(IV’)

The time and place are unknown

The gel volley spreads out in the air, and the bottom of the iron cage suddenly disappears.

Lian fell to the ground with a rope bag, and the eyes of the surrounding people were firmly fixed on him.

"Ah, the fourth man. ”

"I'll say it's almost time for someone to challenge the manor again. ”

There was a sparse applause without enthusiasm.

Several young female voices chattered and gathered around.

"Welcome our new friend. If you miss it, you will be locked up here for 10 days. ”

"We're on a first-come, first-served basis, newcomers. I was locked up for nine days, and the remaining two were locked up for six days and two days respectively. ”

"Don't worry about the food, these gels can be eaten. The portion is sufficient, not rotten, and has a bit of an apple flavor. ”

Although the dialogue is messy, I can still understand the gist.

The conclusion of the reasoning is also obvious.

It was a cell for thieves who tried to break into the mansion and steal.

The trap set by this manor is not a burglar, security or murder trap in the usual sense.

Rather, it is an organ that automatically conducts trials and detainees.

The cell itself occasionally plays music. The style of the music is very strange.

It's not like the sound of a serious instrument with a resonant cavity, it's not melodious at all, but a little noisy.

"The owner who designed and built this mansion must have been a person with a lot of bad tastes, right?"

I couldn't help but comment in my heart. A building made of strange pride and taste.

But even the builders probably wouldn't have imagined that such a heavily guarded mansion would be used as a testing ground by the local thieves' guild, right?

Thinking of this, a smile involuntarily appeared on his face.

"By the way, I haven't seen you before. Is it new?"

After thinking about it, I decided to take advantage of the other party's misunderstanding first. Maybe it's useful.

"I'm from out of town, and I'm passing by to try my luck. ...... are you?"

"Phase Port Thieves' Guild. You haven't been to us yet, have you?"

In the not-so-honest pleasantries, at least confirmed their place.

Knowledge about Phase Harbor can be easily found in the magic web. It is the port with the largest throughput in the Republic of Interres and the center of maritime trade in the West.

The other looked at what he was wearing, and his tone was slightly contemptuous.

"White dress, tsk, a few hundred gold coins. No wonder she dressed like a lady who came to a banquet and wanted to get in? Unfortunately, it was unlucky, this was an empty house, and the thief's set would not work. ”

"I didn't wear it, I just got it. ”

It's not lying. Who knows who the owner of this house is, and it can't be wrong to say that this dress was stolen.

Several of the female thieves changed their expressions, and they pounced on the dress and began to touch it.

"Really, really silk. It must have been a few hundred gold pounds. ”

"It's definitely not something that people like you can afford. You're probably the first to enter the costume room in this castle. ”

"Who the hell are you, and you should be famous for your ability to break through so many traps, right?"

Writhing a few times uncomfortably, he withdrew his sleeve. A female thief with long black hair bit her lip and reluctantly let go of her hand.

"My name ......"

Silence fell. I can't think of anything, I can't think of a single thing about the name.

"It's not a name, it's a guild codename. The name is certainly not very convenient. I'm 'Emerald Ring', this is 'Silver Plate', and she's 'Ermine'. What's your code name?"

The origin of those code names is clear as soon as you hear it, and it is obvious that they are all stolen goods.

The more valuable the stolen goods, the more powerful the code name sounds...... Probably.

"Well...... this"

Of course, I can't remember the code name. Besides, I don't think like a thief in my situation.

Another female thief with short maroon hair opened her mouth to clear the way.

"With this person's skills, it may not even be convenient to say the code name. Anyway, we do not require members to register their real identities and pay income, and they can pay membership dues. ”

"Since everyone is locked up here, of course you're going to pay your dues, right?"

The three people in front of her didn't seem to allow her to say "no".

"Then it's decided. How about you ...... the name 'White Silk' with your temporary code name while in Phaseport? ”

Sure enough, it was the name of the stolen goods. But there doesn't seem to be much to choose from.

He looked down at the clothes on his body and smiled helplessly. You can't suggest calling you "princess" or something.

"'White Silk'...... Sounds good. ”

IV

Late at night on October 19, 1666

Twin Islands Inter South Port (PortPhase)

Before the Industrial Revolution, sea freight was the only mode of transportation that could travel day and night.

In fact, sea freight is more powerful than day and night: a ship cannot even stop until it has anchored. As long as there are no shipwrecks and pirates, sea freight is the most cost-effective. The sea transportation of Luxinhai and the Inter Narrow Sea has been around since long before there is written history.

But for those who were on a ship for the first time, such as Major Namen Soleton and most of his gendarmerie, the remarkable merit of "day and night" was the worst nightmare.

The sea sickness is several times more terrifying than the ferry on the river and is very different from the previous experience on a ship from the port to the navy. The waves rose and fell day and night, and the deck beneath them shook incessantly, occasionally so strong that it lifted the entire hull of the ship.

To make matters worse, the Seventh Fleet had to take the open sea route this time, which at least tripled the suffering of seasickness.

That's because the Intre Narrow Sea, which separates the Twin Isles from Phaethus, is still under the threat of the Elven-Imperial Combined Fleet.

After defeating the Fifth Fleet, the Combined Fleet captured three fortified military ports in the Narrow Sea, which served as bases for the Imperial Fleet and the Elven Fleet. These three military ports are now protected by a ceasefire agreement and threaten the narrow sea route. When they encountered a detachment of the Free Army, they hoisted the free-of-battle flag, and when they encountered a lone merchant ship, they hoisted the privateer flag and unceremoniously pounced on it.

In retaliation, a third of the Seventh Fleet's warships were scattered into the Narrow Sea, using themselves as bait to engage in a brutal strangulation battle with the privateers. Wei Taiping was not afraid of the elves and the Imperials joining forces, and even the remaining two-thirds would be enough to compete with the combined fleet.

The rest of the fleet set sail with the remnants of the original Fifth Fleet. Of course, those remnants no longer bear the name "Fifth Fleet", they are now known as the "Narrow Sea Squadron of the Seventh Fleet", led by Vice Admiral Leonard Kekawi and Rear Admiral Darrow Salami.

They planned to bypass the entire West Inter Island in half a month and reach the phase port at the junction of the two islands via the Great South Sea Passage.

The plan is always a little more ideal than the reality. It's been three weeks, and the fleet has not yet reached its destination.

The waves of the Great Southern Ocean sweep across the deck, and the occasional whale song can be heard in the distance. The faint connection of the magic web even reaches deep into the sea, and there is a connection with the mysterious civilizations that have sunk under the ocean.

In the first few days on board, more than half of the people lived a miserable life of eating a little and throwing up, and then eating. The horses in the regiment were even worse, more than half of them had died of illness, and all the horse meat had become a meal for the sailors.

Even if the gendarmerie was twice as large as the standard, they could barely use divine magic to relieve some of the pain of seasickness and illness for seasick patients. A junior priest can cope with more than a dozen people a day, which is a drop in the bucket compared to the more than 2,000 officers and soldiers of the Independent Military Police. If it weren't for the extra magicians on the ship arranged in advance by Naimon, I am afraid that one or two percent of the officers and soldiers would have been lost in the past few weeks.

With so many magic users to be found, the young major felt that he was indeed lucky.

Since the defeat of the Fifth Fleet, the number of ships heading for Inter has been drastically reduced, and countless merchants, refugees and travelers have been stranded in Forte Fordiburg. As soon as they heard that the Seventh Fleet was returning to Interre, there was a long queue of people who were going to hitchhike. The gendarmerie regiment in Naimon was responsible for managing the civilians who were on board the ship, and it was necessary to prevent them from causing trouble at sea.

There are indeed all kinds of weirdos who plan to go to Interre, and it is no wonder that the Seventh Fleet has happily thrown this hot potato out.

There were more than 20,000 citizens of the free nations, from wealthy merchants and bankers to circuses and thieves, and there were more than 1,000 subjects and elves of the empire combined, not much less than the gendarmes under the command of Namen. Even if each ship could carry a hundred additional passengers, the entire transportation plan would require more than 200 battleships and armed merchant ships.

He didn't know how many spies and spies were planning to take the opportunity to infiltrate Interre, but he knew that there must be a few. He sternly rejected any requests from civilians and foreigners to board flagship and capital warships, even though some had repeatedly requested them through various channels. If there were another hijacking like the one at Fort Ford, Naimon would not be confident that the crisis would be resolved by these seasick people.

Naimon and his staff divided their forces into two parts: the garrison and the reserve. A group of about a dozen members of the vigilance force are responsible for maintaining law and order on the ships, and those who can use magic among the passengers are also under their surveillance. The reserves were concentrated on the Fifth Fleet, that is, the few large ships of the Narrow Sea Fleet. After all, Naimon and its chief and deputy commanders are very familiar, and it is more reassuring to put the headquarters here than on Wei Taiping's warship.

Every day, the fleet will choose a time when the wind is calmer to put away the sails and make a whole team to confirm the position of each ship relative to the main fleet. A formation of sailing ships as large as the Seventh Fleet would be more than a dozen nautical miles long, and the subfleets would have to use telescopes to see each other.

Naimon would always seize this time to check the attrition of each detachment and transfer the sick back to the relatively large capital ship to alleviate the condition.

Taking advantage of the exchange with the sick, Naimon changed ships every day, talking to adventurers who were planning to go to Interre, and asking for information from locals who were preparing to return to Phase Port. For three weeks, every night he was sorting through the bits and pieces of information he had gotten and rewriting the vague ideas in his head into actual plans and orders.

"The Central Bank of the Citizens of the Juloks, the Land Bank of the Empire, the Money Exchange Bank of Lenny, the Goldsmiths and Underwriters of the Interres ......"

The definition of a bank from Anne seems to be subtly different from the existing banks above.

Naimon doesn't know exactly what these differences are, but if a system can survive more than two hundred years from now, it must have its own advantages. He wrote down the names of the largest goldsmiths and insurers in Phase Port on a piece of paper, and decided to visit them first after landing. Naimon himself doesn't know how a bank should work – but with so many big banks in place, he should be able to negotiate a more appropriate approach.

"Langde & Sons, Memphis & Link Firm, Pure Gold Trade, Federal Exchange...... Almost. ”

Naimon nodded in satisfaction and took the plan that had been condensed for three weeks into his arms. Although it may not be successful, he feels that he is quite sure.

Strange to say, the more you concentrate on meditation and magic, the more seasickness you feel, and when you start writing a draft plan, you forget the plank under your feet. It's like sometimes lying in bed and tossing and turning and can't fall asleep, but the more you start working, the more you work, the more energetic you become.

"No, it seems to have slowed down...... Is it the middle of the night? ”

Hearing the shouts of "Sail down!" from outside the cabin, Naimen stood up, stretched out in the cramped cabin, rubbed his shoulders and slipped through the small hatch.

For the first time in three weeks, he could remember that a fleet formation had been carried out in the middle of the night. Since they could not see the flag language at night, they could only use the language of lights and bugle guns to communicate with each other, and the admirals generally avoided carrying out complex formation operations at night.

With a hint of confusion, Naimon stepped out of his solo cabin and walked down to the deck, looking for someone who knew how to ask.

The Lieutenant today is aboard the Narrow Sea Squadron's flanker flagship, the USS Lucius, one of the only four remaining three-deck capital ships of the Fifth Fleet, and the seat of the fleet's deputy commander, Rear Admiral Darrow Salami. His single cabin was in the middle of the upper deck, and although it was the best room on the ship except for the captain's cabin, it took several twists and turns to reach the deck.

Climbing a few steps and stepping out of the hatch, he habitually grabbed a safety rope and tied it to his belt. There is never a shortage of safety ropes on an ocean sailing ship, and almost every sailor has been saved by these simple ropes. Most of his own men were also gathered on the deck, and these men in army uniforms were in stark contrast to the sailors around them.

Not surprisingly, Naimon saw Rear Admiral Daro's slightly blessed body standing at the bow of the ship.

He stepped forward and said hello: "Your Excellency Rear Admiral, this is ......"

Naimon's words suddenly choked in his throat. Following the gaze of the commander of the detachment and almost everyone on deck, the reason for stopping the ship in the middle of the night was really obvious.

The reason has always been there.

The sea at night is supposed to be pitch black. A few times Naimon had run up to the deck at night, grabbing the side of the ship and vomiting, and he was familiar with the boundless darkness. There was no artificial light, only oil lamps and torches for lighting on the ship, which would give a chill down the spine.

But what appeared at the end of the field of vision was a bright band that cut off the strait, and dozens of pillars of light that guarded the band and pointed to the sky.

The green band of light that pierced the night shimmered in the waves, separating not only the sea from the sky, but also the Intre Narrow Sea and the Great South Sea, and the eastern and western islands of Interre.

Whether it is the stars overhead, or the torches all lit on the Seventh and Fifth Fleets, they are nothing compared to the lights at the end of the sea.

"Welcome to Phase Port, Your Excellency the Overseer of Soleton. Guarded by a phase bridge and twenty-seven lighthouses, it is the largest port in the civilized world. ”

Even the slick Rear Admiral Daro Salami's tone was tinged with a bit of pride.

Naimon knew that this was originally the home port of the Fifth Fleet, and it must have been as familiar to Rear Admiral Darrow as his home. He smiled slightly, and followed the Rear Admiral's words to a question that the other party would surely know the answer to.

"Why do we need twenty-seven lighthouses? I've heard that even in the sea the size of Emerald Bay, there is only one lighthouse on the main channel. ”

"Your Excellency, do you mean the shining beacon that the Elven Empire has built in Emerald Bay? We admit that their stuff is indeed quite big compared to their size, but compared to our phase port, tsk, it is not enough. ”

Naimon's question tickled Darro's itch. The Rear Admiral, who had been cautious since the mutiny at Fortiburg, seemed to be a different person, pointing to the lighthouses and gesturing the outline of the map with his hands in the air, as if he had returned to the days when the Fifth Fleet dominated the seas.

"There is only a narrow Watergate Strait between the two islands, and the easternmost point of the West Island and the westernmost point of the East Island face each other across the sea. But the two peninsulas are not as simple as they are depicted on the map, and there are many headlands extending from each side, like two hands that are spread out opposite each other. The Watergate Strait was originally a very dangerous waterway, and it was very difficult to navigate at night, and it was impossible for ships coming from the direction of the Great South Sea to enter the port at night. About seventy or eighty years ago, in order to change this, the newly established Interlay Council, together with the local council of Phase Port, decided to build lighthouses on all the prominent headlands on the north and south sides of Phase Port to mark the shipping route. At first, there were only seven lighthouses, but after decades of trade, more and more wealthy merchants became in the city, and the construction of lighthouses became a symbol of the status of wealthy merchants. The latest one is the ...... that was just completed before the war."

While he was gushing, signal fireworks rose from the flagship of the Seventh Fleet, the "Pingbo".

Darrow looked at the fireworks with a little surprise: "Entry salute and banquet?

Naimon also stared at the flares and nodded, "I think you read it right. Looking at the direction of the flare, the venue of the banquet should not be the flagship, but the supply ship 'Xiyang'. ”

"Looks like a lot of people are going to have a bad night's sleep tonight. This demonstration is really simple and crude......"

Reluctantly, Darrow stopped and shouted orders to the sailors on deck.

"Fire a cannon salute into the harbor!"

The gunboats in the fleet were busy, and the loaders wasted the gunpowder on the ships to their heart's content.

The custom of the salute is almost as old as the history of shipborne artillery, and it is used to explain to a port or a foreign fleet that its ships are not hostile. The guns need to cool down, it takes time to reload, and when all the guns of a ship have been fired, it is impossible for it to be in battle again in the short term.

When the entire Seventh Fleet began firing cannons, the sound of cannons seemed endless. The timing of the firing of guns varied from detachment to detachment, and the largest four-deck gunboat had more than a hundred guns. Thousands of cannons rang out one after another, shaking the lights of the lighthouses in the distance.

They were telling the same thing: the Seventh Fleet of the Free Navy was coming.

Even if the Fifth Fleet is defeated and a ceasefire agreement is signed, this blue water is still the territory of the Great Red Fleet!

With a rumbling salute, the Seventh Fleet's outpost fleet, led by the pilots, began to anchor through the strait and into the Intre Narrow Sea.

Naimon had looked at the map, and across the long bridge, there was the Intre Sea. The world's largest harbor is just north of the bridge, on the inner side of the Narrow Sea. He picked up the binoculars and looked in the direction of the green light.

At this glance, he was so surprised that he could barely close his mouth.

One giant ship after another rushed past the bridge without stopping, their sails intersecting the deck of the bridge, but crossing each other without hindrance, without any damage.

"What's the magic on the bridge?"

"What magic, has something changed?" Hearing Naimon's words, Darrow hurriedly picked up his binoculars, "Uh, everything looks normal......

Naimon stared at him in surprise. Was he the only one who saw the sails pass across the bridge?

Seeing the young major's expression, Darrow suddenly realized. The Rear Admiral smiled awkwardly and asked tentatively, "Did the Overseer know the origin of the name 'Phase Harbor'?"

"Does that mean......" Naimon reacted suddenly, "that glowing bridge itself is a product of magic?"

Darrow lowered his voice, "That's the Phase Bridge, a bridge that stretches for miles and connects the two most important cities on the twin islands of Intre. Almost every officer knew about this, after all, it was the largest port in the entire civilized world, and the first important town of Interre. ”

Naimon felt a fever on his face: "I've talked to so many Interns in the past few weeks, and no one has mentioned it!"

"Probably because they think that everyone knows about it, and the most famous thing about the phase port is this phase bridge. ”

The atmosphere suddenly became awkward. The rear admiral was embarrassed to continue, and neither did Naimon.

Coincidentally, a garrison mage came running over and asked Rear Admiral Darrow for the time to set sail, relieving the two of them. The rear admiral apologized to Naimon and hurriedly left to command the fleet to dock.

Near the bow of the ship, Namen was the only one left. He took the plan he had just written from his bosom, sighed, and was about to tear it up.

"You don't even know what the most famous phase bridge in Phasa Harbor is, are you going to make a career here, Naymen Soleton, with a rough financial plan and two thousand troops who have never even sat on a sea ship?"

Perhaps Wei Taiping's initial opinion was right. This is not a problem that can be solved by guillotine.

But for some reason, I couldn't get my hands on it, and the pieces of paper were clenched and loosened. His fingers trembled, but he couldn't tear apart the plan that had been condensed for three weeks.

"The Phase Bridge, located in Phase Port, is one of the highest crystallizations of modern magical engineering. ”

Annie's voice suddenly rang in Naimon's ears. It was still the cold, emotionless, magical synthesized voice. Annie's memory bank has the knowledge of the future and the ability to quickly query the magic web.

"The port of phase was the port that connected the East and the West, and it was also the most important trading port in the Age of Discovery, and almost all modern financial systems originated from this port. ”

Naimon always does not allow the conditions to activate Anne's memory. When he wanted to, he could start every time, but occasionally like now, the voice spoke to himself.

"Since ancient times, the East Island and the West Island have been under the control of different forces, and the same is true of the twin cities of Phase Port. Elves and humans, governors of the East and viceroys of the West, holy empires and yellow turbans, it wasn't until more than a hundred years ago that the Corman people really united the twin cities into one city with the help of the Navy. ”

This time, though, Naimon felt as if he had found some patterns.

"Are you going to tell me that if there is a problem with the plan, it can be fixed, and if there is a problem with the intelligence, it can be re-collected?"

Annie's voice ignored him, and continued to relay information from the memory bank of the magic web.

The fortress on the east side was once called Xiafu, which literally means "city built on the strait", and is the closest city to the west established by the Yellow Turbans. The port on the west side was once called Salempolis, a city founded by the Elven Empire, and was renamed Nangang during the imperial period. When the people of Interre established the Republic, the two cities were placed under the same administrative division. ”

Naimon looked down at the three goals he had written on the first page of the plan.

The collection and logistical supply system of InterRay is to be rebuilt.

It is necessary to train a more powerful army and navy.

It is necessary to expel the enemy fleet in the Narrow Sea of Interre.

No, there are actually more than three.

"After the establishment of the Republic, the Interre Council invited the Archmage of the Empty Crystal Emblem, the strongest in the Empire, and the most famous architects in Italy and Asia to join forces to build this bridge that could be passed and navigable at the same time. This long bridge does not interfere with sailing boats, as its horizontal and vertical orientations do not interfere with each other. ”

He has a more important personal task that cannot be said to others.

It doesn't matter if you don't complete all three tasks, as long as that private task is completed.

"That's enough, that's it. Thank you, Anne. I'll do it as soon as possible. ”

He wants to recover Anne Seffer's soul and body.

"Nicknames are not accepted. Please don't mess with names. ”

Anne in the magic net didn't appreciate it. But Naimon sometimes feels that even though there is no soul and no body, that memory bank also seems to have a character.

"There's a banquet next. Are you going to be my girlfriend?"

"Your query has no results, please change the keyword. ”

"It's a fantasy companion that only I can see. ”

"I don't know what you're talking about, can you say it again in a different way?"

While Naimon was "talking to himself", the "Councillor Lucius" also rushed through the middle of the phase bridge. Its sails rubbed against the deck of the bridge, and there was only a slight grinding sound.

As soon as you cross the long bridge, you can see the huge harbor on the western side of the Narrow Sea. There are more than 500 ships of various types moored in it, and it is worthy of the title of "the largest port in the civilized world" as far as the eye can see.

In anticipation of the arrival of the Seventh Fleet, the entire harbor was lit up, and the "Western Ocean", which was scheduled to be the venue for the banquet, was wrapped in seven or eight kinds of magical light.

"Are there twenty-seven lighthouses......

Naimon could probably guess the purpose of Wei Taiping's banquet.

It's time to get to work. With that in mind, he put two medals of excellence on his left chest.

P.S. Christmas Eve ~ Hurry ~~ Fun ~~~

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