Chapter 98

"Although I don't know if it's the first time, it's certainly extremely rare!" Lei Meng concluded at this moment.

Afterwards, the fishfolk in the sea indeed did nothing harmful to the ship, following it all the way to the shore of the Volcano Island.

At this moment, the fishfolk began to surface one by one, with Waga the fishman leading them.

"Gervas, human... I've come!"

"Waga, are these your people?"

"Yes, my... father... Toka!"

Waga pointed to a fishman beside him and introduced him to Gervas.

This fishman appeared noticeably older than Waga, and most importantly, much stronger.

In addition, he wore many shells and fishbones as ornaments.

However, except for Waga, Gervas naturally couldn't understand the other fishfolk's speech.

Toka kept pointing at the fishfolk carrying leather sacks, babbling loudly.

Fortunately, Waga translated.

"Gervas, my father... thanks you... for saving his... and Waga's life..."

Then the fishfolk came ashore one by one and placed the leather sacks on the beach.

Gervas walked closer and saw that the leather sacks, made of fishskin, were filled with seafood.

Lobsters as long as an elbow, clams and conchs as large as a washbasin—by their appearance, they were almost certainly luminescent pearls and magic conchs.

Of course, there were also more ordinary fish and oysters, along with several beautiful coral reefs.

"Waga, tell your father I'm delighted to receive your gift!"

"Oo-wah oo-wah!"

With Waga's translation, Toka burst into another round of oo-wah calls.

Finally, Waga bowed slightly to Gervas.

"Gervas, my father... is preparing to leave. We, will meet again!"

"Wait, Waga, I have gifts for you too!"

Gervas stopped the departing group and ordered his subordinates to fetch from the ship's hold several jugs of beer and a crate of black bread.

These were all stored supplies, so the ship carried plenty.

After receiving the supplies, Chief Toka curiously opened one of the leather jugs.

Gervas had worried they had never seen beer before.

Just as he was about to speak, Toka sniffed the jug's mouth, then his eyes suddenly lit up, and he swiftly brought the jug to his lips.

Glug glug glug!

After gulping down several mouthfuls, the fishman Toka stared at Gervas in disbelief.

"Wine... wine..."

Toka gestured wildly and shouted excitedly.

Gervas froze—he didn't understand their language, but he knew exactly what they meant.

Could fishfolk also know how to brew alcohol?

"Gervas, my father is deeply grateful—he says this is an extremely precious wine, enjoyed only by the great northern clans, because only there, by the shores with many large wooden ships, can such wine occasionally be found!"

Many large wooden ships' shores?

Gervas was confused.

But Old Jack suddenly remembered something. "My lord, I recall—the great nobles, though they possess Sea God Stones, hold a monthly sacrifice ceremony to the Sea God."

"They don't just throw vast amounts of food into the sea—they also pour entire barrels of wine, praying for the Sea God's protection of their ships!"

Good heavens! Gervas exclaimed inwardly.

These sacrifices never reached the Sea God—they were seized by these fishfolk.

And this wine had become a hard currency in the sea?!

Gervas's mind turned rapidly.

"Chief Toka, if you like drinking, come to Stormhold in the future—I'll trade with you... exchange!"

After translation, Toka immediately beamed with delight, nodding vigorously. "Oo-wah oo-wah!"

Thus, because of a few jugs of beer, Gervas and the sea folk arranged their first trade.

The time was set for one week later, at the Stormhold coastline.

After the fishfolk left, Gervas led his subordinates up the volcano and trained continuously in the elemental magic tide.

After nearly half a month of elemental tide cleansing, the soldiers' physical condition had greatly improved.

Although the soldiers didn't yet understand what this meant, they simply felt carrying heavy stones and other tasks had become easier.

But Lei Meng told Gervas that if this continued, Gervas would soon be able to forge elite soldiers comparable to the Royal Infantry Legion.

Remember, those were true elites, trained over years with ample food.

Yet Gervas only needed to let his soldiers experience the elemental tide each day.

Of course, the elemental tide's effect would slow as the soldiers' strength increased.

For instance, for Gervas and Lei Meng, the effect required long-term exposure—after all, both were transcendent beings.

After the elemental tide ended, Gervas returned with his subordinates to Wheatfield Town.

Because he had issued a danger notice, the townsfolk had not worked this afternoon, and the soldiers had already gathered in the town square.

After confirming the town's defenses were adequately prepared, Gervas first returned to the castle with the seafood.

"Greetings, Lord Gervas! Oh, so many beautiful shells!"

Gervas brought the seafood to the kitchen; upon seeing his arrival, the little girl Shirley immediately ran forward excitedly.

No sooner had she offered her greetings than she was immediately captivated by the seafood he had brought.

Especially those beautiful bioluminescent pearl oysters and magic conch shells of varying sizes.

"Shirley! In the presence of my lord, what should you do?"

Rose turned around at the sound, saw it was Gervas, and immediately stepped forward as well.

In her graceful strides, there was nothing but maturity and weightiness.

She, who was already ripe like a peach, after being nourished these past days... no, after helping Gervas cultivate, had become even more vibrant and succulent.

Hearing this, Shirley immediately restrained her smile, lowered her small head, and said, "I must remain silent and not disturb or offend my lord! I'm sorry, my lord; Shirley knows she was wrong!"

Since she began helping Gervas cultivate, Rose had not become arrogant because of it.

On the contrary, she became even more disciplined, and her demands of Shirley grew stricter as well.

Clearly, Rose was a woman who understood propriety.

She had not lost herself by virtue of their intimate relationship.

And the more she acted this way, the more Gervas naturally approved.

"It's no matter; there are no outsiders here. Shirley, what seafood do you like? Shall I give you one?"

"Really, my lord?" Shirley's gaze swept over the basket, finally settling on the smallest magic conch shell.

Rose was just about to say something when Gervas stopped her.

"You see, all Shirley wants is just a small conch shell!"

Gervas picked up the magic conch shell.

Although this magic conch shell was worth at least five gold coins to start.

But seeing how well-behaved the little girl was, Gervas was willing to part with it.

For he could see that Shirley had chosen the small conch shell not because its pattern was more beautiful than that of the large conch shells.

Rather, it was because its small size might mean it was of lesser value.

In terms of beauty, several of the large magic conch shells were certainly more attractive.

"Thank you, my lord; Shirley thanks you for your gift!" The little girl Shirley happily accepted the small conch shell.

"Shirley, after you boil and eat the small conch shell, remember to take the shell to the blacksmith's forge and ask the blacksmith Luka to craft a conch you can blow; by then, it might very well attract birds to dance for you!"

"Really? Thank you, my lord!" Shirley became even happier.

Only then did Gervas turn his attention to Rose and bring up the matter at hand.

That was to have Rose prepare a large quantity of minced garlic; he intended to make garlic-roasted oysters today.

Although after crossing over, Gervas was not so pretentious as to insist on eating only Chinese food.

But if there was a chance to savor the specialty cuisine of the Huaxia of his past life, he certainly would not let it pass!