Boiling Beast Bloodline
Chapter 630 - 133: Tribute_4

Chapter 630: Chapter 133: Tribute_4

"They are begging for mercy." The Giant chieftain, Yangkele, frowned and said, "They are speaking in our native language of the Underground World."

"Let them go, I think they are pitiful." The young nun looked at the Koutao Merfolk with compassion, her gaze fixed on Old Liu.

"Pitiful?" Elder Tang Jin burst into a hearty laugh on the side: "Little girl, we have a saying in the Underground World, ’Better to encounter a Giant Flea than to provoke a Koutao Merfolk’. Prehistoric Fleas only suck your blood, but the Koutao Merfolk is the only intelligent species that eats humans. If given the chance, they will eat you clean without a second thought."

"The Koutao Merfolk, hiding in the depths of the abyssal cave, hardly have any natural enemies in the Underground World because nobody can destroy them underwater," Chief Giant Yangkele added: "Not even two fallen elves could."

"They are just a bunch of slightly bigger fish in the water, I can grind them all into fish waste." Figo shook his head dismissively.

Liu Zhenhan scratched his head: "After we deal with the two fallen elves, I’ll help you sort out these Koutao Merfolk. We’ll clear them all out in one go."

"How could you... How could you..." The young nun, Joan of Arc, was at a loss for words to describe her feelings, her face flushing with urgency.

"For the sake of the young lady, let’s deal with them the same way we dealt with the Eagle-Bull people." Liu Zhenhan grinned.

"How did you deal with the Eagle-Bull people?" O’Neal asked Gude. "That job was left to your Pan’s regiment. How did you eventually handle the captured Eagle-Bull people?"

"All killed." General Pan carefully wiped his fist, on which a fish scale was still hanging.

"That’s not a bad idea." O’Neal brightened up at the suggestion.

Each of the Koutao Merfolk seemed to understand the common language, and their strange cries grew even more urgent.

"Their king is here." The Giant Chieftain laughed, pointing to the most vociferous and ugliest Merfolk. "The king of the Koutao Merfolk has said that as long as you let him go, he can pay a ransom."

"We caught the king of the Koutao Merfolk?" Liu Zhenhan was surprised, "That’s some good luck."

"It’s my accomplishment. I saw him being surrounded by a bunch of merfolk underwater; he seemed somewhat dignified. I swung my axe a few times, then captured him alive!" O’Neal puffed his chest out, bragging proudly.

"If you lack even that level of discernment, then there’s no point in you following the boss around," Gude didn’t mince words with O’Neal.

"What if this creature is fooling us? I don’t really trust it." Liu Zhenhan examined the Koutao Merfolk from several angles, not sensing any royal aura from it.

"Look at this." Yangkele, the chief of the Giants, held up a necklace made of skull beads the size of fingers on the chest of the Koutao Merfolk. "While Koutao are cannibals, very few of our species live along the banks of deep rivers in the Underground World. Therefore, only their king has the privilege of eating humans—it’s implausible to fake."

"Really?" Liu Zhenhan scrutinized the necklace of small skull beads and looked at the supposed Merfolk King, who nodded vigorously.

"Let two of them go back to report the news—I want what the Koutao Merfolk have, especially any magical metal materials." Liu Zhenhan’s mood was lifted.

He sensed another opportunity for profit.

Elder Tang Jin and the Giant chieftain busied themselves interrogating the Merfolk king about why the Koutao Merfolk were causing trouble when they had always coexisted peacefully with the Difeng Giants.

Both Giants and Dwarves despise water, particularly the Difeng Giants with their innate fiery skin. The recent water battle, although not wholly lethal due to the water arrows being relatively weak, the concentrated rain of water elements caused severe damage to the Difeng Giants. Underground, rain is an impossibility, so the Difeng Giants only truly dread the Koutao Merfolk.

Normally, these Koutao Merfolk wouldn’t dare to provoke the Difeng Giants willy-nilly, because the flaming meteorites of the Difeng Giants are the nemesis of the Koutao Merfolk. However, it was strange that this many Koutao Merfolk suddenly decided to instigate conflict with the Difeng Giants—it was decidedly unusual.

If a couple more bands of Difeng Giants from the Furious Flame Continent lent some aid, these many Koutao Merfolk might not be able to gain the upper hand. However, it seemed that this event had been premeditated because the number of Koutao Merfolk present was almost half of their entire military force on the Furious Flame Continent. Though the Difeng Giants may be somewhat prideful and impulsive, they are no fools.

While they were engaged in the interrogation, Liu Zhenhan seized this moment to take a close look at up the surrounding Flame Mountain Valley. He would be locked in mortal combat here in a few days, and he needed to familiarize himself with the terrain.

The height of the circular entrance to this extinct volcano is roughly one hundred meters. The honeycomb-like structure still retains its primitive form, ancient and desolate. The volcanic craters that had erupted in the past had been filled in with thick layers of dust over time. The partially collapsed entrance turned this formerly circular volcano into a distinct "U"-shaped valley. The valley spans over a considerable area, encompassing at least a hundred and eighty acres. The ground is covered with a thick layer of mosses and clusters of large umbrella-shaped fungi.