Pillar of Yita

Tianlan’s loud voice came from outside:

”Ah, it’s raining heavily outside!”

The blonde, blue-eyed girl rushed in from outside, clutching her head and wheezing, patting her chest with lingering fear.

She was followed by Parker, Luo Yu, and a few others. Finally came Sister Hilveld and Xiesta—the noble lady maintained her usual calm demeanor, her bright gaze first finding Fang Hong among the crowd before giving a slight smile. Behind her, Miss Maid folded up the silk umbrella before turning to close the door.

Tianlan stepped forward and, with a slap, placed a dull gray crystal on the table, boasting, ”Brother Ade, guess what this is?”

Fang Hong wasn’t going to be fooled by her; he knew this was something they had obtained from the corpse of the Silver Mane Spider Queen. He just looked to the side at Miss Ship’s Officer and asked, ”Have you identified it yet?”

Sister Hilveld nodded, glancing back at the quiet Fairy perched on her shoulder, smiling, ”Thanks to Miss Tata’s extensive knowledge, this is a Spider Silk Gemstone.”

”Spider Silk Gemstone?” Fang Hong’s eyes lit up.

Unlike the female spiders of ordinary Panier Cunning Spiders, the web of the Silver Mane Spider Queen is a supernatural ability, naturally relying on this palm-sized ’Xiaoxiao’ gem. This gem is the ’Spider Silk Gemstone,’ with which one could create a Magic Guided Workbench that continuously produces Silver Mane Spider Silk.

Moreover, the silk of the Silver Mane Spider Queen is far more durable and resilient than that of ordinary Panier Female Spiders, with a better affinity for the Wind Element. Although their conflict with the Dragonfire Guild yielded a great harvest, compared to this ’Xiaoxiao’ gem, the former doesn’t quite measure up.

Not every spider group has a Spider Queen, nor can a ’Spider Silk Gemstone’ be found on every Spider Queen because ’Spider Silk Gemstone’ is essentially a product of the Magic Crystal within the Silver Mane Spider Queen. When the Silver Mane Spider Queen dies, the ’Spider Silk Gemstone’ may also disappear with the dissipation of Ether Magic Power.

At the moment he saw this gem, Fang Hong could conclude that the Dragonfire Guild’s large-scale operation this time had at least more than a fifty percent chance of being for this ’Spider Silk Gemstone.’ They might have hunted Spider Queens before, only because the ’Spider Silk Gemstone’ is so rare—

He couldn’t figure out whether to say their luck was too good or too bad that they actually found a Silver Mane Spider Queen with a ’Spider Silk Gemstone,’ and yet it ended up in their hands.

The Dragonfire Guild not knowing about this is just fine; if they did, they might just explode in anger on the spot.

Fang Hong carefully took the gem from Tianlan’s hand, thinking about how much trouble the Seven Seas Travel Group could save with this. It was like having a ’Panier Cunning Spider’ supplying a constant stream of something on the ship, which would solve the problem of repairing sails in the future.

And if they needed to make sails again in the future, there would be no need to deal with those nasty giant spiders.

This dull ’crystal,’ seemingly unremarkable on the outside, was more beautiful than the most radiant gem in Fang Hong’s eyes at that moment—it could even be said to be the most valuable treasure they had obtained since their adventure began.

He couldn’t help but shoot a glare at Tianlan, pained, ”Such a precious thing, how could you just slam it on the table? What if it broke?”

Tianlan giggled, ”Brother Ade, so greedy.”

”Wh-what do you mean greedy? I’m just thinking about the team.”

”Don’t worry, it’s very sturdy, Sister Hilveld said so.”

The noble lady also nodded with a smile.

Only then did Fang Hong have nothing left to say. He rubbed the gem hard on his clothing before carefully placing it in his pocket, confidently asserting, ”In any case, I’ll keep it safe for now.”

Tianlan patted the table, laughing hard, rocking back and forth.

After the little episode, everyone began discussing the Dragonfire Guild and Blood Shark Sky Pirates’ appearance in Idus. Fang Hong suddenly remembered something, a matter the Big Cat People and Parker had mentioned long ago about their journey from Giant Tree Hill to Colin.

He then recalled the memory and asked, ”I heard there’s some connection between the Blood Shark Sky Pirates and the Gray Sea Pirates?”

Reed suddenly fell silent, his silver-grey eyes flickering.

But before he could speak, Bakins, sitting beside him, answered, ”Indeed so, the Blood Shark Sky Pirates originally split off from the Gray Sea Pirates.”

”Wait, what are the Gray Sea Pirates?” Parker suddenly asked, ”I’ve only heard of the Pale Pirates.”

Bakins glanced at him and replied, ”Above the Cloud Sea of Eteliria, there are two most ferocious pirate groups. One is the Pale Pirates, and the second is the Gray Sea Pirates. The Pale Pirates operate in the offshore areas of Hanruina, symbolized by the Hydra, and are well-organized and powerful, making them a long-standing adversary of the Osh Empire and the Colin-Ishurian Navy in the Sky Sea.”

”Because their range of activity is closer to Colin-Ishurian, the Ishurian People are generally more familiar with this pirate group.”

”But the Gray Sea Pirates are actually no less formidable than the Pale Pirates, just that this organization is much more complex. This pirate group is not just one single entity but rather a collective term for many pirates. They mainly operate offshore of Rotao, to the Northern Scepter Coast of the Kingdom, extending south to Saint Hugon—the pirate tradition of today’s Saint Hugon’s generation is related to this pirate group.”

He paused, then said, ”And Blood Shark Sky Pirates, they are one such group.”

Fang Hong asked, ”So why did they split from the Gray Sea Pirates?”

”I’m not too sure about that,” Bakins shook his head, ”that was more than ten years ago. The Blood Shark Pirates seemed to have gotten into some trouble in Rotao and left the Gray Sea, heading to Hanruina. They are now likely under the protection of the Pale Pirates.”

”This pirate group is quite legendary too,” Sister Hilveld also spoke, ”I heard from my father, they are the only small pirate group that ever served both major pirate factions.”

Fang Hong turned to the Big Cat People and asked, ”Mr. Reed, I remember you mentioned encountering the Blood Shark Pirates when traveling from Giant Tree Hill to Colin?”

”That was pure Big Cat People asking for trouble,” Parker said irritably, ”he insisted that a Paladin should uphold justice. That pirate attack originally had nothing to do with us, and I almost lost my life because of it.”

Reed smiled slightly and gracefully replied, ”In fact, it was just some personal grudges with the Blood Shark Sky Pirates, an old acquaintance among them.”

The Big Cat People spoke while touching the scar on his cheek with his paw, a faint glimmer flashing in his silver-grey eyes.

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