Luo Yu was at a total loss for words. Damn it, how had a corpse ended up on the line?
"Hurry and burn it. Don't let it spread some infectious disease."
Dark lines creased Shui Wuyue's forehead as well. What in the world was with this little penguin? Corpses didn't bite bait, so how had it managed to hook one?
July wore an innocent expression and immediately prepared to cremate the body.
"Wait." Suddenly, Shui Wuyue frowned as he examined the corpse. "There are still soul fluctuations. He isn't dead—he's alive!"
"Ugh..." Just as he spoke, the person abruptly coughed up a mouthful of seawater, seeming to regain a sliver of consciousness.
Shui Wuyue reached out to bar Luo Yu, shielding him behind his back. "Be careful. Look at the back of his hand..."
The man was dressed like an ordinary mariner, but tattooed on the back of his right hand was the design of a lamprey.
Catching sight of the emblem, Shui Wuyue said gravely, "That's the mark of the Wailing Pirate Crew. He's a pirate."
Upon hearing that, Luo Yu realized the little penguin had reeled in someone dangerous!
"Then shouldn't we finish him off after all? July, burn him."
"Don't burn him!" Shui Wuyue stopped him again. "At least don't burn the head. Let me check his face first. If there's a bounty on him, we can collect the money at Qianyan Island."
Luo Yu listened and thought that made sense. He really was still lacking in experience. Shui Wuyue had to support two pet beasts, so he was clearly strapped for cash.
"The leader of the Wailing Pirate Crew was originally a viral biology researcher on the Canglan Continent and an executive at a biopharmaceutical firm," Shui Wuyue explained to Luo Yu. "Later, for reasons unknown, he embezzled a massive fortune in resources from his company and fled out to sea.
"By the time he reappeared in the Alliance's sights, he had already pulled together a band of exiles and become a pirate.
"Many of the cadres in this pirate crew have bounties on their heads. I remember their faces. If he isn't worth anything, then we'll burn him."
"Save..." The pirate July had hooked coughed dryly. Just as he managed to croak out a plea for help, a flash of light heralded the appearance of Shui Wuyue's other pet beast—an Upper Common Species Giant Strength Crab. Its massive pincers locked around the man's neck like a guillotine.
Then, it flipped him over, exposing his face.
"Burn him. He's just a grunt," Shui Wuyue said.
"Wait... wait!" The pirate's consciousness cleared slightly. Realizing he was about to die again, he hurriedly cried out, "I'm not a pirate!
"I'm... an Alliance investigator.
"I don't belong to Wailing. I'm... an undercover agent."
Shui Wuyue and Luo Yu exchanged a glance. An Alliance investigator?
To hunt down these pirates, the Ocean Guardians Alliance indeed liked to plant undercover operatives within their ranks to gather intelligence.
"My cover was blown, and I nearly died. But... because I have a life talent, along with other survival tricks, I feigned death and escaped with my life..."
His desire to survive was overwhelmingly fierce.
"I made a major discovery that must be reported to the Alliance as soon as possible. Please, help me. Take me to a nearby island. Once we reach an island, I can prove my identity...
"There will be a reward..."
Since they had originally considered turning him in for a bounty, the man surmised that this was a legitimate vessel and decided to lay his cards on the table.
"Is that real or fake...?" Luo Yu fell into thought. July had fished up an undercover agent who had been dumped in the sea?
Why did that sound so fantastical?
Still, if he truly was an Alliance Beast Master, he certainly couldn't be burned.
"Xiaowan, come out for a moment. We have work to do," Shui Wuyue called out after a moment's contemplation.
Luo Yu had almost forgotten that Yuwan was a psychic prodigy endowed with extraordinary telepathic perception, something rare even among Spirit-type Beast Masters. Whether this man was lying or not could be determined fairly accurately just by having her read his mental fluctuations.
"What is this...?" When Yuwan stepped outside, she was startled by the scene before her. Where had this person come from?
"Wuji." July put on an innocent look and stealthily slipped the fishing rod behind its back.
"Here's the situation..." Shui Wuyue gave a brief explanation, causing the corner of Yuwan's mouth to twitch.
Why did she get the feeling that this inter-island procurement trip was not going to be peaceful at all? Between Shui Wuyue, Luo Yu, and July, which one of them was the true root of all evil?
"I understand..."
Yuwan condensed a hand of psychokinetic force and clasped the man's head.
"State your identity once more."
"..."
A moment later.
"Lie detection complete... I sensed no deception. There is an extremely high probability that he is an Alliance investigator." Yuwan looked toward Shui Wuyue and Luo Yu.
"It's not an extremely high probability—I really am one..." The man gave a bitter smile. "Besides, my pet beasts are all dead, and my body has been reduced to this state. Right now, I don't have the slightest power to resist, so I'm no threat at all. Just take me to the nearest island, and once I verify things with the Alliance garrison fleet stationed there, my identity will be confirmed...
"If I were a pirate, I wouldn't walk right into a trap by going to an Alliance fleet..."
He truly no longer had any pet beasts and was gravely wounded all over; otherwise, July couldn't possibly have hooked him out of the sea.
Once it was confirmed, Shui Wuyue tossed him a bottle of medicine. "To survive even after your cover was blown, you really have nine lives. What should we call you?"
"Thank you." The investigator offered a strained smile.
"My code name is Liangzai. You can just call me that. Thank you for pulling me out of the sea..."
After drinking the healing medicine, Liangzai's condition improved somewhat, and his vision grew clearer. Only then did he realize that he was actually aboard a ghost ship!
"Hiss..." Enduring the pain racking his body, he looked toward Shui Wuyue. That single look left him completely dumbfounded.
"Wait a moment... Could you be Captain Shui Wuyue of Jingyue Island?
"Raging Blue Shark Shui Wuyue?"
"You know me?" Shui Wuyue raised an eyebrow at him.
Investigator Liangzai took a deep breath. "Of course I know you! In recent days, Wailing has been constantly studying Jingyue Island's military forces!"
Shui Wuyue's expression changed. "What do you mean? Explain clearly."
"Didn't I mention that I made a major discovery within the Wailing Pirate Crew? That discovery is that Wailing plans to launch an assault on Jingyue Island during the Tide Zombie Cataclysm!" Liangzai said.
"What did you say?" Yuwan asked nervously. "Is this intel reliable?"
"Are you serious? A mere Wailing Pirate Crew—how dare they?" Shui Wuyue's voice turned heavy. Jingyue Island might look unimposing, even weak, but that was without counting the guardian deity!
Without the guardian deity, Jingyue Island indeed lacked strength. But with the guardian deity included, what pirate crew in the surrounding waters would dare look down on it?
For several decades, virtually no pirates had raided Jingyue Island.
First, it was genuinely poor, with little plunder to be had, unlike Qianyan Island, which possessed multiple renewable elemental mines and was rich to the brim.
Second, it was both poor and backed by a guardian deity, making an attack a thankless, grueling task.
If the Wailing Pirate Crew intended to exploit the Tide Zombie Cataclysm to burn, kill, and pillage on Jingyue Island, weren't they afraid of waking the guardian deity?!
Investigator Liangzai spoke up. "Indeed, the Wailing Pirate Crew is exceedingly wary of Jingyue Island's guardian deity as well. However, has a treasure recently been unearthed on Jingyue Island?
"The leader of the Wailing Pirate Crew was once a researcher specializing in zombies. He discovered that over the past few months, massive numbers of zombie sea beasts have been gathering in the direction of Jingyue Island in an unnatural manner. When the day of the Tide Zombie Cataclysm arrives, an exceptionally powerful zombie tide will definitely erupt.
"Given such an anomalous phenomenon, he deduced that some treasure must have appeared on Jingyue Island, drawing those zombie sea beasts in.
"...Originally, these pirate crews would always pick an island during the Tide Zombie Cataclysm to pull off a massive raid, and this time, the Wailing Pirate Crew chose Jingyue Island.
"After all, Jingyue Island will be facing immense pressure from the zombie cataclysm, and on top of that, there is an unknown treasure capable of attracting zombie sea beasts... It's worth the gamble.
"It was precisely to investigate the details of the Wailing Pirate Crew's plan that my cover was blown. Fortunately, in their eyes, I should be a dead man now. After all, when I fell into the sea, my head had already been severed from my body, and I was even swallowed into the belly of a sea beast..."
Listening from the side, Luo Yu marvelled that he could survive even that. He truly lived up to being a Beast Master with a life talent.
Of course, the most critical matter right now was what the man had said...
Had a treasure surfaced on Jingyue Island?
He didn't know about any treasure, but Jingyue Island had made its own speculations regarding the strange movements of nearby zombies, concluding they were drawn to the Ancient Grotto. After all, the bizarre signs had only started appearing after the Ancient Grotto was unearthed.
"Don't underestimate Wailing," Liangzai continued. "Although their leader is merely a King-rank Beast Master, his research into zombies and zombie tides runs exceedingly deep. Back on the Canglan Continent, he even spearheaded research on altering the movement trajectories of zombie king beasts via special signals. If...
"If he locates numerous zombie king beasts this time and lures them near Jingyue Island... Jingyue Island will face staggering pressure.
"That's why I need to contact the Alliance as soon as possible to report this news. That way, the Alliance can dispatch more personnel. Of course, you cannot place all your hopes on outside help... You must prepare thoroughly yourselves. During the Tide Zombie Cataclysm, the Canglan Continent will also be struck, and with its vast human population, it will draw far more zombies and bear the brunt of the impact. Even if reinforcements come, there won't be many."
"Thank you for this intelligence," Shui Wuyue said. "On behalf of Jingyue Island, I thank you. Rest assured, we will safeguard your safety moving forward..."
A dual crisis of the Tide Zombie Cataclysm and the Wailing Pirate Crew. If the guardian deity did not emerge, with Jingyue Island's current military strength, holding out would be arduous. If the Wailing Pirate Crew was resolved to invade, they would definitely factor the guardian deity into their calculations and bolster the ferocity of the zombie tide... All in all, it was a massive catastrophe.
Luo Yu gazed up at the sky. Whatever one feared most was bound to happen. If this were in the past, he certainly would have looked for a way to take refuge on another island in advance. However, Director Yu Lei had treated him well... If he were truly powerless to assist, that would be one thing, but facing the situation described by the Alliance investigator, Luo Yu actually had an idea.
Generally speaking, what troubled the various islands the most was not how high the levels of the zombie sea beasts were, but that there were simply too many of them! Furthermore, they were difficult to put down! Zombies relied on human-wave tactics!
Jingyue Island had a small population to begin with. Facing endless hordes of low-rank zombie sea beasts, even if the creatures lined up to be slaughtered, the defenders would be worked to death from exhaustion.
An Advanced Beast Master ought to be dealing with high-rank zombie beasts. In reality, however, a thousand low-rank zombies could pin down his entire focus. A pet beast's stamina was limited, after all, and a zombie had to have its head destroyed to count as dead, making clearing them exceptionally grueling.
Therefore, what Jingyue Island lacked was an efficient means of wiping out vast swarms of low-rank zombies.
*There's still time. I wonder how effective a Monarch Water Demon Beast with the Antivirus Master talent would be at purging zombie swarms. Once I get back, I can synthesize one to test it out. If the results are good, I'll form an antivirus squad and let the zombie tide see what a true attribute counter looks like!* Under no circumstances could the Wailing Pirate Crew be allowed to succeed. What right did trash like them have to set their sights on July's evolution stone?!
Chapter 50