I Will Never Submit to Miss Grim Reaper - Chapter 404
Chapter 404: We Are Very Hospitable
Upon arriving at the seaside, it was clear that the wind here was much stronger than in the forest on the island.
The sea near this “Grandis” island in another world was a deep black, in contrast to the deep, mysterious blue of the ocean near the Nanqi district in Shenzhen City on Earth.
It always felt as if some monster might emerge from the depths at any moment, possibly an effect of last night’s “magical storm.” As I’m still unfamiliar with this world, I can’t jump to conclusions.
At this moment, Nida’s village team and I were on a small hill about a kilometer from the sea. From our vantage point, we could easily see the lizardmen village below.
The village was on flat land by the seaside and looked about the size of half a small village on Earth, reminiscent of the “Medicinal Herb Garden” where I lived as a child. I estimated that the lizardmen village had a population of nearly two hundred, more than Nida’s small village.
On the dark sea, four sailboats, resembling those in the movie “Pirates of the Caribbean,” were anchored near the shore, mostly still, with one swaying slightly on the sea, likely on guard.
From a rough glance, I could see the village below bustling with activity, with strange noises occasionally emanating from it.
“Neil! Hada!”
At this moment, amidst the rustling footsteps, I saw two teams of fully armed lizardmen emerge from the forest, one from the east and one from the west, holding weapons.
“They’re friends who saw our signal flare,” Nida explained.
“Those are warriors from my uncle’s best friend’s village over there, and those are warriors from the largest village on the island. Everyone has come.”
“Can we defeat the pirates like this?”
I tried asking, “I remember… if you can’t use magic, isn’t there something like fighting spirit?”
Previously, Xiao Mo had mentioned that in this other world, the strongest, most mysterious, and most fate-changing power was magic. This power was similar to Earth’s “superpowers.” If you were agile and had strong enough talent, you could use magic to do all sorts of strange and wonderful things.
Of course, not everyone had a strong magical talent. Some people were born with a deficiency in magical power. In such cases, they could resort to training their “fighting spirit.”
Fighting spirit wasn’t as miraculous as magic. Its only use was to enhance physical fitness and increase the destructive power of your body or weapons. It was somewhat akin to martial arts on Earth, but the upper limit of fighting spirit was much higher.
Moreover, they were often practiced together. If a martial artist from Earth came to this other world, someone who could only punch a pig to death on Earth, after training in fighting spirit, with the fighting spirit enhancing their punch, muscle strength, and explosive power, they could kill a cow with one punch.
Fighting spirit couldn’t be used to create magical items like “Mobius Circle” that allow people to fly, nor could it be used for long-range attacks like “Fireball” or “Waterball.” Fighting spirit and the martial artist’s physical strength complemented each other.
Just training in fighting spirit wasn’t enough, your body also needed to be strong. This was why, for hundreds of years, fighting spirit had always been overshadowed by magic in this other world. It’s not that it was useless, it just had a superior alternative.
To put it simply, if someone from Earth traveled to this world in body, not just in spirit, and wanted to learn magic, they would have to start as a beginner. However, if they were a martial arts expert before crossing over, skilled in things like Sanda, Muay Thai, Karate, or proficient in using cold weapons, having trained in swordsmanship all their life, they would only need to learn a bit of fighting spirit to see their combat power multiply.
So, don’t be fooled by these lizardmen in the village who look clumsy holding their long spears and seem to lack combat power. They must have learned fighting spirit. When the lizardmen joined the allied forces against the Demon King back then, it wasn’t just because of their muscles. These guys definitely have some strength.
“No, just one fire mage on the other side makes it very difficult for us. We should avoid conflict if possible.”
After hearing my question, and briefly speaking with the leaders of the two arriving villages, Nida’s father shook his head. “But looking at the situation now, it seems my brother-in-law couldn’t negotiate successfully.”
“They’re asking what we should do now. It looks like most of the Cote pirate crew is here, and they’re planning to exterminate us.”
After another lizardman spoke, Nida translated for me, “That ship belongs to the fire mage, so he’s definitely come ashore.”
“We should go and talk to them,” Nida’s father said calmly.
“Our people haven’t had contact with outsiders for three thousand years. We didn’t provoke them. I know a bit about the Cote pirates, they probably came here because they had no other choice after being trapped by the royal navy.”
“Chief, if they come once, they can come a second time. Every time these people come, or if they get into trouble with the royal navy, do we have to provide resources to support them?”
“Exactly, Chief. I don’t recommend negotiating with these humans. Even if we can’t win, we should fight to the death and make them suffer! Otherwise, they’ll always think we’re easy to bully!”
“This time it’s only because ‘Tam’ isn’t here. She went to the Dragon Forest and will be back in at most three days. That’s why the Cote people…”
“Does the future and fate of our lizardmen have to be controlled by the dragons?”
“We are somewhat related to the dragons…”
“Chief!”
At this moment, a lizardman ran over, and Nida translated beside me, “Bad news! Willy’s people have started fighting with the pirates!”
“What!”
Nida’s father was stunned for a moment, then waved his hand, “Let’s go! Let’s go down and take a look!”
“Sister Diwu…”
Amidst the chaotic crowd, Nida grabbed my arm, “Be careful, they might start fighting.”
“I’ll be fine.”
I shook my head and turned towards the ships, “You be safe too.”
Speaking of which, the technology in this world is indeed quite backward.
I examined the four ships by the shore, which were said to belong to the “strongest pirates” nearby. They were all wooden ships with sails. Although each ship was quite large and equipped with cannon-like weapons, honestly, if we didn’t consider magic, even an overhauled and repaired “Shenzhen cruiser” from the Nanqi coast would easily defeat these five ships here.
The Shenzhen cruiser is a survivor from “World War II,” and whether it’s the cannons, torpedoes, or the ship’s speed and maneuverability, all its stats are definitely superior to the sailboats of this world. Unless they used so-called “magical devices” to enhance the cannons or engines with magic or magic stones, extending the range and speed of their ships, then I might be wrong.
But if my estimation is correct, magical devices are also extremely rare in this world because there aren’t many researchers. Experts like Xiao Mo, who study magical devices, are exceptional. Even if Xiao Mo didn’t study magical devices, she’s still a genius in lightning magic.
Therefore, I think it’s unlikely that these pirates, who survive by plundering, would have advanced magical devices to arm their cannons.
The pirates’ combat power is likely concentrated in their “pirate members,” particularly the fire mages and archmages Nida mentioned.
“Hoo hoo hoo—”
With the increasingly frenzied sea wind, I ran down the small hill towards the lizardmen village below, along with the large group of lizardmen.
Before we could get close, we heard a heated debate coming from the center of the village.
“It’s the pirates and my uncle!”
Nida looked worried. “It sounds like they’re saying if we have no food to give, they should just kill us all and take what they want.”
“I see him! It’s that fire mage! He really came!”
Following Nida’s cue, I used my excellent vision to spot the man at the center of the village. Surrounded by a group of people dressed as pirates, he stood in front of a few lizardmen, holding a fireball in his left hand. The man had messy, partially singed hair, as if he frequently got burned from playing with fire. He wore a robe and a red shirt, fitting my image of a fire mage perfectly.
“Stop!”
At this moment, Nida’s father, accompanied by a large group of lizardmen, rushed in front of the fire mage, shouting, “Let’s talk this out! Don’t resort to violence!”
“What’s the deal? Speaking Elvish to sound sophisticated?”
The man, presumably the fire mage, clenched his fireball and walked towards us. “Do you think someone of my caliber wouldn’t know Elvish? Human language, Elvish, and Demon language are the three major languages of Stan City!”
“I didn’t mean that.”
Nida’s father glanced cautiously at me. “Put the fireball away first. We can discuss your conditions here.”
“What conditions? My crew hasn’t eaten in a day. We heard the lizardmen on this island are hospitable, so we came to see if you have any food.”
The man holding the fireball wore a frivolous expression. “But it seems your good brothers here aren’t very welcoming of us, are they? Look at all these spears… what are they for? Are you planning to fight me, a weak mage?”
“Brother-in-law, their demands are for us to hand over all our food, even what’s in the basement. They also want us to take them to your village to take all the supplies, food, essentials, and gold and silver. They said there’s no room for negotiation.”
An older lizardman from the front of the group said calmly, “These people are not good people.”
“Of course we’re not good people. We’re pirates, understand?”
The man with the fireball continued in a flippant tone, “The fact that we’re talking calmly and negotiating with you already gives you more respect than you deserve… Oh, and look, you have a little girl here. Did you kidnap her from the city? You’ve got some taste, old man.”
“Don’t say that, she’s not…”
“Enough with the chatter, let’s just take action.”
At this point, another person wearing a mage’s robe stepped out from the crowd, waved his hand, and a ball of lightning appeared out of thin air.
“This uncivilized race has no right to negotiate with us.”
“A second mage…”
Seeing this, Nida’s father froze.
“We’re done for now, this one has come too…”
“……”
……