"Collective religious rituals really do make it easy to set the mood... No wonder those churches love holding regular services and holy ceremonies..."
Leilin withdrew his gaze and shook his head.
It was only a matter of time before Chihuahua Island and its original tribal natives fell completely into his hands. He was confident that once Tifa understood his intentions, she would make good use of Saint
With all of this taken care of, Leilin turned his attention to Bankzi Island.
He didn't have the luxury of waiting around to slowly subdue the natives of Chihuahua Island. He needed to conquer several large tribes as quickly as possible, accumulate enough divinity, and even advance to demigod status to challenge the Sacatcas Empire.
Under the guise of calm on the surface while tension simmered within, a new round of war preparations had already begun quietly.
"The conquest of the native continent requires more than just slaughter and slave armies — it also demands the aid of plague and death..."
Leilin's gaze grew distant and dark. If he truly wanted to punch above his weight, assistance from both of these fronts was absolutely indispensable.
If not for the current constraints and his wariness of outsiders, Leilin might very well have sent someone to seek help from the Plague Lady's church.
After all, given her evil nature, she would have been more than happy to help unleash a plague.
"Forget it... It's better to keep the secret of my ability to absorb native faith hidden for now. I'll just do it myself if I have to..."
A streak of pride welled up in Leilin's heart.
For a wizard, taking some time to engineer a plague was no difficulty at all. With the power of his sorcerer's bloodline, he could even develop diseases specifically targeting the natives — increasing both infectivity and lethality to wipe them out entirely!
Of course, he didn't need to go that far. But using it as a deterrent was certainly necessary.
Just think about it: every tribe that opposed Leilin would be ravaged by epidemic, with people dying at every turn, while those natives who surrendered to him would find salvation. What kind of power would that create?
While certain priests possessed divine spells capable of removing diseases, how many high-ranking priests did they actually have? And how many commoners were there among the natives? Given the limitations of divine spell slots, it would be impressive if they could even save the entire nobility.
Moreover, their deities were mere earthbound spirits at best — demigods at the highest tier — and could only grant divine spells up to the fifth level. Their numbers couldn't compare to true gods either, which was yet another major limitation.
After conquering Chihuahua Island, Leilin's expeditionary force had essentially hammered a firm nail right next to Bankzi Island.
With his long-range fleet commanding naval supremacy, any counterattack from the enemy would be futile.
Or rather, even if the enemy discovered them now and possessed terrifying administrative and mobilization efficiency, they still wouldn't be able to drive Leilin out from here.
And the subjugated Chihuahua tribes would continue to provide Leilin's expeditionary force with a steady stream of supplies, warriors, and most importantly — faith!
The natives previously carried aboard Leilin's fleet had already been dispatched as ordinary translators and constables, assisting his army in governing the entire tribe.
— Although high-ranking mages all had spells like Comprehend Languages, for the rank-and-file, Leilin couldn't exactly equip everyone with spell scrolls, so translators and the like were extremely important.
Of course, this was only the first generation. Afterwards, he would begin forcibly abolishing the natives' writing and language, promoting the Continental Common Tongue instead.
Essentially, this was the standard model of colonial development, adapted by Leilin for his own purposes. The most important element — economic plunder — had simply been replaced with the conquest of faith.
By the time this model was essentially in place, nearly a month had passed. Of the original five thousand pirates, two thousand — the elderly, the weak, the crippled, and the wounded — had been reassigned by Leilin to serve as grassroots officials and the like.
Afterward, Leilin led the remaining three thousand pirates and set out for Bankzi Island — the true continent of the natives!
Three thousand against a million! It sounded utterly insane, but after everything that had transpired, everyone in the fleet had unshakable faith in Leilin.
This fervent devotion was the essential prerequisite for converting into fanatical believers! Leilin believed that once he led these pirates to accomplish this seemingly impossible feat, those who survived would inevitably become his zealous fanatics!
As they neared Bankzi Island, Leilin gave the order for the entire fleet to halt, as though waiting for something.
For him at this point, every single soldier was precious. Venturing deep into enemy territory with an isolated force was far too risky.
According to his earlier plan, the next step was to seize a foothold without shedding blood.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
After roughly four or five hourglasses, a crimson figure soared in from the distant horizon and landed on Leilin's deck.
"Following your plan, I've brought him back!"
The newcomer was none other than
However, Isabel looked rather bedraggled at the moment, with a large section of the scales on her back shattered.
"What happened? Ran into trouble?" Leilin raised his hand, and a healing arcane spell immediately washed over Isabel. A multitude of broken scales rapidly regenerated.
"When I snatched him, the totem spirit detected me and sent pursuers after me. But just as you said, once they chased me beyond a certain range from their tribe, they turned back on their own..."
Isabel's complexion improved considerably as she spoke, and she tossed an unconscious native directly onto the deck.
The captured native wore vibrant, resplendent robes. His ruddy complexion and fine skin spoke of a life of privilege and luxury — he was at least on par with the grand chieftain of Chihuahua Island from before.
"Excellent! Lock him up in the bottom of the ship. Make sure he doesn't die. After that, we can cheerfully ransom him back to his tribe..."
Leilin waved his hand, and two pirates immediately stepped forward to carry the unconscious native chieftain away.
"Such a crude plan?
Although Leilin now possessed a portion of divine majesty, Isabel was still his cousin by blood, so she could still ask such questions — whereas Tifa, standing nearby, showed no inclination to question him at all, as though everything Leilin said was gospel truth!
"Who knows? But there's no harm in trying..."
Leilin shrugged as he said this, though inwardly he felt the chances of this plan succeeding were quite high.
Don't overestimate the natives. They were ignorant, foolish, and filled with a kind of naivety. In his previous life's Americas as well, the Western colonizers had obtained thousands of pounds of gold and silver through precisely this kind of extortion.
Though the circumstances were different here — these natives had high-ranking officials like grand priests who worshipped totem spirits, a system where theocratic and monarchical power ran in parallel — a grand chieftain should surely have some direct heirs and loyal retainers, right?
In any case, Leilin had already decided: if this didn't work, he'd simply kill the hostage and try again — next time, he'd grab a grand priest or something similar.
Fortunately, the enemy tribe clearly couldn't bear to let their grand chieftain die. After Leilin sent an envoy, their people arrived quickly.
At the agreed-upon location near the shore, a large group of natives paddled dozens of canoes to the side of the Crimson Tiger.
The pirates on deck looked down at the canoes below, their faces filled with disdain.
In their eyes, one casual sweep of their great ship's hull could send all these natives to a watery grave — boats overturned, men dead.
But soon after, their eyes became glued to the sight below. Any jeering or attempt to attack the native canoes would earn them a fierce rebuke.
Because they saw gold! Masses of golden light on those canoes!
Gleaming golden vessels and large chunks of gold nuggets were carried onto the deck by the natives as ransom for their chieftain.
The dazzling gleam immediately blinded all the pirates' eyes, and expressions of greed spread across their faces.
Wasn't this the very reason they had become pirates in the first place — risking their lives against the dangers of the deep sea and armed merchant ships?
"Although the total value isn't all that much, a pile like this is still quite the spectacle..."
In truth, Leilin knew this didn't mean Bankzi Island was rich in gold deposits or anything of the sort.
After all, on the mainland people used gold and silver as currency, but here they probably treated cocoa beans and obsidian as mediums of exchange, with gold serving merely as ornamentation. If Leilin's envoy hadn't specifically demanded gold, the ransom the natives brought would likely have been a pile of obsidian or something similar.
And in the natives' eyes, being able to ransom back their chieftain with a pile of useless decorations was probably considered quite the bargain.
Leilin stroked his chin, gazing at the native envoy prostrating before him. For these people, a colossal ship that towered like a mountain was no different from a divine miracle.
"O great and powerful ones who cross the seas, you white-skinned demons with mountainous vessels... I have brought what you desire. Please release our grand chieftain. After this, you shall also have the friendship of our tribe..."
A priest — clearly a high-ranking one — spoke with trembling timidity, though to Leilin there was no issue of language barriers whatsoever.
His comprehension ability now was far beyond what an ordinary divine being could match, and once he advanced to demigod, understanding the languages and scripts of every plane would be almost instinctive.
At this moment, the envoy's cowardice was laid bare for all to see in Leilin's eyes.
"I've seen your ransom, but it's not enough..."
Leilin branded his meaning directly into the depths of these natives' hearts.
"A king can only be ransomed with a king! You may go see your chieftain. After that, I demand that you wage war upon the neighboring Engodo tribe and capture their chieftain to exchange for yours!"