Chapter 36 Spirit of the Ancestors (Part 1)
Inside the indigenous tribe, there were cries and wails.
The elite pirates harvested heads with expressionless faces, giving those injured but not yet dead indigenous warriors a swift end. Over two thousand troops had occupied every corner of the indigenous tribe, and although the sounds of sporadic fighting could still be heard, they were quickly cleaned up. A thick smell of blood hung in the air above the entire tribe; the pirates were used to it, but many of the half-elves appeared pale. These half-elves had not experienced much battle and were far inferior to the seasoned pirates.
Soren stood still, deep in thought for a long time.
After a moment, Scarface’s figure appeared before him, bending down to say, “Lord Soren! All the resistors have been cleared.”
“Good.” Soren turned to glance at him and said in a deep voice, “What are the casualties?”
Scarface immediately replied, “About seventy to eighty dead and over three hundred injured. I have already arranged for people to provide medical treatment.”
The casualties were acceptable.
Soren nodded at this. No matter how strong his personal power was, casualties among the pirates were inevitable in such a battle. However, this level was still within the manageable range, though it could affect his future plans.
“Proceed according to the plan!”
Soren glanced at the gathered indigenous slaves and said solemnly, “First, familiarize yourselves with the nearby terrain and set up a defensive line. There should be another indigenous tribe nearby; be careful of their nighttime ambushes against us.”
Scarface responded, “Understood.”
The earlier prayer ceremony clearly involved indigenous people from different groups, as the paints smeared on both sides had distinctions, indicating they belonged to another tribe. Soren was not in a hurry to attack them but prepared to stabilize things here first. The captured indigenous tribe was quite large, with a population probably close to eight or nine thousand. Too many captives could not be managed in a short time. Soren planned to send all the dangerous individuals to Modo City. Since the evil god they served had died at Soren’s hands, many warriors in the indigenous tribe also gave up their resistance.
These warriors could not be kept here.
Because as long as they were given even a little opportunity to grab something, they could use it as a weapon and threaten the pirates under Soren.
They must be sent to Modo City for hard labor; those who were too difficult to control would simply be sold as slaves on the Southern Coast, as many places liked to use these fierce indigenous warriors as gladiators.
The warriors were cleaning up the battlefield. Many indigenous people had gold and silver ornaments on them, which were directly stripped away.
The mines on Treasure Island were quite rich, but due to a lack of trade, the indigenous people only made various crude ornaments from gold. Soren’s purpose for coming here was to further increase his wealth; now that his army was growing larger, he could still hold up with trade support. In the future, if the Saint’s Cataclysm erupted, all trade would inevitably suffer severe damage. At that time, losing most of the income from trade would mean that keeping these armies would have to rely solely on the resources from Treasure Island.
This was also why Soren was so generous in promising to help transport half-elves while exempting them from taxes for the next two to three years.
The reason was simple.
The Saint’s Cataclysm lasted for more than two years!
It wasn’t until the period of turbulence ended that the wounds gradually healed. Basically, all the trading companies could only hope to earn a little more money this year, and after that, once the fighting intensified, it would be extremely difficult to conduct trade.
Well.
Sometimes Soren really resembled a demon because he did not break his promises. It was just that he foresaw that future trade would not be as easy.
If there were truly those capable of profiting during the period of turmoil, it was their own skill!
The merchants naturally did not know any of this.
Recently, Modo City had accepted so many half-elves that the demand for various supplies was quite large! On one hand, they were busy transporting goods for Soren to gain favor with the Pirate King. On the other hand, they were collecting supplies from various places to sell in Modo City, hoping to exempt themselves from taxes for the next four to five years. Then they could get a flag bestowed by the Pirate King or something similar. This way, they could dominate the seas without anyone’s interference; basically, nobody would dare provoke them.
Soren’s funds were flowing out rapidly!
Aside from essential supplies like food, everything else that could be stockpiled was being sent to Modo in shiploads; this money was still enough to buy supplies on a large scale now. By next year, it was likely that money wouldn’t be able to buy much.
The war disrupted production.
Everything being prepared now was for the future changes.
………………
Soon.
One piece after another of gold and silver was being moved out from the houses of indigenous nobles, shining piles visible at a glance.
“Spit!”
Scarface spat and excitedly rubbed his hands, saying, “I didn’t expect these guys to really have money! Lord Soren, why don’t we go for another haul?”
Soren glanced at him and slowly shook his head, saying, “No need to rush. The most important thing now is to escort the captives back.”
“There’s gold mines nearby.”
“Next, you stay here and arrange for people to mine. I’ll let the giant stay as well, just in case anything happens. Be careful of the other indigenous people on this island; never act recklessly!”
Scarface had suffered a loss on Snake Island before, and immediately nodded, saying, “Understood. Rest assured, My Lord.”
“I won’t make the same mistake a second time.”
Though the giant was the one among the many pirate leaders with the least intelligence, his combat power was strong enough. Although he hadn’t reached the Legendary Domain yet, the bloodline of the swamp giant directly gave him Legendary Rank combat power. Soren had initially sent him to Arendelle to deal with the Víkings, and the results were quite good. He also had a good relationship with Scarface, and leaving him here could intimidate other factions. In case a battle broke out, he didn’t have to worry about being unable to defeat the enemy.
After all, many creatures beyond legend on this island could not venture too far!
The spirit was similar to the earthbound spirit.
A day quickly passed, and on the second day, Soren arranged for people to escort some of the captives back. There was no need to leave too many people here; about a thousand would be enough to mine the gold. However, the stationed force still needed to be strong, as the dangerous creatures on Treasure Island were too numerous. The route between Modo Island and Treasure Island might encounter monsters. Soren was not yet prepared to return personally, but he would send mutated orcas to provide escort. In the future, mutated orcas would serve as the ocean behemoths stationed here, claiming the nearby territory as theirs, preventing other ocean behemoths from getting close.
In the sea, every ocean behemoth would not easily tread into another beast’s territory!
………………(To be continued ~^~)
