Black Sail
Chapter 136: CXXXVI. Southern Sea Domain

Chapter 136: CXXXVI. Southern Sea Domain

Five days later.

The SS Fuma Keqing Revenge sailed smoothly, having entered the Southern Sea Domain.

The climate here was entirely different from that of the East Sea Domain.

There were no distinct seasons here, only summer, with exaggerated amounts of rainfall, and the fish in the sea were evidently more active.

The sun blazed down fiercely, and due to the excessive humidity, the air was filled with mist.

On deck, Rein was hot as a dog; he had previously found some scissors and trimmed half his hair off, which indeed improved his situation a bit.

After leaving Heaven Port, there were no women on board, and Rein lost interest in pretending.

As usual, it was half a month without a bath; his hair completely lost its luster and was greasy and tangled, making him look like a drowned dog.

The scorching sun baked the ship’s body, and every sailor was drenched in sweat; their already rough copper-colored skin was in even worse condition, all looking as though they were fleeing famine.

"Damn, the fish here are amazing, flying even."

Rein was somewhat surprised, leaning on the starboard railing, watching the magnificent view on the sea.

Countless fish filled the surrounding waters, sticking close to the azure sea surface as they jumped and glided. These fish had fins like wings, resembling weaving shuttles fluttering, splashing countless azure splashes, reflecting marvelous halos under the sunlight.

"I had seen these in a handbook back when I was at the Pedan National Arcane Academy. They are a unique species to the Southern Sea Domain, called Blue-winged Fish."

Fen said calmly.

"Don’t just watch, Claude, take some men and net some up; we’ll gut them for dinner."

The long journey and the hot weather had also brought out a sickness in Liszt.

Previously, Black Sail’s main area of activity had been the East Shore; ships coming from the Far East Islands and those departing from inland were competing for both ends, along with internal chaos in the Beima Duchy, the naval defense capabilities were weak, it was a red sea market that supported Heaven Port.

There wasn’t much action in the Southern Sea Domain, only a few merchant ships used this route, and the rest were those trafficking hallucinatory substances; the ecology wasn’t great.

Currently, pirates operated mainly in three areas: the Narrow Sea Golden Waters, the East Sea Domain, and the Northwestern Sea Domain, specifically, the bands of robbers from the North Bay who lived off looting.

However, those bay dwellers couldn’t exactly be called pirates; they engaged in land battles, seizing cities and territories, which made them professional militants, more like a robber state. Liszt estimated that it wouldn’t be long before the Emperor took them down.

According to the sailing log Fen wrote, they would arrive at the destination, Red Tree Bay Shore, by tomorrow.

Hened and Claude said that the political landscape of the Great Wetland was very complicated.

It was nominally an autonomous region under the Aran Empire, but there was no autonomy at all; simply put, it was using Sub-dragon people to enslave other Sub-dragon people, thus sparing the Emperor’s reputation.

The largest force in the wetlands was naturally the Emperor’s second son, Murphys the Benevolent King, who, though residing in the wetland, had his heart in Aran. He was like half an Aran man, doing whatever the Emperor said and had the Emperor’s deep trust.

Murphys was clearly a traitor. In theory, every Sub-dragon person would want to devour his flesh, yet the reality was different.

As long as his system benefited people, there would be those willing to follow him. The unarmed people of his own could eat their fill, so why bother opposing the Aran Military Officials?

The strong-bodied natives of the wetlands flocked to Murphys’s side, rampant and living joyously.

Yet, there remained many who were loyal to their homeland, constantly engaging in guerrilla harassment. There were a lot of tribes in the wetlands.

Murphys rose in power, his tribe was fed and cared for, and he knew when to advance or retreat, pulling together several tribal leaders to share in the spoils.

But the remaining tribes all became slaves; everyone had three years of mandatory corvée labor. It wasn’t that the people of Murphys’s tribe were exempt from corvée, but the powerless lower-class within the tribe also had to serve, developing the environment to make it suitable for living, extensively building roads and canals. Who could stand this?

Although the great rebellion from a few years ago had been suppressed, smaller revolts continued nonstop; peace eluded the area.

Despite its hostile environment, the Great Wetland once stood as a regional superpower, boasting a significant scale and rich ecology, including Magic Beasts unique to the wetlands that attracted the world’s most mystical species—adventurers.

The area also harbored many herbs not found elsewhere, growing only in the wetlands, thus drawing numerous merchants in medicine.

One of Hened’s friends was one such merchant.

To call him a medicine merchant might not be as fitting as calling him a small military warlord; he had carved out a territory here under the command of Murphys’ officers, growing medicinal herbs with a few hundred men overseeing the farm and, of course, expanding with other business ventures too.

Onboard the SS Fuma Keqing Revenge,

Claude and a large group were lowering nets to catch fish while Fen called Liszt into the navigation room to discuss some issues.

After shutting the door of the navigation room,

Fen voiced his concerns.

"Could there be problems if we anchor the ship here?"

Although he allowed Hened free room and board at the inn, supported entirely by Black Sail, if the old man were to betray them and sell Black Sail out to his friend, that would be troublesome.

Even if Hened didn’t know exactly what they were doing in Aran, besides making money, what else could they do? Coming back with a hefty sum only to capsize in the runoff would be pure misfortune.

If possible, it was better not to bring the ship; but leaving without their own ship, foolishly carrying money around for transfers amidst blockades and pursuers, would surely invite chaos; they had to bring the ship.

"What kind of problem could there be, besides, this is indeed the best route. We can’t even enter Aran without someone to meet us, and then we’d have to pass through two small countries. The borders will be strictly guarded, so we need a guided route. They’re experienced in smuggling medicinal herbs; they know their business well," Liszt reassured Fen, "And if worse comes to worst, and we really get trapped on our return, we’ll just fight. We’ve hijacked trains before; what’s a few medicine dealers to us?"

Fen hesitated for a moment, then nodded. This indeed seemed to be the best solution; there was no better option.

As evening arrived,

Claude and his men had caught perhaps two or three tons of fish during the day, half of which were set aside for drying, and the other half handed over to Chef Archer, resulting in a splendid meal.

It was still the usual communal dining scenario, food served in large pots, scooped up with big ladles; each sailor, starving like a reincarnated ghost, jostled with their plates.

"This is our last supper."

Rein commented jokingly, as they would be going ashore tomorrow to explore Wolman’s homeland.

"Aren’t there supposed to be more auspicious words?"

Fish bones were relatively fewer in sea fish, and Morison put a whole fish in his mouth, chewing and swallowing everything without spitting out any bones.

It seemed to start an odd competition.

Rein, with his racial advantage, quickly devoured two whole fish, heads included.

Shadi was speechless, the real pros had yet to speak.

"Speaking of, you’re essentially Old Aran, right?"

Shadi asked Swan, who was from Aisnor Province which has always been part of Aran and never divided, a homeland of Tiger-man and Leopard Man. Foreigners couldn’t easily get into positions like Constitutional Guards in places like Londen City, for instance, that guy named Pyapan.

"You could say that, but I’ve been abroad so long, I no longer know anyone there."

Swan responded nonchalantly.

Shadi was left speechless; you had a knack for steering the conversation into heavy terrain, didn’t you?