Chapter 203

Unease permeated the water.

The three little finless porpoises gathered together under the protection of the large finless porpoise, touching and comforting each other.

Liang Qu did not quite understand the way finless porpoises communicated, only seeing Yuan Tou and the finless porpoise king confronting each other, with a great battle on the verge of breaking out.

Boom!

The two behemoths collided, and surging currents poured out.

The surrounding water plants suddenly flattened; had Liang Qu not manipulated the current to hold them in place, he would have nearly exposed himself.

All the finless porpoises watched from the sidelines by tacit agreement, none coming forward to help.

King against king—the basic law their tribe relied on for survival.

There is and can only be one head, who must be the strongest and wisest of the tribe to lead everyone to a better survival.

In the water grass, Jiang Xiao Tun was held in Quan Tou's embrace to prevent it from rushing out and ruining the plan.

But it didn't seem to have much of a reaction, wagging its tail and appearing very excited.

After one clash, the scarred finless porpoise felt dizzy, and before it could recover, Yuan Tou bit its side; in the intense pain, the scarred porpoise immediately sobered up and bit back at Yuan Tou's neck.

Fresh blood dissipated in the water.

The two beasts were like pythons fighting over prey, neither willing to let go.

Yuan Tou pushed hard, the two separated, regrouped, and launched a second charge.

Boom!

The current surged backward.

The dull sound of the impact echoed throughout the entire riverbed.

Liang Qu felt as if he were watching two bighorn sheep clashing on a plateau to compete for a mate, launching charge after charge.

The difference was that the finless porpoises also bit each other, spilling fresh blood.

Even he felt a headache.

Yuan Tou had worked hard; he would have to spend a hundred merit points another day to swap its mate over so the family could reunite.

Finless porpoises could be redeemed using merit points; a hundred merit points would allow for another finless porpoise token.

Liang Qu could earn five merit points a day on average, and in the last half-month, even seven or eight a day.

Cockscomb fruit is most effective when three are eaten within twelve hours; any more will see diminishing returns.

He basically only spent two merit points a day, occasionally redeeming some miscellaneous elixirs, but they were of low value and quantity.

He estimated he had saved up a hundred, so swapping one over wouldn't be a problem.

He would ask Registrar Li when he had time.

The bloodiness in the water grew thicker.

Charging, colliding, tail-whipping, biting.

The scarred finless porpoise king was covered in wounds, its eyes becoming unfocused.

Yuan Tou was also injured, but it was much better off compared to the scarred one.

Having evolved through the Ze Ding, Yuan Tou, despite only initially entering the realm of a finless porpoise king, had a much stronger foundation than this wild finless porpoise.

Taking down the wild tribe before him was only a matter of time.

Half a cup of tea later, after another charge, the scarred finless porpoise king couldn't hold on and was knocked against a rock.

Gravel crumbled, and the finless porpoise king fell into the silt, covered in wounds and unable to rise for a long time.

Yuan Tou did not take advantage of the situation; it swam around the rock, waiting for the scarred finless porpoise king to get up.

But no matter how much the finless porpoise king struggled, it was unable to rise again, futilely kicking up dust and sand.

The outcome was decided.

Yuan Tou was the new leader of the tribe!

The remaining finless porpoises watching the battle came forward one after another to acknowledge Yuan Tou's new status as leader.

"Keep them or expel them?"

In the mental link, Liang Qu received Yuan Tou's message.

Finless porpoises have similarities to wolf packs—the same efficient cooperation, the same unity, and extraordinary combat power—but they are not exactly the same.

Finless porpoises are monogamous; while wolves are too, in a wolf pack, the members don't have mates, only the wolf king has a wolf queen.

Finless porpoises are more like multiple families living together, then choosing the strongest one to be the leader.

Therefore, it is not necessary to expel the previous finless porpoise king from the tribe.

As for killing, that was not an option at all.

"Keep him."

Liang Qu thought for a moment and decided there was no need to drive the scarred finless porpoise away.

For a wild finless porpoise to develop faster than the water beasts he controlled would be absolutely insane.

Yuan Tou's position as leader was unshakable.

Moreover, the scarred finless porpoise itself was a capable fighter; if it left, its mate and children would certainly follow.

Sure enough, a large and a small finless porpoise separated from the tribe and gently touched the fallen finless porpoise king.

Yuan Tou turned and came to the side of the scarred finless porpoise king.

After some incomprehensible communication, Liang Qu learned from Yuan Tou that the scarred finless porpoise chose to stay.

It didn't lose face.

This was the tradition of the finless porpoise tribe.

After Yuan Tou exchanged feelings with the tribe members and thoroughly became the new leader, Liang Qu led the water beasts out leisurely.

Suddenly appearing with several water beasts of similar size to the leader, the entire finless porpoise group was alarmed, surrounding the young ones and hiding behind Yuan Tou, but unexpectedly, Yuan Tou was the first to rush forward and lower its head.

Liang Qu patted Yuan Tou's head.

"Well done."

Facing a scene they had never seen before, the entire finless porpoise tribe appeared very panicked, hissing constantly in an attempt to call back their new leader.

Yuan Tou turned and hissed back.

The finless porpoises hesitated slightly, but gradually began to respond.

Finless porpoises are creatures that one doesn't know whether to call smart or not.

If Liang Qu had come up to rule the tribe directly, they would definitely have refused and fled desperately.

But if the leader agreed, the remaining tribe members had no objections and consistently followed the leader's choice.

In no time, the entire tribe bowed in submission.

Liang Qu easily took indirect control of the entire tribe.

Jiang Xiao Tun excitedly shuttled among the finless porpoises and soon hit it off with the other three little finless porpoises.

It hadn't played with peers for a long time.

Liang Qu waved his hand, and the fat catfish came forward with a cloth bag in its mouth; he reached in and took out many lotus root segments, feeding them to Yuan Tou and...

"I'll call you..." Liang Qu noticed that the former finless porpoise king also had a scar on its head, "I'll call you Scarhead."

Scarhead didn't have a mental link and was confused about the new name, but Yuan Tou relayed it, and soon it reacted to the name Scarhead from Liang Qu.

Liang Qu felt a sense of emotion.

Finless porpoises were indeed smart.

With a small force suddenly under his command, the first step was naturally to move house, moving everyone near the lotus root field.

From now on, he wouldn't have to worry about leaving home with all his water beasts, only for someone to suddenly show up and wipe out his original foundation.

Second, naturally, was to search for all kinds of treasures; the efficiency of finding treasure fish would at least double.

The rivers, lakes, and seas were too vast; relying on the fat catfish and the others to find treasures was very inefficient.

Every ordinary finless porpoise was equivalent to an ordinary martial artist.

They probably couldn't catch very powerful treasure fish, but many ordinary treasure fish would certainly be simple and not a problem.

As luck would have it.

Seemingly to please the leader's leader, Scarhead carefully brought an item in its mouth, which faintly shimmered with brilliance.

Liang Qu reached out, and Scarhead spat out the object; it was actually a uniquely shaped bead.

Its shape was not spherical; one end was large and the other small, much like a dewdrop hanging from a leaf tip in the early morning, with very high transparency, comparable to glass.

This was definitely not a pearl.

It looked more like... a teardrop?

【Water Essence +2672】

Liang Qu: "?"