“Could it be a trick?” the young female mage speculated. Healer shook his head. “Think about how it just killed the Flame Leopard earlier—effortlessly. With that kind of power, would it really need to use such tactics to kill us?” Everyone agreed this made sense. As they discussed, Henry Bennett, already lying on the ground, was growing impatient: Damn it, I’m giving you all a chance to catch me, and you’re still not making a move? You’re making me wait forever.

Healer asked, “What should we do now?” The young mage hesitated, “Ah, ……” The two warriors looked at the captain. The archer sighed, sounding rather helpless: “Since it’s right in front of us, let’s just capture it.” In Henry Bennett’s heart, a cheer: “Buddha bless me, finally someone’s willing to take me out of this wasteland for free!”

“You’re awake?” Henry Bennett let them fuss over him for a while, then slowly opened his eyes, just in time to hear the archer captain say, “You’re awake? You’re an intelligent magical beast, right? Good, look at your left arm—that’s the ‘Ring of Rebellion,’ specially designed to restrain magical beasts. Even if you’re a divine beast, you can’t escape it. So—since you’re an intelligent magical beast—just cooperate, or you’ll suffer.” Henry Bennett had no idea what this Ring of Rebellion was; they’d put it on his left arm while he was pretending to be unconscious. But Henry Bennett wasn’t worried at all. After all, it was meant to restrain magical beasts, and he was no magical beast—he was a bona fide human—Buddha bless!

Henry Bennett nodded very cooperatively, displaying the “good sense” expected of an “intelligent” magical beast, and was thus confidently “invited” into a large iron cage, placed on a makeshift flatbed cart, and slowly pulled onto an unknown road by the two warriors of the adventurer party.

Henry Bennett was quite satisfied with his “strategy.” Even though he was in a cage, you could think of it as a more secure carriage—he didn’t have to walk himself, which was a pretty good deal. Plus, along the way, someone was always responsible for hunting food to feed him—though when he showed a preference for cooked food, the looks from the adventurer party members made him feel a bit hurt.

A few days later…

“Captain!” The warriors and mage wailed in unison, kneeling and sobbing: “Captain, this divine beast eats way too much! We can’t afford to feed it. How about we let it go? Please, let it go—we don’t want the money anymore, this job is just inhuman!” The archer captain was also in a bind. This intelligent divine beast really did eat a lot. To keep it fed, the party members hadn’t had a full meal in days.

It was baffling—even the most voracious Rampaging Earth Dragon on the wasteland only ate half a Rabbit-Eared Deer per meal, but this divine beast needed two whole Rabbit-Eared Deer in one sitting! The archer captain truly couldn’t understand how it managed to stuff food nearly twice its own size into its belly at once.

“Hang in there, my teammates.” The archer captain himself was so hungry his chest was sticking to his back. “We’re already at the edge of the ‘Yama Wasteland Sea.’ Soon we’ll be out of here, and then this divine beast will ensure we never want for food or clothing—maybe we’ll even be able to trade it for a noble title!” Normally, if a magical beast wasn’t fed enough, it would just jump around, howl, and bite inside the cage. But this divine beast, worthy of being called intelligent, was very dignified—never making a fuss. When hungry, it would just squat in a corner of the cage. At first, no one paid much attention, until the party’s Healer discovered it was already on the verge of death!

A divine beast that would starve to death after missing just one meal tormented this party for a full ten days! The most pitiful were the two warriors—they had to pull the cart, hunt, and still went hungry. By the time they left the Yama Wasteland Sea, the two burly warriors were nothing but skin and bones.

In primitive society, men were responsible for hunting, so they got more food and gradually came to control the whole tribe. Human society shifted from matriarchal to patriarchal clan communes—but now, not only did the two warriors not get more food, they had to watch helplessly as all the food was delivered into the divine beast’s gaping maw.

—Every time he saw their innocent eyes, Henry Bennett, munching on his prey, felt his plan was truly brilliant—even Emperor Wu of Han and Emperor Taizong of Tang couldn’t compare.

No worries about food or drink, bodyguards all around, a carriage to ride in; such a comfortable and easy life finally came to an end the moment they left the Yama Wasteland Sea. Henry Bennett looked at the towering city walls in the distance, sighed deeply, and knew this “show” was over.

Chapter 006: Swallow Sea City

Swallow Sea City is located at the edge of the Yama Wasteland Sea and is one of the most important cities within the territory of the Heluo Divine Sect. It borders the Yama Wasteland Sea, and any specialty products or resources from the wasteland that need to be transported to other parts of the continent must pass through here. Every year, Swallow Sea City’s tax revenue accounts for more than one-third of the total tax revenue of the entire Heluo Divine Temple.

The Divine Continent, true to its name, is a land of diverse faiths. Different divine sects worship different gods. There are no countries on the continent—only divine sects, each controlling their own territory and followers.

To call it a theocracy would not be an exaggeration.