The Sea Folk's Lives and Two Lords

In the territory of the Sea Folk.

As their capital.

Here stands a tower-like structure made from a huge, pointed seashell.

At the top is an open platform.

It's like the pointed part of a snail shell being cut off in half.

Kevin and his group were brought here, and from here they could see the entire surrounding environment at a glance.

They kept looking around as they went.

After all, this is a civilized land inhabited by Sapient Life, and everything is new and exciting.

"According to human etiquette, I should personally go to your territory to negotiate and conduct the trade."

"But for the safety of my people, I cannot leave my homeland at will, so I can only ask you to come here. Fortunately, we are not far apart; in human terms, we should be considered neighbors."

He chuckled twice as he spoke.

After the Lord in front of him, who resembled Dragon Turtle, laughed, he revealed his original way of speaking.

It splashed and splashed, like bubbles bursting.

That's a strange laugh.

However, this is probably just how the other person originally expressed happiness.

The other party then gave a brief self-introduction.

"You can call me by my appearance, just like we call ourselves among my kind, so you can call me Dragon Turtle."

The other party's appearance really does resemble this; its appearance does show traces of dragons, but overall it looks like a turtle.

Kevin and the others also introduced themselves.

What followed was direct communication.

"I'm still very curious, how do you manage to gain such a deep understanding of humanity so easily?"

Kevin asked bluntly.

Perhaps it's because they've been in the Dark Continent for so long that they no longer care about those complicated details.

The intelligent beings of the Dark Continent have always been straightforward, even if the other party has a civilization.

"This is it."

The other party didn't hold back at all, directly shaking the wooden staff in his hand and pointing with his other finger to the top of the staff, where a sphere was encased in a curved structure.

"These are spoils of war acquired by my ancestors. Normally, they can only be used to determine the degree of harm a creature poses, but by paying a certain price, one can gain a detailed and comprehensive understanding of a creature."

"When I first saw humans, I saw yours—that thing is called a ship, right? When I saw that thing, I didn't think about trying to understand it fully."

"It wasn't until you became the new Lord and established your territory around here that I was forced to learn about my neighbors for the safety of my people."

Although it was said bluntly, the other party also skipped over anything that needed to be hidden without any hesitation.

It only mentioned the ability of that thing, without saying anything else.

They can learn human language directly from the other party, and even package this ability or language into a package and give it directly to their subordinates.

This is not something simple.

This could perhaps be considered the foundation of a race.

"This information asymmetry seems impolite. So, is there anything you'd like to know about us?"

"It's not just for this transaction, but also for more exchanges in the future. After all, we rarely have contact with biological groups with complex and brilliant civilizations like humans."

Clearly, the transaction was the primary objective, but it also served as a catalyst.

The group looked at Kevin nodded slightly.

Qiduo was the first to ask, unable to wait any longer.

"Among your people, everyone's appearance is vastly different, and I don't seem to see any beings that resemble children."

Facing Qiduo's problem.

The Dragon Turtle simply waved its wooden staff, and a stream of water appeared out of thin air.

"We were born from the water, we emerged from the sea, and thus we were born here."

He turned around, pointed with his cane, and looked out at the Boundary lake.

"This is our home; we were born in these waters."

Everyone fell silent.

What were they saying?

How can I learn to speak like a human? All I get are these strange and bizarre phrases.

Why are they suddenly acting like riddle tellers?

However, most people probably understood what the other party was trying to say.

"So you don't have any ability like reproduction? You're just born directly?"

From a human perspective, asking such a question is indeed quite impolite, but the other person is not human.

"Like humans? No, we are not. We are born directly from this lake, and we will eventually return to it."

After a brief inquiry, everyone gained a general understanding of each other's life forms.

There must be some kind of mechanism by which life originates in this lake.

They call themselves the Water Folk or the Sea Folk, and they're not wrong at all.

They were directly nurtured by this lake, likely through some kind of biological development process shaped by the environmental factors here.

However, these individuals do not possess the ability to reproduce.

Because of their unique birth, they have their own responsibilities from the very beginning, based on their appearance and abilities.

And they didn't see anything wrong with it.

Each person doing their own job is in their nature.

Moreover, there is no concept of inequality; the only important person is him, the Dragon Turtle, who is the leader of all Sea Folk.

As a Dragon Turtle, he didn't feel that he was any different from his own kind.

Because his duty was inherently to protect his people as the highest military force.

He was simply fulfilling his duty.

This lake is like a pre-programmed genetic creation program, using marine life as a blueprint to create different individual life forms.

But they are essentially the same.

"So, you're saying you'll have a stable Lord who will protect this territory?"

After their conversation, Kevin was somewhat surprised.

The Dragon Turtle nodded without hesitation.

"When I die, new life will be born in the lake to take my place; it will possess what I share with my ancestors."

"Experience, shared wisdom."

After these words, everyone fell silent.

Setting aside so-called personal emotions, this birth mechanism dictates that individuals born later in life will have greater strength and experience.

Fortunately, their duty is to protect the entire tribe and their homeland, so they rarely violate their sense of duty and basically stay in their homeland every step of the way.

To prevent any accidents from happening.

"If that's the case, then obviously the item in the transaction wasn't used on you?"

Indeed, that holy lord was also a Lord.

This is the kind of thing that requires the use of the Immortal Bone.

Furthermore, Kevin didn't sense any signs of decline from the other person; perhaps the other person had entered the aging stage but hadn't reached a critical point yet.

But to be honest, if Longevity Bone tower were to grow here, it would indeed be a very suitable match.

The Lord here are also individuals who rarely leave this place.

"It's what he needs."

As soon as the words were spoken, a huge figure slowly emerged from the lake in the distance.

It was a dragon-like creature resembling a snake, without hands or claws, and with a head similar to that of Dragon Turtle.

Its body is robust, but its height is even more exaggerated, protruding three or four hundred meters above the water, and this is only a part of it.

Its body shimmered in the water, and after emerging from the surface, it quickly began to gather sunlight.

It was noon, the time of day when the sunlight was at its brightest.

The other party is nourishing itself with the energy of sunlight.

Sharp.

Kevin watched from a distance until the other person leaned out, and only then did he realize for certain that there was indeed another Lord.

However, he also realized that this was not a deliberate concealment by the other party, but rather a sign of their decline.

From afar, he could see that the enormous sea dragon was inevitably beginning to decline and reach its end.

Of course, it can't compare to the Double-tailed Snake.

The Double-tailed Snake was in a near-death state, only kept alive by its Longevity Bone.

"We call him the Holy Lord. He was not born of this lake, but was a companion adopted by one of my ancestors."

"Now that he is growing old, he rests quietly in the lake, like a guardian, and we naturally hope that he can live a long life."

Kevin felt he hadn't finished speaking; this Holy Lord didn't possess the mark bestowed by the Overlord.

It is different from the Dragon Turtle.

The other party still has a long lifespan, and given the characteristics of the Sea Folk, it feels like the purpose of keeping the other party here and extending their life is not so simple.

This Holy Lord is called the Holy Lord, so he must possess some ability that is extremely important to the Sea Folk.

But if the other party doesn't say, then it's clear they don't want to.

Kevin didn't ask any questions.

"I believe you now have a basic understanding of us, so let's proceed with the transaction, just like you humans do."

Kevin didn't bother with any further explanation and simply looked at the other person and said...

"You possess an informational advantage and a thorough understanding of humanity. Since you've invited us to this transaction, it means..."

"You're sure you can produce something that satisfies us, otherwise you're just wasting your time."

Even from a simple exchange, it was clear that the other party was communicating with them in a human way.

But in essence, this group does not possess the same rich emotions and individual will as humans.

To some extent, their collective will is stronger than their individual will.

They are closely connected gregarious organisms.

Compared to humans, they are beings with more detached emotions, though their emotions are richer than those of ordinary Beasts on the Dark Continent.

Dragon Turtle nodded in response to Kevin's words.

"You need so-called intelligence and a piece taken from a powerful life form."

"You can ask us directly about intelligence. As long as it's important information that doesn't belong to our people, we will tell you everything we know."

"And what about the powerful life force?"

The opponent seemed to have been prepared, as a water sphere appeared in front of them.

Inside the transparent water sphere was a thin, long, transparent rope, only about two meters long.

It's completely impossible to tell what it is.

"This is a part of a body that was extracted from a so-called Lord Rank being after its death, and it was kept as a trophy by my ancestors."

Just arrived at the Lord?

In other words, this is very likely an S-Rank material.

After all, Kevin only has one thing in his hands right now, whether he sees it or owns it.

And this one and only one is a part that was separated from the life of Lord Level.

Can I touch it?

"Certainly."

The water balloon burst open.

Kevin reached out and touched it.

An undisguised yearning surged forth.

Undoubtedly S-Rank material.

Moreover, it's material that has just reached S-Rank, just as the other party said, it's very likely a material that has just reached the Lord Rank.

The part left behind by fate.

For example, Kevin, who has just reached a million strength, would likely die at this level if his vital organ, namely his heart, were to die.

This is good news for Kevin.

Just like the S-Rank spatial Black Orb he currently possesses.

It has absolutely no medicinal value.

Because that Devouring Sand Worm was at the Lord Level, and was definitely among the best.

He was one of the Lord Level Kevin had ever seen.

The Black Orb extracted from the opponent's vital digestive stomach is completely unsuitable for medicinal use.

Kevin's current abilities are insufficient to fully transform it into a vital medicine.

Therefore, they had to settle for second best and use a portion of it to make space equipment.

But this one in front of me is different.

It barely reaches the S-Rank, which is at the very bottom.

This is just right for Kevin. If Kevin were to use his full strength to create it, expending a significant amount of his Nen Aura, it would be...

It was successfully refined into fuel.

My heart is fluttering.

It's impossible not to be tempted.

Because essentially, this is not a loss for Kevin. The Immortal Bone he possesses is only the top-tier A-Rank material, and will never reach S-Rank.

They got higher-level materials and more intelligence in return, so it was definitely worth it.

That's what you call asking for the moon.

The extent of their intelligence gathering was far more extensive than Kevin had imagined; it was clearly a targeted transaction aimed at them.

Given the information asymmetry, there was no point in continuing the dragging and negotiating; Kevin nodded directly.

"No problem."

The Dragon Turtle let out a series of "bo bo bo bo" laughs, and was very happy now.

Kevin took the Immortal Bone, which was wrapped in bubbles, directly from the ring.

The Dragon Turtle looked at the Immortal Bone inside the bubble, observing it from all sides, and finally nodded.

"With your strength, if you're willing to temporarily leave your homeland, acquiring this kind of thing doesn't seem difficult."

Disaster."

Kevin said, handing the bubble over.

The Dragon Turtle simply let the wooden staff float to its side and caught the bubble with both hands.

He simply stated directly what Kevin had said.

"My duty is to protect our home. I cannot leave rashly, and besides, such a thing certainly doesn't exist around our home."

As he spoke, Kevin also gained a clear understanding of the situation of the entire Sea Folk.

Apart from the Dragon Turtle, which is a naturally Lord Level creature, the other Sea Folk generally have a strength of around 200,000 units of spiritual energy.

The more militarily inclined group that emerged was larger and stronger, while those Sea Folk with other duties were weaker.

There has been no stronger being since.

The gap in strength is extremely severe.

Complete polarization.

Unlike Kevin and his group, and unlike humans, there wasn't a single, significant increase in strength, with improvements at each stage.

Exist.

Kevin then took the transparent rope.

I touched it.

Seriously though, this thing looks a lot like the spinal cord of some kind of creature.

The creatures hunted by our ancestors.

Based on the other party's way of life, the owner of this thing must have explored the interlayer area, infiltrated it, and then been caught.

After thinking for a moment, he took out a glass marble, filled it with air to make it into a bubble, and put the object inside.

It's still far more useful Bianluoke's Nen ability.

"Well then—it's been a pleasure working with you. Now you can ask for the information you want; I'll share all the intelligence I know without reservation."

The Dragon Turtle chuckled as it spoke.

Both parties were very satisfied with the completed transaction, and the atmosphere was excellent.