The burning fuse turned into fly ash inch by inch in the dim cabin. At the end of the fuse was a gunpowder barrel that was enough to sink the entire armed merchant ship.
According to Drizzt, the delayed explosion time was set by the captain at about twelve seconds. Now that the fuse has been burned out half, the teleportation card still has no movement at all. Finally, he couldn't hold it back and was kicked down by Graves.
The crew on the ground wanted to step forward and cut off the lead, but Graves jumped and threw him to the ground. There was no chance to save everything.
"You're going to kill us, Captain!"
The captain gritted his teeth and did not take any action.
As if he had already seen his own demise, the crew member whose body was locked by Graves shouted in despair, and then watched helplessly as the poker cards that had been silent suddenly erupted into a soft white light.
Immediately afterwards, the pile of explosive barrels disappeared into the cabin with their flaming fuses. Almost at the same time, a huge explosion different from the shelling came from outside the cabin, followed closely by
The cheers of the crew.
"Really succeeded? You really succeeded!?"
The crew looked at Graves in disbelief, but Graves just snorted and let go of the crew.
"If you didn't succeed, you would have had the opportunity to say stupid things?"
The captain, who had been motionless, ran to the deck without looking back. Graves followed behind him unhurriedly, and together with the captain came to the ship's string that had been damaged by shells.
Walking onto the deck, I saw that the ghost ship approaching the armed merchant ship actually broke into two sections and sank into the sea. Within a minute or so, the entire ghost ship and the monster sailors on it were completely submerged into the sea and disappeared.
.
After witnessing all this, the captain took a deep breath and spoke to Drizzt solemnly.
"Fortunately, I chose to believe you, Mr. Drizzt. You saved my ship, my cargo, and everyone. In order to express my gratitude, I am willing to give 5% of the profit of the cargo as this
Please don’t refuse the extra reward for this life-saving grace.”
Drizzt shook his head and pressed the brim of his gambler's hat with his hand, revealing a mysterious side face.
"Mr. Captain, if I were the only one, I probably wouldn't be able to do this. Am I right? It was Graves who threw the dice of fate."
The key point was clicked by Drister, and the captain's face was a little ashamed. He turned his head apologize and looked at Grafos, especially the crew members who were blocked by Grafos twice, and lowered Grafos ashamed.
.
Graves, however, had no intention of responding to the apologies of several people. He held a cigarette in his mouth and found a deserted place to smoke alone.
With a sigh, the captain whispered.
"You are right. Without Mr. Graves, we would never have had this victory.
I was obviously mentally prepared, but I still didn't have the courage to light the fuse in the airtight cabin and gamble with the entire ship and everyone's lives that you could send the explosive barrel to the ghost ship before the fuse burned out.
If it were not for Mr. Graves, even if I had the courage to light the fuse, I would probably put it out with my own hands, and your efforts would be ineffective. So you are right, Mr. Graves is also our savior."
Not wanting to make the relationship too tense, Drizzt nodded and avoided the topic.
Traveling in Ionia requires a local currency, and the captain's remuneration is exactly what he wants. Presumably the captain is willing to spend such a large amount of money, firstly to make up for the distrust of him and Graves and to express gratitude, and secondly, to allow him to work in Ionia.
He will continue to protect the ship during the rest of the journey. After all, it is hard to say whether he will encounter something like a ghost ship again, and I am afraid he will have to take action by then.
"In this case, we would be disrespectful to Mr. Captain's kindness."
Hearing Drizzt's answer, a smile appeared on the captain's face, and the two shook hands and made peace, which was considered to have revealed what had just happened.
Because of the attack by the ghost ship, the atmosphere on the armed merchant ship was very tense in the next two months. It was not as lively and leisurely as before, but the treatment of Drizzt and Graves was better than before.
The shipping fare was upgraded to a higher level, and he was treated like a first mate. He could also eat some meat and drink some wine every day.
Sixteen days later, the armed merchant ship successfully arrived at Fahlgren Harbor to replenish supplies and repair the ship.
Unlike before, the port of Fahlgren today is heavily guarded. The port governor's review of trading documents and goods is the strictest in the world, and he will not be accommodating even if he gives money.
Facing the search by the port guards, the armed merchant ships did not dare to have any dissatisfaction. They cooperated fully with Xiao Xiao. After all, three magic warships belonging to the Noxus Imperial Navy were parked on the military port, just like
Three deep-sea monsters that eat people but don't spit out bones silently stared at the ships coming and going.
With the intensity of firepower of an armed merchant ship, it would be okay to intimidate the small pirates of Bilgewater, but if there were any hostile behavior with the Imperial Navy, they would sink to the bottom of the sea with just one shot.
Fortunately, the captain did not smuggle any illegal items, or in other words, he did not engage in smuggling this time. He was just 'confiscated' by the port governor of Fahlgren Harbor in a small batch at a price that was 10% higher than the market price and prepared to sell it to Ioni.
Ya, Piltover handmade firearms that have been classified as controlled items by the Empire,
If these self-defense firearms, which are popular among Ionians, can be sold in Presidia, they will definitely fetch a lot of money. But now that they were bought by the empire at market price just after they landed, it can only be said to be a big loss.
, the only good thing is that the empire finally 'bought' these firearms at a price higher than the market price, which allowed the merchant ship to regain some health and not lose all its money.
After suffering a loss, the damaged ship that passed the review was driven into the dock for repairs by professional ship repairmen. Naturally, it cost a lot of money. From the moment it docked at the port, the captain's face looked like a dead man on a ghost ship.
white.
At noon that day, Drizzt and Graves, who went to the tavern for a tooth ceremony, learned the news that the Noxus Empire had entered a state of war half a month ago, as well as the information about the ghost ship on the Sea of Watchers.
"If it is true, as the Noxians say, that the three oceans are now filled with undead monsters resurrected by the death witchcraft of the underworld, I am afraid that our trip to Presidian will have to come to an end. No one will be stupid.
If we continue to do business across continents under such circumstances, no one will carry passengers anymore."
Drinking wheat beer that was 20% more expensive than usual, Drizzt sighed softly, looking worried.
It can be said that it was a fluke that he and Graves were able to kill the sea monster and the ghost ship. Using the teleportation card to move the explosive barrels was just an act of trickery, but it did not mean that their strength had reached the point where they were not afraid of these risks.
The cannons on the ghost ship and the tentacles of the sea monster hit them. They were no different from ordinary people. They were all mortal bodies.
Graves nodded, his expression also a little depressed, and even the beer in his hand became dull.
Originally, he thought he could get a lot of money from the trade this time, but now it seems that it is probably a lie. The short distance from Bilgewater Silver Serpent Terminal to Fahlgren Port is not enough to make sea animal skins worth much.
.
"I heard that the Noxians will form a special convoy to protect the trade routes. If we wait, maybe we can find a ship willing to risk going to Ionia, but the cost will definitely not be cheap.
.”
“I didn’t really feel it before, but now I suddenly feel it.
Graves, I'm afraid this world is really in chaos. I never imagined that sunken ships and drowned corpses that have long been buried in the sea can surface and attack living people. Maybe someone will tell me tomorrow that those drowned corpses are gathered together at a table.
I won’t be surprised if the casino comes to play cards with me.”
Drizzt's eyes were dull. Graves knew that his old friend might have changed his previous 'retirement' plan. He had no evidence, it was just his feeling, and his feeling rarely went wrong with Drizzt.
.
"If you ask me, this son of a bitch's world is just right for a big business. Since we are going to fight, mercenaries are definitely indispensable. How about we just stay here?"
"Do you want to do something big? What are your ideas?"
"In the past, we were robbing those scum and warlords. Most of the time we had to remain anonymous and dare not speak out. It's actually quite frustrating when you think about it. But it's different these few times. We can stand up and do things openly. The more famous we are, the more famous we are.
The better, the more money you make.”
Graves grinned.
"Maybe if we keep doing it, we can become heroes that everyone respects for a time. The most important thing is not to miss out on making money."
There seemed to be a ball of fire burning in his eyes, and Drizzt couldn't help but smile.
"Make a gambler and a robber a hero?
Haha, according to what you said, this is a completely different path, and it feels a bit interesting. Maybe it won’t be too late for me to go to Ionia after this period of time passes."
At this moment, the two people staring into each other's eyes seemed to have returned to the time when they first met, and those things that were about to be lost seemed to have been found again.
…
What happened to Drizzt and Graves was just an insignificant glimpse of this world-ending crisis.
If someone could condense the entire Runeterra into a planet, and look at the planet from outer space, you would find that the Shadow Island is covered in a black-green fog within a thousand miles, and this layer of fog is getting scary as time goes by.
The speed of speed spreads to the entire planet, as if it is the big mouth of the puppet, and gradually eclipse the world.
Just like the fog of war in real-time war games, fleets of undead one after another were summoned from the sea by the death wizard and became part of the underworld army.
The dilapidated ship, whose keel and hull were reshaped by black magic, carried the undead soldiers from Mitna Rachen and became part of the death fleet, radiating towards the world.
The continent of Valoran, the continent of Shurima, the First Land, the Serpent Islands, the Sea of Conquerors, the Sea of Watchers, the Sea of Ice... Any habitat with living creatures is the target of the death fleet.
It seems that in the mist, no one, living or dead, can escape the fate of being enslaved by the Dark Lord.
In addition to the Guards of the Holy Light Legion on the Shadow Island who have long since disappeared, the residents of Runeterra who first experienced the end of the world scene were the Serpent Islands closest to the Shadow Island, or the Blue Flame Islands where the Bilgewater people are located.
A total of five fully-equipped imperial fleets and a total of 238 magical steam warships of different levels arrived at the preset blocking battlefield from north to south. They were separated by a distance of more than 3,000 meters and attacked those who came from the underworld.
The 'black tide' pouring out of the fog opened fire with all its strength.
Like firewood being destroyed in a furnace of fire, as soon as the gray-green resurrection ship sailed out of the dark mist, it was evaporated instantly by the magic cannonballs that were as dense as meteors and fire showers, and the seawater was instantly evaporated, forming a sea that could not even tolerate death.
of vacuum isolation tape.
Witnessing the main battlefield of the Sea of Watcher, which is achieving significant results every second, Imperial Navy Admiral Buckton Cecily, who is on the command ship [Blade of Noxus], is responsible for commanding this first blocking battle.
Ya didn't feel the least bit relieved.
The clusters of magic cannons and heavy artillery that were firing at full strength every minute and second were clearly destroying the black fleet that surged out of the dark mist. However, the number and scale of the black fleet did not decrease, giving people an endless sense of oppression and oppression.
feeling of despair,
If the mystery of the resurrection ship cannot be solved as soon as possible, when the magic heavy artillery fails to fire, the death fleet will inevitably occupy this sea area and drive straight into the Anaconda Islands.
Just as Buckton frowned and stared at the detection crystal, an elderly man wearing a pure white robe hurriedly walked into the command room. Buckton couldn't help but brace himself and look at the person, the dark-colored man was quite respectful.
"Master Rubio, what conclusion have you come to?"
Unlike other high-level Holy Light mages, Rubio, the Holy Light Archmage of the Light Order and the Underworld Conjuration Master of the Holy Light Legion, has a tight face, like an old walnut skin with pits, and long growths on the exposed skin.
With many wavy blue-black markings,
Those who are familiar with the old man's past deeds will know that the reason why the old man turned into such an ugly appearance was to break the Ouchen curse in the underworld, and he chose to use his own body to break the curse, which resulted in the sequelae.
Facing Buckton's question at this moment, the old man coughed slightly and looked solemn.
"Based on the energy fluctuations on those resurrection ships, the other party should have dispatched a large army of black magic lichs, using some unknown formation to forcibly transform those broken resurrection ships into immortal underworld creatures.
Even if our magic heavy artillery annihilates these living resurrection ships, if it cannot destroy the opponent's resurrection formation, with enough energy, the resurrection ships can be resurrected and reorganized without limit, killing them endlessly."
Buckton became a little more serious. The enemy was more difficult than imagined.
"Master, do you have any countermeasures?"
"Use the energy of the Holy Light attribute to break through the fog of darkness, find the location of the Lich Legion as soon as possible and destroy its formation. These ships of resurrection will be self-defeating."
