Chapter 945: Banishment Spells, The Slaughter Begins

Fortunately, Murlocs are not true amphibians; although they can come ashore, they cannot leave water sources for too long, which limits their range of activity.

Otherwise, they would truly be a more troublesome species than Goblins.

Of course, it is not much better now; Murlocs can come ashore, even if only for a limited time, but do the people sent by the Seven Cities Council really have the patience to search near hundreds or even thousands of kilometers of river channels one by one?

And then clear out every single Murloc without missing one?

Xia Duo does not doubt that the people coming have such ability, but whether they will do so is a big question mark.

This is like on Earth, where manufacturers generally have the ability to control the pass rate of factory products to one hundred percent, but in reality, they simply do not do so.

Costs and marginal utility must be balanced to achieve a maximum profit ratio; unless it is a vital product, like a parachute, who would do such a "thankless" task!

Xia Duo can almost conclude that the future Wolfburg River basin and the North and South Nether River basins will surely be a paradise for those "fish" that slipped through the net.

By then, a creature named "Murloc" will be added to the Territory's regular cleaning list.

As for the present, the reason Aiboke said it might be impossible to stop the Murloc Tide is more because he is worried about the various troubles that will arise after Murlocs develop Wisdom.

Without Wisdom, Murlocs are just wild animals with strong reproductive capabilities; as long as high-value applications related to Murlocs are developed, no matter how many there are, they won't be enough to kill.

Similar to the crayfish in Xia Duo's hometown, which have a stronger reproductive capacity than Murlocs, they eventually fell to the point of needing artificial farming to keep up with supply.

But if they have Wisdom, they will run, flee, launch sneak attacks, and most importantly, develop a civilization, which means mastering true power, rather than just using numbers to wear down the enemy.

Then they cannot be treated with common sense.

It is very clear now that Murlocs have Wisdom, or at least the potential for Wisdom; there will be plenty to be busy with in the future!

……

Standing by the river observing for a while, when he saw Murlocs attempting to come ashore to bypass the ice fence in the water, Xia Duo knew it was time for him to act.

Otherwise, if he really waited for the Murlocs to scatter, he wouldn't have the energy to catch them one by one.

"Uncle Aiboke, I am going to the north to clear out the Murlocs. You have Niya increase manpower; make sure not to let the Murlocs cross the fence to the south."

After speaking, Xia Duo was about to leave, but he suddenly remembered something, so he added: "By the way, Uncle Aiboke, you should ask Manager Saituosi of the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce about spells that restrict or banish Murlocs. This is of great significance for us to maintain the safety of the waters around the Territory!"

Since the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce can raise Murlocs in an open water area like Maihete Lake, they must have relevant spells. In fact, Xia Duo had asked Saituosi and even Poluokan about this issue, but there was no follow-up.

The focus of such a spell is not the Murloc, but special Element Units with restrictive or banishing effects. Knowing one Murloc-related spell naturally allows for the modification of spells suitable for other creatures.

Xia Duo can understand the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce's intention to keep it, but now that Murlocs have become a public hazard in Netheril, hiding it will only provoke public anger.

At the very least, the various territories that may share the Murloc management costs in the future will be very dissatisfied with the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce.

After all, even if the Murlocs were raised by Great Arcanist Huo En, the actual operations were handled by the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce. It is difficult to target a Great Arcanist, but making things a little difficult for the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce is not a problem.

Xia Duo believes that this time the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce should not refuse again, and besides, Xia Duo is not taking the spell for free; he will also pay the corresponding spell transfer fee.

You are good, I am good, everyone is good—that is truly good!

After briefly describing the effects of that spell to Aiboke, Xia Duo took off and flew north along the route he had come from the Wolfburg River.

……

While flying through the clouds, Xia Duo was also observing the situation of the Murlocs in the river. After flying for only a short while, he discovered a phenomenon different from the Scrying results Niya had shared in the Mind Link earlier—

The number of Murlocs coming ashore had increased!

And the Murlocs themselves were fighting, even killing and wounding each other.

This was even more serious than what he saw in Savile Town; it seems the further north one goes, the higher the probability of Murlocs awakening self-awareness and becoming intelligent Murlocs!

Of course, it is not calculated that way in reality. When Xia Duo arrived at a position 20 li away from Savile Town, the proportion of intelligent Murlocs had stabilized.

It was as high as one-fifth!

"Perhaps it's possible they all awaken, who knows!"

Xia Duo guessed casually without any psychological burden. Murlocs themselves should have possessed Wisdom, but the ancestors of these Murlocs had their Wisdom artificially "castrated," and now they are just taking back the Wisdom they should have had.

As for why there is no psychological burden, it is naturally because he had long been mentally prepared for all Murlocs to be intelligent species; it is nothing more than another kind of "aquatic Goblin."

What else could it be?

Although it is a very troublesome chronic disease, humans have had plans for how to deal with it after pioneering for so many years. If Xia Duo completely ignored it, the Territory would also spontaneously develop a fixed cleaning procedure—

Regular active cleaning by soldiers + long-term missions for Adventurers.

As for now, Xia Duo came purely to reduce the pressure on the Savile soldiers still fighting in the north, to prevent too many intelligent Murlocs from bypassing the blockade and wreaking havoc in the Territory; it has nothing to do with how to deal with the future.

Anyway, cleaning personnel sent by the Seven Cities Conference will arrive later, and these existing Murlocs in the Wolfburg River basin, whether they have regained Wisdom or not, are mostly going to die.

There is no doubt about this.

And what Xia Duo is doing now is just slightly adjusting the death date of some Murlocs.

Such a thing is meaningless in itself, but since he still holds the title of acting lord of the Savile Territory, how could he ignore it!

Furthermore, thinking of that method within the Mythallar, he had been suppressing the desire to try it immediately. Even without a large number of intelligent Murlocs awakening, he would have had a high probability of sneaking over to try it.

……

Continuing to fly north for a distance, Xia Duo stopped on a large moss-covered rock on the bank of the Wolfburg River.

A touch of green amidst the withered, while not unique, is one of the few vibrant colors in this season that has already entered winter, but it is a pity that this place is about to be stained with blood.

It is just unknown whether the blood of the Murlocs can make this moss grow more vigorously next spring!

After a self-deprecating smile, Xia Duo's mind stirred, and his Bloodline Ability 【Wind Control】 moved accordingly, blocking all the thick fishy smell coming from the river surface to one foot outside his body.

The controlled airspace continued to spread, bringing a large area of the surrounding airspace into his conscious control, and any movement could not escape his Perception.

But even so, it was still not safe enough. After all, he was outside the Mage Tower, so Xia Duo subsequently cast all kinds of spells such as Avoidance of Detection, Detect Detection, and Alert Protection, completely shrouding this area.

After completing all the preliminary preparations, he began the true feast of slaughter.