The Great Worm Lich

With his life hanging on the line, the empty-vessel merchant hurriedly told him the ins and outs of the whole story. It turned out that, recently, the extremely fragile trading line between the mainland and the Hellfire Sea was inexplicably interrupted by a third of its original size.

Be it the merchants who had a relationship with the native tribes; or the feudal lord caravan who would take advantage of their force and tyranny by trying to communicate and trade with large tribes but simply plunder when they encountered small tribes, many of them would lose contact after venturing out of the sea.

As the supply of goods decreased, the price of the various specialties of the Hellfire Sea that were already expensive on the mainland began to rise continuously. Driven by huge profits, some merchants became even braver than the armies by the borders as they desperately sought routes to the Hellfire Archipelago to their death even if they had to squeeze their brain dry. It was also because of this that Luqi managed to form a fleet bringing tens of thousands of slaves in a brief period.

If things continued to develop in this manner, the empty-vessel merchant who mastered the trade right with Wizard Li could be said as having a hen that lays golden eggs, and it would only be a matter of time for him to become a real aristocratic merchant in the Kattaman City State.

However, the greed of humans knew no end. Before leaving the sea, he inadvertently learned a tempting news from a very high-ranking collaborator’s agent that a ruler of a strong tribe from the Nutao Sea, the most powerful and prosperous area of the Hellfire Archipelago, had appeared in the Sea Haines City, wanting to gather the intelligence of the other regions of the Hellfire Sea. Not only that, but he was willing to pay a high price for it.

This rumor tempted Luqi exceptionally so. Even though trading with the Wizard Li tribe was very profitable, there were many ‘commodities’ that he could not get his hands on. For example, the unimaginable wrestling match of the natives that they could use to fetch several tens of thousands of gold coins for its tickets and, of course, would have more profit if he could manipulate the gambling industry. They could also use Hellfire children whose limbs were crippled purposely, so they could only crawl to become an entertainer and token to show off the identity of the royal family or the great feudal lords and the tamed beasts that the natives called ‘partners.’

If he could forge a relationship with the dominant tribes in the Nutao Sea and obtain the trading right of these few lacking ‘commodities,’ then it would naturally be like the icing on the cake. For this reason, the instant the fleet docked, the empty-vessel merchant immediately asked the native choresmen to look for Zhang Lisheng in a hurry, which caused the farce to happen just now.

After listening to Lu Qi’s explanation, the young man felt that although there were some parts of his words that did not make sense, he did not look like he was lying, especially since the reason for the sharp decline in the trade between the Hellfire Sea and the mainlanders was because of the rapid expansion of the Wizard Li tribe. Those missing wealthy mainland merchants and soldiers were either dead or imprisoned in the mainland town that the Wizard Li people built for them.

In fact, it was indeed typical for the empty-vessel merchant who was greedy and adventurous to rack his brain to get some profit at other people’s expense since he would rather believe it to be true because of the influence of this matter.

When the Wizard Li’s god thought of this, his expression softened. Waving his hand to gesture for the native warriors to retreat, he smiled at Luqi while giving him line enough to know what he was doing, “A chief of a powerful tribe from the Nutao Sea actually went to the Kattaman City State to inquire about the intelligence of the other districts in the Hellfire Archipelago? This sounds absurd, but it doesn’t seem like you’re lying. Alright, Mr. Luqi, I’ll just pretend that none of this had happened. Please forgive my recklessness for giving you a fright. I think you should rest to calm your nerves down first.”

Seeing that the tip of the spear pointing at his throat had disappeared, colors began to return to Luqi’s pale face. After the crisis, his greedy instinct return again. When he saw that the black-haired young man bid farewell to him, he hesitated a little before explaining in a slightly trembling voice. “W-Wait, Mr. Lisheng, the reason you’d find it absurd for the chief of a powerful tribe from the Nutao Sea to inquire about the intelligence about the other islands of the Hellfire Archipelago is because you’re looking at the Hellfire tribesmen in the Nutao Sea with the perspective of how you view that natives on this island. With all due respect, but that is a wrong mentality. Although I’ve never seen that tribal chief of the Nutao Sea before, it’s said that he’s entirely dressed in colorful silk that flows smoothly on his body, the kind that would be appropriate to offer to a king. To those native aristocrats, standing on the ground is blasphemy, so everywhere he goes must be showered with petals first…”

Upon hearing the empty-shelled merchant’s description of the native tribal chief of the Nutao Sea, Zhang Lisheng secretly laughed in his heart. As the only god of the enormous tribe that conquered half of the archipelago that never had a precedent case in the ancient paper book literature and the folklore of the Hellfire tribe, he did not even do such a thing, so it was hard for him to imagine how an ordinary Hellfire chief would actually have such an exaggerated impetuousness.

However, although he felt that it was a false rumor that was spread around, the young man did not doubt Luqi’s words. He patiently finished hearing his words before asking, “Mr. Luqi, are you certain that a tribal chief from the Nutao Sea has gone to the Sea Haines City?”

“I’m certain, Mr. Lisheng. Very certain!” The empty-vessel merchant answered with resolution.

The native chief from the Nutao Sea in a Kattaman City State undoubtedly meant that there was a safe sailing route connecting the Kattaman City State to the most potent district of the Hellfire Archipelago. As long as he could master this passage, going to the Nutao Sea from Scorpion Island would only be a matter of making a significant detour in the sea.

“Even if this is fake or not, it’s still worth it for me to try it…” Upon hearing Luqi’s answer, Zhang Lisheng became silent for a while before muttering under his breath.

“What did you say, Mr. Lisheng?” The empty-vessel merchant saw the black-haired young man moved his mouth, so he asked uneasily.

“I said that I intend to go with you to meet this native chief from the Nutao Sea. If he can really give me what I want, then I’ll make this deal with him, and of course, I’ll also let you get what you want.”

“Oh, thank you! Thank you, Mr. Lisheng! Y-You’re really a great and generous scholar! You could definitely create your own discipline like Hopkins in the future! Oh biology! That’s right, you have even named it already, biology. What an imagery name!” Luqi said incoherently in surprise.

“Alright, Mr. Luqi. There’s a saying in my hometown that says ‘to help others is to help yourself.’ You bring me this news, so I’ll bring reward to you,” Zhang Lisheng smiled as he said, “Let us finish up this slave-trading talks as soon as possible so you can continue to earn your next barrel of gold once this barrel of gold entered your pocket.”

“You must be talking about the circulation of wealth, right? I’ve read this theory from Horner’s ‘Capital Theory’ before. I really didn’t expect your knowledge to be so profound. It’s no wonder that you’d be called as the pundit by the natives,” Upon hearing the young man’s words, Luqi nodded, and when he was about to turn around, an idea suddenly came to him, prompting him to flatter Zhang Lisheng as he said mockingly, “I’ll ask the merchants from the caravans to get the slaves off the ship now, but there’s one thing I hope you can help me to cover up. I didn’t mention your name when I organized this caravan this time. You know, as the leader of a fleet, I must have authority to ensure that the transaction is carried out normally, and the authority of a rich merchant only comes from two different places, one is from abundant funds…”

“Alright, Mr. Luqi. I understand what you mean,” Zhang Lisheng nonchalantly interrupted the empty-vessel merchant and said, “The trading between you and Wizard Li comes from your own good luck and has nothing to do with me. I’m only a scholar whom you just so happened to have come across when you’re trading with the natives.”

“You’re really so understanding!” A huge smile appeared on Luqi’s face as he nodded, “In that case, I’m going to unload the ‘goods’ now. All of them are physically healthy and strong, with a few elderly and children.”

After saying so, he turned and strode out of the treehouse.

Not long after the empty-vessel merchant left, the merchant ships docked at the harbor began to lay down wooden inclines one by one. At the same time, the iron gates that covered the bottom warehouse on the deck were also opened. As the light shone along with the shouts of the crew, groups of unkempt mainlanders struggled out of the warehouse.

As soon as they got on the deck, they were shackled by thousands of sailors, who excelled in transporting slaves using a thumb-thick but extremely firm hemp ropes that tied their hands together. Staggeringly, they walked sideways and held the wooden escalator as they walked down the ship numbly.

The number of ships that the empty-vessel merchant brought to the Red Mountain Harbor this time was almost the same as when he first met Zhang Lisheng, but the quality was several times better this time. The scene of 25,000 slaves staggering down the wooden ships that densely covered the natural harbor appeared exceptionally tragic and soul-stirring.

The heart-chilling shouts of terror the slaves made when they, who had already been numbed by all the miserable encounters, disembarked and saw that they were not faced with picky buyers of the slave market but thousands of Hellfire tribesmen on top of colossal spiders with long purple hair instead who were holding sharp spears and sabers were even more heartbreaking.

Panic was very infectious in a dense crowd. To prevent riots and turmoil, thousands of Wizard Li warriors waved their spears on the back of the giant spider, driving the mount to run back and forth in the port while stabbing their spears directly into the mouth of the mainlander who opened their mouths to scream one by one. Using the mainland language, they shouted forcefully, “Those who will utter a noise will die! Those who will utter a noise will die…”

On the ship’s side of the most massive cargo ship, when a haggard-looking middle-aged man saw that the natives were wantonly killing the slaves who shouted in horror, he anxiously shifted between his feet and said, “Mr. Luqi, Mr. Luqi, look look! Those barbarians are killing the slaves! This is really cruel! As the leader of the caravan, you should go protest! Go protest…”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Vitas, according to my contract with the natives, the rights of the slaves will belong to them once they disembark.”

“Do you mean that they would also count those slaves whom they killed as part of the living?”

“Yes! Every corpse can be exchanged with the same amount of Hellfire timber, and half the amount of common ore, while gems will be calculated by value.”

“Oh, since the ownership of the goods has shifted in the native’s port that is not subjected to the mainland law, you really have no position to protest. I should apologize to you for making such an unreasonable request,” upon hearing the empty-vessel merchant mentioning the timber, ore, and gems, the middle-aged man whose face was exceptionally haggard after rushing about here and there began to regain his countenance. Taking out a piece of silk from his cuffs to cover his nose, he looked at the blood pools under the ship, “But this is really cruel, too cruel. Unfortunately, we forced us to be merchants who abide by the contract…”