Cave Refuge

Zachary added all the strangers that he received from the floating bottles as friends in one go.

After dealing with these matters, more than a dozen strangers appeared in the communication app. Before Zachary could figure out how to send messages to those strangers, an invitation to a group chat popped up directly on the app.

Once Zachary agreed, he was immediately pulled into a chat group.

"Welcome, newcomer~~."

"Welcome, newcomer~~."

"Welcome, newcomer~~."

.......

A whole line of "Welcome, newcomer~~." kept flooding the screen.

Fred Lewis (group owner),"Enough with the spam. Let me introduce the current situation to the newcomer."

Since you were able to receive our floating bottles through the app, we can be sure you're one of the Flower Planting Family.

Although I'm not certain why you have come here, now that you're here, let me briefly introduce the situation.

Get a basic understanding first, and after you've gotten to know the place, you can decide whether to stay or leave.

If you decide to leave in the end, we won't say much, but if you decide to stay, I hope you can come to an agreement with us to form a defensive alliance.

After all, we're all members of the Flower Planting Family. If there are no outsiders, we rely on our own abilities, and whether we win or lose, the spoils will end up in our own hands. But you've probably seen there are several ships that don't belong to our Flower Planting Family.

So we've decided to first clear out the outsiders, and after they are all cleared out, we'll close the doors and distribute the benefits among ourselves.

Everyone who is already in this group is a member of this newly formed defensive alliance. If you don't wish to join us, we won't force you.

And I can assure you that until all external enemies have been eliminated, as long as you don't attack us, we won't strike at you.

After all, we're all members of the Flower Planting Family, and you should know that our family has a tradition of never firing the first shot.

However, if you do attack us, we won't consider kinship anymore and will retaliate against you strongly.

That's enough about the alliance for now. Let's move on to a brief introduction of the situation here.

Since you were able to join this communication group, you must have bought a tablet from the Imperial Court. I don't know if you have looked at the information published by the Imperial Court about this area.

They only warn that this area is extremely dangerous, that the Merfolk are very hostile to humans, and advise everyone to avoid this place if possible and to take a detour when navigating.

The Imperial Court's announcement is correct, but it omits some information. Normally, these intel would not be made public, but since you're here, I won't beat around the bush and will share with you what we know directly.

I don't know if you've read the Classic of Mountains and Seas before the catastrophe: The Shark People, resembling silkworms or shells, produce pearls not from their backs but through tears not like cocoons. Their transformations are inconceivable; how can creatures be categorized?

"Classic of Mountains and Seas·Volume North II": "Northeast two hundred li there is a Mountain of the Dragon Marquis. It has no vegetation but is rich in metals and jewels. From it flows the Decisive Water which eastward joins the river. There is plenty of Merfolk whose shape is like fish with four feet, whose sounds are like the crying of infants, and eating them cures dementia and spiritlessness."

Paul Gordon's commentary: "Some say that Merfolk are actually Tomb Fish, resembling dace with four feet, whose cries are like those of infants. Even now, the term 'dace' is used to refer to them."

"Inner Seas of the North" mentions the Tomb Fish, "Chu Ci·Heavenly Questions" mentions the Dace Fish, which are all in fact referring to the Literate Genus. Later, Merfolk were said to be "beautiful women."

If you don't understand, let me put it simply: The Shark People look very similar to mermaids from pre-catastrophe animated movies, and when they cry, their tears can turn into pearls.

Moreover, eating a Mermaid can even cure mental illnesses such as dementia and soul loss.

Ah~ It's often said that the Classic of Mountains and Seas left by our ancestors is actually a cookbook, because most of the creatures recorded there, besides their location and appearance, also have virtues attributed to their consumption in the end.

Of course, these virtues might have been quite appealing before the cataclysm, but after it, especially as we've begun our Cultivation, these virtues have less allure for Martial Artists.

However, there was someone who once captured a Shark Person, killed it and dissected the body to find a Shark Pearl. After eating the Shark Pearl, they obtained the ability to move freely underwater, just like the Shark People.

The dangers mentioned in the Imperial Court's announcement are real, but they omitted the uses of Shark Pearls, and I believe you can guess why.

After all, with the great floods, the ability to move freely underwater has a strong appeal to most people.

But the situation at the Great Whirlpool here is very dangerous, and if you don't have sufficient strength, it's essentially a death sentence for ordinary people to come here.

Besides our Flower Planting Family, we have here the Eagle Sauce Family's aircraft carrier fleet that was left here before the catastrophe. The other major forces are the Southern Stick Family and the Basin Chicken Family's warships.

Of course, apart from these three relatively combat-capable fleets, there are also various independent fighters roaming around, simply looking to take advantage of any opportunities.

The Great Whirlpool changes its direction of rotation every three months. During this period, the whirlpool will disappear for one to two days, and these one or two days are the best time to dive and capture those Shark People.