Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 107 Ghost Ship Lockdown: The Unexpected Visit of the Consecutive
Upon hearing the alarm bell, figures moved about throughout the Pu family ancestral home. The White Scale Guards grabbed the eaves and leaped onto the rooftops, all looking towards the dark sea outside the harbor.

Wang Cheng's movements were the most graceful. His [Dragon Robe and Python Robe], invisible to others, billowed as he controlled the wind and thunder, and with a light leap, he jumped onto the roof.

Lu Yunchen was already standing there with a wine jug in his hand.

Somewhat surprised, he glanced back at Wang Cheng and found that this centurion, who was also quite young, was not only far less talented than himself, but also more handsome.

Wang Cheng had no idea what this Ghost God Jealousy was thinking. He simply used the Eagle Eye he had shared with the Guardian Spirit General, Aji, to gaze at the sea.

A hazy wall of fog was slowly rising from the depths of the vast ocean, seemingly slow but actually fast, getting closer and closer to Quanzhou Port.

Something seemed to be lurking in the mist, carrying a suspicious, fishy stench, like rotting fish and shrimp, or perhaps a corpse.

"Dense fog?!"

Wang Cheng immediately thought of a passage he had just read in the letter: "Recently, the waters around Luzon Island have been frequently shrouded in fog, and many strange things have happened."

"Could it be such a coincidence? Could it really be because of a loophole in the Nine Dragons Spitting Pearls Bureau that some evil spirits chasing those five Frankish adventure ships have slipped to the coast of Dazhao?"

Not entirely sure, let me check again.

Looking at the stars, the most auspicious star position was right next to Lu Yunchen.

Having determined that this Ghost God Jealousy, though hated by ghosts and gods, was not so easy to kill, he subtly shifted his feet and silently stood behind him.

"A formidable evil spirit lurks in the fog."

Commander Si, you lead your men to guard the Pu family ancestral home, the rest of you go to the port to provide support. The yamen runners and garrison soldiers also follow.

Anyone who dares to desert in the face of battle will be killed!

Commander Lu Yi's murderous voice rang out, and the White Scale Guards responded in unison.

A fourth-rank military judge's "Xiezhi Fayan" (a magical eye of a mythical beast) sees things far more clearly than anyone else. No one doubts his judgments; he says that if a powerful enemy appears at sea, he is absolutely right.

Without bothering to continue ransacking the house, everyone immediately left the mansion, mounted their horses, and rushed to the port to provide emergency assistance.

Lu Yi opened his divine eyes and personally inspected everyone, including his own nephew, to ensure that no one dared to embezzle more of His Majesty's money, lest they have trouble explaining themselves in the future.

Little did they know that Wang Cheng had already hidden the most valuable nautical charts and navigational data in the entire prefecture in the coin box of the Sihai Tongbao.

Let alone someone of only the fourth rank, even if the ruler of the state himself came, he might not be able to detect anything amiss.

"drive!"

As one of their own, Wang Cheng was also assigned a very strong warhorse.

With the unique skill of "gathering beasts and taming birds, enlightening all kinds of creatures", he easily tamed the animal as soon as he mounted it, as if he had raised it by his own hands for years.

He was one with his horse, and his riding skills were second to none among the White Scale Guards.

When Lu Yi led his troops past the civilian officials who were still watching from afar, he took out his token and summoned them as well.

“It is everyone’s responsibility to drive away evil spirits and protect the land. You should all go with us.”

This is the difference between insiders and outsiders.

Having the official skin of a centurion meant you were qualified to have a couple of drinks with the big boss; without it, you'd likely be conscripted to fill in the gaps.

There's no reward for meritorious service, and the dirty and tiring work is never-ending.

"Madam Yan, please make yourself at home."

Lu Yi simply bowed to Yan Yunxiao, who was enveloped in divine light from the [Xiezhi Dharma Eye] and appeared aloof and ethereal, without insisting that this goddess, who was traveling incognito, take action.

"Wealth and honor, I'll go with you."

Yun Xiao ignored him with a calm expression and used the transformation technique of a dragon to become a wisp of green smoke and attach herself to the human body of the Pearl-Gathering Girl.

The latter grabbed Wang Cheng's outstretched hand, leaped onto his warhorse, and rode alongside him as naturally as when riding a dragon.

Lu Yunchen looked at Wang Cheng with even greater admiration.

His deep-seated arrogance suddenly faded considerably, and he even began to look up to this young man he had just met with a sense of awe.

'This must be the Dragon Girl [Madam Yan] who was targeted by the Pu family and the Japanese pirates in the intelligence report, right? Brother Fugui, you really have some tricks up your sleeve.'

Even a genius like me has many things I don't understand, especially what girls are thinking. I can't even guess what they're thinking as quickly as they do.

In this respect, I am far inferior to Brother Fugui; he should be my teacher, even in a single word!

Lu Yunchen possesses three extraordinary talents. As the saying goes, one begets two, two begets three, and three begets all things. His obsession is also very simple: to become a polymath who is proficient in everything!
Anyone who can surpass him in a certain aspect will be pestered by him to become his apprentice, and will quickly leave their "teacher" behind thanks to their extraordinary talent.

However, the young master of the Lu family, who admired Wang Cheng, was unaware that Yan Yunxiao simply did not understand the concept of proper separation between men and women.

In her eyes, Wang Cheng was the only person of the opposite sex and of the same kind; all other unrelated people could be ignored.

The "master of the flower garden" he admired so much was actually just a little virgin who had never tasted meat.

The main force sped along and soon arrived at the port.

Quanzhou Port was once a major deep-water port with very complete infrastructure.

At this moment, dozens of gun emplacements along the harbor's edge opened fire simultaneously on a blurry, dark figure deep within the fog.

boom! boom! boom! boom! boom!
These land-based coastal defense guns were all Hongyi cannons, equivalent to the Frankish 18-pound cannons.

This caliber sounds quite large, but the shells it fires are only slightly larger than an orange, with an effective range of just one kilometer.

Officials had burned talismans and sprayed sacred water beforehand to consecrate the cannonballs and enhance their power to ward off evil, but this had little effect on the strange fog. The continuous, enormous flames merely tore through the hazy fog, illuminating something that was growing ever larger.

"It's actually it!"
How could it be?

Wang Cheng's eyes widened little by little.

His eyesight was excellent, and he immediately recognized that it was a franc sailing ship that had obviously been exposed to the elements for a long time and looked very old.

It is bulky in shape, with a length that is only slightly more than twice its maximum width. The fore and fore sails cannot move it at all; only the square sails can propel it. Therefore, it is a typical full-sail configuration, without any fore or fore sails.

Experienced sea lions can immediately recognize that this is a Clark-type sailing ship specifically designed for cargo transport, with extremely poor wind-handling ability.

Of course, with the continuous expansion of trade between East and West, it would not be surprising to see any kind of Western ship along the coast of Dazhao.

The strange thing is that Wang Cheng knows it!
More accurately, I've heard its name.

The stern structure of Western sailing ships and Dazhao sailing ships is different.

Their tall stern decks often featured many exquisitely carved windows, designed to provide a comfortable living environment for the captain, officers, and distinguished guests.

They also habitually carve their ship names directly on the walkway bridge at the stern to indicate their identity.

And the ship's stern clearly displays a name—the Consecutive!

In the Battle of Yuegang, he killed countless people. Among the gentry were many maritime merchants, and the "no-capital business" had long since collected all the common language in the East China Sea.

Japanese, Mongolian, Dutch, Britannian, Eastern and Western French, and even Southeast Asian languages ​​are no obstacle for him. He is already proficient in eight languages, which is enough to shock the "all-rounder" Lu Yunchen for a whole year.

You could never mistake a ship just by looking at its name.

"Didn't Pu Shouying's eldest son say that the wrecked sailboat had been captured by others near Luzon Island? He even leaked the information from the ship's log."

How did they end up on the coast of Dazhao again? What happened to the other four ships in the circumnavigation fleet?

When Wang Cheng saw it, he suddenly discovered a blind spot that he hadn't considered before.

"If I found something good, would I possibly make it public knowledge?"

There are only two possibilities:

First, the wrecked unmanned sailboat "had a brain" and was deliberately spreading rumors everywhere, deceiving everyone who found it.

Secondly, those who receive the information feel there is danger and continue to spread the message, hoping others will help them avoid the danger.

There is almost no third possibility.

Furthermore, the unexpected appearance of this ocean-going sailing ship is clearly more complex than what the eldest son of the Pu family described in his letter.

The coins of the Four Seas Universal Treasure gleamed with thick golden light, and the wishes of all beings surrounded the sky, forming a magnificent scene filled with flowers, fruits, vegetables, birds, and beasts, like a fairyland paradise.

"The circumnavigation fleet set off from the Kingdom of East Francois and headed west, and has now completed an unknown route that no one else has ever taken."

This proves that all the oceans in the world are connected, and completes the final link in the chain of evidence that the world is a sphere.

Countless people have already traveled the route from the coast of Dazhao back to the Kingdom of Frankish Kingdom; there is no need for them to prove it again.

Therefore, the five ships have completed their most important mission, and they themselves carried the great achievement of 'humanity's first circumnavigation'!

As they are praised by all living beings, they will inevitably begin to transform into powerful talismans and protective objects.

Regardless of whether they brought anything extraordinary from the depths of the ocean, these five ships are already extremely precious treasures.

It's the kind of vehicle every captain dreams of.

Wang Cheng immediately mobilized the Four Seas Coins and discovered that this ship was a rare and valuable commodity.

【Rare Goods: The Consepson, a flagship ship that serves as a supply cargo ship, not the core flagship of the ocean-going fleet, is only a treasure of one state, while the flagship is designated as a national treasure】
They accomplished a groundbreaking feat and gained the skills to match their responsibilities.

The cabins are like a world unto themselves, where vegetables and grains can be grown and livestock raised, so there is no need to worry about starving or dying of scurvy during ocean voyages.

If all five ships could be gathered and the circumnavigation fleet reassembled, then every node in the voyage could be located, allowing a massive ocean-going fleet to return there and easily establish a colonial empire!
It can be used once a day.

Note: Due to some unknown factor, the entire ship was 'enlightened,' acquiring the characteristics of a living being.

I was shocked when I saw the special ability.

"This ability is completely unsuitable for a bandit-like nation. It should be given to the people in the world who are best at farming and production to make the best use of it."

If all five ships could be gathered, it would be possible to take control of the Spice Islands, which span 12000 li from east to west and 7000 li from north to south, and consist of more than 20,000 islands!
These are not just five ships, but a strategic national asset.

Wang Cheng gradually calmed down after realizing that the sailboat was a "living thing".

His ability to "gather beasts and birds, and enlighten all kinds of creatures" is far more powerful than the spiritual enlightenment of an ordinary novice.

He also believed that he needed to reach at least the third rank of "Living Ghost God" to have any chance of transforming an entire ship into a ship demon.

But this sailboat, which had become a symbol of the town, actually came to life on its own?
Will it become an unmanned, ghost ship?

"Could that 'unknown factor' be the treasure that adventurers brought out from the depths of the vast ocean?"

If there's anything overseas that fits this description and is also widely known throughout the Great Zhao Dynasty, it seems to be only…

Wang Cheng's breathing suddenly became rapid.

(End of this chapter)