Chapter 295: This is Prince Kelin's territory

Jiana Continent, Sun Staircase Mountains.

As the last raindrop fell from the horizon, the turbid sky finally returned to clarity, and the gale that had been howling for seven full days finally stopped blowing.

The setting sun spilled onto the peaks of the Sun Staircase Mountains, and large stretches of cracked mountain rock reflected golden-red light, as if nothing had ever happened—

But the people of the Wind Roar tribe all knew that those crazy days and nights could not be meaningless.

The prophet of the Tidal tribe, Wu Ya Na, closed her eyes, stood on the edge of the rock wall, her nostrils twitching, and took a deep breath.

"I smell a wider sea." She said softly.

The cloak behind her swayed gently in the wind, and those eyelids inlaid with sea-blue scale patterns slowly opened, gazing at the end of the north.

"If you smell it, then hurry up and leave." Wu Er Jia muttered impatiently, grabbing a piece of rat jerky that had dried hard and taking a bite, "We don't have much food left here, and we can't afford to raise your entire tribe."

Wu Ya Na was not angry; instead, she smiled lightly and nodded slightly toward him.

"Thank you for your shelter over these seven days. If we can safely survive this catastrophe, the Tidal tribe will surely keep the Wind Roar tribe's kindness in mind."

She was just about to lead her tribe to move and leave when Wu Er Jia suddenly called out to her.

"That... that..." He twisted his neck and swallowed a piece of jerky he hadn't finished chewing, "About the matter of teaming up to fish... I discussed it with the elders... and felt that it sounds pretty good."

He kept a straight face, his tone forced to sound natural.

"Anyway, our dry rations are almost finished, and we happen to be short of some supplies."

Wu Ya Na's smile deepened, her eyes carrying a bit of cunning and composure.

"That's great."

A thousand years of estrangement is not so easy to eliminate, but this is a good start after all.

In the past, they each endured similar yet different sufferings in their own homes, torturing each other in the same desperate situation.

And now they have a common history.

This is far more reliable than any contract.

She was just about to say something when a sound of breaking wind suddenly swept over her head—

A Wind Roar tribe sentry clad in light armor, wings not yet retracted, descended rapidly and knelt heavily between the two, shouting hoarsely:

"Lord Wind Chief! North of Thunder Cliff... we discovered a ship, and a group of humans of unknown identity!"

"... Thunder Cliff?" The expression on Wu Er Jia's face changed instantly, but he was soon shocked by another astonishing fact in this sentence, repeating it stutteringly, "A ship?"

That's a mountain!

The place closest to the sea is at least three hundred miles away.

It wasn't just Wu Er Jia; an expression of astonishment also appeared on Wu Ya Na Cui Lin's face, and she looked at the sentry with a strange expression.

"What you just said was—a ship?"

"Yes, this subordinate saw it with my own eyes." The Wind Roar tribe sentry lowered his head and replied, "After the storm, the sea turned into clouds, and the clouds turned into the sea. A ship suddenly sailed out of the fog, and along with the giant waves that submerged the mountain peaks and then disappeared, it slammed onto the mountain ridge, as if it had been rolled up by some kind of power..."

He tried to describe the magnificent scene, but in the face of the divine might sent down by the gods, it still appeared too pale.

Wu Er Jia and Wu Ya Na looked at each other, their eyes filled with lingering shock and confusion.

Wu Ya Na frowned slightly, her voice dropping a few notches:

"I suggest we don't make contact with them for now... we know nothing about the outside world, let alone whether those people are friends or foes."

Although the murals from a thousand years ago were incomplete, there was one thing all lizardmen remembered—that they had once suffered extremely profound misery on the Ancient Continent.

As for how they got there, and how the misery came about, their ancestors did not tell them.

Now they can only rely on the Demon King's wisdom.

? co

Wu Er Jia looked at the mountain shadows in the distance with a heavy face, and after a moment, nodded.

"That's right."

He turned to the Wind Roar tribe sentry, his tone changing from his usual casualness to one with a hint of pressure:

"You, set off immediately, go to Assam City, and report this matter directly to Lord Demon King!"

"Yes!"

The sentry did not dare to delay for a moment, flapped his wings and flew up, heading toward the plain in the south that was still shrouded in the afterglow.

Wu Ya Na gazed in the direction the sentry left and suddenly spoke.

"I remembered a distant legend."

"What?" Wu Er Jia looked at her.

"The history of the Tidal tribe began with a divine ship that descended from the sky..." Wu Ya Na murmured, "I don't know where fate will take us this time."

The sea breeze howled, blowing the branches and leaves in the forest to rustle.

This was the seventh day the Traveler had run aground, and Kaidesen still hadn't figured out where he was.

Their ship lay horizontally on the mountain peak like a corpse, nailed to a place where no one should have come. All around was an endless, unfamiliar forest, with no stars for navigation and no maps for guidance, as if the earth itself were silently repelling them.

The remaining food on the ship was running low, and tree bark stew and dried fish soaked in salt water had become the routine meal.

The gunpowder was also running out; no matter how beautiful the muskets were, they couldn't scare away wild beasts, let alone kill hunger.

Worse still—no one knew they were still alive.

They also didn't know what had happened outside.

Or what the tsunami seven days ago was.

Kaidesen sat on the broken railing at the stern of the ship, looking at the eerily quiet mountain forest in the distance. This is not the sea; even the wind refuses to stay here for long. He wanted to write something as a logbook, but the ink had long been blurred by the humidity.

He knew in his heart that the Empire would not come to save them.

"Maybe we'll just die here..."

The sailor sitting on a wooden stump chopping firewood muttered dejectedly, chopping down with an axe as if he wanted to vent his despair on the firewood.

"This godforsaken place isn't on the Empire's sea charts at all; no ship will ever pass by here..."

If it were before, Kaidesen would definitely have scolded such a subordinate for saying such dejected words, or even hung the guy up and whipped him a few times, but now he didn't even have the strength to refute.

Just then, a burst of urgent footsteps interrupted his thoughts.

"Captain! Captain!" A sailor on lookout rushed into the temporary camp excitedly, shouting like a madman, "Someone! It's Imperial soldiers! I saw their uniforms!"

Kaidesen stood up abruptly, as if struck by lightning.

Imperial soldiers?!

"What did you say?!"

It wasn't just Kaidesen; all the listless sailors raised their heads, hope flickering in their ash-gray pupils.

The sailor on lookout restrained his excitement and described what he had seen completely.

"It's Imperial soldiers! They are walking toward us from the mountain path! A whole squad, and they have muskets!"

He swallowed his saliva and continued excitedly.

"We didn't end up on a desert island... there's no doubt! This is an Imperial colony!"

"Saint Xisi above..." First Mate Aiwen knelt on the ground in exhaustion, kissing the deck in prayer.

＿C〇

He had never liked those guys who did nothing but collect taxes so much.

He had to vindicate them!

They did do some things!

Too late to think, Kaidesen jumped off the railing, moving as nimbly as a monkey darting into the forest, running up the rock slope outside the camp, and looking toward the forest path.

Immediately after—

He saw the hope he had been longing for!

In the morning mist that had not yet dissipated, a neat line of figures was walking through the lush forest, following the rugged mountain path toward their position.

They wore familiar gray-white Imperial military robes, with faded emblems embroidered on their chests, carrying long-barreled muskets, their marching formation standard and incomparable, as neat as a parade in the Shengcheng, every step as clean as if cut by a knife, and one couldn't even feel their breathing.

This is very uncommon in colonies.

The more remote the colony, the more the Imperial soldiers resemble hooligans, some simply being exiled prisoners given a gun... while these guys were as disciplined as regular troops.

But Kaidesen couldn't care less right now; there was only joy in his heart.

And before he could settle this excitement into vigilance, his gaze was attracted by the person in the lead.

That person walked at the very front of the team, wearing a dark red noble ceremonial dress, the cloak lined with silver-edged moon patterns, wearing a feathered soft hat, holding a silver-headed scepter, and the sword at his waist shining brilliantly.

His face wore an arrogance that did not need anger, his footsteps confident and flamboyant, like a master inspecting his manor—only those eyes, very much like an old eagle standing on a pirate's shoulder, sharp and cunning, showing not a hint of the decency and composure of the Old Continent nobles.

Kaidesen recognized this type of person.

Most of them are nobles from the Old Continent who, because their good days were too boring and the transcendent power bestowed upon them by Saint Xisi had nowhere to vent, ran to the colonies to find suffering, only to end up in debt, losing their territories and having no face to return, forced to spend their days in taverns mixing with sailors and prostitutes... The Empire has such guys in almost every port in the New World.

This person was also that type.

However, his luck was clearly much better; he probably found some rural great noble in the New World to be his backer.

Regardless of whether the latter was to reminisce about the upper-class life of the Shengcheng, or simply because life in the New World was too boring and he needed a clown to amuse him... in any case, that great figure gave him a valuable set of clothes and a silver scepter symbolizing the status of a baron, allowing him to maintain his former decency.

In order to leave a good impression on the other party, Kaidesen quickly tidied his appearance, and after the person walked up, he immediately reported his name.

"Respected noble lord... this humble one is Kaidesen, belonging to the Golden Seagull Chamber of Commerce of the Aosi Empire; we are the property of Count Kasidier of the Empire..."

"Enough, enough, enough, stop!"

Tichi took off the hat on his head, looked at him with ill intent, and then looked at the nearby forest, as well as the broken ship run aground on the mountainside.

"What is going on here?"

Kaidesen's expression stiffened, and he whispered guiltily.

"We didn't know this was your territory... please forgive us."

According to the Empire's fief law, all property in the territory belongs to the lord himself, and no one may infringe upon it.

The colonies continue the laws of the Empire, although not as strictly enforced as in the Empire, but the fact is these people have guns in their hands, and this noble looks like a transcendent being... even if not a very strong one.

"Forgive?" Tichi's eyebrows raised, and he said domineeringly, "Captain Kaidesen, I am Tichi Kexiya, managed by Prince Luo Kesai Kelin to manage Deadwood Port, governing the mountains and rivers here."

"This is the territory of Deadwood Port."

"And these trees are all my private property!" Kaidesen was dumbfounded, unable to speak for a long while.

Although he knew this guy was looking for trouble, clearly taking advantage of the situation to rob and make a fuss, he still held back his anger and swallowed the breath that had reached his throat.

After all, compared to being robbed, being stranded on a desert island that never sees the light of day is clearly more terrifying.

At least there is order here.

He lowered his head humbly and said nervously.

"I am very sorry, Baron. We... really didn't know this forest already belonged to you, respected one. We encountered a tsunami and had to use the resources on your territory out of survival needs; we are willing to compensate for your losses..."

Watching Captain Kaidesen's humble appearance, Tichi had a good time playing the noble.

He didn't know this guy.

But having mixed in the Empire's colonies for so many years, he knew these guys who judge people by their appearance too well.

They are all the same—

They don't know their own name once they make a little money.

By the way, they don't even have surnames.

Feeling the stinging gaze behind him, Tichi coughed lightly and continued to act generously.

"Alright, since you encountered a storm, there's nothing to be done. Seeing that you are so polite and indeed didn't do it on purpose, I will exempt you from responsibility..."

Kaidesen finally breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, knowing that this guy was definitely not a proper noble, but at least he was reasonable, unlike those pirates who were completely unreasonable.

He bowed respectfully in the etiquette of a commoner to a noble and whispered "Thank you," his tone carrying a bit of genuine gratitude.

Tichi looked at him and continued.

"Then tell me, Captain Kaidesen. How did you... end up on the mountaintop?"

As he spoke, Tichi cast his gaze toward the steamship lying horizontally on the mountainside not far away, with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

"That's a long story..."

Kaidesen sighed, looked at the wreckage of his Traveler following Tichi's gaze, and without any concealment, told the encounter of his party one by one.

According to their original plan, they intended to go to Sardo Port to support the reconstruction there and look for business opportunities, but they didn't expect to encounter an unprecedented natural disaster—

"That wasn't an ordinary storm... but the sea and the sky turned upside down, and our ship was like sand stuck in the eye of an hourglass, flowing from one vortex to another..." Describing the scene at the time, Kaidesen still had lingering fears, his voice low, "I have traveled back and forth on the Vast Ocean for ten years, and it's the first time I've seen such terrible weather. We thought we were dead at the time, but fortunately, at the critical moment, we saw a beam of light..."

As he spoke, his face was full of piety.

"Saint Xisi above... it must have been Saint Xisi who protected us."

Saint Xisi...

Tichi chuckled in his heart, but the expression on his face didn't change at all, and he continued to listen with a frown, as if he felt the same about the suffering he had endured.

"This is too scary."

"Yes, it's too scary... I guarantee everything I said is true."

Kaidesen swallowed his saliva and continued.

"And after that, something even more incredible happened to our ship. I clearly remember that after we broke through the waves, we came to another sea area, but when we climbed up from the deck, we found that our ship had run aground here."

Looking at the astonished Baron Tichi, he added another sentence.

"It's as if something threw us here..."

Tichi was silent for a long time, seemingly piously making a cross on his chest, and sighed.

"Perhaps it was Saint Xisi who heard your prayers."

"I think so too..."

Kaidesen swallowed his saliva with lingering fear.

And just then, he suddenly remembered something, looked at Tichi, and his tone turned to probing.

"Speaking of which, where exactly is this... land? I've never seen it, let alone see any markings about it on the Empire's sea charts."

Tichi was not surprised by his question and said straightforwardly.

"Sea charts? Of course, they aren't on your sea charts. This is a brand-new territory opened up for the Empire by the respected Prince Kelin out of his own pocket... Those misers in the New World wouldn't allocate a penny to us, so we had to rely on ourselves to take it slow, and only recently have we had some results. To this day, there is only this one coastal fishing port, Deadwood Port, on the entire continent, and not even a decent deep-water port has been built. We were hoping you could plan the shipping route here."

Most of the sea charts for civilian ships in the Empire come from the Adventurers' Guild and the Merchants' Guild, two "transnational organizations" established with the support of the church. And because going out to sea often takes months or even a year, the spread of information can't keep up with the speed of change, so there is no such thing as a standard map.

Lumier didn't understand these twists and turns, but Tichi, as a noble from the Empire, knew these rules too well.

Kaidesen, as expected, had no doubts about this statement, but felt a bit embarrassed.

"This... I am just a captain, and I can't influence the decisions of the Chamber of Commerce. However, I can convey your expectations to Jeral Kasidier; he might be able to help you mediate, if I can return from here..."

"Let's talk about that later," Tichi glanced at the ship behind Kaidesen, his voice carrying a hint of playfulness, "I'm afraid you'll have some difficulty going back."

Kaidesen said with a wry smile.

"Yes... we implore you to lend a helping hand. If there is a teleportation array—"

"Don't even think about it," Tichi shook his head, "There are intense subspace turbulence in this area, and the channels that can be opened are extremely small. Sending a letter is fine, but slightly larger packages have to be dismantled and sent in parts, let alone people... otherwise, our development here wouldn't be so slow."

Kaidesen's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

There are two situations for subspace turbulence: one is active interference from Hell or Chaos, common on the front lines of the New World, and the other belongs to natural phenomena, often seen in sparsely populated places.

If he had a choice, he only hoped it wouldn't be the former.

However, looking at the calm reaction of this Imperial Baron, he thought it unlikely that the corruption of Hell had spread here.

"By the way, that storm, did you... see it?" Kaidesen continued to ask.

"You mean the one you encountered? Not really..." Tichi replied casually, his tone natural, "However, we have indeed had a lot of wind these past few days, and it has been raining and the tide has been rising. For safety's sake, I had the residents of Deadwood Port evacuate to the nearby mountains... not far from here."

Speaking of this, he also cursed.

"What a mess."

Kaidesen said with a wry smile.

"We are too. This shipwreck... caused me heavy losses."

"Haha, I can see that. To be honest, it's a miracle you guys are still alive."

Tichi looked playfully at the steam sailboat hanging on the mountainside.

Kaidesen could only shrug helplessly at his ridicule, using his eyes to say "laugh if you want."

Tichi didn't continue to ridicule him, withdrew his gaze from the broken ship, and looked at Kaidesen to continue.

"Let's talk about business. We won't leave you stranded, but our own situation is also tricky right now, and we can't feed you for nothing."

Kaidesen said immediately upon hearing this.

"Don't worry about that, we can exchange labor for food."

"That's great," Tichi laughed, patted Kaidesen on the shoulder, and continued, "If you are willing to help us rebuild our home, we can provide you with food, fresh water... and even pay you in gold."

The supplies on the ship were running low, the rum was filled with seawater, and the sailors were so hungry they had started drinking rainwater and gnawing on tree bark... even Kaidesen's own stomach was empty at the moment.

Hearing that the other party was willing to provide food, he didn't hesitate for even a second and agreed immediately.

"Deal!"

No teleportation array, no stable shipping route... who knows when the next ship will come near here.

Since he couldn't leave here for a short time, having a job that provided food and housing was a pie falling from the sky for him, and he wouldn't be so ungrateful as to refuse. Even if it was mining in a mine, it was definitely better than being a savage on a deserted mountain.

What's more.

That apocalypse-like giant tsunami had likely already affected all the ports in the New World.

Every colony was now struggling to take care of itself, and no one would spend the effort to look for a few merchant ships that had "gone missing" at sea.

The most important thing now is to survive.

"I'm glad you made the right choice. We will take you to Deadwood Port, and then I will tell you what to do."

Tichi nodded with satisfaction and reached out his hand.

Kaidesen didn't hesitate and shook hands with him.

"I want to eat a full meal before I start working... to be honest, I don't even have the strength to talk to you right now."

Tichi said with a smile:

"Don't worry about that! Deadwood Port welcomes all hardworking people... whether poor or rich, whether you eventually leave or stay, as long as you are willing to contribute to us, we certainly won't let you go hungry."

Changing the subject, his gaze swept casually toward the edge of the rainforest in the south, and he added another sentence behind it.

"However, out of kindness, I still have to remind you—"

"We haven't completely conquered this land, so you'd better not go too deep into the rainforest to the south."

Kaidesen became nervous instantly.

"Is there something there?"

"There are swarms of lizardmen; they are true savages who drink blood and eat raw meat. If they catch you, they will dig out your heart and offer it to their Dragon God."

Looking at Kaidesen, who was scared pale, Tichi laughed and patted him on the shoulder again.

"But don't worry, Deadwood Port is safe... The respected Prince Kelin and those lizardmen have reached an agreement; we mind our own business. Of course, don't provoke them either; we won't break the agreement we worked so hard to reach for a few stupid people who don't listen to advice, wasting our bullets and lives."

"I will remember your advice." Captain Kaidesen swallowed his saliva and said, "We will only operate near Deadwood Port..."

Tichi nodded with a smile.

"As long as you remember, the weather has been bad these past few days, so they haven't discovered you, so you are really lucky...

Speaking of this, he turned around, waved to the soldiers under his command, signaling them to turn around.

"... Follow me, this is not a place to stay for long."

"After we get to the camp, we'll talk about future matters." ===== CHAPTER 296 =====