Treasure Bay

"Tell me, what else are you planning? I'll be heading back to Westfall in a couple of days. I still need to deal with the people in Night Town, and those bloodsuckers won't pass up any chance to profit."

Although the Imperial Guard had reclaimed Night Town from the undead mage, the town still fell within Stormwind's jurisdiction. It belonged to a lord named Count Yarsa.

The Brotherhood had just announced that they were the ones who had defended Night Town against the undead mage when Count Yarsa sent people to negotiate with them about selling the town to the Brotherhood. He wasn't selling the people, just the land.

"My lord says that although we didn't manage to send troops to help when the undead mage attacked Night Town, and most of the villagers died as a result, whether all the villagers were killed or they wanted to escape Count Yarsa's rule is your Brotherhood's business."

"We're here to protect Night Town. What happens to those villagers has nothing to do with us. But now your Brotherhood has occupied the town! That's a challenge to Count Yarsa and an act of aggression. You have two choices. One: take the surviving villagers and leave Count Yarsa's Night Town. The villagers have nothing to do with the count anymore, so you can take them away whenever you like."

"Two: the villagers can stay, and your Brotherhood can stay in Night Town too. But! You'll have to pay to buy the town! Otherwise, Count Yarsa will report this to Stormwind and ask them to send troops. Then his forces will join theirs to retake Night Town!"

The Brotherhood had planned to buy control of Night Town for 200,000 Gold Coins. But Count Yarsa sent another delegation to negotiate with Luffy about the road connecting Night Town to Elwynn Forest, flight routes, trade rights, and more!

That was why Luffy needed to hurry back. He wasn't about to hand over all those Gold Coins to the bloodsuckers without a fight. They'd have to pay a price to get their hands on the money. Besides, with Sun Busong's help, the land north of Stranglethorn Vale had just become their territory. It wasn't Stormwind's land.

Stormwind and Treasure Bay had trade ties!

Sun Busong had already discussed things with Luffy. The money for buying Night Town would come out of the revenue from the Gold Mine in Stranglethorn Vale. Luffy couldn't help with anything else.

"I'm fine here. Go take care of your business. I might stay in Treasure Bay for half a year. There's an auction here this year, and both the Alliance and the Horde Side can attend. If I'm lucky, I might get some good stuff. I hear the arena has some decent rewards too. Heh!"

Sun Busong rubbed Humar's head and grinned at Luffy.

"Suit yourself. I'll set up a few outposts here. Come find them directly if you need anything. We have people in Treasure Bay too. Just don't get too close to the Blood Sail Pirates. Goblins and pirates are mortal enemies." Luffy knew what Sun Busong could do. Now that the captain was dead, there was no longer any danger to Sun Busong's life here.

"The Blood Sail Pirates? Sounds interesting. I'll go check them out sometime."

"Don't go stirring up trouble. Those people are hard to deal with." Luffy frowned, looking a little worried.

Sun Busong raised his head and grinned mockingly. "People all over Stormwind say you're thieves, too!"

Stranglethorn Vale was huge, and it had a Horde Side outpost. He had a Tauren with him, sure, but the guy only spoke Common. If a conflict broke out, Sun Busong might even get charged with trafficking a mentally disabled Tauren!

Sun Busong had plenty to do. His top priority was establishing himself in Treasure Bay. The goblins were greedy, money-grubbing, and cared more about money than their lives—but that suited Sun Busong just fine.

After three days of traveling, Sun Busong and the Tauren finally reached Treasure Bay at dusk on the third day.

They followed the road to its end, where they spotted a huge mast standing in the distance. It was over fifty meters tall and nearly six meters wide.

As they continued forward, they saw a lookout platform halfway up the mast. A goblin guard was standing watch on it. Below the platform was a crossbeam dozens of meters wide, decorated with all sorts of ornaments. They were still too far away to make out the details.

Farther down was a huge mast lantern, at least as big as an adult. Then they saw the enormous sail, emblazoned with a giant skull.

Sun Busong and Heavy Fist kept walking, and soon they could see the whole mast clearly. Beneath it was the entrance to Treasure Bay, marked by an enormous set of preserved shark's teeth!

It looked as if the mast had been stuck right into the head of a gigantic shark.

"Now that's a great design. The designer must've been a real wild one. Ha-ha!" Sun Busong had reached the entrance to Treasure Bay. Two goblin guards were on duty there. They were both level 45 Elite Warriors. Just as Sun Busong was about to go over and greet them, the Tauren tugged at his sleeve.

Sun Busong looked at him in confusion, then saw the Tauren staring up at the mast. Following his gaze, Sun Busong looked up too.

Blood was still dripping from the ornaments on the crossbeam halfway up the mast. Sun Busong took a closer look. Good grief! They were all heads—heads from all sorts of races! Humans, Tauren, Orcs, Trolls, and Undead!

"Boss, we'd better be careful once we're inside. I don't want my head hanging up there!" Mr. Heavy Fist was already getting cold feet before they'd even entered.

"My Tauren, those things are there to scare and intimidate people. Who am I? I'm Sun Busong! I've seen this kind of thing eight hundred times. Besides, I'm their most honored guest! Ha-ha! Don't be scared, my Tauren. We're home now!"

With that, Sun Busong strode toward the entrance. Once he got close, the two guards politely stopped him and spoke in Dwarvish. "This is interesting. A short fellow and a Tauren. What brings you to Treasure Bay?"

As soon as someone called him short, Sun Busong's smile vanished. Looking down his nose at the guard, he put on an arrogant expression and said, "I am Sun Busong, commander of the Imperial Guard. I'm here to do business with your big shot, Rivegaz."

When the guards heard him mention the big shot Rivegaz—and learned he was there to do business—they immediately put on obsequious smiles.

"Oh! So our honored guest has arrived! We didn't recognize such a distinguished customer. Please forgive us. Do you have an appointment, or is this your first visit to Treasure Bay?" Goblins were ugly by nature, and they looked even worse when they smiled.

"This is our first visit, but we know someone here. His name is Yang Si. If you know him, could you take us to him?" As he spoke, Sun Busong pulled a Gold Coin from his pocket and flicked it into the air with his thumbnail. Its brilliant glint nearly blinded the two guards.

The guards' smiles grew even uglier.

"I know him! Ha-ha, I know who you mean, sir! The cook named Yang Si, right? He's at the harbor office. I'll take you to him right away."

The guard on the left gave the other one a reassuring look, then bowed and scraped as he led the way. Sun Busong and the Tauren exchanged a glance before following.

But just then, the goblin guard on the right suddenly drew his weapon and shouted, "Come out, or I'll sound the alarm!"

The sudden commotion made Sun Busong stop abruptly. He'd already entered the passage, but he had a feeling this had something to do with him—and it did.

Humar had been spotted!

The goblin had raised his weapon, but he didn't attack. Sun Busong hurriedly turned around and called out, "Don't attack! He's my pet!"

Humar's big blue eyes were brimming with tears. He'd been scared. The poor thing was still too timid. But it wasn't Humar's fault. Even Sun Busong hadn't known that Treasure Bay's guards could detect invisible units.

"So it's your pet, sir. No wonder it's been following you. But all creatures here have to be registered. It wouldn't do anyone any good if someone accidentally killed it!"

"Right, right, you're absolutely right. Where do I register him?" Sun Busong had Humar leave stealth mode.

"Sir, I should've explained that earlier. That was my oversight. I'm the registrar. I was thinking we could chat and get him registered while we walked, but I didn't realize you had a lion for a pet."

The guard leading them took out his register.

The matter was quickly settled. Sun Busong found Yang Si at the harbor office, and when he parted ways with the guards, he generously tossed one of them a Gold Coin.

Yang Si was a cook in Treasure Bay and an informant the Brotherhood had stationed there. After the three of them met up, they went to his room.

"So you're the commander of the Imperial Guard. Your exploits in Night Town have already reached Treasure Bay. I'm honored that you came to see me, sir. Just tell me what you need."

The cook's surname was Yang, but his hair wasn't black.

"You're doing well. The Brotherhood's leaders all think highly of you. I came to do business with the big shots in Treasure Bay, but this is my first time here, and I'll need you to make the introductions. I'll be counting on you."

Sun Busong quite liked his name.

"Anything for you, sir!"

That night, Sun Busong and Yang Si went to Treasure Bay's biggest tavern, the Blackwater Bandits, and had a little get-together with a few of his other human acquaintances.

Among them were Haren, a master bowyer; Sarina, a master swordsmith; Mullong, a master tailor; and Magellan, a master axe maker.

Sarina was a woman. She wasn't very tall—about the same height as Sun Busong! That wasn't meant to insult him by calling him short, or to make fun of his height. He still had a year to go before he came of age. They were just comparing heights.

Sun Busong treated the skilled craftsmen to a meal and chatted with them about the techniques and traditions in their various trades, fishing for information along the way.

Every trade had its own traditions. Craftsmen didn't pass their skills on to just anyone, so the masters of each profession tended to inherit a narrow set of techniques passed down through the generations. A swordsmith didn't make axes, and a hammer maker didn't make armor. A tailor who was good at making clothes might be mediocre at trousers, while a leatherworker who made gloves might not know how to make leather shoes!

So I really was the best at Blacksmithing, Leatherworking, Cooking, Alchemy, Tailoring, and Engineering!

Sun Busong felt even more awesome. That night, he got himself completely drunk.

Early the next morning, Heavy Fist came to wake him up. The two of them officially began their campaign to conquer Treasure Bay. First, they needed to build their reputation. There was no way a nobody like him could get an audience with the big shot Rivegaz.

The fastest way to build reputation was, of course, to do quests. They went to the quest hall and picked out a few with good rewards.

Only two groups offered quests in Treasure Bay: goblin merchants and members of the Blackwater Bandits. Treasure Bay had been founded by the goblin Rivegaz and Fleet Commander Kara Cape.

The quests Sun Busong accepted included:

Supply and Demand: Collect two freshwater crocolisk hides and deliver them to Trisrick in Treasure Bay. Trisrick was a goblin merchant, and he wanted Sun Busong to bring him twenty excellent crocolisk hides.

"The finest leatherworker along the South Seas—and the best in the world. That's what they call me. Me! Trisrick! The best lea—uh, never mind."

"My leather goods are renowned for their high quality. They're the first choice of every connoisseur!"

"I recently received an order from Redvoks, a supervisor at the Craftsmen's Guild. He needs twelve pairs of Shardtooth Leather Boots. Ah, yes, those very popular boots I make."

"But to make those boots, I need some crocolisk hides. There are plenty of crocolisks along the river north of Stranglethorn Vale. Think you could..."

Killing crocolisks wasn't difficult. Skinning them was the annoying part. The Tauren's skinning skills left a lot to be desired. Well, practice made perfect. Sun Busong figured they could kill a few hundred and make Heavy Fist skin them one by one. It would improve his skinning skills and earn them money and reputation!

The second quest was Whiskey Slim's Lost Grog.

Whiskey Slim from Treasure Bay wanted Sun Busong to help him find a lost cask of purple wine.

"We got drunk that day and fell overboard way out in the Hinterlands. Somehow, we drifted all the way to Seaview Cliff, and we almost got eaten by fish.

"And I, Slim, have never been afraid of water—not since I was a kid! Our captain stole a cask of purple wine from a privateer ship bound for Stormwind.

"When the storm hit us in the Hinterlands, I staggered into the cask and smashed it. The wine all fell into the sea in the middle of the storm. If I don't find it, the captain's going to feed me to the cat! Please help me!"

This quest wasn't difficult either. He just had to dive down and retrieve the wine from the cask. That would be a little difficult for most people. Even the best swimmers couldn't stay underwater for long, but Sun Busong could!

He had the Water Vine! And he had a Swift Swim Potion.

Swift Swim Potion

Required Level 10

Use: Increases swimming speed by 100% for 30 minutes. (60-minute cooldown)

Water Vine (Blue Fine):

Item Level 36.

Two-Handed Staff

59–90 Damage Speed 2.80

(26.6 Damage Per Second)

+15 Frost Resistance

Durability 100 / 100

Equip: Allows you to breathe underwater.

Required Level 23.

Finally, he accepted one more quest.

Bring 15 Bloodfang Troll ears to Kobok in Treasure Bay.

"Damn Trolls! They killed the people we sent into the jungle! I've already lost too many good guards in our clashes with them. Blood must be paid for with blood! How am I supposed to explain this to the big shot Rivegaz?

"It's time to make a decision... Think, Kobok... You weren't sent here to sit around doing nothing all day... Ah.

"That's it! You... You're Sun Busong, aren't you? You're here to help me, right? The reward for this job is generous!

"Mm-hmm. Bring me 15 Bloodfang Troll ears, and I'll reward you handsomely. How about it?"

The goblin merchant was nearly driven mad by the Blood Trolls. Sun Busong felt he could help him out.

The rewards for the three quests weren't much, but each one would earn them 500 reputation with Treasure Bay. That alone made them worthwhile!

The trio—a man, a Tauren, and a cat—set off once more. The creatures of Stranglethorn Vale were in for another rough time!

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