Goblin Heavy Dependence

Chapter 460 Fishman, Sacrifice
Perhaps it was because the storm swept away all the misfortune.

The temporary rest and repair plan for the Blade of Vengeance went very smoothly. The journey was uneventful, and it took less than half a day to reach the fishermen's island in the nearby waters.

After the storm subsided and another night passed, the group arrived at their destination at dawn.

Standing on the deck, one can vaguely see the reefs and hills shrouded in mist on the sea ahead.

There was little movement; the only sounds in the air were the crashing waves and the cries of seagulls circling overhead.

The island itself is nothing special; it has no local specialties and no particularly magnificent scenery worth visiting.

Even the name "Hare Island" itself was temporarily changed because it needed to be recorded on the nautical chart, and it was only spread by word of mouth among the passing sailors over the years.

There is a small fishing village on the island. It is not very big and usually doesn't stand out. However, because Wild Rabbit Island is located on several shipping routes from other places to Suoyu Bay, various kinds of boats often pass by and occasionally stop to rest and trade with these fishermen.

Lorraine was experienced at sea and had visited Hare Island several times. She was familiar with the person in charge of the small fishing village, though not exactly on friendly terms.

Now that the ship is caught in a storm and needs to dock temporarily for repairs, she wondered if she could make a deal with the other party to exchange the ship's surplus supplies for some useful ship repair materials.

The pointed leather boots lightly trod on the beach, leaving a faint footprint.

Lorraine's gaze swept across the area ahead.

The Blade of Vengeance had already docked at the makeshift harbor near the beach. The crew, under the command of the twin warriors Rein and Gordon, were working diligently, while the bard Alton played a tune to uplift the spirits and boost the morale of the working sailors.

After thinking for a moment, she waved to Xia Nan and Hai Yin respectively.

Since it was a negotiation trip to the fishing village, not a battle, she naturally had to pick two of the better-looking men to accompany her.

Otherwise, if Aken or Sasha were to come along, the former, with his tattooed, bald, muscular appearance, would likely be enough for her to change "negotiation" to "coercion" the moment he stepped into the village; the latter, as a spotted cat-person, would be no different from a monster to the islanders who had lived in the nearby waters since childhood.

In contrast, outside of battle, Hein appears as a young and beautiful girl. She even has fair skin, a trait not found in the sea people, due to her status as a spellcaster, making her stand out in a crowd.

As for Xia Nan... although her temperament was indeed a bit cold and she was usually rather quiet and didn't talk much, it has to be admitted that she was quite good-looking.

His sharp features, combined with his excellent equipment, gave him the look of a seasoned adventurer at first glance.

With these two people standing behind me, this negotiation shouldn't be too difficult.

Lorraine thought this to herself, but she already greeted him aloud:

"Hain, Xia Nan, come with me to the village."

"The rest of you, set up camp nearby and don't let your guard down!"

"..."

Xia Nan naturally had no objection to this.

After all, there's no point in staying here.

Unlike the short guy who could play tunes to boost the team's morale, although he did use his time in Suyu Bay to quickly learn a lot about navigation and ships, his foundation was ultimately weak and there was still too much for him to learn.

Having only a superficial understanding of ship inspection and maintenance, rashly getting involved will only make things worse.

All he could do was use his superior senses to warn the crew members, who were temporarily stationed near the beach, of the dangers around them.

Now that Captain Lorraine wants to take him along on her trip, he naturally won't refuse.

The island has not undergone large-scale development. Only near the temporary pier can you see some traces of human activity. The surrounding area is almost no different from a tropical rainforest.

Above us was a dense, lush green canopy that blocked out the sunlight, and below us were waist-high weeds and shrubs.

There is a small fishing village nearby. It is not a completely primeval forest. People travel between the village and the dock every now and then, so a faint path has been left behind, which does not require dealing with those tough and tangled annoying vines.

Walking through such wild jungles is not an easy task, even for many adventurers.

The limitations imposed by the surrounding terrain are one aspect, but the most dangerous danger lies in the venomous snakes and insects hidden deep within the dense grass.

If you're not careful, you could get bitten and suffer serious consequences.

To some extent, this is one of the reasons why many adventurers consider antidotes an essential item when going out.

But the current situation is quite different.

Having learned about the environment of Rabbit Island and knowing that there were no dangerous monsters there, Lorraine still asked Xia Nan and the others to maintain a cautious stance.

She took the lead, wielding the [Scalefire Curved Blade] to clear the way, while Hein was protected in the middle of the team, and Xia Nan brought up the rear, with the three of them positioned relatively close together.

Thanks to the bonus damage from the [Green Pine] wooden sword on his back against snakes and scorpions, the wooden sword on his back had been heating up ever since he followed the captain into the jungle.

It makes him like a human radar, searching for and alerting the venomous snakes in the surrounding grass.

The [Netherscale Guardian] on his left arm, which amplifies the intimidation effect on snakes, caused Xia Nan's gaze to sweep over the grass twice before a violent tremor ran through him, and the colorful scales quickly disappeared as they swayed.

Even Hein, who was walking ahead, couldn't help but glance back at him several times—of course, it could also be because the "A-Yin" wristband was too tight.

After all, driving away snakes and insects was usually her job as a druid.

The emerald light emanating from the tip of the staff made the group walking through the forest seem to blend into the dense woods. As long as they didn't step directly on a venomous snake, even walking over its head wouldn't attract its attention.

With Xia Nan's role now added to the mix, it provides them with an extra layer of protection.

Since it was an unfamiliar environment, the group behaved very professionally, without chatting idly along the way, focusing solely on getting there.

After walking in the woods for about twenty minutes, Xia Nan, who was at the end of the group, suddenly stopped.

"stop."

He whispered warily.

Then, as a Druid, Hein, whose perception attribute was also outstanding, seemed to sense something, frowned slightly, and subconsciously raised the staff in his hand.

Of the three, Lorraine, who was walking at the very front of the group, was the slowest to react.

However, reminded by the two people behind him, he instantly prepared for battle.

Concentrate, sensing the direction from which the faint smell of blood was coming in the air.

Xia Nan suddenly turned his head and looked into the depths of the dense forest to his side.

"Over there."

They weren't far apart; after walking a few dozen steps in the direction Xia Nan had pointed out, the source of the bloody smell in the air came into view. It was a small piece of blood-soaked rag, lying quietly among the bushes, with obvious trampling marks visible on the grass on either side.

They were all experienced adventurers, and there were no obvious signs of concealment at the scene. However, a little examination and analysis yielded a great deal of information.

"Hmm... this piece of cloth must have been torn from a piece of clothing. The material itself is very ordinary, just the cheapest linen."

Lorraine crouched down on the ground, leaning closer, her reddish-brown eyes fixed on the marks on the ground.

"Considering the situation on Hare Island, this blood-stained linen must have come from fishermen in a nearby village."

“There were very obvious drag marks on the surrounding grass, but no signs of struggle or resistance were seen.”

The scene that occurred here was quickly simulated by combining a series of clues.

A villager from a nearby fishing village was hunted down by a creature with superhuman strength and was eventually killed here; his body was then dragged back.

Considering they didn't see any other ships in the port, the culprit who killed the villagers was most likely not an adventurer from this sea.

"So...it must be some kind of monster?"

Hein concluded from the side.

Xia Nan was more inclined to believe the druid's guess, because at that moment he could smell a faint, almost dissipated, yet strangely familiar, fishy smell in the surrounding air.

The unexpected encounter during the negotiations undoubtedly disrupted their original plans.

After careful consideration, Lorraine, as the team leader, did not immediately take the two back to the dock.

Without suitable materials, the repair cannot be completed in a short time.

For the safety of the entire team, she needed to at least find out who their potential enemies were and what had happened in the village on the island.

Under Lorraine's command, the three deliberately slowed their pace to minimize the noise they made while remaining vigilant about their surroundings, secretly preparing for battle as they crept deeper into the jungle.

It's worth mentioning that, whether they weren't worried about being discovered by others or simply didn't have the habit, the marks left by dragging the body on the ground were completely undisguised, like some kind of guide, extending deeper into the crushed grass along with scattered blood.

In just ten minutes, as the bushes in front of them suddenly opened up, Xia Nan and the others were finally able to see the specific situation that had taken place on the small island.

Fishing nets, roughly torn apart, lay scattered among the wooden frames. A wicker fish basket lay upside down on the damp mud, with several sand crabs crawling in and out of the hole in the basket's opening.

The small houses, built of wood and thatch, stood quietly, most of their doors wide open, some even torn off and lying on the ground; coarse cloth clothes still hung on the clotheslines in the yard, but not a single person could be seen.

As for why...

The strong smell of blood in the air and the messy webbed feet and footprints on the muddy ground were enough to tell the story.

This fishing village was attacked by fish-men.

"Shahua fish-men?"

Recalling the familiar fishy smell he had just caught, Xia Nan confirmed it.

At the front of the group, Lorraine picked up a bluish-green scale from the mud, held it between her fingers, examined it carefully, and then nodded gently.

"It's them."

The Sawa fish-men are among the most notorious marine species. As intelligent beings, they consider the ocean their territory and regard all creatures, including humans, as enemies, frequently clashing with adventurers sailing the seas.

And when it comes to the fishermen living on the island, they show no mercy whatsoever as intelligent beings, plundering and slaughtering them without restraint.

If the inhabitants of Hare Island were indeed discovered by the safari fish people in the sea, they could indeed be attacked.

Strangely, within the immediate field of vision of the three of them, although the village was in a state of chaos, there was not a single human corpse.

Surely these fish-man goblins in the ocean wouldn't be so kind as to collect the fishermen's corpses, would they?
Upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that these bastards didn't even take anything of value from the house, leaving the ironware, grease and salt containers behind.

This is unlike the style of the Shahua fishermen.

Clearly, even Captain Lorraine had never seen anything like this before, and she immediately frowned deeply.

"Ga... Lu..."

With a strange rhythm, the cries of the fishmen echoed from the depths of the village ahead, near the sea.

There was no possibility of retreating now, so Lorraine called to Hein and Xia Nan behind her to continue forward.

The entire village was slaughtered. Along the way, the three did not see any survivors, only traces of the battle.

Of course, there were no bodies at all.

After passing through rows of empty houses, the group arrived at the beach.

It was there that they finally found the bodies of the missing fishermen from the village.

The fishermen died in all different ways. Some were pierced through the heart by pitchforks, leaving a huge hole in the center of their chests; others were cut in half at the waist, with their intestines spilling out in a large pool.

But coincidentally, their bodies were all thrown into a large pit on the beach, the stench of which filled the air.

But the culprits who killed them, the Shahua fishmen, did not escape.

A makeshift altar made of rocks, seaweed, and corals stands directly in front of the mass grave, facing the sea.

A slender, long-bodied shohua merman priest with two pairs of arms held two conch shells in his hands. As he swayed, he seemed to be reciting some kind of hymn in their language.

The other Shahua fish people knelt devoutly and fervently before the altar, like its most loyal believers.

The scene before my eyes could not be simply described as "déjà vu".

Xia Nan clearly remembered that what he saw in the hollow of Cliff Island was exactly this scene.

However, the one who was sacrificed by the fishmen back then was the orc in the Silverclaw Osprey squad, but now it is an entire village of fishermen.

and……

His dark eyes suddenly narrowed, and his gaze swept quickly across the sea and rocks around the beach, as if searching for something.

How could Xia Nan possibly forget that shark-like monster that wasn't even recorded in the monster encyclopedia, which destroyed his [Purgatory Pulse] in battle, indirectly causing him to spend four figures of gold coins to re-customize his armor?

(End of this chapter)