Path of Light.

Chapter 864 865. Merchant Moses
After Roy asked the imperial merchants about the sailing routes, some of them who revealed the slave trade routes were arranged by Roy to work in the shipyard. Every day they used shovels to remove the shellfish that were parasitic on the bottom of the ships.

The remaining imperial merchants returned to the beach camp and continued to dig stones in the sea reef area. Their lives were extremely hard.

The imperial crew members were able to control their tempers at the beginning and did not say anything too harsh to the imperial merchants, because they also hoped that one day these imperial merchants would have the opportunity to redeem them.

But the news that reached the crew in the past two days was that Boss Roy asked the imperial merchants for information about the slave routes. The imperial merchants who were willing to tell him the routes had already lived on the ship and only needed to complete some simple tasks every day.

Only those imperial merchants who were unwilling to reveal their route were sent back, and they dug stones in the reef area with the crew.

The Imperial sailors dreamed of regaining their freedom soon, but the Imperial merchants refused to give in, making the sailors feel that they might die of old age on Kui Island, and spend their whole lives as stone digging laborers.

The Imperial crew members who were in despair would occasionally vent their emotions by cursing. Although they did not curse at the Imperial merchants, the camp was filled with depression, tension, impulse and rage. These emotions were like explosives that could explode at any time.

The Silver Empire merchant collapsed on the beach, he stuffed the chisel in his hand into his leather bag, the soft sand was like the velvet-covered bed in his home, he missed the good times he had with his lover...

I untied the water bag from my waist, took a big gulp of water, and then imagined drinking a sip of orange juice with ice cubes at home.

The rubbed areas on his hands had begun to scab and form calluses, and now he could walk barefoot on stones without feeling any pain. He could even climb barefoot on reefs covered with oyster shells without getting his toes bloody.

It's just that this kind of hard life with no end in sight really makes people feel desperate...

He turned his head and glanced at Moses who was sitting next to him. Moses had lost a lot of weight recently, his eye sockets were sunken, and he became silent.

"I think we should cooperate with Boss Roy. He wants to know the route, and we won't lose anything if we tell him. Even if we don't tell him, he can get the information from other places, and we will just be trapped on this island. Moses, no one will come to save us."

The silver-haired young businessman whispered.

"I've been wondering these days... Can we ever return to the Green Empire in this lifetime? Do you think it's possible that if we tell them the route, they will take us back and let our families pay a ransom to buy us back?"

Moses struggled to prop up his upper body with both hands, then looked towards the sea blankly.

The merchants around gathered around him, and everyone was quite convinced by him...

"Moses, why don't we explain some more about the slave routes. Those guys have only been following us for a short time, how would they know the real slave routes? I think we should take a gamble. If we win, maybe we can go home!"

Another businessman suggested to Moses.

Moses sat on the beach in silence. Just half a month ago, these guys had been persuading him to cooperate with the gray dwarf bandits.

Now he is planning to hand over the slave trade route, just to gamble on the promise of the half-blood elf leader...

He looked at the festering wounds on his feet and thought that if he held on for a few more days, his foot might rot away.

"Okay, I'll go see Roy."

Moses said somewhat weakly.

……

The businessman Moses found the half-elf guards and told them that he wanted to meet Boss Roy.

Soon the elf guard brought the merchant Moses to a wooden house under a coconut tree near the dock.

The wooden house is not built on a tree and looks more like a stilt house.

Boss Roy was lying comfortably on a rattan chair on the terrace. Next to him was a wood elf maid who was peeling fruit. Her tall figure was squatting beside the rattan chair. Just looking at her beautiful face with emerald green eyes was an ultimate enjoyment.

Two half-elf beauties squeezed on another lounge chair, looking like they were having a very happy chat.

There was a Naga mermaid leaning against the terrace fence who looked like a beautiful elf. Although she had used transformation magic to turn her fish tail into legs, Moses could still recognize her at a glance as a Naga mermaid.

Unlike Imperial women, elven women rarely have ugly appearances.

To the elves, an ordinary appearance is considered ugly.

However, the merchant Moses did not come here to admire the elf beauties this time, so he did not dare to look around...

He came to the fence near Roy and stood there somewhat stiffly.

The wood elf maid who was squatting in front of Roy's rattan chair brought him a cup of lemon tea with honey at Roy's instruction.

The wood elf maid was only wearing a light gauze skirt. Although the light was dim, the outline of her graceful body could still be seen...

Seeing the merchant Moses's fixed gaze, the wood elf maid glared at him in embarrassment and quickly retreated behind the rattan chair.

The businessman Moses could smell the sweet aroma in the cup. He couldn't wait to drink the lemon tea in the cup in one gulp. The sweet honey water flowed into his dry stomach, and he immediately felt a warm current in his body.

Moses showed an awkward smile on his face and said in a hoarse voice:
"Boss Roy, we are willing to share that route with you. Can you also arrange some easy work for us businessmen?"

When the imperial merchant ship arrived at Kui Island, the merchant Moses was so high-spirited, and now he is so embarrassed...

However, Roy did not mock him, but said in a very calm tone:
"If I think the information you provided is useful, I can let you work in the shipyard as well."

Then Roy sat up from the rattan chair, rested his elbows on his knees, held his chin with one hand, and continued to speak to the merchant Moses:
"If you want all merchants to be exempted from stone chiseling, then you must provide me with enough useful information..."

Merchant Moses could only nod silently, and then said:
"If your fleet wants to go to Roland Continent, please take us with you."

Roy waved his hand and said impatiently: "Well...I can't promise you this."

The businessman Moses' eyes dimmed, he knew he had missed the best opportunity for negotiation.

Now that I take the initiative to come forward, it will be difficult to negotiate terms...

It was very quiet around. Moira, Sabrina and Miss Tiffany were all sitting quietly by the side and they stopped chatting.

Roy felt that his negotiations with businessman Moses affected everyone's chat.

After thinking about it, he took the merchant Moses to the Black Pearl to discuss these things.

In addition, the Endless Sea chart could only be fully unfolded on the deck of the Black Pearl, and he didn't want to spread the chart on the beach in front of the terrace. Roy placed the chart on the deck of the Black Pearl again.

At this time, Woods also ran out of the room to help.

A dozen imperial merchants were in the cabin on the second floor of the ship. When they saw Moses coming to the deck, they all went to the window to peek outside, their eyes filled with complex emotions, including contempt, sympathy, guilt, gloating... all kinds of expressions.

Moses sat on the deck, closed his eyes and thought for a while, then began to talk to Roy about the slave trade route.

He admitted that his caravan had been transporting some elven slave girls and Naga mermaids to Roland Continent over the years. Generally speaking, Silver Moon elven women had the highest added value, followed by Wood Elves, Dark Moon Elves, and Half-Blood Elves.

The imperial nobles who were able to raise Naga mermaids were almost all wealthy lords. They needed to build large saltwater swimming pools in their manors. Naga mermaids would easily lose their scales when living in fresh water...

As he said these things, Roy stared at him impatiently.

Merchant Moses immediately realized that Roy was different from those profit-seeking businessmen and did not like to listen to these business theories...

He rubbed his nose, and then talked about the gray dwarves living on the west coast of the Elf Continent.

In fact, these gray dwarves are not only distributed on the west coast of the Elf Continent, but there are also a large number of gray dwarf bandits active along the east coast. They have even extended their tentacles to the Garo Island in the Seven Realms Sea. It is said that the island is almost as big as the territory of the Wood Elves.

Nearly half of the Duergar's homeland, Durrag's Knee, has been occupied, and the remaining half is also in the hands of the Dwarf Legion and the Mensa Plains Orc Tribe Army...

So most of the gray dwarf bandits left their homes.

During their migration, some gray dwarves chose to settle down on the islands around the Elf Continent. This is one of the reasons why the gray dwarves were able to form a huge pirate army in just a few decades.

After living on the island for a long time, the gray dwarves became more and more restless.

Gradually they found that fishing at sea could not change their lives.

They came into contact with the slave trade and found that it was the most profitable industry that suited them best.

So in the past few decades, the gray dwarves gradually developed into suppliers of the slave trade, and they began to try to capture elves and naga in large numbers...

The Sirens of the Lost Sea have existed in the slave market for a long time. As the managers of the slave market, the Sirens have been maintaining normal slave transactions in the market.

At first, they only traded some Naga sea tribesmen. Later, elf slaves became more popular in the Green Empire and the Etia Alliance Kingdom, and the number of elf slaves in this market gradually increased...

The businessman Moses was a little thirsty as he spoke, so Woods handed him a glass of water, which he drank in one gulp again.

He then went on to say that almost all the slave ships crossing the Endless Sea came from the Green Empire and the Etia Alliance Kingdom.

The first third of this route is in the Endless Sea. It will take about twelve months of sailing in the Endless Sea for the fleet to reach the southern border of the Endless Sea. If the fleet has not been targeted by the Naga army in the Endless Sea at this time, the fleet can sail along the ocean current on this side of the Endless Sea to the Roland Continent.

If you have been targeted by the Naga army in the Endless Sea at this time, you must continue sailing south.

There is a very wide buffer zone between the Endless Sea and the Seven Realm Sea. This is also a deep sea area where sea monsters roam freely. There are a large number of deep sea monsters living here, and some of them are far more dangerous than the Naga Legion...

Only the most experienced captains can shuttle back and forth between this buffer zone and the endless sea, avoiding dangers from all directions.

After passing through this sea area, the slave ships eventually arrived at the Grey Harbor in the Lindon Province of the Green Empire, and could also be sent to the Port of Pelarg in the Anduin Province.

Roy asked the merchant Moses: "I heard that merchant ships basically go to Qiyan Port..."

Merchant Moses shook his head silently.

He told Roy that there were only two ports in the Green Empire that would not inspect slave ships, namely Grey Harbor and Pelag Port.

There are actually many different routes for slave ships.

But every road is a bloody one, and there are huge forces behind every slave ship. The slave ships will try to choose the most suitable route for themselves based on these advantages.

If the slave ship has a powerful mercenary group, especially if there are some master-level warriors who are capable of hunting deep-sea monsters, then the slave ship can rush out of the Endless Sea without any worries and enter the buffer zone where sea monsters roam.

In this sea area, you can even hunt extremely rare deep-sea monsters...

If the slave trading ships have some kind of close connection with those maritime forces, they can also sail directly south near the Elf Continent, all the way to the Seven Realm Sea, and then sail west, so that they can completely avoid the Endless Sea.

Many maritime forces are hidden in the Seven Realm Seas...

If the slave fleet is familiar with the Naga Legion in the Endless Sea, then things will be much simpler. They can go west from the Lost Sea along the route on the nautical chart and continue to reach the islands that serve as supply points. This is also the shortest route among the slave fleet.

However, if the slave ship and the Naga Legion are not familiar with each other, they cannot take this route.

The Naga tribe of the Endless Sea are too powerful.

Once the fleet rashly enters the Endless Sea, even the Gray Dwarf fleet will be completely destroyed.

Roy asked the businessman Moses with some doubt:

"Don't they say that the gray dwarves need to sail on the sea for at least five years to reach the Seven Seas?"

The merchant Moses said with a bitter face:

"That's the Garo Island where the Gray Dwarves are heading to the Seventh Sea. The other starting point is Jiaozhi City in the far north of Durrag's Knee. It takes about half a year to reach Kui Island by boat from Jiaozhi City. In addition, the Gray Dwarf fleet generally seldom enters the buffer zone where sea beasts are rampant. They almost always choose to take a detour."

Roy stared at the sea chart below him.

It now seems that the Green Empire's route along the Frozen Sea to the Roland Continent is actually the safest route.

Roy then asked the merchant Moses, "Are there any slave ships taking the northern route?"

The businessman Moses felt that he had said a lot, but seeing that Roy was still not satisfied, his brows were almost twisted together.

At this time, I dare not not answer, so I can only say:
"Of course there are, but it will be very troublesome if the Imperial Fleet finds out. Some provinces of the Green Empire have begun to ban slave trade in recent years. In comparison, the previous route is safer."

(End of this chapter)