Chapter 129: Section 130: I am a Fat Ball Flying Fish


    “This forest is a bit unusual!”


    A Half-Elf mercenary paused briefly, watching the forest before him with wariness and noting an aura of decay. Both the color of the tree trunks and the foliage were much darker than in a normal forest.


    Compared to ordinary humans, this Half-Elf mercenary had slightly pointed ears and pale blue eyes, indicating that his Half-Elf bloodline was not strong, rather diluted.


    Despite this, his Half-Elf lineage still made him more adapted to the forest than ordinary people. Without relying on any reference points, he could barely discern directions in the forest, and his judgments were generally accurate.


    It was an efficient use of his skills to have appointed him to scout ahead for the exploration team.


    “Could this place be…” The Half-Elf’s expression grew increasingly serious as he considered the intelligence on Blade Spiders.


    ...


    This information had been widely shared to increase everyone’s chances of survival on this island.


    The Half-Elf proceeded with utmost caution, slowing down to a crawl as he made his way deeper into the gloomy forest.


    Moments later, returning to the original spot with a cold sweat, he confirmed, “No mistake about it! There’s a large group of Blade Spiders up ahead.” He quickly relayed this crucial information to the main forces behind him.


    “Are there spider webs?” the shipwright asked eagerly.


    The Half-Elf shook his head.


    The shipwright sighed, “According to the reports, the webs of the Blade Spiders have adhesive and toughness, which could be excellent materials for making sails or even for binding wooden planks!”


    “Don’t worry, we’ll get it,” Zhenjin said with a smile. “It’s almost evening. Stop advancing and set up camp here. Next, we have to deal with those spiders!” S~ea??h the ηovelFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    “Yes, my lord,” everyone acknowledged his command.


    Since the camp had been burned down, the group had rested for a few days and, following a joint decision, had started to move through the forest as a unit.


    To most, with the Blue Dog Fox Wolf still alive, staying in place was meaningless. It was highly likely that just after a new camp was established, an even larger attack by the Demon Beast Army would come.


    The farther away from the original camp, the better.


    Besides that reason, there were a few other important considerations.


    First, the sea ship was massive and could not be built in the forest. To transport a finished ship to the sea would require an effort beyond everyone’s physical capabilities unless, by good fortune, they were transported directly to the beach with the ship, a clearly unreliable method.


    Second, a sea ship differs from a riverboat; its base is not flat, but rather, it should have a V-shape which is crucial to withstand the great wind and waves of the ocean. Such a V-shaped structure is hard to launch; dragging it across the ground would damage the hull. So, at the very least, a dock would be needed, naturally built near water.


    Third, building a seaship requires a massive amount of work and the more manpower, the better. By returning to the beach and uniting with the remaining survivors, they would have the maximum labor force. Also, only by knowing how many people were left could they decide what size ship to build. Too large would be unnecessary, wasting time and manpower, and adding risk. Too small, and they would have to leave people behind on the island, which Zhenjin didn’t want to see.


    Zhenjin’s orders were swiftly relayed, and the team halted. Everyone began to work methodically.


    It was Cang Xu’s responsibility to coordinate the arrangements.


    Xi Suo led a group in using weapons and fire to drive away snakes and vermin, ensuring safety before marking out the boundaries of the camp and starting to erect tents.


    Bai Ya led people in setting traps around the camp perimeter.


    Hei Juan and others, upon receiving potions distributed by Zi Di, began to spray them around the camp and inside the erected tents.


    Mu Ban lay on the ground inspecting the carts, which he had designed and built. Of the twelve carts made to transport supplies for the team, the workload was mainly shouldered by human power, with eight carts handled by the Big guy and four split among other physically strong members.


    Mu Ban’s main concern was the axles of the carts.


    “This one’s about to split. Big guy, move the wood off; we need to replace the axle,” Mu Ban called out to the Big guy.


    The Big guy sat on the ground, drenched in sweat, glanced at the smaller Mu Ban beside him, then looked away.


    Mu Ban shook his head helplessly and shouted to the nearby shipwright, “Talk about your son.”


    “How many times do I have to say, he’s not my son,” the shipwright immediately retorted, then shouted, “Quick, take down the wood from the cart.”


    “Okay, daddy,” the Big guy immediately stood up, dragging his tired body.


    With giant bloodlines, he was like a humanoid crane. With a single arm, he would grasp the timber, toss it to the ground, and let it roll a few times.


    Mu Ban jumped up as if his foot had been stepped on, both anxious and angry, “Big Fool, be gentle, be careful, you clumsy oaf. We went through a lot to bring these woods here; don’t ruin them. Even in the forest, such good timber isn’t easy to come by!”


    “Take it slow, gently put it down, got it?” the shipwright shouted.


    “Got it, daddy.”


    “Don’t call me daddy!”


    After some commotion, the wood was offloaded from the carts, and the Big guy completely overturned the cart for Mu Ban and his team to start disassembling the axle.


    “We’re running low on spare axles.”


    “If we’re here for a longer period, we can take the opportunity to make some more.”


    Mu Ban planned in his mind.


    Most of the tents were up, though not everyone had one.


    The number of tents was quite limited.


    It wasn’t uncommon to see several people crammed into a small tent.


    Of course, Zhenjin’s tent was the largest and often the first to be set up.


    As the sky filled with sunset hues, smoke started rising from the window at the top of Zi Di’s tent.


    The smoke carried a strange odor—Zi Di was rushing to use potions to dissolve the ore and extract the iron.


    In passing, when the team left the original campsite, Zhenjin had led a small team to find a large amount of ore in a cave.


    These ores were substantial, the result of Zhenjin, turning into a Monkey-tailed Brown Bear over several nights after the battle, digging continuously.


    This discovery led Cang Xu to speculate that Monkey-tailed Brown Bears might have the habit of sharpening their claws.


    For the misunderstanding the old Scholar had towards him, Zhenjin could only apologize in his heart; he found it difficult to explain.


    As the sun completely set and darkness fell, the campsite quieted down significantly. The construction work was complete, and several large bonfires burned brightly as people began to prepare dinner.


    Even if a Fire Poison Bee Swarm were to attack now, no one was worried.


    Zi Di’s potions proved effective time and again, significantly reducing the threat posed by bat monkeys and the Fire Poison Bee Swarm.


    Zhenjin watched as the team members sat close to each other, conversing and discussing by the bonfire, occasionally erupting into loud laughter, and he was filled with satisfaction.


    At this moment, it seemed as if divisions and prejudice of status and race had never existed.


    Previously, the team had been split into two factions, but now everyone got along harmoniously.


    Interestingly, this harmony owed thanks to the assault of the Demon Beast Army. Another reason was the elevation of Zhenjin’s status— in everyone’s hearts, the young man wasn’t just a Holy Temple Knight, but a Divine Favored Knight!


    Of course, to unify everyone as much as possible, after the Camp defense battle, Zhenjin had secretly summoned Xi Suo for a talk and assured him: promising that in the future, he would help Xi Suo build a new ship.


    However, Xi Suo declined this proposal, instead half kneeling on the ground, expressing his desire and pleadings to follow Zhenjin.


    In Xi Suo’s view: it was far better to serve Zhenjin than to follow his father’s old path. Following a Divine Favored Knight held such a bright and splendid future, and under normal circumstances, even if Xi Suo wished to cling to such a powerful figure, he wouldn’t have been able to reach him. But the shipwreck had given him an unparalleled opportunity, and he wouldn’t let it pass him by.


    While grateful for Cang Xu’s speculation and publicity, Zhenjin accepted Xi Suo’s loyalty.


    With Xi Suo’s pledge of loyalty, Zong Ge also lowered his flag and reined in his ambition, without any desire to challenge Zhenjin’s authority.


    Such an outcome was enough to prove that Zhenjin’s previous strategy in pursuing the Blue Dog Fox Wolf was correct.


    He had deliberately demonstrated his formidable combat strength in front of Zong Ge. It wasn’t just to facilitate his use of a part of his Mutation ability publicly in the future, but more importantly, to deter this powerful Half-Beast.


    Zong Ge had a sense of the bigger picture; otherwise, he would not have overthrown the second mate, nor would he have agreed to follow Zhenjin back to the Camp.


    Once he understood he wouldn’t stand a chance in a duel with Zhenjin, Zong Ge became very cooperative.


    Zong Ge’s wholehearted rescue of Zhenjin also caused Zhenjin to reevaluate the Half-Beast, lessen his guard, and grow more trusting.


    In summary, through Zhenjin’s relentless efforts, the team achieved its best interim results.


    He preserved the team’s living strength as much as possible, avoiding excessive internal strife due to divisions and standoffs.


    He annihilated the Demon Beast Army, slaying all three Blue Dog Fox Wolves himself.


    And his merits, toils, the hardships, and risks he faced, were probably only truly clear to him.


    To wear the crown, one must bear its weight.


    The burdens Zhenjin silently carried surpassed common expectations.


    Perhaps, this was the cost of becoming a leader.


    Deep into the night, Zhenjin left the campsite once again.


    His habit of night patrolling was well-known. As a leader and a noble, Zhenjin always led by example, silently contributing; his crucial night patrols almost never stopped, and such persistent actions only made the others respect and love him more.


    However, unknown to everyone, the first thing Zhenjin did whenever he was far away from camp, was to strip off all his clothes.


    After the Camp defense battle, Zhenjin not only ruined his leather armor but even his undergarments. Yet soon after, he acquired new clothes and a Crocodile Head Hammer Tail Boa leather armor.


    Having tidily stored his clothing and armor, Zhenjin transformed into a silver Flying Squirrel.


    After practicing for a while, he let out a disheartened sigh.


    He still couldn’t generate electricity.


    He couldn’t find that feeling of muscle exertion.


    Speaking of which, Zhenjin had once caught a few Flying Squirrels alive, but they all died in the battle at the Camp.


    However, since Zong Ge had temporarily submitted to Zhenjin, he was no longer as urgent as before to master the skill of electricity generation.


    After practicing the Flying Squirrel form for a while, Zhenjin switched to the Silver Bat Monkey.


    During the day as the team advanced, he slightly opened his mouth, often using ultrasound to probe the direction the team was heading and the nearby surroundings.


    Ultrasound probing was extremely convenient, even more so than lizard eyes.


    But even if he detected powerful Magic Beasts, as long as they didn’t threaten the whole team, Zhenjin pretended not to know.


    He had already discovered the Blade Spider Group before the Half-Elf mercenary did but kept silent about it the entire time.


    Of course, he could use the name of the gods to “predict” some events, but if he always did so, it would give the impression that Zhenjin was abusing Divine Grace, that this Holy Temple Knight was ignorant of propriety. Cang Xu and Zi Di, being smart, would become suspicious.


    “One, two, three…” Zhenjin went amidst the Spider Forest, and using ultrasound, he quickly figured out the position of all the spiders.


    This group of spiders was even larger than the ones he had encountered before.


    There were two silver-level Blade Spider leaders.


    Instead of flying into the Spider Forest in the form of a bat monkey, in the next instant, Zhenjin transformed into a… Fat Ball Flying Fish.


    Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit…


    The Fat Ball Flying Fish Zhenjin flapped its fins, swayed its tail, and rose slowly; upon reaching a height higher than the treetops, he flitted waveringly above the Spider Forest.


    Then, he began spitting saliva down below continuously.


    The Fat Ball Flying Fish body temperature was very high, capable of spurting scalding saliva. This attack method was weak in effect, as the real strength of the Fat Ball Flying Fish lay in its self-destruction at the brink of death.


    However, now Zhenjin’s saliva had completely transformed.


    Each spit was the fragrance liquid of the Blue Dog Fox Wolf!


    The fragrance liquid splattered all around, quickly evaporating due to the heat, and soon the aroma enveloped the entire Spider Forest.


    Zhenjin waited a little longer, then he canceled the Flying Fish form, transformed into a bat monkey, and descended into the tree canopy.


    The Blade Spiders watched him quietly, as the vast Spider Group had already submitted to him!