Chapter 85: Birds of a Feather

With a joyful cry, the giant sea turtle that narrowly escaped death dove into the deep sea at its fastest speed. The massive whale, over thirty meters long, floated on the sea surface, and the ripples from its fall into the water still lapped against the hull of the Sea Windmill in continuous waves. As the sea breeze blew, Long Cheng stood atop the whale, his clothes fluttering, appearing like the legendary War God descending.

“This man…” Lucky Joe Arjang’s pipe fell from his mouth onto the deck. His fingers trembled, and for a long moment, he couldn’t speak.

Not only the old captain but also the over three hundred sailors on the Sea Windmill were utterly stunned. One man, one palm, killing a Frenzied Unicorn Whale—was this the power of a Celestial Knight? No, even a Celestial Knight wouldn’t find it easy to accomplish such a feat. Perhaps a legendary Grand Celestial Knight could do it? But Long Cheng clearly only possessed purple Combat Qi; he hadn’t yet broken through to the purple-gold level!

More than a dozen afterimages flickered as Long Cheng leaped back to the bow of the ship and sat once again on the head of the mermaid statue. He rubbed his right wrist, frowning, and said, “So this is the Frenzied Unicorn Whale you were hunting? It’s quite interesting—its skin is very tough and nearly twisted my wrist!”

Lin Qi stared blankly at the Unicorn Whale King, whose body was a pale gold and whose horn gleamed like it was made of pure gold. He said hoarsely, “This isn’t a Frenzied Unicorn Whale; it’s an advanced Unicorn Whale King. The value of one Unicorn Whale King is ten times that of a Frenzied Unicorn Whale!”

Long Cheng’s eyes suddenly lit up, and he laughed heartily, “So you’re saying this big fish is very valuable?”

Lin Qi nodded, his eyes already shining with a brilliant golden light. He said firmly, “Valuable? It’s not just valuable—it’s worth a fortune! We can’t sell this treasure at the regular market price; it must go to an auction. Even its saliva could be auctioned for an astronomical sum!”

Clapping his hands vigorously, Lin Qi shouted loudly, “Hurry and hoist it up, quick, quick! Damn it, this is a Unicorn Whale King. With it, we’ve already made a huge profit and can head straight back to Dun Er Ke! Why are we so lucky? It must be because of me—because of me, we saved a person and encountered a Unicorn Whale King!”

The sailors suddenly became extremely excited. Yes, this was a Unicorn Whale King, an advanced Unicorn Whale King! Not to mention its other parts, even its dung could be auctioned for a fortune! Because its dung is the best fertilizer—if the rare herbs needed by many Secret Pharmacists are cultivated using the Unicorn Whale King’s dung, their medicinal potency can be increased by at least three times.

Just think about it: that bottle of Magic Tiger Potion Lin Qi once took boosted his overall strength by ten times. If all the herbs in that Magic Tiger Potion had been cultivated using the Unicorn Whale King’s dung, the potion Lin Qi took would have increased his overall strength by at least thirty times!

A thirty-fold increase in overall strength would be enough for Lin Qi to challenge experts at the Peak of Status!

The Unicorn Whale King was no longer an ordinary sea beast; its value could be equated to its weight in Gold Coins. With this giant creature, every sailor on the Sea Windmill could receive at least two hundred Gold Coins as a bonus, enough for them to live lavishly for a long time.

Accompanied by the faint hum of the Magic Array, a section of the deck measuring ten meters long and wide shifted aside, and a strange-looking machine rose from beneath the deck. It was a Goblin-made magic-powered unloading machine; as long as it was filled with enough Magic Crystals, it could lift weights that humans simply couldn’t handle.

Several iron chains descended from the unloading machine, and over a dozen sailors jumped into the icy seawater, firmly fastening the chains around the Unicorn Whale King. The entire Sea Windmill shook violently, the Arcane Furnace in the ship’s hold roared, and the chains on the unloading machine clanged noisily. The massive Unicorn Whale King was forcibly lifted out of the sea, but the Sea Windmill’s waterline suddenly dropped by half a foot.

Lin Qi beamed with joy as he looked at the incredibly valuable Unicorn Whale King. He shouted hoarsely, “Uncle Joe Arjang, remember to note in the log that to hunt this Unicorn Whale King, we used a total of thirty-six Magic-powered Harpoons!”

Long Cheng, who had been watching the sailors work with a smile, suddenly placed a hand on Lin Qi’s shoulder. Raising an eyebrow, he asked, “Magic-powered Harpoon? You mean that powerful crossbow bolt you mentioned, the one that costs over a thousand Gold Coins each?”

Lin Qi glanced at Long Cheng impatiently. With the immensely valuable whale king right before his eyes, how could he have the mood to deal with this man? He snorted and said, “That’s right, but it’s a harpoon, not a crossbow bolt!”

Long Cheng nodded thoughtfully, stroking his chin and tilting his head as he looked at Lin Qi. “I want half of the money from selling this big fish, okay? Well, when I was surrounded by those Odin Holy Guards, I lost my money pouch. Now I’m completely broke.”

Lin Qi, who had been in a state of frenzy, shuddered all over. He turned around and roared, “Impossible! Half? Don’t even dream of such a good thing!”

Long Cheng twisted his lips and snorted coldly, “Then, how many people are needed to control this ship to get back to the Continent? I could kill everyone on board, and then this ship and this big fish would all be mine. What do you think?”

Lin Qi’s face instantly turned pale. He suddenly realized what a terrifying person this was. A freak who could kill a Unicorn Whale King with a single palm—he even doubted whether his father, Blackbeard, could handle him. After hesitating for a moment, Lin Qi’s desire for Gold Coins overpowered his fear of death. Gritting his teeth, he said, “Twenty percent. Look, we saved your life. Otherwise, could you really have drifted to the Continent on an iceberg?”

Long Cheng frowned and sighed deeply. “A real man distinguishes clearly between gratitude and resentment. Forty percent! You see, I’m a person who enjoys the good life, but without money, how can I enjoy it? When we reach Dun Er Ke, the first thing I’ll do is find a few beautiful young ladies to connect with. How can I do that without money?”

Lin Qi retorted angrily, “Don’t you prefer killing, arson, rape, and plunder? If you have no money, you could… use violence?” Lin Qi’s mind flashed through the faces of the well-known beautiful young ladies in Dun Er Ke. Well, none of them had any connection with him, so he didn’t need to worry about their fate.

Compared to their chastity, Lin Qi valued Gold Coins more.

“You little rascal!” Long Cheng twisted his lips again. After thinking for a while, he shook his head and said, “Actually, I might not need to use violence. Back in the day, when I stood on the streets of the Imperial Capital, countless young ladies and married women threw themselves at me. My charm is enough to tempt those young ladies to offer themselves willingly. So, thirty percent—that’s the lowest I’ll go. A real man can’t go a single day without money!”

Lin Qi was still hesitating. Thirty percent was still a huge amount.

Long Cheng frowned slightly and said slowly, “After all, I’m the one who killed this big fish, right? If you don’t give me thirty percent of the Gold Coins, I’ll go and plunder the entire Dun Er Ke. Well, at most, out of gratitude for saving me, I’ll spare your family.”

A horrifying image of Dun Er Ke engulfed in flames suddenly popped into Lin Qi’s mind. He smacked his lips, and a bit of nostalgia for his hometown temporarily overpowered his greed for Gold Coins.

“Fine, it’s a deal!” Lin Qi slapped hands firmly with Long Cheng.

Their golden-shining eyes met, and suddenly, they felt a sense of mutual admiration.