Sail Shadows in the Sea of ​​Fog

Chapter 180 Leaving without saying goodbye
Beneath the dam of the Water Forge in the underground river, Vanhart—no, the superposition of Vanhart and his lover Eleanor—was recounting their story while using his slender scimitar to completely remove the carapace from the slain sea monster, Abyss Nightmare.

That wasn't all. He then cut open the corpse of Yuan Yan, rummaged through the bits of flesh, squeezed out something that looked like a clam, and tossed it to Cheng Lang.

"What is this?" Cheng Lang asked, taking the fist-sized clam.

"Nightmare"

As Vanhart walked toward the gap at the bottom of the dam where the burrowing beetles had emerged and then been blocked by foam, he said, "The Abyss Nightmare is a rather special kind of sea monster. Simply put, it's a brainless breeding machine, but it's also very difficult to kill."

"Hard to kill?" Cheng Lang glanced at the clam in his hand.

"This is the best we can do."

As Vanhart spoke in that strange, eerie, overlapping male and female voice, he easily used a drill on a mechanical arm to pry open the blocked tunnel entrance. He then drilled some more holes on both sides and dragged the Abyss Nightmare's corpse through.

"What do you mean by 'this is all we can do'?" Cheng Lang asked, puzzled.

"The Abyss Nightmare in your hand has a shell that's harder than the shell of the Devouring Island. Even if you throw it into the magma at the Earth's core, it'll only provide it with the energy to grow."

At this point, Vanhart took out a few small balls and threw them into the tunnel.

As the blackened foam expanded and solidified, the gap was sealed again, incidentally sealing the corpse of the Nightmare inside.

"Is this thing really that powerful?" Cheng Lang looked at the clam in his hand with a strange expression.

"Legend has it that the Nightmare is a parasite that lives near Poseidon's anus."

"It's said that even Poseidon couldn't handle these disgusting worms," ​​Van Hart said. "They're like shipworms; there's no way to get rid of them."

"What a disgusting legend!" Cheng Lang suddenly felt that his hands were unclean.

“The one you have was found in the armpit of Poseidon’s body,” Vanhart explained. “It’s yours.”

"Give this to me?" Cheng Lang looked increasingly disgusted. "What's the use of this?"

I'll explain later.

As he spoke, Vanhart picked up the shaved carapaces again and, while dragging the arm from Poseidon, walked into the Waterforged Tower.

“Let me forge a few cold weapons for you first. What kind of weapons do you prefer?” Vanhart asked.

"A sickle! I want a sickle!" Shenba was the first to say.

"A dagger will do, but we need two," Yun Ji added.

“I already have a rapier,” Yun Lan added.

“I don’t know,” Yavso shook her head simply.

"Where is the captain?" Vanhart asked Cheng Lang.

"I have a whip now."

Cheng Lang took out his whip and cracked it. "I don't know what I need either."

"Looks like I'll have to improvise."

Vanhart looked at the four shells stacked together, two large and two small, then pulled the control lever that he had asked Cheng Lang to pull before, and then pulled several other control levers whose function he did not know.

Under his control, the reservoir outside began to fill with water, and the forging hammer inside the tower began to rise slowly.

At the same time, Vanhart also took all sorts of strange and unusual things from various parts of the tower, and then, wielding a huge hammer on one of his arms, began to hammer the two larger carapaces.

Every now and then, he would use the hand with the flame embedded in it to heat the carapace.

As he busied himself, the shell gradually turned reddish-brown and became soft. He also incorporated the various strange-smelling things he had just found into the two shells.

Next, he replaced the mold under the forging hammer with another one and placed the shell underneath.

"Boom!"

With a loud crash, the heavy forging hammer, carrying immense force, slammed into the carapace, sending sparks flying.

As Cheng Lang and the others watched, with each fall of the forging hammer, the piece of shell was hammered smaller and smaller.

While tending to the carapace, Vanhart also used his hand, which was inlaid with fire, to heat Poseidon's arm.

Who knows what the fire of dwarven technology was all about? The arm gradually melted under the heat of the palm, and Vanhart was able to pull out a bone from it.

Immediately afterwards, he threw the bone under the forging hammer as well.

With each beat of hammering, the bone and armor plate gradually fused together, transforming into a blazing red blank.

Turning his head to look at the crowd around him, Vanhart chipped a piece off the blank and then said to Shenba, who seemed the easiest to fool, "Give me your broken sickle."

"for you!"

Without even thinking, Shenba handed the other person the sickle tucked at his waist.

Upon receiving the sickle, before anyone could even see it clearly, Vanhart disassembled it into individual parts. He then turned around and began rapidly forging the cut-out blanks and sickle parts by constantly changing the molds.

As he busied himself, a new sickle gradually took shape.

However, it is more like a pickaxe than a sickle, or rather, a sickle shaped like a pickaxe.

However, whether it was a sickle or a pickaxe, just looking at Shenba's expression, you could tell he was extremely satisfied.

With the sample in hand, he then successfully obtained Yavso's spider bow and scissors, and creatively combined them into a scissor bow.

Once Yafso was satisfied with the inspection, Yun Lan and Yun Ji finally handed over their respective weapons to Vanhart for upgrades and modifications.

After forging the weapons for the two ladies amidst the deafening noise, Vanhart didn't stop at all. He even used the remaining blanks to forge a shield for Shenba that was almost waist-high to him, yet exceptionally thin and light.

"This shield possesses some characteristics of the Abyss."

Van Hart explained, "As long as a single attack doesn't shatter it, it will become stronger with each attack it withstands."

"No upper limit?" Shenba asked in surprise.

"How could that be? Of course there's a limit. What are you dreaming of?"

As he spoke, Vanhart picked up the two smaller armor plates, then took some of Poseidon's bones and withered muscles and began forging again. But even as the sound of the forging hammer rang out again, he still hadn't given an answer on the maximum size of the shield.

Shenba didn't press for more details; instead, he looked at the enormous shield with a delighted expression.

"Should we bet on what kind of weapon Mr. Vanhart will come up with for the captain?" Yavso asked, fiddling with her strange weapon that could be used as scissors and, when opened to its fullest extent, as a hunting bow.

"Curved Blade"

Yun Lan said matter-of-factly, "Which captain doesn't have a scimitar?"

“It could also be a flintlock musket,” Yun Ji guessed casually.

"An axe, it must be an axe!"

Shenba said confidently, and he even pulled out a bag of gold coins like a seasoned gambler, and unsurprisingly, Yunji slapped him on the back of the head.

Actually, not only were they curious, but Cheng Lang himself was equally curious about what kind of weapon Vanhart would create for him. As they waited, and with the relentless blows of the forging hammer, the two carapace plates gradually fused together, shrinking smaller and smaller with each strike.

Finally, when Vanhart handed the finished "weapon" to Cheng Lang, everyone's expressions were strange—just as strange as the weapon itself.

"What is this? What is this?" Cheng Lang asked curiously.

"The weapon that best suits you"

As he spoke, Vanhart handed the weapon to Cheng Lang—it was a ship's anchor, only the size of a pigeon's egg.

"How do I use this?" Cheng Lang asked blankly.

"Strike it with your whip!"

Vanhart pointed to the ground not far away as he spoke, "Try that way."

After a moment's hesitation, Cheng Lang took out the whip, fixed the lightweight anchor to the end of the whip, and then swung it toward the ground that Vanhart was pointing to.

"Boom!"

What followed was an unexpected commotion that stunned everyone. The anchor, which was originally only the size of a pigeon's egg, grew to be larger than a human head before it touched the ground, and its entire body was covered with sharp teeth!
Looking at the rock floor again, it had been smashed into a crater full of rubble.

Turning his head to look at Van Hart, Cheng Lang gently flicked the whip, and the anchor at the tip of the whip returned to its original size and weight the moment the whip taut.

"Alright, I'm going to help you modify that tunneling beetle."

"We'll be leaving after the renovations are finished," Vanhart said.

Upon hearing this, Cheng Lang nodded and handed the digging beetle to the other party with peace of mind.

Van Hart seemed to have planned this all along, and without any hesitation, he drove the digging beetle into the tower and began a major overhaul with the help of the water forging hammer.

At the same time, Cheng Lang and others also gathered together to begin their discussion.

Do you think we can keep him here?

Cheng Lang asked, "That's Fan Hart, the most famous armorer. If he's around, what will happen to us in the future?"

"I find it difficult."

Yun Lan shook her head and sighed, "Based on my understanding of the Pirate Queen, she would never willingly become a captain's sailor."

“I’m more worried about something else,” Yun Ji said anxiously, examining the modified dagger in her hand.

"Are you worried they'll make us the vanguard?" Cheng Lang asked.

"That's right"

Yun Ji brandished the weapon in her hand. "Vanhart and the pirate queen Eleanor are so different from those recorded in history. I even suspect that the pirates who came ashore made a terrible mistake."

Although Yun Ji didn't finish speaking, everyone subconsciously looked at Vanhart, who was busy at the forging hammer.

At this point, they weren't even sure if he was a dwarf, a ferocious beast, an undead being, or even a Gundam?

"Let's take it one step at a time. At least we have no reason to refuse their kindness now."

Cheng Lang said in a low voice, "Compared to Vanhart and the Pirate Queen, the dwarves are the real problem now. Where do you think they went? And who are their allies?"

"I actually had a suspicion just now."

Yun Lan said in a low voice, "If the mastermind behind this is the dwarves, then the ghost ships at sea seem to make sense. Only those dwarves who are good at enslaving the dead could do those things."

"But why would they resurrect Poseidon?" Yavso asked, puzzled.

"Because only if Poseidon comes back to life will the humans on the continent be consumed, and only then can the dwarves easily conquer the continent."

Yunji said, "The dwarves are certainly confident in killing Poseidon, or at least that's what they believe."

“I don’t understand,” Yavso shook her head.

"The dwarves want to be saviors again."

Cheng Lang explained it in a more accessible way: "If no powerful enemy appears, then the savior has no reason to exist."

Moreover, what if the savior and the powerful enemy secretly struck a deal to divide up the Star Sea Continent?

When Cheng Lang said those words, Yun Lan and Yun Ji couldn't help but shudder. Clearly, they didn't think it was just a guess; perhaps it was the truth.

"Next, let's talk about who the dwarves' allies and enemies are," Cheng Lang continued.

"I'm wondering if the elven royal family has already switched sides."

Yun Lan said worriedly, "And then there are the orcs and Rika. We are the three duchies closest to Dwarf Mountain, I'm afraid..."

"And what about Vanhart?"

Shenba abruptly asked a question, "Is he in league with the dwarves?"

“That’s exactly what we’re worried about,” Cheng Lang, Yun Lan, and Yun Ji responded in unison.

"He's in such a hurry to leave, could he be planning to go find the dwarves?" Yafso asked in a low voice.

This guess caused Cheng Lang, Yun Ji, and Yun Lan to exchange another glance, and they tacitly confirmed it with silence.

"From here"

Cheng Lang pointed to the sky and changed the subject, "How long does it take to get from Ganquan Village to the Elf King City?"

“At the speed of our carriages, traveling day and night would take at most five days,” Yun Lan replied.

"We'll head over there as soon as things are settled here."

Cheng Lang said, "I'm getting more and more uneasy. We are the sea. We are sailors. For us, the sea is still the safest place."

These words made the other four people gathered together nod in agreement; they all shared the same sense of insecurity.

In their planning for the final and most dangerous part of this land journey, the sound of forging echoed for a long time inside the tower, and the reservoir was filled and emptied time and time again.

During the long and noisy wait, Cheng Lang and the others found a clean area to set up their hunting tents and used the supplies they had to prepare dinner. Shenba was also sent to invite Fanhart.

"Captain! Sister! Princess Yunlan!"

Shenba rushed back anxiously, "Something terrible has happened! Vanhart is missing!"

"What did you say?"

Cheng Lang was taken aback, then quickly ran out of the tent, "Where's the digging beetle?"

“It’s still there!” Shenba said, “but Vanhart is gone!”

With his explanation, the group ran into the tower together, then bypassed the burrowing beetles that were blocking their view.

However, there was no trace of Vanhart beside the ever-falling forging hammer.

(End of this chapter)