Lin Muxue sneered, "You don't seem scared at all. I know you'll probably back out and choose to surrender when the time comes."
Ye Yu sighed softly, "I have to admit, the name of the only team that cleared it was spot on. It made the entire Dragon Nation take notice."
His words instantly filled Lin Muxue and Li Cang with anger and shame.
However, they didn't act on it. They knew Ye Yu's close friend was an Ice Fruit Ability User and was about to arrive.
If they made a move, Xia Ling would undoubtedly retaliate. At this time, it was unwise to provoke conflicts between Pirate Crews.
Regardless of whether they could win, there would inevitably be casualties. Moreover, the other three Pirate Crews were also present. If they took the opportunity to poach members, it would only make things worse.
Ye Yu and Zhang Tian walked toward the seaside. In the distance, they could already see Xia Ling's Pirate ship.
This ship was also designed by Ye Yu, modeled after the Red-Haired Pirate Crew's ship from One Piece. So, from afar, Ye Yu knew it was Xia Ling.
Meanwhile, on the Pirate ship, some crew members were whispering among themselves.
"The Captain sailed directly to Donghai City to pick up Ye Yu."
"Although it's said to scout for talents, the main purpose is to fetch Ye Yu."
"If he had chosen a Devil Fruit, it would've been necessary for our Pirate Crew to mobilize like this. But now that Ye Yu is no longer considered a prodigy, this seems a bit excessive."
"Keep it down. Don't let the Captain hear you."
"Anyway, after Ye Yu joins, he'll probably be a low-ranking crew member. To become an official crew member, he'll have to pass the assessment. He can't just waltz in because he's friends with the Captain. As for becoming a Combat Crew member or even an Executive, that's out of the question. We can't let him take shortcuts just because of his connections."
"Exactly. We respect the Captain, but we'll have to protest if it comes to that."
"Let's see if we can recruit some talented crew members this time. Otherwise, just taking Ye Yu alone wouldn't be worth it."
...
At that moment, Xia Ling stepped out and cleared her throat. Immediately, the crew fell silent.
Zhao Yan'er also emerged, accompanied by eight Executives, all of whom were Devil Fruit Ability Users.
Xia Ling gazed toward the shore, where she could vaguely make out a figure. Though it was blurry and small, she was certain it was Ye Yu.
She felt a surge of joy. It had been a long time since they last met, and now they could sail and adventure together in this dangerous world.
Zhao Yan'er reminded her, "Xia Ling, remember what you promised me. He can join as a low-ranking crew member, but if he wants to become an official crew member, he'll have to go through the assessment. No shortcuts."
"Understood."
However, just as the Pirate ship was about a thousand meters from the shore, a white vortex suddenly appeared above the ship.
Everyone's expression changed.
On the ship, all eyes turned upward, their faces filled with shock.
"It's a Mystic Realm!"
"A randomly appearing Mystic Realm. What type is it?"
"Anyone can participate in this kind of Mystic Realm. This is an opportunity for us."
"Let's see what type it is first."
...
On the shore, members of the four Pirate Crews also noticed it.
Lin Muxue's eyes lit up. "A random Mystic Realm has appeared."
Li Cang took out his phone and said, "Mystic Realms are trending everywhere. The same white vortex, the same Mystic Realm. Ten have appeared in total, with the other nine in different cities, mostly in urban areas."
At this moment, in other cities, the civilians were filled with panic and unease.
However, the Pirates quickly mobilized and gathered, as these were all opportunities for experience that they had to compete for.
Moreover, among the city's civilians, there were relatives and friends, so naturally, they had to take action.
Soon, from the white vortex stream, a dense swarm of black mosquitoes emerged, buzzing loudly. Everyone looked up and saw that they were densely packed, each the size of a football, with extremely sharp, blood-red proboscises.
This caused the civilians on the ground to quickly retreat into their rooms, locking their doors and windows. If bitten by two or three of these mosquitoes, their blood would likely be drained in an instant.
The mosquitoes that emerged from the white vortex stream did not immediately act but instead hovered in the air, as more mosquitoes continued to pour out from the vortex, clearly waiting to gather in numbers.
Once gathered, they descended en masse, a dark cloud-like swarm.
Immediately, the Pirates on the ground began their attacks, with multiple Pirate Crews competing for the kills.
Meanwhile, at the seaside of Donghai City.
Seeing this scene, four Pirate Crews decided not to take action.
Li Cang said, "The white vortex stream is the lowest level of Mystic Realm. I thought that even if it's the lowest level, solving it would still be a decent amount of experience. But it's a quantity-based type, so killing one mosquito would barely increase our experience. Unless we kill hundreds, there would be only a slight increase. However, even a little is better than nothing; small amounts add up."
The lower the level of the Mystic Realm, the lower the difficulty, which can be distinguished by color, from low to high: white, yellow, purple, blue, green, black, red, and gold.
In the early stages, high-difficulty Mystic Realms wouldn't appear, as that would be a disaster.
Li Cang wanted to act, but Lin Muxue stopped him.
"Idiot, don't act."
"Huh? Why? We need to act quickly. Unlike other Mystic Realms that appear above cities, this one is appearing at sea. The targets will definitely attack those at sea first. We need to get there as soon as possible to avoid them being all taken out."
Lin Muxue ordered, "No one is to act!"
Many of the crew members were puzzled and noticed that the captains of the other three Pirate Crews had also ordered not to act.
Lin Muxue sneered, "Let them deal with it first. What does it matter if they take it? The lowest level of Mystic Realm won't give much experience, and it's impossible for one person to solve it all. Even if they do, the experience would be divided among everyone. What we need to do is let them suffer significant casualties, so we can reap the benefits."
Li Cang was confused, "Reap the benefits? They'll probably kill all the mosquitoes, right?"
"Idiot! Let them exhaust themselves, let them panic, and then we can extend an olive branch, poach their members. Don't you get it? Surely, some of them won't want to die."
Li Cang suddenly understood, "Got it. Let them face it alone. Even if they can kill all the mosquitoes, there will inevitably be many casualties because the number of mosquitoes is too large. The lower-ranked crew members might all die, and even the regular crew members could be in danger."
Lin Muxue crossed her arms, feeling very wise, and nodded, "Exactly. If the Mystic Realm appeared in the city area, our inaction would anger the civilians. But now that it's at sea, we don't need to act immediately. The other Pirate Crews are thinking the same, all looking to poach members."
"Captain, here's the loudspeaker."
A crew member quickly brought over a loudspeaker.
Lin Muxue praised, "That's qu
ite clever."
She then took the loudspeaker, ready to rally the people.
At that moment, Xia Ling, Zhao Yan'er, and the Executives all wore grave expressions.
--Support me in Patreon for more chapters 35+ chapters in there
patreon.com/LegendaryTL
Thanks!