Sail Shadows in the Sea of ​​Fog

Chapter 173 The Highway in Charge of the Brother-in-Law
Inside the Dwarf Mountain, outside the Beast Hatchery, the reborn Vanhart patiently answered the questions from Yun Ji and the others as he drove the Tunneling Beetle along the tunnel.

Cheng Lang, on the other hand, listened quietly the whole time, trying to find his own way out from the questions and their answers.

In the ensuing question-and-answer session, the tunneling beetle returned to that location, which resembled a tunnel hub. Cheng Lang then voiced his doubts, "Vanhardt, let's go back to the initial question."

"What's the problem?" Vanhart asked, stopping the digging beetle.

"Where did you go when we first entered Dwarf Mountain?" Cheng Lang asked.

"I heard Eleanor calling me."

As he spoke, Vanhart had already stepped out of the burrowing beetle. "Then I uncontrollably chased after it, came here, and was caught and cut up by the necromancer trap."

"And what about those captured undead?" Yun Ji asked.

"Those are used to create the monsters that guard this place. If an elf and an orc in love enter the Dwarf Mountain and meet there, they will have a normal child."

Ha! Actually, the stronger the bond between an elf and an orc in love, the higher the probability of them giving birth to a qualified ferocious beast. Isn't that ironic?

"You only just found out about this?" Yun Lan couldn't help but ask.

"These all come from memories preserved in the fire of the forge."

As Vanhart spoke, he opened a still intact silver door. "I'm going to see Eleanor's only remaining brother now, Captain. Please come with me."

"Me?" Cheng Lang pointed to himself.

"The key in that bunch of things on your belt belongs to him."

Vanhart pointed to Cheng Lang's belt, and the latter looked down at it and took out the chain that had been found inside the stomach of the exiled corpse in the tunnel.

It is adorned with a key that can open the hatchery of ferocious beasts, a mirage horn, and a sailor's whistle.

"So who was the person banished from the tunnel outside?" Cheng Lang asked as he walked with the other person.

"I am not sure as well"

Van Hart took the chain from Cheng Lang and led him into the tunnel through the door, saying, "But the sailor's whistle came from Eleanor's flagship, the sea horn, from a captain in the Hunting Fleet."

Let me think... He seems to have perished in the Sea of ​​Despair long ago, along with his ship. Strange, who found his belongings and then found this place? Could it have been the boatswain?

"I remember Yun Lan saying something before."

Cheng Lang only got halfway through his sentence before the tunnel came to an end. There was another door there, a wooden door that seemed to be woven from rattan.

“Let’s meet this person first,” Vanhart said, gently knocking on the door before handing the chain back to Cheng Lang.

With a soft creak, the wooden door slowly opened, and Vanhart led Cheng Lang inside.

Behind this door was a world bursting with flowers.

Roots hang down from the top, covered with green leaves and flowers, while underfoot lies green grass, and not far away stands a large, leafy tree.

And further away.
It turned out to be a shimmering expanse of blue sea and sky, with golden sand and bright sunshine.

"Actually, this is the correct way to use the Void Dock."

Van Hart explained, “Eleanor’s brothers couldn’t leave the Dwarf Mountain, but Eleanor wanted them to have a chance to see the sea and the sun, so she asked me to help build these Void Docks.”

At this point, Cheng Lang and Van Hart had already seen the people living here—no, the monsters.

On the white sand beach, there is a huge sunbathing bed carved from rock.

On this black drying bed, a monster was sprawled out, fast asleep.

He has the lower body of a white jade snake, while his upper body is that of a handsome, muscular male elf.

However, his appearance at this moment was really not good. Not only was he resting his head on his tail, but his drool had also soaked a patch of sand. In contrast, the huge black hunting bow stuck on the sand next to him, and the row of arrows, each more than two meters long, were particularly eye-catching.

“Noah, I’m here,” Vanhart called from afar. “I’ve also brought your stolen key. Noah? Noah?”

Vanhart called out patiently, but remained motionless, showing no intention of approaching. Seeing this, Cheng Lang also secretly became more vigilant.

While the two waited patiently, the monster, who could be perfectly described as a "snake spirit man," finally stopped snoring and, after turning over, successfully threw himself off the balcony, thus waking up.

"Noah, it's me, Vanhart, over here! Over here!" Vanhart, who was standing in front of Cheng Lang, shouted in time to prevent the other from falling asleep again.

The snake spirit man named Noah took a while to react before wiping the drool and sand from the corner of his mouth and "swimming" over in a flash at a speed that Cheng Lang couldn't even react to.

When Cheng Lang came to his senses, the tail, which had been exposed to the sun for who knows how long but was still icy cold, was already tightly wrapped around his waist.

Meanwhile, the snake spirit man with the tail was sniffing Vanhart's face carefully, flicking his long, thin, bright red, forked tongue in an extremely disgusting and beastly manner.

It took the snake-like man four or five minutes before he seemed to recognize Vanhart's identity.

However, he simply hugged Vanhart tightly with a childlike, innocent, and bright smile, then babbled in words that only he could understand, and pointed to the shimmering sea in the distance.

Van Hart was quite patient. He first accompanied his brother-in-law Noah to enjoy the scenery for a while before gently untying the snake's tail that was wrapped around Cheng Lang's waist. He said, "Noah is very simple and kind. If you're willing, you can give him the whole chain, or at least return the key to him."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Lang took out the chain that Van Hart had returned to him before he entered the room and gently hung it around Noah's neck.

Noah looked at Cheng Lang with a somewhat shy expression, then carefully picked up the things hanging from the chain and pointed to himself with the tip of his tail.

Seeing Cheng Lang and Van Hart nod together, Noah happily put the sailor's whistle in his mouth and blew it loudly.

Suddenly, sharp whistles echoed across the beach. Noah, with the whistle in his mouth, happily darted across the sand, leaving trails of snakes in his wake.

"Is there anything else I need to do?" Cheng Lang asked.

"Captain, please be patient."

As he spoke, Vanhart slowly walked toward another cave right next to the entrance they had come in through.

Although the cave looks primitive from the outside, the walls and floors inside are polished to be exceptionally smooth. There is even a kiln with burning charcoal inside, and several large and small sea fish are placed inside the kiln.

Noah's life condition was very special.

As Vanhart explained, he took a small ball with flames rising from the kiln, looked at it, and put it back. He kept saying, "Although his combat power is not very high and his mind is not very sharp, once he sheds a layer of skin, it is equivalent to starting a new life."

As he spoke, Vanhart picked up two skewers of grilled fish and gave one to Cheng Lang. "Try it. His grilled fish tastes very good, and he is the cleanest chef I have ever met."

Reaching out to take the grilled fish, Cheng Lang took a bite. Indeed, the fish was very clean, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Although it only had a light salty taste, it was really delicious.

“I haven’t tasted food for hundreds of years,” Vanhart said, taking a big bite before leading Cheng Lang through a wooden door woven with rattan.

Behind this door was a long, narrow, dark, dry tunnel that smelled faintly of fish.

“This is why we’re here,” Vanhart said, bending down to pick up a neatly folded snake skin.

"This is."

“That’s right, Noah’s molted snake skin.”

Vanhart said, "Noah may not be a strong fighter, but his scale armor is both sturdy and lightweight."

Back in Eleanor's fleet, every sailor longed for armor made from this stuff.

"So we're involved too?" Cheng Lang asked with a smile.

"I have no idea what trouble I'll encounter on my way to find Eleanor."

Vanhart stated bluntly, "You are my only allies, so it is of course necessary for me to arm you."

As he spoke, he used each of his four arms to lift two bound snake skins, and then gestured to Cheng Lang, "Take the rest too, we probably won't have another chance to come here again."

There was no need for formalities. Cheng Lang immediately used a whip to string together the remaining snakeskin bundles and dragged them away with Vanhart.

At this moment, Noah was still happily whistling on the beach, and he even blew the mirage horn to summon a thick cloud of sea fog.

"Noah, Noah!"

Vanhart shouted again, "We should leave now. Help us open the passage."

At his call, Noah swam over and hugged Vanhart tightly again, then surprisingly hugged Cheng Lang as well.

"Noah, we should leave now. This place is in your hands. Don't lose the key again," Vanhart patiently instructed.

"Eleanor," Noah mumbled out the name.

“Yes, we’re going to find Eleanor,” Van Hart said.

"Eleanor, Eleanor, Eleanor!"

Noah excitedly waved his arms and shouted, then swam back to his sunbathing bed. He easily lifted the huge stone sunbathing bed with one hand and held it firmly in place with his tail.

"Is this what you call low combat power?" Cheng Lang asked suspiciously.

"He is still far from being a ferocious beast, and he is not among the most powerful monsters in terms of combat strength."

Before Vanhart could finish speaking, Noah, who had been digging under the stone drying bed, had also unearthed a box with a thick chain attached to its bottom.

"Boom!"

As Noah swam back carrying the box, the huge stone sunbed crashed heavily onto the beach, causing ripples to appear on the calm sea.

"Eleanor, Eleanor!"

As Noah spoke, he opened the box. It contained only a strange-looking belt and a pickaxe.

Thank you for keeping these things for us.

Vanhart gratefully accepted the belt and tied it over his robe, then fastened the pickaxe to the belt.

Noah dropped the box and then grabbed the chain tightly.

With his effort, the chain, as thick as a wrist, instantly tightened and jumped out from under the yellow sand, allowing Cheng Lang to see that one end of the chain was connected to the steps below the cave entrance from which they had come.

"Crack! Crack! Crack!" With Noah's dragging, the chain was gradually pulled out of the yellow sand.

"Let's go too."

Vanhart urged Cheng Lang on, and he followed him out of the void shipyard hidden in the dwarf mountains, almost running all the way back outside.

What about those undead?

As Cheng Lang ran, he asked, "Also, what's behind the other doors?"

"Behind the other doors are monsters created under Noah's control."

Vanhart explained, "As for those undead, they were all unlucky souls who got lost and starved to death while adventuring in the Dwarf Mountain. Noah needs the undead to drive the monsters he creates, so they are essential raw materials."

Before they could ask any further questions, the two had already passed through the newly opened silver gate. At this moment, in the middle of this tunnel hub, a sloping circular opening appeared, with Yun Ji and others holding weapons around the opening.

"Captain, over here!"

"Go dig inside the beetle!"

Cheng Lang called out from afar, then continued, "Where are we leaving from? There won't be any water in there, will there? You're not going to leave halfway, are you?"

“There will be no water, and I will not be leaving again,” Vanhart promised confidently. “I assure you, the journey ahead will be very safe!”

"I'll trust you one more time," Cheng Lang said, already jumping onto the digging beetle.

Before long, as everyone was settled, the digging beetle, under Vanhart's control, moved nimbly and smoothly into the hole.

Immediately afterwards, as Noah released the chains in his hands, the huge hole closed completely with a clanging noise, leaving not even the slightest gap.

Inside the sealed secret passage, the digging beetle, under Vanhart's control, hung its cross-shaped horns on the two tracks above its head, and then began to move forward at a speed that made Cheng Lang and the others scream in succession!
"Vanhart! Didn't you promise that the rest of the journey would be completely safe?!" Cheng Lang shouted as he was practically pressed against the back of his seat.

"This is indeed very safe!"

Vanhart, who had secured himself to the driver's seat with his octopus tentacles, explained loudly, "We haven't encountered any accidents yet, have we?"

"Vanhart! I'm going to cut off all your tentacles and make them into dinner!"

Yun Ji issued her threat; if Cheng Lang hadn't just used his whip to restrain her, she would have been flung against the wall at the very end.

"Our speed! Can we go faster!" Yun Lan, the thrill-seeking ex-princess, excitedly made her request—even though she was about to throw up.

"As you wish, Your Highness Yunlan!" Before Vanhart could finish speaking, the speed of the digging beetle increased once again.

(End of this chapter)