Pirates on Rocks' Ship 996

If Ace could kill it so easily, it could only mean that it was just a beast-like creature, not some kind of demon.

However, according to the savages' accounts, they could indeed be called demons.

“He’s just passed out, he’s not dead!” Reina said after examining the gorilla briefly, standing beside it.

"It seems this isn't a demon; it's probably just a large beast!" Ace said after examining it as well.

“Yes! If we had sharp weapons, we should be able to fight these savages! Look... their fur is quite soft, but their skin is quite tough. Their wooden weapons wouldn't do them any harm. We can't fight them like that!” Reina nodded and said.

"Then with Rakuyo's strength, these gorillas shouldn't be able to hurt him!" Ace nodded, relieved of his worries.

"Let's go, let's go up the mountain and take a look!" Reina nodded, used Senbonzakura to sever the gorilla's neck, and completely killed this "demon"!

After Reina and Ace had gone some distance, the savages who had been hiding slowly came out.

"What do we do now? Keep following them or go back? They... they really killed the demon!" a savage said, swallowing hard.

"Alright! I'll continue following them and lead the way. Besides the demons, there are some mazes on the mountain. Without our guidance, they'll easily get lost! You two go back and report to the leader. The rest of you stay here and guard the demon's corpse!"

"Okay, let's do it this way!"

After a brief discussion, the savages made a decision immediately.

Not long after, the savage chieftain arrived at the place, led by two other savages. When the chieftain saw the demon lying on the ground, he was still greatly surprised, even though he had prepared himself.

"Finally... finally someone has killed these demons!" The leader knelt beside the gorilla's corpse, tears streaming down his face. He didn't know how many of his relatives had died in the mouths of these demons, and seeing them killed now filled him with overwhelming emotion.

"Chief, what do we do now?" one of the savages left behind asked the chief.

"Phew~ They are our heroes, we must not let anything happen to them. You few go back first and protect the village. The rest of you... come with me! We're going into the mountains!" The leader stood up and said loudly.

He saw hope, he saw light, he saw a beautiful and peaceful life!

Chapter 339 The Mine

"First mate...are we going to wipe out all these gorillas?" Ace asked after a moment of silence on the way.

"What do you think?" Reina asked with a smile.

“I…I think we should still eliminate them!” Ace said after a moment’s hesitation.

"Why? Because you're human too? So after seeing how they, fellow humans, are treated, you want to exterminate these gorillas?" Reina asked with a light laugh.

"..." Ace was speechless and could only remain silent.

“Kid…we’re pirates…the freest beings on the sea, so don’t hesitate, just do what you think is right! From now on, you’re in charge of things here!” Reina said with a smile when he saw that Ace didn’t speak.

“First mate…” Ace was taken aback and looked at Reina beside him, somewhat at a loss.

"Alright, let's go! We need to find Lakyo first!" With that, Reina didn't give Ace a chance to speak and sped up.

Soon, the two arrived at the mountainside, where they discovered traces of Lakyo and his group.

Reina didn't make a move along the way, and even when they encountered those giant gorillas, Ace decided how to deal with them.

For some reason, Ace didn't attack the gorillas; he simply walked around them with Reina.

"It seems they really were here! But why didn't we see those huge gorilla corpses? Didn't they attack Rakuyo and the others?" Reina examined the marks on the ground and said, puzzled.

"Why do you say that?" Ace asked curiously.

"If you were on this island and met these gorillas, would you attack them before encountering those savages and learning about their experiences?" Reina asked with a smile.

"Probably not, unless I'm short of food!" Ace replied after thinking for a moment.

“That’s right. Lakyo’s mission is to find water, not food, so they won’t attack the gorillas unless they are attacked first! But I don’t understand, there’s water right down at the foot of the mountain, so why did Lakyo and the others come up the mountain?” Reina nodded and replied.

"Could they have discovered something?" Ace wondered.

"Maybe... We'll find the answer when we get to them. Let's go!" Reina got up and followed the tracks on the ground with Ace.

Before long, they arrived at a cave near the top of the mountain. Based on the marks on the ground, it was likely that Lakyo and his group had entered the cave.

"What are these guys doing here?" Reina said helplessly, looking at the dark cave.

“First mate…look quickly…” At this moment, Ace, who was squatting by the cave, pointed to the ground and said.

"Huh... this is... ore?" Reina took a few steps forward, looked at the iron sand exposed on the ground, and said in surprise, "These guys, could it be that they discovered the ore here and that's why they came all the way here?"

Because of the major renovations on Xuan Yue Island, they are quite familiar with steel. Reina even explained to them the origin of steel, which is formed by refining these iron ore sands.

“Very likely…otherwise, there’s no way to explain why they’ve been heading this way!” Ace nodded and said.

“Since it’s a mine, it means that someone had already been mining it before us. So why were those savages using wooden weapons?” Reina asked, throwing away the exposed ore.

"Could it be that they don't know the purpose of these ores?" Ace wondered.

Reina rolled his eyes and said, "If you didn't know what these ores were used for, would you still be digging such a big hole?"

Ace suddenly realized that something else had happened on this island that they didn't know about.

After making two torches, Reina and Ace continued on their way.

They soon discovered a lot of ore discarded by the roadside, proving that the mine had a surprisingly large reserve.

"This place doesn't seem to have been developed yet!" Ace said curiously after walking for a while.

“It’s also possible that the person who dug this cave wasn’t after these ores, but had another purpose!” Reina nodded and said.

They hadn't gone far when they heard some noises coming from ahead.

The two exchanged a glance and quickened their pace. Sure enough, they soon spotted a fire ahead.

"Who goes there?" Just then, the two heard Lakyo's voice.

“It’s me!” Reina stepped forward and said.

"Hey~ Reina? What brings you here? Come and see what we found! A huge natural mining area, this is no less amazing than a treasure map!" Laqueyo heard Reina's voice and immediately came over, excitedly saying.

"I have to say, you're such a handful... Aren't you? Didn't I tell you to come out and find a water source? What mining area are you looking for?" Reina said with a hint of dissatisfaction.

"Come on... what did we come out here for? We came to find treasure! Now that we've found such a large mining area, isn't that enough?" Lakyo said, pursing his lips.

"How did you find this place? Didn't you encounter any danger along the way?" Reina asked after looking around.

“Danger? You mean those gorillas that are called demons?” Laco asked, shrugging.

"You know?" Reina was taken aback. He had thought that Laco didn't know about the gorillas, but judging from how he referred to the gorillas, he knew that Laco already knew about the island.

“I’m not entirely sure, because that’s what she called the gorillas, and she said they were terrifying!” Lakyo said, pointing to a female savage hiding behind the members in the crowd.

"Tell me... what happened!" Reina asked with great interest.

"Weren't we looking for water? We quickly found a lake at the foot of the mountain, and then we found her by the lake!" Lakyo pointed at the female savage and said, "She was washing these ores by the lake. When I found her, I asked her where they came from, and she told us!"

Lacjoo's words were simple, but Reina believed that the truth was definitely not like that. This savage must have known that this was the gorilla's territory, but she brought Lacjoo and the others here. Either she didn't have good intentions from the beginning, or she was forced to come by Lacjoo and the others.

Sure enough, when Reina looked at her, the female savage hugged herself and took a few steps back, seemingly terrified.

"You didn't force her to come here, did you? These gorillas are demons in their eyes, how could she possibly come here on her own?" Reina glanced at Lakyo and asked.

“You wouldn’t believe it, this is her home!” Lakyo replied with a chuckle.

"Huh?" Reina was taken aback and looked at the female savage, but no matter how he looked at her, she didn't seem like the kind of person who would dare to live here.

"Your home is here? And where are your family?" Reina asked the female savage.

"Dead!" the female savage replied after a moment's hesitation.

"They're all dead? What about your village? Are there any people left? I also came across a village in the valley by the lake, and they still have quite a few people there!" Reina tried to appear friendly as he said with a smile.

"Everyone in the village is dead, and I'm the only one who survived by hiding here!" the female savage said with a hint of sadness.

"They're all dead? Who was so cruel as to massacre your village?" Lakyo asked in surprise.

"I said... how come you forced someone to bring you here when you didn't know anything?" Hearing Lacjo's words, Reina was 100% certain that it was Lacjo who, after discovering the other party's iron mine, forced them to bring him here.

"I didn't mean to hurt her, and she has no idea of ​​the ore's value. Rather than leaving it buried here, we might as well mine it!" Lakyo said with a smile, completely unconcerned. "Now it's even better. Since she has a blood feud, I'll avenge her as payment!"

Reina chuckled and shook his head, then told Lakyo the information he had obtained from the savages. Lakyo was somewhat surprised to learn that the humans on this island had been driven to such a state by these gorillas.

"Leave everything here to Ace! Including this mine!" After explaining, Reina winked at Lacjo and said.

Laco was taken aback, but seeing Ace's conflicted expression, Laco seemed to have thought of something and said with a strange laugh, "Hehe... Fine, since you say so, then I won't care! So Ace... the first thing you need to deal with is her, what do you plan to do?"

Ace glanced at Lakshmi and then at Reina. Seeing that they seemed serious, he stepped forward and said to the female savage, "How about this? There's a village in the valley by the lake. If you'd like, I can take you there to start your new life. What do you say?"

The female savage hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

"In that case, First Mate, Captain Laco, let's go to the village first!" Ace said to Reina and Laco after seeing this.

But just as he was about to get up and leave, the female savage suddenly grabbed him, shook her head, and said, "No, you can't leave now. It's almost dark outside, and it's very dangerous to go out now! Although you have fire, it's too little and won't be enough to scare away the demons in the night!"

When she brought Lakyo and the others up here before, she didn't say much, only that the ore was found in a cave near the demon's lair. Lakyo didn't think much of it at the time and just followed along.

When they encountered a giant gorilla on the road, the female savages told them that it was a demon.

In order not to disrupt their mineral exploration plans, Lakyo and his companions sneaked up along the way and did not have any conflict with the giant gorilla.

However, the gentleness that Reina and Ace had shown made the female savage feel a sense of warmth, which is why she spoke up to stop them from leaving.

"Don't worry! Those demons... are no match for us! I already killed one before we went up the mountain!" Ace said with a smile.

"What?" The female savage looked at Ace with disbelief and asked, "You...you can kill those demons? How is that possible? All the warriors in our village combined couldn't defeat a single demon! And they become even more terrifying at night!"

"Don't worry... I have flames!" Ace's fingertips instantly transformed into a leaping flame as he smiled and said to her.

"Fire...it really is fire...how did you do that?" The female savage stared wide-eyed at Ace in astonishment.

Chapter 340 Night

"Chief, it's getting dark soon. Should we continue? We've lost track of them!" The savage who had been tracking Reina and Ace alone had now joined up with the savage chief who had arrived later. However, they had only reached the foot of the mountain, and with darkness approaching, everyone began to feel tense and afraid.

"Let's go back!" The leader hesitated for a moment. Although they wanted to find Ace and Reina, continuing would only lead to their deaths.

Now that their village has learned how to make fire from Ace, their safety has greatly improved, so they are no longer as eager to find Ace and Reina as before.

When the leader returned to the village with his men, he saw firelight shining from afar at the mouth of the valley. For some reason, he suddenly felt incredibly at ease.

"Chief, it's fire! We're home!" the other savages shouted excitedly.

"Keep your voice down, do you want to summon demons? Come on, let's go back quickly!" After the leader laughed and scolded a few times, he led his men back into the valley.

The village was different from usual. In the past, when it was getting dark, everyone would hide in dark caves to avoid the demons. But today, apart from the elderly, women and children, many male warriors did not choose to hide, but instead gathered around the fire.