"Hiss!"
The giant turtle raised its head, its eyes filled with tears, but it still nodded at Duma.
Naturally, Duma took the opportunity to draw blood like crazy, collecting it in a waterskin. He kept going until the entire waterskin was filled to the brim and overflowing before slowly pulling out the bamboo tube. Then he said, "Blake, help stop the baby's bleeding."
"Oh, coming."
Blake responded, and a ball of orange-yellow flames appeared in his hand.
The flames in his hand then fell onto the giant turtle's wound, immediately giving off the mouthwatering smell of roasted meat.
All three of them swallowed at almost the same time.
Blake couldn't help asking, "Duma, can we...?"
"I know!"
Duma from Region Nine naturally knew what Blake wanted to do.
If this had happened earlier, before he had smelled that aroma, he might have been able to hold back. But when all three of them were starving and could smell roasted meat like this... a man might be able to endure it, but his wife sure wouldn't.
"Baby," Duma from Region Nine crouched down and gently patted the ground beneath his feet again, "I know it hurts a little, but there's some gangrene in this wound. If we don't cut it off, it'll affect the healing. Daddy's going to treat you, so you have to bear with it."
"Hiss~ Hiss~"
Hearing this, the giant turtle was on the verge of tears.
Yet, for some inexplicable reason, its brain kept reminding it to trust what this man was saying.
So in the end, the giant turtle could only nod through its tears.
On the giant turtle's back, Orin from Region Four and Blake from Region Three both licked their lips as they watched Duma cut up the roasted meat. They whispered to each other, "What do you think makes this turtle so incredible? It isn't even afraid of those bugs in the Red Sea."
"That's not all. I even suspect this turtle's blood has insect-repelling properties," Orin from Region Four said, "Didn't you see what happened just now when its blood flowed into the sea? The seawater turned blue again right away. It was only later that the blood stained it red. But you can still see that the seawater in the areas touched by the turtle's blood is much clearer than in other areas."
"If you hadn't said that, I really wouldn't have noticed," Blake from Region Three's eyes lit up, "Then, as long as this giant turtle doesn't die, doesn't that mean we can rely on it to overcome every obstacle along the way?"
"If nothing unexpected happens, that should work!"
———
[Top-Tier Raft]
At this moment, Ethan was writing a large advertisement.
[One serving of meat: 10,000 Dragon Coins. 1,000 ml of water: 10,000 Dragon Coins. Ten oranges: 10,000 Dragon Coins.]
[Temporary rest stop for four hours: 10,000 Dragon Coins.]
"What's this?"
Nightmare Eye was a little confused about what Ethan was up to.
Ethan raised an eyebrow and said, "Haven't you noticed those birds in the sky? They can barely keep flying anymore. And the Rakshasa race have all gathered together, keeping their distance from the Featherguard race. What do you think the reason is?"
Nightmare Eye guessed, "They're exhausted and hungry?"
"Exactly," Ethan smiled, "As a businessman, I obviously have to solve my customers' problems in a timely manner."
"Shameless profiteer!"
Nightmare Eye cursed.
But those winged people who had been flying in the air for so long really couldn't hold on much longer. They knew Ethan charged exorbitant fees to use his raft, so they had been forcing themselves to keep flying on sheer determination.
Now, when they saw the advertisement below, they could no longer care about anything else. They all flew down toward the raft, hoping to purchase the four-hour docking service.
"Same rules as always! Line up!", Ethan shouted, "My raft can accommodate a maximum of twenty people resting at the same time. Whoever pays first gets to rest first. Those who want to buy food and drinks as well can enter first."
Then... a long line of flying birds appeared around the perimeter of Ethan's top-tier raft.
It was practically a spectacular sight of world harmony.
After all... the line included not only members of the Rakshasa race but also quite a few members of their sworn enemies, the Featherguard race.
But at this moment... Even the most domineering members of the Featherguard race didn't dare disobey Ethan.
After all, in this vast ocean, there wasn't even a place to rest. If Ethan refused to let them rest on his raft, they would soon be exhausted to death.
Meanwhile, the passengers who had paid 100,000 Dragon Coins to board the raft early on watched these airborne travelers pay one after another. They couldn't have felt more fortunate about their own wise decision at the beginning.
As expected... hesitation leads to defeat, while decisiveness leads to getting ripped off.
"Me! Me! Me!"
"I want everything except the oranges!"
"Let me in and rest for a while! I'm exhausted!"
Ethan collected the money and let them in. Once the twentieth bird-person had entered, he hung up another advertising sign.
[There's still food, but no beds left. Come early in four hours!]
The bird-people were a little disappointed.
But at least there was hope now, so they could only keep holding on in the air for a while longer or discuss things with their companions, taking turns resting on each other's backs before switching places.
And so... when Ethan's bird-people had finished resting for four hours, he began driving them off.
Some who felt they hadn't rested enough took out another 10,000 Dragon Coins and asked to rest for another four hours, while two-thirds of them left because they couldn't bear to spend the money.
However, the moment those who left were gone, another batch of bird-people immediately filled their places.
With people constantly coming and going like this... Ethan's money was coming in fast.
He could bring in around 300,000 Dragon Coins every four hours on average, and the income just kept growing.
Originally... Ethan had thought this good fortune would continue indefinitely.
Until...
BOOM!
A huge cannonball came hurtling over from an unknown direction and slammed into Ethan's super raft.
Even the electric fence was blasted open by this strange silver cannonball. If Ethan hadn't reacted quickly and turned himself into a giant slingshot, launching the strange silver cannonball back, the raft might have been smashed open.
"Nightmare Eye, what the hell is going on?", Ethan roared.
Nightmare Eye stared intently into the distance for a long time before finally speaking.
"Looks like... a group of black mages!"