Chapter 349 – Arrow Turtle
After three days...o...b..ard the s.h.i.+p, Zhao Hai didn’t experience any discomfort. Instead, he managed to make quite a few friends among the pa.s.sengers as well as getting more acquainted to Stack.
Zhao Hai wasn’t innately a mean spirited person, and adding on to the fact that people who ride s.h.i.+ps were generally wine lovers, Zhao Hai naturally supplied his Milk Wine. It was the first time Stack drank such wine, so naturally the captain of the s.h.i.+p was very happy.
The milk wine that Zhao Hai produced wasn’t the same as the other low alcohol level wines. He had been able to make a 40% alcohol content wine, one little sip is all you need to taste its potency.
This high alcohol content liquor had never appeared in the continent before and Stack had become one of the first persons who were able to drink this wine, but he managed to get drunk after taking only a few sips. Fortunately, Zhao Hai’s wine doesn’t give people hangovers, so the captain just slept it off.
Although he already got drunk from such small amount, Stack absolutely loved Zhao Hai’s liquor. Its flavor was very satisfying, especially to the drunkard Stack.
But Zhao Hai didn’t give him the same type of liquor, but instead he took out another one but had less than the amount of alcohol content in it. Nevertheless, Stack still liked it so he hounded Zhao Hai to purchase more of this kind of wine. Zhao Hai was generous and directly gave Stack 50 jin of wine, allowing Stack’s impression of Zhao Hai to skyrocket.
Zhao Hai stood at the top deck of the s.h.i.+p, watching the other vessels come and go. He knew that since the Law river was quite busy, s.h.i.+ps would always be visible at all times. It really did seem that this Law river is the busiest river in the entire Rosen Empire.
Laura was standing right by Zhao Hai’s side and looked at the scenery, “Brother Hai, how about we get a s.h.i.+p for our use later on?”
Zhao Hai smiled and said, “Right, we’ll have to get a s.h.i.+p later so that we can get to the prairie much more easily. We could also use it to go out and experience the vast seas.”
Laura smiled, “Good I’m already grown up but I still hadn’t been out to the sea yet. I really want to see what it looks like.”
Zhao Hai showed a faint smile, “Don’t worry, in the future, you’ll be able to see it whenever you like. Haha.” At this moment, Zhao Hai felt the s.h.i.+p shudder. Zhao Hai immediately thought that something must have gone wrong as the s.h.i.+p’s hull shook again.
Seeing that the state of the s.h.i.+p wasn’t normal, Stack also ran towards the sides of the boat and looked closely into the water. Although he didn’t know what they were looking for, Zhao Hai also looked into the river.
There was a dark shadow underneath the water, just beside the s.h.i.+p. The shadow’s head wasn’t very small. Zhao Hai looked confused at the dark shadow and asked Stack, “Stack, what is that? Did that collide with the s.h.i.+p?”
Stack nodded, “Right, it did collide with the s.h.i.+p, that is Law river’s unique magic beast, an Arrow Turtle. These beasts are notorious here, they’re very big, their strength isn’t something to scoff at, and their sh.e.l.ls are very special. It has a horn about a meter long in front of it that looks like a sword. Besides its sh.e.l.l, it also had tough scales all throughout its body that is very difficult to deal with. Most importantly, this turtle likes to smash itself towards s.h.i.+ps, our s.h.i.+p is still safe since it has a thick hull so we don’t need to worry in the meantime. But if it keeps ramming itself to the s.h.i.+p, it’s possible to make a hole in it. This would be dangerous so we cannot just allow it.”
Zhao Hai asked curiously, “What are you planning to do? Shoot it with harpoons? Is it effective?”
Stack nodded, “We’ll just send in a warning shot, this thing’s quite cowardly. Sometimes it only takes a few shots to make it retreat. But if possible, we’ll catch it, this thing is a delicacy.”
As he was saying that, Stack signalled to his crew to prepare the harpoons as Zhao Hai watched them. These harpoons were very different from the ballista arrows used in the continent. The difference between the ones used here from the one used on land was that the harpoons actually had ropes tied onto them.
Under Stack’s command, the crew quickly loaded the harpoon onto the ballistas as they continuously shot at the shadow, producing ma.s.sive ripples on the river’s surface. Before long, red blood could be seen appearing on the water as the crow pulled the harpoons back to the s.h.i.+p.
At this time, a sailor shouted, “Captain, the harpoon has hooked on to something, it’s possibly the Arrow Turtle.”
As soon as Stack heard it, he immediately became happy, he replied, “Really? Fantastic! Quickly, everyone, come help pull it onboard.” Then the crew put all of their effort to pull the rope while Zhao Hai and Laura observed at the side.
After a short while, the crew managed to pull the harpoon to the surface. On the tip was an Arrow Turtle hanging from the rope. The Arrow Turtle was just like what Stack said, it was 5 meters long, had a spike on its head that was connected to its sh.e.l.l. Its skin closely resembled those of alligators and looked very thick. But in the end, Stack’s harpoon managed to penetrate the turtle’s foot. Even with the struggles of the Arrow Turtle, it didn’t manage to dislodge itself from the harpoon.
The Arrow Turtle appeared very aggressive, it often opened its mouth to roar, showing Zhao Hai the canines inside its mouth. This was definitely a magic beast capable of strong attacks.
At this time, a sailor was getting another shot ready to kill the turtle. Pulling in onboard while still alive was a very dangerous thing to do since the creature’s attacks weren’t weak.
Seeing that the sailor was about to shoot the arrow, Zhao Hai quickly intervened, “Wait! Don’t shoot! Stack, how about selling this turtle to me?”
Stack stared, “What do you want this for?”
Zhao Hai faintly smiled, “You leave that to me, so are you selling it?” Stack smiled and said, “What sell, I’ll give it to you. We just captured it anyway.”
Zhao Hai was happy, he didn’t become polite as the arrived at the side of the s.h.i.+p and waved his hand immediately sending the Arrow Turtle into the s.p.a.ce. This was a new type of magic beast that may help Zhao Hai upgrade his Ranch. It’s wounds didn’t matter since the s.p.a.ce could just heal it.
When Stack saw the way Zhao Hai took the turtle away, his complexion changed. Although he was just a s.h.i.+p captain, he also had a lot of experiences. For Zhao Hai to do what he just did showed that he had a spatial item with him. For a person to hold a spatial item, one’s status shouldn’t be that low. Stack didn’t think that Zhao Hai would own such item.
One should know that spatial items were status symbols in the continent. It was normal for Great n.o.ble families to not have one, yet Zhao Hai actually had one, clearly showing his capabilities.
Although Stack wasn’t a n.o.ble, he had met a lot of n.o.bles before. These past few days that he interacted with Zhao Hai, he saw that Zhao Hai was quite different in a lot of ways. Zhao Hai didn’t have the innate arrogance n.o.bles generally had. With all of his interactions with Stack, he didn’t show even a least bit of disdain, this made Stack feel touched.
Now seeing Zhao Hai reveal his spatial item, Stack cannot help but reevaluate his perception of Zhao Hai’s status. Stack knew the Sh.e.l.ley Family very well, he frequently helps the family transport their cargo. When he saw Zhao Hai being accompanied with Might, as well as the absence of the Sh.e.l.ley Family emblem on him, Stack thought that Zhao Hai was not a member of Sh.e.l.ley Family. But he didn’t expect Zhao Hai to possess a spatial item. This made Stack think that Zhao Hai might have been a direct lineage member of Sh.e.l.ley Family.
Law river’s small incident was just a small distraction. Zhao Hai chatted with Stack for a while then returned to his room. He wants to quickly take a look whether the s.p.a.ce levelled up after taking in the Arrow Turtle. He wanted to see what changes the Ranch would undergo when it reaches level 10.
However, it was a pity that the Arrow Turtle wasn’t enough to upgrade the Ranch to level 10. It became just like any animal inside the Ranch.
Zhao Hai didn’t mind that the Ranch didn’t level up. But this incident gave Zhao Hai a new idea. Although there were a lot of animals on land; the rivers, lakes, and seas also had a lot of plants and animals within, possibly even more than those in land. If Zhao Hai can take in some plants and animals from the river, levelling the s.p.a.ce wouldn’t be difficult.
Laura who sat near Zhao Hai said, “Brother Hai, how about we directly absorb the river’s water? Will that work?”
Zhao Hai froze, he didn’t think about that. Directly absorbing the river’s water? This method was worth trying.
Zhao Hai nodded, “We’ll try, but we must wait for an appropriate opportunity. In two days we’ll arrive at Sky Water City. Not only can we absorb Law river’s water there, we could also get some seawater as well, this should be enough to upgrade the s.p.a.ce. The Ranch had slowly gotten upgraded recently, but the Farm hadn’t levellup up sice. When we reach Sky Water City it would be best to find more unique plants to upgrade the Farm quickly. When we manage to cure the Water of Nothingness, then we can relax.”
Laura agreed, “Right, we really need to upgrade the farm as soon as possible. But it is currently winter, plants aren’t exactly very abundant at this time. Most of them would have wilted by now or in the last months. If we want to get rid of the effects of the Water of Nothingness, I’m afraid we’ll have to wait until spring.”
Zhao Hai nodded, “We can wait, no need to worry about it for now. We have already waited for quite a long time, so there should be no problem waiting longer. Also, when we arrive at Sky Water City, we still need to settle down.”
Laura also nodded and said, “We currently have Might to protect us, but it means that we’re currently identified as members of the family. This might give us problems later on, which I think the Sh.e.l.ley Family depends on to tie us to them. With this, others might think twice when cooperating with us. Brother Hai, do you think that this will affect our cooperation with Calci Family?”
Zhao Hai shook his head, “It shouldn’t, we are people from the League of Dark Mages. Technically, our connection with Calci Family is much closer than with the Sh.e.l.ley Family, so they shouldn’t doubt our intentions.”