Chapter 404 – Ruyen is Attacked
Taking the sea route, travelling from Rosen Empire to Aksu empire would take seven days. Upon arriving at Aksu Empire, it would need about three more days of travel before they can reach Buding City, the nearest port from Purcell Duchy. Ruyen would disembark there and transfer into a carriage. Then it would take 7 days or so for them to arrive at Casa City.
But Hart was aware that on the fifth day of their travel, they would be sailing inside non-governed waters. They would travel for two days inside this area.
In this place, both Rosen Empire and Aksu Empire s.h.i.+ps were rarely seen. This was because this area is considered to be the buffer zone between the two empires. If either fleet comes inside, the other would feel anxious, thinking that they might get attacked. So for a long time, there were no empire s.h.i.+ps sailing these waters. Unfortunately, this also made this area a pirate’s heaven.
Anybody sailing this area knew that they might get attacked at any time. So most sailors would be very alert while being here, preparing for a fight at all times.
After sailing for several days, they were finally about to entered the buffer zone along with the unknown s.h.i.+p. Hart became even more nervous since the s.h.i.+p was still following them.
In order to let the crew rest well and prepare them for the possible battles, Hart made the s.h.i.+p stop first and get a good rest before proceeding. Hart also wanted to know if the s.h.i.+p was really following or was just on the same path as them.
In the end, Hart finally found out that the other party was indeed following them. When they stopped to rest, the other s.h.i.+p also stopped. It just kept a safe distance from their s.h.i.+p.
After reporting to Ruyen, Hart understood that there was no use in further expressing his concerns. Thus, he just ordered his crew to always be prepared for battle.
After resting for a day, Hart officially entered the unregulated part of their route. All of the s.h.i.+ps sailing here were keeping a safe distance between each other, mainly to avoid misunderstandings, another reason was to keep alert since any merchant s.h.i.+p could turn out to be a pirate s.h.i.+p.
Hart was also paying special attention to the s.h.i.+p that was constantly tailing them. Seeing the s.h.i.+p still keeping a safe distance away from them and didn’t express any intentions to attack, Hart started to believe Ruyen’s words.
The first day pa.s.sed safely. When evening came, Hart released the anchor and after appointing some sentries, retreated to take some rest. Naturally, all of them had their own weapons placed in a convenient place.
The next day, Hart’s s.h.i.+p sailed early. Everyone’s nerves were tight, they were afraid of battles. Perhaps it was the heavens that helped them since they didn’t meet any attacks. This made Hart loosen up, and finally when they entered Aksu Empire waters in the evening, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
However, what Hart didn’t think of was that they would actually suffer an attack the second day they entered the Aksu Empire’s territory. Moreover, this attack didn’t come from the s.h.i.+p behind them, but was actually from an Aksu Empire wars.h.i.+p.
There was a three-master Aksu empire wars.h.i.+p sailing on the waters. Hart originally thought that it was only a patrolling wars.h.i.+p so he didn’t care. But he didn’t expect that when their s.h.i.+p reached the s.h.i.+p’s firing range, they were immediately met with a fierce attack. Hart’s s.h.i.+p suffered a huge loss, a lot of people in the s.h.i.+p were killed, a lot of ballistas were also destroyed.
Fortunately, Hart was well-experienced and immediately reacted. It didn’t matter why the other party attacked, but they immediately retaliated.
But in the end, their s.h.i.+p was only a Merchant s.h.i.+p while the other was a three-masted wars.h.i.+p. Their firepower was inferior to the enemy, nor was their maneuverability. They were always in the state being defeated all the time.
At this time, the s.h.i.+p that had been following them came over and attacked the three-masted s.h.i.+p. The attack of the s.h.i.+p was also very fierce, its attacks weren’t something that a merchant s.h.i.+p like theirs were capable of doing. The main thing about the s.h.i.+p was that they seem to be unafraid of death, it just rushed towards the three-master s.h.i.+p as though it was willing to ram their s.h.i.+ps together.
Seeing this, Hart fully believed that the other s.h.i.+p was escorting them. But Hart felt strange, if the s.h.i.+p was sent by the family to escort them , then why didn’t it contact Hart? If it wasn’t sent by the family, then who did?
The three-masted s.h.i.+p didn’t expect to face such a s.h.i.+p, it had been caught off guard. They also saw that the s.h.i.+p seemed to not care about life and death, it looks like it was willing to perish together.
The three-masted s.h.i.+p became afraid and immediately retreated. The escort s.h.i.+p didn’t go for pursuit, it returned to Hart’s s.h.i.+p and stayed at a safe distance away.
Hart performed some flag signals to get in contact, but the other s.h.i.+p didn’t respond. In the end, Hart could only continue on sailing. Three days later, they finally arrived at Buding City. The s.h.i.+p that followed them silently vanished.
That s.h.i.+p was obviously the Swordfish which was sent by Zhao Hai to escort Ruyen. The Swordfish was crewed by undead so of course they weren’t afraid of death. If they weren’t sent to escort Ruyen, they would’ve chased the three-masted s.h.i.+p and steal it away.
And when Ruyen’s s.h.i.+p was attacked, Zhao Hai was naturally informed. When he heard that Ruyen’s s.h.i.+p was attacked by a battles.h.i.+p, Zhao Hai had no idea who was responsible.
Upon further consideration, Zhao Hai reckoned that it must have been Southern King Boris.. Boris had suffered a great loss under Zhao Hai, so he must have hated the Purcell Family as well. Thus, when Hart entered Aksu Empire waters, which was Boris’ domain, he immediately had a wars.h.i.+p attack Ruyen.
However, Zhao Hai wasn’t in the mood to deal with Boris right now since they had already arrived at Jade Water City. The size of the city was quite similar with RIsing Water City. Almost everything was similar except for the larger and much cleaner port.
Obviously, it was impossible for Zhao Hai to dock their s.h.i.+p at the public pier. After all, Charlie was on board, he also had his own private pier.
Under the guidance of Charlie, Zhao Hai’s s.h.i.+p arrived at the Third Prince’s private port. Naturally, the people on the pier were already informed that Charlie was inside the s.h.i.+p, so they didn’t block the Haven from entering. On the contrary, the pier was full of people.
When the Haven stopped at the pier, it immediately lowered its boarding plank. Charlie led Zhao Hai down the s.h.i.+p and handed the Haven over to Luri to perform some repairs. After all, the s.h.i.+p needed some good repairs since it suffered quite some damage from the previous battle.
Zhao Hai didn’t reject Charlie’s good intentions, so he ordered Jinan to go along with Liru’s instructions. Then he sat inside a carriage with Charlie as the two of them were escorted by Jade Water City’s Lord towards the mansion.
Jade Water City’s City Lord is named Trezebo, Charlie’s hardcore supporter. He helped Charlie take charge of his money purse. Trezebo looked very thin with a dry skin but Zhao Hai didn’t underestimate this man. Although this man didn’t have a single bit of Battle Qi fluctuation, Zhao Hai felt something in this person that he only felt with Shun.
What is Shun? He was an a.s.sa.s.sin. For this man to have the same temperament as Shun, then it meant that he was also an a.s.sa.s.sin himself. This made Zhao Hai surprised, he didn’t think that Charlie would actually leave Jade Water City in the hands of someone with that profession.
The carriage’s curtains were open while they were travelling inside the city. Charlie was pointing and introducing various famous buildings to Zhao Hai.
What made Zhao Hai surprised about Jade Water City was its difference from Rising Water City in managing businesses. In Jade Water City, selling of products were centralized in a certain section of the city. For example, if you are selling grain, they you’ll have to sell it in a specific area along with the other grain sellers; the same goes for other products such as commodities and etc.
Zhao Hai didn’t expect that Charlie would govern the city like this. But it was actually a good idea, this made managing the city much easier.
Looking at Zhao Hai’s expression of approval with regards to his administration, Charlie felt proud since this method was suggested by himself.
…
The carriage quickly arrived at the City Lord’s Mansion. The mansion was very stylish, but compared to Smith’s mansion, it lacked a few things here and there.
Upon arriving at the mansion, the three immediately went inside. Trezebo lead Charlie and Zhao Hai to the Purple Bamboo Courtyard that was already been prepared. This courtyard was the largest, most attractive, and most refined courtyard of the mansion. It was a courtyard meant specifically for Charlie’s use.
Originally, Zhao Hai didn’t want to stay here. However, he couldn’t just decline Charlie’s hospitality. The third prince wanted him to reside in Purple Bamboo Courtyard, so Zhao Hai had no choice but to stay.
To be honest, Zhao Hai actually liked the atmosphere inside the courtyard. Zhao Hai found Purple Bamboos to be beautiful, so naturally he would be extremely fond of the place.
One could say that Bamboo rice is also a type of bamboo. But since it was too long and is used mainly for grain production, its ornamental use was very unpopular.
At the same time, Purple Bamboo was also not mainly used for decoration. Purple Bamboo was actually a very good material for weapons. This fine bamboo can be used as a shaft for spears as well as a body for a bow. The bamboo was very tough, making it one of the most popular material for weapons in the Continent.
However, the Purple Bamboo was also like the Bread Tree, it was very picky about where it could grow. It had very strict requirements about temperature, humidity and climate. If these special conditions weren’t meant then they wouldn’t be able to survive. This made its output quite scarce in the continent.
Fortunately for Jade Water City, its location was the Purple Bamboo’s largest habitat. The mountains around the city were full of these bamboos, making them the most popular export of the area.
Upon arriving at the Purple Bamboo Courtyard, Trezebo asked to be excused in order to prepare the banquet. He didn’t leave behind a lot of servants in the courtyard since he knew that Charlie dislikes it. Therefore, he only had the place cleaned and left behind four maids. This arrangement was just right for Charlie’s preferences, and it coincidentally matched with Zhao Hai’s as well.
Since everything here is complete, Zhao Hai didn’t need to do a lot, so he quickly finished his unpacking.
The Purple Bamboo courtyard had a total of 27 rooms. Naturally, Charlie resided in the main room. Zhao Hai, on the other hand, stayed at an independent building.
After Zhao Hai’s group was settled in, Trezebo came in and expressed Charlie’s invitation for a meal. While he left Charlie earlier, Trezebo took that time as a chance to investigate Zhao Hai further. He already had some information about Zhao Hai, but he didn’t put any emphasis on it. But now that he was going to help Charlie, he needed to be screened carefully by Trezebo, after all, the a.s.sa.s.sin cared a lot about his lord.
After the group arrived at the dining room and sat down, a maid immediately provided the meals. The dishes were very good, the things that Trezebo had prepared weren’t that luxurious, however, they had some special characteristics, they were also made using seasonal ingredients, they were fresh.
Charlie was surely satisfied with his subordinate’s meal. While they were eating, Charlie introduced Trezebo and Zhao Hai with each other.
After eating, the group sat inside the living room. Charlie drank some tea and turned to Trezebo and said, “Trezebo, go give mister Zhao Hai my badge tomorrow. Make sure to exempt him from taxes later as well. Also, allow his s.h.i.+p to use my own personal pier. Right, also look for a good store location for mister Zhao Hai, after tidying it up, hand it over to mister as a gift.”
Trezebo gave a nod. Zhao Hai wasn’t polite and smiled to Charlie, “I give my thanks to your highness. When my people gets settled down, we’ll immediately send you the things we agreed on. Right, I also need a bunch of daily necessities as well as some iron, I’ll have to ask for your highness’ help in this.”
Charlie replied, “Iron? What does mister need iron for? Weapons? That wouldn’t be good. Even if I want to produce a large number of weapons, I still need to report it to the capital. You know that my situations is quite complex, I think mister should hand this over to someone else.”
Zhao Hai nodded, “I understand. Don’t worry, I don’t need a lot of iron. On the other hand, I need a ton of necessities, include ceramic products as well. I’ll need your highness’ a.s.sistance with this. I want a lot, enough to fully stock one s.h.i.+p.”
Hearing Zhao Hai, Charlie nodded, “If that is so, then it wouldn’t be a problem, mister can rest a.s.sured. Trezebo, prepare those things from mister as soon as possible. Also, go prepare means to store and transport 50 thousand fire fishes. How many days would you need?”
Trezebo thought for a moment then replied, “Your highness, the things can be prepared tomorrow. But the equipment for the fire fishes would take at least ten days.”