Chapter 201: Fluorescent Mushrooms, Lizardman Kingdom
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
The lizardmen quickly discovered their unexpected guests, each of them holding weapons and being on alert.
But it was easy to see the surprise in their eyes.
What were these strange creatures that looked completely different from them? How come they had no scales? No claws? Why was their skin so pale?
Moreover, where did they come from?
Countless questions crossed their minds.
Just as the lizardmen were in a state of confusion, they heard the leader of the biped creatures speak.
“h.e.l.lo, we are not enemies, but come with friendship.”
Heavens!
They could understand the words spoken by these biped creatures!
Could they be a new lizardman tribe born in another cave?
For a moment, the lizardmen started chattering, gesturing, and pointing at them from time to time.
Seeing their reactions, Ji Chen furrowed his brows.
Were these lizardmen afflicted with some illness?
Fortunately, a lizardman clad in armor stepped forward, approaching them and said, “Greetings, strangers. On behalf of the Dork Kingdom, I welcome you.”
Although they hadn’t figured out what these creatures were and where they came from, judging from their language and attire, they appeared to be an intelligent race capable of communication.
Not like magma golems whose minds were solely focused on eating and excreting.
Moreover, they were exuding a friendly vibe, unlike the other lizardman tribes that were fond of killing.
The way they were dressed was quite magnificent, and their army’s equipment was of high quality, making them the most formidable army Ji Chen had ever seen.
Even if they weren’t n.o.bles, they were akin to knights.
Hearing the lizardman in armor mentioning the so-called Dork Kingdom, Ji Chen almost burst out laughing.
Could this minuscule place, whose exact numbers were unknown but definitely not too many, possibly form a kingdom?
Though he felt like laughing, Ji Chen’s emotional control was quite strong, and he easily maintained his composure.
Compared to other lizardmen, the one who spoke carried a fine steel long spear and wore a full set of armor, even a helmet covering their head.
On the other hand, the other lizardmen held iron spears and wore rough clothes with iron pieces attached, displaying significantly simpler equipment. Some of them even wore nothing more than tattered fiber clothes.
Clearly, this underground lizardman civilization had evolved into a system with cla.s.s distinctions.
Judging by the medieval level of civilization in this world, the lizardman in armor should be the so-called knights, while the ones wearing iron pieces were their attendants or something similar. As for those in rags, they would be peasants or slaves.
Putting aside his thoughts, Ji Chen smiled and responded, “I am Ji Chen, the Lord of the Crown of the Ocean, also known as Ocean Crown, hailing from the surface.”
The Crown of the Ocean? The surface?
The armored lizardman felt somewhat puzzled.
What was the Ocean? Was it the name of some magma sea?
And the surface… Could it refer to some cave located above?
“I’m sorry, Lord Ji Chen, but I have a question. Where is the surface?”
Hearing this, Ji Chen furrowed his brow, suspecting something.
Could it be that these lizardmen were unaware of the existence of the surface? Did they think this underground cave was the entire world?
Now, this was getting interesting.
“The surface refers to the world above, a vast expanse billions of times larger than this place,” Ji Chen explained. “It’s a place with white clouds, sunlight, oceans, islands, land, mountains, and countless races and creatures.”
“Due to a powerful upheaval, a connecting pa.s.sage appeared between the surface and this underground world, which is how we arrived here.”
As these words were spoken, all the lizardmen were left dumbfounded.
Their first thought was: How is this possible!?
Could this Lord Ji Chen be joking?
It was probably similar to the reaction of Native Americans from the Americas when they first learned from European colonists that beyond their land, there existed a much broader world.
Seeing the vastly different Naga Berserkers, Dragon Blood Murlocs, floating sea pixies, and Alice’s group, the armored lizardman felt that what Lord Ji Chen said was unlikely to be false.
They began to question their existence.
These few sentences acted like heavy hammers, shattering their worldview.
“Your Excellency, I cannot determine the truth of your words, but this matter is of great importance. I must report it to the elders of the tribe to have them decide,” the armored lizardman stated.
“Please do so. But also, please introduce me to your elders. 1 have some matters to ‘discuss’ with them,” Ji Chen replied with a smile.
“Very well. I will convey your request. Please wait here.” The armored lizardman nodded, gesturing for the other lizardmen to stay behind.
Then, he hurriedly ran towards a distant pa.s.sage accompanied by a few lizardman attendants.
However, this trip took a full six hours.
This indicated that the activity range of this lizardman civilization was quite vast. The area they were in might belong to the “border region”, and reaching the core region from here would also take a considerable amount of time.
Ji Chen didn’t feel much apart from boredom, as there was no concept of day and night underground.
Perhaps due to the glow emitted by the plants, it was daytime here all the time.
By the time they returned, instead of just a few lizardmen, there was now a hundred-strong escort of lizardmen accompanying the armored lizardman..