Silent Crown

by Feng Yue

  In the orderless chaos, the moon tidied and reorganized the entangled music theory. Countless strands of music theory dissipated outwards, following certain unseen rules. Under the guidance of the moonlight, the strands of music theory wove into an abstract net, all the nodes gathered within the circle of moonlight.

  Utilizing the net as the core, Ye Qingxuan infiltrated the storm little by little with his tenacity, constructing a vast network to interfere with the control of the tornado. For the Mountain of Nomadism, the experience was not one it would consider enjoyable. The frightening amount of power contained in the hurricane was like the hands of a giant, constantly reaching out towards the goddamn moon, trying to squash it into pieces.

  Everything should have broken apart after being subjected to such a terrifying amount of power.

  But the moon was as difficult to catch and contain as a flying insect, slipping between one’s fingers every time. When one wasn’t paying attention, it would take the opportunity to sting. While the counter-attacks from the moon was not fatal, it sufficed to irritate the beast, almost driving it mad.

  The moonlight shone calmly, connecting thousands of strands of music theory to the core of the hurricane, guiding them accordingly to erode the control of the hurricane by the Mountain of Nomadism.

  The massive gravitational force radiating from the Symphony of Predestination gathered together, forming vortexes. At every critical moment, the vortexes would supply a crucial gust of counter-current, forcibly containing the wind and preventing any expansion beyond its initial scale.

  Since Ye Qingxuan’s infiltration, not only did the hurricane fail to expand, but a substantial amount of the potential energy within was also consumed. It was starting to show signs of shrinking in size.

  To compete with Ye Qingxuan in terms of utilizing external powers was a mistake from the start. No one could be more proficient than him in this aspect.

  From the very beginning when he was just an apprentice, he had been constantly utilizing external powers to achieve his own goals. From the enchantment of Avalon to the sacred fire of Auschwitz, the Central Sanctuary of the Sacred City, the music theory of Hyakume, the projection of the Holy Caldron… Moreover, he never returned what he had borrowed. Everything that went into his pocket eventually became his, leaving others with no hope of ever getting them back.

  When the Mountain of Nomadism realized its mistake, Ye Qingxuan had destroyed at least one-third of the tornado! Furthermore, the power it borrowed to summon the tornado required payment in blood! The tornado roared furiously, and the enraged Mountain of Nomadism hiding within it chased after the moon, biting at it madly! Empowered by the ocean and the hurricane, it almost succeeded in tearing the moon apart within just two attacks.

  The moonlight flickered but gradually dimmed. It continued to wander within the hurricane but avoided further head-on confrontations with the Mountain of Nomadism. Instead, it employed a touch and go strategy, fighting back briefly when it had the opportunity. But otherwise, it ignored the raging Mountain of Nomadism completely.

  The enormous serpent was covered in flames from its burning blood, its size almost doubling, and it hissed again. The hurricane expanded in a sudden.

  The pressure on Ye Qingxuan soared greatly. The tornado was getting more and more violent, all the energy moving towards its core, surrounding Ye Qingxuan on all sides, wanting to crush him first!

  Some distance away from the hurricane, everyone on the ship had almost been stunned by the horrifying scene. Every time they looked at the moonlight, they couldn’t help but marvel. They had trouble imagining how much more he could achieve in battle in the future.

  “Captain Igor, turn the ship around,” Ye Qingxuan’s voice suddenly rang out.

  “Pardon?” Igor was momentarily stunned. He turned his head back and looked behind the ship at the huge tornado penetrating both the sea and the sky. He couldn’t help but gulp. “Turn around? Are you kidding me? The charging of the keel is not done yet!”

  “Listen to me, turn it around!” Ye Qingxuan raised his voice. “Don’t stand there like an idiot. I can’t keep this up for much longer! We are already in such a dire situation, there’s no more point in fearing death. To die early or to die later, isn’t it all the same?”

  Well said!

  If Igor was not at risk of dying, he would have clapped in applause for Ye Qingxuan. For a while, he had a look of hesitation of his face, as he could not make up his mind.

  The first officer steering the ship turned to him and asked, “Captain…what…”

  “Didn’t you hear Mr. Ye’s instructions?” Igor gritted his teeth, paused, then waved his hand with a look of anguish. “Turn around! Get the lifeboat ready, worst case scenario, we abandon the ship.”

  Turn around!

  The first officer waved and the rudder turned wildly. In a flash, everyone on board felt a huge force acting on the hull, as if it was trying to throw them off.

  Due to the centripetal force, innumerable rivets scraped against the ship plates, making piercing whines. Because of the sudden turn, the entire hull was almost bent into an arc, setting off a crashing wave in the sea of darkness. Then, with maximum horsepower, the ship shot forward towards the tornado that was sweeping through the sea and the sky, the steel ship charged fearlessly!

  “Get ready to fire.” Ye Qingxuan’s voice rang out. Together with his words came a perception thread of moonlight, which connected itself to the back of Igor’s head. Immediately after, data from the other end poured into Igor’s mind like a tide.

  Wind speed, wind direction, the speed of the ship, its coordinates, the extent of engine overload, change in weight, loading stress… Igor only felt his vision turning black as data rushed into his mind nonstop, as if it was going to blow his head up. “Mr. Ye, are you trying to kill me?!”

  “Why are you so useless?” Ye Qingxuan seemed to sigh helplessly, making Igor so gloomy that he almost vomited blood. But soon, the flood-like data reduced significantly, having been sorted by Ye Qingxuan in terms of priority. In Igor’s vision, they formed a dynamic mindmap that would only appear when he gazed upon it intently.

  “Get ready, Captain,” Ye Qingxuan said. “Other than the firing, you need not pay attention to anything else.”

  Igor shook his head resignedly, having understood the plan Ye Qingxuan had in mind. He used the final seconds to gulp down some liquor from his bottle, and wiped his wet beard dry.

  “I am old, Mr. Ye. You have ruined my boat, so at least be more considerate for the sake of my heart?” said Igor.

  Ye Qingxuan did not bother to reply.

  Igor muttered to himself, and strapped himself to the seat with leather rope. Finally, he pressed both of his hands on the handle. “I didn’t expect that I could be involved in such an exciting fight at this age. Even if I have to pay the price with this ship, it’s worth it!”

  Boom! The iron ship broke through the oncoming hurricane, riding on the huge waves and leaping between them. It moved up and down, sailing forward bumpily, but its speed was getting faster and faster. In the end, the engines weren’t even needed anymore, as the violent pull of the tornado dragged the iron boat forward to its death.

  The sound of steel plates being twisted rang out continuously. Rivets were ejected from the ship constantly, and with loud bangs, pieces of steel fell off from the ship into the sea, like the removal of burdensome clothes. The ship rushed forward, hugging its impending doom with its arms wide open!

  In front of it, the appalling tornado that was gigantic enough to swallow an island whole was getting extremely close. Amid countless flashes of lightning and thunder, one could vaguely see the horrifying outline of the Mountain of Nomadism.

  “You only have one opportunity,” Ye Qingxuan’s strained voice rang out. “Captain, you’ll have to grasp it yourself.”

  “No worries, no worries.” Igor cackled. “I am the first artilleryman of the Islands of Illusion! I was the one who struck down the wall during th
e Battle of Placi in East India!”

  “Then, I’ll leave it to you.” As he finished his words, the vast moonlight broke through the huge body of the tornado, dragging hurricanes along.

  Frenzied winds sucked the seawater up, forming freak waves, as if the Invisible Hand of God was lifting up endless seawater, temporarily setting up a bridge of waves that was constantly crumbling and collapsing.

  The bridge of waves extended upwards, creating an incredible arc, directing everything towards the hurricane of destruction. The steel ship roared as it rushed forward in the torrent. It sailed forward onto the bridge, and was thrown into the air.

  Everyone felt strong dizziness, their vision turning black due to the turbulent changes in gravity. When they could finally react, the steel ship was already flying in the air.

  Flying!

  They were flying!

  546 The Presen

  Like the God of War riding his giant horse of eight legs, the iron ship flew in the air, riding the thunder and the wind, charging forward!

  Going through the wild wind and the mist, the ship charged forward. The lightning struck the ship, covering it with a layer of shining light. It was like a sharp saber stabbing into the hurricane.

  The ship shook all over in the hurricane. Steel plates peeled off the ship like the scales of a fish. The Keel ballista, charged to its maximum power, reached a super high temperature. The horrible heat was conducted by the mechanical structure to the handle, which became hot as well.

  Igor grabbed at the handle, enduring the pain with a wicked smile on his face.

  “Hold on, hold on…” Grinding his teeth and staring at the target in front of him, he murmured to himself, “Not yet. Do not rush. Just one moment!”

  Boom! The hurricane was pierced through by the ship. Led by the indigo moon, the ship flew over the sky and into the core of the hurricane.

  The head of the furious Mountain of Nomadism was so close!

  “Hello, b*tch.” Igor laughed.

  Boom! Super hot sparks immediately shot from the bow of the ship, lighting up the dark night. Horrible power was released from the Keel ballista. The steel arrow, driven by the high pressure, overloaded five times its original capacity, flew forward from the ship. The whistling sound of it seemed to tear up everyone’s eardrums.

  The modified arrow, disguised as a whale-hunting crossbow arrow, had a heavy chain at its tail. With pale vapor along its path, it pierced through the venom of the Mountain of Nomadism and dashed into its mouth. The monster’s teeth were fractured and the flesh in its mouth torn into pieces. The arrow pierced the hard skull of the monster and into its brain.

  The sticky venom spread out of its brain. Heated by the arrow, the brain of the monster was boiled into a pot of poisonous soup.

  The monster screamed sharply, full of grief. Its mountainous body twitched and the horrible aether waves stopped.

  No more wind. The hurricane ceased, and seawater fell from the sky.

  With a big splash, the monster fell into the sea with the ship. Under the impact, the ship almost disintegrated. Three musicians of Modifications School spat up blood and struggled to keep the metric intact.

  The ship was so broken that it was barely a ship anymore.

  “My ship!” No time to feel the happiness of victory, Igor howled with misery, almost in tears. However, the painful shrieking and screaming of the Mountain of Nomadism was still prevalent.

  Poisoned by the “Temperance,” the Mountain of Nomadism twitched in pain, rolling up and down in the sea. Dragging the iron chain on the arrow, it pulled the iron ship forward.

  “Still not dead after that?” Igor was so shocked.

  “Only seriously injured.” Soaked with the seawater, Ye Qingxuan landed on the ship. Staring at the snake in anguish, he said, “It was the descendent of a catastrophe. It may grow its head back.”

  The Mountain of Nomadism was totally mad. The wound was in no way fatal to it, and it was soon healed due to its strong life-force as a catastrophe. Yet the “Temperance” poison in the arrow inflicted great pain upon it.

  The poison, enough to ruin hundreds of thousands of acres of fertile land, was boiling in its brain, eroding its bones and poisoning its blood along its spinal column.

  The great pain broke it down. The monster rushed wildly, following the ocean’s current. The ship was dragged by the snake. Nobody knew where they were heading.

  “Make the chain tougher,” Ye Qingxuan told the Son of Phoenix. “This is the best present. Don’t let it get away.”

  Present? The Son of Phoenix smiled bitterly. Who do you want to give it to?

  Bewildered, the Son of Phoenix followed the order and reinforced the chain. It was easy, compared to the reinforcing the whole ship. Then, under the magic of the Zither, the whole chain became a part of the string of the Zither, forming a heaven ladder.

  A straight path was created to the brain of the crazy monster.

  There was nothing as good as this for a musician of the School of Mind.

  Ye Qingxuan Smiled and pressed his hands on the chain. Then, the remaining music theories from the Hyakume flew into the body of the Mountain of Nomadism. With the help of the poison of “Temperance,” the music theories grew wildly in the snake’s body.

  Nothing was more vicious those music theories, for no catastrophe was comparable to the three pillar gods.

  The poison of the Hyakume spread throughout the body of the snake. It devoured the blood and flesh to make itself stronger. Great power was transferred to Ye Qingxuan through the chain. But Ye Qingxuan didn’t dare to keep any of this power. He threw it into the Clothes of Original Sin to help the clothing restore its power.

  With Hyakume growing, the Mountain of Nomadism became no more than a dead corpse. With its last ounce of strength, it pulled the damaged ship forward without knowing where it was heading.

  Finally, it stopped moving.

  Its gigantic body floated in the water.

  It was dead.

  Finally, there was light in the silent lightless sea; it was from some fires. The fires were burning on the rocks like faint stars, lighting up everyone’s faces.

  In the light, they saw a layer of dark red blood covering the whole sea, continuing to spread. A thick acid smell arose from the blood, and the stench of rotting flesh was in the air.

  With the fires, the rocks showed themselves; they were not rocks at all but piles and piles of corpses and bones. Those numerous corpses became fuel for the fires.

  Far away from there, the island could be seen. There was a huge and dark castle atop the cliff. On top of the castle, a bright fire was burning. It must have burned a hell lot of corpses to be so bright.

  The sailors directed the searchlight to the sea and saw clearly what was in the water.

  “Devils! Mr. Ye, those are all devils!” the sailors shouted immediately.

  “Yes. I know.” Ye Qingxuan nodded. Through his sense of aether, he could feel the monstrous smell in the sea. All the corpses of the devils were incomplete. It was as if they had been shredded by a meat grinder. The corpses were tossed into the sea and became fuel to make fires.

  On the deck, Igor was so frightened that he whispered, “Wh-where are we now?”

  Ye Qingxuan smiled. “Everyone may get some rest now. This is our destination,” he said.

  “This is Alderney.”

  Alderney, a desolate island off the main route. No farm, no output, no minerals, no inhabitants.

  Few people knew that this was Maxwell’s estate, Keeper of the Seal of Anglo and head of the Fifth Department. Fewer people knew that a batch of people had moved here secretly. They left their homes and settled down here. They built everything they needed from scratch here, waiting to go back home someday. They were what remained of the Religious Court of Inquiry, the last hope of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of the Sacred City.

  The final inquisitors.

  …

  Knowing where they were, Igor was
still at loss for what to do. He looked at Ye Qingxuan and asked, “Shall we give them a signal?”

  “No. Just wait.” Ye Qingxuan sat on the deck and enjoyed the tea served by the organists. He said with a sigh, “The landlord has come to the door. Shouldn’t you renters come out and say hello?”

  Then, he sat there leisurely, waiting for the men in the castle to check everything out. On top of the castle, someone stared at Ye Qingxuan for a long while and then vanished.

  Pretty soon, the gate was opened.

  A middle-aged clergyman came, rowing a little boat. On the boat, there was a storm lantern l to lead the way.

  “Follow me.” The clergyman turned around, rowing his little boat toward the gate. Igor looked at Ye Qingxuan. Ye Qingxuan waved his hand.

  “Just follow him. Don’t go the wrong way. The things under the water are really troublesome,” Ye Qingxuan said. He looked at both sides of the boat meaningfully. The middle-aged clergyman, obviously surprised, turned to look at him but said nothing.

  Along the way, Ye Qingxuan checked out the defensive line and the constructions on the island. He said in amazement, “Congregation for the Doctrine, well done! Always preparing for an expedition to the east. Just one month and you’ve already turned this island into a fortress?”

  The ship went into the harbor and the gate closed with a huge boom. In the secret harbor inside the cliff, a man went down the staircases and saluted Ye Qingxuan. “Please follow me. Bishop Carroll is waiting for you.”

  547 Learning Makes One Happy

  Three weeks later, the steel workshop had expanded to twice its original size.

  The scaffolding embedded in the cliff were like weeds clumped together. The giant nails wedged into the stone were holding heavy steel cables, arranged into a spider-web-like structure, in place. Heat insulating felt cloths were suspended layer by layer from the cables, forming a huge greenhouse.