Chapter 424
The entourage of people arrived at the edge of the frozen layer . Saleen glanced at the few hundred people following him . He did not know how to make a motivational speech, so he simply handed the Dimension Stone to Nailisi and said, "Let the warship enter the water . "
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Taking out such a huge warship from the Dimension Stone put a toll on Saleen's mental strength even though his mental strength was no different from that of a sorcerer . Each storage and release process would consume half of Saleen's mental strength . Even if Nailisi had depleted her mental strength, she still possessed physical strength .
Nailisi did not say anything . When she jumped into the icy cold water, the seawater rose up to her ankles, but she did not use any special skill . Without any flashes of magic light, an enormous warship appeared abruptly . Everyone present felt an oncoming force, as if it was pressing down onto their hearts .
This two-hundred meter long warship was in a cerulean hue . Located at the bow was a gigantic dragon head, without any decorations whatsoever . Two razor-sharp horns extended forward, as though it would pierce anything in its path even if a mountain was up ahead .
Boom!
Since such a massive item had appeared in the ocean, the displaced seawater suddenly gave off an explosive uproar . As the water got splashed dozens of meters into the sky, Kanuka and Pasatilo released the Invisible Shield, preventing everyone from getting drenched .
Ka…
The warship twisted in the water, causing everyone to feel like they had just hallucinated . The gigantic scales, made from thundercloud wood, were rubbing against one another . They gave off an almost undetectable noise .
"Go onboard . " Saleen smiled . Then dozens of skeletons took a leap, soaring dozens of meters up onto the deck, before crawling into the cabin . The Pan's Turtle alchemical boat came to the underside of the warship slowly . The winged skeleton was inside commanding these skeletons as he managed to locate the magic array which controlled the warship . Even though the skeletons had some intelligence, they could not cast any spells . Under the guidance of the winged skeleton, they brought the magic nuclei and mosaicked them into the corresponding sites . At this point, the dragon skeleton warship then got activated, mooring towards the ice layer .
The bone wing on one side opened up gradually, resting on the ice layer . After that everyone followed Saleen up to the deck of the warship .
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"Kanuka, you will be the captain for the time being . This is the diagram of the warship . " Saleen handed a piece of paper to Kanuka . As the mages went to their specified positions, Saleen summoned the winged skeleton and said, "I will only be leaving Jola in the city, you don't have to follow me . The moment anything happens in the city, inform me at once . "
"Master, our connection will be cut off if we are more than twenty miles apart!" the winged skeleton exclaimed nervously .
"I will go take a look at that natural port in the south . Do you remember that place?"
"Yes," the winged skeleton answered .
The natural port Saleen was referring to was situated four-hundred miles south of Metatrin City . This location possessed better natural characteristics as compared to the Metatrin City . Even though it was only four-hundred miles away, the duration of frost was much shorter . Be that as it may, this place was surrounded by mountains, and only one side was facing the sea . Other than maritime means, it had no other connections to land .
Building a fortress there was still acceptable . It was pretty unlikely to transform that place into a commercial city .
This place was always in the back of Saleen's mind though . Since he was developing a city, he had to consider the aspect of income . Even if there was no trade, he had to conduct agriculture . This harbor was a piece of dead land, the land area was only about ten square miles . It would be sufficient for a city to be built on such a big plot of land, but the city's rations would have to be transported via the sea .
On the other hand, in Metatrin City, one only had to cross a few rivers to reach the plains in the north . In the south, there were also lands with an area of a few hundred square miles available for growing crops . Self-sufficiency would not be a problem at all . There was a breach in the mineral vein in the west of the city also . Through this breach, one would be able to reach the distant plains where there were more plots of land . One could also reach Phoenix .
Saleen had done some calculations before . The speed of his warship could definitely exceed seventy miles an hour . Since the natural port was only four-hundred miles from Metatrin City, the journey would be completed within six hours . This place was easy to defend yet difficult to be attacked . A fortress could be built there to support Metatrin City .
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Once this fortress was built, the only way to assault would be from the sea, there was no need to worry about getting attacked from land . When the mages from Sregl Island got there, many depots could be constructed to store food for the long-term . In the future, Saleen could store his procured foodstuffs in this location, where it would surely be safe .
Of course, if Saleen owned a godly equipment like Lex's God's Ring, then he would not need to worry about the issue of storing food anymore .
Half of the dragon skeleton warship entered the water . Only after the magic arrays were activated did it float up normally . Had the skeletons been tardy, the warship could have possibly sunk already . Once the mages and skeletons had assumed their positions, the shape of the bone wings on both sides were slightly adjusted . The stern of the ship swayed, causing the ship to change direction swiftly . Then, the ship sailed south .
Saleen could feel that the turn-around speed of this warship was at least ten times faster than other similarly sized ships . When the dragon tail was wavering, the warship itself did not vibrate forcefully . At the rear deck, three magic arrays positioned in a triangular shape were stimulated . In the center of this triangle, a gigantic magic sail about forty meters tall gradually emerged .
This was a Death spell called the Shadow Sail, it had no offensive power . It was used to steer a ship in the death dimension . The skeletons raised the Shadow Sail, thus reducing the consumption of the nuclei's power .
Saleen had given the skeletons grade-4 magic nuclei, it was not some high grade item . It was too prodigal using high grade magic nuclei to drive a ship after all .
When the Shadow Sail was raised, the speed of the dragon skeleton warship did not increase . The huge warship simply traveled south in utter silence . Usually, a sailboat would only reach maximum velocity when traveling against the headwind . Traveling with the wind was a huge challenge to a sailor, they would need to control a ship with great dexterity .
These skeletons would not be exhausted, so they would not make any mistakes . Saleen stood on the front deck with peace of mind as the warship sliced through the waters ahead, creating agitated waves .
"In order to let this ship possess offensive powers, the sailors and swordsmen will have to practice together continuously . This would be another expenditure!" Saleen thought to himself helplessly, "The main source of power for this ship is the grade-4 magic nuclei . In an hour, six nuclei will be consumed . During battle, the depletion will be higher . Six grade-4 magic nuclei would cost more than a thousand gold coins even if they weren't purchased from a shop . As the magic nuclei are used in the power magic array, they must be of the best quality . Inferior ones can't be used . We will be lucky if the magic array does not function otherwise, because it could even explode . "
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The grade-4 magic nuclei which Saleen had obtained were those which were not sold . Since there were too many of them, the price of magic nuclei would fall drastically if they were put on the market . There was no meaning selling only a few of them anyway .
One-thousand gold coins spent in an hour . The powering of the dragon skeleton warship was simply burning money . The speed of the warship brought great satisfaction to Saleen though . With the Shadow Sail replacing part of the power, the ship could easily reach a speed of seventy miles an hour . At this moment, the depletion of the magic nuclei would at least be halved . Only during a battle would the magic arrays be fully functioning .
"If I don't go to the Frozen Sea, I won't be able to afford this warship even if I do own it . "
In less than five hours, the dragon skeleton warship had arrived at the natural port . The frozen sea here only had a width of dozens of miles . Saleen was thinking of stopping the warship there so that everyone could take a look at that natural port . At the same time, they could draw a detailed map . That way a fortress could be conceptualized when they returned . Suddenly, a swordsman from Sregl Island ran up the deck and told Saleen, "Sir, the captain has discovered some warships approaching . "
"How close are they?" Saleen questioned . Saleen knew that they were not too far, as the magic compass had a finite surveillance range . These warships which appeared abruptly should already be within a range of fifty miles .
"About eighty miles away . The warships are not huge, about eighty to one-hundred meters long, otherwise we would have discovered them earlier . "
"How many warships?"
"Six warships, one formation . "
Saleen began calculating in his mind, "If the enemy's warships possess good capabilities, they will discover the presence of my warship in at most half an hour . " Saleen was not afraid . A warship shorter than one-hundred meters could only carry a certain number of magic trebuchets . It would be impossible for them to pose a threat to Saleen's ship .
No matter how superior a magic trebuchet was, its attack range was only around five miles . Even though Saleen's warship had not begun producing the bone spirits, there was no need to be afraid of these ships either . What were these ships doing in the north? There were no cities available for docking in the north while Lianyun City should have been occupied for a long time . These ships could only be from the eastern sea island states .
"Did I not kill all of them the previous time? Did I allow some of them to escape, and cause the expeditionary army to discover my city?"
Saleen's calculations were slightly erroneous . In order for a magic compass to discover a target, a familiar map had to be present for corroboration . It could also be that the target was too conspicuous . The reason why Saleen's dragon skeleton warship could probe such a great distance ahead was due to the Eye of the Dead on the dragon's head . The Eye of the Dead was working in tandem with the magic compass, so it could detect all live targets .
It would be difficult, however, for the fleet to discover Saleen's warship as it was totally sealed . There were also only a few people standing on the deck, so the enemy's magic compass might not be able to pick it up .
"Sir, what do we do?" That swordsman was still waiting for Saleen's instructions .
Saleen thought about it, "If the Pan's Turtle alchemical boat was around, there would not be a problem dealing with these six vessels . I don't have the bone spirits now though . I can only use the dumbest method, which is to approach the enemy and board their ship for a battle . Even though I have fewer warriors here, I have three grand mages . Sika and Nailisi are around also . The oncoming warships won't have such powerful offensive abilities . "
"We will meet them . As long they aren't warships from the Alchemy City, sink them . "
The swordsman was aghast, then he bowed and went below the deck . The warships from Sregl Island also had horns . It was one to six however . The enemy's ships had to be sunk . This caused the swordsman to be in disbelief .
"Let's go down too," Saleen told Sika and Nailisi, who had been following him around . Since the warships were going to crash into one another, the impact would be pretty intense . When the dragon skeleton warship was designed, only the internal cabins could decrease impact . If Saleen continued standing on the deck, he would definitely be flustered .
Unlike a normal warship, the captain's cabin in the dragon skeleton warship was located under the deck . The building on the deck was to accommodate the swordsmen . The swordsmen had assembled, awaiting orders . The moment the warship got entangled with the enemy's ship, the swordsmen would board the enemy's warship to start the fight . With help from the sailors, the swordsmen began putting on armor and inspecting their weapons . In the captain's cabin, Kanuka's eyes were fixated on the magic compass . The six targets on the magic compass were drawing closer . They had altered their direction . They were now coming straight for the dragon skeleton warship .