Chapter 195 – Flower Protection Alliance[1]
Zhao Hai couldn’t help but be disappointed, but calmed himself soon after thinking about it. If Rank Nine experts could so easily appear, then wouldn’t this world be in chaos?
Having said that, in a strict sense, this giant mosquito didn’t have many differences from other Devouring Blood-Mosquitoes. Most likely, it had just lived longer than them, and therefore became a Rank Nine expert. Looking at other aspects, there wasn’t anything really special.
Green and the others gave Zhao Hai a perplexed look as they didn’t understand why he’d released a mosquito. Zhao Hai didn’t think too deeply about what he’d just done. He was currently thinking of a way to retrieve the mosquito. To his surprise, the Space gave a projection. It was a prompt with written words on it that asked, “Do you wish to recover the mosquito?”
This made Zhao Hai surprised for a moment. He really hadn’t thought that the mosquito could be unexpectedly retrieved. He immediately decided to do so and the mosquito disappeared.
After watching the mosquito disappear, Zhao Hai turned around and looked at the giant mosquito. He asked it, “What’s your name?”
The giant mosquito looked at Zhao Hai. “Name? What is a name?”
Zhao Hai sighed. It seems that this giant mosquito didn’t cultivate little by little in order to reach Rank Nine, otherwise, why was it that it didn’t understand. If she naturally cultivated to Rank Nine, then upon reaching Rank Six or Seven, she should have gained basic knowledge. Upon reaching Rank Eight, she should have had wisdom that wasn’t any lower than a normal human’s[2]. How was it possible for her to not have a name. Moreover, she didn’t even know what a name was. It seems that she’d reached Rank Nine due to some fortuitous encounter.
Zhao Hai looked at the giant mosquito and said, “Let me tell you what it is then. From now on, I’ll call you Zhao Wen[3]. Zhao Wen is your name. When I shout Zhao Wen, it means I am calling for you.”
Zhao Hai looked at Zhao Wen’s appearance and said, “Can you reduce your size? Or can you only be that big?”
Zhao Wen replied, “I can shrink my size to the same as those Devouring Blood-Mosquitoes.” Afterward, her body slowly shrunk until she was around the size of an ordinary Devouring Blood-Mosquito. Her body, however, was like a blood jade carving. If she stayed motionless, others might think she were a statue, and a beautiful one at that[4].”
Zhao Hai nodded. He turned towards Green and said, “Grandpa Green, let’s go back into the living room. I want ask Zhao Wen about things inside the Carrion Swamp.”
Green nodded while curiously looking at Zhao Wen. They, however, couldn’t look at it as casually as Zhao Hai. They also looked at Zhao Hai with eyes filled with curiosity, along with a bit of awe.
After they entered the room, Zhao Hai looked at Zhao Wen and asked, “Zhao Wen, when did you become a Rank Nine expert?”
Zhao Wen thought for a while before responding. “I don’t know. We Devouring Blood-Mosquitoes aren’t just hematophagous[5]. Sometimes, we also drink water. I don’t know how long ago it was when I saw a drop of some garnet thing. It was the same color as blood. I drank that drop of garnet, and fainted afterward. Once I woke up, I found that I had become different from the other Devouring Blood-Mosquitoes. My body had become larger, and there was an enormous increase in strength. Then, one day, an alligator found me and told me that I had reached Rank Nine while also asking me to join the Flower Protection Alliance.”
Although Zhao Wen could communicate with humans using divine power[6], a Rank Nine expert controlling their divine power this way was just child’s play. A Rank Nine expert could use their divine power to communicate with a person, and also use it to connect with a multitude of people. In this case, Zhao Hai, Green, and the others could also hear Zhao Wen’s words.
Zhao Hai was puzzled. “You said that drop of garnet seemed the same as blood? Where did you find it?”
Zhao Wen shook her head and said, “I don’t know such things. It was like a kind of biological blood and even had the right scent. That drop of blood, however, had fallen to the ground and had already been there for a long time, yet hadn’t dried up. Surprisingly, it seemed to stay quite fresh. Because of that, I drank it and sadly, I can’t remember where I was when I did it. Since then, I haven’t seen anything similar.”
Zhao Hai then asked, “What kind of organization is that Flower Protection Alliance?”
“Giant Tooth[7], the giant alligator, told me that the Flower Protection Alliance is an organization whose members involve all of the Rank Nine experts of the Carrion Swamp,” explained Zhao Wen. “Its sole objective is to protect Seven-colored Flower City[8]. No matter who it is, once Seven-colored Flower City is under attack, we will join forces to beat back the enemy.
“Moreover, he had also told me that we, the Rank Nine experts of the Carrion Swamp, cannot casually leave the swamp. He added that there is an agreement between us and the Rank Nine experts of various parts of the continent. They cannot enter the Carrion Swamp in large numbers, and nor can we make trouble outside of the swamp. Otherwise, all of the other forces will join together to attack the culprit.”
This was something Zhao Hai and the others hadn’t known of. No wonder there hadn’t been any appearances of a Rank Nine expert coming from the Carrion Swamp and arriving on the continent. Originally, there was this treaty. Zhao Hai couldn’t help but be more curious, so he asked Zhao Wen, “How many Rank Nine experts does this Flower Protection Alliance have?”
Zhao Wen shook her head. “This, I do not know. What I do know is that there should be at least ten who stay nearby and guard Seven-colored Flower City. I was also near the city before. Unexpectedly, someone had previously attacked Seven-colored Flower City, thus, I was asked to defend that area.”
Zhao Hai nodded and said, “So it means that usually, you are free to do what you want and those experts don’t restrict you? By the way, can you beat them?”
Zhao Wen nodded. “There are a few that I can, and there are also a few I cannot. If I retreat, however, they won’t be able to catch up to me. They usually don’t restrict anyone. Only when there is an incident in Seven-colored Flower City will we all gather together.”
Zhao Hai curiously asked, “Have you fought them before? Otherwise, how can you say you could win against them[9]?”
Zhao Wen replied, “Yes, I had fought with a few of them before. If one wants to join the Flower Protection Alliance, then one must accept challenges from five Rank Nine experts. Only then can you obtain their approval[10].”
“Then, why do you have to protect Flower City, the one you’re calling Seven-colored Flower City?” Zhao Hai curiously asked another question.
Zhao Wen shook her head and said, “I don’t know, but I heard from the others that this was the custom of the older generations of Rank Nine experts and was passed down from generation to generation. It is said that Flower City is very important to us, but we don’t dare approach the old city casually. Otherwise, that seven-colored flower will attack us.”
Zhao Hai nodded. He turned his head to Green and said, “What do you make of this, Grandpa Green?”
Green thought for a while and then asked Zhao Wen, “What about the recurring riots that happen where the magic beasts and undead from the Carrion Swamp rampage through the Black Waste. What was the cause of it[11]?”
Zhao Wen took some time to think before replying, “This is something I also don’t know about. With regards to those magic beasts and undead, we Rank Nine experts do not handle them. Rank Eight experts handle these matters, and we Rank Nine experts do not meddle with them. ”
Zhao Hai frowned after hearing her answer. Green continued, “Then, can you order these magic beasts and undead not to go out of the Carrion Swamp?”
Zhao Wen shook her head. “We don’t generally meddle with these matters. I have also heard them say they have reasons to head out. I remember before I reached Rank Nine, that I had left twice. It was due to the toxins within our bodies. We had stored up a lot of it and didn’t have any means to detoxify it. Thus, we needed to find a non-toxic place to remove the toxic substances from within our bodies, else we die.”
Zhao Hai nodded. He was convinced by this argument. In the Carrion Swamp, no matter what, all of the animals, plants, and even water and air, everything was toxic. Although they had already adapted to this toxin, once their body accumulated too much, it would be harmful to them. This was comparable to the saying some people might say about how eating green vegetables would give a lot of advantages, but only eating green vegetables and disregarding other foods wouldn’t be something anyone could bear[12].
Since the Black Waste was adjacent to the Carrion Swamp, it had naturally become the place where these magic beasts and undead go in order to expel their toxins. The reason why the Black Waste became this way was probably due to this reason.
In fact, Zhao Hai had already thought of this reason a long time ago, but couldn’t think of any solution[13]. Thus, they wanted to go and see Flower City in order to get some ideas on how to solve this matter.
Now it seems that even if they could visit Flower City, those magic beasts and undead would still riot within the Black Waste. If they didn’t do that, then they still must find an alternative way to detoxify themselves. They are in a toxic place, thus, wanting to find a place to detoxify would be harder than that actual detox itself.
Zhao Hai, however, couldn’t go back now after arriving this far in his search for Flower City. In any case, they might as well go and visit Flower City and have a look. If Flower City could actually help them resolve their security issue, then they could at least have a rear base that was secure.
Thinking of such things, Zhao Hai turned his head back towards Zhao Wen and said, “In a while, you will bring the Ghost Cane to Flower City. Once you reach the outer part of the city, I will let the Eagle Virtuous Phantasms out and you will hand them the Ghost Cane. Then you can come back inside the Space. Do you like to stay inside the Space?”
Zhao Wen nodded. “I really like it here. It’s very comfortable.”
Zhao Hai nodded. Although Zhao Wen was subdued by the Space, he didn’t want Zhao Wen to be regarded as an undead. No matter what, Zhao Wen was a living being with high intelligence, and he had deceived her to come into the Space. This had confused her and allowed her to be subdued by the Space. This was really unjust[14].
Moreover, Zhao Wen was also a Rank Nine expert, and thus could help them with many issues later on[15]. Zhao Hai gave the name Zhao Wen to her as he regarded her as a clan member, not a tool[16].
Green and the others were very happy as they listened to Zhao Hai. Now their clan had a Rank Nine expert. A clan with a Rank Nine expert compared to a clan without one were two different concepts. Now, if they went out and told the world that they were the Buda clan, they knew of only a few individuals who would dare move against them.
Zhao Hai looked at Zhao Wen and said, “Now then, go and take the Ghost Cane and fly towards Flower City. Once you are near Flower City, go back inside the Space. By the way, if you are inside Flower City, will the flowers there attack you?”
Zhao Wen nodded. “Yes, if we go inside Flower City, those flowers will attack us. Furthermore, their attack strength is formidable, and I’m not their match.”
Notes:
-This chapter was MTL’ed. Please leave a comment for constructive criticisms and advice. Thanks.
-Please support the author if you love this novel.
-Please check out the Editor’s footnotes, thanks.
Footnotes:
[1] 护花盟 – Hù huā méng. Protect Flower Alliance. ↩
[2] This seems idiotic. So if a child reaches age ten, he should automatically have the knowledge of a ten-year-old? What a thing to wish for. If no one’s there to teach, then obviously the thing wouldn’t know it. There’s a difference between Wisdom/Intelligence and Knowledge. In this world, not even an ordinary human has the same level of knowledge as other humans, yet he uses that as an example… Is he not currently teaching slaves how to read and write? Does he expect the mosquito to already know how to do so? *sigh* ↩
[3] 赵文 – Zhào Wén. 文 means culture, language, writing, literary. I find this ironic due to the context of all this… He most likely expects that ranking up means you get knowledge or something. Rank Ten = omniscient? The character for mosquito is 蚊 or Wen, so it’s a homonym for Zhao Wen’s name… I don’t know why he doesn’t stick with 赵蚊 instead… ↩
[4] If, you know, you have a mosquito fetish. Sorry, I just think all depictions of bugs are creepy… ↩
[5] Act of drinking blood. Due to this, I had decided to call them Devouring Blood-Mosquitoes because they devour more than just blood, like magic elements. Else other possible names included Blood Devouring Mosquitoes or Blood Swallowing Mosquitoes which, you know, sound ordinary. ↩
[6] 神力 – Shén lì. Same 神 character for Divine/Spiritual Sense. 力 is power, force, strength. ↩
[7] 巨齿 – Jù chǐ – Giant Tooth. ↩
[8] 七色花城 – Qīsè huāchéng. Seven-Colored. Flower. City. ↩
[9] Should this not have been the question he asked before “Can you beat them.”… ↩
[10] This makes no sense. Every Rank Nine in the Carrion Swamp is a member, yet you have a requirement for joining. Does that mean not joining is death? Worst secret club ever. ↩
[11] I honestly don’t place a large importance on these riots. Coiling Dragon and Tales of Demons and Gods’ magic beast riots were far more impressive than a few dozen toxic rodents. ↩
[12] Sounds weird when he says it… I’ll chalk it up to author being a kid who hates his veggies. ↩
[13] Other than not doing anything and letting the riots happen in order to continue to grow your fricken super undead army… ↩
[14] I can’t even say anything to this. Accidental slaver? >.> ↩
[15] “I don’t like enslaving her, but she’s a really good slave to have.” ↩
[16] Mosquito Buda would have been better. Zhao Wen just sounds narcissistic. Plus, the not regarding her like an undead fails here when ONLY UNDEAD have been named after his name… Members of the clan and people he considers family are all named Buda, not Zhao. ↩