"It's been another half a year in the blink of an eye, Samuel, Raguil, Nabar and I will still go out to sea to see you from time to time, so take care of yourself down there. ”

From October 20th to 24th, the day of worship to the god of the sea, the Goshawk carried the pirates' awe and expectations of the sea and sailed out to the open sea, the huge waves overboard, the huge fist-like waves continued to impact the hull, the heavy rain from the clouds also continued to wash the deck of the Goshawk, several sails of the foremast were torn off the line by the strong wind, and what was worse was that the stern of the ship was flooded at this time, and the sudden storm put the thirty or so people on board on the brink of shipwreck.

At the moment of the accident, most of the sailors went to the lower deck in an orderly manner to drain the ship, and the rest of the sailors were busy changing the sails, and the danger of sinking the ship would soon be eliminated, but for the safety of all the crew, the watchman on the mainmast lookout still sounded the alarm.

"Hey, Mr. Sigris, there's a lighthouse not far ahead, maybe we should go there and recuperate?"

The heavy and dense rain made it impossible to lift one's head, I barely opened my eyes half-hidden by my coat, and following the watchman's gestures, the sailors finally noticed the anchorage he was pointing to, a black cross flag on a red background fluttering in the wind and rain, and the outpost of a certain general Drua was about a mile away at ten o'clock, and the other sailors could not make a decision for a while, after all, the position of the Goshawk Regiment was very clear, dealing with the Dark Army would only cause conflict, and people had to leave the choice to me, the first mate and helmsman.

Time seemed to speed up, I still hadn't made a decision, and the violently shaking deck was hard to stand on. But it was this emergency that caught the attention of someone in the captain's room, as the wooden door was slammed open. A large man of the other sailors repeatedly crossed the obstacle to the rudder, with a medium-length beard and angry eyes staring at me through the rain-soaked forehead, as if he were about to beat someone.

"Lemuel! I'm just taking a nap in the cabin, you old seabirds have to show some backbone, the ship will be repaired if it is broken, and you can't be weak when you should deal with the enemy!"

"You're awake. This fucking storm makes it impossible to let up, so you're at the helm and I'm going to get the brethren armed!"

The owner of the loud voice faced the mess on board. Still quite calm, and unhurriedly holding the rudder, this man is the captain of the Goshawk, a legend among pirates - Nabal Gusshak. He is also a member of the Wings of Freedom, a legendary mercenary brigade. Unfortunately, the current situation of the Goshawk is very unoptimistic. After several clashes with the Drua navy over the years, and the losses suffered were not yet fully recovered, the sparsely populated warships rode the wind and waves under the control of Nabal, carrying more than thirty pirates armed from neck to knees straight to the Drua outpost.

The isolated island on the border of the North Sea is about four acres in size, and in addition to a few buildings scattered there are many luxuriant trees that stand firm in the wind and rain, proving that the island has plenty of fresh water. Surprisingly, the lampstand and outpost that were once owned by the Nords had just been captured by the Druya, and the only Dark Soldiers who stood there were a dozen Order's sergeants. And because of the influence of the wind and rain and neglected the vigilance, the Goshawk approached the shallows without much effort. After landing. Nabal led most of the crew to rush in, the defenders were quickly defeated by a surprise attack, and the Goshawk took over from the Druas with only four crew members with minor injuries, lowered the Druya flag and replaced it with the Goshawk flag, and the sailors looted the enemy's belongings and captured an additional copy of the Minella Expedition's plan for the westward invasion.

After noon, the weather in the North Sea improved slightly, and the dark clouds in the high places dispersed a lot, but the daylight was still filtered by the dark fog in the sky, and only a faint light shone on the wet and cold surface, which could no longer be used to warm the drenched body. It has been almost three years since the invasion of the Dark Knights, and this evil black fog seems to be a unique accessory of darkness, as Drua's territory continues to expand, the West Sea, Nord North Sea, Ruohai and other places are all shrouded in black fog, which has an extremely severe impact on Calradia's life from the side.

While the rain had subsided, the carpentry sailors were busy repairing the ship, and the rest of the crew were resting and recreational in the small outpost, while I followed Nabal into the lighthouse, a narrow cylindrical building with a spacious top, full of firewood, presumably to light the brazier at the top if necessary, and after climbing more than 300 stairs along the circular staircase, we finally climbed a wooden ladder to the top of the lighthouse, and removed the rain-soaked fire, and there was only about four square meters of space for us to stand on. Rarely at a height with a great view, Nabal straightened his waist and looked out at the distant seascape, and from time to time he cursed a few words at the disappointing black fog in the sky, and inadvertently found a perfectly hidden pigeon cage, which was hung on an iron rod extending from the edge of the platform, and in this dangerous zone nearly fifty feet high, it was very easy for the faint of heart to overlook.

"Aha! We're lucky, this is a carrier pigeon left behind by the Nord scouts, and we may be able to get in touch with the mainland directly. The bold Nabal, who was not afraid of heights, leaned over the platform, stooped down and grabbed the coop and lifted it up, examining the three remaining pigeons in the cage, and quickly noticed the strip of blue cloth tied to the claws.

"This is the North Sea, and it's almost a week's journey from the port of Tiha, can these little ones fly back...... Besides, what if the lords see this as a conspiracy of the enemy, after all, the parchment doesn't clearly state that the target is Nord?"

In my discouraged opinion, Nabal made a decision anyway, and hastily wrote some requests for the Nords to send troops to take over the area and increase the number of outposts in the North Sea, and mentioned a few details in the plan, and finally wrote his name at the end of the letter, and copied two more copies to scatter the pigeons, until the pigeon was swallowed up by the vista, and we both clutched the bottles in our hands and continued to look into the distance from the lighthouse.

"You're right, the Nords are blocking the dark forces east of the Yu River with their terrain and fortresses on the mainland, and the navy has also laid an impeccable blockade in Wakahai, so the target of this invasion plan will certainly not be the Nords. As far as I think. Apart from those of us who have a clear position in the neutrals, the only thing left is the reinforcements from the Gronian side. ”

"So, that old immortal from Garnif has his eyes on Dabaran, capturing the strongholds along the North Sea. Crossing the dangerous Somnus to the west, return to the Western Sea Passage, avoid the eyes and ears of the Nords, and at the same time surprise attack the city of Gronya, and once successful, be able to break through the Nord coastal defense and capture Tiha in disguise as reinforcements?"

It was only after being enlightened by Nabal that I understood the true purpose of the plan, and I could not imagine the situation after the success of the plan. If you think about it, you can know that the Nords who lost Tiha City will only be forced back to Sagoth by the Dark Army. The defense line formed by the dangerous terrain will not be breached.

Unlike me, who was shocked, Nabal was still so calm, he rethought it and said to me, "Don't worry. Lemuel. Judging from the current situation. It's only been two or three days since this outpost changed hands, and it's almost a day's journey to the next outpost, so we don't think the plan has started yet, so hopefully our warning will be in time. ”

"yes...... It looks like the sky is about to change again, so let the brethren rest and don't forget our sacrifices!" I looked at the overcast sky, and the annoying dark clouds gathered again and took over the clouds, and I immediately realized that a storm was coming. Involuntarily quickened his pace and returned to the Goshawk.

Comfortable times always pass very quickly. We spent the night draining the water in the bottom cabin of the Goshawk, and removed the few old partitions that caused the leakage, and replaced them with the fine timber that had just been added a month ago, and the few sails that were blown away by the strong wind yesterday also drifted to the shore along the tide.

The voyage of the following day was very smooth, and the Goshawk sailed fast in the strong sea breeze, and arrived at a large island full of ruins in the middle of the North Sea on the evening of the 22nd.

"Nabal, we seem to be late this year, look at the ships...... The Exocet of Severer, the Obsidian of Beatrice, the Eagle Wind of the Old Man, and the rest of your colleagues have already arrived. ”

I pointed to the familiar ships in my sight, and although they were seen every year by pirates at their god worship events, the ships of these legendary pirates were always surprising, whether it was the Eagle's Wind or the complex internal structure of the Exocet, enough for a deputy like me to study for a lifetime.

"Hector is an ancient god of the Nord people's beliefs, and it is also the god of the sea sacrificed by our Pirate Guild, and it makes no difference to participate in the festival in Calradia, coming here is just a formality, why bother with the order?"

Nabal didn't care, motioned for me to find a vacant seat to dock, personally selected a few crew members, lit torches and oil lamps for lighting, and prepared to go to the inner ruins to worship the so-called sea god after docking.

As always, we looked at a towering colossus in the depths of the entrance, confirmed the bearing, and followed his footsteps into the labyrinthine ruins, following the route we had memorized through the ruins of dilapidated ancient buildings, four years after our last visit, the brave Samuel and the alert Raguil were now gone, and even an iron man like Nabal could not help but feel a trace of sadness in his heart when he recalled his dead brother.

We had climbed over many low walls and ditches to reach the statue by the faint light of the light, and a long-lost greeting came from our ears, and the bewitching voice came from a very mature woman, who was also my old acquaintance with Nabal.

"Look, Nabal, who has a little brain, has finally arrived, but fortunately I haven't forgotten my promise and won't start until you all arrive. ”

Nabal was also unhappy by the sudden greeting, he shook the goosebumps on his body, took care of his hair, and smiled: "Beatrice Shaq, you are still so charming. What about Captain Severer and Huck, where have they gone?"

The fire was burning nearby, and Beatrice unrestrained his hot body, obediently subduing the sloppy Nabal, and even began to wipe his face and comb his hair. While they were reminiscing, I didn't want to be a light bulb, so I took my brothers around the humble sacrificial grounds, where most of the facilities were unusable, except for a few deep wells with fresh water. In addition, when it comes to the colossus statue in front of him, Hector is one of the twelve ancient gods, representing the justice of the world, and it looks like a young warrior dressed in Nordic antique leather armor, but it is not the Nord's favorite axe, but a common thing in the court - a heavy hammer with a flange, symbolizing its status as an arbiter.

The Nord belief in Hector is due to the fact that the Nord tribal hero during the Yamuna Civil War, Gangding Hareblex, found an account of the gods, claiming that the god of arbitration had left a place for the brave northerners in Calradia, which gave rise to the story of a small group of Yamuna people crossing the sea to occupy the northern continent of Calradia and establish the Nord kingdom. As for the pirate guild, it was mainly imposed on the members by the founder, Sir Hugh Gerald was known for his impartiality, he worshipped the ancient god of justice, and believed that the pirate was able to override the law was actually Hector's remedy for the injustice of the human world, and this belief slowly spread among the pirate guild, and gradually evolved into a unique festival like today, and its essence is probably similar to what Nabal said, and later pirates simply followed the trend, not to have much respect for the old gods. (To be continued......)