Chapter 2251: Day by Day, Month by Month, Something New

Blue sky, white clouds, gulls and egrets soaring together.

A large ship sailed in from the calm open sea, heading toward the deep-water Lianggang.

"We've arrived! We've arrived!" The sound of clappers rang out on the ship: "Ji Lu Gang is the terminus—those disembarking, hurry up!"

Soon, the deck was filled with people.

Hearing the clapper sounds, ripples spread on the water near the ship, and several huge fish fins emerged—clearly aggressive.

The sailors quickly brought out several large buckets of cattle and sheep blood and flesh, splashing them all into the sea with a splash.

Instantly, waves of blood surged in the sea, four or five blood-filled mouths took turns feeding, each able to easily swallow two sheep—

These were all great white sharks over three zhang in length.

Everyone crowded at the railings, watching with great interest, not forgetting to comment on whose mouth was biggest.

Seven or eight buckets of blood and flesh were merely a snack to fill the teeth gaps for these giant sharks; after they finished eating, the sailors stood at the bow and bowed to them, loudly saying: "Thank you for your protection!"

Then the giant sharks flicked their tails, nodded their heads, and swam off into the deep sea.

Nowadays, sea monsters roam the open ocean—ships without escorting guards wouldn't do. These giant sharks were hired for long-distance escort, their pay already collected long ago; these dozen or so buckets of cattle and sheep blood and flesh were merely a token of thanks, gratitude for their escort along the way. This is an unwritten maritime courtesy, because the guards prefer meaty food on land.

Having arrived, this voyage's mission was completed satisfactorily, and so they departed.

Everyone gazed at Ji Lu Gang drawing ever closer and larger in their view, all sighing in admiration.

Good, so magnificent.

Ji Lu Gang's pier has eleven berths, arranged in pairs forming an "H" shape. Vessels of all sizes docking there resemble ants swarming around dripping honey to suck it.

Ji Lu Gang is actually formed by three ports joined together; the houses on the shore are tightly packed, overlapping like fish scales, even the small hills are completely covered with buildings, all uniform in being square and solid, with occasional innovative structures—such as the tall tower on the near island built like a bumblebee—these are landmark buildings, some used to guide ships.

The ocean-going ship the crowd rode on is five stories high, fearless of offshore winds and waves, but once it entered Ji Lu Gang, it behaved like a prodigal son returning home—proper, obedient, and well-behaved.

Ji Lu Gang is the largest port east of Mu State and also the terminus for many large ships; people disembark here.

Two guests followed the crowd onto the wharf, one holding up a sunshade gazing at the sea: "My Lord Pu, is that Dragon God Island?"

In the center of the harbor lies a small island, uninhabited, but with a huge coiled dragon statue.

The dragon's head points skyward, proud and unyielding.

"Not bad. On the day the Great Heavenly Demon Miao Zhantian fell, the Dragon God manifested here." My Lord Pu bowed from afar to the statue: "Locals raised funds to build this statue as a memorial. Nowadays, with ships coming and going, everyone regards this as the place of the ascending dragon."

He continued: "After such a long sea voyage, Mr. Sun must be tired too? Let's first find a place to change clothes, eat, and rest, then transfer to continue our journey—we might reach Tong Yue Mountain by evening, and tonight we can sleep soundly."

After half a month at sea, sleeping meant constant rocking; now, sniffing myself, I reek of sea odor.

"Good."

The two lifted their legs and walked toward the nearest inn, My Lord Pu specially instructing: "Watch out for the green lines on the ground—don't get hit by a cart."

"Huh? A cart?"

Mr. Sun had long noticed the faint blue lines drawn on the ground, which would occasionally light up, flashing on and off.

After a dozen breaths, a cart came along.

Unlike ordinary horse carts, this cart resembled a square, open-topped large box, filled with goods piled high, and had four wheels installed underneath.

In fact, Mr. Sun had seen similar carts before—mine carts.

The strangest thing is, it doesn't use livestock to pull it!

A person sits on the cart, but seems merely to guard the cargo, not to drive.

"Eh? No horses pulling it?" Mr. Sun exclaimed, waving his hand in front of the cart, thinking something invisible might be there. But when he reached out, he only touched air—"Can this cart move on its own?"

Moreover, it follows the green lines on the ground precisely.

The person on the cart rolled their eyes, impatiently saying: "Don't wave your hands around, or I'll report you to the authorities!"

Mr. Sun quickly pulled back his hand, and the cart sped away.

"It can." My Lord Pu explained to him: "These cargo-specific carts are called tuoche, and together with these green lines on the road, they form a complete formation. Dockworkers unload cargo at the wharf or move it out of warehouses; as long as they place it on the tuoche, it will autonomously proceed to the designated location."

"Designated location?"

"There is a set of plaques on the tuoche corresponding to various positions in the harbor—for example, if we want to go to Qing Yun Inn, we just insert the plaque marked 'Qing Yun Inn' into the cart's front, and the tuoche will deliver the cargo directly there." My Lord Pu explained: "In short, this is actually the operation of a formation."

Originally, the green lines on the ground lighting up meant the tuoche was about to pass.

Mr. Sun exclaimed in surprise: "How large must this formation be?"

"It weaves through the entire cargo zone of Ji Lu Gang, covering about a thousand mu." My Lord Pu understood well: "Actually, it's three formations linked together, the last one completed just last year. Ji Lu Gang is the port with the highest cargo throughput on the Jin Jin Plain, and in recent years they've reclaimed more land from the sea. Its cargo zone is too large—using horse or ox carts would be hopelessly inefficient, hence the development of this self-propelled grand formation."

"Convenient, convenient, impressive, impressive. My original sect didn't even have such a grand formation." Mr. Sun praised: "Truly ingenious! But this must consume a lot of xuanjing, right?"

Compared to horse or ox carts, the automatic tuoche runs efficiently and cleanly. But such a high-end device clearly consumes a lot of energy.

"After several rounds of optimization, the current operating cost is about five jin of medium-grade xuanjing per day—of course, it also depends on the harbor's busyness; during peak season it can multiply several times." My Lord Pu said: "Most importantly, the artifacts serving as formation eyes also autonomously absorb stray spiritual energy from the air, so it's not as energy-intensive as imagined."

Mr. Sun sighed: "Five years ago, I wouldn't have dared imagine this."

"Exactly. Five years ago, spiritual energy density was insufficient to sustain such a grand formation's consumption."

Mr. Sun looked at the path under his feet: "It would be great if passengers could also ride the tuoche."

After leaving the cargo zone, he saw that passenger transport still consisted of normal horse and goat carts.

"Tuoche are only suitable for fixed zones and set routes, not flexible transport. But passengers need to go to many varied, scattered places—some even need to leave the harbor directly—so passengers temporarily cannot ride them."

While speaking, a fat yet sneaky gray shadow flashed past the edge of the cargo box ahead.

Mr. Sun laughed in surprise: "Oh my, even your harbor's rats are this fat!"

Thank you xwzz for the generous reward, we now have another new member of the Da Alliance~

Thank you zerothCat, juanjuan's good helper, book friend 20220111021212930, Su Chen in, whoever does not sow the lord, Apollo Yangyang these few companions for the rewards~