"Looking for me?"
Captain's expression fluctuated as he listened to the First Mate's report.
What does this Wizard want? Captain was not blinded by hatred; in the desperate battle, all the Fire Lizards who yearned for revenge and glory had perished on the battlefield.
Every Fire Lizard involved in the Fire Seed Project was a rational being, prioritizing reason over emotion.
They bore the responsibility of passing down the legacy of the Fire Lizard clan, allowing no room for impulsiveness.
But after thinking for a long time, Captain still could not fathom what Richard wanted.
Wizards always half-kill their slaves before imprisoning them in a Slave Bag. If a Wizard wanted information, they would also half-kill a Fire Lizard and then interrogate them with a Soul Spell.
If a Wizard sought wealth or specimens, it was even simpler; they could just kill outright without needing to control their strength.
Captain simply could not understand what Richard wanted from him.
Knock, knock, knock! Suddenly, the door to Captain's room was rapped upon.
"Captain, I think we can talk."
Captain's face stiffened; that Wizard had silently arrived outside his room without him noticing at all.
Captain nodded to the First Mate, who, looking tense, approached the door, ready to open it. Meanwhile, Captain drew his curved dagger, prepared to strike at the first sign of trouble.
Creak!
Perhaps due to a lack of lubrication, or perhaps because the First Mate was too nervous and inadvertently applied too much force, the door's hinges emitted a piercing sound as it opened.
In the heightened tension, Captain instinctively made a move.
The Black Gold Scimitar in his hand suddenly ignited with Golden Flame, the energy within surged into the blade like rivers converging into the sea, causing the Golden Flame to erupt like a volcano.
The wind fueled the fire!
Clang! Half of the curved dagger sliced through the air, embedding itself straight into the metallic wall of Captain's room, disappearing entirely.
Captain stared blankly at the curved dagger in his hand, where the blade pointed, a pitch-black crow claw blocked its path.
"Captain, this welcome ceremony is a bit impolite."
Captain looked towards the door, where a Wizard clad in a black robe was quietly watching him, a black crow retracting its claws from his shoulder.
A thought suddenly flashed through Captain's mind.
Unmatched in strength.
"Wizard, what do you want from me?" Captain asked stiffly.
He knew he could never defeat this Wizard, but as a Fire Lizard, he simply could not feign politeness towards a Wizard.
At least not now.
"To discuss the fate of you and your crew," Richard replied calmly.
"Fate?"
"Yes, your fate entirely depends on yourselves from here on out."
Richard pulled a Soul Contract from his pocket and handed it to Captain.
"Sign this, and you will live; refuse to sign, and you will die."
Captain took the contract and glanced at its contents.
The text of the contract was written in Fire Lizard script, and the wording bore the style of the Silverhorn Noble, making it hard to imagine these words came from a Wizard's hand.
The content of the contract was simple; in summary, once they signed, they would become indigenous employees of Richard Jolod Wizard Chamber of Commerce.
As employees, they would need to adhere to the chamber's regulations, and any violations would result in punishment as outlined in the contract.
The vast majority of the contract's content consisted of the chamber's rules, which, from Captain's perspective, were quite lenient.
Any Fire Lizard noble would impose rules on their subordinates that were ten times stricter, with punishments ten times more brutal.
This contract even stipulated that a Fire Lizard would only need to work eight hours a day, which was absurd; even among Fire Lizards, such leniency would be unheard of.
If it was so among their kin, how could a Wizard set such rules for Fire Lizards?
Captain set the contract down, his voice somewhat stiff as he replied, "Wizard, this joke is quite amusing."
"Joke?" Richard laughed and shook his head, "This is no joke; you are indeed signing this contract.
Let me add, signing this contract is equivalent to your 'Soul Oath,' and its binding force is quite strong."
Captain coldly stared at Richard: "You mean to say you plan to hire us, and we will work eight hours a day out of twenty-four, with a day off every six days.
You will also provide us with meals and lodging during this time, and if we perform well, we might even get to eat Flame Behemoth Meat.
Moreover, after a certain period of work, you will grant a Fire Lizard their freedom..."
Captain recited the contract's contents, and by the end, he couldn't help but sneer at each point.
Believing that a Wizard could treat Fire Lizards so well was less believable than thinking that the Fire Lizard King would return in a flash and sweep through the Wizards, taking their clan as slaves.
At least the latter thought was more satisfying.
"I'll repeat myself; this contract is real. You are indeed signing this," Richard said impatiently.
Captain's attitude did not surprise Richard; in fact, a significant portion of his Fire Lizard subordinates had reacted similarly upon seeing the contract.
Richard's terms were too good, almost like a joke.
However, some clever individuals could see the hidden traps within the contract.
Take the promise of freedom, for instance.
Richard's promised freedom would indeed be granted, but by that time, the Fire Lizard would have been drained of their last bit of remaining value. A Fire Lizard of that age would be of no use to Richard, and granting freedom would be a rather good choice.
In Richard's view, this approach was quite ruthless.
But in the grand scheme of things, when compared to the Wizards and even the Fire Lizards, Richard's method of extracting remaining value and then discarding it seemed rather humane.
After all, doing so at least ensured that the Fire Lizard would live until they were no longer valuable.
Captain stared at Richard for a long time; this Wizard did not seem to be joking.
Was this contract real? Captain brought the contract back to his eyes, reading the Fire Lizard script word by word. He even scrutinized the decorative patterns along the edges, fearing Richard had disguised the text as decoration.
Having come from the Morik Shield and frequently dealing with Wizards, he had seen the Soul Contracts used to enslave Fire Lizards and could discern their authenticity.
This contract was indeed real.
"Why?" Captain set the contract down, "Wizard, why are you doing this?"
With his feudal noble mindset, Captain could not fathom why Richard would offer such terms.
"Fire Lizard, I've said enough," Richard replied calmly, "If you ask such foolish questions again, I will feed you to my crow."
Upon hearing this, Ulysses looked at Captain with a hint of expectation, his greedy gaze sending chills down Captain's spine.
This crow had its sights set on him.
Captain took a deep breath; he had to make a choice.
Should he sign the contract or become bird food for that crow?
As a Fire Lizard, he shared an irreconcilable hatred with Wizards. But at the same time, his rationality told him that hatred solved nothing.
A Wizard would not die because of his hatred, nor would his crew survive because of it.
The Fire Lizard clan was on the brink of extinction; every free Fire Lizard was invaluable.
They bore the responsibility of passing down the culture of the Fire Lizard clan! Moreover, this Wizard had promised freedom in the contract, and the terms were quite favorable; under this Wizard, they might live better than in the New World.
Furthermore, once the Soul Contract was signed, it could not be altered; as long as they signed, the Wizard would certainly fulfill the terms.
With this in mind, Captain steeled his heart and made a decision.
"Give me a pen."
Richard smiled and nodded, "Very well, you have made the right decision; the Fire Lizard will continue under your choice."
Captain grasped the pen and laboriously signed his name on the contract.
He kept repeating to himself that this was for the legacy of the Fire Lizard.
However, he intentionally overlooked one point.
His ship was not the last remaining Fire Lizard; even if they all perished, it would not hinder the legacy of the Fire Lizard clan.
Captain did not want to admit that he was actually afraid of death.
But that did not change the fact that this was a correct decision.
Because Richard had already discovered their whereabouts; the discovery of the New World was merely a matter of time.
If the leaders of the New World could not make the right decision, extinction awaited them.
Once the name was written, the contract transformed into a ball of flame and vanished into the air.
An invisible connection linked Richard and Captain together; Richard's smile was radiant as he pulled out a stack of Soul Contracts from his pocket.
"Captain, the next steps are up to you."
Captain took the contracts; at this moment, he felt no psychological burden, or rather, there was no turning back.
"Yes, Lord Richard."
...
An hour later, Captain returned to his room with several unused contracts.
"My lord, five Fire Lizards refused to sign the contract; I have dealt with them."
Richard nodded and returned the contracts to his pocket.
"Good, I will go repair this ship; you should have a sea chart, right? We will set sail back to your headquarters shortly."
Captain stiffened, his voice somewhat hoarse as he asked, "My lord, I don't quite understand your meaning?"
"Don't understand?" Richard looked at Captain, his smile appearing to Captain like a devil's grin.
"Why do you think I came to the depths of the Lava Sea?"
Captain felt a chill run up his spine.
Indeed, this was the depths of the Lava Sea; why would a Wizard come here?
Captain stiffly raised his head to look at Richard: "My lord, you came specifically to find us?"
Richard smiled and nodded, "I have been searching for you in this sea for three years; if you hadn't appeared, I might have needed more time.
But none of that matters."
Indeed, none of that mattered.
What mattered was that the Wizard already knew they had escaped to the depths of the Lava Sea.
Richard patted Captain on the shoulder, speaking earnestly, "Captain, you should be grateful that I found you. If it were another Wizard, you wouldn't even have the chance to be enslaved."
Captain collapsed to the ground, his mouth trembling as he muttered, "The fire seed has been extinguished."
(End of Chapter)