Chapter 97: Hostile Island Dwellers!

If placed in his previous life, Gervas’s ship arriving at this location would have already invaded another noble’s territory.

Territorial rights automatically include maritime rights, especially nearshore waters.

But in this world, the ocean had long been abandoned by minor nobles.

Thus, beyond the coastline, all land could be regarded as unclaimed.

If it was unclaimed land, then anything discovered there was also unclaimed.

“Set course east for fifty li!”

“Yes, starboard helm, heading east for fifty li!” Old Jack swiftly turned the ship.

With the wind at their backs, about an hour later, the lookout above once again shouted.

“My lord, a new island detected southeast, but there’s smoke rising from it—likely inhabited!”

“Inhabitants on an island? How is that possible?” Mi Gen and the others stared wide-eyed.

“Knight Mi Gen, the island’s residents are probably recent arrivals—some are fugitives, others may have been shipwrecked and stranded here!” Old Jack had some knowledge on this and immediately answered.

“So that’s how it is!”

Immediately, everyone turned their gazes eagerly toward the southeast, eager to see what the island dwellers looked like.

More than ten minutes later, the island’s silhouette came into view.

It was another relatively large island; roughly estimated, it was only half the size of Sugarcane Island.

“My lord, look—there really is smoke!”

At that moment, the smoke rising from the island’s center became visible to all.

Gervas knew well, “Approach and take a closer look!”

The ship continued forward, and when it finally neared within about one li of the shore, they soon spotted towers along the island’s coastline.

Moreover, the people on the distant tower had clearly spotted them and were frantically shouting toward the island’s interior.

“My lord, they’re truly people—they’ve seen us!” Mi Gen and the others were ecstatic.

Seeing islanders at sea was as unbelievable to them as encountering a village in the Death Mountains.

“My lord, should we land on the island?” Mi Gen and the others wanted to draw closer for a better look.

“My lord, the men on the watchtower are visibly panicked—they’re highly wary of us and likely hostile!” Knight Marshal Lei Meng was far more cautious and immediately issued a warning.

“Knight Marshal Lei Meng, we have fifty soldiers and many knights aboard—shouldn’t we be fine?” Mi Gen wasn’t overly concerned.

Indeed, with their strength, wiping out an undefended village would be effortless.

But Gervas knew these villagers included craftsmen—he couldn’t afford to make blood enemies, not yet.

“Lower the raft and approach cautiously!”

Of course, Gervas also wanted to test whether communication was possible, so the raft had to be lowered.

As the Stormbringer lowered its raft, more figures began appearing along the island’s shore.

Eventually, their number exceeded a hundred—all men, young and old, but exclusively male.

And each of these men held weapons: bows, spears, forks.

“My lord, they truly don’t welcome us!” This time, even Mi Gen clearly recognized the problem.

“Move to one hundred and twenty meters and observe!”

The distance was set at one hundred and twenty meters because closer would enter the effective range of longbows.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Sure enough, as soon as the raft reached its designated position, two crooked arrows landed in the sea ten meters ahead.

“Damn you! How dare you attack nobles? Do you know what crime that is? You’ll all hang!”

Mi Gen roared furiously toward the shore.

Unfortunately, the response was another few whooshing arrows.

Of course, Mi Gen’s roar was likely drowned out by the waves.

But their immediate decision to shoot and drive them away proved they had no intention of communication.

“Return to the Stormbringer!”

With the situation clarified, Gervas had no reason to stay.

“My lord, I volunteer to lead the vanguard and deal with these lowly scum who dared offend you!”

Barely back aboard the Stormbringer, Mi Gen immediately requested permission.

“Not yet—the Stormhold will face a goblin attack this afternoon. Though the threat is minor, two battles in one day are unacceptable!”

Mi Gen then remembered the goblins and spat angrily toward the distant islanders: “Lucky for you lot—you’ve offended my lord and still get two more days to live!”

Gervas didn’t linger further; he had already anticipated this outcome.

After all, the intelligence system had already made it clear: these islanders were unfriendly.

But before returning, Gervas specifically ordered Old Jack to circle the island once, preparing for their next visit.

From observation, the island had two landing beaches—one large, one small; all other areas were steep reefs or cliffs, unsuitable for landing.

The spot where Gervas and his men had approached earlier was the large beach, about a hundred meters long.

On the island’s north side, there was also a shorter beach, twenty to thirty meters long.

Though shorter, the north beach had deeper water along the shore, allowing the ship to approach closer.

After recording the island’s details, the Stormbringer began its return voyage to Huoshandao.

With favorable winds, the ship reached the Huoshandao waters one and a half hours later.

Just as they were less than ten minutes from Huoshandao, a soldier suddenly noticed something.

“My lord, trouble! Sea monsters flank our ship on both sides!”

“Sea monsters?”

The soldiers tensed instantly; Gervas and the knights hurried to the railings.

Looking down, they indeed saw hundreds of dark shapes swimming in unison beneath the ship.

“Fishmen! My lord!” Lei Meng immediately identified the creatures.

“What are these bastards following us for? Do they intend to attack?”

Fishmen attacking ships was common—but only when no Sea God Stone was present.

Logically, the Stormbringer’s Sea God Stone should deter all sea beasts and monsters below the fourth rank.

Thus, seeing so many fishmen made the crew even more tense.

But Gervas recalled the system’s intelligence: Waga was the son of the Buwa tribe’s chieftain.

Upon learning Gervas had saved Waga, the Buwa chieftain had sent fishmen to express gratitude.

So these were likely the Buwa tribe’s fishmen.

And they merely swam alongside the ship like dolphins, without clinging to the hull or drilling into the bottom—proof enough.

“No need to panic—they’re Waga’s kin. They’ve come to thank us for saving him. Under no circumstances, until I give the order, is anyone to attack!”

“Waga’s kin?!”

Hearing this, the soldiers finally relaxed.

Fear gone, Mi Gen and the others beamed with excitement: “My lord, fishmen actually thank us? That’s unheard of—probably the first time in human history!”