Chapter 480: The Scam from Ten Thousand Years Ago
After receiving Gouwen’s reminder, Fisher and the others quickly walked in that direction. Following the sporadic sandy vegetation towards the sea, Fisher was the first to see a nearly vertical cliff—on Dragon Tail Island and what would later be known as the Southern Continent, the seaside was basically filled with such sheer cliffs, which only had a slight inward curve towards the land, making it resemble a cage enclosing the land from all sides.
Previously, Fisher had thought that such terrain was formed by the giant spear that split the land by the Mother, but it now appeared otherwise. Even before the birth of the Mother, when the Southern Continent was still connected to the Western Continent, the terrain was already like this.
Below the vertical cliff was a stretch of white clean sand connecting with the azure ocean. Numerous hollow caves had been carved into the cliff, and between the cliff and the white sand were several large and small structures resembling yurts. Gouwen mentioned that this was the favorite architectural style of the Snake People.
Everyone stood on the towering cliff, taking in everything below. Gouwen turned to Chuan and asked,
“Is there a settlement by the seaside here, the Kakafu settlement that does business with you?”
Chuan shook his head, looking to the north as he replied,
“No, the trading settlement with us is further north from this one. But the markings here are quite similar to that one.”
Fisher, feeling the gentle nudging of the camel behind him, looked down as well. For some reason, the camel that had been leading them seemed to have set its sights on Fisher, following closely behind him and continually nudging him with its head while performing songs, seemingly gifted by some sacred artifact.
Fisher impatiently turned around and glared at the camel, which immediately lowered its head, behaving as if it was avoiding him, while slyly peeking at him with its eyes, showing no sign of leaving, as if it had decided to stick with him.
Nearby, Gouwen observed this amusing scene and rubbed his chin, teasingly saying,
“Isn’t this interesting? I originally thought you only attracted the affection of subhumans; now it seems that any female has a liking for you. This camel seems quite fond of you. Why not ride it back?”
Fisher looked at him expressionlessly and asked,
“What are you happy about?”
“I’m happy,”
Gouwen smiled slightly, but soon his expression soured, and he stopped looking at him, leaving Fisher quite puzzled.
However, he had gradually grown accustomed to the strange nature of this Whale Folk; who knew what this roving doctor was thinking? Watching Gouwen get flustered made him feel a similar joy, as if he had extracted the same amusement he experienced with Hela.
As Fisher realized this, the smile on his face gradually faded, his expression darkening to match Gouwen’s.
Mikhail ignored the strangely synchronized progression of the two behind him; he just tapped his temple, and the scene of the Snake People’s settlement below gradually became clear in his view.
Apart from those tents, he saw many basement-like warehouses, with numerous Snake People pushing carts back and forth among the tents. Mikhail recognized at first glance that everything on the carts was magic materials.
The Snake People on Dragon Tail Island did not have the typical appearance of a human upper body and a snake lower body. Rather, they resembled snakes entirely, with their bodies displaying a pale rosy color and only short, small claws protruding, making them look like a lizard without legs. Furthermore, they were not slender like snakes, but rather appeared chubby and plump.
The first impression that group of Snake People gave Mikhail was that of some cute mascot, indeed fitting Chuan’s description of an “honest and straightforward” business group. However, Gouwen’s expression turned nonplussed at the sight of the Snake People. He turned to Chuan and asked,
“Earlier, you mentioned that the Kakafu Snake People’s settlement looks like these Snake People, right?”
“Yes, they all look like this; isn’t that how Snake People are?”
Gouwen shook his head in exasperation, saying to Chuan,
“No, these are the Muxiya subspecies of Snake People. There are three types of Snake People on the Dragon Continent, and this is one of them, and it’s the most savage kind, known for eating humans. Generally speaking, if they approach you for business without any particular reason, there must be something special behind it.”
Chuan was rendered speechless; he was not a native of the Dragon Continent and had seldom left the Tree Continent for a long time, so he knew nothing of this.
“I don’t know what special reason there could be.”
Gouwen sighed, then casually pointed to a small house at the coastline below. He said nothing, but as Chuan followed his finger, he noticed that the azure ocean near the small house had taken on a faint scarlet hue, and within the white froth on the surface, it seemed as though some indistinguishable fragments were mixed in.
In front of that small house, there were also many cages stacked together, resembling birdcages, resembling when Fisher went to the Southern Continent to buy Raphael from Kexiening’s circus, with numerous humans and subhumans imprisoned inside.
Chuan’s eyes trembled slightly, his fingers tightening, and Fisher vaguely felt a prickle of itching on his skin, unsure whether it was an illusion or influenced by his power. He looked down and found that all the hairs on his body were standing up, and purple light seemed to flow through his veins.
Chuan appeared somewhat angry, and even Gouwen did not expect his anger to arise so abruptly. He stared at the cages below, frowned, and asked Gouwen,
“Why are they keeping slaves?”
Gouwen glanced over at the cages and replied,
“No, the Muxiya Snake People never keep slaves; they generally eat them on the spot. So whatever they’re doing now must have its reasons, Lord Chuan.”
Before he finished his words, Chuan slightly raised his hand, and the next moment, the entire coastline began to tremble.
“Hmm! Hmm! Hmm!”
The camel behind them grew restless, and Fisher instinctively reached out to pat its head to calm it down. Miraculously, the moment his hand touched it, the camel immediately quieted down.
Its eyes displayed a human-like “successful” look, and it even extended its tongue to lick Fisher’s hand, prompting Fisher to wrinkle his nose and ruffle its fur, muttering,
“You sly camel; you definitely suit that angel’s character.”
“Guruguru!”
It shook its head, affectionately nudging Fisher’s hand. Even though it seemed to completely misunderstand what Fisher was saying, it expressed its agreement.
Soon, robust tree branches suddenly sprouted from the ground, pushing the earth and cliff apart like sturdy redwoods, blocking the sunlight and casting a shadow over the Snake People’s settlement below.
“Ah ah ah ah!”
“An earthquake!!”
“Run!!”
As Chuan, Fisher, and the others slowly descended along the branches, the scene on the cliff finally fully revealed itself to everyone.
The base of the cliff had already been completely hollowed out, forming a complex, interconnected cavern system where most of the Snake People seemed to reside. Hearing the terrifying commotion from above, they all ran out. However, Fisher quickly noticed that many of them were dragging small carts filled with strange items. Without exception, those strange items were all incomplete sacred artifacts from the belly of this camel.
As the entire coastline wrapped around large branches thick enough for four or five people to embrace, the panicked Snake People froze outside, staring at the few standing on the beach. At that moment, a deep, furious roar resonated from within the caverns, reverberating like thunder, spreading with the flickering shadows from the flames, as if sketching a robust silhouette.
“Who is it?!!!”
The shadow shouted.
Chuan stood motionless, wide-eyed, as a “fully armed” fat red Snake Person slowly emerged from the cave. Its entire body was donning those incomplete sacred artifacts, appearing armed to the teeth. Each of its chubby little hands waved a shiny weapon, making its tall and plump figure look both majestic and somewhat amusing.
“Who are you?!! How dare you trespass into the Kakafu Snake People’s territory! I am Kakaro, the brother of the Kakafu Snake King, and a loyal follower of the Holy Spawn Lord Sorobato! Let us show you the blessing bestowed by the Holy Spawn!”
The weapon in the fully armed Snake Person’s hands began to glow ever brighter, exuding an impressive momentum, then in the next second, amid its aggressive words, one of its fleshy hands suddenly exploded, growing sturdy branches that bloomed with deep purple flowers.
“Wah ah ah!”
Chuan expressionlessly withdrew his fingers, watching “Kakaro,” who was writhing painfully like a maggot on the ground. The nearby Snake People, caught in Chuan’s life pressure gaze, all knelt down, trembling in fear.
These Snake People’s ranks were likely between six and nine; while they could slaughter lower-ranked humans or other subhumans with ease, facing the mythical being Chuan, their status instantly flipped, rendering them akin to ants.
Sitting atop a one-humped camel, Fisher rubbed his chin and scanned the area, but he did not see the figure of that elven woman. Chuan mentioned she was waiting for him at the Kakafu Snake People settlement, but he wasn’t sure if this was the right place; after all, Chuan said there was another settlement to the north.
“What are you doing here? Who is Sorobato? What is your purpose in trading with the Ideal Nation?”
However, the captor did not seem to possess any interrogation experience and didn’t know what to do next. He seemed unaccustomed to using power to suppress other races. Most of the time, he was someone who got along well with others; had it not been for witnessing the cruel act of slave-keeping, he likely wouldn’t be pursuing the other party’s objectives.
“What deal? My brother and I have long separated. Everything we do here is unrelated to them. As for what we are doing here…”
Faced with Chuan’s vague questioning, Kakaro’s eyes darted for a moment before he responded.
Chuan pondered for a moment and thought there was some likelihood to what he said; after all, the two settlements were quite far apart. Perhaps this was just a matter of the Snake People on either side conducting their own affairs. Just when he was about to say something, Gouwen crouched down with a grin, pointing to Chuan and saying,
“This is the esteemed elf of the Ideal Nation, a veritable mythical being; her life level is higher than that of the Sorobato Angel you believe in. To be frank with you, and you shall live; to lie, and both you and your brother will be reduced to ashes. The elf doesn’t have time to verify; it’s better to wipe it out.”
Upon hearing this, Kakaro immediately looked up and glanced around at the disaster-like giant trees. His lips twitched as he flicked out a snake tongue, then he squirmed his snake body in surrender, saying,
“Don’t, please don’t kill me! I’ll tell you everything; this was all my brother Kakafu’s fault!”
After Kakaro’s explanation, Chuan finally understood the history regarding the trading with the Ideal Nation and the establishment of this place and the keeping of slaves.
Historically, the Muxiya tribe’s Snake People had always been quite scattered until Kakafu and Kakaro’s father’s generation. Perhaps because his female Snake People were so numerous, and their offspring so strong, he finally had the grand idea of unifying the Dragon Continent.
Yes, you heard that right—unifying the Dragon Continent.
In reality, due to the neglect of the Feima Baharon deity and their seldom appearance, aside from the existence of mythical beings, the local beings on the Dragon Continent did not know there was such a heavy presence above them; however, they were aware of mythical beings, primarily angels, because the Holy Realm often dispatched slaves to the Dragon Continent and other places to gather magic materials.
The Muxiya Snake People were the strongest of the three types of Snake People and knew well the principle that outside the snakes, there were other snakes. The existence of mythical beings was acknowledged. Thus, Kakafu’s father realized that to unify the Dragon Continent, he must gain the support of mythical beings. In their father’s generation, they often tried to contact the angels of the Holy Realm through the slaves coming to this place, seeking to legitimize their wish to unify the Dragon Continent.
However, until their father’s death, no angel was willing to pay them any attention, leaving their father unable to boldly claim any throne on the Dragon Continent.
One could say that their father was quite clever, although he had some limitations in vision. Much like the future phoenixes of the Northern Region, they had envisioned many things but were reluctant to delve deeper.
The phoenixes knew of the power of the Chaos Race and sought to gain transcendent rank power through the Spirit Realm they came from, yet they did not realize why the Chaos Race entered reality: The Snake People understood the strength of mythical beings and aimed to unify the scattered, primitive continent, yet they did not recognize what force prevented mythical beings from intervening, allowing them only to remotely control slaves to gather magic materials.
One could say that history is a cycle; no one, no race can escape it.
Returning to the current story, until the position was passed on to the children led by Kakafu, this strategy continued. But unlike their father, Kakafu’s plea truly received a response from a great holy spawn—the angel named Sorobato.
He engaged with Kakafu’s Snake People, promising to grant them legitimacy in the name of mythical beings and the Holy Realm, and pledged to help them establish the first Snake People empire in history on the Dragon Continent, with the simple price of needing to offer a large number of slaves and magic materials to Sorobato.
To demonstrate that he truly was helping this group of Snake People, Sorobato instructed them to keep it a secret and privately allowed them to buy and sell the sacred artifacts given to mortals by the Holy Spawn, providing them with lucrative information. At least this was what Kakafu and Kakaro believed, including the suggestion to trade with the Ideal Nation, which was also provided by Sorobato, claiming that great fortune would follow. Otherwise, why would this group of Snake People eagerly run to the Ideal Nation?
They obtained much intelligence from the deals, and not only did Sorobato know about them, but he might also have shared this information with others, including the elves of Chuan’s kin.
Gouwen found it increasingly amusing as he listened. Even Fisher began to pick up on the hints. Though Chuan’s expression remained serious, seeing the unusual expressions on those nearby, he immediately cast a puzzled glance toward Gouwen, who began to explain,
“Lord Chuan, Sorobato is treating this group of Snake People like fools; he’s deceived them. This land belongs to the Feima Baharon deity; he has no authority to promise them any legitimacy. His only aim is to bypass the Holy Realm’s surveillance and secretly establish a channel to forge illegal life gospel sacred artifacts, which is why he demands so many slaves and forging materials.”
As he spoke, Gouwen gritted his teeth and shot a glare at the incomplete sacred artifacts scattered on the ground, indicating that even the one in the camel’s belly that Fisher was riding must have been a sacred artifact sold by this group of Snake People on Dragon Continent.
“Life gospel sacred artifacts?”
Chuan had heard about angels excelling in forging, but he had never heard the term before. Gouwen found it somewhat difficult to explain. Instead, Mikhail, who had been influenced by Michael, spoke up, revealing his thorough knowledge of the forging process associated with these angels,
“The sacred artifacts that angels usually forge rely on crafting materials with rules that resonate with the divine powers of those unseen but concrete deities. One type of gospel is called life gospel; as the name implies, it incorporates living beings with life powers into the forging process. Sacred artifacts forged this way are strictly prohibited by the Holy Realm.”
Chuan still struggled to understand the intricacies and curiously asked,
“Life gospel… But if it’s to be imbued with the power of Lord Ramastia, wouldn’t ordinary animals suffice? Why bring in these sentient beings?”
“Uh, wait, there are indeed gospels that incorporate resonant creatures in forging, but regardless, the angels have forbidden including intelligent beings like humans and subhumans in the forging process; I’m uncertain of the exact reasons but perhaps it’s because your faith’s god prefers intelligent beings?”
“Stop, stop, Lord Chuan, Mikhail, you’re here to exchange forging techniques. The real issue now is how to handle this group of Snake People; they’ve been deceived by Sorobato, and their dealings with your Ideal Nation don’t seem well-intentioned.”
Upon hearing this, Chuan paused slightly. He glanced at the slaves caged around him and then at the trembling Kakaro and his fellow Snake People on the ground, letting out a sigh. After a moment, he finally spoke,
“You have been deceived by the angels. No angel, not even the existence that created them, could grant you so-called legitimacy. This land has another master whose name you do not know; he dislikes any organized settlement, advocating for primal wildness and freedom. The day your nation establishes itself, you will face total disaster. Release all the slaves here; I will take them back to the Ideal Nation.”
For the first time, Fisher learned of the Feima Baharon deity’s stance. No wonder the Dragon Continent had such a barbaric atmosphere and lacked a political structure like that of the Ideal Nation; it all stemmed from the dragon god.
But if Jasmine were here, she would certainly criticize the Feima Baharon deity, for being in constant company with the God of All Forms, she knew full well the actions of the dragon god. When his dragon offspring were eventually born, he would seemingly forget his advocacy for wildness and freedom and quietly assist them in establishing one of the largest nations in history—Feima Baharon Dragon Court—named after him and passed down for generations.
At this moment, although Fisher did not know the specific reasons, he at least understood that among these three demigods, only the name “Feima Baharon” had been passed down to his era.
Meanwhile, Chuan did not want to punish these deceived Snake People, or rather, the kind-hearted him had no intention of punishing others, even if they had done something contrary to his beliefs.
Kakaro looked at Chuan before him, opened his mouth and flicked out his snake tongue, and suddenly, at that moment, he made a decision that contradicted his ancestors. He lowered his head and solemnly said to Chuan,
“Great lord, please forgive our former ignorance. On behalf of myself and the Snake People here, I request your protection; please allow us to join your nation. Even though we have realized that we were deceived by the Sorobato angel, we cannot do anything about it, and even refusing to continue providing materials for him is difficult to achieve; we will face punishment. I am willing to persuade my brother; we request our entire clan to join the Ideal Nation.
“The Sorobato angel has another sacred artifact currently being forged in our cave that requires our watch. Although we do not know the specific method, he seems to value that sacred artifact highly. I am willing to offer it along with the promise never to eat humans again and accept the punishment of becoming slaves, humbly hoping for your acceptance, solely seeking to protect my kin.”
Upon hearing this, Chuan raised an eyebrow and glanced at the few people around; no one offered any opinions. Only Mikhail, whether intentionally or unintentionally, remarked,
“Should we ask Margaret?”
“No need; she will agree.”
Chuan replied without much thought. He then looked at the sunset gradually sinking into the ocean and the bright full moon slowly rising in the distance, realizing that his previous promise of a quick return must be rescinded.
He didn’t hesitate, looking at the people around him, and instructed,
“In that case, please help me handle things here. Mikhail, you come with me to check on the imprisoned slaves; Gouwen, gather all the Snake People here. I plan to take those defective gospel sacred artifacts back to the Ideal Nation for use; Fisher, can I ask you about that unfinished sacred artifact?”
Chuan’s orders were rare, and Fisher and the others naturally complied with his suggestions, particularly since there wasn’t much to do.
Fisher patted the camel beneath him and followed a guiding Snake Person into the cave, while Gouwen happily clapped his hands, instructing Kakaro to gather all the Snake People. As for Chuan, he approached the distant cages, where at least a hundred lower-ranked subhumans were imprisoned, including many injured ones. He needed to free and treat them.
Only Mikhail suddenly stood in place, scratching his head, looking up at the dim moonlight, bewildered,
“Wait, something seems off. What were we originally here to do?”
(The chapter ends here.)
