Chapter 573: Farming Accident

"So it is Lord Xia Duo!" Upon seeing the extremely familiar Pioneer Scepter in Xia Duo's hand, the Mage immediately bowed, his attitude quite respectful. "Maersi, Mage Consultant for the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce, greets Lord Xia Duo." Recognized me? A flash of doubt crossed Xia Duo's mind, but he did not hesitate, taking the opportunity to invite Maersi onto the ship to talk, and Maersi did not refuse.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries and probing to confirm each other's identities, Xia Duo asked directly about the reason for the other party's lingering at Maihete Lake. "Mage Maersi, as far as I know, the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce shouldn't have any business on Maihete Lake, I wonder—"

Maersi was also full of questions; he had just received a magic signal and did not know the specific situation here. Hearing Xia Duo ask about this, he did not hide anything:

"Lord Xia Duo, this matter is no secret. Lord Huo En of Jilan Tower once raised a group of murlocs in Maihete Lake, then entrusted our Chamber of Commerce to look after them and comes over every year to collect some mucus from the murlocs."

"Oh?"

It actually involved a Great Arcanist; this was something Xia Duo had not expected. Clearly, the murlocs here had an owner and likely would not be left for him to clear out. After thinking for a moment, he stated his original intention: "Mage Maersi, some time ago, when my fleet was traveling from here to Seventon, we encountered a group of murloc bandits. I followed them here this time originally intending to clear out the murlocs here, but now it seems—"

"Murloc bandits?!"

Maersi was not surprised that Xia Duo wanted to clear out the murlocs, but rather was horrified by the "murloc bandits" Xia Duo mentioned. He hurriedly asked: "Lord Xia Duo, are you certain your fleet encountered murloc bandits here?"

"I am certain!" Although he had not used a Judgment Spell to test for lies, Xia Duo could not think of any reason for Owen and the others to deceive him, and the composition of the personnel on the ship was complex; it was almost impossible to fully collude on a story.

Hearing Xia Duo's confirmation, an anxious look immediately appeared on Maersi's face. If he hadn't been on Xia Duo's ship, he would have wanted to leave immediately to investigate.

Seeing Maersi's unusual expression, Xia Duo couldn't help but ask: "Mage Maersi, is there something wrong with these murloc bandits? My men said there might even be a murloc Spellcaster among them."

"A Spellcaster?!"

Maersi's expression worsened. He knew things were looking bad, so he bid farewell to Xia Duo. "Lord Xia Duo, it would normally be rude to leave like this, but I must return to my ship now to use the Communication Magic Tool on board to report the situation here to the Chamber of Commerce."

Before leaving, Maersi added, "Perhaps Lord Xia Duo's original plan can proceed."

Original plan? Proceed?

Xia Duo pondered the two terms Maersi mentioned as he left, forming some conjectures in his heart. Perhaps the murlocs raised by the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce had gone out of control? As for other reasons, it wouldn't have caused Maersi to be so horrified just by hearing the names "murloc bandits" and "murloc Spellcaster."

After thinking it over, Xia Duo let the fleet continue fishing. Even if he didn't clear out the majority of the murlocs, "fishing" one out to take a look shouldn't be a problem. He still wanted to see how the murlocs of the Main Plane differed from those of the 【Blue Crystal Plane】!

However, this thought of his was soon satisfied. Maersi brought the large ship of the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce over, and right at the bow of that large ship, dense swarms of murlocs were quietly following.

It was like a large patch of corpses floating on the water, being dragged by the large ship to the vicinity of Xia Duo's fleet.

"Are these the murlocs of the Main Plane?" Xia Duo muttered.

Comparing them to the two types of murlocs seen in the 【Blue Crystal Plane】, if one looked only at their appearance, whether it was the murlocs of the Main Plane or the murlocs of the 【Blue Crystal Plane】, aside from details like color and scale distribution, they actually looked about the same overall.

Fish head, fish body, plus webbed hands and feet—that was a murloc.

But both types of murlocs from the 【Blue Crystal Plane】 were much stronger than the "murloc corpses" floating around the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce's large ship at this moment.

"Perhaps this is the difference between farmed and wild!" Xia Duo could only make this guess.

However, what did Maersi mean by bringing the ship over?

Just as he was pondering the other party's intentions, Maersi flew over again. "Lord Xia Duo, I have already notified the Chamber of Commerce about the situation here. The Chamber has sent an Archmage Consultant to resolve this matter, but that lord specializes in mind spells and is not skilled in searching or Scrying. Hearing that Lord Xia Duo has advanced to an Advanced Arcanist, the Chamber has ordered me to seek your help."

"Seek my help?"

Xia Duo smiled. He did indeed have plans to clear out the murlocs, but that didn't mean he had to help the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce. Of course, helping out wouldn't hurt, but one shouldn't expect help for nothing.

Seeing that Xia Duo had something in mind, Maersi immediately promised, "If Lord Xia Duo is willing to help, the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce is willing to develop more comprehensive cooperation with Daxia Territory and Savile Territory."

Hearing this, Xia Duo couldn't help but laugh. Was there comprehensive cooperation before? Setting aside Savile Territory for a moment, given the current state of Daxia Territory, what kind of cooperation could there be? Could the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce specifically clear out cargo ships to help him transport new residents?

The sincerity was slightly lacking, but they were a large Chamber of Commerce, so it was understandable. They probably counted on his status as a Pioneer; having a large Chamber of Commerce to support him in Seventon, or at least not cause trouble, was still quite critical.

Thinking of the mysterious and unfathomable background of the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce, Xia Duo readily agreed. "Very well, I look forward to cooperating with the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce. However, please explain the details of this situation, Mage Maersi."

"It is my fault for forgetting to explain the situation." Maersi immediately showed an apologetic expression and revealed the inside story—

"Lord Xia Duo, as I just said, the murlocs here were raised by our Chamber of Commerce at the request of Lord Huo En of Jilan Tower. Of course, our Chamber of Commerce attaches great importance to the request of a Great Arcanist and has taken sufficient precautions to restrict the murlocs to Maihete Lake. Over the years, aside from the occasional individual murloc slipping out, nothing major has happened."

Maersi pointed to a Statue hanging under the bow of the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce's large ship and said: "Lord Xia Duo, please look. As of now, most of the murlocs here are actually still under the control of our Chamber of Commerce."

Xia Duo saw the Statue. It was in the image of a murloc. Of course, the most important thing was—that Statue was a Magic Item, emitting a strong Magic Aura, almost no weaker than the Pioneer Scepter in his hand.

This was observed from a distance; if compared up close, it was clear that the Statue was even stronger.

This thing must be the controller for the murlocs of Maihete Lake, turning murlocs that should be lively into floating water objects like corpses.

Maersi continued to explain, "The murlocs here have undergone special treatment and have no normal Wisdom; they are only similar to beasts. Theoretically, it is impossible for bandits to appear, let alone a Spellcaster. That is why as soon as I heard that murloc bandits had appeared here, I guessed that something might have gone wrong."

"So that's how it is!" Xia Duo was somewhat enlightened. However, he guessed that the murlocs gaining Wisdom probably didn't happen recently. Savile Territory often had murloc legends; although they were rare, did this mean that murlocs had gained Wisdom and slipped out a long time ago?

Of course, it could also be that they had no Wisdom but slipped out due to an accident.

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(End of this chapter)