The Great Worm Lich

The ship braved the winds and waves while sailing in the sea. Other than the whistling sounds of the wind, the deck was as silent as ever.

After a long time had passed, Charlot finally lowered his head under Zhang Lisheng’s calm gaze. With great difficulty, he said with a dry voice, “Lord Spiritual Monster, if you want me to invade the city-states of Kattaman City State, I’ll never submit to you no matter how miserable my fate would be. I-I believe my family members will understand my decision…”

“My target is not the mainlanders’ cites but the other Hellfire Archipelagos,” the young man interrupted the old man’s words.

“That, then I am willing to help you, Lord!” Upon hearing Zhang Lisheng’s words, Charlot once again became quiet. A series of expressions ran across his face for a while and finally, he made his decision, whispering his answer with a relaxed body. After he finished saying so, as though all of the strength in his body was sapped dry, he slumped onto the deck.

“That’s a wise choice, Charlot! In a sense, choosing to obey me is sowing a civil conflict amongst the Hellfire tribesmen. Since it can deplete the barbarians’ strength, protect your family members’ lives and give them a happy life, what other choice can be smarter than this?” Zhang Lisheng said in a low voice, while giving an appreciative glance towards Hanoo, who was hugging his wife and young son by the side. “Hanoo, my disgraced poor friend. Venis City has banned your sailing career but I can give you everything you want. You want to give your son the best life ever? You want to give your wife a wealthy and comfortable life? Those are small matters. As long as you can prove your loyalty in the future, you’ll be able to get everything you want!”

The young man’s tempting words hit the weakness of that fallen navigator directly. He looked at his wife, who was filled with fear, but was pretending to be calm in front of his son while continuing to reassure the young child, and said in a trembling voice, “I’m willing to serve you, Lord Lisheng! But, you must promise that when my child grows up, you have to give him a sum of money and let him return, return to human society, and never bother him forever!”

“I promise, Hanoo! I promise that when your child grows up and wishes to go back to the mainland to live, I’ll definitely grant his wish!” The young man answered with a profound meaning, before shifting his attention to the third navigator he captured.

With the two precedent examples and that serving for Zhang Lisheng was actually a cover-up for provoking a civil war amongst the Hellfire tribes, very soon, the last navigator also chose to submit. In the following voyage, Zhang Lisheng repeated the same things on the other two ships made by the mainlanders and managed to gain the loyalty of four more navigators.

Such a result was more perfect than the best case scenario expected by the young man, which proved that his exertion to his utmost to transform using the lizard’s transformation power to sneak and investigate his selected targets, and then using the wyrmdragon’s power to cast the fog and fly in the sky to capture the ship, which had taken him more than 20 days of hard work just to find 7 targets along with their families, was a correct choice.

When an old man, who had undergone a series of torrential events, was alone, it was very easy for him to welcome his death. But when his children and family were all beside him having their lives threatened at the same time, he would often choose to yield.

Just like this, seven navigators, who had at least 20 years of sailing history, had succumbed to Zhang Lisheng, allowing him to have no need to rely on ordering the Wizard Li’s fishermen to track down the school of sharp-mouthed black fish; or to personally lead the conquest army and risk the possibility of heavy losses to blindly explore the location of the other Hellfire islands.

To the noble merchants in Venis City, these old men were all eccentric trash who had been exploited their entire lives and did not much of value left but to the Wizard Li’s Conqueror, they were the ‘eyes’ pointing to the next step towards a brilliant road.

Of course, if Zhang Lisheng, who had already shown his brutality and ruthlessness, wanted to make these ‘eyes’ be willing to grow bigger and brighter, he must also express his goodwill towards them.

“I’ll build a town by the sea so that your family can live happily inside,” In the cabin of a large merchant ship where a banquet was being held, Zhang Lisheng held a glass filled with fruit wine and announced in front of the navigators. “The surviving sailors, cooks, and maids seized from Tantorn Family’s fleet not long ago will also fill the town. Of course, their status will be completely different from that of your family. In the future, I also intend to trade with the trading companies and mainlanders from Venis City and buy some slaves so that the ratio between men and women in town would be more proportionate. In short, you’ll slowly understand that I’m not like other ordinary spiritual monsters. I’ll treat my supporters as kind as how I’m cruel to my enemy.”

“I can tell that you’re unlike other ordinary spiritual monsters without the need to slowly understand, Lord!” Charlot, who had drunk too much wine, smiled wryly. “An ordinary Conqueror, who has controlled an entire Hellfire island, would usually never spend such an elaborate effort to spend several months to set up a trading company in a mainlander city, and kidnap a few old navigators and their families.”

“I like your humor, Charlot.” Zhang Lisheng stood up and clinked his glass with the old man’s glass, demonstrating the prominent graceful demeanor that has been trained in New York’s Vanity Fair. “However, in my mind, wisdom is an unparalleled wealth. The brain of everyone in the room is filled with wisdom that I have longed for. In order to use this wisdom, it’s worth it for me to spend a few years, let alone a few months…”

As the young man was speaking, the wooden cabin door was suddenly gently pushed open. A Hellfire warrior, wearing iron armor, walked into the cabin and kneeled on the ground before saying respectfully, “Great Conqueror, we’ve reached Lisheng Island.”

“Oh, we’ve arrived already? Looks like the steamship’s speed is much faster than I thought. In that case, everybody, let’s go have a look at my island. I hope it will leave you a good first impression.” Zhang Lisheng smiled and looked at the navigators before striding out of the cabin.

Watching the young man’s back suddenly disappear outside the door, the seven old yet strong navigators stood up, exchanging glances at each other, and walked out of the cabin. At once, an unbelievable scene entered their sight.

The coastline that stretched out as far as the eyes could see were filled with an endless stream of harbors and docks.

Huge steel ships with a length of 300 to 400 meters were parked in the port berth. There were hundreds of thousands of native warriors on the ship, practicing how to set their battle formation in the small space.

In another seaport next to the row of iron ships, hundreds of huge fishing ships entered and left continuously, tilting out large amount of fish obtained from the sea with the help of complex pulley mechanisms. Above the fishing ships were more than ten purple balloons that were equipped with wind-driven mechanical cabins beneath each of them, carrying hundreds of short Hellfire tribesmen and loaded cargo flying to the distance.

Similarly, a few large balloons flying from afar were also gradually landing on the coast, in the vast city.

This scene of a mix of heightened civilization and barbaric style made the mainlanders not believe what their eyes were seeing for a long time.

It was only until they saw all of the Hellfire tribesmen, whether they were on the harbor, ships, or city, kneel down on the ground like tender grass that was being blown by the wind and the sky echoing with soothing sounds of prayers and hymns when Zhang Lisheng’s thin body clearly appeared on the bow overlooking the ground, did they finally snap back to reality and had a baffled and horrified look on their faces.

“Powerful island civilization, devout religious beliefs, elite weaponry, massive number of elite warriors… God bless us! May this D-Dev…” When Charlot wanted to express his feelings out, he realized that he could not utter the word ‘devil’ when he looked at Zhang Lisheng’s thin back amidst the heavenly prayers and hymns. He could only change his words and said, “May this great existence has his conquering eyes on other Hellfire islands and not the city-states on the mainland…”

When the old man was muttering in his profound luck, the three ships were being pulled slowly to the shore by Wizard Li’s steamships that had already slowed down and prepared to dock. By the time the wooden ships had stabilized, Zhang Lisheng jumped down from it directly and after he landed, the Wizard Li headman and chief craftsman climbed up from the flat slate ground and kissed either side of the Conqueror’s feet instep.

Aruba was filled with pride when he said, “Great Conqueror, the steamships that can carry 150,000 elite Wizard Li soldiers, have already been built. The ‘airship’ that you said is already flying in the sky of Wizard Li Island too.”

“I can see that, Aruba, you really did not let me down.” Zhang Lisheng looked down at the chief craftsmen at his feet and showed a satisfied smile.

Then, he shifted his gaze onto the headman and pointed at the navigators slowly disembarking from the ship with the help of a wooden escalator, together with their families behind him, and said, “Tugra built a mainlander town here beside the separated dwelling for our distinguished guests. The surviving captives from the mainlander ships will also stay here in the city in the future so the scale cannot be too small. Build it as soon as possible. I hope that the distinguished guests will soon live a comfortable and easy life, understood?”

“Yes, Great Conqueror!” Tugra replied respectfully.

“Dear all navigators, I’ve ordered for a livable town to be built for you. I believe that it’ll be completed soon and by that time, you and your family will be able to have a life similar to before. However, you’ll be richer, will have more servants attending to you, and will be more respected!” Zhang Lisheng nodded and turned to look at the valuable captives, who were coming ashore, and announced loudly, “But, before that, I need you to do some work for me first. I’ll show all of you a complete detailed aerial view that includes all of the islands in the Hellfire Archipelago and Mr. Charlot will teach everyone how to carry out some simple interactions with the Hellfire tribesmen regarding navigation. Then, as the navigators, each of you will lead an iron ship to the nearest islands to our island. The voyage will not be short, about 10,000 kilofeet but I know that such work is just a trivial matter for you so please don’t deliberately fail. Remember, the cost of fooling me is not one that you can pay.”