Chapter 49

The sailors' shouts drew everyone's attention on deck, and all faces tightened.

The first mate immediately shouted loudly: "Report the details!"

The sailor immediately yelled.

"Fishmen! There are many fishmen on shore!"

"There are also many in the water, numbering over a thousand!"

"They are attacking the sturgeon dock on shore!"

As he said that, everyone on deck looked toward the coast.

The captain and first mate used spyglasses, while the mages used Eagle Eye.

Luosen did the same.

In a mirror before him, the situation two nautical miles offshore was clearly shown.

Wave after wave of fishmen charged ashore, thick and numerous, frighteningly many.

Most were warriors, their weapons mostly fishbone spears, fearlessly charging the dock's earthen wall.

About one-tenth were fishman mages.

Some shot water arrows like high-pressure jets at the dock, some summoned pure water golems over a person tall, and others cast pure water defensive barriers for the fishman warriors.

Although these spells were weak, combined with the warriors they caused great trouble for the dock's defenders.

Look toward the dock.

The entire dock was surrounded by an earthen stone wall over five meters high.

Outside the wall it was dilapidated, bearing many old battle scars, and underneath one could still see uncleared fishman remains, showing it often suffered fishman raids.

Many ragged garrison troops stood on the wall.

Their numbers were not small, estimated at over six hundred.

Men, women, old and young—all were soldiers.

The garrison's weapons were varied, mainly iron spears, but also hammers, hoes, wooden sticks, and even many stones.

In short, they used whatever they had.

There were also a dozen or so mages among the garrison.

They cast only the most basic low-level spells, such as throwing technique, arcane missile, fireball technique, etc.

The spell power was weak and their mana meager, so these mages usually preferred to throw stones.

Luosen looked around and found the strongest mage was about forty, his mana at early intermediate, but he knew only one arcane missile.

He specialized in firing arcane missiles at the rear fishman mages, inflicting decent casualties.

Unfortunately there were too many fishman mages; his mana soon ran out, so he had to pick up a stick and act as a makeshift warrior.

But nature has its own perfect matching mechanism.

Although the garrison fought poorly, the fishman combat ability was also mediocre, so the battle went back and forth, with the garrison even gaining a slight edge.

But the sea fishmen kept increasing, soon nearing two thousand, and the dock garrison began to fall into disadvantage.

Seeing the intense battle at the dock, the flagship's captain quickly walked up to Luosen.

"Baron, ahead is White Sturgeon Island's only dock, but we can't land like this."

The first mate shouted anxiously: "Captain, forget landing—we need to get out now, or we'll be caught in the fighting at any moment!"

Can we leave now? If we go.

If we go, the White Sturgeon dock will surely be destroyed by the fishmen, and the garrison inside will surely be slaughtered to the last.

As the lord of White Sturgeon Island, Luosen could not stand by and watch the tragedy unfold.

He silently sighed: "The island's welcome ceremony for me is truly wild."

He immediately pulled the captain over: "I'll increase the shipping fee by 100 ogres, and I'll also take full responsibility for any subsequent cargo ship damage and compensation for casualties!"

"Continue forward!"

The captain was momentarily speechless, then let out a loud shout.

"Continue forward!"

"All sailors, prepare for battle!"

The sailor on the mast immediately signaled with flags to the rear ship.

Nowadays, sailors engaged in maritime trade often deal with various dangers—pirates, sea fishmen, sea witches, etc. —so they all have rich combat experience.

Since Luosen, their employer, is willing to pay, they naturally also want to temporarily act as mercenaries.

But the sailors from the three ships total just over 200, while the sea fishmen already exceed 2000, making this a tough fight.

So we still need strong warriors.

The captain's strongest warrior is the Hammer Knight Yap leading the hundred-strong Blaze Regiment.

Luosen quickly walked over: "Regiment Commander, we need you to step in next."

Yap was still sulking from the previous incident; seeing the other party come to him voluntarily, he inwardly sneered: "Hehe~ little baron, we'll still have to rely on me for war—this time I'll make you obediently submit!"

Thinking that, he put on a gloating smile.

"Baron, our Blaze Regiment will certainly act, but the brothers—" "500 ogres as pay!"

Luosen didn't waste a word.

He wasn't short of money—he already had forty thousand, and Muradi gave him another twenty thousand, bringing it straight to sixty thousand.

Five hundred ogres to him was just a drop in the bucket.

"Er~~~"

Yap's following words got stuck in his throat.

The members of his Blaze Regiment were mostly commoners, with a few being impoverished minor nobles.

Compared to ordinary people, their lives are naturally more respectable, but because they often deal with important figures and have seen the world, their daily expenses are also much higher than those of common civilians.

But Shire County has not seen large-scale warfare for many years, so their income relies only on military pay and the baron's daily grants.

But the baron has recently run out of money.

Although the military pay hasn't changed, the grants have noticeably decreased.

Thus, each regiment member clearly feels finances tightening.

Even the regiment commander Yuepu finds it hard to come up with fifty ogres' worth of spare money.

Now Luosen hands over five hundred ogres at once to deal with a bunch of lowly sea fishmen—it's practically just giving them money.

Just as Yuepu wrestled with whether to seize the opportunity to raise the price, Luosen said, "Shall we fight? If you won't, I'll go myself."

"It's merely a bunch of stupid sea fishmen; our group of mages can curse-kill their leader, and the remaining fishmen will naturally scatter."

Yuepu heartily agreed: a bunch of stupid sea fishmen have at most intermediate magical ability, and an arcane master could easily snipe their leader—let alone when they have two arcane masters.

He felt that if he hesitated any longer, the five hundred ogres would fly away.

He immediately nodded: "Do it! Of course we do! But first, give us the money!"

Luosen nodded at Ailiya, who promptly opened her personal coin box and pulled out five augin coins.

"Ding—dong~~"

The coins clinked together, emitting a piercing, clear chime.

"Augin coins, each worth one hundred ogres—exactly five of them."

The deep-blue augin coins glittered in the sunlight with a captivating radiance.

Yuepu felt his heart go thump-thump; any mortal who had witnessed worldly splendor could not resist the immense charm of these little cuties.

Regiment commander Yuepu, though of commoner birth, had already witnessed countless upper-class luxuries, so his attraction to them was especially strong.

He snatched up the augin coins, stuffed them into his chest purse, and carefully put them away.

"Baron, rest assured—we'll hand these sea fishmen over to our Flame War Regiment."

He turned and shouted to the soldiers: "Guys, perk up—here comes the action~~"

"Whoosh~~"

The regiment members, who had been somewhat lax, instantly straightened their bodies and tensed their spirits like a bowstring, as if a tiger awakened by prey.

This is the distinctive vigor of an elite squad.

Luosen knew things were settled, and he added a line to his evaluation of Yuepu in his mind.

"A money-grubber deeply bound by societal rules."

He follows the rules and loves money—future dealings will be easy.

He turned and whispered to Selena: "My lady, cast a Soul Echo Technique on me; I'll cheer up the dock garrison."

"No problem."

Soon, the Three-ring Soul Echo Technique took effect, and at that moment the cargo ship was less than a kilometer from the dock.

Both the dock garrison and the sea fishmen had already spotted three fast-approaching cargo ships.

The highest commander on the dock wall was Senior Knight Tatuo, with two intermediate knight lieutenants under him.

The three led a militia, exhausted from fending off the wave after wave of fishmen.

They had thought today would surely be their death, but they never expected that, in their most helpless moment, three large cargo ships would arrive.

Although they didn't know the strangers' intentions, being fellow humans, despair instantly gave rise to much hope.

He didn't care who they were, jabbing with his spear to kill the fishmen scaling the wall while shouting loudly.

"Brothers~~ hold on~~ we've got reinforcements~~"

Hardly had his words faded when a huge sound came from the cargo ship on the sea.

"I am Luosen Saxon Baron, eldest son of the late Ted Baron, returned from Dawn City~~~"

"My people, I see your bravery and your plight—no need to fear, no need to despair—my mighty warriors will destroy the filthy, stinking sea fishmen!"

Senior Knight Tatuo gaped: "The baron's eldest son? The new baron?!"

In fact, it wasn't just him—every man, woman, old and young at White Sturgeon Wharf was shocked.

The same doubt circulated among the crowd.

"The baron's worthless eldest son has finally returned?!"

(End of chapter)