Chapter 2827 Sky City"s Lonely River!
In the Sky Beyond the Clouds, even a big shot like Feng Qing trod on thin ice in everything that they did.
Feng Qing would never communicate as freely with the Bloodians as he did with the Alluring Foxes.
Since even someone of Feng Qing"s status acted that way, it went without saying that the same went for someone like Fan Lou.
Fan Lou was the most afraid of death.
Since the jade crystal could protect Fan Lou, he could not help but feel a sense of security.
From what Lin Yuan said, Fan Lou also noticed the fundamental difference between Lin Yuan and the other superiors he had served in the past. The other superiors would never care if a small fry like him lived or died.
"Master, don"t worry. I will definitely do a good job in this matter!"
Fan Lou paused before continuing. "This time, Feng Qing sent me on a mission. It"s because of this opportunity that I managed to find the reason to bring the Chaos Wind Demon Wolves with me to the Lonely River. But with my current capabilities, I don"t think I can accomplish this mission!"
Remaining in Feng Qing"s good books and receiving his praise was also a very important part of him helping Lin Yuan.
Now that Fan Lou was encountering an issue he could not solve, he decided to turn directly to Lin Yuan for help.
Not only was Lin Yuan not turned off by Fan Lou"s request for help, but he also admired Fan Lou"s choice.
When Lin Yuan decided to nurture Fan Lou, he only viewed Fan Lou as a set of eyes he could use. He had not been banking on using Fan Lou"s capabilities to solve his issues.
If Fan Lou came to him for help when he encountered issues, it would prevent Fan Lou from affecting the operation with his hesitation.
"It goes without saying that I"ll help if you are encountering issues. But before that, I need to know what the Bloodians need from the Lonely River."
Despite having the World Emperor/Divine Kingdom Abyssal Beast, it still took Fan Lou close to a month to arrive at the Lonely River.
This deal had to be extremely important to the Bloodians for Feng Qing to send Fan Lou on such a long-haul journey.
Fan Lou had wanted to tell Lin Yuan about this but eventually decided against it because he was afraid that Lin Yuan would be uninterested.
But now that Lin Yuan seemed interested in this matter, Fan Lou began giving a detailed report.
"Master, you are well aware of the Bloodians" situation. They consume the blood of other lifeforms and are constantly hunting other species.
"The Bloodians are the mermaids" sworn enemies and want to attack the other mermaid tribes in the East Universe. They will be sending many of their best and brightest warriors. However, the mermaids are very strong, and every clash with them results in the Bloodians suffering heavy casualties.
"The Bloodians" elite doesn"t want the species to suffer such giant losses. In recent years, the Bloodians" birth rate has been falling. If they lose too many of their pure-blooded members, their population will be affected. Hence, the Bloodians decided to gear up before beginning the attack.
"The poison secreted by the Dark Pufferfish that live in the Lonely River will contaminate water. The poison will not only lower the mermaids" ability to control water but also harm the mermaids" bodies and reduce their defenses. This will make it easier for the Bloodians to pa.s.s through their bodies and use their blood enchantments to control the blood in the mermaids" bodies. They will then rip apart the mermaids" scales that seem soft but are actually very tough."
Fan Lou added, "If the Bloodians successfully trade with the Dark Pufferfish and obtain a large amount of their poison, the attack on the mermaids will definitely cause a commotion in the East Universe.
"The mermaids have ties to many other sea species. But the Bloodians also have many allies. This war will involve many of the species in the East Universe and could cause some species to be permanently erased from the Species Ranking. A few species that have never appeared on the Species Ranking will thus be able to make an appearance on the Species Ranking!"
Lin Yuan ignored Fan Lou"s lamentation.
The mermaids had always been part of the top 100 of the Species Ranking.
It was only to be expected that a savage war between two species would involve other species.
Ever since he awakened his Body of All Spirits, Lin Yuan"s feelings toward the mermaids had changed.
With numerous bloodlines coexisting in his body, Lin Yuan was no longer affected by bloodlines and would not show favor toward any particular species.
Morbius had told Lin Yuan with the utmost seriousness that the Body of All Spirits was not infallible. Its weakness was that once a certain bloodline energy in the body exceeded that of other bloodlines, the bloodline energy would affect the possessor"s emotions.
In the past, Lin Yuan only had the mermaid bloodline. Hence, he inevitably showed favor to the mermaids.
But now, Lin Yuan would no longer be misguided by his bloodlines as he had been continuously strengthening them.
Even if the Bloodians obtained the Dark Pufferfish"s poison, declaring war on the mermaids was an enormous issue and would not be initiated recklessly. Some time for preparation would be needed.
Lin Yuan felt that he stood to benefit from the Bloodians" attack on the mermaids.
"Fan Lou, once you return, try your best to become involved in the Bloodians" vendetta against the mermaids. Do you know how strong the Dark Pufferfish are?"
Lin Yuan would help Fan Lou to complete his trade with the Dark Pufferfish. However, there were many ways to accomplish the trade, and he did not necessarily have to use above-board methods to meet the Dark Pufferfish"s request.
For the Dark Pufferfish to have the audacity to make such demands of the Bloodians, it meant they were substantially powerful in their own regard!
However, based on what Fan Lou said, Lin Yuan knew that he had the wrong idea.
When Fan Lou mentioned the Dark Pufferfish, scorn and disdain were written all over his face.
"Master, the strongest Dark Pufferfish isn"t even as strong as Kong Huan. They are able to dominate the Lonely River because of the poison in their bodies.
"Additionally, the original species that dominated the Lonely River all left after the Dark Pufferfish contaminated the water. They all moved to areas outside of the Lonely River and continued their development there. Most of the species that remain in the Lonely River aren"t able to relocate.
"The Dark Pufferfish are acting so unreasonably toward the Bloodians and are trying to take advantage of them through this trade because the Bloodians can"t consume poisonous species. This means they can"t eat the Dark Pufferfish.
"Even if the Bloodians are being taken advantage of, they won"t come to the Lonely River personally because they don"t stand to benefit. This is the upper hand that the Dark Pufferfish hold!"
Lin Yuan did not reply to Fan Lou immediately. Instead, he spread out the map that Fan Lou had given him.
After examining it for a moment, Lin Yuan was certain that there were sufficient resources North of the Lonely River.
He told Fan Lou with a smile, "Leave soon. If you"re gone for too long, people will become suspicious. Go and tell the Dark Pufferfish that the Bloodians will send a bigshot to facilitate the trade. Ask them to have as many members present at the trade as possible!"
Fan Lou was stunned when he heard what Lin Yuan said. He could guess what Lin Yuan was trying to do.
Lin Yuan had to find out from Fan Lou about the trade between the Bloodians and the Dark Pufferfish. He was definitely unrelated to the Bloodians.
The Bloodians were not going to send someone here. Lin Yuan said this because he wanted to deceive the Dark Pufferfish.
If Fan Lou deceived the Dark Pufferfish on his own, he would be unsuccessful.
Fan Lou wondered, Can it be that he plans on attacking the Dark Pufferfis.h.!.+?
When this thought appeared, Fan Lou did not feel any worry or fear. Rather, he felt confident.
Subordinates liked it when the superiors they served put on strong fronts. When they put on strong fronts, their subordinates would feel a sense of pride and security.
This was exactly how Fan Lou felt.
"Master, I will go back and do as you say. If a bigshot from the Bloodians arrives, the Dark Pufferfish will definitely take the matter seriously. I will say that the Bloodians want to trade for a very large volume of poison. This will definitely cause the Dark Pufferfish to ask the Bloodians for even more resources. There is no limit to the Dark Pufferfish"s greed."
Fan Lou was able to a.s.similate perfectly into the Chaos Wind Demon Wolves. He would definitely be able to pull the wool over the Dark Pufferfish"s eyes as well.
Moreover, given the circ.u.mstances, there was no reason for the Dark Pufferfish to doubt what Fan Lou said. In the eyes of the Dark Pufferfish, Fan Lou was nothing more than a distant relative of the Chaos Wind Demon Wolves, who were being supported by the Bloodians.
How could the servant of a servant have the courage to lie to a superior?
…
Once Fan Lou left, Winter said seriously, "Lord Saint, if you intend to make a move on the Dark Pufferfish, what do you think about sending Autumn and me to take control of the species in the Lonely River?
"That way, the entire Lonely River will become our eyes. We can then set up camp in the Lonely River and develop rapidly outwards from north of the Lonely River.
"I took a look at the map. The King Blood Jackals mentioned on the map have extremely high evolution potential. If you take control of the King Blood Jackals, it will be worth investing a large amount of resources into them!
"The King Blood Jackals are very intelligent. They might be obsessed with riches, but they will do well at management tasks. If you send them to work under Su Yiren and Luo Lan, the two of them will have an easier time.
"Once you have many villages under your control, they will be grouped into tribes and subsequently kingdoms. At that point, it won"t be as easy to govern that establishment as it is to govern the human federations in the Cla.s.s 2 world you came from!
"The people under you all have their own talents and deserve to obtain faith power. In such a situation, the faith will become disorganized if you don"t have sufficient manpower to sort out the disputes."
Lin Yuan nodded seriously. He strongly agreed with what Winter said.
The Sky Beyond the Clouds was not the same as the main world. It was not a fair comparison at all.
Su Yiren and Luo Lan needed to slowly become accustomed to the style of governance in the Sky Beyond the Clouds. They needed to go through the process of learning and improving.
"Start with the Dark Pufferfish. Once we have control over the Dark Pufferfish, it will make it easier for us to conquer the entire Lonely River and extend our control over the other species in the Lonely River.
"If we go in and make a huge ruckus, the news will spread, and many factions will begin paying attention to the Lonely River.
"Almost all the fertile territories marked out on the map are under the control of the King Blood Jackals. I am going to make the King Blood Jackals" territory my main area of development."
The meeting with Fan Lou had allowed Lin Yuan to gain an understanding of the circ.u.mstances. He now had a clear direction for his future development. All he needed to do now was follow it.
…
When Fan Lou returned, the Forbidden Wolf Team and Light Wind Wolves had yet to arrive.
Fan Lou knew that it was impossible for the Forbidden Wolf Team or Light Wind Wolves to turn up anything in their search.
North of the Lonely River was desolate and impoverished. The Forbidden Wolf Team and Light Wind Wolves also did not have the courage to provoke the King Blood Jackals.
Moreover, they were on a mission and could not venture that far in their search.
Fan Lou did not have to wait for long before the two groups returned.
Fan Lou put on an act of asking about their results.
With the Forbidden Wolf Team around, the Light Wind Wolves did not have any authority to speak.
Feng Nuo started to complain, "Just how isolated and poor is the Lonely River? Not only does it not have any high-quality resources, but there aren"t even any decent spiritual resources to be found. After searching for such a long time, we didn"t manage to find anything.
"However, we did stumble upon a few villages. The villages seem to be in good condition. If we were able to stay here longer, we could collect some faith from the villages."
Fan Lou did not respond to Feng Nuo"s complaints.
Normally, the villages scattered around such regions were extremely chaotic.
Since Feng Nuo said that the villages were in good shape, it meant that Lin Yuan had to be involved.
He was about to lie to the Dark Pufferfish that a bigshot from the Bloodians was about to arrive. He could not allow the Forbidden Wolf Team or Light Wind Wolves to find out about this. Otherwise, he would not be able to explain himself to Feng Qing when he returned.
The Forbidden Wolf Team would definitely report the situation to Feng Qing.
Fan Lou"s brain was running at high speed as he tried to come up with a way to accomplish this task.
While he was thinking, he heard Feng Nuo say miserably, "Fan Lou, you might not have the pure Chaos Wind Demon Wolf bloodline, but you have Lord Feng Qing"s favor and can be considered one of the Chaos Wind Demon Wolves.
"This task isn"t an easy one. Me and the Forbidden Wolf Team are only in charge of ensuring your safety. If this matter isn"t successful, we will all be blamed and punished. You need to think about the current privilege that you have! Regardless of what happens, you need to make sure to satisfy Lord Feng Qing."
Feng Nuo spoke with a heavy tone that carried a hint of a warning.
Fan Lou knew that Feng Nuo was trying to enforce a sense of pressure on him.
Feng Nuo had to be extremely low-spirited now as he begrudged his bad luck of having to be involved in such a troublesome mission.
Fan Lou could use this chance to carry out his plan!