The sea water is extremely cold in the middle of winter. At this latitude, even if the midday sun shines directly on the body, there is no feeling of warmth.
Small ice floes floated from the north and followed the ocean currents to the south. From their drifting direction, it can be judged that our small boat is heading southeast at this moment. The Oriental Moon stopped a few hundred meters behind, ready to sail at any time, and a total of 8 crew members, including the three Henrys and Captain Francisco, paddled and were divided into two small boats to carry the ship. The bound pirates head to Kirishima.
After taking a closer look, I realized that this island really had an atmosphere like a desperate situation and a place of death.
A light mist forms a circle around the surroundings, making the edges of the island looming with stones that are as sharp as a knife and reflect the luster of glass.
Because the latitude is too high, there is not enough light for large plants like trees to grow, so the island is very barren. After taking a small boat to get close, the visible part to the naked eye is a piece of cold stone. Due to the water vapor and cold, there is still snow in many places.
The edge of the island collapsed under the beating of waves, forming an extremely steep and sharp landform, with many reefs surrounding it. On a relatively calm day like today, you can only see the huge shadow looming under the deep blue water, but when the weather is high and rough, you can get a glimpse of the huge stone pillar like a spike trap.
Large ships are not easy to approach. On the one hand, they are easily hijacked by pirates, and on the other hand, it is also because of the existence of these nearby reefs.
She didn't realize how cold it was when she was in the upper passenger area of the towering Oriental Moon. Now she was riding in a low boat, with only a wooden board separating her from the sea. Mira had no idea how cold the sea was in February. She had a clear understanding - in addition to boots, her feet on the wooden boat board were also covered with warm foot protection made of rex rabbit skin. However, even so, she still felt that her feet were somewhat numb. The upper part of the body was fine due to the heat generated by the rowing motion, but my feet really felt a little sluggish from the cold.
She couldn't help but glance at the deep blue bottomless sea water to her left. She could see nothing but the churning ripples. A kind of helpless palpitations suddenly eroded her heart, making her feet a little weak and the paddling movements of her hands a little slower, which in turn caused the entire boat to tilt slightly.
"Are you tired? I'll do it." Galeva, who was sitting next to him, noticed this and then spoke. Everyone, including the captured pirate and the sage and captain sitting on the other side, paid attention - the latter turned towards the former After taking a look, Henry nodded - but Mira just shook her head: "It's okay, just distracted."
She said that rhythm and endurance are far more important than explosive power when paddling. Only by mastering the correct method can you maintain long-term action. Guys who row randomly in a rowing race will often tire out quickly and be left behind. She regained control of her mind, and then began to do some exercises with her feet while paddling to avoid being numb from the cold.
But as the boat approached Kirishima, the field of vision was gradually filled with mist, and everyone began to feel that the temperature of the surrounding air had increased slightly.
"This is the origin of the fog that persists all year round." Captain Francisco, who likes to explain, took a sip of wine and said: "In this place so far north, there are not many plants and animals, and the weather is cold, so there is nothing we can do about crops. It’s difficult for people to survive planting.”
"But there are natural hot springs on this island, which provide heat. People build houses around them, plant crops and raise livestock. The fog is formed by the evaporation of water vapor on the hot springs."
"This is the northernmost island that humans can establish a foothold on! It's even further north than the countries of the Skin and Suomir people, although it's hard to say it's a large-scale settlement."
The captain said this, and Mira and Galeva both turned their eyes to the captured pirates.
The Luoan girl had noticed when she fought them on the ship that the composition of these pirates was very unique - they had clearly come to the eastern world, but many of these short pirates had familiar faces of Laman .
As for their true identities, the two people who were listening also learned about them through the previous chat between the sage and the captain.
——This is the descendant of Padrosi's eastern conquest fleet.
The mighty ocean-going navy that set out in the summer was delayed due to various lack of preparations and encountered a rare offshore storm, and was eventually frozen on the ice sea. The fleet, which was torn apart in panic and lost its flagship, still stubbornly wanted to carry out its goal. In the end, the remaining part was defeated and captured by local pirates in the Dadonghai Sea further south. This Kirishima was discovered by a large warship that lost its way while escaping. The more than 90 sailors and soldiers on board finally chose to plunder others in order to survive.
They plundered the native women of the islands farther south to reproduce their offspring. Over time, they also formed their own moderate power in the far northern waters where the pirates of the Dadonghai Sea usually did not set foot.
The former warship was dismantled and made into speedboats and boats for the pirates, who made a living by fishing and robbing local ships. By the time ships from the West discovered these remnants again, a full 38 years had passed.
Most of the surviving Padrosi soldiers and officers have died of old age, but the obsession they left to their mixed-race descendants has not died.
They did not know that after the failure of this ocean-going navy, the Padrosi Empire fell into domestic chaos with the rise of the merchant class. Financial and manpower problems resulted in the fact that they did not have the ability to send a second fleet. They just ended up depressed in the obsession of "Why hasn't our beloved motherland sent a rescue yet?" This obsession was passed down to their descendants. Over time, it deteriorated into a hatred of the Lamanites. Hatred.
These Kirishima pirates became a collection of contradictions. As mixed-race people, they were called "evil ghosts" by the locals in the far south because they robbed local women and could not integrate. As for the homeland that their ancestors said was extremely beautiful but could not return to, they felt that they had been abandoned by it, and therefore they hated it extremely.
Hatred eventually turned into a habit. When the merchant class of Padrosi raised its head and began to send trade ships to the east, it became a matter of course for the pirates of Kirishima to start robbing and killing.
The oil and water obtained on wealthy but unprepared merchant ships further contributed to the legitimacy of this behavior-it can complete the "revenge" of the motherland that abandoned oneself and did not come to rescue, and it can also make a fortune, why not No. One hundred and fifty years later, the descendants of the crew of the Padrosi expedition have now become one of the enemies of the Laman captains on the eastern route.
Like their favorite caricature, these pirates on Kirishima, along with the still-adrift frozen Conchisto, serve as a perfect mockery of Padrosian arrogance that continues to this day.
The water gradually became clearer, and the boat approached the entrance of this ferocious island. Everyone looked up and felt a little dazed, because the entrance here looked like the skull of a deep-sea monster with an open mouth. The sharp downward stone pillars formed fangs, and the long and dark passage inside seemed to lead directly to this place. The throat where the beast's stomach is located.
This is the only entrance to Kirishima. It is surrounded by dangerous cliffs on all sides. It does not have the shoals that ordinary small islands have. It only has this cave that can accommodate small and medium-sized ships. Slowly enter along the current, and after walking a long distance, you can reach a mooring place on the island.
Such a unique castle-like island topography is also the reason why these pirates could be so rampant for a century or so without being wiped out by the Padrosi - the Lamanites may be a nation with many advantages. But tolerance never ranks among them.
Not to mention the merchants who suffered heavy losses from being burned, plundered, and looted, even the imperial nobles were extremely disgusted with these guys as a mark of shame.
It's just that traveling thousands of miles and risking attrition to send a huge fleet to attack the pirates of more than a hundred people is a bit fussy and fussy. Secondly, Kirishima's unique terrain will make it like a dog biting a ball with nowhere to start. As time went by, after several unsuccessful crusade, with big thunder and small rain, Padrosi's senior officials deceived themselves and made a speech: "Remembering the friendship in the past, even if they only have a thin bloodline, they are still my Padrosi's." "People, we Padrosi are a tolerant and generous people." Such remarks showed that he wanted to turn a blind eye to the pirates of Kirishima.
With such unique landforms and fringe characteristics, the pirates of Kirishima have developed a strong cohesion and a culture of protecting their shortcomings despite being rejected by large outside groups. Because there are so few people, they attach great importance to their own people. This is also one of the reasons why Captain Francisco wants prisoners in exchange. If it were a pirate from another area, the other party would probably just ask you to kill him, because they never lack new people to fill the vacancies.
With special actions under special circumstances, the wealth accumulated by Kirishima's pirates for a hundred years was more than enough to redeem these people. But no matter how much they value their own people, pirates are still pirates. If we take it lightly, the positions of the eight people who came and the prisoners will soon be reversed.
Light began to shine in.
After entering the island, the desolate scene changed and became more alive. There are many ships being maintained at the berth. The snow-covered roofs of the wooden buildings above can be vaguely seen, and the stairs composed of ropes and wood hanging from the cliff are the only way to their residence—— This is the second line of defense. Henry motioned to the Luoan girl and Galeva to look up. Sure enough, they saw many city defense facilities with stones and rolling logs next to the cliff. With such security, even if a foreign enemy breaks in through the only exit and climbs up to actually enter the place where they live to fight with them, they will suffer heavy losses.
There are already many people waiting on the shoal, and the pirates' eyes are placed high on Kirishima to be alert for any attacks on their base camp. Therefore, their approach was completely under the control of these people. They must have seen the boats full of prisoners and knew the purpose of coming. Therefore, there were two boxes placed around the waiting crowd on the shoal, and they should be prepared. of ransom.
But I'm afraid this matter won't be as simple as paying for the food and delivering it at the wet market.
"Ka--" The boat stopped at the shore, and everyone began to prepare to disembark.
But just when the Luoan girl was trying to pull one of the pirates to get off the ship, the man suddenly bumped into her without warning. "Ah——" Mira, whose feet were a little frozen in the rush, was hit. She staggered, and then she noticed that the other person was obviously coming for the dagger hanging on her waist, so she decisively slammed her knee into the person's face.
"Uh-huh..." The pirate with a bloody nose fell to the ground, but taking this opportunity, several others also used the white-haired girl as a breakthrough point to rush towards their own people and untie the knot to fight back -
Obviously, the fact that she was a woman and the weakness revealed by the previous distraction during paddling made them alertly use her as a breakthrough, but what these guys can notice, how could our Mr. Sage not notice it.
"Bang -" the connected hemp ropes collapsed straight "Bang bang bang!!" Then the pirates fell into a ball on the ground one by one.
"..." Many of the pirates who were waiting on the opposite side had drawn their weapons, but looking at the sage who stood on the spot with one hand and pulled more than ten people to the ground, they all felt a little unsure. .
"Why didn't you remind me." The Luoan girl rolled her eyes at Henry, but she actually understood that the reason why her teacher did this was to show strength and give the opponent a blow, and let them understand that tricks have no effect in the face of overwhelming power. fact.
It’s just that you understand it, and if you’re unhappy, you’re still very unhappy.
"Mr. Sage is such a terrible adult," she said through gritted teeth.
