Black Sail
Chapter 139: CXXXIX. Big News

Chapter 139: CXXXIX. Big News

The Southern Wetlands receive exaggerated amounts of precipitation, experiencing heavy rain throughout the year.

Pitching a tent outdoors offers little resistance against the fierce raindrops.

But over the past few years, with extensive renovation of strategic roads, transportation has become more convenient, surpassing the infrastructure of many inland countries.

The reason for building so many stone-paved roads is, of course, to facilitate future military invasions, slowly eroding the complex terrain advantages of the wetlands.

Under Murphys’ sustainable strategy of exhausting resources for profit, roads continue to multiply, allowing human armies to advance directly.

However, there are benefits, as the market economy has begun to develop slowly.

More and more adventurers also come here to make a living.

The areas inhabited by intelligent races in the Great Wetland account for only thirty percent, with half of the region being uninhabited virgin forests, rumored to contain mythical creatures.

But it is true that there are many valuable Magic Beasts to hunt, and gold seekers come here searching for mineral veins.

Along the strategic roads, there are many station inns where one can stay, eat, and buy horses all in one place.

Just like highway rest areas, there is a station about every hundred miles, all of which are well planned.

Running an inn here can be said to be extremely profitable, never lacking guests.

One cannot start such a business without connections, only those related to the Murphys regime are qualified to open one.

The Great Wetland also contains many cities, although these are simply military government strongholds, where trade and commerce are merely incidental.

But the Black Sail group had no time to stroll through the cities and had to hurry to the border. The Great Wetland is vast and, with a lot of undeveloped areas, no one has ever crossed it completely.

Going straight up from the Red Tree Bay Shore would take about five to six days, possible only because the roads were built. Without these roads, traversing the forests would mean never getting out, even if one died trying.

Not even out of the wetlands yet, the group of fifty could stay together without splitting into two groups. In such a chaotic place, running naked goes unnoticed.

As they slowly rode deeper into the wetlands, the sky became increasingly overcast and all things seemed shrouded in a gray mist under the humidity; the twisted trees around them looked like monsters, and the densely grown bushes of varying colors had extreme saturation, as if they were all toxic.

An unchanging sense of gloom and oppression enveloped this war-tainted, cursed land, with a heavy rain always seeming imminent.

There were many venomous insects here, including snakes, scorpions, spiders, and a variety of bizarre arthropods. Sometimes, an insect larger than a human head, like a dragonfly or moth, would fly out, nearly scaring people to death.

The Great Wetland is undoubtedly the region with the richest species on the Western Continent.

"This place sure isn’t suitable for humans," Liszt remarked.

Having not walked for a few hours, Rein was already tired of this eerie place; his large body seemed to attract mosquitoes and other flying insects.

He had been bitten quite harshly earlier.

This was when the advantages of the Sub-dragon people’s scales showed; additionally, their resistance to local venoms was definitely maxed out.

In the past, before the roads were built, no one could penetrate this area, only the Sub-dragon people could strike outward.

Mika promptly medicated Rein; if Rein died, it would just result in a meal, but catching some infectious disease and spreading it to everyone would be too costly.

"It’s truly like descending into Hell."

Although Morison had been to even harsher environments, this place was primarily annoying. He loaded his double-barreled shotgun with one hand and with a loud bang, blasted a fist-sized moth.

Green and yellow fluids splattered everywhere.

"Damn."

Shadi quickly ducked, avoiding the splattering fluids.

"Hmm, such a rich ecology. I’ve read about it in a guidebook when I was in Pedan..."

Before Fen could finish,

"I know, you’ve read through all those books," Liszt quickly interrupted. The sky was getting darker, and both men and horses were exhausted; it was time to rest at the next station.

Hened didn’t follow them but stayed at the park. Before leaving, he had communicated with Fen that he was a loyal and righteous man—he promised that the scar-faced woman wouldn’t make any trouble while he was there. Waiting for the group’s triumphant return to Heaven Port to do big things, he wasn’t satisfied to simply let his late years pass by quietly; he wanted one last glorious moment to put a perfect end to his pirate career.

At least that’s what he said.

There was also another local there, and Liszt thought it was quite stable.

It was everyone’s first time in the Great Wetland.

After traveling over a hundred miles, not only did the people need to rest, the horses did too, so they stayed at an inn.

The Sub-dragon grooms took all the horses to the stables.

Afterwards, everyone entered the inn.

The inn’s owner was also a Sub-dragon. Apart from setting up parks, foreign ethnic groups couldn’t come here to do business; they were only allowed to spend money. There was an adventurer’s guild established here too, where all the Magic Beasts killed had to be taxed, making it one of the biggest sources of income for the Military Government.

Since they were a large group, it was impossible for everyone to have their own room. There weren’t many rooms left in the inn, so they opened eight, and those who had to, slept on floor mats squeezed together.

As for the two local guides sent by the park, of course, they couldn’t be mistreated; Liszt paid for the best room for them.

The inn was built with wood but was quite large, consisting of multi-level connected buildings that could accommodate several hundred guests.

The first-floor hall was bustling, filled with a smell of tanned leather and sweaty odor that was hard to dissipate in this humid and muggy place.

The décor was also rustic, made entirely of raw wood, with large hides and feathered banners from various animals hung as ornaments on the walls.

Once the rooms were booked, it was time to eat.

The pirates under Black Sail began showing their domineering side due to the overcrowding and lack of seats.

Whether you were an adventurer or someone from another park, they didn’t care. They simply picked them up and threw them on the floor, as these lawless pirates claimed seats.

Liszt didn’t mind carrying his food back to his room to eat, but his men weren’t the same; without sitting at a table drinking, there was no atmosphere.

A conflict looked ready to erupt.

His group became the target of everyone in the hall; this bunch was adept at causing trouble.

"We’ve traveled far from Heaven Port, weary from the journey, forgive us for any disturbance,"

said Liszt.

Bang!

Morison fired a shot into the air.

Heaven Port, the Cosmic Center, where the average person feared nothing.

No one on the first floor dared to react against these menacing desperados; they could only swallow their anger.

The food here left Liszt at a loss for words. It wasn’t just a food desert; it could be described as a food hell. Could Liu Maoxing come to the rescue, please?

Liszt finally understood where Wolman, the emergency reserve cook from Black Sail, got his inspiration for cooking: just a big mixed stew and some fried insect snacks.

Rein picked up a skewer with an unknown crustacean on it. Could this thing even be edible?

"Let’s just make do, having food is good enough. Many refugees are still starving,"

Liszt, seeing a bunch of picky eaters, brought out a classic line.

"There’s also an adventurer’s guild in the Great Wetland. You should have newspapers here, get me a copy of the public news."

Fen called over a waiter; it had been many days since they were in touch with the inland updates, and they needed to check out the local situation.

However, the inn was quite a rip-off, charging two copper coins, but Fen, not one to fuss over money, paid and started reading the newspaper.

"Any big news?"

Liszt asked, having tried a few bites with no appetite left. It was truly damn dreadful.

Fen’s brow was furrowed. How could there be such a sudden technological breakout, not just trains, but also a new invention that could be widely used in civil applications?