Chapter 77: Wisdom Fruit!

“My lord, ahead lies an island with extremely tall vegetation—it’s almost certainly the Coconut Island you’re seeking!”

The Stormwind did not immediately return to Huoshandao but headed south toward the reef cluster.

Grivas was also very interested in the little merfolk who could communicate with humans.

After half an hour of full-speed sailing, the lookout finally brought good news.

Moments later, a reef two hundred meters in diameter, dotted with dozens of coconut trees, appeared before them.

“My lord, look over there—it looks like merfolk sea monsters!” As the Stormwind drew near, sharp-eyed Migen and others spotted the little merfolk washed ashore by the waves.

The little merfolk’s appearance closely resembled the Tide Spirit from a game in Grivas’s past life.

Blue skin, walking upright.

Called a fish, yet it had two arms and two legs.

Called a human, yet its face was that of a fish, and its limbs ended in frog-like webbed feet.

Of course, though similar in appearance, the merfolk of this world lacked the Tide Spirit’s formidable combat power.

They were merely creatures at the bottom of the oceanic food chain, surviving only through their massive population numbers.

Their figures could be seen along nearly every coastline on the continent.

“Old Jack, move closer!”

The ship anchored, and a skiff was lowered.

“My lord, let me go instead—there might be other merfolk nearby!” Lei Meng immediately blocked Grivas as he prepared to go himself.

Grivas nodded and simply let Lei Meng go.

Soon, the little merfolk was brought back.

Everyone had never seen a sea merfolk up close before and were filled with curiosity.

At that moment, the little merfolk suddenly stirred.

“My lord, watch out!” Migen and others quickly pinned down the merfolk, while Lei Meng stepped in front of Grivas to shield him.

The little merfolk’s strength was the lowest—relative to sea creatures.

In truth, with their agile bodies, they were stronger than most land beasts.

The little merfolk blinked dazedly open its eyes, saw Grivas, froze for a moment, then showed clear fear.

It struggled to break free but was held fast by Migen and the others.

“Don’t be nervous—I won’t harm you!” Grivas spoke, calming it, as Migen and the others stared in shock.

The little merfolk first blinked in surprise, then widened its eyes at Grivas.

“Don’t be astonished—I know you can communicate with other sea beasts and sea monsters, so communicating with humans is no problem!”

“Y-you… you… what… did… you… do…?” The little merfolk, shaken from its shock, finally responded—just like the unicorn, through mental waves.

“You’re badly injured—I’ll heal you!” said Ailen.

“Y-you… heal me? W-why…?” The little merfolk had barely finished speaking when it fainted again from weakness.

“My lord… did you just… communicate with it?”

As the exchange ended, Migen and the others finally asked in stunned disbelief.

For just now, the little merfolk had seemed to respond—both sides had truly communicated.

This left Migen and the others wide-eyed, faces filled with utter disbelief.

In their understanding, merfolk were like beasts—incapable of communication.

“Correct. This merfolk must have eaten some treasure, granting it the ability to communicate via mental energy. When Zhuiyue found it, they already communicated!”

“Otherwise, do you think I’d go so far just to rescue some ordinary little merfolk?”

“The ocean is truly miraculous—there are treasures like this? If I could eat one too, I could chat with my Zhuitu from now on!” Migen marveled.

“Alright, take it below deck, bandage its wounds—merfolk who can communicate are extremely rare!”

“Yes, my lord!”

The merfolk was taken below deck.

Of course, for safety, knights remained on guard the entire time.

With the communication-capable little merfolk rescued, today’s maritime intelligence gathering was complete.

Grivas ordered the Stormwind to sail toward Huoshandao; once the elemental and magical tides erupted, he and his subordinates resumed their cultivation.

Notably, each elemental and magical tide could support sixty to seventy people.

Thus, besides the knights and their squires, the common soldiers could only take turns experiencing the elemental and magical cleansing.

Even so, their progress was visibly apparent.

In just over ten days, the soldiers’ strength had increased by at least one-third.

Though progress might slow later as their bodies neared their limits, Grivas was certain they could at least double or triple their physical capacity.

And they were already strong soldiers who trained daily—if their physical capacity increased two or threefold, that would be an astonishing figure.

After the elemental and magical tides ended, Grivas led everyone back to the Stormwind Coast.

After anchoring, he ordered Lei Meng and the others to proceed ahead, while he himself claimed to be inspecting the territory and rode Zhuiyue southward along the coast.

About twenty minutes later, Grivas reached the southernmost edge of the Stormwind Domain, at its border with the Death Mountains.

This area, where the coast met the Death Mountains, was a double-danger zone—its danger buffs stacked to the max—and thus rarely visited.

“It should be right there!”

Grivas quickly spotted a grove of coconut trees and immediately ordered Zhuiyue to lower altitude, circling above the grove.

After several loops, confirming no danger, he had Zhuiyue land on the sandy shore.

“Zhuiyue, rise again and keep watch—I’ll search the coconut grove for something.”

Fortunately, the coconut grove had decent visibility and wasn’t an ideal hunting ground for beasts, so Grivas spent over ten minutes inside without incident.

And the Wisdom Fruit, as expected, was found by Grivas beside a thorny thicket.

“This is the Wisdom Fruit? Swallowing it grants perfect memory?! Excellent!”

Holding the fruit, the size of an apple and glowing with purple light, Grivas beamed with delight.

Without delay, he carefully placed the Wisdom Fruit in a wooden box and immediately summoned Zhuiyue to begin the return journey!

…

In the castle’s parlor, Grivas held the Wisdom Fruit in hand and swallowed it directly.

A fragrant aroma filled his nose; it melted instantly on his tongue.

As the warm stream from the Wisdom Fruit surged toward his brain, Grivas shuddered.

The sensation was even more pleasurable than when he’d consumed the Crimson Spirit Fruit—utterly intoxicating.

The comfort lasted for over a minute.

One minute later, Grivas opened his eyes again and felt the world around him had become sharply clear.

His thoughts were quicker too.

Like upgrading from an ancient feature phone to a smartphone.

Of course, the best proof was perfect memory—the effect Grivas valued most.

He opened a book, read a page of roughly a hundred characters at normal speed, then silently recited it in his mind.

He was astonished to find he remembered every word.

Though his memory had improved slightly after becoming a Bronze Knight, it had only been a modest gain.

Perfect memory had been impossible.

Normally, one might achieve perfect memory only upon reaching Gold Knight—far in the future.

“Excellent, excellent!” Grivas was very satisfied.

As a ruler, mental acuity and focus were paramount.

Cultivation also required mental strength and concentration.

“My lord, Captain Lauren reports: a middle-aged man with unusual attire has appeared in the village—he’s likely the Druid you instructed us to watch for!”

At that moment, Old John’s voice came from outside the door.