Chapter 91: Black Gold Goats!

Half an hour later, the Black Yangdao came into view.

Although it differed from a volcanic island, the center of this island was quite flat, with cliffs dropping over a hundred meters surrounding the island's perimeter.

Clearly, this was not a volcanic island.

"Look quickly, what is that?"

"Heavens, so many goats! Those goats can actually climb the cliffs at will?"

"Strange, there are goats even on the sea, and those goats are much larger than ordinary goats, with jet-black fur. Could they be magical beasts?"

At this moment, everyone's gaze was suddenly drawn to the cliff face at the edge of the island, dropping over a hundred meters.

Because on the cliff, a group of distinctive black goats stood out especially prominently.

They feared not the steep cliffs compared to them, walking on top as if on flat ground.

Moreover, these black goats were incredibly magnificent, with fur as black and shiny as ink, and their bodies were a size larger than ordinary goats.

"Heavens, those are Black Gold Goats! My lord, the God of Glory has favored you; those are extremely valuable Black Gold Goats!"

Just as the guards were murmuring in amazement, speculating on the breed and origin of the goats.

Old Jack, who was steering the ship, suddenly cried out in alarm.

"Black Gold Goats? Could it be the legendary Black Gold Goats whose meat is said to be worth its weight in gold, second-rank?"

Lei Meng originally could not identify the breed of those goats.

But upon hearing Old Jack's exclamation, he immediately recalled the legendary, highly valuable Black Gold Goats.

Gervas, although he had long known those were Black Gold Goats, still feigned surprise and said, "Old Jack, you recognize those goats? Is it really as Knight-Captain Lei Meng said, that the meat of Black Gold Goats is worth its weight in gold?"

"My lord, when I served the Kingdom's Exploration Fleet in my youth, sea ships transported Black Gold Goats back to the north every day, so I know the value and appearance of Black Gold Goats!"

"Black Gold Goats are a specialty of the Chaos Wasteland; their meat is delicious and deeply loved by the great lords of the north. When the Kingdom was opening up the southern frontier back then, these Black Gold Goats were the hunting teams' favorite prey!"

"However, with continuous hunting, Black Gold Goats became increasingly scarce, leading to the situation later, just as Knight-Captain Lei Meng said, where the meat was worth its weight in gold!"

"As for the exact price, I am not clear, but I know that Black Gold Goats are now rarely seen in the wild," Old Jack explained.

At this time, Lei Meng added, "Nowadays, the south can be said to have almost no Black Gold Goats left!"

"Only the great nobles of the north, because they purchased and bred them in advance back then, still have quite a few Black Gold Goats raised now."

"However, the number of raised Black Gold Goats is ultimately limited, so, just like the Rainbow-Winged Swans, they have now become exclusive to the great nobles."

"And it is said that three jin of Black Gold Goat meat requires one gold coin!"

"Previously, a friend of Viscount Patrick returned from the north, bringing back a few jin of Black Gold Goat meat, for which he held a grand banquet!"

"Although Viscount Patrick felt the other was showing off, he could not forget the taste of Black Gold Goat meat!"

"Lei Meng, hearing you say that reminds me! My father also seems to have received an invitation; was that the banquet hosted by Viscount Camil?"

"Although each noble was only served a small bowl of meat soup, it left everyone with endless aftertaste!"

Gervas nodded in agreement; his knowledge of Black Gold Goats also stemmed from this event!

"My lord, there are at least fifty Black Gold Goats on that cliff. If we can raise and expand them like the northern nobles, this will become a continuous source of Black Gold in the future!"

Lei Meng proposed aloud.

Gervas nodded. "Let us go ashore on the island first to confirm the true population of the Black Gold Goats, and then rule out whether there are any natural predators!"

Thus, Gervas led everyone to land on the island's only sandy beach via a wooden raft.

After a brief patrol around the island, no carnivorous beasts were discovered; indeed, apart from these Black Gold Goats, other ordinary wild animals were rarely seen.

However, this was normal; if there were truly fierce beasts, these Black Gold Goats would have been eaten long ago.

And for Black Gold Goats to appear on an island, either someone deliberately placed them there.

Or some sea ships met with an accident, and by chance, these Black Gold Goats drifted here.

After all, according to what Old Jack said, the Stormy Wind Territory was once a very busy shipping channel.

Having confirmed there were no threats from natural predators, and roughly ascertained that the Black Gold Goats numbered at least one hundred and thirty or more.

Afterwards, Gervas and Lei Meng personally hunted an old, aged Black Gold Goat.

Such a Black Gold Goat could no longer reproduce and would not live long.

It was better to catch and taste it early; otherwise, dying in the wild would be a waste!

"Old Jack, remember this place. Tomorrow, I will send a hunting party to capture Black Gold Goats. Additionally, from now on, this place shall be called Black Gold Yangdao!"

"Yes, my lord!"

Of course, Gervas would not take all the Black Gold Goats away; instead, he planned to take a portion to raise within his territory.

After all, the space on this island was limited; one hundred and sixty or so was already the upper limit of what could be raised.

If Gervas wanted to make money from the Black Gold Goat industry, expanding the population was unavoidable.

Therefore, raising one batch on Black Gold Yangdao and another batch in the territory was the safest approach.

For safety's sake, Gervas would also station a household of serfs on this Yangdao, specifically responsible for guarding it, to prevent other sea ships from treating it as unclaimed land.

Of course, these guarding serfs would be rotated annually, not settling permanently; Gervas was very humane.

With the journey to Black Gold Yangdao concluded, Gervas issued the order to continue sailing eastward.

And the further east they sailed, the deeper into the ocean they went.

Fortunately, with the fist-sized Sea God Stone, theoretically, everything within a hundred li was considered coastal waters, so there was no need to worry too much about safety.

Without any incidents, in less than half an hour, a beautiful coral reef area appeared ahead.

However, behind this beautiful coral reef lay the reefs that sea ships feared most, so Gervas instructed Old Jack to navigate with extra caution.

At the same time, he and Lei Meng joined the lookout, after all, the coordinates of this shipwreck were just a mast.

Not as conspicuous as an island.

Fortunately, only ten-plus minutes after arriving at the coral reef, Knight-Captain Lei Meng made the first discovery.

"My lord, is it over there? There's something there that looks like a mast!"

"That's right, that's the spot. Old Jack, move closer, but be extremely careful. If it doesn't work, drop anchor and approach on the raft!"

"Yes, my lord!"

In the end, the Storm only dropped anchor a hundred meters away, too afraid to get any closer.

Gervas immediately took Lei Meng and the little mermaid with him, boarding a bamboo raft to approach the mast directly.

As the distance closed, the clear seawater revealed the massive hull beneath the mast.

It was also a single-masted sloop, its hull size much the same as the Storm's.

It now lay quietly on the seabed twenty or thirty meters down, having become a home for fish and coral.