The Great Worm Lich

The condescending and sharp spear was pointed at the chest of Filch, who obviously had a different kind of uniform than the ordinary sailors.

The pale young captain stood tall and seemed to want to welcome his death unperturbed but, when the sharp spearhead pierced through the thick woven cloth and penetrated into his flesh without any obstacle, that bitingly cold sharpness finally destroyed all of his courage, forcing him to sit down on the ground.

After killing their men to demonstrate their majesty and easily subduing the highest leader amongst the enemies, the native chief warrior, who had two feathers on his head, swept a glance at the deck. When his cold gaze swept across, all of the mainlanders lowered their heads in a trembling manner.

At this moment, a calm voice suddenly resonated from the largest cabin of the deck. “Tell Bansaru, immediately connect the mainlander’s merchant ship with chains and bring the steamship back to Wizard Li Island. Also, go to the lowermost storage cabin and release the prisoners. Remember, they are all very important people, you can intimidate them but you must never hurt them.”

“Yes, Great Conqueror!” Upon hearing this order, the originally haughty and arrogant conquerors immediately jumped down from the huge spiders, kneeled on the ground, and responded respectfully. Some of them hastily went up to the ship’s side and shouted orders while some hastily ran towards the lowermost cabin of the merchant ship.

Upon seeing the Hellfire people’s conduct, the sailors on the deck gazed in bafflement at the cabin where the familiar voice resonated from. After a while, they saw the door slowly open as the lucky employer, whom they thought was stupid, slowly walked out of it.

“S-Sir, you know the Hellfire language?” Filch’s eyes were so wide that they seemed to almost fall out of his eye sockets. Stuttering, he asked dryly.

“Of course, Filch. In fact, I only need a short span of time to understand all of the languages ​​in the world.” Zhang Lisheng walked across the sailors, who had turned rigid like sculptures, and walked over to the bow, overlooking the vast sea. “Sailors, don’t be nervous.You are already my employees so you have to obey my orders anyway. Now, there’ll be no danger to your lives if you continue to do so. Relax, things are not as bad as you think!”

Upon hearing the young man’s words, Filch shouted in a panic, “Y-You really are the accomplice of the Hellfire people! T-The guest you’re waiting for is not Bailile nor the Tantorn Family’s contrabands but Hellfire’s warships?”

“Do you even have to ask?” Zhang Lisheng asked as a response without looking back.

“But why, why do you want to do this? You’re a civilized person so why do you have to go seek refuge with the brutal barbarians? Why? Why? Why do you want to lie to us? What value do we have? What value do we have that is worthy for you to d-do this? To do this…” Filch was stunned for a while. Without warning, he broke down and shouted incoherently.

Zhang Lisheng watched the Wizard Li’s chief warrior, who had the spellcasting ability, use a black iron chain to tie the Wizard Li’s steamship and the big mainlander’s ship that he was standing on before turning around to smile at Filch, who was slumping on the deck. “You’re only a cover-up and don’t have much value…”

As the young man was speaking, more than ten off-duty sailors and a small group of unkempt, ragged mainlanders, who were giving off a bad smell, walked out of the stairs of the bottom cabin, under the threat of more than 30 Hellfire warriors armed with sharp sabers.

“They’re my real valuable spoils of war that I’ve spent several months to smuggle out of Venis City with great difficulty.” Zhang Lisheng pointed at the few old men among the group of ragged, dirty, blank-looking mainlanders and continued to say with a proud smile. “Mr. Kasandra, who is known as the Sea Heron that has 40 years of sailing experience. It’s said that he has carved out a path from a rare storm of 100 years on a heavy huge ship. Mr. Charlot, who also has at least 40 years of sailing experience. Due to the reason that he has spent most of his last two decades sailing in the Hellfire sea region, he’s also known as the King of the Red Sea. He’s well informed in the Hellfire civilization and is proficient in Hellfire language. Hanoo, a discredited yet excellent navigator! He has given me great inspiration when I slipped off the right track more than twenty days ago, allowing me to gain a total of six outstanding navigators from River Duck, Navigator, and Smart Sea Chess Clubs — Kasandra, Charlot and four other navigators Corister, Amyreda, Udura, and Constance, who are on the other two ships. My plan of the Venis City trip that I’ve racked my brain day and night has finally come to a successful end.”

“What do you mean? What do you mean by saying all of these?” Upon hearing his employer’s endless words and seeing the men and women being imprisoned in the bottom of the ship without his own knowledge, Filch asked loudly.

At the same time, Hanoo, who was emitting a foul stench, also looked at Zhang Lisheng in surprise. “Lisheng, what do you mean? Don’t tell me that you’ve been bought over by the Hellfire people all these while?”

The instant both of their words left their mouth, an old man with white hair and a lot of wrinkles but still looked as though he was in a good spirit suddenly chimed in. “Hanoo, your friend is not bought over by the Hellfire people. You still don’t understand from the gaze of how the Hellfire warriors look at him? He’s not a human being! He’s a spiritual monster guarding the Hellfire tribe that has transformed into our look. As for his purpose, since he has captured us seven navigators and all of our family members, I guess he must have wanted to force us to work for his tribe. Judging from the history of the Hellfire people, there are two possibilities, it would either be to help them attack other Hellfire islands through sea route, or invade the mainlands.”

“Mr. Charlot, you’re indeed the King of the Red Sea, being well-informed about the Hellfire civilization. To think that you can guess my intentions right away,” Zhang Lisheng said with a smile after a moment of astonishment.

At this time, the chain connecting the large sea boat and the Wizard Li steamship gradually tightened. Very soon, the Hellfire steamship pulled the mainlander’s wooden ships and set sail across the ocean.

Feeling that the merchant ship beneath them was getting faster and faster, Charlot, who was imprisoned by the young man in the huge wooden ship’s lower cabin for more than ten days, maintained his calm composure well. It was apparent that he was used to the storm waves. Without warning, he strode to the bow.

Looking at the steamship that left behind traces of white sea foam behind it, a shocked expression crept upon his face. He looked at Zhang Lisheng and blurted out, “I-Is this the ship that your tribe forged by yourself, Lord Spiritual Monster? Is this ship really forged from steel?”

“This is the ship we forged ourselves, Mr. Charlot. The entire ship is casted using black iron.”

“Forging a ship using the black iron unique to Hellfire island? And it can sail so fast without using any sail! S-Such a workmanship is simply unimaginable!”

“This shipbuilding skill is indeed unimaginable in the eyes of mainlanders like you, but it’s not surprising in the Wizard Li tribe that I rule.” Zhang Lisheng smiled at the old man. “If you’re willing to, you can become the navigator of an iron ship fleet five days later. And your family will be treated like tribal headsmen. They will live in the most exquisite bark house, enjoy the sun and delicious food and in the future, if you have obtained enough merit, they can even return to the Kattaman City State as well…”

“What if I’m not willing to, Lord Spiritual Monster?” Charlot looked at his daughter and daughter-in-law, who had been ashen up till now, and his granddaughter, who was snuggling up tightly to her parents, not knowing anything. With a blank expression, he interrupted the young man’s words.

“Mr. Charlot, about three months before, my tribal headman has reported to me that they have captured many mainlanders who have encountered a shipwreck,” Zhang Lisheng became silent for a while before answering calmly. “Afterwards, I hid in the jungle and quietly saw Hanoo, Captain Anduki, Young Master Annete, Miss Helena from the Bailile clan and so on, who were locked in the stone prison. They were well cared for except for the place they lived in. Being well fed and without any threat, they appeared to be very calm and stubborn. When I pretended to be a wushu master from another mainland, who had also encountered a shipwreck to send food for them, one of them even spat at me and insulted me. Such tough conduct was certainly not conducive to me to win their trust so I ordered the native warriors to eat two to three prisoners once every few days. That kind of tragic situation that would kill them any time quickly caused them to break down mentally and proactively begged me for salvation.Then I easily became their savior, fled to the sea with them, and finally got into Venis City and set up a trading company…”

“Are you implying that you’re going to eat me and my family alive if I’m not willing to become the navigator of your iron ship fleet, Mr. Spiritual Monster?”

“It’d be even more brutal than that, Mr. Charlot. I won’t kill your family all at once but let you witness your descendants be thrown into an oil pan one by one, and let their screams force you to yield. I believe that even if you don’t give in, after your family enters the Hellfire tribesmen’s stomach, the other navigators would be willing to submit to me anyway,” Zhang Lisheng looked at Charlot, his children and other navigators before saying calmly.

Even though the young man adopted a calm attitude, the instant his words left his mouth, it seemingly became a gush of biting cold wind that sent chills down all of the prisoners’ spines.

“You actually give your believers the permission to eat humans for fun? T-This is simply a hell demon’s behavior…” Charlot panted heavily with a grave expression and said under his breath.

“Giving my believers the permission to eat humans for fun?” Zhang Lisheng quickly shook his head to interrupt the old man’s words. “No, no, no! You’re wrong, Mr. Charlot. I’ve always regarded cannibalism as the most barbaric and ugliest practice so I have long ordered the Hellfire tribesmen, who believe in me, to get rid of this cruel habit. Well, in correspondence to your words, the way the mainlanders built the arena to let bare-handed barbarians fight or kill each other to death with wild beasts and the way they break the Hellfire children’s backbone so that they can be domesticated into circus animals are the most devilish behavior. I didn’t permit my believers to eat humans for fun, but to intimidate and threaten. This is actually a method to avoid more killing. I like the sweetness of blood, I’m born cruel and I don’t forgive my enemy. Even so, I never think that killing is for fun at all. Alright, tell me your choice now, Mr. Charlot. Are you willing to accept my proposal?”