Sail Shadows in the Sea of ​​Fog

Chapter 146 Preparing to Land on the Star Sea Continent
Amidst the aurora borealis, cold fog, and rising snow, the Valkyrie and Thorn sped northward across the sea ice, tracing zigzag paths.

They sailed for about thirty or forty nautical miles until a continuous stretch of icebergs appeared directly ahead, at which point the two ships turned and headed back towards Frostflower Harbor.

In the cargo hold of the Valkyrie, two corpses, one large and one small, were carefully placed by Shenba into a simple coffin he had just made himself. After nailing the coffin lid shut, he placed them between the two huge ice cores wrapped in layers of animal hide.

Meanwhile, the big cat Nightbringer, who had been invited over by Mist Shadow by his tail, was also sitting on an oak barrel, examining the two miner's lamps on the table. Every now and then, he would lean in and sniff them gently.

There are indeed two undead inside.

Nightshade yawned, then slowly licked its paws before saying, "But they've fallen into a deep sleep, two-legged boat rats. You could try adding fuel to these two lamps and lighting them; maybe they'll have a chance to wake up."

"Light it? That works?" Cheng Lang asked in surprise.

"Similar to the black dagger you carry."

Ye Di glanced at Yun Ji, "These two spirits suffered for a long time before they died, which is why they hid inside these two lamps."

"Like the Dark Elf dagger?" Cheng Lang and Yun Ji exchanged a glance.

"They may have a chance to wake up, but it may take a long time for these two lamps to burn."

After Ye Di finished speaking, he jumped off the oak barrel, letting the misty shadow climb onto his back, and walked step by step towards the open deck.

"Try it"

As Cheng Lang spoke, he opened a barrel of fish oil and poured a jug of oil into the oil storage compartment of the miner's lamp that Yun Ji had helped open.

"How can so many of these ship lights be installed?"

Cheng Lang asked curiously, "The whole jug of fish oil has already been poured in, but it still hasn't filled this oil storage tank, which is no bigger than a fist."

“I guess it might be related to the dark elf undead inside,” Yun Ji said.

Let's see how much can fit in.

After failing to pour the fuel out of the miner's lamp's oil tank, Cheng Lang became interested and directly soaked the lamp's oil tank in a barrel of sea fish oil from oak.

What happened next was beyond their expectations. These two small miner's lamps actually drank five or six buckets of fish oil each before they were completely filled.

They carefully wiped the fish oil off the outside of their miners' lamps, and then each lit a boat lamp.

As tiny flames, each the size of a fingertip, lit up inside the crystal chandelier, Cheng Lang and Yun Ji simultaneously felt the warmth emanating from them.

Unfortunately, even though Yun Ji pricked her fingertip and dripped a drop of blood onto each of the two miners' lamps, she still couldn't awaken the sleeping spirits.

"At least it can be used as a heater."

Cheng Lang wasn't exactly disappointed. He picked up the two miner's lamps and walked towards the stern, saying, "Silver Queen, Magic Mirror, tell the Valkyrie and Thorn to slow down. We're not in a hurry. Our main goal is to shake off any potential pursuers. We can stop if necessary."

"As you wish, Captain," the Silver Queen and the Magic Mirror replied in unison.

"Are you worried about a battle?" asked Yun Ji, the first mate.

I hope I'm just overthinking it.

As Cheng Lang walked up, he spoke. By the time he and Yun Ji returned to the conference room on the stern with the ship's lantern, both ships had lowered their sails and continued to move slowly forward in the wind and snow.

Unbeknownst to them, the mysterious buyer who had purchased the Miracle of Life was also directing two ships carrying the purchased icebergs away from the regular shipping lanes and heading north, skillfully finding an iceberg and taking shelter on its leeward side.

Before the two ships could anchor on the ice, sailors had already climbed onto the ice-covered Miracle of Life and began clearing the ice from its surface using various methods.

The Miracle of Life was a large ship with five masts, and it was at least one and a half times the length of the Valkyrie.

Despite its large size, the Miracle of Life has only one gun deck, with the rest of the space consisting of luxurious cabins with floor-to-ceiling windows.

This undoubtedly made the icebreaking work of these sailors much more arduous. Perhaps for this reason, the other ships that had been quietly following behind them did not rush to do anything. Instead, they simply stopped at a distance and sent some sailors to approach secretly under the cover of wind and snow, hiding in the thick snow to observe them.

Contrary to the expectations of those secretly observing, the person who bought the Miracle of Life was clearly well-prepared. After the hundred or so sailors climbed onto the Miracle of Life, they immediately worked with their companions to carry oak barrels from the other two decks up, and then poured barrels of dark liquid onto it.

Instantly, a large amount of water vapor rose from the Miracle of Life, and the thick layer of solid ice melted rapidly along with the flowing dark liquid, even melting the ice surface beneath the Miracle of Life.

Before the mist had even dissipated, more sailors carrying bright ship lanterns jumped aboard the deck of the Miracle of Life. At the same time, the two ships were released from their tethers to the Miracle of Life and carefully moved to its outer side.

Seeing that the two ships were about to assume their most advantageous defensive posture, the spy who had followed them could no longer sit still and immediately gave the signal to begin the attack.

Driven by the wind, the two boats sped up and got closer together.

Finally, they brought the Miracle of Life and two other ships within range of the cannons, and then completed the transverse positioning of the two ships first.

"Fire!"

The captain, who had been called a pauper at the auction of the dismantling workshop, roared out the order.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Amidst the intense gunfire, the first ship fired a large number of grapeshot shells, covering three ships including the Miracle of Life, while the solid shot fired by the other ship all struck the iceberg that was blocking the wind.

However, before the sailors on the two ships could cheer after firing a round of cannon fire, the ice beneath their ships snapped open with a crack, and thick steam billowed up!
"It's a trap!"

The sailors reacted immediately, but as the oak barrels buried under the ice cracked one after another, large amounts of black liquid spilled out, and the thick ice melted rapidly, completely trapping the two ships there.

"Crash!"

Just then, the iceberg hit by the shell broke apart, and a large number of ice blocks crashed down.

These ice blocks, due to their immense force and the mysterious black liquid flowing from the Miracle of Life, easily smashed through the surrounding ice layer.

"Click"

Before the two ships, which had been ambushed, could react to the grapeshot, they too were plunged into the icy sea.

Unfortunately, because this area is blocked by icebergs, the wind can't reach the sails at all. Without the propulsion of the wind, it is impossible for both sides to pull their respective ships up before the ice refreezes—unless they cooperate.

Cooperation was naturally impossible. Not only was it impossible, but both sides even "tacitly" directed the sailors to disembark and prepare for a fierce "land battle" on the ice.

Before long, the sounds of flintlock muskets and light rapid-fire cannons firing, along with roars, screams, and shouts of battle, could be heard through the wind and snow.

"Captain, did you hear anything just now?"

On the open deck on the second floor at the stern of the Valkyrie, Shenba picked at his ear and loudly asked Cheng Lang, who was hiding in the cockpit, "I think I heard cannon fire." "Did you hear that?"

Cheng Lang asked the others, and even the Magic Mirror "synchronized" the same question to the Thorn Ship.

"no"

Everyone, including Princess Wuying, gave the same answer—they were all indoors at the moment, and only Shenba, who had never seen snow before, was on the deck having a snowball fight with the Vine Demons.

"I must have misheard."

Shenba didn't take it seriously, and rolled up a snowball bigger than a fist and threw it at a gorilla not far away.

As the two boats cautiously advanced, and time passed day by day, more and more boats, igloos, and even tents gradually appeared on the desolate and bitterly cold ice.

In short, it seems there's a boat jam here.

"Captain, Frostflower Harbor is just ahead."

"If we were to dock through normal means, our two ships would have to start queuing up now," Magic Mirror explained.

"We don't have that much time."

Cheng Lang thought for a moment and said, "Gerta, could you please take Shenba on a trip to buy a sleigh big enough for all of us? Remember to wear the mask of hypocrisy."

"I'll go right away"

Gerta agreed, and after the two boats came to a stop, he skillfully grabbed the cable and swung onto the ice, where he joined Shenba, who had jumped down directly, and ran towards the distant igloo.

After paying a generous sum of gold coins, the two of them brought back a large sled pulled by 20 ice wolves.

However, Cheng Lang did not order everyone to disembark. Instead, he had the sailors move all the ice wolves and sleds onto the deck, and after sailing forward for another nautical mile or two, he turned around and headed due north again.

This time, they slowed down after traveling less than 5 nautical miles north and placed Gerta and Shenba, along with the sleds and ice they had bought, on the ice.

Immediately afterwards, Cheng Lang also took out the dock key, opened the void dock with a "Open Sesame" sound, and sent the two ships into the warm and sunny dock.

"Your Excellency Captain, your loyal servant is unable to accompany you on the remainder of the journey. Please take good care of him."

"Don't just sit around doing nothing."

Cheng Lang didn't give the Magic Mirror any time to finish its rambling. "Before we get back, you need to teach Fog Shadow and all the ray-race mixed-race sailors to read. Also, continue to help me think about how to change the design of the pirate flag."

After saying that, Cheng Lang grabbed a sea vine and rappelled down onto the transport boat that was already on the sea. "Alright, let's go!"

With the order given, Yun Ji, Yun Lan, and Ya Fu Suo, who were already waiting on the transport boat, immediately rowed through the opened lock and returned once again to the icy and snowy extreme sea.

As the lock behind them closed, Cheng Lang and the others returned to the ice.

"This is what Fog Shadow asked me to give you."

As Yun Ji spoke, she handed the black cat pendant that had been hanging on the misty shadow's hat to Cheng Lang. "She said that if we encounter any trouble, we should kiss it, and Lord Night God will come out to help us once."

"What a unique way to summon them."

Cheng Lang shook his head, both amused and exasperated, took the pendant and stuffed it into his pocket, then sat down with the others on the sled towed by the ice wolf.

This time, the group heading to the Elven Principality consisted of four dark elves, including Cheng Lang, as well as Yun Lan and Gerta, totaling six people.

Of course, to ensure a smooth "journey," Cheng Lang not only brought the hypocritical mask given to them by Yun Hai and enough Poseidon's blood, but also the travel carriage they found on Windmill Island, and even the two mining lamps they had recently acquired.

In contrast, the two corpses, one large and one small, remained on the Valkyrie.

Bathed in the warmth emanating from the two miners' lamps—enough to ward off the chill of the icy sea—the sled, skillfully driven by Gerta, steadily made its way toward Frostflower Harbor.

"Mr. Gerta, you must have driven a sled before, right?" Yun Lan asked curiously.

“That’s right, Your Highness Yunlan.”

Gerta said nostalgically, "I worked in Frostflower Harbor when I was your age. My job was to drive sleds to transport sailors, and I also went to sea with ships for a while."

“That must have been a very interesting journey,” Yun Lan said.

"No, no, no, that terrible memory is far worse than my life now."

Gerta, still shaken, quickly denied it, saying, "I still remember the rats and shipworms in the soup pot in the kitchen."

"How about we change the subject?" Yun Lan said, instinctively covering her mouth with her hand.

Let me start a new topic.

Cheng Lang said, "After we log in, we need to immediately find a way to change all our hypocritical masks, preferably to the faces of elves."

"I know a place with plenty of elf faces to choose from."

As she spoke, Gerta looked up at the night sky, "And this is the perfect time; there must be a lot of drunken elves there."

"What place is that?" Shenba immediately asked. "Are there elves as strong as me there?"

"There are plenty of silly boys like you among the elves."

Gerta laughed heartily and said, "There are many taverns in Frostflower Harbor. I will take you to one that is only open to elves."

"I don't even remember the last time I stood on the land of the Star Sea Continent," Shenba said with great longing.

“I’ve almost forgotten what the Elf Kingdom looks like,” Yun Ji added. “I was too young back then.”

"I do remember."

Yun Lan shrugged. "Although it hasn't been a long time for me, I slept for so long, so I guess it must be different now."

"At least there shouldn't be any demon hunters in Frostflower Harbor this time," Yafso muttered anxiously.

"I'm the one who has never set foot on the Star Sea Continent," Cheng Lang muttered to himself, already beginning to look forward to it.

(End of this chapter)