by Feng Yue
“A legendary warship?” Igor was at a loss for words for a good while. His gaze was filled with suspicion, and he said, “Anglo’s only legendary warship is the flagship of the Royal Navy of Anglo, the Royal Pride, built by 600 alchemists a hundred years ago. That is the glory of the navy of Anglo, and even if you are the sword bearer, you can’t possibly have a say regarding the ship reserved for the Queen’s royal progress.”
“Since when did I say anything about it being the Royal Pride?” Ye Qingxuan laughed and pointed to the wreck nearby, saying, “I am talking about it.”
The roaring of machines in the background resumed as he said so. The gears were rotating violently, producing loud bangs of a low frequency, the steel cables were stretched, the ceiling of the covert port opened inch by inch, then the humongous behemoth suspended in the air by tower cranes descended from the sky gradually.
Under the illumination of the pale whitish lighting, the monstrous shadow revealed a grotesque silhouette. The enormous beast that had met its demise quite some time ago still exuded a disturbing and chilling aura. In the huge crack above its right eye, one could vaguely see the brain tissues that got burned into charred carbon by venom.
“The Mountain of Nomadism?” Igor was totally stunned.
Following commands, engineers wearing protective suits covering the whole body slid along cables and landed on the beast. They referred to the design drawings at their waist, and with the paint buckets and brushes in their hands, they began to mark the parts to be cut rapidly.
The transportation of the giant cutter had been completed thanks to the powerful force supplied by armored vehicles. Several workers pushed a giant saw more than five meters in height over from the warehouse.
After it was assembled, there was a test run. The madly rotating saw produced an earsplitting shriek, and the resulting cold wind from its movements bitted one’s face.
Under the instruction of several alchemists, the musicians of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith set up an alchemy array on the spot, beginning to prepare the first conversion process.
It would not take long for the incredibly huge behemoth to be dismembered by the saw and the music and become pieces of raw material.
The scales were peeled off and transformed into the outer armor by alchemy. The blood was drained, rare elements within extracted and incorporated into the new engine. The remaining liquid waste was converted and a high-efficiency condensing agent that could not otherwise be produced with human technology was extracted.
The bones were processed and put in a freshly prepared alchemy array, then immersed in a large amount of culture medium. Musicians from the School of Choir would stimulate its growth once more to form the new hull.
The carrion was transformed by musicians from the School of Summoning, implanting a new nerve net and circulatory system into it, converting it into artificial flesh, reshaping the giant beast’s body.
Igor’s ship would be taken apart as well, and some of the reusable materials would be incorporated into the giant beast after being smelted and strengthened.
The new ship would have the spine of the giant snake as the keel, its flesh as the outer shell, and its scales the armor. The engine could not be produced, but would be replaced by the modified heart of the beast instead. Once activated, it would provide a terrifying amount of horsepower no less than any other ship.
The purifiers of the Religious Court of Inquiry assured Ye Qingxuan that the ship would retain at least seventy percent of the ability of what was once the Mountain of Nomadism, and the movements that could summon tsunamis and storms in their extreme state would become the last nightmare the enemy could remember before sinking into the sea.
Ye Qingxuan said, “The ship is 210 meters in length, 30 meters in width and eight meters in depth. The standard displacement is thirty thousand tons, and it can carry up to forty thousand tons. The standard sailing speed is 40 knots, and in its extreme state, the speed can be doubled. The two 40-meter-long spines will be processed by the Religious Court of Inquiry to become its main battery.
“Unlike the dragon spines of disappointing quality sold by the Chainsaw Fraternity to the public, what we will get this time is the stronghold-level cannon invented by the Religious Court of Inquiry back then—the Petitioner.
“The rest of the information is in here.” Ye Qingxuan threw a thick stack of design drawings towards Igor and looked at the dismembered giant snake above, as well as the workshop that had been stained red with blood.
“Igor, it will be the new Mountain of Nomadism! A living legend of a sea monster, the nightmare of all voyagers!” He paused for a while and looked at Igor, who was sitting dumbfounded on the ground. He spread his hand and asked with a smile, “Now, make a choice. Do you want to take a gamble and become a free, wealthy man? Or do you want to sail it and become a legend, a true son of the ocean?”
He was met with a long, long silence.
Igor flipped through the design drawings in his hand, his mind blank. When he looked up again, he quietly stared at the messy workshop as if he could see the monster being born from the steel uterus.
“It’s so beautiful,” he whispered softly, and for reasons unknown, tears rolled down his cheeks.
At that particular moment, he was no longer thinking about the huge fleet he could own as a tycoon, nor the endless assets and money that would come with it. The only thing that occupied his mind was the huge warship that had yet to be born.
The vague outline was enough to make all the hairs on his body tremble. Blood rushed to his head, almost as if it was going to flow out of his mouth and nose.
What he felt was the greedy impulse and arrogant dream lurking in the depths of every sailor’s soul. They were dancing around in his mind ecstatically and disorderly, crawling in his consciousness, screaming and roaring in his ear, ready to make trouble.
Like an ocean tide.
Giving up his meritless dignity and illusory freedom, he knelt on the ground and crawled forward. As if the devil had seduced him, he only had one thought left.
“Please take away everything of mine, sir,” he implored. Igor kissed the soil under the young man’s feet devoutly and prostrated himself in worship. In all earnest sincerity, and humbly begged, “I’m willing to dedicate everything to you, even my soul. Please bestow upon me the opportunity to sail it, even if it’s only for one second.”
Ye Qingxuan laughed and replied, “Even if you have to abandon your freedom? Igor, I must make it clear that if you agree to the offer, you will be my lackey for the rest of your life.”
Igor was full of joy and felt no dissatisfaction.
He answered, “That is a supreme honor indeed.”
“Then rise, my captain,” commanded Ye Qingxuan. He patted Igor’s shoulder, smiled, and pointed at the ship as he said, “Go and have a talk with the chief engineer. Tell him the ideas you have regarding your future ship.
“You will become a new legend, I promise.”
[1] A Chinese remark which refers to one getting involved in something corrupt or unpleasant as a result of being tricked, and it is too late for the person to withdraw.
556 I Love Studying
“That was excellent preaching just now,” Shi Dong told Ye Qingxuan on the stage. “You are gifted as a bishop. You really don’t want to join the Church? I can guarantee that you will be the one that will probably sit on the throne of the Pope among all cardinal bishops by the time when you are 50. You may be the one to provide the flesh body of the next King Red.”
“Spare me. I’m not interested in digging out my brain and soaking it in a jar.” Ye Qingxuan shook his head. “Is it really possible to finish with a month?”
“Yes, if we build a simple one. We can upgrade it in the future,” Shi Dong answered. “We lack too many instruments here. That will save us a lot of trouble. And I think there was something you didn’t tell him: without maintenance and upgrading after it’s built, what he’ll have will be the shell
of a ship with the main artillery.”
“We’ll have them, all of them.” Ye Qingxuan smiled. “What’s more, we are a family now that you’ve signed the contract, so you may save those fake manners. There should be no one who will question the validity of the contract of the Religious Court of Inquisitors, right?”
“Ehhh… I can picture now in my head what you will turn the Religious Court into.” Heaving a sigh, Shi Dong turned around. “Please follow me. There’s much for you to learn.”
-
Ten minutes later, in the dungeon.
Sitting behind the huge desk piled with books and files and staring at the mountains of documents and files, Ye Qingxuan was shocked.
“Wait, what’re all those things about?” asked Ye Qingxuan.
“Besides the abilities of a musician, it requires a lot more skill and ability to be a qualified Grand Inquisitor.”
An old man in a wheelchair came forward and said, “We’ll conduct special training for you next. The training covers, besides basic skills to handle official documents and files, the common strategies to handle things and codes, the hidden agents and information channels in other countries.”
A young-looking man who smelt like corpse came up to him and said, “I will teach you the 147 special music movements of the Religious Court of Inquisitors, from the basic level to the Saint level, and special skills and techniques of the purifying musicians.”
A bald man who had more than half of his body turned into iron, and, judging from the fleshy part of his body, was a little more than 40 years old, came forward and said, “I’m the leader of the fourth generation of the Knights of the Witch’s Hammer. I’ll teach you the art of fencing. You will have one class lasting one hour every day. After the training, you may have some fighting skills which you don’t have now.”
“Ehh…“Ye Qingxuan wanted to say something, but more old men came up.
“I’m the third intelligence officer of the Religious Court of Inquisitors. I’ll…”
“I’m…”
“I’m…”
A crowd of old men came to him and introduced themselves. Ye Qingxuan almost fainted. “Wait for a moment! The schedule is filled with more than 20 hours of training classes every day! When do I sleep?”
Bang! A bottle of crystal green alchemy medication was put on the desk.
“The Dream of Emerald, the best reviving medication ever.” Another big-nosed old man with an odd smell gave a weird smile and said, “It’s also the alchemy product I’m most proud of. One bottle of this will save you a week of sleep.”
“What about after one week?”
“Have another bottle of it,” the big-nosed old man said gently. “I’m the private medical officer of the six generation knights. I’ll be responsible for your health in the following period of time.
“Musicians of the Master’s level barely need any sleep. The maximum dose of the Dream of Emerald one can take is six bottles in a row. Considering your aether tolerance, I think you can take ten bottles without a problem.
“So, don’t worry, and enjoy your learning time.”
“…” Almost petrified, Ye Qingxuan said to Shi Dong, who was the last one to step up, “What about you then?”
“Everything related to war.” Shi Dong smiled. “But don’t worry. I won’t take much time as I have only three hours a day when I’m fully energetic.”
“Then I should be thankful.” Ye Qingxuan said coldly, “You leave me one hour to eat my meals, shower, and use the toilet.”
“No. The last hour is also occupied.” Shi Dong took out a full schedule. “That is our discussion time.”
“…” Ye Qingxuan felt like he was being choked and wanted to pass out.
“You sure that I can be the most powerful Grand Inquisitor in just a few days?” Ye Qingxuan asked. “Excluding other things, learning the techniques to command a war alone would take a man’s whole life, right?”
“Actually, it’s our job to study wars, the government’s job to prepare for wars, the general’s job to command wars, and the soldiers’ job to fight wars. You need only to watch.”
“Then why should I learn it?”
“You need to understand it, at least.” Shi Dong answered, “You need to know what can be done, what is forbidden, and what must be done. You don’t want to be the kind of guy who knows nothing at all but always pokes his nose into everything, do you? It’s the virtue of an officer not to make trouble for his subordinates at a critical moment. And it’s the duty of a senior official to eliminate a trouble-making subordinate through suicide squads. I’ll teach you everything about it.”
“Are those the right things to teach me?” Ye Qingxuan was shocked again.
“Don’t worry. You are the most talented young man I’ve seen.” Shi Dong said with a smile, “You will be a Grand Inquisitor. What’s more, besides the compilation of war records, we’ve also prepared many textbooks…” While saying that, he pointed at the corner. Drawing the curtain up, a huge pile of moldy files appeared around Shi Dong’s wheelchair.
These were the summaries and files produced by the old men when they were simulating wars. The old men got delighted when talking about their fruits of “gameplay.”
“We have been playing the game of war simulation for more than 80 years, about 40,000 times in total. From the past until modern times, from the East to the West, all the wars we simulated were carefully documented. Sometimes we play the Immortal Army, sometimes the Asgardian squares, sometimes the Knights Templar, and more often, we play ourselves. Annihilation, fortress besieging, fortress attacking, surprise attack, retreat…
“In the boring days, we fought against all the possible imagined enemies throughout history and all over the world. We racked our brains to fight against them.
“Now, the 40,000 war strategies are all here. No matter who your enemies are, there is always one strategy against him.”
In the dead silence, Ye Qingxuan looked at the old men who were all smiling oddly and the file, piled as high as a grave, feeling the temptation to kill himself.
Shi Dong smiled heartedly and put the first file in front of him, declaring the coming of a hard time. “So, please show us the legendary learning abilities you claimed to have,” he said confidently. “I assure you, you will have a period of time which will be ‘extremely fruitful’.”
557 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.
Heavy rain poured from the sky, and fell on the felt cloth, causing it to evaporate and rise into the sky again in a thick fog of steam, only to condense and fell as water droplets again upon encountering the cold air above. Cold fog and hot air met in the sky, strangling each other. Finally, they blended together, forming layers of sickly white clouds.
It was as if hundreds of iron furnaces were working at the same time, or as if lava had broken through the crust of the earth and was flowing over the ground. An appalling amount of heat were constantly spreading out from the workshop.
The viscous and scorching air escaped from the valves on the door with a rotten stench.
It was like the breath of living things.
“Is it really alright to build a ship this way?” Igor stood on top of the cliff and looked down, his gaze fixed on the covered workshop. No matter how many times he had heard the explanation, he still felt incredulous, as the production method employed was truly beyond his imagination.
“The current stage of our industrial development is not advanced enough to produce such a massive thing the conventional way, so we could only do it in an alternative manner.” Carol, who had been appointed as the chief engineer, held his umbrella as he
looked down and observed his work. He said, “Now the entire port and anywhere less than five hundred meters from it are within the radiation range of the alchemy reactions.
“An alchemical reactor of such a gigantic size would cost as much as half the national treasury and would take more than ten years to manufacture. “Furthermore, it can only be used once, as it would be destroyed in the process, and it has to be recycled as waste after that. The whole process requires more than a hundred alchemists to collaborate, using up countless materials and funds. “We do not have so much capital and time to waste.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be blessed with such favorable conditions, Captain Igor, we must keep everything simple. “
“This is considered simple?” Igor was shocked.
He squatted on the edge of the cliff, then lay down to look at the huge workshop more closely.
Under the cover of the heat-insulating felt cloths, the workshop was like a monster of a gray-black color lying on the harbor of refuge, crawling and rolling around in gluey motions, convulsing in the rain as if it was alive, but also abhorrently ugly.
So ugly that it looked terrifying.
Five days ago, the musicians of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith removed the entire harbor of refuge, then built a dam at the estuary, turning whole entire port into an enclosed, bowl-like structure.
The ‘bowl’ was covered, and only a warm murky stream of water spewed out steadily from the dam. The turbid water containing alchemical elixirs and toxic metals exuded a pungent stench, staining the black ocean water white.
The hull was being manufactured in it.
As the organization that had inherited the legacy of the Religious Court of Inquiry, developing various methods to utilize demons was almost instinctual to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Plus, many demons themselves were excellent raw materials. With such a precious resource like the Mountain of Nomadism, they couldn’t possibly let it rot and spoil.