Chapter 1107: Steel Monster
Besides, Black-beard could just recruit more subordinates, but once the six alchemy-powered battleships were destroyed, he would never be able to build the same battleships again. Moreover, Black-beard would never be able to go back to the way he used to be in the past without those battleships. He couldn’t help but feel disappointed.
Hearing that the Tower of Dusk was recruiting sailors, Black-beard, who had been making a living at sea, and knew that the Tower of Dusk was the only force in the Breezy Plains that dared to go against the Gilded Kingdom, brought Jack along with him to submit an application. He believed that as long as he hid himself on the ship of the Tower of Dusk, he would be able to avoid being found by the Gilded Kingdom. On the other hand, he also had some hope in his heart that he would one day be able to use the Tower of Dusk to exact revenge on the Gilded Kingdom for his deceased fellow pirates.
However, Black-beard didn’t expect to attract the attention of Lin Li, the young owner of the ship, with a casual complaint. Of course, at this moment he finally learned that the young man Lin Li was actually the owner of the Tower of Dusk and a super powerhouse who had already reached the Sanctuary-realm.
After learning about Black-beard, Julio, Lin Li stopped thinking about it, and was instead very interested about The Star which Julio had mentioned. Hence, when Julio’s strength was starting to recover, Lin Li again asked, “How did you find out about The Star? Don’t tell me about any myths and legends. I’ve never heard any legend about The Star.”
If there had been any legends and myths, they would have already spread everywhere. Although they might not be known to all, Lin Li had never heard about any legends after sailing in the sea for such a long time. He mostly heard about sailors going out to sea and digging up treasures and so on.
At this moment, Julio had already sensed that his physical injuries were rapidly recovering, and it probably wouldn’t take long for his strength to be restored to the Legendary-level again. Hearing Lin Li’s question, he hurriedly suppressed the surprise in his heart, and respectfully said, “Lord, the legend about The Star is in fact only a legend pa.s.sed down in our family for generations. Legend has it that our ancestors have led this fleet of ships, and escaped along a very secret route to avoid the siege of the High Elves’ fleet.”
Hearing Julio’s words, Lin Li couldn’t help but recall a saying that went “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” Since Julio’s ancestor faced the siege of the High Elves, he was clearly quite an accomplished pirate back in the day.
“However, just as they were about to break free from the High Elves’ fleet, they encountered a ma.s.sive battleship. In the end, our ancestor was blasted into pieces by that battleship. Fortunately, our ancestor was lucky to have escaped when the High Elves caught up. Immediately after that, he saw a very shocking scene whereby the powerful High Elves’ fleet was destroyed by the ma.s.sive ship. It was The Star.” Failing to notice the peculiar expression on Lin Li’s face, Julio simply told him about the legend calmly. He reckoned that Lin Li’s tone did not change because he must have heard too much from the elders in the past.
Listening to Julio’s explanation, Lin Li’s expression became even more odd because it reminded him of his own experience in that world created by Geresco. At that time, he used a pirate ship that came towards him as a target in order to test the arms of The Star. Besides, he had also destroyed a fleet of the High Elves later on.
Hearing Julio’s narration, Lin Li couldn’t help but feel confused. Did I really get sent thousands of years back by Geresco, and end up destroying the pirates and fleet belonging to Julio’s ancestor?
Of course, Lin Li also knew that it was actually unlikely. Not everyone could travel in time—legend had it that only one of the five Dragon Aspects had that ability. Even G.o.ds did not have such power.
Lin Li could only say that everything he encountered in that world should have been predetermined by Geresco. He felt like he was just watching a movie, except that the difference was that he was part of the movie, but only acted as a spectator.
Apart from that, most of the legends told by Julio were just some cliche ones about The Star fighting with some marine beasts. Besides, such legends were rampant in the sea, and the only differences between them were the main characters.
After putting aside the matters of The Star, Lin Li and Julio chatted for a while about sailing on the sea. He had to admit that Julio was definitely competent since he had the ability to lead a bunch of pirates in the Endless Ocean for so many years. If it had been a fluke, it would’ve only lasted for a while, and one might not be lucky all the time. All they could rely on was their true capabilities.
As for the things related to navigation, Lin Li could only keep it in theory. However, having lived on the Endless Ocean for so many years, Julio definitely had a rich experience after fighting on the sea for years. Actually, even the most famous navigator in the Gilded Kingdom might not be able to compare with Julio.
Obtaining the two sailors with rich experience, Julio and Jack, was quite a considerable gain for Lin Li. However, Lin Li could sense that although Julio and Jack had always been respectful towards him, they probably did not recognize him as their captain, because they had been calling him ‘lord’ and not ‘captain’ all the way throughout.
However, Lin Li didn’t care about that. As long as the two of them behaved themselves and worked for him, he wouldn’t care about the way they addressed him.
Soon, the preparations for the testing of The Star were completed, and the sailors also began to get familiar with what they had to do under the guidance of the shipbuilders. Although The Star was sailing with alchemical power, and did not require the sailors to adjust the sails, the sailors still had things to do, and their tasks required far more skill and experience than on other ships.
The testing of The Star involved not only testing the performance of The Star, but also familiarization with operating the vessel. No matter how much experience those sailors had when working on a ship, they would probably have to relearn and practice many of the operations on The Star.
Finally, when everything was ready, The Star slowly set off from the shipyard under Lin Li’s control, and the hideous steel beast appeared for the first time in Ortland Port. It was four or five times larger than the giant alchemical ships of the Gilded Kingdom, and was just like a steel fortress moving on the sea.
All the people in the harbor who saw it were immediately stunned, and those who were a little closer to The Star could feel a large black shadow covering the sky above their heads. Fortunately, before the trial was conducted, they had made sufficient preparations to leave enough s.p.a.ce in the port for The Star. Otherwise, the waves stirred up by The Star alone would have been enough to cause a disaster.
“Oh goodness, is this the new battleship built by the Tower of Dusk? This is incredible!” Many people couldn’t help but exclaim loudly. Although people who came and went to the port knew that the Tower of Dusk was building a battleship, none of them imagined that it would turn out to be such a steel monster.
“Can this big guy really sail on the sea?” There were also people who expressed doubts about the sailing ability of The Star. In this era, the people thought that ships should only be made of wood, and thought that something as heavy as steel should not be able to stay afloat on the surface of the sea. Although the emergence of the alchemical battleships of the Gilded Kingdom had gradually shown people that ships made of steel could also sail on the sea, the ma.s.sive size of The Star was still beyond their knowledge.
At the same time, some people also noticed the weapons on The Star, which gave them a huge shock as they immediately exclaimed, “Hurry and look at that. Is that a battleship cannon? One, two… If all of them are fired at the same time, I’m afraid a fleet will be instantly blown to pieces.”
The Magical Crystal Cannons on The Star were all purchased from the Gilded Kingdom during this period of time. Although the Gilded Kingdom had been delaying and making excuses, the supply of two Magical Crystal Cannons a month allowed them to acc.u.mulate a significant number after several months. Apart from the Magical Crystal Cannons, The Star was also equipped with other weapons, such as the Magical Crystal Cannons produced by the dwarves as well as harpoons that resembled ballistae.
As some people said, if the weapons on The Star were to fire in unison, the power would be enough to destroy a city by the sea. With such powerful firearms, The Star would probably deter even the fleet of the Gilded Kingdom, what more the Ledin Kingdom and Felan Kingdom.
Those were things that were visible. There were many other means of attack that were concealed on The Star, such as mageweaths and Alchemy Arrays. Their attacks were like blades in scabbards that would become the enemy’s nightmare once unsheathed. Enemies who ignored their existence would have to pay a painful price for it.
The ma.s.sive ship was slowly sailing away from the port towards the boundless sea, where it began its first trial. At the same time, the scouts of various forces also informed their respective superiors of the Tower of Dusk’s construction of The Star as soon as possible.
Although there were almost no forces in the Breezy Plains today that would make the Tower of Dusk their enemy, the forces were still concerned about the Tower of Dusk’s actions. Hence, when the news of the Tower of Dusk’s construction was released, the forces immediately sent scouts to Ortland Port.
In fact, everyone was well aware of that, and the Tower of Dusk also knew that the various forces would definitely send scouts to investigate. However, The Star would definitely appear in front of them, after all, so the Tower of Dusk didn’t mind the prying of other forces too much.
After The Star left the harbor, it did not sail further away, but started testing the battleship’s performance in the sea near the port. For example, they tested aspects like the maximum speed of the battleship, the maneuverability of the battleship at sea, and of course the power of their firearms.
However, they couldn’t test the power of the firearms near Ortland Port. Although Lin Li did not mind letting other forces know how powerful The Star was, he didn’t want to destroy the environment near Ortland Port.
There happened to be an area less than 100 miles from Ortland Port where reefs were abundant in the sea. It was known as the Death Sea. Legend had it that during the Dark Age, a High Elves’ fleet once sank there, and there was even the talk of ghost ships. Of course, those things were not to be taken seriously. For ordinary people, a slightly dangerous place would be exaggerated badly, and even the demon deities would be involved.
Not wanting to cause any waste, Lin Li decided to test the power of the firearms of The Star set in this so-called Death Sea. With the speed of The Star, they soon arrived at the Death Sea after leaving Ortland Port, which was indeed a bit different. The seawater in other areas was blue, but the seawater here was black and gloomy.
However, even those experienced sailors would not take it seriously, let alone Lin Li. Under Lin Li’s command, a Magical Crystal Cannon began to get charged before the muzzle was pointed at a bare island in the middle of the Death Sea.
After he issued another command, more than a dozen dazzling pillars of light instantly shot out from the muzzle of a single Magical Crystal Cannon. Even the sailors on The Star couldn’t help but keep their eyes tightly shut for fear of being blinded by it. When the light disappeared, they carefully opened their eyes to look in the direction of the target, only to see that there was nothing but a ma.s.sive whirlpool left.
After the Magical Crystal Cannons attacked, Lin Li tested the other means of attack on The Star in the sea one by one. By the time the test was over, the so-called Death Sea was no longer what it used to be. It was as if it was completely erased from the map.