Star Gate

Chapter 514: Demon Hunters! (II)

There were almost no lights on at Silver City past 10pm. While there were at White Moon, it was a solemn city without any hustle and bustle. In the northern part of the province, the sharp-eared Li Hao could make out some music even from far away. He suddenly felt like a country bumpkin on his first visit to a big city.

He was actually tempted to go have the fun that Wang Ming was chattering on about, but he chose to silently reject the proposal in order to maintain his image. There were Demon Hunters around, his subordinates! But if they still didn’t see anything after reaching the intersection of the Moon and North Seas, they could rest in Southern Ford for a bit. The North Sea was too big and easy to get lost in.

The ship drew closer to the city of Southern Ford as Li Hao mulled over these thoughts. The city gradually became more visible beneath the lights.

What a bright city!

It surprised even Li Hao that there was such a lively city in the northern borders of Silver Moon. He could see numerous lights on the distant beach, even some bonfires. There was also singing!

Someone snorted beside him; Li Hao turned to see that it was Hong Qing.

“I hear that the northern reaches are caught in turmoil and there’s a threat of Silver Moon being dragged in as well,” sniffed the girl. “Yet these people are still singing and dancing in the middle of the night. As the ancients said, those who seek pleasure know not that bitterness of losing their home as they sing and dance their lives away.”

“This is the commercial capital of the province and the north has not fallen yet,” Wang Ming quickly retorted as he disagreed. “Even if there is unrest, Southern Ford is known for business. Without this revelry and the picture of peace and prosperity, the city would be ruined.

“Do you know how much tax revenue Silver Moon will lose if Southern Ford is ruined? It’s an important port and functions as a waterway for resources to flow through. Without its prosperity, at least thirty million people out of the hundreds of millions in Silver Moon will be destitute. That’s no exaggeration!

“Silver Moon is poor to begin with and lacks unique resources. Southern Ford has to feed half of the province, so what do you know? Be happy that the singing is still there. We’d be in deep trouble if it wasn’t!”

Both of them made sense. Li Hao found the situation odd and looked at Wang Ming. Was the singing and general revelry really a representation of Silver Moon’s prosperity like he argued, or was he just glorifying something he personally enjoyed?

No matter what, his words made sense. As the province’s most external southern port, the entire province would suffer heavily if Southern Ford showed signs of decline.

Previously sniffing derisively, Hong Qing was at a sudden loss. Was that so? She didn’t actually understand it, just found that the premises too lively and at odds with some of the news that she’d heard. “Can a prosperous Southern Ford really feed so many mouths?”

“How do you doubt that?” Wang Ming snorted with laughter. “Read some more books and newspapers. Taxes are heavy here, and not just on the people’s daily commerce. The annual tax revenues keep half of the provincial bureaucracy operational. Our wages come from them.

“The central region hasn't supported us these years and doesn't disburse any funds. We can only rely on ourselves. Southern Ford is in charge of transporting key resources from the northern provinces and rations from the central region.

“Silver Moon is not a producer of much grain because our winters are too cold. We’re not as prosperous as the rest of the south and aren’t as suited to raise crops. The province needs to import its food. Although we don’t need to import much, we still can’t cut off this passage.

“Apart from that, a lot of our daily necessities and other essentials of life require this waterway to make it to the rest of Silver Moon. It would be an astronomical cost in terms of labor and materials if we went by land. Only by sea can we greatly decrease the resources needed for transport...”

The rich scion educated everyone on the importance of Southern Ford. The province would be completely isolated without the port; it would have to rely on the neighboring Near River for support and largess. However, their neighbor often restricted or imposed sanctions on Silver Moon instead.

Compared to Wang Ming, Hong Qing came up short in terms of worldly knowledge. Although her father was incredibly powerful, Hong Yitang didn’t normally discuss politics or train Hong Qing in this area. Therefore, she appeared rather ignorant. The same went for Li Hao.

She looked bashful after Wang Ming’s explanation. “I see... so I misunderstood. Then... it’s good that the city is prosperous, the more prosperous the better! This singing is wonderful!”

Wang Ming was ready for a bitter battle, but his opponent promptly conceded instead. The young man blinked and asked strangely, “Why... are you different from everyone else?”

“What do you mean?” Hong Qing asked in confusion.

“My friends would debate with me for three days straight even if they know they’re wrong,” Wang Ming muttered. “They never admit defeat and never back down. They’ll come at me from all angles. You... you’re weird.”

Why was Earthturner Sword’s daughter like this? Granted, he didn’t know how strong that personage was. He just knew that Earthturner Sword was an initial Solar. If it wasn’t for Wang Ming wanting to fortify his foundations, he might already be an initial Solar as well. He wasn’t that concerned with the man.

If the handsome supernatural knew the truth, he would probably busy himself with fawning over Hong Qing instead of his earlier spiel.

“You’ve put it so plainly, so why should I debate you?” Hong Qing asked curiously.

“......”

You make sense, so I won’t argue with you. Why do you seem like you’re looking forward to an argument? You’re so weird.

Wang Ming was struck speechless.

The little ship had drawn near the port, but Li Hao only brought it a little closer so it could take in the raucous din from the beach. What a lively night it was! He could see some people barbecuing and drinking. It was cold at night and even colder on the beach, but none of them seemed to feel the chill. There were some long-legged beauties walking around...

Li Hao’s gaze lingered on them and the ship slowed down. A bunch of bumpkins peered curiously in the relevant direction with wide eyes. Wang Ming was an old hat at this, but the others had almost never traveled far from home.

White Moon City was prosperous, but that didn’t have much to do with those from the Inspectorate. They didn’t have money to enjoy themselves either. For the moment, they quite enjoyed the view.

“Leader, this place is nice,” someone transmitted through the communication channel. “How about we spend a day here on our return?”

“But we don’t have money, so can we get an advance on our wages, leader?”

“......” Various people’s voices quickly echoed through the public channel. Plainly, these bumpkins were enticed by the sights and sounds.

“I won’t go, but I’m in if we can get an advance on our wages. Prices must be high here, but we’ll still be able to send a lot of stuff back if we spend our money sparingly...”

That must be a Sword Sect member.

“It’s fine if we spend some money,” Hong Qing’s voice rang in the channel. “It just goes into Silver Moon’s tax coffers! The sect isn’t that short on money at the moment and my dad’s a Solar. He earns more than our wages with one mission. It’s our first time earning money, so let’s spend some!”

“......” Ole Hong, do you know that your daughter’s revealing all of your secrets? A Solar earning more money than his disciple’s wages... He’d be a general laughingstock if word of this got out! Plainly, Hong Qing was also tempted by the activity.

The group didn’t sense the ship slowing down. Li Hao glanced in a new direction at this moment and saw another ship shooting at them at a very fast pace. It was crewed by a very faint, small ball of light that seemed to belong to a water supernatural. The newcomer wasn’t too strong at roughly initial Darkmoon.

Li Hao observed some abnormalities from a distance. There seemed to be traces of blood on this person. A pirate?

Didn’t seem like it.

Puzzled, the young manthought for a moment and steered the little ship in the supernatural’s direction, closing the distance in the blink of an eye. Only then did he clearly make out the person’s features and the fear on their face.

A water supernatural was propelling the ship for all his worth and fleeing for his life. He saw the Vast Kun Ship when the two were less than one hundred meters apart. The supernatural lit up with hope and yelled, “Is it the Silver Moon Guard?!”

He seemed to have recognized the ship.

“Didn’t you leave? Thank goodness you haven’t,” the man continued to roar. “There’s pirates ahead and they’ve razed a small town by Near River! They’re coming straight for us—the merchant ship I was on was completely destroyed. It looks like the White Shark Raiders! I’m about to report this to Southern Ford, but since you’re here...”

He’d been horrified and panicked, but was much more at ease after seeing the ship.

Li Hao set foot into the air and grabbed the man. The man was even more reassured upon seeing that Li Hao wore armor.

“Pirates?” Li Hao threw the supernatural onto the ship’s bow. The man relaxed upon seeing numerous Black Armors around him.

“Yes, pirates, the White Shark Raiders! A small town’s been razed by Near River and thousands have died. There’s a lot of pirates—I counted roughly six hundred from a quick glance far away. They’re all supernaturals and there’s powerhouses among them.

“I saw the shark flag—it represents their leaders among the fleet.” The supernatural gabbled out his information in a frenetic haste. “The crew of my merchant ship wasn’t as strong as them and couldn’t outrun the pirates. They were smashed to pieces. Thankfully, I’m a water supernatural and can hide in the water. I immediately came back to let the authorities know, but then I ran into the Silver Moon Guards! This is wonderful!!”

As surprised and delighted the man was, the atmosphere froze over on the ship. Six hundred supernaturals? So many!

They were up against the White Shark Raiders!

The water supernatural was first overjoyed, then confused after he looked around for a while. “The rumors say that the Silver Moon Guard has left the province and followed Director Hou to the central region. They might already be at the North Sea. You guys...”

His heart skipped a beat when he looked around and didn’t see that many people. This was all there was to the Guards?