Chapter 531 - Secrets of Dragon Boats
Zhang Xuanyu grabbed a garlic prawn and took a bite, munching. “You can never have too much of a good thing, right? You are lucky to have the chance. Even if others wanted to eat, we wouldn’t give them a chance.”
Ye Baiyu chimed in, “That’s because they are poor.”
Zhang Xuanyu praised him. “You are quite smart. That’s the way it is.”
Han Fei said with a smile, “In fact, we are not the kind of people who are greedy for small profits. How about this? Tell us about the dragon boats. Tell me where the dragon boats came from and who is controlling them...” As he said this, Han Fei grabbed two large garlic prawns and walked in front of the two of them, saying, “Are my garlic prawns fragrant? Tell us what you know about the dragon boats and then you can eat all these delicacies. Not everyone can have this chance.”
With that said, Han Fei handed a string of garlic prawns to each of the two.
Ye Baiyu immediately took it and took a bite of it. As soon as he took a mouthful of the garlic prawn, his eyes glowed. Wow, he had never eaten something so delicious in his life.
Living in the Thousand Star City, he never needed to worry about food and clothes, and there were countless precious food ingredients for him, but they were all of original taste and flavor. Who could have expected that after these ingredients were cooked by Han Fei, their taste suddenly became so damn delicious, which was nothing like human food?
Seeing Ye Baiye eating it, Zhang Wen also took a bite. He felt that he had given up on himself. He had regretted his stupid decision more than once. He would never have ever joined Sun Mu to fight against Han Fei and his teammates if he had known that the Thug Legend team was so powerful. As a result, at the moment this bite of spicy shrimp meat dropped to his stomach, he suddenly felt that all his sadness and depression were gone.
The two people began to munch gluttonously and finished the garlic prawns in a moment.
After they ate the garlic prawn, they found that Han Fei, Xia Xiaochan, and the others were looking at him with a smile.
Han Fei grabbed seven or eight garlic prawns, two spicy crab feet, and two plates of garlic sea mussels and held them to their noses. “What do you think? There is actually no conflict of interest between us. As long as you don’t chase us, we can still be good friends, right? Do you want some more?” The Hexagon Starfish was clinging to the barbecue grill. Of course, he was not going to barbecue himself, but he also liked to eat barbecue. At this moment, the six big eyes of the Hexagon Starfish were rolling, and it had been a long time since he saw Han Fei speak so gently to someone. He bet that Han Fei was absolutely scheming something. Ye Baiyu stretched out his hand and said, “If you want to know about the dragon boats, you can just ask Zhang Wen. He knows much better than me because his family has a share in the dragon boats.”
“F*ck...”
Han Fei and the others looked at each other. What the hell? Zhang Wen’s family has a share in the dragon boats? Really?
However, Zhang Wen kicked Ye Baiyu again, gnashing his teeth and spitting out word by word, “Ye, Bai, Yu...” Han Fei hurriedly stuffed all the food in his hand to Ye Baiyu, then turned his eyes to Zhang Wen and said, “See? This is what a smart person should do. Look at you... Alas! Bro, I don’t mean to offend you, but why are you so stubborn?” As he said this, Han Fei grabbed a bunch of barbecue from the grill and said, “If you tell me about the dragon boats, you will have delicious food to eat. But if you refuse to cooperate, I can beat you until you speak and you will not have anything to eat.” Le Renkuang added on the side, “If I were you, I would just put everything aside and eat this delicious food first. Delicious food is an ultra-quality luxury in this world!”
Zhang Wen knew that Han Fei and the others would not dare to kill him, but why did they want to know about dragon boats? He could not figure out the reason. There were hundreds of thousands of people on each dragon boat. Among them, there were countless peak-level Dangling Fishers and on each dragon boat, there was a Hanging Fisher guarding it. Did these people dare to scheme against the dragon boats? “Surely not.” Zhang Wen admitted that these people were very strong, but he didn’t think they were strong enough to challenge the dragon boats. Even if they had disguise skills and could sneak onto the dragon boats, once they did anything abnormal, they would definitely be targeted immediately.
If it was so easy to mess around with the dragon boats, how could they have existed in the level-three fishery for so long? Straightening it out in his mind, Zhang Wen took the barbecue and said, “OK, I can tell you. It’s not a secret in the Thousand Star City. The dragon boats are super ships built by the big families and sects in the Thousand Star City. The Thousand Star City only cultivates strong people, so almost no one will go to the level-one or level-two fishery to gain fighting experience, and then the dragon boat resources in the level-three fishery have become a major source of revenue for the Thousand Star City, accounting for more than 30% of the entire city’s revenue.” Han Fei’s first reaction was, “30%? Since the people in the Thousand Star City don’t work, where does the remaining 70% revenue come from?”
Zhang Xuanyu grinned. “So you guys just sit idle and enjoy the fruits of others’ work?” But Zhang Wen shook his head and said, “Sit idle and enjoy the fruits of others’ work? You don’t live in the Thousand Star City, so you don’t know the significance of the city’s existence. People in villages and towns just cultivate, fish, and harvest resources in the level-one, level-two and level-three fishery, so all the dangers you can understand are about the fisheries.
But this is a different case for the Thousand Star City. If it weren’t for the Thousand Star City that shelters all the villages and towns, how would it be possible for you people to live such a peaceful life?”
Han Fei asked, “What do you mean?”
Zhang Wen went on explaining, “The Unknown Place. The remaining sources of revenue for the Thousand Star City are mostly from the Unknown Place, which accounts for at least 50% of our economic sources. As for the remaining, it is all about business and trade that you don’t understand.” Han Fei and his companions couldn’t help looking at each other in astonishment. Did the hundreds of dragon boats in level-three fishery account for only 30% of the revenue of the Thousand Star City?
Han Fei certainly knew how much money a dragon boat could make a day. Just in terms of the most basic cost of accommodation, each dragon boat would earn at least as much as 50 million, if not 100 million.
Not to mention the scale of the entire trading market on the dragon boats. It would be surprisingly huge. Even not counting the trading market in, minus the incidental expenses such as the daily depreciation fee of the dragon boats, assume that each dragon boat would earn the net profit of 100 million a day, then it would be 10 billion for a hundred dragon boats.
But this only accounted for thirty percent?
Perhaps the dragon boats were expensive to build, but this thing had been in operation for hundreds of years, so the expenses would not be as high as it seemed.
Han Fei took a slight breath and asked, “So you mean that the dragon boats are controlled by those big clans and sects?”
Zhang Wen shook his head and explained, “Not really. Just a part of it. The Thousand Star City has a population of hundreds of millions. If all the dragon boats are controlled by the big clans and sects, what do the ordinary people live on? In general, the major sects account for about 30%, big clans account for about 20%, and the remaining 50% is used to support ordinary people in the Thousand Star City.” Han Fei was astonished and asked, “So, do you mean that as long as you live in the Thousand Star City, you can receive a monthly relief fund even if you are only an ordinary person?”
“Relief fund?”
Zhang Wen nodded. “This term is novel, but it is not exactly a relief, because most of the money is earned by ordinary people. The Thousand Star City has a special organization to conduct statistics and distribute the, well... Relief fund according to the contribution made by each household in the Thousand Star City.”
“The big clans account for 20%? How many big clans are there in the city?” Zhang Wen thought for a while and answered, “That’s not easy to measure. Some families rise and some families decline, but usually, only the ten strongest families will be named big clans. As for the remaining ones that have declined and fallen out of the top ten, there must be hundreds of them.”
“So many?” Xia Xiaochan looked at Luo Xiaobai and the latter frowned slightly. “I don’t know how many big families are in the Thousand Star City. I don’t go out very much. But the top ten big clans are in control of the economy.” Han Fei pondered for a moment, and then suddenly asked, “Since the dragon boats are so important, why is there only one Hanging Fisher guarding each dragon boat?” Zhang Wen opened his eyes wide and asked, “Isn’t a Hanging Fisher enough? The cultivators above Hanging Fishers are restricted from entering the level-three fishery at all due to various reasons. Even with occasional exceptions, they can’t do anything in the level-three fishery.”
The Thousand Star City would only send Hidden Fishers to take turns to guard the dragon boats. As for the cultivators above Hidden Fishers, they were already capable of threatening the safety of all dragon boats, so they were not allowed to enter the level-three fishery. Han Fei nodded. No matter how well the dragon boats were guarded, they were just huge ordinary ships. In terms of the material alone, they could not even be compared with the Wind God Boat or the Ghost Speed Divine Boat. Not to mention the cultivators above Hidden Fishers, even a Hanging Fisher would be able to wreak havoc on a dragon boat.
Han Fei asked, “How are the Hanging Fishers and Hidden Fishers who are responsible for guarding the dragon boats selected?” When Zhang Wen heard Han Fei’s question, he suddenly fell silent and just wolfed down the food. However, Luo Xiaobai suddenly said, “They should be designated by the big clans and major sects from the Thousand Star City and the sects.
This is the only source of these people.” Zhang Wen raised his head and glanced at Luo Xiaobai, saying, “You’ll have no chance to defeat them. The assigned Hanging Fishers are at least peak-level fishers, ordinary Hanging Fishers would not get this job. The same is true for Hidden Fishers. At that level, they are only half a step away from becoming a Law Enforcer. How could a mere Dangling Fisher be able to defeat them?”
The next day.
When the Wind God Boat appeared only 3,000 kilometers or so from the dragon boats, the servants of the Zhang Family and the Ye Family came.
At this moment, nearly 20 fishing boats from two families landed opposite them.
These people were not here to fight, but to prevent Han Fei and his teammates from playing any tricks to snatch what they had brought over without releasing their young masters. With the status of these two big families, a mere 10,000 spiritual fruits, or 100,000 catties of spiritual spring, was only a piece of cake for them. It was just that for some time after this, the prices of spiritual fruit and spiritual spring would inevitably soar. This was a market economy issue and had nothing to do with Han Fei.
After a while, Han Fei got the spiritual fruit and spiritual spring as he wished. He shouted at Zhang Wen and Ye Baiyu standing on the bow of the opposite boats, “Remember not to do stupid things next time. As long as you dare to come again, I will catch you again but then you will have to pay ten times what you paid today. Think about it.”
Zhang Wen snorted and left with his servants. This time, he suffered great humiliation. At the same time, however, it made him realize his weakness.
He would certainly take revenge on Han Fei, but to take revenge at this moment was tantamount to dreaming. For the first time, he desperately wanted to improve his strength. “Huh! Why do I feel something is wrong?”
“Young Master, what’s wrong with you?” Zhang Wen rubbed his stomach, full of doubt. “I’m fine.”
As for Ye Baiyu, he felt that this time he was too careless. He would never have expected that Luo Xiaobai turned out to be a member of the divine manipulator family, or else he would not have even participated in the battle.
Burble, Burble... After these two people were released, Han Fei and his party immediately drove the Wind God Boat to run away with a swish. Less than ten minutes after Han Fei and the others left, Zhang Wen and Ye Baiyu both changed their faces drastically. Zhang Wen’s entire face flushed and he cursed, “Damn it, when did he poison me?” Ye Baiyu gnashed his teeth and clutched his stomach, groaning, “Han Fei, f*ck you...” But Han Fei had run away. Now, he was laughing out loud.
Le Renkuang asked him, “How much poison did you put on them?”
Han Fei grinned and said, “One drop per person. If I used too much, they would notice it. However, one drop is enough for them.” Zhang Xuanyu put his arm around Han Fei’s shoulders and exclaimed, “Wow, you are really awesome! is this Poison King really so powerful?” Han Fei laughed. “Sure. Luckily, we ran away fast.
Otherwise, I guess they would catch up and take revenge on us.” Although they did not catch up to take revenge, he was not sure if he could win the next time if the other party was prepared. He won this time, not because of his ability, but because those people underestimated Han Fei’s teammates too much.
Whether it was Le Renkuang’s Sky Swallowing Technique or Zhang Xuanyu’s Tertiary Body, they both exceeded their expectations.
As for Luo Xiaobai, let alone the others, even Han Fei and the other three were stunned by her new abilities.
Somewhere on the sea 10,000 kilometers away from the dragon boat, Han Fei and the other four switched to an ordinary fishing boat. In the cabin, the five of them sat cross-legged. Sea Swallowing Shells were piled on the ground like a small hill. The five of them stared at each other blankly, having no idea what to do with these Sea Swallowing Seashells...
Le Renkuang muttered stupidly, “How much money is in these Sea Swallowing Seashells?”
Han Fei thought for a long while before he said, “I am not sure, but anyway, it seems that now we have money to burn.” At first, Han Fei knew how many Sea Swallowing Seashells he had snatched. Even plus those that he snatched from Zhang Wen, Ye Baiyu, and the disciples of the six major sects, the number could still be counted.
However, Han Fei was away for more than two months after all. During this period, Xia Xiaochan and the others were not idle either. On the Steps into the Sea, he gave her 51 treasure maps, most of which had been used by her. Most of the secret realms were actually empty, and she only gained something in less than 20 of them, but even so, the gains were quite a lot. Besides, Xia Xiaochan and the others had snatched hundreds of Sea Swallowing Seashells off and on, resulting in too much money, which was almost countless.
Zhang Xuanyu said, “All I can think of is to change my outfit. Then, I will keep a little spare. But I don’t know how to deal with the rest.”
Xia Xiaochan was also at a loss. She used to have no money to spend, but now she had money but didn’t know how to spend it! Luo Xiaobai analyzed with difficulty, “Firstly, as Zhang Xuanyu said, we’d better make a few new sets of weapons and armor, which better be ultra-quality spiritual weapons.” Han Fei volunteered, “Let me make them! How many sets shall I make for each of you?”
Le Renkuang asked weakly, “10 sets?”
BAM!
Han Fei kicked over. “Why do you want so many? Are you going to eat them?”
Le Renkuang scratched his belly. “Well... Wouldn’t it be a waste not to use them?”
Luo Xiaobai shook her head and said, “We don’t need that many. Two sets for one person will be enough. After all, we can’t completely rely on weapons and armor. Otherwise, how can we gain enough fighting experience we need? Secondly, I think we can stay in seclusion for cultivation for some time. Before, there were not so many resources for us to cultivate, but now...”
Xia Xiaochan said, “Shall we look for the ghost ship while cultivating?”
Luo Xiaobai shook her head. “We don’t need to look for it. The Sea Grassland matter is still far from over. Many people are still venturing into the Sea Grassland. Especially after many people think that I have got the so-called “Sea Quelling Bizarre Treasure”, there will be more people believing there is still a big secret in the Sea Grassland.” Han Fei asked, “Well, is there really a big secret there?”
Luo Xiaobai shrugged. “There should still be, but it’s definitely not a Sea Quelling Bizarre Treasure, just an ordinary treasure...”
Luo Xiaobai pointed to the hill-like pile of Sea Swallowing Seashells, asking, “Aren’t there enough? We never thought that one day we would be so rich, did we?”
Han Fei sighed. “OK, then let’s stay in seclusion for cultivation during this period, and wait for the ghost ship to appear by itself.”
Han Fei was very sure that the ghost ship would definitely appear. Two more dragon boats gathered on the Sea Grassland, and the third or even the fourth one might come soon.
Regardless of whether there was any treasure in the Sea Grassland or not, the killing between people here would definitely not cease. At that time, there would be large quantities of resources to be sold. At that time, there was no reason for the ghost ship to miss the chance.
Half a month later.
Le Renkuang had just stabilized his realm as an advanced Dangling Fisher. Zhang Xuanyu failed to make a breakthrough, but had learned the Spiritual Pearl Body Protecting Barrier. Han Fei had made two sets of ultra-quality battle suits and weapons for each of them. It was just that as an armorist, Le Renkuang needed a lot of weapons.
Anyway, being coaxed and pestered unceasingly by this guy, Han Fei made eight ultra-quality spiritual weapons for him in the end. Han Fei had decided that all the credit of this guy so far had been offset by these ultra-quality spiritual weapons he made for him. Besides, Han Fei took advantage of the spare time to attach souls to the 99 Blue Sea Wandering Dragon Daggers and the souls attached to them were all Mess Swallowing Worms.
Then, two big turtles were attached to the Water Dividing Seal and the Whetstone. He also found a Single-Horned Shark and attached its soul to the Blood Drinking Knife.
After all, it was almost impossible to find so many exotic creatures to attach their souls to these weapons in such a short time. The purpose of attaching souls to spiritual weapons was nothing more than to make the spiritual weapon more agile and more powerful. In the past, he attached the soul of a Mess Swallowing Worm to a low-quality spiritual weapon, and then the speed of the knife was directly doubled. But now, after attaching a soul to an ultra-quality spiritual weapon, its speed was only 30% faster.
Although it was only 30%, Han Fei was already satisfied. An ultra-quality spiritual weapon itself was a powerful existence, and if it became 30% faster, it almost had reached the limit that he could reach now.
Han Fei made statistics. At present, the total number and value of the items in the hands of the five people were so great that Han Fei was almost dazzled.
The list was roughly as follows:
There were 146 high-quality spiritual weapons and 44 high-quality battle suits. 1502 mid-quality spiritual weapons and 320 mid-quality battle clothes. 1000 ultra-quality pearls. 300,000 high-quality pearls. The number of mid-quality pearls totaled 1.1 billion. A total of 13265 Flash Stones. 3608 pieces of high-quality materials. There were a total of 966 combat skills, of which the best ones had been learned.
As for spiritual fruit, plus the ones that Han Fei had bought before, there were a total of 13,068 pieces and more than 90,000 catties of spiritual spring. Now Han Fei didn’t have to worry about the source of spiritual energy at all. He was rich, damn f*cking rich!
“Heh, Heh, Heh...”
Just when Han Fei was supporting his chin, feeling that he had suddenly lost his life goal, eerie laughter suddenly sounded on the bottom of the sea and over the ocean.
Han Fei immediately shook and shouted, “Oh! Here it comes.”
And he hurriedly shouted to the other four, “Hurry up, the ghost ship is here. Let’s get on the ship quickly.”
Xia Xiaochan was the first to rush over and she asked, “Why, has it finally appeared?” Zhang Xuanyu said, “Oh, finally we have got a place to spend our money!” Le Renkuang said, “Isn’t it said that there is nothing good on the ghost ship?” Luo Xiaobai wondered, “The question is that, is the ghost ship really credible? We have too many resources now. What if the ghost ship gets tempted by them?”
Han Fei thought for a moment and said, “Well, you two girls stay outside. If we don’t come out within a day, you will leave.”
“No!”
Xia Xiaochan refused and insisted, “I want to go too.”
Luo Xiaobai said, “Let’s go together. If we find anything wrong there, we can leave.”
Luo Xiaobai suddenly took out some ancient jade and said, “Let’s board the ship first. Let’s use these resources according to the situation on the ghost ship!”
When they saw Luo Xiaobai taking out the ancient jade, everyone grinned slightly. Luo Xiaobai no longer kept her real family background away from them but had completely revealed it. According to the ancient jade, her status was probably no lower than that of Sun Mu and the other big clan children, maybe even higher. “Let’s go! Go buy, buy, buy!”