**Chapter 59: Crisis Everywhere!**
2015-02-14
Author: Floating Tower
(A little note: I successfully quit smoking, is this spreading positive energy? The eighth day, it’s really not easy! Today has two updates. The recent plot will be more intense.)
——————————–
A team of people began to get busy.
Soren stood on the deck of the Dragon Head Warship, watching as others hurriedly moved the slaves off the ship under the management of the merchant association. The slave trade was not that simple; it wasn’t just about capturing people and selling them as slaves. Kidnapping slaves was only permissible for indigenous people. If one dared to randomly capture slaves on the mainland, there would definitely be someone with a kn*fe ready to cut you down. Even relatively evil noble lords would not allow slave traders to act recklessly; that would lead to being hanged at the crossroads.
Among Soren’s slaves, about half were indigenous people as well, and half were mainlanders.
Slavery could arise from many situations, such as war, crime, or bankruptcy, and selling oneself into slavery was quite common in this world. It was not unusual for a person to become a commodity for debts after going bankrupt. The slaves from the mainland were a bit better off, while the indigenous slaves were much more troublesome; they had to undergo a taming process after being captured. A docile slave could increase in value by more than 50%, while a disobedient slave was only suited to be thrown into the gladiatorial arena.
There were many methods for taming slaves, some even involving taboo practices; most slaves on the market were already tamed.
The prices of mainland slaves were higher, while indigenous slaves were relatively cheaper!
Soren also did not have enough financial resources to exclusively use mainland slaves, so the proportion of indigenous slaves was still quite high. Given Soren’s current experience, he could naturally see that many of the indigenous slaves were brightened up once they disembarked since this was the Overseas Islands they were familiar with. This made Soren feel a slight headache, but there was no solution; after all, this was their place of life. Returning to a familiar environment made it easy for these indigenous slaves to have other thoughts.
“Keep an eye on them!”
Soren turned to look at Adele Isabella beside him. The Red-Haired Pirate Woman seemed to be deep in thought, standing dazed on the deck for a moment before snapping back to reality, seeing Soren saying to her, “Pay attention to these indigenous slaves. We must not allow them the opportunity to escape!”
Adele Isabella quickly nodded and replied solemnly, “Yes, my Lord.”
On another side.
Pirate leaders were already preparing to set up camp. These pirates were not just a bunch of incompetent fighters. Making a living at sea was actually much harder than on land; many pirates, although illiterate, had some knowledge. For instance, there was a guy missing two fingers and with a scar on his forehead, who couldn’t even write his name. Yet he understood astronomy well enough to navigate the sea without losing direction.
Even without astronomy, he could still find ways to make rough judgments on routes according to ocean currents, temperature, wind direction, etc.
This guy was quite capable!
Although his combat power was not high, he had also been promoted by Soren to a new pirate leader.
Pirates respected capable people.
While combat ability ranked first, they understood the value of other abilities too. Otherwise, the navigator’s position would not be higher than that of many pirates.
A large group of subordinates was preparing to set up camp.
Soren had already brought a lot of supplies, enough for over three months, including various tools, having mobilized the resources of the Taro Port merchant association. Others could somewhat guess Soren’s intentions. However, they were not very optimistic, mainly due to the numerous dangers in the Overseas Islands. The land was not very suitable for farming, there were all kinds of strange creatures, and the indigenous people were very exclusive. If there were indigenous people nearby and they knew they were camping here, the possibility of an attack would be quite high!
Time passed little by little.
Soren watched as the camp was established satisfactorily; the pirates were chopping wood, and a rudimentary camp was now a third complete.
The Half-Elf First Mate was directing others to set up tents, while a Cyclops Pirate and a bald-headed man were shouting at the slaves to move the supplies. It looked like it might rain today, so it was best to move everything into the tents. Weather changes could be a troublesome matter; it wouldn’t always be sunny, and storms were common in this area; many supplies would be ruined if left out in the rain. The tools had already been moved out, and others, following Soren’s instructions, were preparing to build a simple fence with wood.
Originally, Soren thought that his first day of claiming land in the Overseas Islands would pass so peacefully.
But he misjudged!
——“Ah!!!”
A shrill, horrifying scream suddenly came from a distance, and Soren’s figure turned into a blur as he dashed forward. Along with Soren’s movement, other pirate leaders quickly drew their weapons and ordered their subordinates to prepare for battle; after all, this was the Overseas Islands, the territory of the indigenous people, and battles were quite normal. However, as Soren rushed forward, he quickly realized that this was not an attack from the indigenous people but another kind of troublesome issue.
“Your…Your Excellency!!!…”
The pirate standing in front of Soren was trembling, holding a bloody half a leg in his arms, stammering, “Frog… Frog was eaten!… Only this… this much is left!…”
Frog?
It seemed to be the nickname of some pirate lackey; pirates often had all sorts of strange nicknames.
Soren frowned as he glanced at the bloody half leg originally belonging to the pirate lackey called ‘Frog’, noticing irregular bite marks, and asked sternly, “What happened? What did you see just now?”
“I!… I saw!… I saw!…”
This guy was probably scared out of his wits; his speech was a bit disjointed. After a while, he gradually calmed down and said, “I went to cut trees with Frog and find kindling, but we… we didn’t expect… that suddenly a strange plant opened a big bloody mouth from passing nearby!… Then Frog… Frog was swallowed!… I wanted to pull him out!… But all I got was this much!…”
The frightened pirate, seeming a bit dazed, raised the half leg in his bloodied hands, then suddenly seemed to wake up and threw it away, as if his mind was still somewhat confused.
At this moment, other pirate subordinates also rushed over.
Soren turned to look at them and commanded, “It’s not the indigenous people! Let the others go back to stand guard; Adele, you come with me and take a look.”
It was easier to handle since it wasn’t the indigenous people.
Because encountering indigenous people at this time would likely mean a battle; Soren didn’t wish to lose his men to combat right now.
“Your Excellency?!”
Adele looked grimly at the bloody half leg on the ground and asked, “What kind of monster could do this? To swallow a person in one bite and leave only half a leg behind doesn’t seem like a good monster to deal with!…”
Soren glanced at her and said slowly, “I don’t know.”
“But I can roughly guess what it is; it seems we’ve run into trouble. There is a mutation zone near this island!”
“The plants inside have undergone energy mutations.”
The jungle ahead showed signs of being felled. To establish a camp, it was natural to cut down timber; although Soren had ideas about firing bricks, he currently lacked resources and manpower; cutting wood was the fastest way to set up a camp.
Adele Isabella followed behind; she looked at Soren and whispered, “My Lord! I suggest we set fire to the mountain once; otherwise, there are too many poisonous insects and snakes here. Today, two or three people have already been bitten by poisonous insects and snakes; although it’s not fatal, one guy’s wound has worsened. If this continues, we will consume a lot of manpower dealing with the poisonous insects!”
Yes.
Poisonous insects and snakes were a very troublesome issue.
Those who had never been to such primitive areas could not imagine how many poisonous insects there were. If someone had smoked a long-abandoned house or some outdoor caves, they would find various types of bugs crawling out that could make your scalp tingle. Cultivating wilderness is not an easy task, let alone cultivating the more dangerous Overseas Islands.
As they got closer to the incident location!
Soren suddenly reached out to stop the Red-Haired Pirate Woman beside him and said in a deep voice, “Be careful! This jungle feels wrong!”
It was too quiet.
This section of jungle was too silent, quiet enough that not even the sound of insects could be heard.
Adele Isabella gripped her twin blades and slightly crouched to pay attention to her surroundings; she also sensed that the environment was very off, as the nearby plants and trees looked a bit strange.
Their colors were too bright, and they grew too well! [Other nearby trees had withered yellow leaves and branches, but this section of the jungle looked lush and green.]
There were droplets of bl**d ahead.
Soren reached out and picked up a bit of fresh bl**d and noticed a peculiar plant resembling a trumpet flower, realizing the bl**d came from there and his expression darkened as he murmured, “Mouth Flower?”
“d*mn!”
“This really is a mutation zone!”
………………
“Mouth Flower [Mutated Plant] [Man-Eating Flower] (Tier 4).”
“Challenge Level 8, Biological Level 16, possesses spell-like abilities.”
“Highest attribute 22 points, lowest attribute 10 points, total attribute value 90-100 points.”
“Specialty: Devour Attack, Vine Tentacles, Mutated Plant, Man-Eating Flower.”
“Challenge Difficulty: C+.” (To be continued ~^~)
