Chapter 293: The North Star Fleet
Jima returned to her cabin. The shipboard swayed, but she stood steadily and sat in a chair, continuing to weave her armor.
On the table, the bored Lianxi Cat curled up in a ball, sleeping in a basket.
Next to her, leaning against a “branch axe gun,” Jima was ready to grab it at any moment to deal with trouble.
She held a needle in her hand, with a hemp rope trailing behind it, stringing together rows of armor plates. As she worked, she seemed to pause, listening to the shouts outside, realizing that the ship had found an island, and the sailors had gone ashore to gather oysters.
She didn’t know how long she would have to wait.
Jima remained unbothered and calm, cutting the hemp rope and tying a knot. She then wrapped the edges of the armor plates in silk fabric to prevent the sharp edges from injuring anyone, although it wouldn’t hurt her.
As she continued to weave, an inspiration struck Jima; she felt someone inviting her into their dream palace.
It was definitely Frost Leaf who couldn’t wait any longer.
Jima immediately put down her needle and thread, patted the Lianxi Cat, which opened its eyes and meowed.
“Keep an eye on things for me,” Jima said. “If there’s anything, let me know by tapping at the entrance.”
The Lianxi Cat raised its orange head and nodded.
Jima opened the entrance to the dream palace and quickly stepped inside.
Her mind blurred as if slowly sinking into sleep, but soon she awakened.
Jima landed on a golden cloud, sitting on it, and launched herself full speed toward the dream palace surrounded by green forests. Once inside the palace, she clapped her hands, and a box of prepared toys flew under the bed in the bedroom.
Next, she adjusted her expression in front of a mirror and leisurely walked to the round table in the spacious reception area, where a plate with silver tea sets flew over, filled with Frost Leaf’s favorite cold black tea.
Jima took the teapot, poured herself a cup, and after confirming it tasted good, she lifted her head to perceive the guest’s information.
Her gaze pierced through the palace walls, falling on the black smoke emitted by the guest’s dream seed.
It was not Frost Leaf; it was Jenna. During her rest days, Jima had contacted Jenna; she was still alive, but the situation was not optimistic.
Jima clapped her hands, allowing Jenna to approach.
In the chair across the table, Jenna appeared in a flash, wearing a silver robe and looking haggard, the panda eyes on her oval face particularly noticeable. She carried a strong scent of holy oil, and Jima could smell the foul odor that the holy oil was attempting to mask.
This foul smell was unusual, reminding Jima of diseases, pus-filled wounds, and decaying sores.
It was the first time Jima had ever smelled such an odor coming from Jenna. As a cleanly saint, Jenna not only gave off a faint glow from her skin but also lacked any unpleasant scent, fulfilling Jima’s childish fantasies about girls when she was twelve years old in her previous life.
Jima exclaimed, “Jenna? Are you okay?”
“Not at all,” Jenna forced a smile at Jima. “The entire city has fallen ill; even half of the legion sent to suppress and seal it has fallen sick. At least a thousand people died today, and we’ve run out of firewood. They abandoned me and used blazing spheres to burn the corpses, where some severely ill people were still alive.”
“You should have come to call me sooner,” Jima said. “I could’ve come over and brought George. If needed, I can change to Frost Leaf or the Shadow King.”
Jenna said, “I’ve been insomnia for several days and I’ve also fallen ill. This plague is the work of Nagu. I want to request your help. In the coming days, we will unite with the Knight Order and take the soldiers who are still able to stand to expedition to clean up the Nagu strongholds spreading the plague; I will need your help then.”
“Sure,” Jima said. “But I need some intelligence; you can speak while you drink.”
“Thank you for your hospitality.”
“Don’t mention it, we’re good sisters.”
“I don’t know how long I can stay awake without being jolted from my dream,” Jenna said as she took a sip from her teacup. “I’ve already written down the situation on this paper. If you have any questions, be sure to ask me.”
Jima took the paper and began to read the elegant handwriting on it.
…
…
On the mist-covered sea, a longship broke through the fog, heading towards a small island that was faintly visible in the white mist. The sides of the longship were raised; it had only one sail and no hold, with all the people on board only separated from the sea by the hull.
On either side of the ship, bare-chested and muscular Northern warriors rowed the boat with their oars, while the cold sea waves crashed against them, yet no one felt cold. They were not ordinary humans; some had an extra hand or crab claws, but no one was surprised.
For the North Star people, having a mutation was quite normal; they did not shy away from worshiping the Four Dark Gods and could also accept their blessings, as long as they could survive in the severely corrupted and brutal North. They could even worship the empire’s god—Sigma.
Standing at the bow of the ship was the “captain,” the strongest and tallest among them.
He stood nearly 1.9 meters tall, bare-chested, sporting a towering braid and a body of coarse muscles weathered by battles. This was the reward he earned from bravely fighting, challenging Northern beasts, plundering coastal ports, and pleasing the dark gods.
The braided captain tested his strength with the empire’s men, once pinning two imperial province soldiers under his arms and breaking both their necks with brute force. He wore a rusted iron helmet at his waist, which he was most proud of, having won it from an imperial knight whom he knocked off his horse; they battled for ten minutes before he killed the heavily armored knight.
Now, as one of the few warriors in his tribe, he led thirty robust berserkers to participate in the tribal chief’s plundering of the empire, and he was the fastest among this fleet.
As a North Star person, the so-called Northerner in the empire’s mouth, he was naturally unwilling to suffer the boredom of the journey. Based on his experience, there might be imperial ships passing through nearby waters.
Last time he had plundered an ocean-going merchant ship in this area, hitting the jackpot. However, he heard that those imperial men had been scared recently and rarely went to sea.
The braided captain did not give up hope; he walked to the bow, firmly grasping the elevated tip of the ship, as icy sea waves crashed against his broad and strong chest, shattering into white droplets.
The braided captain stood firm, gazing ahead, spotting a sea island and a sailboat docked by its shore.
When he saw it, he could hardly believe it. Rubbing his seawater-drenched eyes with one hand, he realized it was indeed a sailboat.
How foolish of someone to dare to set sail at this time!
The braided captain laughed, jumping down from the bow to land steadily on the deck, and said, “God bless, there’s a blind South Islander’s ship ahead! Everyone charge over! Don’t let the people behind find out and steal it!”
“Okay!”
The berserkers’ muscles tensed, unleashing terrifying strength as the oars sliced through the sea, creating a frothy white spray.
The longship suddenly sped up, racing toward that “blind” ship.
The whaling ship spotted the longship emerging suddenly from the mist, and the sailors promptly rang the bronze bell from the lookout.
The sailors collecting oysters on the small island hurriedly placed their oysters on a small boat, rowing toward the whaling ship.
The whaling ship had already raised its anchor, waiting for the small boat to arrive.
The longship was moving quickly, getting closer and closer.
The whaling ship continued waiting.
The braided captain couldn’t see what was on the small boat, but seeing that it was carrying something, various treasure legends immediately flashed through his mind, and he shouted:
“Row faster! That group of South Islanders must have discovered some treasure on the small island!”
Otherwise, given their courage, they would have abandoned this small boat and fled long ago.
The whaling ship was in chaos.
The captain shouted, “Hurry! Hurry! We absolutely cannot lose the oysters!”
The small boat finally arrived, and the people on the boat threw down a rope, securing it to the small boat. The sailors hurriedly lowered the sails, and the whaling ship slowly began to move.
But the longship was less than two hundred meters away from the whaling ship, and the distance was steadily closing.
The captain yelled, “Prepare for battle!”
The sailors responsible for combat donned helmets and picked up swords, but as they saw nearly thirty muscular berserkers on the longship, despair sank into their hearts.
Their ship only had about thirty men, but each berserker could single-handedly handle ten of them.
A boarding battle must not happen; they couldn’t win.
At this moment, a crosswind blew against the ship’s side.
The captain made a decisive decision to change course, the ship’s bow turned, gradually veering right, with its sails swelling more and more.
But the longship was faster, cutting toward the path of the whaling ship, and everyone with keen eyes could see the whaling ship would surely be intercepted by the longship.
The captain roared, “Shoot arrows! Hurry and shoot! Don’t let these filthy Northerners touch my ship!”
A dozen sailors raised their crossbows and shot at the longship, which was less than fifty meters away. The bolts fell into the sea nearby, and several bolts struck the bow as the braided captain didn’t even glance at the crossbow arrows flying past.
“How are you shooting?” the captain scolded, “Hurry, use the whaling fork!”
At the bow was a whaling fork modified from a torsion catapult, expertly handled by the sailors, aiming at the rapidly approaching longship. Several sailors cut the rope at the back of the whaling fork, and the captain instructed, “Aim for the tallest one, that guy with the braid; he’s definitely the leader.”
The sailors steadied their aim, saying, “Okay, captain.”
The captain, still worried, said, “The lives of everyone on this ship are in your hands.”
The sailor remained calm, “Mm.”
The captain was still anxious. “Including Miss Jima; you wouldn’t want to see her being caught by the Northerners, would you?”
Instantly, the sailor became tense; the psychological pressure was enormous. He took a deep breath and forcefully pulled the trigger, but his hand trembled, and he cursed, “Damn! I missed!”
The whaling fork shot out, aimed at the braided captain’s head.
The latter laughed, wielding his axe, leaping up to cleave, but misjudged the angle; the whaling fork was only deflected by his blow, landing squarely on the only mast of the longship. This mast, of poor quality, succumbed to the forces of the sea wind and the whaling fork in front of everyone, snapping with a crack and striking down a berserker.
The longship slowed down.
Cheers erupted from the whaling ship.
The braided captain cursed himself for being careless; he slapped the back of his hand hard, scolding, “Damn it, gave those people an advantage!”
This ship was now heading toward the plundering fleet of the North Star people.
The empire men aboard the whaling ship did not celebrate for long, soon realizing that there were more than twenty longships’ silhouettes emerging from the mist ahead.
This whaling ship bumped right into the midst of the wind-blown fleet, and the captain, frightened, hurriedly turned the helm. The whaling ship desperately carved a curve across the sea, while the longships, like sharks smelling blood, all swarmed in to tear at the whaling ship.
The braided captain said, “Consider it a gift for the chief! Everyone row hard and seize the good things on that small boat!”
