Last Totem Novel - Chapter 66

Chapter 66 Tradition
“It is said that the defenders on a nearby island have withdrawn. Is this news reliable?” Asked Tie Zha.

“I heard. It seems to be the Silver City Garrison of the Western Continent.” The boss couldn’t help but interrupt. He had been eavesdropping on their conversation with his ears pricked up, and if the two of them fought, he would be able to escape immediately.

‘I’ve heard of it, too, but …’ said the captain, pausing for a moment. ‘If the news is wrong, wouldn’t we be caught in the trap?’ After saying that, the captain took out a nautical chart from his pocket and spread it on the table. He pointed out the location of the rumored island and analyzed it.

This was a small island with an area of less than one square kilometre. There was a Silver City garrison stationed there from the western continent, and its mission was to protect the research ships that were exploring the Black Sea.

Three months ago, the garrison sent men to Luoyan Town to ask the Fisherman’s Home to help them search for several research ships that had gone missing in the Black Triangle Sea Region. Therefore, the rumors about the evacuation were not groundless.

However, this did not rule out the possibility that it was a trap. The strategy of the Silver City Army to eliminate the pirates was usually to throw out a sweet date first, attracting the pirates like herons, and then annihilate them in one fell swoop. Moreover, their methods of identifying pirates were extremely rough. As long as they were attracted by bait, they would all be considered pirates. They would directly fire their artillery and would not even give them a chance to defend themselves.

“Really … really not a thing! You don’t even treat people as human beings anymore. If it was hundreds of years ago, even felons would have to go through a court trial before they could be convicted.” The owner of the bar said indignantly.

“Don’t ask too much. This is a world where the weak prey on the strong. It’s already benevolent enough for them not to annihilate all the people below us.” Said the captain.

“Yes.” Iron Slag nodded in agreement.

“You” The owner of the bar was choked speechless, unable to reason with the two bandits.

“Is there any other way? Tell me about it.” Suggested the captain. The bartender shook his head. The former rarely went out, while the latter was with the captain every day and had no new information.

“I heard that the Lisbon Bar is recruiting sailors. The Hortons are recruiting chefs.” Said Tie Zha. He had just arrived here, and this was the only piece of information that he was unfamiliar with.

“Someone’s hiring in Lisbon?” The captain laughed and greeted, “Brothers, we’re going to make money.” With that, he pulled Tie Zha and Accountant out of the house and went to the center of the town.

Lisbon is one of the largest bars in Luoyan Town, located in the center of the town’s maid square, named after the home of the legendary sailors, has been in Luoyan Town for more than a hundred years.

Even in such a cold morning, Lisbon was still bustling with noise and excitement. The big bar was brightly lit with burning braziers hanging everywhere, and hundreds of tables, large and small, were filled with guests. A few male waiters wearing red vests and carrying dishes were shuttling back and forth between the dining tables. Other bunnies wearing dark tights with large white legs were holding large wine bottles in their arms and squeezing into the most crowded places. While being freed, they were trying their best to sell the drinks. Looking up, there were five or six hundred people here.

However, the liveliest place was the small stage in the middle. Three pretty, naked women were twisting their young and beautiful bodies on the stage. The crowd huddled at the edge of the stage, shouting and screaming at the girls.

On the other side of the stage was a large round table. On the table was a half-man-tall wooden tablet. It said that the large fishing boat Star Chaser would recruit a number of sailors. Those with experience would be given priority. They would receive a guaranteed minimum annual salary of 8 gold. There would also be a bonus for outstanding performance!

The captain of the Star Chaser sat at the round table and happily admired the dancers on the stage. At this moment, a loud shout suddenly sounded. That voice was like a broken gong smashing metal, extremely unpleasant to hear.

“Senior captain, former captain of the Fishdragon, now captain of the frigate Big Dipper, Xia Yihan, recruit a large number of sailors and invite all of you to join hands! Across the Seven Seas!”

Following the voice, the three men paced over and walked to the middle of the hall.

“Bang!” The captain of the Star Chaser suddenly shattered his wine glass and stood up. He scolded loudly, “Who doesn’t have eyes to steal business? I’ll kill him!” According to the rules of the deep-sea fisherman industry, when one captain recruited sailors in a bar, the other captain should consciously change places.

“This is your house!” The captain greeted.

“You stalker! Follow everyone else wherever they go.” “You brain retard, brain idiot, brain apoplexy, brain cramp, brain idiot!”

Battles between deep-sea fishermen usually began with a battle between captains, and the battle between captains usually began with a scolding exchange. This is the tradition of deep-sea fishermen and, of course, there is some disrespect for the anomalies of this ancient tradition. For example, poisonous spiders, she usually didn’t say a word and directly attacked. However, in this sea area, few people dared to raise objections to this point.

“You look so wretched. No wonder people say you’re the most wretched captain in the Black Sea! No one!” The captain of the Star Chaser pointed at Captain Xia Yihan’s nose and scolded.

“Last time, I heard that you gave money to someone else and they still didn’t do your business. Is that true?” Captain Xia Yihan asked casually.

“You! You!” The captain of the Star Chaser was so angry that his entire body was trembling. His big face turned a pig’s liver color and he pointed at Captain Xia Yihan. He was speechless for a long time. These words deeply stabbed him. He had always thought that he was handsome and had an extraordinary bearing, but he was not fated to be a woman. So far, he was still an older single man.

At this moment, a tall and sturdy man stood in front of Captain Xia Yihan and looked down on him with contempt.

This was the second stage of the deep-sea fishermen’s war, commonly known as the “chief mate”.

The captain turned his head to look at the iron slag, but the iron slag remained indifferent and had no intention of interfering at all. The captain was anxious and desperately winked. Iron slag lazily asked, “How much is it?” The captain compared two fingers and shook his head. After comparing three fingers, the captain finally stepped forward and confronted the sturdy man.

The burly man shouted and smashed his bowl-sized fist towards Tie Zha’s face! Tie Zha, however, remained motionless. He only raised his head and glanced at him. This gaze seemed to have come from hell, forcefully stopping his fist momentum. He felt as if he had been drenched in ice water, and his entire body felt cold. He involuntarily took a step back. This was a creature’s instinct, a strong sense of crisis when facing powerful creatures. However, he was a simple and honest person. Since he received money from others, he had to help them overcome the calamity. Therefore, he forcefully roared and punched again!

The iron slag remained motionless as it watched as its fist smashed over. The fist finally stopped in front of him, unable to move any further.

In the eyes of the onlookers, there seemed to be an invisible force that prevented the punch. Only the strong man knew that he had lost the courage to attack. Facing such a ferocious god, he simply couldn’t use his strength.

When the captain of the Star Chaser saw that the situation was over, he said, “I’ll be back!” Then he turned around and ran away. Half an hour later, he really came back with a large group of strong men with tiger backs and bear waist. If quality cannot win, use quantity! Only by knowing how to adapt can one survive. This is the law of the deep sea.

These strong men were all bronze-skinned and had strong muscles. One could tell with a glance that they were as strong as oxen and were people who often did strenuous work.

It is now the third stage of the deep-sea fishermen’s war-group fighting.

“Go!” The captain of the Star Chaser pointed forward and ordered.

However, the scene was completely silent. There was no boiling blood shouting or fighting in the imagination. The leader waved his hand at Tie Zha, shouted “Brother Tie”, and then left with his men. The captain of the Star Chaser chased after him and asked him, “What are you doing? I’ll pay you.”

The leading man replied, “Admit it. We can’t afford to offend that man. He’s carrying boxes for three people at the dock alone. We’re not enough for him to plug his teeth.”

The captain of the Star Chaser returned to the bar dejectedly and began the fourth phase of the deep-sea fishermen’s war-negotiations.

“Captain Xia, please accept my sincerity.” The captain of the Star Chaser stuffed two gold coins into it.

“Too few … It’s not easy to earn a living in the Black Sea.” “It’s still too little …” “Captain Xia gave off the feeling of a hero.” “Really?” “Really …”

After two hours of negotiations, the captain reaped 5 gold, one step closer to the target (169 plus 5,174 gold).

Returning to the giant wooden barrel, Tie Zha extended his hand and the captain could only give 3 gold and take a step back (174 minus 3,171 gold).

Seeing that the captain was splitting the money, the bartender offered to pay for accommodation and meals, and threatened not to cook dinner until he received the money, so the captain gave another two gold coins and went back to square one (171 minus 2,169 gold coins).

Next, the three of them went back to their rooms to sleep. The captain and the accountant were tired for two days and two nights, and the iron slag was so tired that they could not make up for it even after sleeping for a night.

He was speechless all night …

The next morning, Tie Zha went to the market and exchanged the 3 gold he earned yesterday and the 9 silver he earned as a porter the day before yesterday for 13 compressed biscuits. If you only eat two pills a day, you can stay up for more than a month on the road.

However, from the snowy night ice plains to the Ficus Mountains, to the Great Ice Ocean, to the extreme north, it was the end of the world. It was a long journey, and it was unknown how long it would take to reach it. Therefore, he could only try his best to be prepared and see if he could catch any prey on the road. According to the owner of the bar, although the snowy night ice plains were not suitable for humans to survive, there were other creatures, such as the giant snowy plains bear that was several meters tall, the snowy night elk that ran faster than the motorcycle, and the swarm of ice plains snow wolves …

In addition, it is said that there are ancient mammoths, glacial saber-toothed tigers in the Philadelphia Mountains …

However, it was still unclear who was hunting who these prehistoric beasts were.