Decaying World

Chapter 254 254 Sailing to Sea Part Two

"That is indeed the case." Zhang Yao nodded. "This newly appointed deputy city lord only resolved the anomaly in the sea a few days ago and thwarted a bloody ritual involving hundreds of thousands of people organized by the Mist God Organization. He is highly capable and more than qualified to take on this responsibility. What advice does Lord Tang have for me?"

"I dare not presume to offer advice. This is a matter for your Black Cloud faction, and I would not dare to make rash suggestions, lest Brother Xie be angered upon his return. However," Tang Hanxi paused, revealing a somewhat meaningful smile, "...there has never been a precedent of a mortal serving as a deputy city lord in the Federation's inner court or outer prefectures. Even if your Black Cloud faction is powerful, once this news gets out, it will attract considerable covetousness. Did you anticipate this?"

"Since I have made this decision, I, Hei Yun, will bear the consequences." Zhang Yao nodded slightly, his expression unchanged.

"I just don't know how Lord Tang found out about this? We were originally planning to blockade the area for a while and have some peace and quiet."

"Of course, someone is deliberately spreading rumors. Moreover, it is rare for a mortal to serve as the deputy city lord. He is not even a Blood Ancestor, yet he can hold such a high position. He must have great value for devouring. If one can devour this person, the benefits gained will far exceed those of an ordinary Blood Ancestor," Tang Hanxi said with a smile.

"What do you mean?" Zhang Yao asked after a moment of silence.

“Brother Zhang, why ask a question you already know the answer to? Everyone is very curious about what kind of opportunity could allow a mere mortal to leap up and become strong enough to contend with even the less powerful Mist People, who are descendants of gods? If we could devour and integrate such a terrifying opportunity, what heights could we reach? Tsk tsk, just thinking about it is terrifying,” Tang Hanxi said softly.

Zhang Yao remained silent; this was a problem he had previously raised with his elder brother and third sister. Tang Hanxi pointed it out now.

He actually had the same concern, but his eldest brother and third sister were just straightforward people who believed that one must treat others with sincerity and that one should only devour enemies, never one's own people.

So he could only suppress his worries.

And now, what he feared has finally come to pass.

Lin Hui's existence, once it spread, was like a bright and dazzling light in the darkness for those Fog People who craved greater strength.

Tang Hanxi, who was attracted by the mist, will not be the last one. There are definitely other mist people in the shadows, trying to find an opportunity to devour Lin Hui.

After all, the Federation can only govern the openly known Mistfolk, while in secret, there are definitely reclusive, wild Mistfolk who have secretly come upon hearing the news.

“Regardless, part of the reason why my eldest brother and third sister are out now is to deal with these guys who rushed here after hearing the news,” Zhang Yao said solemnly. “However, I still want to thank Lord Tang for coming to inform me of this matter so soon.”

He clasped his hands in a fist salute to the other person.

"Since you're going to express your gratitude, let's do something practical. I'm going to take back the thirteen members of my clan who were previously imprisoned by Black Cloud," Tang Hanxi said with a smile.

“Okay.” Zhang Yao nodded.

"Great. Then I'll give you another piece of information for free."

Tang Hanxi slapped her thigh and laughed, "This matter has already caught the attention of Princess Song Feishi. You should know what kind of temper she has. Although it has now been reorganized into a federation, the strength and power of the first Mist Emperor were far beyond that of ordinary cities. This princess's strength is also extremely terrifying. If she becomes interested in this, then we will be in big trouble."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yao frowned deeply.

If other unaffiliated people are only minor troubles, then Princess Song Feishi is a real problem.

This person has an extremely difficult temper, values ​​the purity of bloodlines immensely, and has always been a staunch supporter of the theory of pure bloodlines among the Mist People.

"This is such a small matter, it's unlikely to attract the Fourth Princess's attention, is it?" Zhang Yao said in a low voice.

"Hmph, don't you even consider this? How many years has it been since a mortal has been able to rival a normal Mistman? In the entire Federation's hundreds of thousands of years, only a handful of such individuals have appeared. And those Mistmen who devoured those few before, aren't they all terrifyingly strong now?"

"Lin Hui, the deputy city lord, is far from reaching the level of those people, isn't he?" Zhang Yao said helplessly.

"That's close. Anyway, I've already delivered the message. How you deal with it is up to you," Tang Hanxi said with a smile. "Don't worry about those wild Mist People. They'll decay soon enough anyway. But this Fourth Princess, tsk tsk."

Zhang Yao also felt a headache coming on.

He had already guessed who had leaked the information; it must have been Tu Yue. However, the Federation forbade the Fogman City Lords from killing each other, and he couldn't possibly kill Tu Yue over such a trivial matter.

So, will he still be the city lord?
Zhang Yao thought that with the news covered up, Hei Yun Bai would have gained a great general to guard the city, making him even more secure. However, things quickly deviated from Zhang Yao's plans.

Now that the news has spread, Lin Hui's existence has gradually shifted from being more good than bad to being more bad than good.

It's only because their Black Cloud faction is strong enough that there's only an undercurrent of unrest outside. Otherwise, if it were an ordinary city lord, many Mist People would have already come knocking on their door.

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At this moment, Lin Hui had no idea that he was attracting more and more trouble.

He had just changed his clothes and was flying at top speed towards Eagle Man Island.

Without riding a moth cart to avoid leaving traces, he achieved a similar high-speed burning effect solely through his control of the wind.

On this trip, he not only wanted to extract the pulse of life, but also planned to strengthen the Nine-Eyed Seal. The high priest monsters he had stored in the past were no longer enough to deal with the Mistmen.

Only those at least at the level of a top-tier Blood Ancestor could combine their nine eyes to pose a threat to the Mist People.

Such monsters are not easy to find around the city. Even among the gods, they are considered high-ranking beings, second only to the Mist God. Some weaker Mist Gods are even at this level.

Therefore, we need to take a long-term approach.

The emerald green ocean receded rapidly below.

Lin Hui would occasionally raise his wrist to check his watch, making sure exactly how much time had passed. Hei Yun had many similar small items that looked very similar to the watches from his previous life, but their internal timekeeping principles were completely different.

The clocks here utilize internal force to sense the rhythm of the external environment, using this rhythm as the most basic method of counting.

So although they are all measured in seconds, minutes, and hours, Lin Hui actually doesn't know how much difference there is between the time here and the time in his previous life.

As he flew, Lin Hui also hoped that he could take the opportunity to test the Qingyuan Body's specific lethality against the Mist People.

Last time I didn't dare to take a gamble, but with a different environment and a different identity, the situation is very different.
If we can capture a lone Mistman, on this vast ocean, the death or disappearance of even one shouldn't cause much of a stir.
Fortunately, Lin Hui remembered that completing the main objective was the priority, so he immediately suppressed the urge to turn back and look for Tu Yue, and continued flying towards Eagle Man Island.

Soon, a huge gray-white barrier flashed past below Lin Hui on the sea below.

Outside the boundary wall, the fog grew thicker, and the seawater began to bubble and churn.

A series of subtle yet powerful gazes pierced through the seawater, watching Lin Hui speed by.

Once you cross the boundary wall, the outside world becomes a highly dangerous zone.

Outside the boundary wall, high-ranking monsters are everywhere, and weaker monsters can only survive by attaching themselves to them.

Lin Hui didn't stop; instead, he sped up.

After another hour or so, a strange landmass composed of golden peaks gradually emerged on the sea ahead.

There is almost no flat land on this land; it is full of strangely shaped golden peaks.

The numerous small hills are layered upon each other, eventually piling up to form the largest giant mountain.

"We've arrived, Eagle Man Island!" Lin Hui breathed a sigh of relief, at least he hadn't gotten lost.

He quickly decelerated, hovered, and began to fly along the land, observing the situation.

Not long after flying away, Lin Hui saw a fully enclosed silver metal cargo ship slowly approaching the shore and lowering its sails.

One by one, eagle-headed men with black wings on their backs led groups of numb-looking humans out of the ship's cabins and lined up on the ground.

Lin Hui's expression changed slightly. He continued to look at more places and found that this situation was not an isolated case.

Almost immediately, a cargo ship carrying humans was unloading its cargo.

From the heavily accented language of the Eagle People Federation, Lin Hui roughly deduced that Eagle People Island was essentially a notorious off-the-walls center for the transshipment and trade of human slaves.

Large numbers of human slaves were transported and concentrated here. Some were sold to non-federal organizations as food, while others were sold to various urban areas as slave laborers.

It seems there are also some newly established Fogman city-states that are buying large numbers of people from here to take back with them.

Population is an absolute resource here.

After confirming Eagle Man Island's representative role in human trafficking, Lin Hui completely lost any thought of redeeming this hellish place.

But the pulse of life must still be grasped.
How can I obtain it?
Lin Hui floated in the sky, gazing at the hazy Eagle Man Island in the distance, lost in thought.

Even before getting close to the island, one could sense a massive, transparent wave sweeping across the surroundings, indicating tight security.

Such a large island, which has been able to exist for so long in this vast sea of ​​jade, must have its own unique advantages.

Therefore, it is highly unrealistic to expect it to encounter danger in a short period of time.
'Therefore, if I want to harvest the Pulse of Life, I must first dismantle the Eagle Man Island's defense system. Only then can they easily encounter danger and fall into despair. Only then can I strike in time and truly reap a large harvest of the Pulse of Life.'

Looking at the massive Eagle Man Island in the distance, Lin Hui began to ponder.

'So, how do we destroy this defense system? What is its core?'

But before he knew it, a gray-green humanoid figure was rapidly approaching his location from the Jade Sea behind him.

The humanoid figure flew at an extremely fast speed, resembling a shooting star. Within it, one could vaguely discern a tall, thin man with two heads.

"After guarding for so many days, I've finally stumbled upon him. If Daoist Lin Huiqingfeng can devour him, my strength will definitely increase greatly. Then I can build a city-state to share the spoils, and maybe I can even become a city lord!!"

The man's eyes glowed green, and the colorful eye between his brows was wide open, almost bleeding from the corner of his eye. He seemed to be desperately trying to track Lin Hui's movements.

These five people from the Wild Mist were drawn by the news and gathered around the Black Cloud from all directions, waiting for Lin Hui to go out alone.

Now, he was the luckiest person ever, as Lin Hui left the city from his direction.

He just didn't expect Lin Hui to be so fast, so he couldn't enter super speed mode, lest he trigger the Moon Tower's monitoring alarm.

So they could only slowly catch up from behind.

(End of this chapter)