Chapter 445: The Start of an Expedition
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Zhang Lisheng had gradually become accustomed to seeing such a dramatic scene after staying with them for so long. When he saw the girls holding each other’s hands while looking at each other with smiles, he shrugged and began to eat all by himself.
In the days to come, he had gone idle and just hide in his bedroom to cultivate witchcraft secret cultivation method. If he weren’t doing so, he would accompany his mother and girlfriend, who both planned to leave New York. By the time he had sent both of them, one after another, onto the flight heading to New Mexico, it was already spring.
Walking out of New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport for the second time in less than two weeks, Zhang Lisheng, who was wearing a light spring outfit, walked agilely to his SUV and took a few deep breaths before muttering to himself, “It’s finally time for me to throw a dice. I hope the result is good…”
He opened the door and entered his car to start the engine, turning it into the flow of traffic in New York City.
Three hours later, the young man transformed into a wyrmdragon that had bulging eyes and wide mouth while green scales covered him. Riding on clouds, he came to the sky above the Shrimp B1 Island.
He overlooked the sky at the lush island that was full of vitality, which concealed the terrifying horror in the jungle at night. It was unfortunate that Zhang Lisheng did not have the time to appreciate the island’s most beautiful moment of the year. He flew to the Giant Wood Settlement of the Wizard Li tribe at the coast and heading directly onto the ground.
The clouds descended and slowly dispersed, informing the Wizard Li tribesmen who were working hard in the separated dwelling that their overlord was about to drop. By the time the young man landed on the ground, the natives that stretched out as far as the eyes could see were already kneeling at his feet.
“Tugra? Where’s Tugra?” When Zhang Lisheng looked around and did not see the Wizard Li headman welcoming him, he asked aloud.
“Great Conqueror, Headman Tugra has just returned to the ancestral ground by the airs.h.i.+p. He’ll return before evening,” A native who had three feathers on his head, whose fat body indicated that he was the chief ch.o.r.esmen, stood up. He hastily took a few steps forward in nervousness to kiss the young man’s toe politely before answering.
“Tugra has returned to the ancestral ground? Then, you must be the person in charge of ch.o.r.es here in the Giant Wood.” Zhang Lisheng looked at the fat native and asked with a slight nervousness in his voice, “Tell me, have those mainlanders who went out for exploration returned?”
“Two. Two mainland navigators have returned. They’ve found a safe waterway to the other islands.” The native chief ch.o.r.esman buried his head on the ground and answered happily. “Great Conqueror, your divine name ‘Wizard Li’ will soon spread in the h.e.l.lfire Archipelago and bring more land, wealth, and tribesmen to the tribe.”
“It’s a success! Two men have succeeded…” A gush of happiness rose in the young man’s heart, stuffing his hoisted high heart back to his body. “Very good! Very good! Who are the ones who returned?”
“One is that Navigator Charlot, who is proficient in h.e.l.lfire language while the other one is Navigator Hanoo.”
“Oh, familiar people,” Zhang Lisheng stayed stunned. “They are now… Ah, it doesn’t matter. Order Wizard Li’s expedition team to board the s.h.i.+p immediately and prepare for battle. I’ve waited for this conquest for far too long, and I don’t want to wait any longer. It’s noon now, so I want to see all fleet sail out and head to the outer island when the sun falls into the sea…”
The instant his words left his mouth, the young man gathered thick fog around his body again. It enveloped him and brought him up the sky, drifting towards the deck of the largest steel s.h.i.+p moored in the harbor.
The length of the iron s.h.i.+p was about 400 meters. Its range did not stand out among the surrounding steams.h.i.+ps. Still, since the vessel was rectangular in size, the deck area was about three to four times larger than the oval s.h.i.+ps. It looked like Aruba must have built it based on the image of the only Earth’s aircraft carrier in Shrimp B1 Island.
It was only an iron sh.e.l.l floating on the sea without technical content that would appear on a standard aircraft carrier. The va.s.sal did not have an aircraft maritime landing runway, a high-sensitivity radar, or a nuclear power installation. However, the fact that the Wizard Li tribesmen could build such a large item was already a miracle to Lisheng.
“Aruba, oh, Aruba! The surprise, no, I should say amazement, that you give me is intensifying every time…” Strolling on the deck, walking past hundreds of thousands of Wizard Li’s warriors who were kneeling on the ground, the young man praised under his breath. He walked to the bow of the giant s.h.i.+p, before looking into the distance.
(TL Note: Author mistake. Should be Tumulu, not Aruba.)
The sea surface of the early spring was exceptionally calm. The turquoise waves rippled slowly. The sea wind that was slightly salty and warm caressed his face, with the chief ch.o.r.esman shouting from the beach behind him, “Great Conqueror has given out his order. All expeditionary warriors will board the s.h.i.+p and prepare for battle. Dispatch! Dispatch! The Great Conqueror has given out his order. All expeditionary warriors…”
Never had the fat aborigine conveyed such an essential order to the tribal Conqueror before. He, who became panicked at once, shouted out loud at a loss. Hundreds of dispatch spread out while riding their giant millispiders. Not long after, the entire Wizard Li’s separated dwelling began to shake.
Tens of thousands of h.e.l.lfire warriors resting on the land wore their neat iron armor painted in fresh red sap and rode the giant spiders. Armed with sharp spears in their hands and sabers at their waists, they marched up the hundreds of enormous iron s.h.i.+ps under the leaders.h.i.+p of the chiefs and dyed the entire harbor in red.
After a series of bustles, the harbor finally subdued and gradually silenced. Only the sound of the surging waves echoed in the air.
In the sound of the waves, a very young-looking native teenager who had two feathers on his head steadily stepped on the steel deck and walked up behind the tribal Conqueror. He kneeled and reported, Great Conqueror, your warriors and sailors are ready for the expedition.”
“Bansaru, are you the captain of the expeditionary flags.h.i.+p?” Upon hearing this familiar voice, Zhang Lisheng asked, without even turning his head.
“Yes, Great Conqueror! Under Navigator Charlot’s guidance, I’ve found the nearest route to the outer island and personally drew the nautical chart. This earned me the honor of becoming the captain of the Wizard Li’s expeditionary flags.h.i.+p!” The Wizard Li tribe’s young navigating genius answered proudly.
“Is it you who cooperated with Navigator Charlot and successfully obtained the nautical chart?” Zhang Lisheng turned and looked down at the indigenous teenager at his feet with a smile. “Looks like I must personally insert a feather on you so it’ll be worthy of your achievements and your current status.”
“T-This is the honor of my life, Great Conqueror!” Bansaru looked shocked. He stuck his forehead even closer to the deck.
Upon hearing the tribal overlord’s words, a servant automatically kneeled down on the ground, raising both of his hands to offer a bright feather on a wooden plate respectfully.
Zhang Lisheng took the feather from the wooden plate. He walked towards Aruba and personally bent down to insert the feather on his head. He then asked, “Bansaru, how long does it take to reach the outer island if we follow the route that you found?”
(TL note: Author mistake. Should be Bansaru, not Aruba.)
“Great Conqueror, there’s no monsoon in the h.e.l.lfire sea region during spring, and it’ll take at least 90 days on an ordinary wooden s.h.i.+p. However, it’ll only take Wizard Li’s iron s.h.i.+p three days at most if we sail for day and night without encountering any rainstorm.”
“Three days? 1000 kilometers in three days, so it’s about 300 kilometers per day, with an average of 14 kilometers per hour. Not bad!” Zhang Lisheng calculated for a while and nodded. He looked at the young captain on the deck, suppressed his excitement, and gave his order calmly, “Let us depart, Bansaru.”
“Yes, Conqueror!” Bansaru stood and walked to the s.h.i.+p bow to blow on the bugle hanging by his waist.
In the desolate sound of the bugle, the expeditionary flags.h.i.+p’s stern began to bustle with hot air, gradually leaving the port. It left behind a thick, long, white line and entered the vast ocean at an increasing speed.
Hundreds of large iron s.h.i.+ps followed closely behind it in three rows. Soon, they disappeared into the sea.
The fleet sailed for day and night. When the warriors got thirsty, they drank the freshwater they obtained from the sea that the ten chief warriors produced. After all, they had mastered the power of separating freshwater from seawater after successfully transplanting with the ocean spiritual monster’s Gold Core fragment.
When they got hungry, they ate the raw fishes that the chiefs caught using their profound power.
Inadvertently, they soon arrived at an island that looked like a crescent moon from a distance.
Zhang Lisheng had seen this small island in the southern corner of the h.e.l.lfire Archipelago on the satellite map more than once. However, when he finally saw it with his own eyes, he still could not help but feel the blood boiling under his skin.
“This banana-like island is only 13,700 square kilometers, less than one-half of the Shrimp B1 Island, but it’s an island often in contact with the other h.e.l.lfire Archipelago’s islands. Let me, this country b.u.mpkin, see if the warriors on such a h.e.l.lfire island are strong or weak…” Standing on the flags.h.i.+p bow, the young man, whose entire body was bathed in the dazzling brilliance radiated by the sunset from the west, muttered and raised his arm to shout, “Bansaru, increase the speed! Round the island and find a suitable natural port for landing. If there’s none, we’ll use our spellcasting chief warriors to make a forced embarking.”
It was not a smart method to open the curtain of the expedition in such a triumphant way. Still, from a strategic point of view, if he could win their first battle in such an arrogant way, then it would produce an immeasurable effect on the morale of the Wizard Li’s expeditionary army.
However, be it a tactical point of view or a strategic one, the blatant and forceful att.i.tude that the fleet demonstrated was not something that Bansaru should be worried about. Under the tribal overlord’s command, the only thing he could do was to shout at the top of his lungs, “Yes, Great Conqueror! Dispatch! The Conqueror gave an order to round the island to look for a good harbor. If there’s none, the chief warriors will cast spells, and all troops will make a forced embarking! All s.h.i.+ps should follow the flags.h.i.+p!”
Upon hearing the captain’s order, an indigenous chief who was wearing a feather on his head strode to the s.h.i.+p’s side and stretched out both of his hands. He summoned a wave to rise to the sky abruptly, before solidifying in front of him like an ice sculpture.
“I’m here to pa.s.s on the Conqueror’s command. All Wizard Li wars.h.i.+ps will round the island… All s.h.i.+ps should follow the flags.h.i.+p and make a forced embarking!” After repeating Zhang Lisheng’s commands to the wave, the indigenous chief dispelled the stream and let it fell, shattering into the sea. After that, the sound of the waves rippling the sea surface began to change into a series of murmurs. If one listened carefully, they would be able to tell that it was the arrogant command of the Wizard Li’s Conqueror.