Chapter 27: Dealing with the Pirates

Witnessing this terrifying scene, the fleeing pirates immediately stopped and looked in horror toward Fang Yun.

"Spare us, Master! We are willing to surrender!"

Among the crowd, a brightly dressed woman among the innate martial artists dropped her weapon and knelt in the seawater. Following her lead, several innate martial artists behind her also knelt without hesitation.

The others exchanged glances, hesitated for a moment, and then ultimately followed suit, kneeling down.

In this situation, they realized they could no longer escape. Even if they reached the ship, they wouldn't evade the pursuit of the cultivators. It was better to surrender; perhaps they could save their lives.

As all the innate martial artists knelt in surrender, the remaining ordinary pirates, fearing retaliation, also dropped their weapons and surrendered.

At this point, the battle between the Fang family and the pirates came to an end. Aside from some casualties among the guards, none of the other clan elders had been harmed. For the Fang family, this was a relatively satisfactory conclusion.

With all the pirates surrendering, the Fang family no longer needed to continue the pursuit, so the clan elders turned their attention to Fang Yun, looking to him for a decision on how to deal with the pirates.

Fang Yun slowly walked onto the beach, gazing at the multitude of pirates kneeling in the seawater. First, he approached Qingmu Shangren's corpse and retrieved the items from his body. Ultimately, he found a small booklet, a few spirit stones, several talismans, and some seeds whose types he couldn't identify.

After assessing his spoils, Fang Yun stashed them away. There were still matters to attend to, and now wasn't the time to study these items. He then looked toward the nearby clan elders and asked, "Elders, what do you think should be done with these pirates?"

Among the crowd, Fang Lin thought for a moment and said, "That depends on what you think, Clan Leader. These pirates are vicious and ruthless; even if we were to kill them all, it wouldn't be considered a bad thing! But if you don't want to kill them, we could keep them. There are places outside the islands that specialize in trading people. Selling them all could serve as compensation for our losses. This is how we've handled the defeated in past wars."

Fang Yun glanced at the others and saw they had no differing opinions. After thinking it over, he decided that killing them was out of the question. If they had died in battle, that would have been one thing, but now that they had surrendered, it would be a breach of conscience to have them all slaughtered.

In ancient times, there was a saying that killing captives brought bad luck, not to mention that he was someone who had traversed from the modern world. Fang Yun couldn't bring himself to be so ruthless. However, selling them all, while somewhat better than killing them, still felt wasteful.

These were merely mortals; selling them would only yield some silver and gold—could they even be sold for spirit stones? If that were possible, Fang Yun figured the nearby pirates, and even the mortals on places like Ling Shui Island, would have long been captured by slave traders.

As for silver and gold, the Fang family probably didn't lack those. So, Fang Yun looked at Fang Xue, who was responsible for farming in the family, and asked, "Elder Fang Xue, do we have enough labor to work the fields?"

As soon as Fang Yun spoke, the clan elders present understood his intention. Although they couldn't help but feel that their leader was being a bit too merciful, they also remembered the strength Fang Yun had just displayed, making them hesitant to voice any opposition.

Fang Xue hesitated for a moment before responding, "Clan Leader, we have enough manpower for rice cultivation. After all, the rice fields are located on both sides of the river, and the irrigation is convenient. We don't require too many workers."

Fang Yun nodded in agreement. The Fang family's tens of thousands of acres of rice fields were indeed sufficient for their population of around 100,000, especially when accounting for the elderly and young. However, Fang Yun considered his plans for farming. With the limited spirit fields, he wanted to acquire more life energy, which would require expanding the range of ordinary crops.

Though he didn't know if the crops he instructed others to plant would be recognized by his unique ability, he believed this was a direction for future development. To expand the planting of ordinary crops, he needed to encompass all of Ling Shui Island.

With about 100,000 people in the Fang family, minus the elderly and young, and some engaged in other tasks, he estimated they could mobilize only around tens of thousands of laborers. These tens of thousands would need to manage the rice cultivation across thousands of acres.

Thus, when Fang Yun sought to expand farming in the future, he likely wouldn't be able to spare too many people from the Fang family. Even if he could, he wouldn't want to overwork them. After all, he wasn't the real Fang Yun, and he felt uncomfortable asking the clan members to do so much for him.

The pirates standing there now were an excellent source of labor. Each of them possessed martial skills and had physical capabilities far superior to ordinary people. Killing or selling them would be wasteful. It would be better to have them contribute to his agricultural efforts, assisting in his cultivation.

He turned to Fang Ming, an elder skilled in medicine, and asked, "Elder Fang Ming, is there a way to concoct some poison to control these innate martial artists?"

Before Fang Ming could respond, Fang Lin couldn't help but interject, "Clan Leader, you aren't considering keeping these pirates on the island, are you? They're all covered in the blood of others; each one is vicious and has their own way of killing. Moreover, with so many of them, if they were to remain on Ling Shui Island, it could lead to unforeseen disasters, which would be a heavy blow for our Fang family. It might even result in our annihilation. Clan Leader, think carefully!"

Fang Yun looked at the agitated Fang Lin, then at the other clan elders, who shared the same sentiment.

Fang Yun also knew that his actions were indeed somewhat merciful; keeping these pirates posed certain risks. However, according to his plan, he indeed needed this group of laborers.

Thus, Fang Yun explained, "Elders, I understand your concerns, but after a while, I will need a large number of laborers to help me cultivate the wasteland. The Fang family members are ultimately our own people, and I can't bear to let them work too hard. The pirates in front of us are quite suitable for this labor. But if you are not at ease, then you can handle these innate martial artists. If you can control them, then keep them. If you feel uncertain, you can either kill them or sell them, it's up to you. The remaining pirates are all acquired martial artists. Even if they want to cause trouble in the future, I believe the Fang family should be able to handle it!"

Upon hearing that Fang Yun only needed the ordinary pirates, the elders felt relieved. Although the number of these pirates reached several thousand, they indeed did not pose a significant threat to them.