From sailboats to star destroyers (Source: Web)

Chapter 56 Subduing Baisha Bay Fishing Village

At the same time, the twenty swordsmen and shieldmen also moved. They were as silent as rocks, but their movements were as swift as the tide.

The wooden shield steadily blocked the incoming oars and deflected the harpoons, producing a dull thud.

The heavy oak clubs slammed mercilessly down on the thugs' arms, backs of legs, waists, and other non-vital areas.

Each blow was accompanied by the dull thud of flesh colliding with bone and a suppressed cry of pain.

Six strikes per second is not their limit; it's just so that the fishermen can see their movements more clearly.

These skilled Gut warriors, who dared to fight pirates at sea, were now facing these well-trained and perfectly coordinated armored soldiers.

Like waves crashing against an iron wall, their brute force was deflected by the shields, and their ferocity was crushed by more precise and merciless blows.

The outcome of the battle was a foregone conclusion. In just a dozen or so breaths, the dozen or so strong men at the forefront had all fallen to the ground, rolling and groaning. The remaining fishermen stood frozen in place, their faces filled with horror and disbelief.

That pale, butler-like man took down several of the village's toughest fighters with just the back of his knife, as easily as swatting a few flies!

The once bustling battlefield fell silent instantly, leaving only the wails of the wounded and the howling of the sea wind.

Miao Meng then slowly walked forward, his boots making a clear "rustling" sound as they stepped on the rough, sandy ground.

He stopped beside the bald fisherman, who was curled up in pain, and looked down at him:

"Now, can you listen to me properly?"

No one dared to answer. All the fishermen who were still standing, including the few respected elders in the village, subconsciously avoided his gaze, their bodies trembling slightly.

Miao Meng's voice returned to calm, but carried an even stronger penetrating force: "The daily wage for the dockworkers is twenty copper coins."

The clear announcement of this number instantly brightened the eyes of many fishermen, even overshadowing their fear.

A skilled craftsman in Kingsby earns only this much in a day.

They fish, braving the wind and waves, and are exploited at every turn, so they can't save much money at the end of the year.

"Territory taxes," he continued, his voice low, but every word struck a chord with the fishermen.

"One-fifth of the harvest is taxed. Only grain or equivalent dried seafood is taxed."

One-fifth of the taxes? That's not even a fraction of the war tax levied by the noble lords of Kingsby!

The stark contrast made the fishermen almost think they had misheard. They looked at each other, their eyes filled with shock and a glimmer of unbelievable hope.

"I won't stop you from continuing to go out to sea," Miao Meng said, his gaze sweeping over the wounded fishermen.

"With the wages from the dockyard, your lives will be ten times better than they are now. You won't have to fight against fate every day anymore, and you won't have to worry about being skinned alive by pirates."

His tone suddenly turned sharp, like ice shattering, "But if I find out who dares to collude with pirates and betray our territory!"

His finger pointed to a large, abandoned mast wreck at the village entrance, half-buried in the sand.

"That pillar is his final resting place! I will personally nail him to it, so that the seabirds will tell everyone the consequences of betrayal!"

Absolute military might comes first, followed by irresistible temptations of profit, and then accompanied by ruthless iron laws.

Miao Meng used carrots and sticks so directly and effectively.

The deathly silence lasted for a moment.

Finally, an elderly man with white hair and beard, his face etched with the wrinkles of time, trembled as he stepped out from the crowd.

He was an elder in the village, and in a sense, the village chief.

He glanced at his groaning tribesmen on the ground, then at Miao Meng's calm yet powerful face, and finally at those eyes that gleamed with longing.

He took a deep breath of the sea breeze, which smelled of blood, and then, with difficulty and slowly, bent the spine of the once unyielding Gute people towards Miao Meng.

"Yes...yes, my lord. What...what do you need us to do?"

The old village chief's voice was dry and hoarse, yet it represented the entire Baisha Bay fishing village, which, amidst the intertwining of iron and blood, profit and power, chose to submit and surrender.

Miao Meng nodded slightly, his gaze fixed on the sheltered area awaiting development: "At sunrise tomorrow, have everyone who is able-bodied bring their tools and assemble at the designated location. The foundation for the shipyard should be laid."

He turned around, leaving behind a silhouette that seemed unfathomable to the fishermen of Gutt. The Black Earl followed silently, like his shadow.

Twenty swordsmen put away their clubs, silently lined up, and guarded their master, leaving the newly tamed land, their shadows lengthened by the setting sun.

On the way back, Miao Meng deactivated his mechanized mind spell and asked the Black Earl beside him for advice.

"Do you think they might secretly hire pirates again? After all, many young men from fishing villages like this have become pirates, so there must be some connection."

"Captain, there's no need to hesitate. They'll definitely put up another fight, but next time we have to make them bleed to subdue them. Otherwise, given the nature of the Gut people, they won't submit."

As a legendary pirate for many years, Black Earl had recruited many crew members of these Guts bloodlines in the past, so he was naturally familiar with this situation.

The pirate kingdom is a loosely organized country. Apart from the relatively large city of Orknini as its capital, each pirate group has its own island.

But how many people could an island support? Therefore, a considerable number of pirates were coastal residents from other countries, or criminals from certain countries.

"I knew it! Hmph~ I hope they can come soon, so I don't have to worry about this again later."

I don't want my half-built shipyard to be raided and razed to the ground by others; even wiping them out wouldn't make up for the losses."

Count Black naturally understood Miao Meng's implication and arranged for his men to deal with the fishermen as soon as they brought them over.

"Don't worry, a few fishermen like them can't escape my grasp."

Upon hearing the Black Earl's assurance, Miao Meng simply nodded silently, then returned to the manor and began to concentrate on studying magical knowledge.

As for the construction of the shipyard on the second day, he didn't need to come in person; the Black Earl could easily handle it with just a few men.

Miao Meng believed that his greatest skill achievement was successfully acquiring the position of First Mate, Count Black, which freed him from many trivial matters and spared him the trouble of dealing with them.

Miao Meng hadn't taken those fishermen who had become pirates seriously, but unexpectedly, they gave him a pleasant surprise three or four days later.

It wasn't that the pirates caused any damage, but rather that there was a treasure on their ship that even Miao Meng thought was quite valuable.

Black Pearl: A special quest item that can unlock the "Legendary Journey at Sea" dungeon.

"The Road to the Sea Legend": Recommended difficulty Lv5~Lv15, Soul Projection mode, death will result in a one-day soul weakness.

Entry requirement: Own your own ship.

Dungeon Content: On this vast sea, seven legendary pirates roam the entire pirate kingdom, each with their own unique token.

As a newcomer to this ocean, your goal is to collect the tokens of these 7 pirates to unlock the ocean's great treasure.

Mission requirements: Pirate tokens (0/7), The Secret Treasure (0/1).

Dungeon monsters: Numerous pirates, navy personnel, wizards, sea monsters...

Dungeon drops: Ships, magic, followers, treasure, skills, experience...