The Survival of the Wild Tribe

192

Before Luca could finish speaking, the huge fishtail of the mermaid next to him slapped Luca directly. Although Luca was tied up like a zongzi, his strength wasn't suppressed. He leaned back slightly to dodge the mermaid's attack, but the mermaid wasn't slow to respond. The fish tail still grazed Luca's face, leaving a faint bloodstain on his dusty face.

The mermaid showed sharp teeth and grinned threateningly at Luca. Seeing this, Lu Zhan gently placed his hand on the mermaid's shoulder, signaling not to attack Luca for now. After all, they still needed to extract information from Luca. If they went too far, Luca might clam up again, causing trouble.

The mermaid glanced at Lu Zhan, then curled his mouth, spat out a bubble, and sat quietly on the side, though his eyes towards Luca remained unfriendly.

Luca licked the blood at the corner of his lips, smiled at the mermaid, and didn't seem to be angry at the mermaid's actions.

"Weren't the returning orcs created by you? How can you say you saved them?" Lu Zhan asked softly, "After all, you have crystals that can enhance your strength."

Luca was a bit surprised by the question but guessed that they knew about the crystal grains, especially if they had taken Yunjing. It wouldn't be surprising since the crystals were failed products of Yunjing. Though currently only used by the Klu Lion tribe's wizard, this wasn't a secret in Wizard City.

"They seek power, I provide them with methods, and they succeeded in using it for me. It's a fair deal," Luca replied.

Lu Zhan patted the juice in his hands and sat up straight. "Then tell me how you saved them. Don't try to evade. I don't think you'd want to experience the taste of Gurnoff."

Hearing the name, Luca's brows twitched. Not wanting to suffer needlessly and unsure about the extent of their knowledge, he chose to disclose some information he deemed unimportant but beneficial to him.

"Do you really think they didn't know the effect of the crystals when they took them?" Luca glanced at the nearby Black Mountain and Black Hunter, pausing briefly at the black panther cub. Then he continued, "I said it's a fair deal, and I wasn't lying to you at all."

Luca pointed at Montenegro. "Your esteemed leader, knowing the risk of reverting to his ancestors, still swallowed a lot of crystals without hesitation."

Everyone present was taken aback by Luca's words, turning their eyes to Black Mountain lying quietly. Black Mountain seemed much calmer than before, weakened by the turmoil of the past two days. He showed no emotion on his huge beast face, as if he didn't understand what Luca was talking about.

On the contrary, Black Hunter stood up excitedly and attempted to retort, "Nonsense! If the leader knew that the crystals could revert people to their ancestors, why would they allow others in the tribe to keep trading with you, Lu Zhan and the others?" When discussing matters, they didn't intentionally exclude Black Hunter. He naturally learned about it from people's conversations and understood that their tribe's current practice of exchanging labor for crystal grains was leading the Black Leopard tribe to slow extinction.

Luca paid no mind to Black Hunter and continued to narrate some details he knew.

Luo Zhen probably deduced the overall context of the matter.

For the Kru Lion tribe, everything stemmed from their desire to develop a large tribe, second only to Wizard City, and superior to all other orc tribes.

In detail, this matter began over a decade ago. It was discovered that the tribe's wizards could cultivate crystal grains, and some people began reverting to their ancestors due to crystal consumption. Yet, these orcs could still maintain their sanity and even obey the wizards who cultivated the crystal fruit. The Kru Lion tribe found this advantageous, and their ambitions grew day by day.