Chapter 225: The Sea of the Undead

“Why should we believe you?” an elderly harpy questioned. “Why would beastmen want to help us? You’re just trying to pacify us, extract more benefits, or even turn us into your slaves!”

“Alright, let’s assume you’re right. If I truly had such intentions, what could you do to stop me?” Wu Qingsong retorted. “Kill me? You can’t. Fight me? You’re no match for me. Even without your cooperation, I can still kill those sea creatures, turn them into undead, and have them drag my ship from the reef for repairs. You have no way to stop me. If I were as malicious as you think, I could kill some penguins and harpies, turn them into undead slaves, and achieve my goals that way. As a necromancer, do you really think I’d be short on slaves?”

His words left the challenger speechless and somewhat despondent.

If they had previously harbored thoughts of eliminating these sudden intruders to protect the Gale Kingdom, watching their most powerful warrior attack Wu Qingsong with all his might and not cause any harm dashed those hopes entirely.

If they couldn’t kill him, all means of resistance were futile. Facing someone as powerful as Wu Qingsong, if he wanted to do something, they had no ability to resist.

Against other strong foes, at least they could choose to die with dignity. But against a necromancer, even death was a luxury.

“I respect you all,” Wu Qingsong said. “Your Majesty, I admire your tribe for surviving and thriving in such harsh conditions. It shows incredible spirit, and I’m willing to treat you as equals. I propose to kill some of the sea creatures in exchange for your assistance. However, my time is limited, and I can’t wait indefinitely. I hope you understand and forgive my bluntness, and I also hope that my goodwill will be met with equal respect and reciprocity.”

Although his words were still not entirely polite by traditional standards, in this world, strength often spoke louder than decorum. Having fully demonstrated his power, Wu Qingsong had already shifted the balance.

“Tagraedi of Orgrimmar,” Queen Gale said. “Please accept my apologies. We will immediately correct our mistakes.”

When Wu Qingsong returned from Queen Gale’s court, a few harpies had already been dispatched to the Black Pearl’s wreck site to inspect the ship and scout the distribution of sea creatures along the way. More harpies were flying over the surrounding seas, searching for areas with high concentrations of sea creatures for him.

“What did you say to them?” Red Moon asked, surprised.

“I just told them the truth,” Wu Qingsong replied.

The penguins and harpies soon transported the remains of the two giant mantis shrimp to the magic circle Wu Qingsong had drawn on the beach. They began to move again, and after he infused them with a part of his soul fire, their movements seemed almost indistinguishable from when they were alive.

Witnessing all this made the birdfolk even more fearful.

At that moment, the sea creatures’ gathering area had already been located.

“Let’s go,” Wu Qingsong immediately commanded.

Reviving these undead creatures was much easier than reviving skeletons, but maintaining their strength consumed far more soul fragments than ordinary skeletons, and he didn’t want to waste a single minute.

He sat in a wooden barrel, which Beck and the others had previously drilled with four holes and threaded with ropes. Four strong harpies grabbed the ropes, carrying him like a hot air balloon toward the sea creatures’ gathering area. 

Meanwhile, the giant octopus corpse and the skeletal giant mantis shrimp swam rapidly under his command toward that area.

From Mia, he had learned that the fishmen didn’t have any decent long-range attack methods, and even when several fishmen shamans combined their powers, they could only raise waves about ten meters high. This would be disastrous for any ship on the sea, any port, or fishing village, but it posed no threat to them flying dozens of meters in the air.

The battle hadn’t even begun, and they were already in an unbeatable position.

The sea creatures occupying this area had never imagined they’d face such an attack. They weren’t even on guard against the three undead creatures under Wu Qingsong’s command. Instead, they kept a watchful eye on the harpies in the air and the strange thing they were carrying, helpless against it.

The situation turned out even better than Wu Qingsong had anticipated. 

Instead of launching an attack, he directed his undead creatures to swim through the patrolling sharkmen and the reef area where the fishmen were active, swiftly heading toward the area where the fishman shamans were located.

However, the ambush was stopped just short of the shamans. 

Noticing the strange behavior of the three sea monsters that didn’t obey their commands, the fishman shamans sent two giant octopuses from their tribe to investigate. As soon as the octopuses surfaced, Wu Qingsong decisively threw two soul fragments at them.

Unsurprisingly, the water instantly churned. Wu Qingsong directed his three giant undead creatures to bypass the thrashing octopuses and charged toward the fishman shamans as quickly as possible. 

Realizing what was happening, the shamans immediately cast their magic on the undead creatures.

A huge wave suddenly appeared between them, sweeping the undead creatures away.

However, this area of the sea wasn’t a reef zone. Although there were corals beneath the surface, they posed no real threat to these enormous beings. The giant wave, while disruptive, didn’t inflict any damage. The undead creatures didn’t even need to resist. To avoid unnecessary spending energy, he let the wave carry them as they tumbled across the sea. Meanwhile, the fishmen originally guarding the shamans were caught in the magical surge, swept up by the wave. Struggling desperately around the massive undead creatures, they crashed into them repeatedly, leading to heavy casualties.

At this moment, Wu Qingsong instructed Mia, who was perched on the edge of the barrel, to command the harpies to follow the fleeing fishman shamans. The distance between them rapidly closed, and Wu Qingsong threw his carefully prepared soul fragments with all his might.

Two of the fishman shamans managed to dive deep into the sea, escaping the attack. However, the remaining three were struck mid-swim, writhing in agony as they thrashed about in the water.

“It’s working!” Wu Qingsong exclaimed joyfully.

He had been worried that this method might not work on the fishman shamans. But now, it was clear that while their mental strength might be slightly higher than that of ordinary fishmen, it was still limited. They had no defense against a tactic potent enough to incapacitate someone like Dark Moon.

The battle, at this point, was all but decided.

Once the waves calmed, Wu Qingsong directed the three giant undead creatures to attack the massive sharkmen. Meanwhile, the harpies began targeting fishmen who, out of fear, had come too close to the surface. They also sent word back to Gale Island.

After most of the surviving fishmen had fled, a massive army of penguin people arrived from Gale Island. The scene before them left them both astonished and excited. Working together, they retrieved every fishman corpse from the seabed, ensuring none were left behind and bringing them all back to the island.

“The rest is up to you,” Wu Qingsong said. “Leave the two giant octopuses and all the sharkmen corpses to me.”