The sun is shining, shining on every plant in the forest, and among the many plants, a tree with a young man's face is the most special and conspicuous. The tree has a human face, which is one of the characteristics of the tree of life. As the tree of life grows, the face on the trunk will slowly grow, from a crying baby to an old man. When the tree of life reaches its prime, it will even grow limbs and move freely.

This tree of life was just redeemed by Donk, and there were seventeen other elves who came to this world with this tree.

Donk stood in the shade of the tree, looking up, and according to his observations, the tree was much thicker than the two trees in Unitis and Kellytina's hands.

At this moment, the face of the young man on the trunk of the tree was looking around curiously. Donk named the tree "Towering", hoping that the tree would grow quickly and hold up the pirate group.

"The Tree of Life is on the verge of extinction, and if it exists, it will attract competition from various forces. I don't want to get myself in trouble, so I can't let outsiders know about the existence of this tree. Donk slowly turned to face the newly recruited elves, "The Tree of Life must be kept secret from the outside world, and your existence must also be kept from the outside world. Although you are members of the Dragon Pirates, I will not publicly announce your identity. In the days to come, you must learn to endure loneliness, not to have contact with the outside world, and to hide in this forest all day long to cultivate. Until you have enough strength to leave here and fight the enemy for me and the pirates. ”

"I will definitely follow your instructions, cultivate hard in this forest, and protect this precious tree of life from outsiders." A female elf at the head bowed and said, her voice as melodious and graceful as that of a lark. She wore the most ordinary robes and held the most ordinary staff, but the green dress on her forearm was not ordinary, this one was a green leaf shirt, which Tang Ke had just given her.

The Green Leaf Shirt can only be worn by female druids, so Donk specially recruited a first-order female druid. This druid's level is very low, and he can't exert the full power of the green leaf shirt at all, but at the moment, Donk doesn't have many reward points, so he can only recruit a first-order druid general first.

"We will do as you tell us." Sixteen other elves chimed in. Consisting of a mage, a druid, four assassins, five swordsmen, and five archers, they are quite well-rounded in terms of professions, but they are all very low-level.

The spring water derived from the Tree of Life has an extraordinary effect on the elves of any class, and Donk has no idea of organizing special forces, so he simply came to a hodgepodge and recruited some of all classes.

"It's the first time we've met, and we should have had a good chat, but I have something important to do, and I'm going to set sail for the East tomorrow, and I don't know when I'll be back, so I can only get to know each other briefly today." Donk gestured for everyone to sit on the floor, then briefly talked about the pirate group and summarized the tensions in the world today. When the sun went down, he said goodbye to the elves, shook off his sword wings, and flew back to the docks.

The elves looked up and watched Trick go away, and it was only after Trick disappeared into the low sky that they withdrew their gaze. From then on, they had to live in seclusion in the wilderness. Their existence is kept secret, and only a few people in the entire pirate group know about it, and they live here, and they can only find a way to support themselves, and no one will bring them food and household items.

In addition, this rolling forest has been designated as a forbidden place by Tangk, and no pirate is to approach it. If the elves spot an unfamiliar intruder, they will kill them indiscriminately, regardless of whether they are pirates or natives who have strayed into the area. With such cruel and clear secrecy measures, it can be seen how much Tang Ke values this tree of life. …,

After a moment of silence, the female druid at the head glanced around and asked, "Gentlemen and ladies, isn't it time for us to start cultivating?" ”

"I'm in favor of that," a male elf swordsman stood up, "it's our task anyway, so let's do it sooner." ”

"But I'm hungry now." The other female elf said with a red face.

"Then let's go hunting, I think this will be a very good cultivation project." The female druid said. All the elves had already stood up and had their weapons in hand.

In the distance, in the forest, the low roar of some kind of beast was heard, as if it was a mourning before death.

……

Donk returned to the docks with good news: One Ear is back!

He was very excited when he learned the news, he had been worried about the defense of Dragon's Lair since it was attacked by Alem last time. Now it's good, one ear is back, and one ear can be used to make some magic weapons to strengthen the island's defenses and solve the current problem.

Donk flew straight to the plaza and heard that one ear was there.

Sure enough, nearly a thousand people gathered there, and the siege was overwhelming, and thanks to Tang Ke's good sight, he found the figure of one ear.

One ear was surrounded by the crowd, and he was smiling and chatting with the pirates around him. His appearance hasn't changed much, except that the hair used to cover his severed ears has been longer, and his eyes are a little sharper and more confident than before. On his right shoulder lies a strange metal painted bird, which, although made of metal, is as mobile as a real bird, and can even learn to speak like a parrot. Everyone's eyes and topics revolve around this iron bird, full of curiosity about it.

"Be quiet, the head of the regiment is here!"

The square went from noisy to silent, and the pirates showed remarkable discipline. However, it is not so much that they are disciplined, but that they greatly admire the powerful commander.

"Bote, long time no see." Donk greeted easily, and you could tell from the way he smiled how happy he was. The square was so crowded that he had to stand on the cross on the roof of the church. Behind his standing figure were reddish puffy clouds, and a pale blue crescent moon with a shallow outline.

"I'm very happy to see that you still look so good, Commander." One ear stared up at Donk and said with a smile.

Tang Ke glanced around the square, "It's too crowded here, you can come with me to the beach." Also, what are you guys going to do, don't follow the two of us, I'm going to talk to Bot alone. ”

The pirates agreed, and some of them offered to hold a drinking feast, which was met with an enthusiastic response - in fact, it was never refuted.

The beach is also dyed with a layer of twilight, and the sky and the sea have lost their usual blue, replaced by a color between reddish-brown and dark purple. This color presents a strange beauty, and it is expected that the painter will love this tone. Although the appearance has changed, the momentum of the waves has not diminished at all, and they still slam against the stones on the shore, full of power. In this world, the only people who are qualified to bury the lives of pirates are these waves.

"Why did you come back early? It's only been less than half a year. "Donk knows everything about One Ear's strength stats, but he doesn't know much about One Ear's experiences these days and the situation in the Labyrinth River.

"I would have liked to learn more from Mr. Garvey, but his old man's memories have returned, and he is very annoyed that I took the opportunity to steal from his amnesia and has fallen out with me. If it weren't for Master Kilo's ability to protect me, Mr. Garvey would have had to skin me. One ear smiled wryly.

"Gavi regained his memory? No wonder you're coming back. How did he recover his memory? ”

"Don't mention it, the whole thing is like a joke. During the meal, a man opened a bottle of champagne, and because of the improper method, the cork flew out and smashed right on Mr. Garvey's temple. You should be able to guess the rest. ”…,

Donk smiled dumbly, "Just because of a wooden stopper, he regained his memory?" ”

According to the doctors and missionaries, the brain is the most sophisticated and amazing machine in the world, and no one can fathom it. After this incident, I am convinced of this statement. One ear lifted and pointed to his head.

"Maybe we should find a way to give Gavi's head another blow and make him lose his memory again."

One ear laughed heartily, "Don't toss him old man." After a while, his smile faded, and his eyes flashed with the afterglow of the setting sun, "I feel sorry for Mr. Garvey, who took me as an apprentice and taught me the knowledge I craved, only to take advantage of his amnesia. ”

"What is this, I saved his life, and it is not an exaggeration to let him repay the favor with knowledge." Donk said disapprehantly.

"But Mr. Garvey doesn't think so. You should have seen the way he was angry, his white hair stood on end in anger. One ear was a little helpless, "He expelled me from the sect and no longer recognized me as an apprentice." ”

"Cut, that old." Donk thinks Garvey is trying to keep his hand, just like the legendary cat refuses to teach a tiger to climb a tree.

"I apologized to his old man before leaving, but he ignored me."

Donk glanced sideways at one ear and saw that the whole person was shrouded in a sluggish atmosphere, so he patted one ear on the shoulder vigorously to show encouragement.

"Stop bothering yourself, you can write an apology letter to Garvey or something later. If he really won't forgive you, forget it. It is impossible for people to be satisfied with everyone around them when they are alive. ”

One ear nodded and said, "I'll write to him after he's discouraged for a while." By the way, I heard the news of the attack on Dragon's Lair by the Volcanic Ash Pirates, we have killed quite a few people, and the Wave Treader has been robbed, and if you hadn't come back, the ship might have been taken away. ”

"yes." Although the matter had passed, at the mention of this matter, Tang Ke's face still sank, "The defense on the island is still not enough, even a fifth-order gunner can spread wild here." ”

One ear stopped, turned to face Tang Ke, and said solemnly, "I promise you, as long as my feet are on the land of Dragon's Nest Island, I will never let this happen a second time." If there is a second volcanic ash pirate group that goes out of here, I will let him never return. ”

"I'm glad you can say that." Donk smiled heartily, "But as a craftsman, you only need to make weapons for the island, and you don't need to go into battle to kill the enemy." ”

"Hehe, if you say that, you are underestimating me, the weapons I am making now are very powerful, with these weapons in hand, ordinary people are not my opponents. This bird is one of my masterpieces, and I'll show you what it's capable of later. One ear patted the iron bird on the shoulder.

The Iron Bird blinked and shouted, "Masterpiece! Masterpiece! "A mouthful of parrot cavity.

"What's so great about this bird?" Donk thought the iron bird was just a toy. He wanted to hear one ear explain himself, so he didn't directly use the investigation technique to get the results.

"It's small, but it's not small. I injected it with the soul of a bird so that it could think simply, and I also installed a 'snail' in its belly so that it could record some words. In addition to these, the most powerful thing about it is this. One ear raised his hand and pointed to a reef outcropping out of the sea, and read a secret phrase of activation.

A cold light flashed in the iron bird's round eyes, and he pressed down his body, stretched his iron wings diagonally, and flew out with a kick. In mid-air, it deformed rapidly, bringing its feet together, doubling its wings and extending extremely sharp blades at the edges. It flew around the reef with a sharp cutting sound, and by the time it flew back, the reef had broken in half, and the top half had slid diagonally into the sea. The reason why the verb is used is to slide because the incision is so flat, like a mirror. …,

When the little pet stood on his shoulder, one ear showed a smug look.

Tang Ke clapped his hands and praised: "Judging from the speed and strength it showed just now, it is enough to kill an ordinary third-order swordsman, if it is used for a sneak attack, even a swordsman above the fourth order can be killed in one fell swoop, it is indeed powerful." ”

"Awesome! Terrible! The Iron Bird walked from the left side of his shoulder to the right and back again, repeatedly, as if dancing.

"I learned not only the art of shipbuilding, but also the art of making weapons, including ordinary weapons and magic weapons. Especially the magic weapon, this weapon is extremely powerful, with this weapon in hand, even ordinary people can transform and defeat the strong. An ear probe took out three delicate-looking round balls, which were brown, blue, and purple, "These three are 'Roar Bomb', 'Ice Burst Bomb' and 'Poison Bomb', no matter which one of them can kill a fifth-order powerhouse. ”

Tang Ke grabbed the three small balls in his hand and pinched them lightly twice, "Will this thing explode if you throw it out?" ”

"You have to press the safety button first, and then throw it out before it explodes." One ear saw that Donk wanted to test it, and stopped, "You just take my word for it." These three little ones are powerful enough that they don't need to be tested. The materials used to make these three bombs were very precious, worth more than 4,000 gold coins, and it would be a waste to test their power. ”

Tang Ke suppressed his curiosity and stuffed the explosive bomb back into a calloused hand with a wide ear, "I believe in the power of these explosive bombs, but the problem is that the speed of the fifth-order powerhouses is very fast, and it is not easy to blow them up with the explosive bomb. ”

"It's okay, I also know how to make weapons like sleep bombs, paralyzing mines, and sticking nets, which are not very powerful, but can hinder the enemy's movements. As long as I have enough funds, I will definitely be able to create a set of weapons that can kill fifth-order powerhouses. "One ear's words are full of passion and confidence.

"Good!" Donk nodded, "I'll ask Audrey to allocate you 100,000 gold coins, and you can use this money as you like." You must help me create a large number of weapons to improve the defense of the three islands of Dragon's Nest, Turtle Back Island, and Treasure Diamond Island. Like you just said, let the enemy have no return! ”

"I won't let you down, it's just ......," said one ear in embarrassment, "100,000 gold coins is still a bit small." ”

Although the magic weapons are good, the materials required are very rare, and the cost is extremely high. If the huge amount of money of 100,000 gold coins is used to build magic weapons, it will be like being scattered into the sea, and it will disappear all of a sudden.

Donk is a fool when it comes to money and never manages money, but his two wives, Elizabeth and Iona, are both financial experts, and they keep an orderly and tight watch over the pirate group's expenses. The Pirate Regiment's current activity assets are close to 500,000 gold coins, which looks like a lot, but there is not much money that can be freely embezzled. This money has to be used for business, to buy supplies, to pay salaries, and all of these expenses are very staggering, like flowing water.

Although the pirates recruited by Donk through the system are highly loyal, this group only makes up a small percentage of the pirate group, about one-seventh of them. The rest of the men were recruited pirates from outside, and this group was also loyal, but they were loyal to gold, not Tonk or Dragon.

In order to stabilize the hearts of this group of people, Donk can only make regular contributions to these people, and the money offered is still very high, far more than ordinary merchant sailors. It is precisely because of such huge profits that those people are willing to fight for Tangke!

Pirates are passionate, but they are also money-worshipping and realistic.

In short, there isn't much money in the pirate group that can be used to make weapons.

"Then I'll give you 120,000 gold coins. That's the limit I can take. In addition, the defense on the side of Turtle Island can be put aside for a while, that island has been operating in the hands of Goldbeard for many years, and the firepower is still okay. Donk gritted his teeth and squeezed a little more oil and water out of his waist bag. …,

"I will try to be as careful as possible, and try to reduce the failure rate, and strive to use this money to make more weapons." One ear promised.

"In addition to the material fee, I will give you an additional five thousand gold coins, which are your wages."

One ear immediately shook his head and said, "I don't need you to pay me." ”

"Just take it. Your craft is worth the money. "Donk is absolutely unambiguous when it comes to wages, and he will give what he should give. At the current level of one ear, if you go to serve the Empire, you will get more than five thousand gold coins.

"If you want to give, you can give it. But I'm not going to spend that money indiscriminately, and I'm going to use it all to build weapons. ”

"I don't care how you spend your money." Tang Ke patted the shoulder of one ear again, and the touch of the other party's shoulder made him feel very steady, "With you, Dragon's Nest Island will be safer, so that I can walk with peace of mind." ”

"Let's go? Where are you going? One ear was stunned.

"To the East."

"Where in the East?"

"I don't know. But I had a hunch that the voyage would be long. "Donk's Resurrection Fountain has been pointing to the east, and his heart has long since flown there.

"Why are you going there? Seriously, the sea here is chaotic enough, so it's better not to go far. ”

"I went there to be stronger." Donk looked at the sea to the east, where it was the first to light during the day, but also the first to darken during the day, "It is because this place is so chaotic that I want to go to the east, and only by going there can I gain enough strength to calm the chaos." ”

#c