Chapter 1050 - 986: Another Heart of Darkness

The battle was won, and the whole army cheered in unison. Da Fei, with the Divine Artifact Treasure Ball in his hands, felt so excited that he couldn’t contain himself. A Divine Artifact with four special skills and dual domains could already rival the Sea Soul Staff; this was definitely a top-tier Divine Artifact far superior to ordinary ones! Da Fei’s mind instantly painted an invincible blueprint for how to use this artifact in the future.

Hilda chuckled, "It seems my journey can continue, but I need to seize the opportunity to complete my space magic lessons, or I won’t earn as much money next time an accident happens."

Da Fei snapped back and laughed heartily, "Of course! If Miss Hilda weren’t here, I’d be very upset!"

Then it occurred to him that the biggest issue in this battle was that the Orca didn’t have a Teleportation Array. If it had, he, as the commander, could have teleported onto the Orca to lead the charge, instead of risking Catherine’s life. After all, even George could teleport between different warships to evade danger.

So Da Fei said, "By the way, I want to install a Teleportation Array on the Orca."

Hilda smiled, "No problem, we’ll do it when we have time to dock! Now, I should go check on the girls in the bar; they must have gained a deeper understanding of spells after this domain battle."

Indeed, after coming from the North Pole and fighting so many battles, they should have made some breakthroughs by now, no matter their amnesia, right?

At this moment, Sona appeared in front of Da Fei: "Congratulations! Your ability to defeat Blasphemer George proves your strength is indisputable. The Sea Jade tribute you seized is exactly what you need for the Sea God’s Tribute."

Da Fei was overjoyed; he’d been so focused on the artifacts that he hadn’t noticed the spoils! He hurried to check the inventory of the spoils of war.

— Sea Jade Tribute: A tribute to the Sea God. Offering this tribute in the Sea God Temples of various Naga cities grants a temporary increase in Magic Knowledge Attribute. (Note: This loot is pending acceptance.)

Da Fei was shocked: "The tribute can increase magic knowledge?"

Sona nodded, "Of course, there are several types of Sea God’s tributes. Tribute Pearls can temporarily increase life stamina, and Tribute Night Light Pearls can increase attack and defense. Anyone taking tributes to the Sea God Temple can receive the Sea God’s blessing. The more tributes, the greater the blessing. The blessing doesn’t disappear even if the hero dies. The higher the believer’s rank, the better the effect of using the tribute. This is the advantage of serving the Sea God."

Da Fei was stunned on the spot! No way, this is much more convenient than the Church of Light! I’ve never heard of gaining power through tributes in the Church of Light! There, you must be a monk or nun and meditate until getting hemorrhoids to gain even a tiny bit of power! And ordinary Knight Priests don’t even qualify to become monks or nuns.

Thinking of meditation, Da Fei suddenly realized that this half-baked monk had always been hanging on, but unfortunately, was just hanging and reading. It seemed the monk’s cultivation had shown little progress. At that moment, Da Fei was tempted: should he mix with the Sea God from now on?

Sona continued, "In fact, for ground races of George’s caliber, their way of life in the Naga Empire is to strive for the Sea God Tribute. Then they hope to eventually gain the Empire’s recognition, either getting a small island as a fief or becoming noble citizens of a large city. You already inherited a territory, so you are already quite close to divine status."

Da Fei smiled in surprise, unless I steel my heart, I might as well not be the bothersome President of the Dragon Cavalry Chamber of Commerce. But then again, I could just not do it at all? The Sea God’s Curse targets the guild, not the individuals. I honestly don’t see how this Chamber of Commerce benefited me much. However, not being it would mean all previous efforts were in vain, which is simply unacceptable.

As they spoke, Da Fei’s fleet approached George’s remaining fleet. By this time, George’s fleet had been controlled by Catherine and Deirdre. The sailors on the other ships were desperately putting out fires, and Da Fei immediately ordered his forces to help fight the fire without saying a word.

After all, the spoils of war only counted for the parts George could control. As for those burning ships, they still had to salvage and search on their own.

Now, the Flying approached the black-sailed battleship where George was. Sitting cross-legged on the deck under the watch of a few Angels, George, in his black robe, had the appearance of a kindly old white-haired man, which surprised Da Fei greatly.

Facing the other’s cloudy gaze, Da Fei cleared his throat and said, "Well, don’t worry, I’ll honor our agreement. I won’t hand you over to the Kingdom. You’ll be free shortly, and I hope we can be friends the next time we meet."

George sighed, "For so many years, I’ve always been very cautious. But since coming here, my arrogance grew daily along with my strength. I’m no longer the cautious person I once was, which is why I lost. I have nothing to say. I will never be enemies with a warrior again."

Xiluo laughed heartily, "Now that’s more like the scruffy priest I used to know."

He really knows when to adapt to the situation. Good, talking doesn’t tire you out.

Then Da Fei smiled and said, "Interested in joining my team and starting a venture with me?"If he agrees, it would be like the pirate Yasoro model, and my forces would have a few more mysterious Fallen Angel warships.

However, George shook his head, "Sorry, I have no intention of forming an alliance. This has nothing to do with our friendship level, so please forgive me, warrior."

Even though Da Fei knew such a good thing wouldn’t be that simple, he still wondered, "What’s it related to then?"

George replied seriously, "It’s related to the Naga Empire’s attitude. The Empire won’t allow any power to become too strong. Owning ten warships is already the Empire’s tolerance limit for me. If I acquire even one more warship, I’ll receive a warning and sanction from the Empire. Now, warrior, your fleet has less than ten ships, so there’s no issue. But once you own ten ships, someone will come to warn you. If I allied with you, the warrior’s power would exceed the threshold. Understand?"

Da Fei suddenly realized! That’s right, in the information, the Nagas in the Eastern World strictly control the area of every small island power. I didn’t expect they had restrictions on ships too?

Da Fei asked in surprise, "So, the Naga only care about the quantity of ships and not the quality?"

George nodded, "Pretty much, they have no concept of the quality of ships, they simply judge the strength of a force by how many troops the ships can transport. So when the quantity is restricted, I enhance the quality, equipping each battleship with expensive magic arrays."

Xiluo sighed, "Exactly, in the eyes of the Naga, ships on the water are like insects under human feet, they can sink them anytime, so they don’t regard powerful battleships highly. Ultimately, the biggest beneficiaries of this restriction are small pirates like me, who can have some survival space in chaotic situations."

At this moment, George turned and pointed at the Orca not far away, "Isn’t that the former flagship of the Desolate Pirate King Rock?"

Da Fei was surprised, "Yes, now her daughter has inherited it, why?"

George nodded seriously, "A truly remarkable hero, she is destined to become a pirate leader. Actually, there is a way for warriors to expand their power in the Eastern Sea Domain."

Da Fei’s eyebrows twitched, "Please enlighten me!"

George said solemnly, "A defeated general, I dare not presume to instruct. If warriors want to expand their strength, they can let her establish her own faction, then warriors have 10 battleships, and she also has 10 battleships, no official alliance, but maintain a tacit private connection, a little tactical cooperation is entirely possible. But remember, don’t use this relationship to join forces in the same sea against the same opponent, or the Naga Empire will still judge it as an alliance. In summary, it’s best to fight solo, that’s the rule in the Eastern World."

Establishing her own faction again! Can we not bring this up?

Da Fei sighed, "Thank you for the guidance, actually I think, we can maintain the cooperative relationship you mentioned without forming an alliance."

Just as Da Fei finished, Deirdre excitedly swooped down, "Master, we’ve found a lot of spoils on the ship we extinguished."

—System Prompt: You searched the battlefield and obtained extra spoils: Sea Jade +48 units, Pearls +103 units.

Da Fei was overjoyed, as he said, George really is abundant! We just secured over 200 units of Sea God’s Tribute, are the remaining over 800 far behind?

At this moment, George’s face twitched, unable to hide the pain, "The warrior makes sense, but unless the warrior returns some tribute to me, then I will consider it."

You’ve got to be kidding! Talk about thick skin, don’t even think about it!

As expected, Xiluo started laughing loudly, "George, there’s no such rule in the Eastern World!"

Da Fei coughed and said, "Sorry about that, I desperately need tribute to complete a task now, once it’s complete and I have extra tribute, I’ll think about it."

George suddenly fell silent, the scene instantly became quiet. But it didn’t matter, the friendship and trust levels were never high, discussing such matters as recruitment is almost impossible. Da Fei decided to talk about something interesting, like Divine Artifacts.

So Da Fei asked with a smile, "By the way, about the Light’s Tear, what reward will I get if I submit it to the Holy Court?"

George coldly smiled, "I’ll tell you a secret, there’s another Divine Artifact called Heart of Darkness, it’s a set with the Light’s Tear. What will you do?"

No way! It’s actually a set! Da Fei asked in surprise, "Then where is the Heart of Darkness?"

George laughed heartily, "I’ve been meaning to ask that question too, the reason I fell to be a Dark Priest is because I wanted to embrace darkness and search for the other half of the Divine Artifact set. But I’m not strong enough, I can only shrink in the Eastern World. But a warrior as exceptional as you certainly won’t have any problem."

Da Fei was stunned on the spot! There’s nothing more frustrating than finding out that the Divine Artifact you pride yourself on isn’t complete! You did this on purpose, didn’t you? You absolutely did it on purpose!

George said faintly again, "Warrior, now that my goods have all been taken by you, can you let me go?"

Da Fei sighed deeply, "Until we meet again."

Now, Da Fei’s fleet set sail again, and George’s remaining fleet towed the heavily damaged ships and disappeared from Da Fei’s view.

This victory greatly advanced Da Fei’s tribute collection progress, while obtaining the Divine Artifact to supplement strength also significantly stimulated Da Fei’s ambition, it’s time for something big! (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to submit recommendations and monthly votes, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please read at m.qidian.com.)