us put away the sadness and fear of losing our friends for the moment and start working again! Harry, bring a few sailors to carry our companions who had been killed by the aborigines to the stone pillars so that they can be cremated. Clean their faces and hands and leave behind their coats as a commemoration. Let them watch the totem those evil midgets worship collapse from the sky with their own eyes with a clean body…”

As the captain cleverly arranged his words and turn the dead into burning fuel, Zhang Lisheng muttered on the deck of the Elizabeth Holiday, “I think they must have known how horrifying the unknown is now.” He then lifted his blanket to cover the sun and sat down once again.

“T-Those two beasts… T-That giant crocodile i-is…” It was at this moment that Sheila finally snapped back to reality. Pointing at Zhang Lisheng in a daze, she continued to stutter as though she could hardly breathe.

“Keep your voice down, Sheila.” Tina covered her best friend’s mouth and whispered, “Now that you’ve witnessed it with your own eyes, you should know by now why Trish and I wanted to drag you to stay together with Lisheng in the first place.”

“B-But is this even the strength of a h-human? Does he actually control the b-beasts? The hell? Even though I saw them swallowed those midgets, they look like they’re only half full or so…” Sheila stuttered.

“Superman can even smash a planet flying towards the Earth into pieces. Lisheng could be said as a superhero that looks to be slightly cold and conceited. He’s very kind, just like Iron Man,” Tina replied without much confidence.

“Oh, is that so? Then, does this mean even if we really can’t go back to New York, we’d still at least be able to capture the group of midgets and become their tribal chief or something? Even though we’d no longer be able to wear the summer clothes designed by Latin Moore, or eat the grilled steak at the Commolton Restaurant, we at least wouldn’t be cooked by those aborigines into steak…”

“Stop saying that, Sheila. I don’t want to live forever in this damn deserted island! We’ll definitely go back! We can definitely go back to New York! Isn’t that true, Lisheng?”

“We should be able to go back if we follow the original voyage. Don’t worry, Tina, you’ll get to lie at home recalling this thrilling journey after several dozens of hours later.” Zhang Lisheng casually comforted the girl.

Despite answering so, in truth, he had no confidence in the Elizabeth Holiday returning to New York even if it retraced the original route. As he watched the crowds pull themselves up and start to carry the firewood again under the captain’s encouragement, Zhang Lisheng sighed quietly and started to tear the table cloth into long strips again.