In Sumeru, pretend to be a scholar!

Chapter 109 "The Nordecale Expedition—Notes on the Lunar Moment Force"

Distracted by Dolly's matter, Wang Yan lost his appetite for drinking.

Back at the dock, Yun Gui was still directing the workers to move goods. Wang Yan glanced at them and saw that most of them were spices and the like.

Generally speaking, when merchants travel from Liyue to Sumeru, they bring goods such as tea, silk, and minerals.

When returning to Liyue from Sumeru, they brought spices, furs, and some small toys from the Myo-rok school.

Seeing Wang Yan return, Yun Gui was somewhat surprised: "Mr. Wang Yan, you're back so early?"

Wang Yan nodded: "There's nothing worth visiting, let's come back and read."

"Reading—ha, reading is good! Our second young master also likes to read." Yun Gui said with a smile. "Then I'll take you to the ship first; your things have already been transferred there."

Are the books Xingqiu reads the same as the books I read?

Wang Yan inwardly complained, but on the surface he still smiled and nodded: "Okay, thank you."

"No trouble at all, please follow me."

Yun Gui led Wang Yan along the dock pier deeper into the area. After passing several rows of moored inland river boats, the view suddenly opened up.

A massive ocean-going vessel is quietly moored beside a dedicated deep-water berth, resembling a resting whale.

This sea vessel was several times larger than the riverboat we had traveled on before.

The ship is tall, with a hull constructed from a mix of dark hardwood and some reinforced metal components, featuring smooth and solid lines.

The bow is carved with more exquisite Liyue-style auspicious clouds and wave patterns, and the three thick mainmasts point straight to the sky. Although the sails are not fully raised, their neat and orderly arrangement already shows their imposing presence.

The deck is spacious, and even with a lot of cargo piled up, there is still plenty of room to move around.

"This is our Chamber of Commerce's 'Wavebreaker,' designed specifically for ocean voyages," Yun Gui introduced, her tone tinged with pride. "Please follow me."

Upon boarding the large gangplank attached to the ship's side, several sailors were inspecting the mooring lines and sails. They nodded to Yun Gui and Wang Yan upon seeing them.

Crossing the deck and heading towards the cabin area located in the stern, Yun Gui pushed open a heavy oak door and entered a relatively quiet corridor with several guest rooms on both sides.

Yun Gui stopped in front of one of the doors, opened it, and stepped aside to let Wang Yan in: "Mr. Wang Yan, this is the cabin prepared for you. The sea voyage is longer, but the conditions are better than those on a riverboat. I hope you will be comfortable."

Wang Yan stepped into the room, and his eyes lit up immediately.

This cabin is much more spacious than the one on the previous riverboat, about eight or nine square meters.

The layout was similar, with a bed, a table, a chair, and an extra small storage cabinet. His luggage was on the bed, and the box of books was on the desk.

"Then I'll be going now," Yun Gui said with a smile. "You rest and settle in first, and I'll go and confirm the cargo loading and departure details."

"Okay, you go ahead with your work." Wang Yan nodded.

Yun Gui took her leave and gently closed the door behind her.

After watching the other person leave, Wang Yan withdrew his gaze, tidied his luggage and clothes, then opened his suitcase, rummaged through it, and found a book titled "Notes on the Lunar Moment Force from the Nordekale Investigation".

The book was taken from the Church of Christ. It is a diary of a scholar of the Theological School. The author examined the mechanics of the Nordic School and wrote down some conjectures about the force of the lunar moment.

Wang Yan naturally knew that the Moon's Direct Force was the power of the moon, one of the most primordial forces of Teyvat, a force that Columbia had showered upon the future from the past.

However, his understanding was only in general terms; he still needed to learn what lunar torque actually was.

Perhaps—after in-depth study, I can truly understand the principle of lunar torque and obtain lunar torque registration.

[The Moon's Grip Force is a special force existing in the Nordkalai region. After some investigation, I discovered that this force has certain similarities to the Wilderness Energy of the Fontaine region. Both exist in specific areas and, under normal circumstances, do not dissipate outwards.]

Just as the desolate wilderness exists in the organisms, soil, atmosphere, and water veins of Fontainebleau, the lunar moment force also exists in every aspect of Nordcale.

[I came here to investigate the Nordkalai machines, but my curiosity about the Moon's Grip Force has led me to visit the oldest tribe here—the Frostmoon Children.]

[How amazing! The Moon Singer of the Frostmoon Child can actually guide and control the lunar torque with the horned crown on his head—I think I've seen it in the books of the Order of the Fathers—but—that's a forbidden subject, isn't it?]

As my research deepened, I felt increasingly that something was amiss with the legend of the Frostmoon Child, though I couldn't quite put my finger on it. However, I was certain that the lunar moment force was not solely a power emanating from the moon.

[I debated with the people of the Frostmoon Child, arguing that the power of the Moon's Direction doesn't solely originate from the moon, and I got a beating—but the Moon Chanter healed me, though she banished me from the Frostmoon Manor.]

The nature of the lunar moment force should be the feedback of the gravitational and tidal forces exerted by the moon on the planets, but it has been mystified. I've heard that the holders of the Eye of God in Nordcale can use elemental force to manipulate the lunar moment force. Damn it—I don't have the Eye of God, so it's really hard for me to directly feel this power.

I wanted to buy some Moon Torque Charging Components to bring back to Sumeru, but unfortunately, I'm out of funds.

After finishing the book, Wang Yan realized that the other party had hardly researched anything and mostly just complained.

Outside of Nordkale, research on lunar moment forces in other regions is still quite inadequate.

That's normal, though. After all, this is a force with local characteristics. It would be problematic if people from other regions did better research than the locals in Nordkale.

"Never mind, I'll go to Nordkalé when I have time."

Wang Yan shook his head, closed the book, and put it back in its place.

At that moment, a long horn sounded outside, the huge merchant ship trembled slightly, and set sail.

The surrounding ships did not belong to the Flying Cloud Merchant Guild; some belonged to other merchants from Liyue, while others were from Sumeru traveling to Liyue Harbor.

When trading in Teyvat, the greatest danger on land is that Hilichurls and treasure-hunting groups will come out to plunder; other monsters rarely attack caravans.

In the ocean, however, the situation is completely reversed.

Although there are Hilichurl tribes at sea, they mostly rely on small islands for survival, and as long as they don't get too close, they don't pose much of a danger to ships.

While treasure-hunting groups, or pirates, still exist, they are gradually disappearing as countries strengthen their control over maritime areas.

The greatest danger at sea today comes from marine mammals.

Although Wang Yan had never seen a sea monster in person, he had heard a lot about them, both in the game and after he transmigrated.

In the game, Beidou slays a sea monster as large as a mountain and obtains the Eye of God, thus becoming the uncrowned Dragon King.

The notices in Omos Port also contain a lot of information about sea monsters. If you chat with some adventurers at the dock, you can even find out the story of an adventurer who wanted to land on the island but found only the back of a sea monster emerging from the water, and who ultimately sacrificed his head chef.

After transmigrating, I heard even more news about sea monsters.

Even in Sumeru City, news would occasionally circulate about merchant ships or adventurers being attacked by sea monsters and suffering heavy losses.

Therefore, merchants like to unite around large chambers of commerce and sail together.

It can be considered that we benefited from the security capabilities of the Feiyun Chamber of Commerce.

"So, will we encounter sea monsters?"

Wang Yan came out of the room, stood on the deck, looked at the other ships no more than a hundred meters away, and looked at Yun Gui beside him.

Yun Gui shook her head: "That's hard to say. After all, things are unpredictable at sea, and no one can foresee what will happen next."

"However, based on my experience, I'd probably only encounter it once every three times."

As she spoke, Yun Gui smiled and said, "Mr. Wang Yan, you can rest assured that our ship is equipped with sufficient firepower. Although it is not as powerful as the regular warships of the Qianyan Army, ordinary sea monsters would be nothing more than easy prey."

"By the way, have you ever eaten sea monster meat?"

Wang Yan naturally shook his head.

Yun Gui smiled and said, "Generally speaking, marine mammals are huge and live in the deep sea, so they have a lot of oil in their bodies, which can be used for grilling. It's quite delicious to eat them occasionally."

"The way you're saying it—I'm starting to look forward to it."

"Haha, it's better not to get your hopes up. We may not be afraid, but those ships around us are in danger."

Not all merchants have the money to equip their ships with sufficient firepower.

Moreover, the firepower of a single ship may not be enough to stop an attack by sea monsters.

That's why there are instances of small ships following merchant fleets.