**Chapter 111: Indigenous Wildmen**
2015-03-15
Author: Floating Tower (诸生浮屠)
A series of screams echoed in the cabin.
About half an hour later, a subordinate entered bearing a bloodstained nautical map. He reverently bowed before Soren and said, “Your Excellency. We’ve extracted all the information! That dragon may have gone here.”
The subordinate unfolded the nautical map in front of Soren; it was a map of the waters near the Southern Coast, retrieved from the corpse of the Northern Pirates’ leader. He pointed to an island close to the northwestern position on the map, and said solemnly, “Your Excellency. It’s right here, it seems to be a place called Shark Reef. They believe that the dragon’s lair is likely in this vicinity.”
Hmm?
Soren reached out for the nautical map and frowned as he looked at it, inquiring, “What about the route? How long will it take?”
The subordinate quickly bowed and turned to run downstairs to ask, then returned to report, “Your Excellency. There are no dangerous areas on this route, just a section with quite a few hidden reefs that need to be navigated carefully. Time-wise, if we use our ship, it will take at most a day; we should be able to reach this place by tomorrow morning.”
Shark Reef.
Soren lightly drummed his fingers on the table, pondering for a moment before saying, “Bring Old Eagle here.”
One minute later.
A robust middle-aged man appeared before Soren. Unlike the other pirates under him, Old Eagle seemed to have an aristocratic demeanor. It was a distinct aura that set him apart from other pirate leaders under Soren. This middle-aged man was initially a minor noble, a lord from the Southern Coast, but unfortunately lost his title and wealth due to certain reasons, ultimately turning to piracy and gaining some fame.
He was a minor leader who later allied with Soren.
There were many such individuals under Soren, as most of the pirates in the entire Southern Coast region followed his command.
“Deliver this letter to the master of the Wizard Tower.”
Soren glanced at the composed middle-aged man in front of him, quickly wrote a letter with a quill, sealed it with wax, and handed it to him, instructing, “The gifts on the ship should be sent over shortly, I’ve arranged the location and route for you. You’ll take the entrance to Ice River City from this direction, and after delivering the gifts, just wait there. If the master of the Wizard Tower has any questions for you, just answer whatever she asks.”
There were valuable gifts on this ship.
Soren did not plan to use this ship to challenge the White Dragon, as it was also an adult giant dragon. When such creatures go all out, it’s not difficult at all for them to capsize a ship. Therefore, he planned a two-pronged approach; he would send trusted subordinates with the gifts to Gloria’s Wizard Tower while he took some elite troops to track the White Dragon. A purebred adult dragon shouldn’t be easily abandoned, especially since it was injured, and there was an opportunity to seize; Soren intended to use the Northern Pirates’ ship to find it.
If the ship got damaged, he wouldn’t mind!
The middle-aged man nodded slightly and took the letter, respectfully assuring, “Rest assured, Your Excellency. The items will be delivered intact.”
“Mm.” Soren glanced at him with satisfaction and reminded, “Do not intrude upon the Wizard Tower. Just deliver the message as I instructed; she should wish to meet you once she’s informed.”
“Alright.”
“You may depart!”
Soren was always decisive in action; having decided on a two-pronged approach, he immediately ordered his subordinates to head to the Northern Tower while he boarded the captured pirate Dragon Head Warship. Dealing with a giant dragon does not necessarily require many people, as when it flies away, many are left dumbfounded gazing after it. Thus, he brought only elite pirates, totaling about twenty. The captured pirates remained on that ship; those who could be recruited would be, while those who could not would be sent to do hard labor.
Otherwise, Soren would have harvested their heads long ago.
Soren actually had many subordinates. However, compared to the other two Pirate Kings, his foundation was still slightly lacking. If he wanted to compete against the Pirate King Asrold in a showdown, he probably still needed stronger elite pirates. Most of the Northern Pirates had Second Tier strength, and with a bit of training and more combat experience, they could emerge as Third Tier pirates.
These would be the core strength!
The two warships soon began to separate. Soren’s original ship continued sailing to deliver the gifts to the Northern Tower, while the Dragon Head Warship from the Northern Pirates headed towards a location called Shark Reef, which was most likely where the White Dragon built its lair. If found, Soren would eliminate it; if not, he would abandon the search and head back to the North.
A day passed quickly.
With the knowledgeable captive sailors on board, Soren easily navigated through the area with hidden reefs.
Then, by the next morning, an island appeared before him, resembling the distribution of the Spratly Islands, with dozens or even hundreds of islands scattered in the vast sea, most of small size, some just a few dozen meters across. However, a significantly larger island could be seen, with a diameter likely exceeding thirty kilometers, standing independently like a cliff, with dense forests inside.
Being closer to the northwest, this island had a rather peculiar terrain!
If it had to be compared to anything, it resembled Ice Fire Island from “The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber,” with snow visibly covering the northern part and a volcano on the southern side. However, this volcano seemed to have been dormant for a long time; it was uncertain whether it was extinct or still active. This kind of terrain is quite attractive to dragons, as many dragon species preferred such environments for nesting, so the likelihood of the White Dragon flying here was indeed high.
“Dock!”
Soren picked up a monocular to examine the island before him, then commanded, “Dock at a suitable spot; we’ll see what the situation is on the island.”
About an hour later.
The Dragon Head Warship docked on one side of the island. Soren led a portion of his elite crew onto the beach, leaving three to five men to guard the ship. Upon arriving on the island, Soren immediately felt something was amiss. The reason was simple: there were very few animals here, and the entire island seemed unusually quiet; there weren’t many birds in the dense forest. Normally, this place should host numerous animals, and birds would likely build nests here.
Now it seemed there was nothing at all, which only proved one thing: there was some terrifying creature nearby.
Most likely, it was a dragon.
Dragon Pressure is a range-based ability; even a weaker White Dragon, being a pureblood dragon, possesses Dragon Pressure. Any creature approaching it must make a forced will save, or they would be engulfed in fear. Dragon Pressure drives away other creatures near a dragon’s lair, and unless they are its enslaved minions, no other creatures dare approach. The lack of sea birds here was likely due to the presence of a dragon occasionally flying by.
“Chirp chirp!”
Some strange sounds caught Soren’s attention.
Just as he was signaling caution to the others, suddenly a sharp sword shot out from the trees, hitting one of his subordinates directly. Then he saw dozens of short, disheveled beings with painted bodies charge out from the bushes, armed with crude weapons but moving swiftly and fiercely. These humanoid creatures had outlines similar to humans but were very small, resembling monkeys, with heights around 1.2 to 1.4 meters. They moved rapidly, their eyes filled with wildness and ferocity as they screeched and leapt at them, seemingly intent on slaughtering them all.
“They’re indigenous wildmen!”
A minor pirate leader shouted, his voice grave, “Everyone be careful! These indigenous wildmen are quite agile! Watch out for their weapons; they may be poisoned!”
Clang.
A glint of blade flickered in Soren’s palm, but immediately he faced an unexpected turn of events. His own strike failed to hit the advancing indigenous wildman; its small, slender body managed to twist and evade in mid-air, avoiding Soren’s attack despite having no point of leverage. However, that was all it could do; after Soren’s attack missed, he swiftly manifested a cold light in his other hand, and moments later, the indigenous wildman before him was cleaved in half.
——“Sword Intent [Half-Cut]!”
Soren sheathed his sword defensively, crossing two curved blades to block another short indigenous wildman’s strike, then leaped back three steps, using a sudden forward thrust to unleash ‘Sword Intent [Revolving Dance].’
Splash!
bl**d sprayed into the air.
In front of Soren appeared a series of notifications:
“Target killed!”
“You successfully activated Sword Intent [Half-Cut]! … You dealt 76 slashing damage (critical hit) to the target! … Target deceased! …”
“Extracting soul energy.”
“You gained 1800 points of Killing Experience! …”
………………
“Target killed!”
“You successfully activated Sword Intent [Revolving Dance]! … You dealt 56 slashing damage (critical hit) to the target! … Target deceased! …”
“Extracting soul energy.”
“You gained 1560 points of Killing Experience! …”
………………
Lines of Killing Experience notifications appeared.
Soren was astonished to discover something: the indigenous wildmen in front of him were likely of Second Tier strength or higher, yet most of them had over 20 points of exceptional agility. Furthermore, the Killing Experience they yielded seemed about 50% higher than that of similarly ranked enemies Soren had faced before; these indigenous wildmen generally provided around 1500 points of Killing Experience.
(To be continued ~^~)
