Chapter 315: Clan Chief, Please Wait |
Multicolored light surged through the deep sea's darkness, piercing the long-silent gloom and illuminating the seawater for miles around like a fairyland.
Not far away, in the caves of the fish-man tribe, some fish-men who had just fallen asleep were startled awake by this sudden, intense light. Squinting their eyes, they poked their heads out of their caves in confusion, gazing towards the source of the light in the north.
In the stone hall on the western side of the tribe, the walls were carved with murals depicting fish-men mating.
Inside the stone hall, over twenty female fish-men lay sprawled on the ground, the air thick with the potent, primal aura of life.
The Fish-man Chieftain slowly walked among them, his gaze sweeping low over each body, a low, indistinct murmur rolling from his throat. "May there be many children..."
Suddenly, a piercingly bright light poured through the skylight, splashing into the stone hall.
The light dyed the walls and floor with a layer of fantastically beautiful, resplendent color.
The Fish-man Chieftain shuddered violently, abruptly raising his head to look in the direction of the light source.
This is...
Above the underwater city ruins, once the flowing light that had illuminated the seabed faded, a massive, deep pit remained in its place. A large amount of silt, swept along by the backflowing seawater, surged and tumbled to fill the depression.
From all directions, the turbulent underwater currents suddenly slowed as they passed through the area where Qin Ziwen was, as if smoothed by an invisible hand, the flow of water becoming gentle.
The hem of Qin Ziwen's clothes billowed softly in the current.
Luoen's face flushed red, his arms crossed as he strove to calm the currents.
He stole a glance at Qin Ziwen's back, his eyes still holding traces of lingering shock.
Who could have imagined that such a vast underwater city could just vanish like that.
From beginning to end, he had seen it all clearly.
It was just taking out a card, and then with a "whoosh," that huge city just... buzzed and vanished!
Luoen's gaze towards Qin Ziwen now held a touch of awe.
Qin Ziwen rubbed the card in his hand.
On the front of the Wonder Card, in an area that was originally blank, the pattern of an underwater city had now appeared.
Judging by its appearance, it was precisely the fish-man city that had just been absorbed into the card.
[Wonder Card] Abyssal Sea Ruin
[Construction Requirements] Deep Sea Core, Abandoned Undersea City (Completed), Aquatic Rare Treasure*99
When the Fish-man Chieftain hurriedly arrived, this scene of the seabed backfilling was what he saw.
That huge city...?
Gone?!
He turned dumbfoundedly towards Luoen.
Luoen nodded silently.
Yes, it was right here.
The Fish-man Chieftain fell into deep thought.
Although the fish-man tribe no longer lived in the city, having long since moved outside.
But for this ancestral ruin to suddenly vanish...
And to vanish during his generation...
He looked at Qin Ziwen with a complex expression for a moment, ultimately turning his head away, preparing to leave.
"Chieftain, please wait."
Qin Ziwen called out to him.
Hearing the voice, the Fish-man Chieftain stopped.
"Do you have any more Rare Treasures?" Qin Ziwen had Pula repeat the question.
After listening, the Fish-man Chieftain's face turned ashen.
"No!"
He practically squeezed the word out from between his teeth, then swam away hurriedly without looking back.
Qin Ziwen rubbed his chin, even he couldn't help feeling that this might be a bit too much.
He had lured away the tribe's most talented fish-man, taken the card they had accumulated over the years, harvested a huge pile of the Rare Treasures they had painstakingly cultivated, and finally even completely emptied out the ancestral ruins they had left behind...
After the Fish-man Chieftain left, Mogu walked over. He stretched out his hand, his open palm holding two red cards lying flat.
"Master, these are the cards that dropped from the Dry-eyed Snake's body after we hunted it," Mogu said in a low voice.
Qin Ziwen was somewhat surprised; he hadn't seen them at the time.
Of course, they might have been obscured.
Qin Ziwen flicked his toes, propelling himself upward through the water a short distance, coming level with Mogu. He patted Mogu's shoulder. "Well done."
He took the cards from Mogu's hand.
[Function Card] Level 1 Insight, [Function Card] Level 1 Guild.
After storing the cards, Qin Ziwen led the group back to the fish-man tribe.
When they found the Fish-man Chieftain,
Seeing the approaching human, the Fish-man Chieftain said gloomily, "There really is no more White Jade Coral. If you want it, you'll have to wait. Some in the gardens are about to mature, but it will take some time."
After listening to Pula's translation, Qin Ziwen said, "It's not about that. I'm looking for you for another matter. I hope to reach a different kind of cooperation with you."
Qin Ziwen took out the two Function Cards. "These are the two cards that dropped from the Dry-eyed Snake after we hunted it. Since it was a cooperative hunt, I think you should have one too."
"You take the cards," the Fish-man Chieftain said after listening, not demanding a card. "They're useless to me; we can't use them."
If they could use them, they would have used these cards themselves long ago, and wouldn't have kept them until now.
Qin Ziwen pointed at the temple beneath his feet. "Sir, I've actually always been rather curious. Since your tribe no longer has a Shedding Abyss, how are these buildings able to maintain their existence?"
As far as he knew, if a Home Master died, the buildings within the Home would also fall dormant.
"It's the cards. There is a special type of card that allows buildings to exist independently, but there aren't any left now," the Fish-man Chieftain said.
Getting the answer, Qin Ziwen felt both enlightened and understanding.
If it's a miraculous card, then that makes sense.
"You don't want the cards, but I think we can establish a long-term trading relationship," Qin Ziwen said to the Fish-man Chieftain.
The fish-man tribe could produce Aquatic Rare Treasures, and as permanent residents of the deep sea, they hunted various aquatic creatures year-round.
Plus, there were still many fish-men in the tribe. Qin Ziwen felt he could leave an Anchor Point here.
The Anchor Point originally planned for the island's urban village could be placed within the fish-man tribe instead.
It was more hidden and safer here.
After listening to Pula's relay of Qin Ziwen's idea,
The Fish-man Chieftain was quite interested in the long-term trading relationship Qin Ziwen mentioned.
Upon learning the purpose of the Anchor Point, the Fish-man Chieftain pondered what use it would have.
"We can provide weapons and armor," Qin Ziwen said, feeling that the weapons forged by his Armory Department would surely be met with rave reviews.
Because the weapons were blended with part Ghost Gold and were forged using an Advanced Building.
Their quality definitely surpassed the local weapons of the fish-man tribe.
As for what they could offer in return...
Qin Ziwen took a look around the entire fish-man tribe and smiled slightly.
Population was a precious resource.
Fish-men were also people.
When the "civilizational" gap between two sides reached a certain degree, it was like a siphon.
Lower civilizations would naturally gravitate towards higher ones.
Still unaware that he had already been targeted by a human trafficker, the Fish-man Chieftain thought it over carefully and felt this trade should be fine.
"I'll take you to select some tribesmen, but you cannot choose from the Priest Clan. We need to prepare for the next Death God's descent," the Fish-man Chieftain said frankly.
He summoned a large number of fish-men.
The open ground of the tribe was densely packed, crammed full of fish-men.
One after another, fish-men of bizarre shapes and grotesque appearances stood on tiptoe, curiously watching the man standing beside their chieftain.
......