Chapter 1: The Land of Chaos
The fishy sea breeze blew towards him.
Soren carried the petite Vivian across the deck, and the others next to him had slightly surprised expressions, as it was undoubtedly very attention-grabbing for a young man to be holding a sleeping little girl. The scarlet cloak stood out prominently, and two men with unfriendly expressions exchanged glances, seemingly scheming something. However, a strong man soon walked over, patted their shoulders, and said in a cold voice, “Don’t set your sights on them. A man daring enough to bring a little girl here isn’t someone you guys can handle!”
This is Taro Port, a transit station to the Soros Archipelago.
Occasionally, whispers came from behind, speculating on Soren’s identity and discussing news from the City of Wealth. It was said that something serious had occurred there, with a third of the City of Wealth destroyed and at least thousands of deaths. Many ships originally heading for the City of Wealth had docked at other ports, planning to unload their cargo and leave. It was rumored that an evil demigod had appeared, leading many churches to be hostile toward them; the City of Wealth was now a place of turmoil.
The investiture of the Vampire Son undoubtedly attracted most of the attention!
Whether from the local churches that greatly despised the Demon Son of Fear, the fear believers secretly scheming to regain power, or other Demon Sons of Fear scattered across the world, almost all attention was drawn toward him. Churches wanted to bring him down, fear believers wanted to reclaim their strength, and the other Demon Sons of Fear, whether for self-preservation or to grow stronger, viewed the Vampire Son as an insurmountable obstacle, potentially forcing the other Demon Sons to unite.
Because he was too powerful!
The Vampire Son, having become a demigod, was in a Saint form. He could easily suppress any Demon Son of Fear.
He had cultivated a significant amount of hatred!
Soren was confident that before the Vampire Son fell, both he and Vivian would be very safe. In fact, he even hoped the Vampire Son could hold out longer because as long as he remained standing, no one would be bored enough to pay attention to a little Vivian or an inconspicuous Son of Slaughter. Even the fear believers lacked the energy to focus on them because as long as the Vampire Son existed, the power of the Demon God of Fear would diminish. He was siphoning off the Demon God of Fear’s divine power and divine profession.
Because he also possessed the realm of fear.
The other side was about to exhaust their hatred, and if Soren didn’t seize the opportunity to grow stronger, he would be a fool.
…
Taro Port.
Soren carried Vivian off the merchant ship. One could not depart for the Overseas Islands from inland ports due to the chance of encountering some annoying things. Taro Port was a transit station with large ships heading to the tropical rainforest, passing through the territory of the Amazon Female Warriors, leading into an untamed wilderness. There were many fierce indigenous people, with cannibal tribes scattered around. Few ventured there aside from mad pioneers, especially after some gold mines had been mostly exploited, further reducing the number of pioneers heading to the Overseas Islands.
In fact, there were still many gold mines!
Soren didn’t know too much, but he knew there was a Treasure Island within the Overseas Islands.
This place would not be discovered until many years later and was currently controlled by a group of powerful cannibal tribes. The Overseas Islands might have a denser distribution of mineral resources due to geographical reasons, making extraction somewhat easier. However, these areas were too scattered with indigenous people, including the totems they worshipped, making it difficult even for legendary wizards to deal with a large tribe. Moreover, legendary professionists didn’t need to make a fortune off this, so only about one-tenth of the resources in the Overseas Islands had been exploited.
This was how ocean trade developed.
Although the civilization level of the indigenous people was low, they still engaged in considerable foreign trade; even shipping a large cargo of food over could sell for more than three times the price where the indigenous people were concerned. Soren also remembered that the exchange ratio for gold and silver on the mainland was 10:1, while in many places of the Overseas Islands it was 6:1. Because gold was more abundant, silver coins in the Overseas Islands were worth more than on the mainland; just the gold-silver exchange alone was a significant profit.
Therefore, there were highly developed trade routes and a considerable number of pirates!
One major force was the Amazon Female Pirates.
Soren stepped onto the land of Taro Port while carrying the sleeping Vivian. This was an island about thirty kilometers in diameter, with a small town inside that had been controlled by other forces for years. He vaguely heard cries and pleas for mercy ahead, with fierce-looking sailors nearby laughing. Soren had no mood to see what was happening. However, as he walked past, he saw a young man with his fingers chopped off and bloody finger stumps on the ground.
He was a thief.
In this place, not being caught while stealing wasn’t considered a crime, but if caught, the owner could deal with the thief as they wished, even resorting to extrajudicial punishment with no guards to intervene. Nearby, guards wearing half armor merely looked on coldly; there was a crowd of onlookers and some companions with unpleasant expressions who had no intention of helping. Because in this place, being caught stealing meant one had to accept their fate; having fingers chopped off or even a hand cut off was to be expected.
However, indiscriminate execution of thieves was not allowed; if someone killed a thief using extrajudicial means, the defense team had the right to fine you.
“Today, consider yourself lucky!”
A fierce-looking man kicked the writhing young man on the ground, then spat and weighed his coin pouch. He spoke in a deep voice, “If you want to get rich, go find One-Eyed Jack! Use your own strength to make money at the edge of the knife! Next time, you may not be so lucky; if it were someone else today, they’d have your arm chopped off!”
The surrounding sailors just smiled, displaying expressions of spectatorship with no sympathy.
Soren didn’t glance over there, his expression indifferent as he walked past. Taro Port was rather noisy, with shouts all around; even in broad daylight, there were courtesans standing in the street to attract customers and sometimes disappearing into alleyways to engage in flesh trade. The ground here was filthy, with a strong fishy smell. The locals spoke with bad breath because there were many sailors, who also dabbled in piracy; the overall chaos here was much worse than the mainland in every aspect.
There were many taverns in Taro Port.
Right next to the inn Soren found was one. Sounds of fighting came from inside, and even as guards patrolled by, it seemed they had no intention of intervening. Nearby, a brawny man crossed his arms to watch, with sporadic bursts of laughter audible. Shouts of vulgarities urging someone to kick him in the groin echoed. The tavern owner was calmly wiping the bar, occasionally glancing up, perhaps having seen too much, as his expression remained unchanged.
The victor of the bar fight was another group of people, led by a strong and robust woman.
She laughed loudly as she lifted a man and then, with one swift motion, threw him out of the tavern. Only then did the owner raise his head, signaling to a nearby enforcer with a glance. Here, it didn’t matter who started it. Regardless of who was right or wrong, if anything was damaged or the tavern’s furniture was broken, it was ultimately the loser who paid for it. Unless someone was being unreasonable or it was too obvious that it was malicious fighting, the tavern owner and the enforcers would not intervene.
It was normal for fights to break out here over trivial matters; as long as no one died, everyone treated it as entertainment. The guard squad passing by wasn’t interested in meddling.
The enforcers tossed out the loser while also snagging his coin pouch, quickly quieting the crowd. However, many gazes turned toward the strong, robust woman with interest, with several intending to buy her a drink. This was an Amazon Female Warrior; such women exuded wildness and were more appealing than many regular women to them. The man who had been knocked out soon faced a second wave of looting, as sneaky young men stripped him of all his valuables, leaving him with only a thin pair of underpants.
Then he was thrown into an alley, and hardly anyone paid him any more heed.
Soren found himself somewhat accustomed to this place.
The chaos before him seemed trivial; in the Underdark, if a murder occurred, as long as no one saw it or left any clues, it wouldn’t be considered murder, and almost no one would care. The chaos here was just child’s play; at the very least, everyone was relatively restrained and wouldn’t easily cause a death. The administrators here also didn’t want too many fatalities.
Taro Port contained a large number of criminals; as long as they weren’t wanted or recognized, and no one reported them, they were considered legitimate civilians.
Thus, there were many pirates here!
This was the second largest smuggling port after the City of Wealth; because of the recent events in the City of Wealth, it was even more prosperous than before.
Soren looked up at the sky.
Taro Port housed an Ocean Temple, a temple serving the Ocean Goddess. Numerous such temples dotted the coastal areas, and pirates, scamps, and marine creatures primarily worshipped the Lord of Storms and the Ocean Goddess. Their relationship was quite competitive, both belonging to the chaos and evil camp, yet filled with rivalry, periodically engaging in contests. These two deities had had a major falling out hundreds of years ago, so their relationship was somewhat cold lately, but a reconciliation could not be ruled out.
The inn Soren found was quite expensive.
It required paying fifteen Gind for a night, but it was safe as well, with two rugged Amazon warriors standing guard at the entrance.
This was an inn run by Amazon women, serving as a stronghold for them.
No one dared to cause trouble here, and even the guards wouldn’t dare to investigate recklessly. These women were barbaric and unreasonable; whether guests or guards, anyone who dared disrupt the rules here would be their enemy. There was a large basement beneath the inn, and as Soren walked on the floor, he could feel it; traces of spell traps could still be found nearby, indicating at least three high-level professionists were present.
He quietly entered a room and placed the sleeping Vivian on the bed.
Soren planned to visit the Ocean Temple to try his luck; if they were willing to lift the siphoning spell for him, he would be willing to pay a little extra.
The influence of the siphoning spell was simply too uncomfortable.
The inn was very safe; those who had been to the Overseas Islands knew just how formidable the Amazon women were. Among the three pirate kings in the Soros Archipelago, one and a half were Amazon women. These fierce women were highly favored by the Lord of Storms, and the Ocean Goddess also liked these robust female warriors. As Soren stepped out of his room, a woman was descending from a corner staircase, seemingly just having come out of the basement. She was a wild-looking woman, playing with a strange dagger in her palm, which didn’t seem like a weapon but more like an instrument of torture.
She was smeared with quite a bit of blood, and a little flesh, but all from others. Upon seeing Soren, she spoke calmly, “Customer? Don’t worry! Just dealt with a rule-breaking guy!”
Noticing Soren’s appearance and the latent strength in his slender form, her eyes brightened slightly, and she licked her lips in a teasing manner, saying, “Need some pleasurable service? We have the hardest to tame wild horses here!… Perhaps with your looks, they will be more than happy to provide their services for free!… Of course, you need to satisfy them!… Otherwise, they’ll throw you off the bed!…”
At this point, she chuckled with ambiguous meaning, her gaze drifting to Soren’s lower half.
Soren appeared somewhat silent.
Indeed, Amazon women remained as fiercely bold as ever!
… (To Be Continued ~^~)
