Beginning with the Ubume Bird

Chapter 194: Chapter 31: Return to Lantau Island@@novelbin@@

The sea breeze billowed the red sails, and the Spirit of the Duck sped across the ocean, trailed by five other sailboats.

Li Yan and Cha Xiaodao, one savored the sea breeze while the other sat atop an overturned barrel indulging in his tobacco addiction. In the northwestern edge of the sea and sky, auroras spread out to the golden sun. Pirates under the Red Flag chanted loudly towards the auroras, which, according to them, marked the end of “Heavenly Mother Crossing the Sea.”

Meanwhile, they were also very close to Lantau Island; unfortunately, due to “Heavenly Mother Crossing the Sea,” they arrived almost two days later than Li Yan had originally anticipated.

“We must keep a close eye on that foreign devil. Even if Lin Yuanfu is in trouble, he cannot afford to be.”

Cha Xiaodao laughed silently, “After all, the man is the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi. How come your words carry less weight than those of an English merchant?”

“In my hands, he’s a hot potato, indeed not as useful as a foreign merchant with technical knowledge. If it weren’t for the extra events in Yan Fu, I would have slain him long ago with my blade.”

“I think the old man is pretty decent; it would be a pity to kill him with a single slash.”

“There are many decent people, but when it’s time for them to die, death is inevitable,” Li Yan said, his heart suddenly clenched. He fell silent for a while before speaking again, “Since ‘Heavenly Mother Crossing the Sea’ has ended, let’s divide up whatever good things we’ve got.”

Cha Xiaodao stood up with a lift of his buttocks and dusted off his hands, “I’ve been waiting for you to say that.”

“Heavenly Mother Crossing the Sea” lasted for about a day and two nights, leaving the pirates with endless mysteries. Aside from that terrifying experience during the Wrath, the Red Flag fleet encountered two more bizarre incidents.

For instance, threads so fine they were almost invisible stretched from the sea floor into the clouds, fortunately spotted by the Sudu bird. Li Yan tested them, and they were excessively sharp; colliding with them could likely slice a ship clean in two.

Then there were the faces floating on the water’s surface, crowded together, endless at a glance.

Some seductive, others kind, wise, or fierce—they were all brutally parted by the Red Flag Gang’s ships, with crimson blood pooling beneath the faces, a spectacle resembling purgatory.

Naturally, there were also fortunate events. Pirates watched a rising iceberg that upon closer look, turned out to be an enormous diamond. Sadly, it was not possible to take it with them; the pirates beat their chests in frustration, grieved as if having lost their own parents.

It’s worth mentioning that the Tiger Head Great Spear, with a sharpness level of one hundred above that of diamond, was used by Li Yan with the Devouring Blade to forcibly break off a piece about one-meter square—promptly causing the diamond mountain to sink.

This item was exceedingly precious and beyond appraisal, certainly a matter for the Guangzhou brokerage to handle.

Keep in mind, “Heavenly Mother Crossing the Sea” lasted only a day and a night, yet the Red Flag encountered so many events. No wonder old fishermen say that experiencing “Heavenly Mother Crossing the Sea” once is worth more than thirty years of fishing.

And it must be said, since Li Yan was in a hurry, these gains paled in comparison to the treasures hauled up by the Yishi merchant ships.

So you see, being a pirate, why board a tower ship or seek adventure? The risk is high, the reward low—not nearly as good as simply plundering one’s peers…

The first items in the net were the [Dragon Scales] that Li Yan had seen, a total of sixty pieces. Applying the powder of every ten pieces externally increases Awakening Degree by 1%, and drinking thirty powdered pieces mixed in seawater grants the state [Grant Sea], which includes the ability to breathe underwater. It ultimately depends on how the user chooses to utilize them.

Besides that, there were three pearls.

[pearl]

Category: Oddity

Quality: Fine

Enhances one random attribute of a weapon, armor, or other oddity. However, there are compatibility requirements for the target, and if compatibility is too low, enhancement cannot be applied. Only one enhancement per oddity.

[Seabed Metal Jellyfish]

Category: Oddity

Weight: 5 jin and 3 liang (approximately 3.15 kg/ 6.94 lbs)

Quality: Rare

A forging material that can be used to have Yan Fu craft a weapon or armor of rare quality. The user can specify dimensions, style, size, and attributes.

[Burning Lobster Coral]

Category: Accessory/Armor (Strictly speaking, whether it’s a weapon, jewelry, or clothing, as long as you can wear it, it can exert its effect. Of course, there might be a small chance of effects interfering with each other.)

Quality: Fine

Upon wearing, grants the skill [Listen]which occupies one of the four additional skill slots; cannot be used if all slots are full.

Listen: Once activated, it allows the detection of emotions of marine life within a one-kilometer radius, lasting ten breaths. Can be used once a day.

A coral red stone the size of a little finger, shaped like a lobster, that can be worn either as a necklace or a bracelet.

[Golden Shellfish Meat]

Category: Cooking Ingredient

Quality: Rare

Those with relevant heritages who use this ingredient to cook will comprehend a new ability with a one hundred percent certainty.

One of the original ingredients in Buddha Jumps Over the Wall (available in this expedition, Cha Xiaodao noted)

……

Having read the description, Cha Xiaodao didn’t think for too long, “Give me the cooking ingredient and the Seabed Metal Jellyfish, the three pearls and the lobster coral are yours, and we’ll split the scales.”

Li Yan shook his head, “We’ll split the scales, I just want the three pearls.”

There’s no need to say much about the cooking ingredient, and as Li Yan is adept at using the Ring Dragon Sword and has items like the Mud of Yazi at the bottom of his chest, and the Tiger Head Great Spear for breaching, basically, Li Yan’s need for weapons has diminished greatly. Indeed, he realized that he was underprepared this time and should have prepared some firearms and ammunition at the auction house beforehand. Strictly speaking, for the current Li Yan, the threat of ordinary firearms isn’t that great. Cutting bullets with a knife, as bragged about in online videos, is not necessarily a difficult feat for him. However, if he were to use them himself, they could still provide a lot of convenience.

(The purchasing rights for modern firearms are quite in demand, and the cost of the rights is often five to six times the sale price. What’s more interesting is that Yan Fu generally arranges for those who can secure the rights to purchase firearms to be from Ten Cities and below, meaning those who haven’t opened their personal auction houses. Of course, getting firearms isn’t too difficult, roughly a few hundred to a thousand or so points can secure some decent hot weapons.)

As for the lobster coral, Li Yan’s skill slots were already full, not to mention this auxiliary skill… was quite average.

If perceiving the emotions of marine creatures was a passive skill, then its cost-effectiveness would shoot up, as that would mean it could provide advance warnings.

But as a skill that could only be used for ten breaths a day and merely allowed for the perception of emotions without communication, its usefulness was much more limited.

Cha Xiaodao wasn’t fussy and actually looked a lot more favorably on Li Yan, feeling that aside from his discernment and strength which were convincing, he was also fair in his dealings, making him a potentially long-term cooperative partner.

Dragon Scales. Li Yan did not use them to enhance his own Awakening Degree, but chose to consume them instead. He gained the boon of underwater breathing, a choice made after careful consideration by Li Yan.

A 3% increase in Awakening Degree in exchange for underwater breathing status was worth it, especially since there were tough battles ahead. Li Yan’s own swimming ability was mediocre, and though his specialization in naval warfare prevented him from revealing flaws (Tianbao was very good at swimming), it still wasn’t quite sufficient, this time it was like adding an extra layer of insurance.

Regrettably, the Tiger Head Great Spear did not seem compatible with the Dragon Scale properties. However, the [Chang Merchandise · Carved Snow] bracelet that Li Yan had previously acquired from Yin Market, which could increase vitality, was able to make use of a Dragon Scale.

The original attribute of [Chang Merchandise Carved Snow] was to increase the holder’s vitality by 50% (affecting recovery, impact resistance, endurance, explosive power), limited to those below Ten Cities,

The new attribute is, increase the holder’s vitality by 50%, limited to those below Nine Glows.

The Ring Dragon Sword, Green Wave, 3% damage conversion to true damage, enhanced to 4%.

The last pearl, with none of the Mountain Beyond Mountain, the everlasting layered base, Dodge Tomahawk, or Great Ming black Dragon Flag being a match, Li Yan had a flash of inspiration and thought of the [Heavy Cannon Regeneration Machine].

It was also at this moment that Spirit of the Duck caught sight of the peaks of Lantau Island.

A single glance from those on board swept away the joy of returning home instantly.

On the coastline, a mass of white uniforms and white ribbons were torn by the sea breeze on ropes, and the Red Flag Gang’s trademark red sails were replaced by white sails.

Beyond that, there were at least two hundred foreign ships docked at the pier, the smallest of which was more than twenty meters long,

The sailors on the ships had grim expressions, with gleaming bird guns and cannons, signalling ill intentions.

The sails were of varying colors, including black, blue, white, and yellow.

Before the ship even arrived, the sound of the whistle had already carried over.

Someone on a ship at the pier shouted to Li Yan.

“Madam Guo of the Black Flag Gang, Ba Hai of the Blue Flag Gang, Shi Tianying of the White Flag Gang, Xu Longsi of the Yellow Flag Gang have come to Lantau Island to mourn. All unrelated individuals retreat; Lantau Island is closed for port today!”

“We are…”

On Spirit of the Duck, just as the pirate responsible for hailing was about to speak out, Li Yan kicked him in the backside.

“What do you mean ‘we are’? Can’t you see the big red sails hanging there? Are they blind or are you playing dumb? Don’t you realize what’s going on?”

Turning his head, Li Yan continued.

“It’s clearly stated in the Five Flags Covenant that Bai Yao Firearms aren’t allowed in the port. The people of the Four Flags are breaking the rules by setting up cannons. Bring up all the new shells! If there’s resistance, bombard them to death!”