Chapter 286: The Pledge of Allegiance |
"How are these fish-men performing?" Qin Ziwen sat in the room, with Cao Biansheng standing opposite him.
"Guild Leader, these fish-men have stronger individual physical qualities, but their combat effectiveness is lacking." Cao Biansheng shook his head. "They give me the feeling of an enhanced version of the people from the urban village."
"They don't understand teamwork?"
Cao Biansheng replied, "Correct, they don't know formations and the like. Observing their fighting style, it's mostly based on thrusting, stabbing, diving attacks, and so on. Their movements are somewhat stiff and rigid; they're not effective on land."
Qin Ziwen pondered, "What you're describing sounds a bit like combat methods used in water."
"Master is right, that is aquatic combat tactics," Yan Da, standing behind him, spoke up. "In water combat, chopping and slashing aren't practical; only thrusting attacks are suitable. These fish-men are likely adept at aquatic warfare."
Qin Ziwen nodded slowly. "They are aquatic creatures to begin with, so being skilled in water combat is only natural."
He then changed the subject. "How many fish-men died?"
"Five."
"They were very docile, didn't show any particular attitude."
Qin Ziwen thought of religious armies, or slave armies.
His fingers lightly tapped the table as his gaze turned to the window. "To be this docile, they are either driven by faith, or their hierarchy is extremely rigid and they've been brainwashed since childhood."
"What about those three big dumb ones, how is their injury recovery going?" Qin Ziwen looked back at Cao Biansheng.
Hearing this, Cao Biansheng replied with a tone of disbelief, "Master, those big chubby fish, they have thick skin and coarse flesh. I feel their pain threshold is very low. When the doctor was scraping the flesh around their wounds, they hardly reacted, just kept grunting and munching away on their food."
"If they can grunt, it means they do have sensation." Qin Ziwen seemed to think of something and stood up. "I'll go take a look."
Inside a dim, gloomy little room, the smell of medicinal herbs permeated the air.
A Turbid Clan fish-man lay on its side on the damp floor. Using its limb, which resembled a fin, it held up a wet piece of kelp and was munching on it with relish.
Throaty grunts and whimpers escaped it, sounding a bit like a baby crying, or a child acting spoiled.
Suddenly, it heard something, and the sounds stopped abruptly.
It turned over and used its small eyes to secretly observe Qin Ziwen.
Its abdominal wound was stuffed with medicinal herbs. The wound had already begun to scab over somewhat, but signs of slight inflammation and pus formation were still visible around the edges.
Qin Ziwen walked forward and placed his hand on the Turbid Clan fish-man's abdominal wound, pressing down with five fingers.
The Turbid Clan fish-man lowered its head, looked at him, and made no sound.
"Ask it if it hurts," Qin Ziwen said, staring directly at the fish-man.
Pula, standing behind Qin Ziwen, relayed the question.
The Turbid Clan fish-man held its kelp, its expression vacant.
Qin Ziwen's five fingers exerted force, pressing down harder.
He could feel the body of the fish-man beneath him trembling.
"Ask it again, does it hurt or not?"
As Qin Ziwen continued to apply pressure, the Turbid Clan fish-man slowly put down the kelp in its hand.
Throaty grunts and whimpers emerged again.
Pula said, "Master, it says it hurts a little."
"So it seems their pain threshold isn't that low. They're just able to endure hardship." Qin Ziwen withdrew his fingers. "Have someone bring it a few pieces of kelp soaked in the healing spring water later."
Qin Ziwen turned and was about to leave when the Turbid Clan fish-man behind him let out a cry.
Pula relayed in a low voice, "Master, it says it hurts, but it doesn't dare cry out loudly. If sounds of pain escape, they will attract the Thousand-Eyed Death God. The Death God will eat cowardly fish-men."
"...That sounds like a story to scare children," Qin Ziwen said, exasperated.
Pula had never heard of such a thing either. "The Turbid Clan is naturally of lower intelligence and easily satisfied. This was probably made up to keep them obedient."
Qin Ziwen averted his gaze. "Tell it that once the wound heals, it won't hurt anymore."
The torrential downpour that had lasted a day and a night gradually thinned.
The fish-men weren't very accustomed to the land environment. As the rain became sparse, they either lay in the mud pits they had dug or scurried to the shallow sea by the beach and huddled there.
"How is the situation inside the building?"
"It was very chaotic last night, but it's quiet now. In the early morning, three people secretly ran out from the building. They're all locked up."
"What about the situation inside the building?"
"The fighting was fierce last night. Several Floor Heads died."
A flicker of understanding passed through Qin Ziwen's eyes. The hierarchy within Blood Script wasn't that extensive. Besides the leader, there were just the various Floor Heads below.
Each floor's head ruled over anywhere from a few dozen to several hundred people.
With their leader gone, their first reaction when facing an external threat was to unite against the common enemy. But when they found the opponent difficult to deal with, and were defeated time and time again, they began to look for other options.
Deng Guang hurried over. "Guild Leader, a Floor Head from the building wants to contact us. He sent an envoy out."
"Which floor? It wouldn't be the second-floor head, would it?"
"Guild Leader, how did you know?" Deng Guang was somewhat surprised.
"It's normal. Because the second floor is the lowest. If it were a Floor Head from a higher floor, it would be difficult to avoid the eyes of the second floor." Qin Ziwen smiled meaningfully.
This was interesting.
The second floor was the gateway to the Red Cauldron Tower. If he defected, they could launch a night attack and perhaps achieve a great victory.
"Let's go, take a look," Qin Ziwen said.
On the other side, Yang Long also received the news that someone had come to surrender. His face darkened. If there were a list of people unwilling to accept surrender, he would definitely rank near the top.
Because if the Red Cauldron Tower surrendered, what would happen to him?
No matter from what angle, whether from the perspective of the Tower or the urban village, he had played the role of a traitor.
Yang Long quickly stood up. He had to clarify Qin Ziwen's stance.
"Guild Leader Qin."
Arriving at the first-floor hall, Yang Long's steps halted. In the living room, a man sat opposite Qin Ziwen.
That man saw Yang Long, and a flash of disgust appeared in his eyes, but he quickly concealed it.
However, this fleeting emotion was still keenly caught by Yang Long. His heart sank.
He knew that his act of betrayal had probably long been recorded in the accounts of everyone inside the Red Cauldron Tower. If the other side recovered, he would definitely be in a very bad situation.
"This is an envoy sent by the opposing tower to surrender. I think what they say makes a lot of sense. The other side promises to cooperate with us, assist in poisoning, submit to us unconditionally. It sounds very tempting. But considering I've already cooperated with you, Brother Yang Long, I've decided to listen to your opinion," Qin Ziwen said with a faint smile.
Yang Long fell silent for a moment, then suddenly clasped his fists and said in a deep voice, "Guild Leader Qin, these words cannot be trusted! What if it's a trap? Right now, victory is already within our grasp. We only need to advance steadily."
Speaking to this point, Yang Long grew more impassioned. "We have fought with them to this extent. At this stage, there is no room for turning back. There is only one path to take, and that is to eradicate them completely, roots and all."
"Yang Long, I fuck your mother!" The envoy's face changed dramatically, and he cursed loudly in fury.
"Seeking death!" Yang Long's eyes turned cold. He stepped forward, drew the dagger from his waist, stabbed it into the envoy's chest, and then severed his head.
"I volunteer to be the vanguard! I will slaughter every last one of the enemies!"
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