Pirates' Max Level System

Before these people were about to continue attacking, Qin Luo shouted: "Stop, you guys meet an acquaintance first, Second Elder, your clansmen are here, why don't you hurry up."

"Second Elder?" These people put away their weapons suspiciously.

At this time, a figure walked out from behind Qin Luo, it was...

Olivia???

Everyone who was about to put down their weapons immediately tightened their grip again, feeling deceived. But then another figure appeared from behind Olivia, and this time it was really the Second Elder.

"Are you all okay?" The second elder's voice choked when he saw his clansmen appear before him.

Weapons fell to the ground with a "ping pong" sound. The tribesmen who had just been holding weapons and ready to die threw away their weapons and gathered around the second elder, looking aggrieved like children who had never grown up.

Chapter 572: Shelter Cave

The second elder, who suffered from some dementia, was unexpectedly popular among the tribe members. After the news of his appearance spread, people kept running out from the room behind the passage.

The passage, which was not very big to begin with, was packed with people in a short while.

It took another five minutes for these people to remember Qin Luo and Olivia who came with them.

In front of many tribesmen, the second elder changed his previous silly appearance and not only comforted the tribesmen, but also brought the chaotic situation under control.

The second elder learned some information about the tribe's situation from these tribesmen, and especially after knowing that the ancestor was safe, the second elder felt relieved.

After finding a tribesman to lead the way, the second elder took Qin Luo and Olivia to meet the highest authority in the Guardian family, whom he called the ancestor.

The scene behind the passage finally appeared in front of Qin Luo and Olivia at this opportunity.

This was a huge cave, unlike the narrow cave before. This cave was much larger. The whole cave was a cylindrical space, with a distance of more than 100 meters between the bottom and the top.

There is water below the cave. The sea water flowing in from somewhere is surging at the bottom of the cave, and the sound of waves hitting the rock wall can be heard continuously.

The top and side walls of the cave were relatively flat, without protruding rock spikes or upside-down stalactites. This gave Qin Luo the strange idea that the cave was artificially excavated.

My goodness, if this cave was really dug out, not to mention the difficulty involved, the amount of work alone would be incredible.

In the center of the cave is a small island, which is about two-thirds the size of the entire cave. The island is connected to the passage by a bridge.

At this time, Qin Luo and his companions were walking on this stone bridge. The bridge deck was quite spacious, and could accommodate six or seven people at the same time. The bridge deck was more than twenty meters above the sea water below, and every three meters there was a huge stone pillar pier inserted into the sea water.

It is said that this design is to ensure that when the tide reaches its highest, the sea water will not flood the bridge deck.

The small island in the middle also has this design, so the base of the island is very high.

The island is not very spacious, and consists of a large stone tower and several palaces and temples.

On the top floor of the stone tower, an old woman with white hair was sitting cross-legged on the ground. A scepter stood beside her, emitting a faint white light.

The years have left deep marks on her body. She is severely hunched over, especially when she sits cross-legged, when she curls up into a ball.

Qin Luo gestured. Is this half a meter? It seems less than half a meter.

"Two distinguished guests, if I am not mistaken, they are Lord Qin Luo and Miss Olivia."

Ignoring Qin Luo's rudeness, the ancestor of the Guardian family opened his eyes and spoke slowly. It was not until then that Qin Luo realized that the old lady and the scepter in front of him were both suspended.

"Ancestor... the clan leader guessed correctly. It's us two. You should have heard my voice when I contacted the store manager before."

Olivia thought about it and decided to change the title of "old ancestor" to "old patriarch", otherwise it would feel weird. However, what the old patriarch said was not wrong. After the previous patriarch died in battle, the old lady temporarily took over the position of patriarch.

The old lady nodded slightly, and Qin Luo also stood up and introduced himself at the right time, and then got to the point.

"Ancestor, do you know which force invaded our ancestral land?"

As the Second Elder raised the question, Qin Luo and Olivia pricked up their ears to listen. They both had some guesses about the power behind this, but as members of the attacked Guardian family, they naturally had more say.

"It's those ungrateful beasts who manage the Chamber of Commerce!" The person who said this was definitely not the old lady, but the maid who had been standing silently behind the old lady in the room.

Angry wails and the sound of falling tears echoed throughout the room.

No one would blame the maid for this, especially since she had just lost her father and her brother was kidnapped.

The old lady who was sitting cross-legged floated up under the support of white light and came to the side of the maid, gently patting the maid's younger generation.

The old woman soothed the maid's flustered emotions and said, "It was indeed the Chamber of Commerce. At six or seven in the morning, the Chamber of Commerce's ship attacked directly from the west. By the time the alarm sounded, it was impossible to get all the tribe members into the shelter. In the end, they had to send some people as bait to buy time for the main force."

The old woman's words were euphemistic, but the situation was actually much more urgent. To buy time, the few remaining soldiers on the island blocked the entrance to the village.

In order to preserve more members of the tribe, a large number of people were used as bait.

One-third of the island's inhabitants, in order to protect the group taking refuge in the shelter, willingly fled to the mountaintop ancestral hall as bait and waited for death. Many elders volunteered to join the 150-man team, after all, if the number was too small, it would be very likely that a flaw would be discovered.

There was no doubt that these people would be taken away by the people who managed the Chamber of Commerce. And if the Second Elder had not returned quickly after being reminded by Qin Luo and Olivia, the people who managed the Chamber of Commerce would have dug three feet into the ground at Sifang Island.

"How do they know the location of the ancestral land?" They naturally refer to the people who manage the Chamber of Commerce. From the old lady's description, these people not only know the location of the ancestral land, but also know the route to the Stone Forest Sea.

"They have so many ways to obtain intelligence, whether it's from leaked sea charts hundreds of years ago or family members who fell into their hands. We've been too trusting of these ungrateful people."

The old woman was deeply troubled. Similar incidents had occurred occasionally in the family's centuries-long history. However, because the family's ancestral land had never been attacked, the Guardian Family had relaxed their vigilance.

But who knew that their enemies were so patient, not taking any risks when the Guardian Family was strong, but coming out and biting the Guardian Family in the fatal spot as soon as something happened to them.

Olivia was filled with sadness at the fate of the Guardian Family. A large family that once numbered two to three thousand people, after a series of disasters, even including the one hundred and fifty people who were captured and the two hundred or so people brought back by the second elder, the total number of the family was less than six hundred, and most of the dead were the elite of the family.

Olivia couldn't help but think of O'Hara, her hometown that had been erased from the world. If it weren't for Qin Luo's intervention, Master O'Hara would have been even more involved than the Guardian Family.

Thinking of this, Olivia couldn't help but feel that she wanted to do something for the Guardian Family.

Chapter 573 Rescue Plan

"Since the Management Chamber of Commerce has taken these people away, they must be hoping to learn more secrets about the Guardian Family from them. This also means that for a short period of time, these people's lives are safe. As long as we make good use of this time, we can do a lot of things, such as saving people..."

After thinking for a while, Olivia said slowly.

The second elder obviously agreed with Olivia's idea, but he still looked at the old lady. It was very obvious who was making the final decision here.

"Ms. Olivia, although I also want to save my people, our tribe no longer has the ability to do so." The old lady told us a cruel reality. If they think about saving people now, they will only lose the rest of the tribe.

"But, ancestor..." The second elder wanted to stop him unwillingly.

"Second elder, don't forget that continuing the family line is the most important thing." The old lady interrupted the second elder's words.

Everyone: ""

"No, I don't agree. These people must be saved. And please stop calling me Old Second, ancestor."

Someone howled like a defeated dog, and it was unclear whether it was for his tribe or for his own strange nickname.

"I've made up my mind. These 150 or so people are ready to die. I can't let them die in vain. And you're the second oldest grandchild, so what's wrong with calling you second?"

Qin Luo and Olivia were both shocked to learn that the dying Second Elder was only the grandson of the Guardian Clan's ancestor. Considering the Second Elder was in his eighties, the ancestor must have lived for at least a hundred and ten years. For a human being, this age was truly deceptive.

As a "living fossil", the ancestor of the Guardian family rejected the second elder while looking towards Qin Luo and Olivia.

That's pretty much it.

Qin Luo and Olivia exchanged a glance, and then Olivia said, "As for the rescue, we and the Red Hair Pirates will both provide manpower, but I hope that after the rescue, you can open all the books to me."

"Okay. No problem."

As soon as Olivia finished speaking, a certain ancestor agreed decisively, which showed that the other party was simply waiting for Olivia to speak.

As for the Guardian family's books and materials, since she was from O'Hara, there was nothing wrong with opening them up to her. Even the family's secret techniques, for some reason, the ancestors were not worried about them being leaked.

The rest of the conversation revolved around the rescue operation, and only then did Qin Luo and Olivia have time to continue looking at the shelter.

Qin Luo had previously suspected that this shelter was built by hollowing out a portion of a huge rock peak on the edge of Sifang Island. This was confirmed by the ancestor of the Guardian family.

As the family's final refuge, construction began when the Guardian Clan of the South Sea settled on Sifang Island. The secrets of the refuge and the methods of entry and exit were passed down orally among the Guardian Clan's patriarchs and great elders.

Although this method carries the risk of being lost, it also ensures that the shelter will not be known to outsiders. As the candidate for the Great Elder, the Second Elder had only heard some information from his ancestors. In fact, his understanding of the shelter was limited to the cave full of traps.

Under normal circumstances, unless the ancestor who was now both the Great Elder and the Clan Leader died from his outlasting, the Second Elder would never get the full information about the refuge. This was the so-called "As long as I am alive, you are all the crown princes."

To show the Guardian Family's sincerity, the ancestor waved his hand and immediately opened up all of their clan's classics and materials to Olivia. Although the books in the Guardian Family's ancestral land on the ground had been looted or burned, those were unimportant and copied out. The originals and the essences were all placed in the shelter.

After the old ancestor spoke, someone naturally took Olivia to the Guardian Family's library. Her purpose was thus achieved. The next step was to see Qin Luo run errands to rescue those tribesmen.

In order to prevent the people who manage the Chamber of Commerce from coming back, Qin Luo teleported back to South Hillraf and brought the idle Hoshigaki Kisame over to serve as the temporary guard of the Guardian Family.

Shanks and the others had to rest for a while and then immediately prepare to set sail. They and the second elder would take ten captured normal ships and sneak into the port of South Hillraf in disguise and wait for orders. After Qin Luo rescued the people, there had to be a ship to take them away.

Of course, if the Guardian Family is willing to increase the price, Qin Luo can also open a remote transmission service.

It was not until Qin Luo's second trip back to South Hill Raff that Taotu discovered him.

"Is everything going well?"

Taking the coffee handed to him by Taotu, Qin Luo shook his head and told her the whole situation.

"I didn't expect that all this was caused by the Chamber of Commerce."

"Isn't this normal? The Guardian Family has been active in South Hilllaf for so long. It's impossible that the people who manage the Chamber of Commerce don't know anything about it. They might have already found out everything about the Guardian Family." Qin Luo replied to Taotu.

...0

"That's right, I have something to tell you."

After Taotu finished speaking, she pulled Qin Luo upstairs. At this time, an acquaintance was lying on the bed.

"Isn't this the store manager? Why is she here? What happened?" As soon as he entered the room, Qin Luo smelled a strong smell of medicine, and the store manager was in a coma.

"The night you left, the store manager was followed. If Gui Deng Shui Yue hadn't discovered it in advance, I wouldn't have been able to get there in time. Gui Deng Shui Yue is currently keeping the store manager's family members in a secret room underground in the lighthouse. But if the one who did it was the Management Chamber of Commerce, they probably won't be able to hide there for long."

That's for sure. The identity of the store manager's family has been exposed to the Management Chamber of Commerce. When they close in on the Guardian Family, they will not let the store manager off easily.

After instructing Taotu to stay home for the time being, Qin Luo pondered how to find the 150 members of the Guardian Family who had been captured. The store manager's forces were no longer reliable, and the Red Hair Pirates and the Second Elder's men were still at sea. Qin Luo had to face the dilemma of having to rely on himself to gather intelligence.

It is necessary to visit the prison of the Nanhillraf Management Chamber of Commerce, although Qin Luo does not think that the other party will directly throw people into such an ordinary prison.

For some reason, Qin Luo suddenly thought of someone while walking on the road, Derek, the heir of a high-level family that managed the Chamber of Commerce.

Chapter 574: Note

Speaking of which, all the information Qin Luo had obtained about the Chamber of Commerce came from this Derek. It was also because of some information obtained from Derek that Qin Luo and others had never thought that the Chamber of Commerce was the real mastermind behind the scenes.

Qin Luo didn't believe that Derek had been acting in front of him. He didn't even know Qin Luo's identity.

The only ones who had seen through Qin Luo's disguise were the deceased Morgans and the captured second-in-command of the newspaper. Even if the Chamber of Commerce's intelligence was powerful, it couldn't escape the scope of South Hillraf.

The atmosphere on the streets of South Hilllove after the Naval Festival was much the same as before. The only difference was a new round of topics, such as the unexpected events at the festival, the disappearance of newspaper executives, and the attack on a century-old family.

Yes, the Chamber of Commerce announced that the store manager and her family were attacked by an unknown force and are now missing. The Chamber of Commerce has already placed the entire city under martial law, and the law enforcement team is combing the city. If you don't know better, you might think they're looking for the attackers.

The thief cried "stop thief". In order to find the store manager, the people from the Chamber of Commerce even used this trick.

Arriving near the city prison, across the street, Qin Luo observed the situation inside the prison with his eyes rolled.

The prison was bustling with activity, and every cell was filled with people. Qin Luo had thought that the Guardian Family members were really imprisoned there. However, after sneaking in, he discovered that his excitement was in vain.

Most of the people in the prison were those who had been sent there in the past few days. The Chamber of Commerce took this opportunity to arrest all those who might be related to the Guardian Family.

Qin Luo saw many familiar faces in the prison, including the owner of the antique shop who collected the Guardian Family telescope, the librarian, and some newspaper reporters. But none of the real Guardian Family members were here.

In order to confirm whether there were people from the Guardian family imprisoned in the prison, Qin Luo spent a lot of time. He had to speed up. Before the sun set, he had to go to at least a few places to confirm the situation.

Qin Luo had wandered around the port of Nanshierlaf, finding nothing but a few slave traders. The South Sea Star Bridge, which Qin Luo believed had the most secret passages, also had no trace of the Guardian Family.

At this moment, the villa area where the Chamber of Commerce executives gathered became the last place Qin Luo could think of. The last time he came here, Qin Luo was with Derek.

Although the villa here is heavily guarded, Qin Luo easily sneaked in after disguising himself as a member of the law enforcement team. It's very simple, isn't it? Qin Luo didn't even need to change his clothes, he could do it with an illusion.

The main reason is that these few days are quite special. There are law enforcement team members coming to the villa area to report the situation at any time and anywhere, and the security guards at the gate of the villa area are no longer surprised by this situation.

Qin Luo wore a law enforcement hat that he had gotten from somewhere, lowered the brim of the hat, and scanned the houses in the villa area with his eyes rolled back.

At an intersection, a team of officials walked past Qin Luo. This situation was not uncommon in this villa area, and Qin Luo did not pay attention.

Qin Luo would never have thought that after the two teams walked more than fifty meters in opposite directions, one of the people in that team suddenly turned around and looked in Qin Luo's direction.

"What's wrong, Derek?" The people in the team asked in confusion after seeing one of their companions stop.

"Nothing, I just thought I dropped something. Let's go." Derek quickly put away his surprised expression and said calmly.

But in fact, Derek just recognized Qin Luo. To be more precise, Derek saw his "friend" Luo whom he had not seen for a long time.

"There's nothing here either. Where would they hide the Guardian Family members?" Qin Luo circled the villa area and returned to where he started. He muttered to himself after finding nothing.

Not long after Qin Luo left the villa area, a figure ran out from the side and bumped into Qin Luo.

Even though Qin Luo looked like he was thinking, it was impossible for these people to hit him. Whether it was a scam, a drunk, or a three-handed person, no matter what the other party's purpose was, Qin Luo would not let him succeed.