Chapter 2078: Island of Pirates
Outside the Kingdom of Denmark, within the North Sea Empire, lies a giant island that doesn’t belong to any lord and is open to all pirates, including those from the Holy Roman Empire. As long as they fly a skull flag, they will not be attacked.
The surrounding area is shrouded in heavy fog, and the island has been enveloped in a cold mist for years. Once inside, compasses spin wildly. If one doesn’t know the routes or have someone to guide them from within, they’ll merely wander lost in the fog, or even run aground and sink.
Seven old sailing ships, flying skull flags, cut through the mist and slowly approached the island. Two of the ships were being towed behind two others, appearing to be damaged. On the backgrounds of these ships’ skull flags was embroidered a Xuanwu.
“I didn’t expect that after entering the fog, we’d have to sail backward, or we’d have crashed headfirst into the reefs. It’s truly treacherous,” I said, standing on the bridge. Since the ship had been reverted to the appearance of an ancient sailing ship, the bridge had also become open-air.
“It feels a bit similar to the formations on our side, like the Nine Palaces Bagua formation or the Eight Gates Golden Lock formation. Once you enter, you get lost,” Mr. Zhang said. He had seen them but couldn’t understand them.
“This place has been managed by several generations of pirate kings, and the surroundings are full of dangers. Even people who have entered a few times and are familiar with the routes might accidentally sail into a trap and perish. We must be careful,” Aniya said. She was guiding us on this voyage.
“Yes, I can already see it,” I said. With my God’s Eye active, I could clearly see all the surrounding sea areas, including traps, turbulent currents, and even a large number of terrifying creatures.
On the reefs to our left, a giant sea serpent coiled on a stone pillar, its entire body oozing with deadly venom. To our front right was a hidden whirlpool that would suck anyone who stepped into it to the seabed.
Innumerable large, transparent jellyfish floated in the dense fog, seeming to swim in mid-air as if in the sea. They emitted electric sparks, constantly creating lightning strikes to bombard the sea below.
In the shallower areas, broken masts and ship prows could be seen everywhere. They were from ships that had mistakenly entered dangerous areas and sunk, including even an ironclad ship, which must have sunk recently.
“Hiss! Are those… undead sailors?” an overseas student shouted fearfully. His Spirit Vision was quite high, allowing him to see some things wandering in the fog. Those ghosts drifted on the sea, and occasionally, green will-o’-the-wisps could be seen in the mist.
“That’s right. Those who die in this sea area are cursed, their souls cannot rest in peace, and they can never leave this great fog. They can only wander within the mist, and they also serve as a defense,” Aniya said.
“Why are you all so scared? I’m also an undead sailor. In essence, there’s no difference between us and those souls who died here. You work together every day, haven’t you gotten used to it?” one of Aniya’s First Mates asked confusedly.
“Ahaha, well, the appearance is quite different,” the overseas student replied with a dry laugh. They had indeed been training and sailing with these Undead Sailors for a while.
However, these undead had been transformed by me into the appearance of living people. In their daily lives, they looked like very normal living people, able to speak and laugh, eat and drink. After spending time with them, one would completely forget that they were actually undead.
“With so many dangers lurking here, how do the people inside usually get in and out? Especially for first-time visitors, how did they get here?” Supervisor Liu asked confusedly. He could occasionally see ship shadows flashing past in the dense fog, also flying skull flags.
“Just be careful. As long as you constantly watch the guidance of those lighthouses, you won’t enter dangerous areas,” Aniya said, pointing to the faint light emanating from the mist.
Upon approaching the light, one could see tall lighthouses built on the reefs outside the island. There was a large crystal on each lighthouse. As long as magic power was infused, the lighthouse’s light could be clearly visible even in the thick fog, guiding ships away from danger.
“For newcomers, we can only ask the trackers to tow their boats in. As long as they aren’t the Navy or something, anyone can actually enter as long as they pay a sum of money,” Aniya added.
“Trackers? Where would you find trackers capable of towing so many large ships here? Even if there were, the environment here is impassable!” Mr. Zhang asked confusedly. On both sides were either the sea, jagged rocks, or precipitous cliffs; it was impossible for people to walk.
“Of course, there are. Coincidentally, they are right in front. You’ll know when you see them,” Aniya said, pointing below the lighthouse. It was a small castle built on the reefs, with the lighthouse and it forming a single structure.
Beneath the lighthouse was a small castle. No, it should be a huge house, appearing to be five stories high, but in reality, it was a single-story building. And its master sat nearby.
They were two incredibly huge humanoid creatures, over ten meters tall. They were robust, with full beards, and had blue skin. They wore clothes made from the stitched hides of large monsters and wore giant, intact shark or octopus skins on their heads.
“Giants, and sea giants at that,” I sighed. The Nordic region is the birthplace of many otherworldly beings, and giants are particularly famous. There are many subspecies of giants, with frost giants and fire giants being the most well-known.
Sea giants, as their name suggests, are a subspecies of giants that live in the sea. They have completely adapted to life underwater, can withstand seawater pressure, breathe underwater, and have webbed fingers and toes suitable for swimming.
These two sea giants, over ten meters tall, held ship anchors, with a chain of hooks placed beside them. They were the trackers Aniya had mentioned.
Everyone present couldn’t help but smile bitterly. They truly hadn’t expected the trackers to be sea giants. They could indeed tow warships.
Seeing us approach, the sea giants stood up and waved, seemingly thinking we also needed trackers. However, we signaled our refusal and turned to leave. They then slammed their anchors back onto the ground and sat down again.
By this time, we had reached the island, and the fog had dissipated. Cliffs lined both sides, and we were sailing into a harbor. The number of ships around us was increasing.
Not only were there pirate ships with cannons, but there were also many merchant ships and quite a few steamships. However, even among these ships, a group of seven sailing in formation was very rare.
Forts were built on the cliffs on both sides, and we saw many more sea giants. They were carrying heavy cannons. If anyone attempted to intrude into the bay, they would be subjected to covering fire from both shores.
Buildings began to appear more and more frequently. As we passed some suspension bridges or archways, we could see skeletons hanging from them and corpses sealed in iron cages.
Finally, directly ahead, we saw a massive water gate. The upper structures of the entire water gate were almost equivalent to a castle, and below it, numerous ships were queuing to enter and exit.
