Chapter 223: Wowga

"Father, you must hold on—I'm going to find the human Gervas; he will surely help us!"

"Wowga, will he really help us? After all, this is war—it will cost the lives of our warriors!"

"Father, Gervas is a good man—he will help us!" Even as he spoke, Wowga's confidence was weak.

After all, Gervas had once saved his life; in truth, he still owed him.

And now, he was asking for help again—it was truly excessive.

But seeing the hopeful eyes of his tribesmen fixed on him, Wowga gritted his teeth: "Father, and all my people—I will not let you down. I will beg Gervas to agree!"

"Good, Wowga—we will hold on until you return!"

In the coral reef zone of the seabed basin, the ruins from the war two days prior had yet to be repaired.

But Toka had received word that the Lada Chieftain was once again gathering an alliance to attack the Buwa Tribe.

And this Lada Chieftain was the very one who had earlier returned from the north with a small flask of beer, boasting to surrounding tribes.

Since the Buwa Tribe began trading with the human Gervas,

Lada's once-proud flasks of beer were no longer anything special.

Even recently, Toka had hosted a banquet, inviting the chieftains of nearby tribes to the Buwa Tribe.

He had made each of them drink a flask of beer.

After all, they were kin—he would never be as stingy as Lada.

Besides the beer, which had greatly boosted Toka's prestige among neighboring tribes, life in the Buwa Tribe had also improved steadily.

Not only could every tribesman eat their fill, but they now had more time to build new homes and welcome more wandering merfolk, strengthening the Buwa Tribe.

Yet, to their surprise, Lada Chieftain had grown envious of their rise.

He had allied with several other merfolk tribes, equally envious, and launched a surprise attack on the Buwa Tribe.

Fortunately, thanks to the recent recruitment of many wandering merfolk, the Buwa Tribe had had more time to train their warriors.

Thus, they had repelled the invaders and prevented Lada and his allies from succeeding.

But they were not willing to give up—this time, they had recruited even more distant merfolk tribes.

Having suffered losses before, Toka knew the Buwa Tribe might not survive another assault.

So now, the Buwa Tribe had only two choices: first, surrender immediately and hand over all the wealth they had accumulated during this time,

and pledge allegiance to Lada Chieftain, promising to earn wealth for him from now on.

Or second, wait to be annihilated by Lada's assembled alliance, have all their wealth looted, and be tortured for the true secret behind their prosperity.

…

Leaving the tribe, Wowga swam straight toward the coast.

After about an hour, he reached the shoreline.

Breaking the surface, Wowga saw many slaves unloading and loading goods at the Stormhold Pier.

Splash! Splash!

As agreed, Wowga did not leap onto land but slapped the waves, signaling his arrival to the humans on shore.

Sure enough, the humans working on land immediately noticed him.

They did not panic; instead, one of them ran toward a nearby wooden hut.

Not long after, a familiar human arrived at the shore—someone named Old Jack, one of Gervas's subordinates.

"Wowga, what brings you here? Today isn't a trading day, is it? Come on, you can come ashore!"

At these words, Wowga did not pause to explain—he scrambled onto the shore at once.

"Old…Jack, I…need to see Gervas…very…very urgent…"

"You want to see the Lord? Urgently?" Though Wowga's speech was halting and imperfect, Old Jack understood clearly.

"Alright, Wowga—I'll arrange for someone to take you to the castle right away!"

Thus, Wowga boarded a carriage and headed straight for the castle.

Soon, Gervas received the news.

After instructing his men to bring Wowga to the castle, Gervas exclaimed in surprise: "Wowga, what are you doing here? It's not time for our trade yet, is it?"

"Gervas…my good friend…please, save us…" Wowga rushed to Gervas's side, eyes red with desperation.

Gervas understood perfectly, but naturally could not show it. "Wowga, take your time—what exactly has happened?"

Wowga immediately explained: "Gervas, my tribe has been attacked by Lada Chieftain…"

Then Wowga recounted the full details—the events matched the intelligence reports exactly.

The Buwa Tribe had grown wealthy through trade, naturally drawing the envy of other tribes.

They wanted to uncover how the Buwa Tribe had become rich, but the Buwa Tribe had kept it secret.

Out of self-interest.

Also because Gervas had instructed them not to reveal the trade for now.

After all, this was one of Gervas's advantages—he did not yet wish for other humans to know.

He especially did not wish for other human nobles to take notice.

Thus, sealing the mouths of the sea folk was necessary.

Who knew if any of them might also have dealings with humans?

After failing to uncover the secret, Lada Chieftain had organized a force to seize the wealth by force.

Now, the Buwa Tribe stood on the brink of extinction.

Wowga's face flushed with shame. "Gervas, forgive my impudent request—but the Buwa Tribe has no other option!"

"If you don't help us, my father and all my people may be killed by Lada and his kind!"

Watching Wowga bow his head in shame, Gervas rose and stepped before him.

"Wowga, have you forgotten—we are good friends? So when you face hardship, asking your good friend for help requires no shame!"

"Gervas…" Wowga lifted his head, eyes shining with emotion.

Never in his life had Wowga been so moved.

Even when Gervas had saved his life before, he had not felt this way.

"Wowga, tell me—how can I help you? Do you need weapons or leather armor and shields?"

Gervas knew that after this, Wowga's debt to him could never be repaid.

At the question, Wowga hesitated: "G…Gervas, besides weapons and gear… could you send your soldiers to help us? If it's only weapons and gear, I'm afraid… I'm afraid it won't be enough!"

But as soon as he spoke, he felt his request was too much.

"Of course, I know it's dangerous—if you can't, then just give me weapons and gear…"

But Gervas, upon hearing this, paid no attention to the danger.

His focus was on one thing: could his men enter the sea?

"Wowga, my men are all humans—can they even enter the seabed? And fight alongside you?"