Chapter 49 - 49 Cooperation and Extermination of the Lobster Man
This profession arises from Level 2 Fishman warriors who are promoted due to some special circumstances, generally involving the consumption of water-attributed treasures and sufficient battle experience, a path not within the regular Fishman promotion system.
The normal promotion limit for Fishmen is to become Level 2 warriors; they have no spellcasting professions.
The Fishman priests often seen in novels are also not part of the normal Fishman promotion; they belong to the Priest profession and are directly granted power by their worshipped Deity for promotion.
Not just Fishmen, other races, aside from their basic promotion systems, can also be promoted to rare professions if they meet certain special conditions, including the Black Scale Naga.
Advancing a follower to a Priest requires the consumption of Divine Power, and the higher the Priest’s level, the more Divine Power it consumes. Lin Xiao, as a student who was lacking in many things, especially Divine Power, would basically not create Priests. He, like most, would choose an Angel Envoy that could descend at any time to guide his followers.
There wasn’t much to say about tactics; given the intelligence of Fishmen, they couldn’t execute any complex strategies. Also, he couldn’t command the native Fishmen, so they simply agreed on a time to simultaneously charge towards the Lobsterman’s Nest.
The main force quickly approached the Lobsterman’s Nest. Some Lobstermen who were out searching for food discovered the dark mass of approaching Fishmen and rapidly fled back to their nest. By the time they arrived, an equally dark mass of Lobstermen rushed out from a particularly complex underwater stone forest.
Lin Xiao calmly controlled the speed of his troops, letting the native Fishmen take the lead.
The intention was not only to use them as cannon fodder to withstand the Lobstermen’s fiercest counterattack but also with the intent of weakening the native Fishmen.
Although he wanted to see if he could subdue the native Fishmen, it was uncertain whether he could succeed at that moment. If unsuccessful, a confrontation would be inevitable, and weakening them now would make them easier to deal with later.
The dark mass of native Fishmen clashed with the Lobstermen and quickly descended into a brawl.
He followed up about a minute later, brandishing a Short Spear and shouting loudly, directing his subordinates to detour and cut off the Lobstermen’s retreat, while sending a team of one hundred Naga and five hundred Fishmen to charge into the Lobsterman’s Nest to claim the spoils of war.
As for himself, he stayed in the rear to hold the line, while also cutting down Lobstermen at the edge of the battlefield.
A considerable number of Lobstermen, seeing they were being attacked from both sides, tried to turn and break through them, but with no one to lead them, their efforts were dispersed and easily picked off one by one.
A group of around thirty to forty Lobstermen saw only about a dozen Naga protecting Lin Xiao and thought they saw an easy opportunity, charging at him.
He grinned, whipping his large serpentine tail fiercely, creating ripples in the water, and like a torpedo, he blasted into the group of Lobstermen, his spear exploding the head of the leading Lobster man, with shell fragments and flesh spraying everywhere. He twisted his body and swung a Following Stroke, the residual force from the Salted Fish Charge’s fivefold power burst attaching to his blow. It hit another Lobsterman on the side like an exploding powder keg; the shell shattered, revealing a hole as thick as a man’s waist, killing the creature on the spot. The scene was incredibly brutal.
After his initial burst, he wasn’t weakened, but his skills entered cooldown, fie twisted his body to dodge two pincers as large as washbasins and stabbed back, punching two fist-sized holes.
The Lobstermen’s external shell was extremely hard. Species like Fishmen, lacking in strength, couldn’t even pierce it with a spear in one or two jabs. But once the defense was broken, the result was a gaping hole—far too brittle.
The strengths were obvious, as were the weaknesses.
Against Fishmen of lesser strength, the Lobstermen had an advantage, which is why even with just three to four thousand Lobstermen, they could fight a drawn-out battle with twenty thousand Fishmen.
But when they encountered the Naga, it was as if they had met their nemesis.
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The strength of the Naga, combined with a fine iron short spear in each hand, was enough to break through defenses, and their agility was unrivaled by the Fishmen. Moreover, with the additional evasion offered by basic footwork, they were utterly dominant in one-on-one combat, easily handling one against two or even three.
The melee lasted only four or five minutes before Lin Xiao noticed some Naga had accumulated enough combat experience to level up.
Especially one of them, a Level 2 Naga warrior who had been forcibly promoted not long ago through faith value, fought with exceptional bravery. They had now accumulated enough combat experience to upgrade to a Level 3 Naga warrior.
Without hesitation, he raised his short spear high and roared at that Naga:
“O great Lord of the Ocean, the god of Naga and Fishmen tells me that he is greatly impressed by your valor. Our lord is very pleased and will grant you strength!”
As soon as the words fell, he expended 5000+16000 faith value to promote them along with other Fishmen.
Dozens of gold lights, deliberately made visible for them, descended from the sky upon all the Clan members eligible for promotion, and the next second, the aura of all the promoted surged steadily.
The increase in aura of the other Clan members was not too noticeable, but the surge in this Naga’s presence, especially with the prominent growth in size that came with it, had the most significant impact on the other believers.
A Level 1 Naga stands about two meters tall, or roughly four meters if you include the tail.
At Level 2, their bodies grow by about ten to twenty centimeters, reaching a total length of four and a half meters.
Upon reaching Level 3, their height increases to two and a half meters, and with the tail, the total length will be five meters. Their muscles bulge more robustly, making it clear they have grown stronger at a glance.
Once the promotion was completed, the morale of the Clan members visibly soared, and a wave of charges forcibly pushed back several groups of Lobstermen, much to the amazement of the Native Fishmen in the distance. These Native Fishmen were too far away to witness the transformation here.
Moreover, they couldn’t see that such treatment was exclusive to the Divine Realm Kin from the Main World. The native races that were conquered did not have the privilege of upgrading at any moment.
However, if the conquered natives enter the Divine Realm and worship the Divine Realm Master, after several generations of procreation within the Divine Realm, they will receive such treatment.
With absolute advantages in strength and numbers, it took less than ten minutes for the several hundred Lobstermen on their side to collapse. Lin Xiao directed the Naga and the Fishmen to encircle and intentionally drive the collapsing Lobstermen towards the Fishmen to prevent their escape.
At the Lobsterman’s Nest, a hundred Naga and five hundred Fishmen already invaded the Lobstermen Tribe’s interior, quickly taking down some of the older and weaker Lobstermen, capturing the young and confining them aside, then began looting the resources of the Lobstermen’s Nest.
It wasn’t much in the way of resources, but surely some valuable things could be found in such a big nest.
On the main battlefield, under Lin Xiao’s deliberate control, the Lobstermen were caught in a pincer attack, but the pressure applied was not enough to cause a collapse.
The display of strength by the Naga made the Lobstermen hesitant, deterred from attacking here, forcing them to assault the Fishmen instead.
Protected by a few Naga, Lin Xiao watched the battlefield between the Lobstermen and Fishmen with relish, as nearly every second saw many Fishmen killed, as well as Lobstermen who were surrounded and slain by groups of Fishmen..