Published: March 12, 2025
Chapter 349: Arrow Turtle
After three days on the ship, Zhao Hai and his companions didn't feel bored at all; instead, they made friends with some of the passengers and got familiar with Stark.
Zhao Hai was not a stingy person, and since sailors generally enjoyed drinking, he naturally brought out his milk wine. Stark was thrilled to taste such good wine for the first time. The milk wine produced by Zhao Hai was no longer the low-alcohol version; it could now produce high-alcohol wine at around forty degrees, which had a much better flavor.
This high-alcohol wine was a first on the continent, and Stark was lucky enough to be the first to drink it. However, he passed out after just one cup. Fortunately, Zhao Hai's wine wasn't spiked; he just needed a nap to recover.
Even though Stark got drunk after just a little, he developed a fondness for the wine, which was delightful, especially for a wine enthusiast like him. However, Zhao Hai stopped giving him the high-alcohol wine and instead produced the low-alcohol version. Even though this wine had a significantly lower alcohol content, Stark still enjoyed it. For the past few days, Stark had been pestering Zhao Hai to buy more of this wine, and Zhao Hai generously gifted him fifty pounds, prompting Stark to praise him for his generosity.
Standing on the ship, Zhao Hai observed the bustling boats around him. He realized that the Lüjiang was indeed the busiest river in the Roson Empire, with boats coming and going almost constantly.
Laura stood beside Zhao Hai, admiring the scenery on the river, and said, “Brother Hai, do you think we should build our own ship in the future?”
Zhao Hai smiled slightly and replied, “Sure, we can build our own ship in the future. It will be much more convenient for us to travel to the Orc Prairie, and we can also go out to sea and see the ocean's beauty.”
Laura laughed, “Great! I’ve never been to sea in my life and can't wait to see what the ocean looks like.”
Zhao Hai smiled again, “Don't rush; you'll be able to see it every day in the future, haha.” Just as he was speaking, he suddenly felt a tremor in the ship. Just when he thought he might have misjudged it, the ship shook again.
This time, everyone on board noticed something was off. Stark hurried to the side of the ship, looking serious as he gazed into the water. Zhao Hai didn't understand what he was doing but looked over as well.
In the water, there was a dark shadow right next to the ship. The shadow seemed large, and Zhao Hai looked at it curiously, asking Stark, “Stark, what is that? Is it the one bumping into the ship?”
Stark nodded, “Yes, it's this creature bumping into the ship. This is a magical beast unique to the Lüjiang, the Arrow Turtle. It's a very fierce underwater magical beast, with a large head and immense strength. Its shell is quite special, with a one-meter-long spike protruding from the front, resembling a sword. Besides its shell, this turtle also has scales all over its body, making it very hard to deal with. Most importantly, these Arrow Turtles love to attack passing ships. Our big ship is better off because the deck is thick and can withstand its collisions, but smaller boats would get big holes in them from just a few hits. We can't let it keep bumping into our ship either, or we could face danger.”
Zhao Hai asked curiously, “So what do you plan to do? Shoot it with dull arrows? Will that work?”
Stark nodded, “Yes, we'll shoot it with dull arrows. This creature isn’t very courageous; sometimes it runs off after getting hit a few times. If we can catch it, it would be great because it's delicious.”
While saying this, Stark directed the sailors to prepare the dull arrows. Zhao Hai observed and noticed that the dull arrows they used were a bit different from the ones typically used on land. The dull arrows shot from land would have no one attached, but their arrows had special tips with ropes at the back.
Under Stark's command, the sailors quickly readied the dull arrows and shot them at the shadow. The power of the dull arrows was substantial, and red streaks of blood quickly appeared in the water as they retrieved the fired arrows.