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Chapter 409 – Rank Promotion

Zhao Hai didn't know too much about the actions of the Calci Family. He thought that Smith already had the situation under control. He didn't expect that Smith had yet to get the support of his other brothers. Being alone, Smith wasn't able to deal with the problem

But it didn't take too long before he was informed about the situation. The second day after he left Jade Water City, Zhao Hai received a letter from Smith sent via a Blood Hawk. In the letter were the recent and future actions that the Calci Family had planned. Smith didn't urge Zhao Hai to be patient this time, instead he wanted Zhao Hai to teach the family a lesson.

This didn't mean that Smith wanted to cut ties with the family. He just wanted to make Zhao Hai teach the stubborn elders of the family a lesson they wouldn't forget. He wanted to make them understand that there were people in this world that cannot be touched. He wanted Zhao Hai to show the family how capable he is.

Zhao Hai didn't think that Smith would actually urge him to do this. He handed Smith's letter to Laura and smiled, "Look at this. I didn't think that Big Brother Smith is actually a very radical person."

Laura received the letter and looked at it, then she snorted and said, "This is nothing special, I can understand why Brother Smith did this. If the Markey family had people like Brother Smith, then we wouldn't have experienced what we did. How about you, Brother Hai, what do you think?"

Zhao Hai smiled faintly, "Why wouldn't we agree? After all, we only have a good relationship with Brother Smith. It's better if we teach them a lesson now in order to make them understand Brother Smith's words. Right, in two days, the Goldmetal fruit will be ready. At that time, your rank will be improved. With what is going to occur, we happen to have a place to practice our skills."

When Laura heard what Zhao Hai said, she smiled. It was indeed like what Zhao Hai said, now that the Goldmetal Tree is already mature, it was only a matter of time before it could bear some fruits. For the entire tree's lifetime, Zhao Hai could get 80 Goldmetal Fruits.

The Goldmetal tree is a level 60 plant, it has 8 batches of its fruit period, it could produce 10 fruits each time, making it very precious. Even though the fruit had already been producing fruits, Laura and the others chose not eat it immediately. Everyday they would drink the Fluid of Life inside the Space before practicing, making their body in top shape for the time they will eat the Goldmetal Fruit.

Because of this preparation period, Zhao Hai spent a lot of gold coins letting the Multipurpose Processing Machine produce some low-level supplementary potions for Laura and the others to take in. Although it couldn't improve their strengths directly, those potions could increase their body's quality. When the last batch of fruits gets produced tomorrow, Zhao Hai decided to make Laura and the others eat the Goldmetal Fruit.

Zhao Hai turned his head to Laura, "Laura, what mount do you think is good to use? Now that Grandpa Kun has started teaching me how to ride, I think we should consider what mount we need to use in the future."

Laura shook her head and said, "I think we shouldn't be hasty in selecting a mount. I've seen that there are a lot of strange animals that is available in the Space's store. When the time comes, we can just buy them and use them as our mounts."

Zhao Hai didn't oppose, inside the Space, there were even some mythological Chinese beasts recorded. These beast included some with a dragon's bloodline, all of them equal to a 9th rank expert in strength. Having 9th rank beasts as mounts would certainly be very domineering.

Now that Zhao Hai had started to learn riding skills, he could now ride horses casually. But if he were to fight on horseback, he will fall behind. However, because of his rapid increase in strength, he could still contend against a 6th rank warrior.

A day quickly passed by. On the second day, Zhao Hai entered the Space early and waited for the last batch of Goldmetal Fruits to be matured.

Before long, Cai'er collected the last batch of fruits before using the land to plant another tree. Zhao Hai withdrew three Goldmetal Fruits and prepared to give one of them to Laura while the other two to Blockhead and Rockhead.

Although the strengths of Blockhead and Rockhead weren't bad, their progress was too slow. This made the two very worried. But now that they finally found something that could aid them in improving their strengths, the two were naturally very happy.

According to Cai'er, Laura can only eat half of the fruit while Blockhead and Rockhead can eat them whole. Zhao Hai divided one fruit into two before handing the two halves to Laura. For Blockhead and Rockhead, he gave two full fruits.

The three people looked excitedly at the Goldmetal Fruit. In all honesty, Meg and the others were somewhat envious, but they knew that they weren't compatible with the Goldmetal Fruit, it was quite a pity.

Zhao Hai looked at the three people and smiled faintly, "Go and eat it. After doing so, go stabilize your bodies, don't forget that we may get into some battles in the next few days."

The three nodded, then with their hearts beating fast, they ate the Goldmetal Fruit. Blockhead and Rockhead were the first to feel something, their stomachs rumbled as energy filled their bodies to the point of explosion. The two immediately sat down and circulated their Battle Qi.

Laura's situation was also similar, but her reaction was much more mild since she only ate half of the fruit. But she also sat down and started to cultivate.

Zhao Hai looked anxiously at the three, he knew that this moment was very important to them. Although the Space said that they could tolerate the Goldmetal Fruit, it didn't stop Zhao Hai and the others from worrying.

The trio took eight hours before they woke up one after the other. At this time, Kun and Green were also inside the Space. The two were also looking anxiously at the three.

The first one to wake up was Laura, she looked at the surrounding people and smiled faintly, "I've made everyone worry."

Zhao Hai immediately replied, "Don't worry about that, how are you? Did you rank up?" Looking at the nervous face of ZHao Hai, Laura's heart warmed as she said, "I feel great, Now my strength has reached the peak of 6th rank. I believe that I'll reach 8th rank when I eat the next half of the fruit."

Zhao Hai relaxed and became happy. At this point, Kun happily laughed and said, "Fantastic! Young Lady, you have finally ranked up."

All the people who were trying their best to cultivate didn't only do so for their own safety, but also for their longevity. An ordinary person's life could only reach 100 years old. But an 8th rank expert can reach 200. In order to live longer, everybody cultivated hard, this was especially true for Nobles.

This was because they didn't need to worry about their livelihood, they had all the time to practice.

At this time, Blockhead and Rockhead also woke up. Both of them wore relieved expressions because they didn't have any accidents. The duo's level had also reached 8th rank.

Two more 8th ranks had been added to the group, this was good for them. Green took the two for a spar to see their new strengths.

Perhaps because they were still not accustomed to their new strength, Blockhead and Rockhead's moves in the beginning were very stiff. But the two started to slowly adapt and began to block Green's attacks. One must know that Green was a pinnacle expert among 8th ranks, ordinary 8th rank warriors could only survive for a few seconds under Green's assault. For Blockhead and Rockhead to block his attacks at this point showed the innate strengths that the two possessed.

After some time, Green laughed and retrieved his Spirit Wind sword. He looked at the two happily and said, "Good, good! You boys have become strong. With the two of you working together, you already have the strength of the pinnacle of 8th rank. If an ordinary 8th rank meets the two of you, then he will certainly have a bad day. Hahaha. I can finally rest assured. You two listen to me, from now on you must wholeheartedly protect the young master. If even a single hair of the Young Master gets missing, I will have to scold the two of you myself."

Blockhead and Rockhead were both orphans since their childhood. Although it was the Buda Clan who took them in, it was Green who took care of them. This made the two treat Green with the respect and admiration that a son might have for his father. Therefore, they would obey every instruction coming out of Green's mouth.

Zhao Hai gave a faint smile and said, "Grandpa Green, it's fine. Just make them assist you, there's currently no need for them to protect me right now."

Green laughed and said, "That's true, but there's nothing in Iron Mountain Fort that these two can help with. The school teachers back there are also undead, they didn't need help. Young Master, just let them go with you to accumulate experience."

Zhao Hai looked at Blockhead and Rockhead then nodded, "Alright, it's good for them to come with me and get some experience. They might assume an important position in the future."

Green and the others laughed. At this time, Zhao Hai remembered that they hadn't been out of the Space for a day so he immediately went back to the Haven. Fortunately, there was nothing wrong on the ship, Zhao Hai felt relief.

When Zhao Hai went back to the Space, Laura was having a spar with Kun. It seems like Kun also wanted to see how strong Laura had become.

Zhao Hai didn't disturb them and just did his own training. Since Zhao Hai didn't train in fighting before, even if he has 8th rank strength,  his stances were still full of unnecessary movements. Compared to Laura who trained since childhood, Zhao Hai's moves were very poor. This made him put in more effort in the hopes of bridging the gap between his and Laura's strengths.

Chapter 410 – Devilish Idea

The group trained rigorously inside the Space while the Haven peacefully sailed the seas. Although the ship was alone, other ships wouldn't attack it as long as there wasn't enmity between them. After all, it was not easy to attack an armored ship.

Smith's situation was quite different from Zhao Hai's idle life. The hair on Smith's head had almost turned white, he couldn't help but worry. Although he promised Zhao Hai that the matter with the family would get taken care of, Smith wasn't sure whether Zhao Hai would still cooperate with the family. If Zhao Hai drops their partnership, the family would be losing big.

But no matter how hard he urged the family, nobody listened to him. Smith was almost convinced that the elders of the family had stones for their brains, seeing how stubborn they were regarding the situation.

He already knew that the family had sent some people to deal with Zhao Hai. Moreover, there were experts among them, 10 8th ranks, along with 20 armed cargo ships.

Such a force was quite formidable, but Smith was sure that this group wouldn't be able to deal with Zhao Hai. Smith was clear that Zhao Hai was someone who didn't show mountains nor seas. Nobody should look down on his strength.[1]

But Smith's sentiments were useless, the family wouldn't listen to him. Smith was afraid that they still wouldn't stop even if the family suffers losses in dealing with Zhao Hai.

Smith knew that he and Zhao Hai would still be friends after these two conflicts. But Smith wasn't sure how Zhao Hai would retaliate, would he go head to head against the family?

The more he thought about this, the more painful his head became. Smith just sat there, staring at the ceiling not knowing what to do.

At this time, a gentle voice can be heard, "Father, what's wrong? Why are you unhappy?"

Smith looked up and saw Megan. Even if he was unhappy, he couldn't stop himself from smiling upon seeing his lovable daughter, "Megan, aren't you going outside to play? Don't worry about me, just go and see your friends."

Megan actually shook her head and said, "I don't want to go with them. I like Sister Laura and Sister Meg. If I play around with them, I get to learn a lot of things. My friends look like they don't have any goals aside from eating and chatting about marriage. There's nothing else that they want to do, it's too boring."

Smith looked at Megan in shock. He didn't expect Megan to say such a thing. Ever since she was young, Megan was the family's princess. Everybody spoiled her and didn't allow her to suffer some problems. All of the dark influences were also driven away from Smith. In the eyes of the people, Megan's life was full of rainbows and sunshine.

Because of this, the Calci Family became too protective when Megan got attacked.

Moreover, Smith already prepared Megan's right of inheritance. This way, when she marries, her dowry would be rich. Then she wouldn't worry about her future, she can do what she wants, whether it be eating or playing, she can do everything.

But now, Megan told Smith that playing around became boring. This made Smith's head dizzy, he didn't know what to do.

Smith looked at Megan with a puzzled expression, "Megan, why did you suddenly think of that? Did someone tell you? You don't need to worry about money, our Calci Family isn't like those ordinary families. With the strength of our family, you don't need to worry about anything."

Megan shook her head and said, "I don't mean money, I want to contribute to the family. I don't want to be my friends who just live idly, eating and waiting for death. Look at Sister Laura and Sister Meg, they are travelling around with Mister Zhao Hai, that would be good."

Smith stared blankly at Megan, he didn't think that Megan would have these thoughts in her mind. Smith sighed as he looked at Megan, he knew that his darling daughter had finally grown up.

Smith looked at Megan and said, "Megan, why would you have such thoughts? You know that Laura didn't do that because they chose to, it is because they have to. What they are doing should be very tiring."

Megan grunted, "I know that such matters are tiring, but I find that kind of woman to be attractive, otherwise I think one could only be useless."

Smith shook his head and sighed, he really didn't know what to say. Looking at the slim and graceful Megan, Smith sighed again. In a blink of an eye, his daughter had finally arrived at the age of getting married. But on this continent, who was worthy of getting Megan?

For a doting father like Smith, he always thought that Megan was the best. In his mind, no man deserves her. Because of this, he didn't have any marriage candidates in mind.

A Great Family like the Calcis didn't need to marry for political reasons. Moreover, the proportion between male and female in the clan is very skewed. This made is so that males didn't receive that much attention while Megan did.

Up until now, there had been no engagements that came to Megan. But when Smith thought about Laura, Zhao Hai's face came up This made Smith startled, he hurriedly shook his head to get rid of this sudden idle thought.

But thoughts were sometimes akin to devils. It kept hovering around Smith's mind, he couldn't go for a time without considering Zhao Hai. He had to agree that Zhao Hai was a good man. He regarded sentiments heavily, knew when to advance or retreat, and was also quite formidable. Even if he had two fiances, it was common for a noble in the continent to have more than one wife. Moreover, there was a harmonious relationship between Laura and Meg.

Megan stood there and watched as Smith didn't talk for quite some time. She asked, "Dad, Dad, what's wrong? What are you thinking about?" Smith recovered and smiled at Megan, "Oh, it’s nothing. You go now. I'll go ask Uncle Phil to arrange something for you tomorrow. Go see your mother, or else she would scold me."

Megan nodded with an excited face, then she turned around and went off. Looking at Megan's departing back, Smith sighed and muttered, "Maybe having her marry Zhao Hai wouldn't be a bad idea."

Naturally, Zhao Hai didn't have any thought that Smith would have any idea of marrying Megan to him. In all honesty, Zhao Hai didn't have much contact with Megan, he didn't even know what he would do when interacting with her. He was now currently satisfied with his life, he was also satisfied with having Laura and Meg as his fiancees.

Zhao Hai was someone who gets easily contented. When he was back on Earth, even if he only had a few earnings from his royalties, he was still very happy. As long as he has food to eat ,a place to live, and can do all the things he liked, then he was satisfied.

When he arrived at Ark Continent, he was also quite contented. He had the Space to plant in, two beautiful fiancees, quite a number of loyal subordinates, and a ton of undead. His current life was good.

But he also felt that he shouldn't get satisfied with his current situation. He knew that he could still do more. Just as what the famous Chinese Surgeon Qiu Fazu said: Cultivate the need to know what is not known, study hard, or just be content.[2]

This famous saying was Zhao Hai's motto, even if he was a contented person, he would still do his best in handling matters. He always wanted to find out about his own deficiencies, and continue to improve himself, hoping that he can reach a higher level than he was before.

This was the same at the current time, he was satisfied with his life, but he knows that he wasn't a writer anymore. He was a landed Noble, he needs to do business to improve his territory. Although he also thought that the territory is already doing good, he knew that it could do better. This was why he's currently unsatisfied.

For his goals, he needed to overcome all obstacles, therefore he didn't become afraid of challenges. He knew that difficulties are your enemies. If you turn away and flee from your problems, it will be like showing your back to the enemy. Your life and death will no longer be in your hands. So instead of running away, you should do your best to overcome your enemies. Even if you fail, at least you were the one who decided your fate and not others.

So Zhao Hai chose to confront Southern King, he chose to confront the Radiant Church. Although he hid in the Prairie, it was because he was pursued by the church, repelling him and making him leave. Choosing to leave is not equal to running away.

At this moment, Zhao Hai was training his martial arts in the Space. He wanted to improve his strength. Also, he actually enjoyed doing martial arts. As a Chinese man, he always had the martial dream, and for a novelist like Zhao Hai, even more so. Now that it was possible for him to do cultivate, he naturally would jump on the chance of being a master.

At the same time, Zhao Hai was also waiting for the Calci Family. Smith told him to teach the family a lesson, so Zhao Hai had to comply. Even if Smith didn't say so, he would still do it. Zhao Hai believes that Smith knew this, this was why he sent the letter, to maintain the two's relationship and leave a path of retreat for the future.

Zhao Hai didn't object to this, after all, he was disgusted with the Calci Family. But he also has good feelings about Smith, he also wanted to keep their relationship. Thus, Zhao Hai sent a reply letter to Smith, though the content was ordinary, he knew that Smith will understand what it meant.

Regarding the coming attack from the Calci Family, Zhao Hai didn't care. He knew that the Calci Family wouldn't send a 9th rank after him. Otherwise, Smith wouldn't tell him to teach the family a lesson, instead he would tell Zhao Hai to run away.

Zhao Hai attention was more inclined towards the Merfolk. This was his first time trading with the sea dwellers, in fact, this was the first for the continent. He didn't know how the Merfolk would act.

He knew that the Humans and the Merfolk had been at odds for years. But haven't they really traded with each other? For Zhao Hai, this was inconceivable.

But Zhao Hai also knew that the ships present around these parts are almost all Pirate ships. And on these pirate ships were people who weren't that strong. If they go far into the deep sea, their ships would definitely suffer some accidents. So it wouldn't be possible for them to trade with the sedwellers.

If Zhao Hai's strength wasn't enough, then he might've become food for the Shrimp Tribe. Moreover, the general outlook of the people from the continent regarding the Merfolk were mostly negative. Adding on to the mysterious nature of the Merfolk's life at sea, Humans wouldn't like to get in contact with them. Because of this, Human merchants cannot just do business like what they did with the Beastmen.

The reason why Zhao Hai was able to be welcomed by the Beastmen as well as the Merfolk was because he considered them as equals. Not aliens that were looked down upon.

But if an expert with the same strength as Zhao Hai meets those Shrimp Tribesmen, they would immediately kill them, much less talk about business.

Zhao Hai's worry was how the Merfold would act during their trade. He didn't know whether they would treat his as a normal partner would, or just take him as a fool and undervalue his goods.

Although this was a risky move, Zhao Hai still wanted to do it. This was because he was clear that if this business goes through successfully, his Buda Clan would get another ace up their sleeves.

The fifth day after leaving Jade Water City, Zhao Hai's ship had left the waters governed by the Rosen Empire's navy and officially entered international waters. However, Zhao Hai also knew that troubles would arrive, the Calci Family's attack would arrive soon.

And just like what Zhao Hai expected, one the second day that he entered international waters, the Calci Family's people came. All in all, they had 20 armed ships, 15 were three-masted ships, while 5 were five-masted ironclad ships. Such scene was domineering, only a Great Family like the Calci Family could afford to do such a thing.

Zhao Hai calmly observed from the monitor as he awaited the arrival of the other party. While doing so, he notice a familiar person in the monitor, and that person was none other than Juwan!

bù xiǎn shān bù lù shuǐ –  lit. to not show the mountain and to not reveal the water (idiom); fig. to hide the key facts Qiu Fazu – a Chinese surgeon and a saviour of Jewish prisoners. In the People’s Republic of China, he is considered the father of modern Chinese surgery. Note: not sure about the exact saying, there's nothing in the internet

Chapter 411 – Face-off

Zhao Hai thought that Juwan wouldn't appear, but when he saw him on the monitor, Zhao Hai understood why Juwan was so daring. On Juwan's side were five people, two among them were Mages and three were Warriors, all of which were 8th ranks. When Zhao Hai looked at the other ships, there were also another two Mages and three Warriors spread out among them, also 8th ranks.

Seeing these people, Zhao Hai's eyes couldn't help but shrink. Ten 8th rank experts, the Calci Family really went big this time, but will it be useful against him?

Zhao Hai surveyed the ships again. The ships were all good weaponized ships, and the people on board weren't weak. At first glance, one could see that they were all elite troops. Zhao Hai couldn't help but snort.

Looking at the ships and hearing Zhao Hai snort, Laura asked, "Brother Hai, what do we do? Will we kill these people?"

Zhao Hai replied with a serious tone, "If we don't hurt them, they will never learn. We'll leave the 8th ranks and Juwan's group alone. Let's take their ships since they did all the trouble of delivering them to us. Send the command to unarm our cannons, let their ship approach. Let's play with them this time."

Jinan immediately transmitted the orders, Laura didn't oppose the decision. At this time, they only have the Haven. Naturally, they had more ships in the Space, but they couldn't use them.

Zhao Hai had 20 ships currently on hand. The Haven that they were currently on, the Swordfish being repaired in Jade Water City, the five ships gotten from the Markey Family, and the rest are stored in the Space. If Zhao Hai suddenly released the other ships to fight the Calci Family, his secrets will be exposed; which he didn't want to. Since it had come to this, Zhao Hai just had Jinan put the sails down while disallowing the gunners from firing in order to let the other party see. If they didn't take the hint and opened fire, Zhao Hai wasn't afraid of retaliating.

Zhao Hai also didn't plan on firing because he placed some importance on the 20 ships of the Calci Family. If they somehow destroy one, Zhao Hai would certainly grieve.

Laura looked at the 20 ships that were slowly approaching with anticipation. Now that her strength had reached 8th rank, she was quite eager to test it. She had trained since an early age, Zhao Hai was not a match against her.

Since Laura was a knight, her footwork, spearplay and swordplay are all quite fierce. Just based on techniques, she wouldn't lose against Blockhead and Rockhead. This was even more true for a newbie like Zhao Hai, he wasn't her opponent.

Laura's confidence was currently very high. Her spars with Kun were now useless, she wanted to have a real fight. Zhao Hai had no choice but to take some metal out from the warehouse and made the Processing Machine produce a Tang Blade for her.

It must be said that the weapons in the Ark Continent are very good. But Zhao Hai was somewhat partial towards the weapons from Earth. The Tang Blade was like a Japanese Warrior's Katana, it was not only sharp, it's killing potential was also very good. Because of these characteristics, Zhao Hai chose to give Laura one.

What he didn't expect was that when Kun inspected the blade, he was attracted to it as well. So Zhao Hai could only create another blade for him. Now, Laura and Kun both kept their blades almost always at their sides.

Another thing he didn't expect was that when Blockhead and Rockhead saw Kun's new weapon, they wanted one for themselves as well. But the Tang Blade wasn't a heavy weapon, it wasn't like the two handed heavy sword that the two usually used. Since they weren't compatible with the Blade, Zhao Hai gave them a large machete with a lengthened hilt. Zhao Hai couldn't help but smile upon seeing the faces of the two.

Although blades and swords were different, people from the Ark Continent pay more attention to the weight of the weapons. Even if the weapon was considered heavy, women generally would take the lighter version of it. In Chinese martial arts, swords were meant to be swift while blades are for hard attacks. Obviously, it was impossible for a heavy sword to take the swift route. Zhao Hai observed that most moves in the Ark Continent involves chopping and swiping. This gave Zhao Hai the idea to hand his people blades which were more suitable for their moves than swords.

Upon receiving their new weapons, the group immediately went to familiarize themselves with it. Seeing the advantages brought by their new weapons, everybody was happy. They trained in the Space daily, and now that they have the opportunity to use it, they were naturally excited.

The Calci Family's ships slowly surrounded Zhao Hai's Haven. Juwan's ship went forward while the others kept a safe distance while at the same time aiming their cannons towards Zhao Hai's vessel.

Seeing the actions of the ships, Zhao Hai smiled and said, "Good, they seemed to have learned something. But they were not smart enough since they came here."

Laura smiled and said, "Juwan is certainly not smart. What Juwan wanted to see is your frightened face. This is the problem with young nobles, in his opinion, he had lost massive face because of you. So this time, he came with this force in order to make you lose face. Only after achieving this will his heart become comfortable."

Zhao Hai smiled faintly, "The attitude of an Idiot. If I just dealt with him properly before, he wouldn’t' have come back here. I'll make sure to take note of that."

Laura and the others just listened to Zhao Hai and smiled. At this point, Juwan's ship arrived and placed its walking plank. Juwan looked very smug as he boarded the Haven. At his side were several 8th rank warriors in addition to the Manager that the Family had sent.

.Besides these people, Juwan was also followed by more than 20 warriors. All of them were at 6th and 7th ranks. They all looked at Zhao Hai with an inquisitive gaze.

Zhao Hai just calmly looked at Juwan's group. Juwan looked proudly at Zhao Hai and then turned his eyes to Laura and the others.

Looking at Juwan's actions, Zhao Hai couldn't help but wrinkle his brows and said, "Juwan, why did you come? Do you intend to block me?"

Juwan stared at Zhao Hai, not expecting him to ask that question. He didn't know why Zhao Hai said that, he stole more than ten ships from Juwan. Why would he ask that"

After some time, Juwan recovered, and with a red face he looked at Zhao Hai and said, "Zhao Hai, have you been scared silly? You really don't know why I came today?"

Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, "I really don't know. How about you tell me?"

Juwan's face was dark, his blood vessels were almost bursting. While gasping for breath he replied, "You snatched my ship and threw me on a boat, and now you ask why I came here? I told you, I will set our account straight one day. Today you must give me back my ships and the fire fishes as well for compensation. Also, make those beautiful women accompany me. Otherwise, you will become fish food today."

Zhao Hai's expression turned cold as he stared at Juwan, "Juwan, is this really what you want to say? Is this what a Calci Family member should say? Aren't you afraid of shaming your Calci Family?"

Juwan's expression changed, "You're wasting your breath. Follow my orders immediately, or else I would be impolite."

Zhao Hai looked at Juwan and laughed, "Good, Juwan, good. Does the Calci Family really think that these 8th ranks are enough to deal with me?"

Hearing Zhao Hai's words, Juwan's expression changed. It was also the same for the 8th ranks behind him. Zhao Hai just smiled at Juwan as he continued, "You really are naive if you think that these few experts on my ship can intimidate me. Today, let me show you my own method." Then he waved his hand as large quantities of undead appeared on the sea's surface.

Juwan and his companions didn't know that the sea was already frozen. And just when their complexion changed color, Laura and the others went forward to fight them.

Juwan didn't think that Zhao Hai's companions would actually be experts. But what annoyed him more was the fact that Zhao Hai himself had taken up a weapon and fought against his subordinate with delight. And unexpectedly, he wasn't a bad Warrior.

Although none of the undead under Zhao Hai touched Juwan, his face's complexion was still pale. He knew that Zhao Hai's subordinates didn't attack him because they were afraid of Juwan, it was because they were putting the Calci Family into consideration. If Zhao Hai didn't, all of them wouldn't be alive right now.

His thoughts were correct, and while he was spaced out, Zhao Hai already assaulted the other ships. The experts on those ships were all seized under the command of Zhao Hai. Since he didn't want to have a mortal enmity against the Calci Family, and he was just planning on teaching them a lesson, he just made his undead capture all of the key Calci Family people present.

Seeing his party being captured, Juwan paled even more. He knew that he wouldn’t' be able to recover after this. At this time, the 8th ranks who fought Zhao Hai's group were slowly getting captured one after the other. Only the one who fought Zhao Hai was holding on. Juwan could see that Zhao Hai's fighting techniques weren't strong, he was about the same level as a 6th rank warrior.

But Juwan didn't underestimate Zhao Hai. This was because he knew that Zhao Hai didn't focus on Battle Qi, he was a Mage.

A Mage that battles while carrying a weapon and was somewhat on par with a Warrior, this fact made Juwan think that the world had gone crazy.

Chapter 412 – Recording Magic

Everybody knows that practicing Battle Qi and Magic at the same time wouldn't yield good results, it was a waste of effort. But Zhao Hai wasn't very different compared to a 6th rank Warrior. In fact, the was displaying strength that was superior to a 6th rank. If Zhao Hai didn't use Magic before, Juwan might have believed that he was a Warrior.

Juwan also took note of Zhao Hai's age. For him to reach 6th rank this young was already remarkable

However, Juwan eventually thought that his thinking was wrong. Zhao Hai was brandishing his sword and his moves were very ordinary. Juwan's subordinate was actually gaining the upper hand.

Although Juwan wasn't very learned when it came to martial arts, he could see that Zhao Hai was only like this because he was inexperienced, not because he was weak.

Juwan was too angry that he didn't know what to say. He wasn't a fool, when he looks at Zhao Hai's situation, it was very clear that his subordinate was only used as a sparring partner. But Juwan couldn't do anything about it, there was currently a large group of undead paying attention to him.

The undeads were each holding a sword, and it was evident that they were all high level. They were also quite close to him, casting magic at this point was useless.

Suddenly, Zhao Hai's group drew back, leaving Juwan along with his experts. Juwan's expression changed, he wants to tie down Zhao Hai's group, but it was already too late. At this point, Juwan's group was slowly being surrounded by the group of undead.

Zhao Hai touched his sword with his hand and looked at Juwan coldly, "Juwan, don't think that I'm afraid of you. Your puny force isn't enough for me to get frightened. I only chose to stop in consideration for Brother Smith's face. I hope you understand that this Zhao Hai is not your Calci Family's dog that you can just command whenever you want. If you want to cooperate with me, then show some sincerity. I'll be confiscating these ships, I'll take them as compensation. I hope you relay my message correctly to the family. I hope you won't reach my bottom line."

At this point, the only people left were the 8th ranks, Juwan, and the Clan's housekeeper.

Juwan didn't dare to make a move, Zhao Hai looked at him and smiled faintly, "I will not kill you, the same is true for those 8th ranks, rest assured. But I will have to take the ships, you know the rules, it's the same as last time."

Juwan's complexion turned uglier, he understood, in his previous attack against Zhao Hai, they were still close to the shorelines and were aided by the Rosen Empire's navy. Travelling to Sky Water City from that point would take three days. But this time, they weren't with the Empire's navy and were in international waters, the closest port from here would take seven days of sailing. For such a distance, it would be very troublesome if they were to get lost.

Zhao Hai didn't care, he just retrieved the additional undead on the ships and stored them to the Space before he got Juwan on a lifeboat. When Juwan looked at the 8th ranks that he brought, they were actually crippled by Zhao Hai, not killed. Afterwards, Zhao Hai threw them all into Juwan's boat.

Seeing Zhao Hai's methods, Juwan's face turned for the worse. He knew that for an 8th rank expert to lose their means of practicing Battle Qi and Magic, it meant a fate worse than death. Zhao Hai was really ruthless.

After looking at Zhao Hai's departing ship, Juwan became gloomy. He stared at the pale faced and unconscious 8th ranks then turned to his housekeeper and said, "Throw them into the sea, then report to the Family that they were all killed by Zhao Hai."

His housekeeper couldn't help but stare upon hearing Juwan, then his complexion changed as he replied, "Fifth Young Master, that isn't proper. It's a rule of the Family to take care of an 8th rank when they get injured. If Young Master does this, you would be violating the Family's laws."

Juwan coldly snorted and said, "Don't talk nonsense. Killing them will enrage the family. Bringing them home like this would just make the elders scared of Zhao Hai."

Just after he said that, Zhao Hai's voice was suddenly heard, "The Third Young Master is unexpectedly ruthless. Hahaha. But you seem to forget that there's a magic spell that could record you. I've already saved what you said. Haha. If you dare abandon these people, then don't blame me if this recording suddenly falls into the hands of the people from your family."

When Juwan heard Zhao Hai's voice, his face changed. He knew how difficult it was for a Mage to use Recording Magic. They first need to use three elements, namely earth, wind, and water. Then they would have to practice making Composite Magic with those three. If Zhao Hai or his subordinate can use Recording magic, this meant that Zhao Hai was or had someone that was an Advanced Level Multi-element Mage. And Juwan knew the family's stance regarding those Mages.

Juwan also knew that Recording Magic wasn't an attack magic, it belonged to a class called Truth Magics. These magics were unable to be falsified and are the most credible evidences that Mages could present. If Zhao Hai indeed recorded his words and actions today, then he would be out of luck.

Don't underestimate the influence brought by 8th rank experts. Although the Calci Family wouldn't care if they died, Zhao Hai's recording of Juwan's actions would be a very big deal.

8th rank experts were exalted in most clans, but their tasks would most often involve going into dangerous missions. They serve an important role to every group they belong to.

With these duties, some of them would unavoidably die while on duty.  Those 8th ranks also have their own families, so if they die, what would happen to them? Without a source of income, how could they survive?

8th ranks also knew about this, so before they associate themselves into a Noble Clan, they would make them promise that if they get killed while on a mission, the Noble Clan should give their families protection and compensation. And if they don't die and instead get crippled, the Clan should support them for their entire lifetime, they must take care of them.

If the Clan couldn't meet those expectations, then all 8th ranks would stay away from them. And that scenario would be fatal to any Clan.

If the elders from the Calci Family found out about Juwan's plans for the 8th ranks, then he would certainly be punished. Moreover, if the 8th ranks of the family were to hear about Juwan's actions, then Juwan could forget about getting the position of Patriarch.

Although those 8th ranks didn't have much influence, it would be a different story if they form an alliance.

8th rank experts were the bread and butter of a Family's strength. If the 8th ranks knew that they were actually treated that way, then he wouldn't get their support. Juwan would then be very hopeless.

Juwan wasn't sad about losing 20 ships. For the Calci Family, those 20 ships weren't a big deal. But what is a big deal was Zhao Hai's recording of Juwan. This would make Juwan unable to do anything to Zhao Hai. If he still did, then Zhao Hai can just hand his recording over to the family.

When the housekeeper saw Juwan's appearance, he knew that it was the end for Juwan. Although he was just sent by the Clan to monitor the fifth son, their fates have already been bound together. Because of this, he didn't report a lot of Juwan's atrocities back to the family. He did so in the hopes that Juwan may succeed in being the Patriarch, making his position rise as well. But seeing this scenario, he understood that it was now impossible.

Zhao Hai naturally couldn't just leave Juwan to fend for himself at sea. So he immediately sent word to Smith, telling him of the result. But Smith was already expecting this outcome, he already had his people patrol around the sea while waiting for Zhao Hai's letter, so when the time comes, his men could quickly respond.

Although Juwan was a disappointment, he was still Smith's blood brother. Therefore, he still had to go and save him. He also knew that Zhao Hai wouldn't take Juwan's life.

When Smith received Zhao Hai's letter, he immediately sent word to the family's ships, making them pick up Juwan as soon as possible. Smith knew that unlike last time, where Juwan made his moves inside Rosen Empire's region, this time his younger brother was on international waters. If they take too long in retrieving Juwan, he may come into danger.

Actually Smith also considered the fact that even though Zhao Hai disliked Juwan for the repeated attacks against him, Zhao Hai still highly regarded Smith's face . Zhao Hai would certainly ensure Juwan's safety, otherwise his ties with the Calci Family would wither away.

Chapter 413 – Rock Shrimp Tribe

There are a lot of juniors inside a Great Clan, for bloodline juniors, there were also quite plenty. Some of them were far related, some were direct, some can become successors, some cannot.

Juwan was in good graces with the elders of the Calci Family, he was very dear to their hearts, even higher than Smith. Because of this, when Juwan told them to deal with Zhao Hai, they didn't oppose.

For a Great Clan like the Calci Family, they didn't place too much importance to their 8th ranks. Therefore, Juwan thought that throwing them overboard was fine as long as nobody else knew and that they would provide monetary support to their families afterwards. Nobody would care about this small loss of their 8th rank experts.

This was why it should still be fine if Zhao Hai gets to kill a few 8th rank experts of the family. Killing 8th ranks to teach the family a lesson shouldn't merit being mortal enemies with the Calci Family.

But if Zhao Hai were to deal with Juwan, his enmity with the family would flare up. It was said that unless one party gets extinguished, it was impossible to resolve hatred if a direct descendant of a clan gets killed. This was because Great Nobles place great importance in saving their face.

Because of this consideration, Zhao Hai let Juwan go while at the same time sending people to protect his safety. Zhao Hai understood that so long as he had Juwan's recording about the 8th ranks, there was no possibility of Juwan becoming the family Patriarch.

For Zhao Hai, the recording was worthless, but for Juwan, it was something of huge importance. If Smith were to get his hands on the recording, he would have Juwan on his hands, his chances of winning the succession would increase.

Juwan being a playboy wasn't a lie, but his position inside the hearts of the elders of the family couldn't be underestimated. With Juwan's support, Smith's name within the elders of the family would be more regarded, for Smith this was huge.

However, Zhao Hai didn't think about that for now. He made the undead on board Juwan's ships to sail towards a place where nobody could spot them then Zhao Hai stored them into the space. Afterwards, Zhao Hai had the Haven go directly to where he initially met the Shrimp Tribesmen.

Zhao Hai didn't want to enter other areas of the deeps seas. He could just pick a place and wait there, however, he wouldn't be sure if that place belonged to the Shrimp Tribe. If the territory of the Shrimp Tribe was very small, then it would be very easy to stumble upon some other tribe's place.

Before long, Zhao Hai arrived at the area where he last met the merfolk. But he didn't stop, he just slowly went further while taking caution. He prepared himself for the possibility of being attacked by sedwellers. The borderline between the coastline areas and the deep seas was quite blurred. But sailors knew that the area beyond Ape Island and its surrounding islands was the Merfolk region, so they came upon themselves to make that region the border. As long as you stay well behind that region, they should be relatively safe from Merfolk attacks. If you dare sail past that point, then you must be prepared to face the possibility of being attacked by a sedweller with the strength equal to the continent's 9th rank expert. And nobody wanted to experience that.

Zhao Hai's ship slowly sailed along the deep sea, but what surprised Zhao Hai was the fact that they didn't receive any attacks. Everything seemed ordinary, as though they were just sailing on the continent's coastlines.

Zhao Hai looked at the monitor with his brows wrinkling, this was because he didn't spot a single one of those Shrimp Tribesman. He didn’t' even see a single Merfolk, this made him quite puzzled.

At this time, Zhao Hai noticed something moving on the seafloor. Zhao Hai carefully observed it and saw a fish in the mud. It was a strange fish, it had the same color as the seabed, this must be why Zhao Hai wasn't able to spot it earlier.

But this fish wasn't considered to be a sea dweller. And because of Zhao Hai's worries about the Merfolk, he didn't even take the chance to absorb the fish into the Space.

However, Zhao Hai didn't think that a moment later, a group of Shrimp Tribesmen could be spotted on the monitor. The group looked very menacing, as if they were coming to sink the Haven.

Seeing the situation, Zhao Hai immediately used Ice Magic and froze the waters surrounding the Haven. This made the approaching Shrimp Tribesmen stare blankly, they weren't expecting this move from Zhao Hai.

These Shrimp Tribesmen understood that Zhao Hai wanted to make contact with them, otherwise he wouldn't use Ice Magic. This made them stop and stare at the ice wall with confused expressions.

Zhao Hai saw their mouths move, but he couldn't hear anything. This made him puzzled, but he immediately recovered as he gave his greeting, "Sea dwelling friend, hello. I have received an invitation by your tribesman Crag to do business with you. I'll have to ask you to please call him to the surface and meet me."

After Zhao Hai expressed his intentions, he observed the reactions of the Shrimp people. The Shrimp Tribesmen naturally understood Zhao Hai's words, so they gave each other a quick glance before they exposing their heads out of the sea's surface.

One of the Shrimp Tribesmen who surfaced looked at Zhao Hai and asked, "Do you really intend to do business with us?"

Zhao Hai smiled and said, "Hello, Shrimp Tribe friend, I told Crag before that I would do trade with you. If you don't believe me, you can ask Crag."

The Shrimp Tribesman replied with a happy tone, "You wait here. Although we already heard about this matter from Crag, we are not sure if you are the one. I'll immediately go call him over." After that, the group disappeared into the sea.

Looking at these Merfolk, Zhao Hai couldn't help but smile. For the Humans to call them an alien race is too funny. These Merfolk looked like they didn't have the the extremely doubting mind of humans, if they see you as a friend then you are a friend, if they think that you are an enemy, then you are an enemy. Their thoughts were very simple, they were the type of people that Zhao Hai liked. [1]

Before long, another group of Shrimp Tribesmen appeared in front of Zhao Hai, possibly including Crag with them. Why possibly? This was because to Zhao Hai's eyes, all of these Shrimp Tribesmen looked very similar. It was like in the eyes of the Chinese, foreigners looked very similar to each other. This was also true for Foreigners, they also find it hard to differentiate one Chinese person from another.[2]

After the Shrimp people appeared on the surface, one of them looked at Zhao Hai and said, "My human friend, you finally appeared!! Hahaha. These days, I've almost become a joke in the tribe, they thought I was lying. My friend, come with me to see the Chief immediately."

Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, "Alright, friend. Guide me, but stay on the surface, otherwise I wouldn’t' be able to follow you."

The man was naturally Crag. He looked at Zhao Hai and smiled, "That's not a problem, my friend, you can just follow my mount." Then he sank into the sea before a large shrimp appeared. This shrimp was as large as those that were absorbed into Zhao Hai's Space.

After the large shrimp appeared on the surface, it sank back down again, but before disappearing, it left its whiskers above the water. Zhao Hai smiled, it seems like these Merfolk were smarter than the Beastmen.

Zhao Hai followed the shrimp's whiskers, although he can see the sea's situation, he didn't want to reveal that fact to the Merfolk.

Zhao Hai didn't expect that the place where Crag was taking him was actually quite far. His ship has been sailing for three days straight before the shrimp stopped. At this time, Zhao Hai was basking in the sun while on the ship's top deck, he wasn't paying attention to the monitor. Now that the ship had stopped, he immediately got up.

At this moment, Crag appeared and smiled as he bowed, "Friend, our Chief will be seeing you, please wait a bit." Zhao Hai returned the bow hastily, he didn't want to seem rude to these Merfolk.

Just as Crag left, Zhao Hai took two steps back into the ship before opening the monitor. Upon seeing the screen, Zhao Hai was stunned along with Laura and the others who were behind him. They didn't think that they would be able to see such a scene.

Currently, there was a very large coral reef underneath the sea. One couldn't just imagine how large this reef was. Seen on it were Shrimp Tribesmen swimming all around. He could also see marine products as well as all kinds of fish. This made Zhao Hai stared blankly.

Before long, Zhao Hai can see a curled up Shrimp man appearing on the monitor. This Shrimp man wasn't hunched back because he was a shrimp, but because he was old. On his face were wrinkles, and his antennae were drooped on the sides of his head. Held on his hand was a wooden cane. This image gave Zhao Hai the impulse to laugh.

They could float on sea, why was this Shrimp Tribesman carrying a cane? At the same time, Zhao Hai was somewhat surprised, do canes have any use on the sea?

However, Zhao Hai just stayed on his ship and awaited the other party's arrival. Soon after, a group emerged along with the old Shrimp. The elderly Shrimp man looked at Zhao Hai and coughed twice before talking, "Hello my young Human friend, I'm Libben, Chief of the Rock Shrimp Tribe."

Zhao Hai quickly bowed and said, "I greet the Chief, I am the Human merchant Zhao Hai, I'm very glad to meet you."

Libben looked very satisfied with Zhao Hai, he looked at him, smiled, then nodded, "Young man, you make me very surprised, I have never seen a Human who speak to us with a manner like you did."

Zhao Hai replied, "To think that the Chief has met other humans, I didn't expect that. I thought I was the first to come in contact with your Rock Shrimp Tribe."

Libben smiled and said, "I just tried to interact with Humans, but in the end it all failed. When they see us, they yell, it made me feel uncomfortable. Young Human friend, I heard that you came to trade with us, what do you want?"

After hearing Libben, Zhao Hai immediately answered, "Respectable Chief, I am a businessman, naturally I would want some marine products. For example, aquatic Magic Beasts, marine plants, some pearls, unique corals, as well as some rare sea ores. If you have any special products, I want those too. For my side, I have grain, ceramics, and metalwares.

Libben looked at Zhao Hai, "Human friend, then come take a look at this and see how much this is worth." Then the old Chief took out a clam shell that wasn't that big and handed it over to Zhao Hai.

Zhao Hai received the shell and opened it gently, obviously he didn't expect to see an actual clam inside, this should be the Merfolk version of a Human's pouch.

The actual content of the shell was what made Zhao Hai startled, there was actually an exceptionally huge pearl inside.

The pearl was about the size of Zhao Hai's fist. Zhao Hai couldn't remember a time where he saw a pearl bigger than what he was currently holding. Moreover, this pearl had a pale yellow varnish, it looked very beautiful.

Laura, who was standing behind Zhao Hai, exclaimed as she took the pearl from Zhao Hai's hands, "Brother Hai, this is a treasure! This pearl alone is worth all of the supplies that Charlie provided us."

Zhao Hai nodded, then he turned to Lidden and said, "Chief, your pearl is very precious. It can be traded for four ships' worth of cargo. Will you agree with this exchange?"

Lidden looked at Zhao Hai and laughed, "You're an honest young man, I agree to the trade. You should know that since I've been the Chief of the Rock Shrimp Tribe for so long, I have the intuition to tell a person's thoughts. I know that you didn't lie, alright, you can take the pearl."

When Zhao Hai heard Lidden, he was startled. He didn't think that Lidden would have an ability like that. He couldn't help but wipe some sweat off his brow, although this pearl was precious, it could at only trade for four ships' worth of cargo at most. If the Shrimp Tribe was unhappy with the that trade, it wouldn't be good.

Zhao Hai wanted a long term partnership with the Rock Shrimp Tribe, so he didn't plan on deceiving them. He knew that the Shrimp People can also look up the value of this pearl, and when they find out that they were duped, they wouldn't work with Zhao Hai again. At that point, Zhao Hai's gain wouldn’t be worth the losses.

Zhao Hai waved his hand as four ships suddenly appeared on the sea's surface. This action scared the Shrimp people, they didn't think that Zhao Hai was able to release these many ships. It was probable that the Merfolk didn't have Space Mages and Spatial Items, thus when they saw Zhao Hai's movement, they were terrified.

On the other hand, Lidden stayed calm, he looked at this tribesmen and snorted, 'Why are you flustered? That is Human Magic, very mysterious. Well, human friend, please drop your goods off on the sea, my people will take them away."

Zhao Hai smiled and said, "Alright." Then he waved his hand as the undead on the ships began to dump the goods overboard.

So basically, Beastmen of the sea? XD That's racist bruh. Cmon.

Chapter 414 – The Trade is Concluded

Zhao Hai noticed that as the goods were dropped overboard, they were immediately caught by the Shrimp Tribesmen and brought to the coral reef.

Some of those Shrimp people had red eyes, they knew how valuable Human goods were to their fellow sedwellers.

Merfolk society was a hierarchical one. Just like the Beastmen, they valued strength highly. When you put the Shrimp tribe along with Beastmen, they would rank alongside the Pig and Cattle Clans, almost belonging to the lowest level of society, the slaves. Otherwise, the Shrimp Race wouldn't be living this close to Humans.

For a tribe like them, they must provide tributes to those strong Merfolk tribes each year. Or else they would be demoted to being slaves, or worse being eaten.

When it came to ruthlessness, the Beastmen wouldn't compare to the Merfolk. At the very least, Beastmen wouldn't eat their fellow Beastman. But for the Merfolk, once someone becomes a slave, even if you are a fellow Merman, you would inevitably become food. This kind of race has a term, they weren't called slave, they would be called meals, or in other cases, food.

The Shrimp Tribe were busy all year round, although there were a lot of treasures in the sea, the tribute they needed to pay each year was also a lot. Sometimes, their required tribute wouldn't be met, so they had no choice but take them away from the Humans. They would raid and battle human ships near their territory, after all, they were superior on water.

For the Merfolk, Human products were very valuable. For a small tribe like the Rock Shrimps, a small amount of human goods would suffice for their yearly tribute. This made attacking Humans at sea even more appealing.

However, they wouldn't be able to do that regularly since the Merfolk and the Humans had an agreement. If their raids were to cause a war with the Humans, the Rock Shrimp Tribe would surely become a Food Tribe.

Because of this little contact with Humans, Libben was able to have an understanding about what Humans find valuable. What he gave Zhao Hai was the most precious thing that they had. The production of this pearl was closely controlled by the Clam Shell Tribe, almost all of the pearl produced came from their hands. This one pearl that Libben presented was something he luckily acquired when he was young.

He showed this pearl in order to see if Zhao Hai was honest. If the price that Zhao Hai gave was acceptable, then he would be their Merchant. But if he didn't, they would attacking him and sink his ship. They would rather do that than be deceived.

This reflected the attitude of their kind, the classification of good and evil was very simple. Being an enemy or a friend was decided by a few words.

Fortunately, Zhao Hai's performance satisfied Libben, he decided that they would form a long time partnership with Zhao Hai. He immediately told this decision to his own tribesmen as they floated on the surface of the sea.

Zhao Hai took the pearl and closed it. After a short while, everything on the ships were emptied. Then Zhao Hai turned to Libben and said, "Chief, I still have some Human grains. Would you like some?"

Libben smiled and said, "Of course, we'll be trading with these." Then he waved his hand as his tribesmen took out a lot of things.

Zhao Hai looked at these things and smiled. These were his main purpose in coming here, aquatic magic beasts, marine plants, and special corals.

Zhao Hai said while looking at the aquatic magic beasts, "These things are very good, I'll trade for them. Chief, I'll be loading these things first." Then the Shrimp Tribesmen carried the aquatic magic beasts along with their containers on board Zhao Hai's ship.

Then Zhao Hai waved his hand as large quantities of grain appeared on the sea. As the tribesmen were transporting the grains, Zhao Hai turned to Libben and said, "Chief, I think today's transaction has to end here. Can I know if the Chief wants to trade with me again next time?"

Libben smiled and said, "We will trade with mister whenever he comes, rest assured."

Zhao Hai nodded, "That's great, then I'll ask to be excused." Afterwards, Zhao Hai made his ships turn around and sail slowly.

At this time, Crag arrived at Libben's side with an excited face, "Chief, these things are more than enough for us to pay the tribute. It seems like the Human didn't deceive us."

Libben looked at Crag and smiled, "Little one, this time I'll have to thank you for bringing this honest Human to us. Now he will keep trading with us, also, go inform the other tribes and make them join our trades with the Human."

Crag looked puzzled, "Chief, I don't understand? Are our products cheap?"

Libben sighed and said, "Little one, you are too naive. Although these products are very good, it wouldn't be good if we are the only ones that get it. Out tribe cannot swallow a benefit this big. Only when we ally up with the surrounding tribes will have the security of not being exterminated. Moreover, we also need more things to be exchanged in order to preserve a long partnership with the Human."

Crag gave a nod that seems to border within understanding and not understanding. Libben didn't add any more and just waved his hand as he led his people back into the sea.

Zhao Hai was now inside the Space, he saw that the plants that the Shrimp Tribe had given him weren't ordinary, they were edible; Zhao Hao even saw kelp among them. The various magic beasts were mostly shrimps, it seems like the Rock Shrimp Tribe was very capable in raising shrimp.

When Zhao Hai absorbed these things into the Space, nothing happened, it seems like their levels were too low.

However, Zhao Hai actually earned big this time since he got a pearl as big as his own fist. It wasn't something he could just exchange for a few boats anywhere. Adding on the special corals that were also quite attractive, he really had earned a lot with this transaction.

This was because although the price that he traded with the Merfolk was fair, he could add a huge markup on top of those products due to their rarity in the continent.

Looking at the corals, even Laura had the feeling of taking them away. Those things were really beautiful.

Zhao Hai looked at Laura's expression and faintly smiled, "If you like it, you can take some. We still have a lot, we won't be losing much."

When Laura heard Zhao Hai, she was first very happy, then she shook her head and said, "It's alright, we need to hand these things over to Charlie. Even though we aren't short of money, we can use them to further our relationship with him. Right, Brother Hai, what are your plans for these magic beasts? These shrimps aren't small, they should also be quite rare in the Continent."

Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, "I'll get them to breed inside the Space first, then when they get to a certain number, I'll take them out and freeze them."

Laura nodded, "But we can't head back immediately, or else Charlie would get suspicious. I think we might as well go and mine some stones on uninhabited islands. The last time when we planned to do it, we were interrupted with the Shrimp Tribe's matter, so we weren't able to continue."

Zhao Hai smiled, "That's also good, then let's look for a small island and have the undead mine some stones. Let's go and and see Little Jin as well, that kid had been too comfortable with his family nowadays."

Even though Little Jin was still living on Ape Island, his life had been more comfortable than before. This was because he had a good relationship with Cai'er, so she kept a piece of land in the Space for the fruits that Little Jin liked. Zhao Hai didn't oppose this decision since he was also fond of the little monkey.

Zhao Hai also didn't want Little Jin to leave his tribe, after all a leader couldn't just leave his group all the time. And since Ape Island now had a Transmission Point in it, they could just go visit him every time.

In the next few days, Zhao Hai found a small and uninhabited island according to the size they discussed before. The island had nothing else than some rocks and weeds, and it fortunately had the stones that Zhao Hai liked.

Zhao Hai stopped the ship at the side of the small island. Then he went to release the undead to mine the stones, and while those undead were mining, he went to Ape Island with Laura and the others.

Although the gorillas seemed very terrifying and weren't as cute as Little Jin, they already were getting along with Zhao Hai's group. The gorilla group had intelligence of a 5-6 year old child, they were happily playing around with Zhao Hai.

Zhao Hai also wanted to find a safe place in the island to make a house in. So these past few days they were just strolling around the island.

Aside from finding a good place, they saw a cavern that had a water tunnel connecting to the cavern that the Goldmetal fruit was in. This cavern was very well hidden, even Little Jin didn't know about it. This was because the entrance of this cavern was properly covered by a huge Bread Tree. The tree was placed on the outskirts of the island, this was why Little Jin rarely went there. The diameter of the tree was 50 meters, and half of it covered the entrance of the cavern, a 30 meter sized hole. In addition to the cavern entrance, it also had an opening towards the sea, also allowing a huge ship to come in from the outside. However, this entrance was underwater, Zhao Hai couldn't do anything about that right now.

Although an entrance of the cavern was connected to the sea, it was actually very dry. Since the cavern was huge, it was no problem if several hundred individuals were to occupy it. This place was the best location for hiding  secret treasures.

Chapter 414 – The Trade is Concluded

Zhao Hai noticed that as the goods were dropped overboard, they were immediately caught by the Shrimp Tribesmen and brought to the coral reef.

Some of those Shrimp people had red eyes, they knew how valuable Human goods were to their fellow sedwellers.

Merfolk society was a hierarchical one. Just like the Beastmen, they valued strength highly. When you put the Shrimp tribe along with Beastmen, they would rank alongside the Pig and Cattle Clans, almost belonging to the lowest level of society, the slaves. Otherwise, the Shrimp Race wouldn't be living this close to Humans.

For a tribe like them, they must provide tributes to those strong Merfolk tribes each year. Or else they would be demoted to being slaves, or worse being eaten.

When it came to ruthlessness, the Beastmen wouldn't compare to the Merfolk. At the very least, Beastmen wouldn't eat their fellow Beastman. But for the Merfolk, once someone becomes a slave, even if you are a fellow Merman, you would inevitably become food. This kind of race has a term, they weren't called slave, they would be called meals, or in other cases, food.

The Shrimp Tribe were busy all year round, although there were a lot of treasures in the sea, the tribute they needed to pay each year was also a lot. Sometimes, their required tribute wouldn't be met, so they had no choice but take them away from the Humans. They would raid and battle human ships near their territory, after all, they were superior on water.

For the Merfolk, Human products were very valuable. For a small tribe like the Rock Shrimps, a small amount of human goods would suffice for their yearly tribute. This made attacking Humans at sea even more appealing.

However, they wouldn't be able to do that regularly since the Merfolk and the Humans had an agreement. If their raids were to cause a war with the Humans, the Rock Shrimp Tribe would surely become a Food Tribe.

Because of this little contact with Humans, Libben was able to have an understanding about what Humans find valuable. What he gave Zhao Hai was the most precious thing that they had. The production of this pearl was closely controlled by the Clam Shell Tribe, almost all of the pearl produced came from their hands. This one pearl that Libben presented was something he luckily acquired when he was young.

He showed this pearl in order to see if Zhao Hai was honest. If the price that Zhao Hai gave was acceptable, then he would be their Merchant. But if he didn't, they would attacking him and sink his ship. They would rather do that than be deceived.

This reflected the attitude of their kind, the classification of good and evil was very simple. Being an enemy or a friend was decided by a few words.

Fortunately, Zhao Hai's performance satisfied Libben, he decided that they would form a long time partnership with Zhao Hai. He immediately told this decision to his own tribesmen as they floated on the surface of the sea.

Zhao Hai took the pearl and closed it. After a short while, everything on the ships were emptied. Then Zhao Hai turned to Libben and said, "Chief, I still have some Human grains. Would you like some?"

Libben smiled and said, "Of course, we'll be trading with these." Then he waved his hand as his tribesmen took out a lot of things.

Zhao Hai looked at these things and smiled. These were his main purpose in coming here, aquatic magic beasts, marine plants, and special corals.

Zhao Hai said while looking at the aquatic magic beasts, "These things are very good, I'll trade for them. Chief, I'll be loading these things first." Then the Shrimp Tribesmen carried the aquatic magic beasts along with their containers on board Zhao Hai's ship.

Then Zhao Hai waved his hand as large quantities of grain appeared on the sea. As the tribesmen were transporting the grains, Zhao Hai turned to Libben and said, "Chief, I think today's transaction has to end here. Can I know if the Chief wants to trade with me again next time?"

Libben smiled and said, "We will trade with mister whenever he comes, rest assured."

Zhao Hai nodded, "That's great, then I'll ask to be excused." Afterwards, Zhao Hai made his ships turn around and sail slowly.

At this time, Crag arrived at Libben's side with an excited face, "Chief, these things are more than enough for us to pay the tribute. It seems like the Human didn't deceive us."

Libben looked at Crag and smiled, "Little one, this time I'll have to thank you for bringing this honest Human to us. Now he will keep trading with us, also, go inform the other tribes and make them join our trades with the Human."

Crag looked puzzled, "Chief, I don't understand? Are our products cheap?"

Libben sighed and said, "Little one, you are too naive. Although these products are very good, it wouldn't be good if we are the only ones that get it. Out tribe cannot swallow a benefit this big. Only when we ally up with the surrounding tribes will have the security of not being exterminated. Moreover, we also need more things to be exchanged in order to preserve a long partnership with the Human."

Crag gave a nod that seems to border within understanding and not understanding. Libben didn't add any more and just waved his hand as he led his people back into the sea.

Zhao Hai was now inside the Space, he saw that the plants that the Shrimp Tribe had given him weren't ordinary, they were edible; Zhao Hao even saw kelp among them. The various magic beasts were mostly shrimps, it seems like the Rock Shrimp Tribe was very capable in raising shrimp.

When Zhao Hai absorbed these things into the Space, nothing happened, it seems like their levels were too low.

However, Zhao Hai actually earned big this time since he got a pearl as big as his own fist. It wasn't something he could just exchange for a few boats anywhere. Adding on the special corals that were also quite attractive, he really had earned a lot with this transaction.

This was because although the price that he traded with the Merfolk was fair, he could add a huge markup on top of those products due to their rarity in the continent.

Looking at the corals, even Laura had the feeling of taking them away. Those things were really beautiful.

Zhao Hai looked at Laura's expression and faintly smiled, "If you like it, you can take some. We still have a lot, we won't be losing much."

When Laura heard Zhao Hai, she was first very happy, then she shook her head and said, "It's alright, we need to hand these things over to Charlie. Even though we aren't short of money, we can use them to further our relationship with him. Right, Brother Hai, what are your plans for these magic beasts? These shrimps aren't small, they should also be quite rare in the Continent."

Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, "I'll get them to breed inside the Space first, then when they get to a certain number, I'll take them out and freeze them."

Laura nodded, "But we can't head back immediately, or else Charlie would get suspicious. I think we might as well go and mine some stones on uninhabited islands. The last time when we planned to do it, we were interrupted with the Shrimp Tribe's matter, so we weren't able to continue."

Zhao Hai smiled, "That's also good, then let's look for a small island and have the undead mine some stones. Let's go and and see Little Jin as well, that kid had been too comfortable with his family nowadays."

Even though Little Jin was still living on Ape Island, his life had been more comfortable than before. This was because he had a good relationship with Cai'er, so she kept a piece of land in the Space for the fruits that Little Jin liked. Zhao Hai didn't oppose this decision since he was also fond of the little monkey.

Zhao Hai also didn't want Little Jin to leave his tribe, after all a leader couldn't just leave his group all the time. And since Ape Island now had a Transmission Point in it, they could just go visit him every time.

In the next few days, Zhao Hai found a small and uninhabited island according to the size they discussed before. The island had nothing else than some rocks and weeds, and it fortunately had the stones that Zhao Hai liked.

Zhao Hai stopped the ship at the side of the small island. Then he went to release the undead to mine the stones, and while those undead were mining, he went to Ape Island with Laura and the others.

Although the gorillas seemed very terrifying and weren't as cute as Little Jin, they already were getting along with Zhao Hai's group. The gorilla group had intelligence of a 5-6 year old child, they were happily playing around with Zhao Hai.

Zhao Hai also wanted to find a safe place in the island to make a house in. So these past few days they were just strolling around the island.

Aside from finding a good place, they saw a cavern that had a water tunnel connecting to the cavern that the Goldmetal fruit was in. This cavern was very well hidden, even Little Jin didn't know about it. This was because the entrance of this cavern was properly covered by a huge Bread Tree. The tree was placed on the outskirts of the island, this was why Little Jin rarely went there. The diameter of the tree was 50 meters, and half of it covered the entrance of the cavern, a 30 meter sized hole. In addition to the cavern entrance, it also had an opening towards the sea, also allowing a huge ship to come in from the outside. However, this entrance was underwater, Zhao Hai couldn't do anything about that right now.

Although an entrance of the cavern was connected to the sea, it was actually very dry. Since the cavern was huge, it was no problem if several hundred individuals were to occupy it. This place was the best location for hiding  secret treasures.

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