"Rudder to the left! Open the sidesail on the port sidesail! ”

The octopus gave orders in an unquestioning tone, and in fact no one dared to refute them, and the helmsman puffed out his cheeks and whirred to pull the heavy rudder lever, helping the battleship to slowly complete the left turn with the help of the current and the direction of the wind.

"What are you doing in a daze?"

The reprimanded sailor didn't know what he had done wrong, and he didn't even dare to come out of the atmosphere.

"Reload! Put the Greek Spray Gun on the port side! ”

The sailors who had been ordered ran away as if they had been pardoned, and the other asked stupidly, "Are you ready to get close to the battle, my lord?" Do you need to prepare bulletproof fishing nets? ”

The octopus is like a tiger staring at its prey, only raising its eyebrows slightly, and the sailor who consciously lost his words immediately sweated nervously, and stumbled while subconsciously retreating: "I...... I see, big ...... My lord, I'll find someone to do it right away! ”

"That's a lot of nonsense!"

Three pirate ships blocked the exit of the strait, like wolves waiting for rabbits, and the commander of the battleship carried a large sword across the deck majestically, making the last mobilization before the battle.

"Later, I'll let the battleship stick to the enemy ship as much as possible, closer than you can hold the girl in your arms, now you know what to do, right? Concentrate my firepower on the bastards who were raised by the dogs, and then we'll swagger away, and when we get back to shore, I'll wrap up the whole flower-willow alley and invite everyone to drink! ”

He pointed to the sweaty slave oarsmen downstairs: "Including you! Those who have a life to live go to drink the same, and henceforth unshackle and no longer be a slave! ”

"For Rome!"

The crowd let out earth-shattering cheers, swept away the previous decadence, and everyone returned to their fighting positions with passion and confidence.

As the roar of the waves crashed against the battleship, the head of the wolf pack had approached less than a hundred yards, and some of the sparse feathered arrows and javelins flew in, but most of them fell into the water, and the pirates slammed their shields and shouted obscenities.

The Roman sailors were engrossed in keeping an eye on the enemy ship, like a cheetah stealthily preyding, keenly waiting for the best moment for the two ships to stagger together.

The sound of the heavy pulp cutting through the sea made the scalp tingle, and the slave oarsmen of all colors were nailed to the deck by iron cables, shouting neat trumpets and enduring the pain of the whip on the back of the flesh urged by the inspector to be faster, they were more eager to survive than the sailors who had died for a lifetime, and they had no hope of survival.

Both warships are moving at full speed towards the unknown fate, one to survive, the other to win, the so-called narrow road to meet the brave wins, in fact, it is a struggle of willpower, in a sense, human beings are their own God.

The arrows and javelins fell more and more densely, and the sailors hid behind the side of the ship or behind their shields, but the unsheltered oarsmen were not so lucky, and from time to time some were wounded and screamed and fainted, and there was a faint panic among the slaves, and the speed of the ship was already slow.

"Don't you slackers want to live!"

The octopus, who was keenly aware of the drop in the speed of the boat, shouted and jumped into the paddling cabin regardless of the danger to teach the paddlers who refused to work hard.

"What's so terrible about dying, if you don't increase the speed, we all have to die here! Row, row! ”

The distance of 100 yards is fleeting, the paddles that meet together at high speed break like fragile glass, time seems to stand still in this moment, I even clearly capture the hideous expression on everyone's face and the trajectory of saliva splashing, someone has said that when life is nearing the end, God will let you see the time clearly, is my life about to end here? End up in the boundless sea, no one alive, no dead or dead?

"Fire!"

"Launch!"

"Come on, them!"

All sorts of shouts exploded in my ears, and my mind was dragged back to reality, stone projectiles whistling overhead, and the scorching heat of the Greek firethrowers crashing into my face, groaning, exclaiming, splattering flesh and blood, and blazing......

No words pale in the depiction of this scene, they cannot describe the cruelty and blood that I saw with my own eyes, and I walked through the avenue of life and death, of the dead, the wreckage, the severed limbs, and the wounded, not knowing where to go, until a pair of powerful hands suddenly grasped my arms.

"Damn the Franks, you're always messing with me!"

The octopus gently picked me up and tossed me aside, a wound on his forehead that was bleeding profusely, staining the pupil of his right eye a horrible crimson.

"Do you know how to swim, Lord Knight?"

Then he replied to himself without waiting for me to speak: "Well, how can the knight master swim, you are an elite born on horseback, listen to the Franks, here is almost a dozen miles from the shore, of course, it is closer to the island, but it must be five or six miles, hurry to the cabin and carry your bishop, and run for your life while the enemy is not yet surrounded!" I'm here to hold them back, remember, don't look back, keep swimming to the shore, and you can't stop even if you die! ”

I blinked in a daze, unable to figure out the current situation: "Didn't you say you could take us out?" Let's fend for ourselves? Still carrying a person on your back? ”

The octopus shrugged nonchalantly, and put on an indifferent expression on his face: "Please, that's a pack of wolves, we've been caught, understand?" ”

He tilted his head and motioned for me to look left and right: "Ah, people are ready to take over the gangside jumping gang, how about it, have the courage to stay and die together?" ”

My tone softened: "What about you......"

"We?"

He seemed to have heard some funny joke, and slapped his thigh with joy, "We're the Imperial Navy!" If you don't die in the sea, it will make people laugh! Without further ado, let's go! Don't look back, don't get discouraged, keep swimming! May God bless you, my friend Franck! ”

Lack of oxygen, suffocation, and the pervasiveness of the sea, constantly pouring into my ears, nostrils, eye sockets, and mouth, I was like a rootless duckweed, clinging to a soft plank, and I had to constantly remind myself to catch the unconscious Bishop Chuzara, that feeling was really worse than death.

When I was still conscious, I still vividly replayed the tragic image of the sinking of the Roman battleship, a battleship trapped in the enemy line and unable to move, like a tiger that had lost its claws, could only roar and struggle in vain, but still helplessly watched the wolves swarm up.

The clamor of the waves drowned out the shouts of the sailors who fought hand-to-hand with the pirates, the sky overhead was darkened by a dense rain of arrows, and the flaming sails shook in the raging fire along with the masts, until the pirate's rammed Dromont pierced diagonally and cut the Roman warship in two, and the battered ship tilted and wandered, and then slowly sank into the sea under my watch.

The uneasy pirates searched carefully around the wreck, and only after confirming that there were no survivors did they leave in a majestic manner, perhaps because the death of the Roman battleship was too shocking and pathetic, attracting everyone's attention, so no one found that we were drifting farther and farther away with the plank, those rough and nasty Roman sailors, who exchanged their lives for the chance to escape for two people who had never been alive!

I tried to keep my face on the surface of the sea, and to beat the waves with my numb feet as much as I could, hoping to paddle to shore with the help of the current, but the sea was a mischievous and unsympathetic villain, and it always slapped a wave when I was a little farther away, and sent us straight back to square one.

The last pirate ship also disappeared at the end of the vast sea and sky, I coughed painfully, I felt my lungs filled with salty seawater, my consciousness gradually blurred, like the peeling skin of an onion, peeling off layer by layer, my body was too heavy, and I was almost unable to hold the hand of the ancestor of Chuzara.

Is this going to die? I asked myself, but I couldn't find an answer, all around me was dark and dark, with endless seas, scorching and burning warships, and floating waste.

There is only hopeless darkness, why does this feel familiar?

I racked my brains and thought about it, and the experience was so clear, but I couldn't remember why it happened.

In the process of reminiscing, there were many people, including the Count of Trier, whom I captured on the first battlefield, who signed the armistice with his head down, the noble lady who always smiled at me at the castle of the Count of Ardennes, and the Zareth who snuggled up in the stable, and the beautiful young woman who caught a glimpse of the Imperial Palace, and later I learned that she was actually the Countess of Friesland, and Miss Cresenti, who had a heroic face and refused to admit defeat.

I even remember the majesty of the old duke who told me about the earth-shattering secrets of Enides, his sighs that still appear in my nightmares from time to time, the unpleasant experience of meeting Serena for the first time, how willful and pitiful she was, His Majesty Otto who died young, King Sven who died blindly, and His Holiness the Pope who died with regret.

These people have enriched my new life, or is it time for us to change the trajectory of each other's lives? Anyway, I don't belong to this world in the first place, and the empire, glory, conquest, love and hatred have nothing to do with me, but why, the hometown I longed for didn't appear in my memories just now? Those real relatives and real lives, how difficult it was to let go......

No! I belong here! This era of beacon fire, this era of the jungle, this so-called dark age! I have to live! Thinking of this, my limbs, which had been numb for a long time, were instantly full of strength, and I pulled them to the surface of the water, but I couldn't feel the texture of the water.

"Ahh

I couldn't open my eyes from the intense bright light, but my consciousness clearly reminded me that I was not in the sea, this was land!

I inhaled greedily, wanting to fill my lungs, I was alive, yes, I was alive, I was still alive, I was still alive, I felt the strength in my body, I got used to sitting up, the texture of the sand came from my fingertips, the chirping of seagulls was clear and pleasant, and from the gap in my squinted eyes, I saw the beach I was on at the moment, dim, barren, lifeless, and a few olive trees lazily drooping their leaves, as if they did not welcome the intrusion of strangers.

My lord? Chuzara Patriarch!

I didn't have time to think about where this was, I hurriedly looked for the bishop who was already unconscious when I entered the sea, and my nervous heart rose to my throat again, this old man's body was already weak, and after a long time of tossing, I am afraid that there will be more than one bad luck, he is also a teacher and friend to me, don't have an accident!

I staggered along the beach, but the tide had already smoothed all traces, and as far as the eye could see, there was almost no sign of human activity.

Wait a minute! I withdrew my gaze and stared carefully at a floating black figure in the water......

Not daring to continue thinking about it, I hurriedly jumped into the water, swimming and praying, hoping to find the old bishop on the one hand, and unwilling to find such a result on the other.

The distance is getting closer, and the terrible thing I was worried about finally happened, who is the old bishop in the plain white robe?

I froze, in fact, the sea water is not very deep, I can completely step on the soft sand bottom to stand up, the old bishop's face rushed down and swung with the water, the whole person was as light as a balloon, and he was still clutching the plank in his hand, you can imagine what kind of painful struggle he went through when he died.

"It's over......"

, I muttered to myself, just standing in the water and letting the wind blow and the waves, it was I who hurt him, this awe-inspiring old man!

My fingernails were broken, all ten fingers were bleeding, stained red with bright yellow sand, and I cried silently, not knowing whether to blame myself or complain about an unfair fate, all those who died for themselves, they should have lived better if they hadn't met me.

Putting the last handful of sand on the top of the tomb, I folded my hands and knelt on the ground: "O Lord of Heaven, please accept this noble soul into your eternal kingdom of heaven, he is kind, diligent, sincere, and a rare mentor and friend, although I don't understand why you took him away, but I dare not question this sacred and irreversible decision, I guess he is by your side, you should laugh very happily...... Amen! ”

After saying these heartfelt words, I turned around and left without looking back with tears, my steps were firm but my heart was at a loss, every step was quite difficult, look at my current self, I have no long things and I am embarrassed, the road ahead is long, where should I go?

Following the path of the shepherds on the beach, I finally reached a fairly densely populated town before dark, which still looked so dilapidated and decadent even at dusk, with a wooden castle with a breastwork wall only a few feet high standing among the low, dilapidated thatched houses around it, and I had no choice but to enter this strange town.

The road to the castle was as dirty and muddy as all the places of this era, and I didn't know how much shit and urine waste was mixed in the colorless muddy water, and the stench hit my face, and I was dizzy with smoke, and the thatched houses on both sides of the road had no light, and if it weren't for the playful children squatting in the doorway and mud, I almost thought it was an uninhabited deserted village.

"Looks like the only way to go." I looked up at the only bright castle and muttered to myself.

(End of chapter)