Chapter 316
Chapter 316: Second Dynasty Combat Vessel (Part 2)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Nailisi brought the pan’s turtle alchemical boat back to the white beaches. The surface of the sea was frozen as the alchemy ship silently travelled underwater back into the boat house. This natural harbor was perfect. The depth of the sea near the coast was much deeper than other places. Under the piloting of the bone spirits, the pan’s turtle alchemical boat went virtually unnoticed.
At the end of the day, the bone spirits were death creatures as well. However, their soul auras were too weak and they were just as harmless as the fish in the sea. Even if a few sorcerers used magic detection near the beach, they would not be able to penetrate the over two hundred meters of seawater and notice anything awry with the alchemy ship.
The tent on the beaches had long since been taken down and Nailisi had been gone for ten days. Irene and her people could not stay here. Saleen would not let them stay either, as his city was still under its initial stages of construction and he did not want anything to be revealed. Irene stayed for two days and her radius of activity was limited to a white line on the beach.
“Master!” Nailisi rushed into the temple. where Saleen was practicing the Water Flame spell. The blue water flames were almost as big as a person’s fist and were incredibly stable. Seeing Nailisi enter, Saleen immediately extinguished the water flames.
“Nailisi, did you find anything?”
“Yes, and not only Irene’s sunken ship. I have found something big!” Nailisi gestured with her hands, explaining how she had found the remains of a Second Dynasty combat vessel.
“Nailisi, no one else knows about this, right?”
“A grade-3 mage named Truman knows, but I have already given him a reminder and he will not tell anyone. Master, first, take a look at this!” As she spoke, Nailisi took out the strange magic cannon from her bracelet.
This magic cannon was barely two meters long. There was a hexagonal barrel at the front and a rectangular platform at the back, securing the barrel within.
A normal magic cannon would have a crystal barrel. Since crystal could not withstand temperatures which were too high, many different ingredients had to be added and processed into it, and the diameter of the barrel would be at least a meter and a half. This magic cannon’s barrel was made entirely of crystal, and at the hollow parts of the crystal, a long piece of ice island rock had been inlaid.
This crystal and the ice island rock were things that Saleen possessed. Even though their sizes were much smaller, he still had ways of obtaining them. However, as for the rectangular platform, Saleen had no idea what material it was made of.
Underneath the cannon platform was where the troughs met. Evidently, it could be placed on equipment of a similar size to create a moveable cannon platform. However, when the magic cannon fired a shot, its recoil was massive and this equipment could not be fixed onto a castle wall. Otherwise, in a single shot, the entire wall would crumble.
Most importantly, when the base of the magic cannon was fixed, its shooting angle could only be adjusted via magic array, thus the attack range of the magic cannon was incredibly limited. This small-scale magic cannon obviously had a flexible base and could be stripped down using a fully constructed puppet.
If there were two fully constructed puppets, together with some special base, this magic cannon’s range could form a three hundred and sixty degree circle. Anything within the range would not be able to escape its wrath.
Saleen forcefully held back his excitement. Even though this magic cannon had immense power, it only mattered if he could retain it. A cannon platform was not just a device for installing the base of the cannon. It needed to be treated like a magic tower, and defensive magic arrays needed to be laid down in order to prevent enemies from destroying it.
The rock mountains north of the port were the perfect place for a magic cannon. However, the mages from Sregl Island were not here yet, and Lex’s people were not here either, so he could not install the magic cannon now. Even though it would be easy to fix it on, defending it would be tricky.
“Nailisi, put this away for now.” Saleen’s eyes returned to their calm appearance.
“Master, do you want me to go to the rock mountains to install the cannon? I can do it alone.” Nailisi was more anxious than Saleen to install the magic cannon. This was something which even the three kings would not dare to face. Moreover, with Saleen’s savings, a single battle would not be able to destroy it.
With this small-scale magic cannon, Saleen could control not only the surface of the sea, but also the city. The rock mountains had enough space to install six of the base platforms. In that case, the magic cannons could control six directions, and each direction only needed to cover sixty degrees.
“I will do this alone. Nailisi, bring me the magic compass from Irene’s ship.”
“Yes.” Nailisi put away the magic cannon and took out the magic compass she had retrieved from the Williams clan’s sunken ship. The magic compass had been taken apart by Nailisi and could no longer be used. However, the information within had not disappeared and Saleen placed it on the floor. Sitting in front of it, he started analyzing its magic information.
The magic compass would remember the route the ship had taken, and to understand the general route, one needed to reference a map of the sea and perhaps even a map of the constellations. With his advancement, Saleen had gain knowledge of innumerable magic symbols from the Goddess’ Necklace and his calculation skills were no longer limited to the Figaro Formula. He would be able to break down any remaining traces of magic using the magic symbols.
Moreover, Saleen no longer needed to enter the Goddess’ Necklace to achieve such quick calculations. Irene had not told them the details of the route. He had not asked either, and he would not buy them from the Williams clan. With this compass, Saleen would have the secrets of the route.
No matter how much of the world Irene had seen, she could not have imagined that there was a ship which could patrol eight hundred meters underwater for extended periods of time which could find her sunken ship and obtain its magic compass. When she had struck the ice, she had not thought of destroying the information within the compass immediately. Instead, she had gone to save the swordsmen and sailors from her family.
This calculation took about a week, and when six days had passed, Saleen emerged from his endless calculation. He saw that Nailisi had remained by his side the entire time and was touched as he said, “Nailisi, make something to eat. Let’s eat together.”
“Finished calculating?” Nailisi took out some bread, smoked meat, jam, and vegetables that were rarely seen in this season from her bracelet. Like Lex, she chopped them up and presented them on a silver plate to Saleen.
“Almost. It is scary. This sea route still goes at least tens of thousands of miles north. The Williams clan must have grasped the currents and seasonal winds by now. They must have expected a great deal of danger along the way. This is a sea route that has been exchanged for lives!”
The magic compass only recorded the directions and speeds of the sea route, but Saleen had analyzed many things from the speed of the boat. This included when the ship would stop and when would it change its speed, and in which direction. If it had been a safe route, all these things would have been relatively uniform. However, the information from the magic compass told Saleen that there had not been a single day when nothing had happened on this sea route.
“Master, does that mean we can go to Oceanic Ice Block now?”
“Not yet. We need to find a map of the sea. It’d be even better if we had a map of the constellations. Or…”
“Or what?”
“Or we can build a combat vessel like the one from the Second Dynasty. This would ensure our safety.”
“Master, the Second Dynasty combat vessel sunk after being hit by a magic beast.”
“I know, but a magic beast like that must be incredibly rare. Otherwise, the Williams clan could not have travelled using this sea route for many years. They have only met with trouble now.”
“Then let me tear apart the Second Dynasty combat vessel. We can use the thundercloud wood to build our own vessel.”
“There’s no rush. We don’t have suitable sailors. We can talk about this when my teacher is here. We can build a dock here, and by that time, we will be able to create countless vessels if we have the material and the carpenters.”
Saleen knew that Judikaka had only been able to build an alchemy ship for him because the pan’s turtle alchemical boat was less than thirty meters long. If a combat vessel over two hundred meters was to be built, the three kings would not be capable of doing so. Moreover, he and Nailisi had the same thoughts. The remains of the Second Dynasty combat vessel were best kept a secret from the three kings.
When Saleen was almost finished eating, he meditated for a while more before opening his eyes and saying to Nailisi, “Go find Conan. I have something to ask him.”
Conan quickly came to the temple. A structure like this temple was immensely impressive to a barbarian. Barbarians believed in gods, but they did not have any faith. This was something unusual, almost as if the gods of the barbarians had existed even before the Myers Goddess, though they had now forgotten about their gods.
This was the first time Conan had stepped into the radius of the temple since he had been brought here by Saleen. Seeing the over three hundred stone pillars all around, the platforms that were even wider than the roads in the capital, and the simple yet elegant flower patterns, even if he did not place faith in any gods, Conan still knelt on the ground in awe.
To him, Saleen was almost like a god. Saleen had saved him, and at the same time had sent some swordsmen to bring the remaining barbarians to the city.
Conan had taken himself for Saleen’s slave and prisoner but had no intentions of revolting. He only hoped that his people could lead good lives. Slogging his life for a master like Saleen was not too big of a deal. This was the fate of a barbarian. Since losing the protection of the gods, they had led the lives of nomads. For Conan, having a powerful mage willing to take him in was happiness.
“Conan, how have you been in your time here?”
“Master Saleen, I have been well.”
“How about your people?”
“They are very grateful, Master. They are forming an army to repay their loyalty.”
“An army?” Saleen laughed. The number of barbarians left was pitiful and even though they were strong teenagers, they were but thirty-three people.
“Master, the axemen we have with us are better than the Caucasians. We know the lands here and can be your scouts.” Conan was not angry at Saleen’s attitude. Instead, he explained things seriously.
Saleen thought back to Conan’s skill in throwing his axe and felt that what he said was true. A normal grade-3 mage would have died under such an axe. The Holy See had only dared to attack these barbarians when they had gathered over two hundred people. Furthermore, they needed a local to lead the development of the north.
“Conan, I have sought you out for two things. Firstly, I need to know what the Holy See has been doing in the north over these past few years. Secondly, I need you to go find any remaining barbarian survivors within a thousand miles and bring them back to the city. The north will not be peaceful forever, and they will not be able to survive for long in the wilderness.”