Sail Shadows in the Sea of ​​Fog

Chapter 142 The Bear Clan's Boat-Pulling Tribe

After only a very brief stop, the Valkyrie and the Thorn set sail again—no, they returned to the Arctic Ice Sea.

Is there a difference between departure and return? Of course there is.

Setting sail signifies entry and requires registration, but returning does not. Considering the work berths they've docked at, these two ships are merely delivering supplies to Ice Sled Island. Since they haven't left the waters of the Frost Duchy, they naturally don't need to complete entry registration.

There's no need to guess; all of this was definitely not something that the crybaby Shenba could have come up with, but rather something that the Magic Mirror had taught him step by step along the way.

In any case, after paying enough benefits, the two ships gradually left the waterway and sailed smoothly and quietly into a cloud of cold fog.

Amidst the soft thuds of ice floes colliding with the ship's hull, the two ships finally disappeared into the depths of the cold fog.

On the deck of the Valkyrie, which was already beginning to frost over, Cheng Lang was squatting by the mast, curiously examining the expensively rented ice sled.

"How do you use this?" Cheng Lang asked curiously.

"It's very simple. Once we find the frozen sea, we just need to hang them on both sides of the ship."

This ice sled is made from the antler of a type of staghorn whale native to the Arctic icy seas. Although it doesn't use Poseidon's blood or armor plates, it's still a form of armor in a certain sense—a cheap form of armor.

While explaining the magic mirror, he also demonstrated it using a mirror hanging on the mast.

“It’s really amazing”

After examining the sled with great interest, Cheng Lang said, "After leaving the Elf Kingdom, our next destination will probably be the Scorching Sand Sea, where we will definitely need this kind of sled."

"The ice sleds provided by Ice Sled Island cannot go to the Scorching Sand Sea."

The Magic Mirror quickly reminded him, "Respected Captain, we'll probably need to find an armorer to customize two sets of sleds."

"If only Vanhart had retained the abilities and skills of an armorer."

Cheng Lang sighed with great regret, then walked towards the cabin while shivering, "The weather here is so cold."

"There's nothing we can do; the Arctic Ocean is still in the midst of a long polar night."

The Magic Mirror said, "But we won't be long before we reach Frostflower Harbor, which is a wonderful place."

"It would be best if it were as you said."

Before Cheng Lang finished speaking, he had already huddled up and run into the stern. In this bone-chilling weather, it would be a crime not to have a hot pot meal.

Just as Cheng Lang was calling on Shenba, this carefree crybaby, to help prepare the hot pot, the news of the Pirate City's wanted notice for Cheng Lang finally reached the Brotherhood fleet and the Demon Hunter fleet commanded by Yun Hai.

"I knew our fleet commander was a genius!"

The tall, thin Belvik shouted, "Look, even Lord Panini is after him, and the price he's offering is so high!"

"Idiot, this is no good!" Kervik snapped, annoyed. "We are the sea!"

"Gentlemen, please allow me to remind you."

As Senfa stroked his meticulously groomed beard, he said in a low voice, "We're not pirates! We're a caravan, so..."

"You fart!"

Belvik immediately said, "We've robbed quite a few places along the way! Ugh! Ugh!"

Before Belvik could finish speaking, his brother covered his mouth.

“That’s right, we are indeed a caravan, a caravan that specializes in legal trade.”

Kervik quickly corrected him, completely ignoring the fact that his fleet had inexplicably gained three more ships along the way.

At this time, their fleet was anchored in Gotland’s largest royal trading port. They certainly couldn’t be pirates, because those would be hanged and left to dry on the masttops!
Seeing that the two brothers had recognized their current identities, Senfa continued in a low voice, "That gentleman is not a pirate either, so if he is also planning to go to the Star Sea Continent, the Pirate City's warrant for his arrest only proves his innocence."

"So it's Lord Panini helping him?" Belvik didn't know what got into him to come to this conclusion.

“Quite the opposite”

Senfa shook his head, having given up on explaining to his partner. "In short, we don't know that wanted man, we've never even seen him."

"Of course, I've never even seen it."

Kervik immediately repeated, "Whoever has seen that handsome, dashing, and generous gentleman in the wanted poster, I'll stuff all the cannonballs on the ship up his ass and make him eat all the gunpowder."

After the threat, the sailors, especially the captains who had come to the meeting, immediately made assurances.

"This concerns everyone's life and death."

Mr. Lu Ting then added, "Believe me, there will be no benefit in getting to know Mr. Wanted."

"Alright, let's start discussing trade issues now."

Senfa tapped the table with his cup. "Next, we'll be clearing out all the high-priced goods from the ship and then buying Gotland specialties at low prices. During this time, I hope you can..."

Just as Senfa and his pirates were making money legally, Yun Hai, who had just led the Demon Hunters to the pirate city, rushed to the inn that once belonged to Yun Ji and Shenba and seized it. He also put wanted posters on Yun Ji, Shenba, Yafuso, and Gerta, with bounties ranging from 1 gold coin for Yafuso to 1 cup of Poseidon's blood for Yun Ji.

"As expected of the seed of destiny I chose, I was right about you."

As a childlike, playful voice came from above, a small octopus wearing a crown jumped onto Yun Hai's head.

Grabbing a tentacle, Yun Hai casually tossed it into a glass of fruit wine on the table as if it were a smelly sock, and said in a harmless, cute baby voice, "I just washed my hair today, so don't get your disgusting, old-smelling slime on my hair."

"You little bastard, where is your loyalty to me?"

The little octopus crawled out of the cup, then used one of its tentacles to scoop up his crown and put it on his head, saying with dissatisfaction.

"I fed my loyalty to you to the dogs a long time ago, but unfortunately, the dogs won't eat it."

Yun Hai grabbed two tentacles and swung the octopus around as he asked, "I've just returned to Pirate City, you'd better let me rest for a few more days."

"There's no time to rest."

The little octopus, being pulled around by its tentacles, said, "Take your people and ship to Rica and tell their king the truth."

“No problem,” Yun Hai said, tossing the octopus back into the pitcher once more.

“When you pass through Gotland, take the opportunity to send a letter to the Queen explaining this matter,” said the octopus soaking in the pitcher. “I’ve already sent the Royal Messenger to wait on your flagship.”

"You want to start a war?" Yun Hai, who had already stood up, asked with interest.

"why not?"

The little octopus, perched on the edge of the cup, said, "Poseidon is about to be resurrected. He'll definitely need to eat then, but too much food isn't good. What I need is a Poseidon that can guard the door, not one that can eat me at any time."

"What about those ghost ships?" Yun Hai asked.

"kill"

The little octopus's tone suddenly turned much colder, "Kill it. I'd rather the ocean be filled with sleeping spirits than with ghost ships everywhere."

"No problem." Yun Hai had already walked out of the tavern before she finished speaking. At almost the same time, the people in the tavern who had been frozen in time regained consciousness. They didn't even know what had just happened.

In the icy seas of the Valkyrie, a cabin was specially cleared out for everyone. They set up a hot pot, sat around it, and cooked their favorite ingredients while admiring the increasingly gloomy sky and the falling snowflakes outside the window.

“Gelta, tell me about the Frost Duchy.”

Cheng Lang said to Gerta, who had been invited, that at this moment, the temporary helmsman on the Thorn was Magic Mirror and a half-sailor female sailor of the Ray race. In other words, whether it was Yun Lan, Ya Fu Suo, or Gerta, they had all been invited to the dinner.

"What do you want to know?"

Gerta picked up a large chunk of sliced ​​mutton, dipped it in lime juice, and put it in his mouth, asking indistinctly as he chewed.

"Frostflower Port, shall we?" Cheng Lang said nonchalantly. "Tell me about that port."

"Frostflower Harbor is the only permafrost port in the Frost Duchy's Arctic Sea. It was from there that I escaped with Yavso."

Gerta explained, "That is also the northernmost border of the Frost Duchy. It is a peninsula that juts out from the land into the sea. The lighthouse on the island is in darkness all year round, so it never goes out."

"Is that all?" Shenba pressed.

"That's all"

Gerta said, “The entire peninsula belongs to Frostflower Harbor, and it’s just like Ice Sled Island, where there are only staff.”

The peninsula is surrounded by sea ice on both sides, and no ship can withstand the impact of the ice to reach the shore. Therefore, there are long queues for both docking and departure.

Many ships would stop and unload their cargo on the ice far from Frostflower Port to save time, leaving only a fixed crew to hire camel caravans to transfer goods or conduct trade directly on the ice.

"What a peculiar way to do it."

Yun Ji exclaimed in admiration, "And what about us? How will we get to shore?"

"We don't have time to queue."

Cheng Lang said, "We've also stopped our ship on the ice. Also, have we found a way to change the pirate flag?"

“No,” Yun Ji and Yun Lan replied in unison.

“I think our pirate flag is quite beautiful,” Yavso, who had been cooking mushrooms, added.

"Forget it, let's eat!" Cheng Lang simply gave up. Even the locals couldn't do anything about this, so there was no point in racking his brains.

Before they could finish their hotpot meal, the Silver Queen and the Magic Mirror issued warnings one after another—ice had appeared ahead.

Upon hearing this, everyone put down their cutlery. Those with criminal records put on masks of hypocrisy and ran up to the deck, which was covered with a thick layer of snow.

At this moment, not far ahead, the area was covered in a white expanse that resembled land, and on this ice layer, one could see a continuous line of red lights.

"Those red lights are the boatmen pulling the boats."

Gerta explained, "Many cargo ships are so large that they cannot use the wind to push the ships onto the ice, so they need to be towed by towmen."

"They can tow a boat?" Shenba asked in surprise.

“Those people are from the Bear Clan,” Gerta said matter-of-factly.

"I want to arm wrestle with them if I get the chance," Shenba said eagerly.

Gerta and Yavso gave Shenba a strange look and replied in unison, "You'll regret this."

"Are they very strong?" Shenba asked, puzzled.

“You’ll know soon.”

As Gerta spoke, he took Yafso's hand and walked onto the thorny walkway summoned by Yun Lan, returning to the Thorn Ship.

Soon after, the two ships got closer and closer to the frozen sea, and the scene before Cheng Lang's eyes widened in astonishment.

The frozen ice in front is at least two meters higher than the sea level. At the junction of the ice and the sea, a large number of slopes have been created. There are also a lot of guardrails and a lighthouse that seems to be built of ice blocks at the edge of the ice.

At that moment, behind those railings, people dressed in furry clothes were holding red boat lanterns and waving enthusiastically at them.

Behind these people, the great white bears, which, when they sat up, were at least three meters tall and were wearing bridles and other equipment, also waved their huge paws in a friendly manner at the boats that were preparing to run aground.

"Respected Captain, those are the bear-like beastmen."

The magic mirror stood beside Cheng Lang and introduced, "They look no different from humans, but they possess immense strength and can command war bears."

In ancient times, they were the most skilled warriors under a certain sea god, so they still live on the sea, only the sea is frozen over.

As the magic mirror was making its introduction, a ship was already sending out light signals to prepare to hire the bear tribe's boatmen to pull the boats.

From a distance, the ship lowered its anchor, allowing two towmen to attach the cable to it. Immediately afterward, the men on the ice directed their war bears to pull the cable alongside them.

Amidst the deep chants and the roars of the war bear, the large ship, already loaded with ice sleds, was slowly pulled onto the ice. Sailors immediately unloaded crates of cargo as payment.

"The Bear Clan boatmen do not accept gold, silver, or copper coins, and they are even less likely to accept orders from the Frost Duchy."

The magic mirror continued, "They only accept vegetables, fruits, and grains, and of course, ironware and all sorts of daily necessities."

"They really are a strange race," Cheng Lang exclaimed.

"Captain, it's time to load the ice sleds and prepare to charge forward," the Magic Mirror reminded us.

"Load the ice sleds," Cheng Lang ordered.

"I come!"

Having been waiting for this moment, Shenba immediately took out the pair of ice sleds and hung them on the outer edge of the ship, one on each side.

With a humming sound, the ice sleds gradually grew larger under the energy supply from the ship's core, eventually forming a pair of huge, antler-like sleds on both sides of the ship.

"Prepare to beach the enemy"

As Cheng Lang issued his new orders, the vine demons began to pull the sails to adjust their angle, while the Silver Queen also vigorously swung her unaffected dragonfly fins.

With the support of these two forces, the Valkyrie and the Thorn rose higher and higher, and then, amidst the exclamations of the surrounding merchant ships, they smoothly surged up the ice slope. After each making a short leap in the air, they landed steadily like two giant sleds and finally came to a stop.

Looking at it now, the ice surface was unusually lively. Around the lighthouse built of ice blocks, there were many igloos that let in faint light. Of course, even more numerous than the igloos were the enormous war bears that roamed freely on the ground.

Some of these war bears seemed to have just caught food such as fish and seals from the sea, while others, which were smaller, were busy pulling sleds to transport various goods. Some of them even had small carts with stoves and various steaming snacks inside.

"Dear Captain, you may feel free to explore this area if you wish."

The Magic Mirror suggested, "We can always find something interesting in the Bear Clan's boat-pulling tribe, and everything here can be traded for goods, especially the fruit we didn't finish eating on our ship, which we can exchange for quite a few good things here."

"In that case, let's go down and take a look." Cheng Lang made the decision with great interest.

(End of this chapter)