"Master, it agreed," Pura said.
Qin Ziwen nodded. He looked at the Fishman Leader again. The creature looked monstrous, with a green face and long fangs, but he seed surprisingly easy to talk to.
"Pura, ask it if they have any Hunting Clan Fishn."
After Pura relayed the question, the Fishman Leader shook its head.
It opened its mouth and said sothing. Qin Ziwen could sense a note of regret in its tone.
Pura sounded angry as she engaged in a heated, chattering exchange with the Fishman Leader.
Then, she turned to Qin Ziwen and said, "Master, it says the last Hunting Clan Fishman in the tribe was given away three years ago."
’Given away... So it seems this Fishman Tribe has invested its people elsewhere before.’
However, the ntion of "three years ago" caught Qin Ziwen’s attention.
’Let think,’ he mused. ’Whether it was the school or the Urban Village, all of us were transported within the sa twenty-four-hour period. We’re all from the sa batch.’
Besides that, he hadn’t heard any news about other Gated Communities or buildings being transported.
’Of course, it’s possible it did happen, but the information was suppressed, so ordinary people like never heard about it.’
The Fishman Leader looked at Qin Ziwen and began to speak.
Pura translated in real-ti from her position at his side.
"Master, it says that while they have no more Hunting Clan Fishn, they still have so from the Muddy Race. The Muddy Race Fishn are dim-witted but loyal, and they’re strong enough to do heavy labor."
Qin Ziwen thought of the three Muddy Race Fishn who had followed his orders earlier. ’They were rather brutish and dull, but they were incredibly strong—far stronger than even a human with a Five-Star Physique.’
’This must be their innate racial advantage.’
"Ask them if they have any more of this, and if they’re willing to trade for it," Qin Ziwen said, taking out the White Coral.
As soon as the Fishman Leader, seated on its stone throne, saw Qin Ziwen take out the White Coral, it spoke up imdiately.
Pura translated, "Master, it says they have a large stockpile in their warehouse. If you need so, it is willing to trade with you."
A suspicion ford in Qin Ziwen’s mind. ’It seems the Fishman Leader knows what this is and understands the value of White Coral.’
’Perhaps its initial offering of the White Coral was ant to be a lure for from the start.’
’That would make sense. Fishn can already breathe underwater, so White Coral is of little value to them.’
’It’s like giving a human a magical item that allows them to breathe on land—completely useless.’
Qin Ziwen asked, "What do they want in return?"
"Master, it says it needs large quantities of food—fruit would be even better. And if you help them hunt the Thousand-Eyed Death God, it is willing to let you choose from its treasured collection of cards."
Qin Ziwen was surprised that the Fishn were also short on food. ’But on second thought,’ he mused, ’the Muddy Race Fishn are quite large and have huge appetites. Based on my observations on the way here, these Fishn don’t have the technology for large-scale agriculture. Their primary food source is hunting, and a hunter-gatherer civilization can never escape the constant demand for food.’
Qin Ziwen was also wondering, ’Since the Fishman Race still has a building like the Deep Sea Temple, don’t they have any other structures, like ones for farming?’
"Chairman, sothing just occurred to ," Cao Biansheng said, leaning closer. "If the Fishman Race no longer has a Lord of the Holand, where did the buildings in their Ho co from? I thought all the buildings in a Ho disappear when its Lord dies. Could they have another Lord secretly hidden away sowhere?"
Qin Ziwen’s eyes narrowed. He had noticed that discrepancy as well, but he was more inclined to believe the Fishman Race had so special ans of preserving their Ho even without a Lord.
’Besides, judging by its location, this temple we’re in doesn’t seem like it’s part of a Ho anyway.’
He was just about to have Pura ask the Fishman Leader about it.
Suddenly, a shrill, resonant blast echoed from outside.
The sound was piercing, like the horn of a massive ship sailing the ocean.
Qin Ziwen recalled what the experts in the Qin Alliance had said: in the darkness and imnse pressure of the deep sea, the transmission of most signals was impeded. Sound was the only dium capable of carrying information quickly over long distances.
’In the deep sea, sound is the equivalent of light on land.’
The speed of sound underwater is roughly four tis its speed in the air. In the deep sea, especially on the pitch-black seabed where sight is no longer the dominant sense, sounds of varying frequencies and volus form a complex web of information.
That last blast felt like a heavy, low-frequency blow that penetrated the damp air, striking his bones, skin, and internal organs.
The Fishman Leader stood up, a low growl rumbling in its throat.
"Master, it says the Thousand-Eyed Death God has appeared."
A chill went down Qin Ziwen’s spine.
’Judging by their reaction, the Thousand-Eyed Death God’s power rating is even higher than the Giant Rock Dragon’s,’ he thought. ’And the one we hunted was already in a weakened state.’
’It’s hard to imagine just how enormous a creature must be to be so feared by the Fishman Race, especially here in the deep sea.’
WHOO— WHOO—
From outside ca the sound of many intermittent horn blasts.
Qin Ziwen didn’t understand what the sounds ant, but Pura quickly clarified, "Master, the Fishn are assembling their army to counterattack."
Watching the Fishman Leader exit the Deep Sea Temple, Qin Ziwen thought for a mont and decided to follow.
’There are plenty of Fishn around,’ he reasoned. ’And they’ve been fighting the Thousand-Eyed Death God for years, so they must have their own thods. They shouldn’t be wiped out the mont the fight starts, right?’
’I’ll use this chance to observe the enemy first.’
Fishn began erging from their earthen mounds, brandishing a wide array of tools they seed to pull from nowhere. So of these implents were fashioned from wood, coral, and even the skeletons of Sea Beasts.
From a distance, they resembled so sort of shield, but the fronts were covered in a dense array of bone spikes.
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