Chapter 570: Printing Maps, Supply Obstruction

Inside the captain's cabin of the "Lucky Owen".

Xia Duo had just finished drawing a map when a knock came at the door behind him. Casually putting the map away, Xia Duo stood up, stretched, and said, "Come in!"

The person who entered was Captain Owen. He seemed a bit surprised to see Xia Duo standing up. "My lord, the fleet is about to dock for a rest. Do you need to go ashore to stretch your legs? We will be leaving the Inner Land after this, and we won't encounter any other territories until we reach Savile Territory."

"Eh! So soon?!" Xia Duo had already roughly looked over the Inner Land two days ago. He had been drawing and organizing maps for the past two days and hadn't cast any Scrying spells, so he had somewhat neglected the fleet's voyage.

If there were no other territories from here south to Savile Territory, then wouldn't this be—

Rodney Territory?!

Almost simultaneously, a wealth of information regarding Rodney Territory popped into Xia Duo's mind—

The first lord had come from Jilan Tower and had branched out long ago to pioneer Rodney Territory. At that time, Rodney Territory, like Savile Territory, was far from the Nether Core Region. It was only later, through continuous pioneering by others, that Rodney Territory was connected to the Nether Core Region.

The current Rodney Lord is named "Aozikaer". His reputation in Savile Territory even exceeds that of a Great Arcanist; he is rumored to be the "Northern Ram in Heat," obsessed with fathering children.

Priest Ke'er, who once went to Daxia Territory wanting to become Xia Duo's Chief Advisor, came from Rodney Territory. Later, Archmage Niuman, under the instruction of the Rodney Lord, forcibly pioneered the Green Pearl Forest.

As for Xia Duo, who had long since regarded the Green Pearl Forest as his own, he was hindered by the Princess's pioneering movement and could not openly oppose or sabotage it, so a grudge had been formed.

Additionally, according to information provided by Lord Hawk, Rodney Territory also had ties to a mysterious organization causing trouble in Savile Territory.

However, Xia Duo knew these things, while the heads of those merchant guilds did not, and Captain Owen did not know either. Resting in Rodney Territory really did not align with Xia Duo's wishes.

After some thought, he instructed, "After docking, replenish some food and then depart immediately. Do not rest here."

So-called resting, besides people going ashore to rest and replenishing food, is actually most importantly about checking the state of the ships; repairs or maintenance might be needed, and a port makes that more convenient.

But if there isn't one, one can actually inspect and maintain them wherever they stop, especially with Xia Duo, an Arcanist, on board. It doesn't matter where they stop; the tools and materials are all on the ship.

With a full six ships, if it weren't for carrying materials, tools, and food, they could easily transport several hundred more people.

After Captain Owen left, Xia Duo continued drawing the map. He first projected an overhead view, then simplified it, performed some abstract processing, and finally, communicating with the projection, cast 【Transcription】 on the ink.

While maintaining the spell, Xia Duo prepared several sheets of Parchment, laying them flat on the table, like a laser engraving scan from top to bottom.

Soon, an identical simplified map appeared on each sheet of Parchment.

Just like that, two bottles of ink were gone. If he wanted to "print" more, he would need to add more ink while casting, though Xia Duo didn't need that many copies.

It was mainly because he felt it was a bit wasteful to only "print" one copy per spell, which was why he printed a few more, and this was only a map of a portion of the region.

It could be used individually, but Xia Duo's goal was not just that; he wanted to create a relatively complete map of the Nether Inner Land that encompassed many regions.

A moment later, the ships stopped. Xia Duo stopped drawing and instead sent a Sending to the other ships, telling them to stay alert, replenish supplies as quickly as possible, and then leave.

Afterward, Xia Duo cast a Scrying spell to check the situation outside, constantly guarding against Rodney Territory.

At this moment, he finally understood how that Archmage Niuman must have felt in Savile Territory—wanting nothing else but to leave as soon as possible.

Rodney Territory also had a Mage Tower standing by the river, similar to Savile Territory. And most crucially, Rodney Territory didn't just have one Mage Tower; there was another one, somewhat similar to the one by the river, standing not far away.

It gave Xia Duo the feeling that someone was holding a Dagger to his back; this feeling was extremely unpleasant.

However, due to his understanding of most of the Tower of Time's functions, Xia Duo felt more alert than afraid regarding these two Mage Towers in Rodney Territory.

As long as he didn't get close to them, running away wouldn't be a problem.

After observing for a while, Xia Duo didn't find anything unusual for the moment. Just as he was about to check the Warning Magic on the ships, he noticed Captain Owen's nephew, First Mate Lusi on the "Lucky Owen", suddenly running toward the dock.

"No pursuers behind us?"

Puzzled, Lusi had already run back onto the ship. Judging by his posture, he was heading straight for the captain's cabin. Xia Duo temporarily stopped the Scrying spell. As soon as he opened the door, he heard Lusi shouting in a hushed voice:

"My lord, it's bad!"

Xia Duo first calmly checked if there were any traces of magic on Lusi, then asked composedly, "What exactly is the situation? Tell me slowly!"

"My lord, all the shops in Rodney Territory refuse to sell food to us!"

"Hm?"

Xia Duo frowned. Just this? This was too low-level. Even if they couldn't buy supplies, couldn't they return to the previous territory to buy them?

Subconsciously, he felt there was a conspiracy here, so he asked, "How much food is left on the ships? Is it enough to return to Savile Territory?"

"We still have at least a month of sailing ahead, plus what you said earlier about staying at Maihete Lake for a while. Even if we catch fish on the way, the food on the ships will likely not last until we return to Savile Territory," Lusi replied.

"Then why didn't we replenish at the previous territory?"

"Rodney Territory is the southernmost territory in the Inner Land. Most ships heading to Nan Jing replenish here—once on the way out, and once on the way back."

"..."

Xia Duo was speechless. It seemed Owen and the others really didn't know about the subtle relationship between Rodney Territory and Savile Territory. "Go notify those who went ashore to come back, and notify the other ships. We are returning to the previous territory to replenish. Don't stop in Rodney Territory in the future."

Lusi acknowledged and turned to leave.

Xia Duo remained standing at the door, thinking continuously. Although Rodney Territory was only withholding supplies now, would they intercept Daxia Territory's ships in the future?

What kind of mentality did the Rodney Lord have to make such a decision? Wasn't he afraid that he would do the same at Savile Port? Archmage Niuman hadn't even pioneered a self-sufficient territory in the Green Pearl Forest yet!

Even if the pioneering was successful, it wouldn't be very difficult to cause trouble.

Why on earth?

Even until the fleet turned around and started heading north, Xia Duo was still thinking about this question. He really couldn't figure it out. Besides being annoying, what could such a petty, inconsequential tactic accomplish?

Or perhaps, this was some kind of omen?

Was the mysterious organization about to take action again?