The Great Worm Lich

Crouching on the icy cold deck, the natural voyager of the Wizard Li tribe replied respectfully, “Great Conqueror, according to the ‘latitude and longitude algorithm’ that you taught me, I have already recorded the route, chasing the mainlanders in detail.”

The latitude and longitude mentioned by Bansaru was the imaginary auxiliary line imitated by the Wizard Li tribesmen from Earth civilization for measuring the azimuth. The definition is the same as the latitude and longitude of Earth, of which its trajectories were formed by a certain point on the surface, formed by the planet’s own rotation, wherein the latitude was oval in shape and were parallel to each other, its length was the multiplication result of the planet’s equator circumference and the cosine of the latitude’s degree. The longitude, on the other hand, was a semi-circular arc on the large circle connecting the north and south poles on the surface of the planet. The lengths of any two longitude lines were equal and they were placed at the two poles of north and south.

The longitude line indicated north and south, while the latitude indicated east and west. The intersection between the two could show any position on the planet. This setting was very simple, as long as one understood that the world was round and then set a longitude as a starting point. After formulating the latitude and longitude, it was theoretically possible to determine the azimuth by measuring the angle of the sun with a sextant.

The voyagers on Earth had already divided the latitude and longitude several centuries ago to be used in ocean voyage. When Zhang Lisheng used the tablet to teach this knowledge to the indigenous tribal craftsmen, several diagrams he showed were the map of Earth that had been drawn with latitude and longitude and the diagram of the sextant.

As a result, miraculously, the natives managed to set Shrimp B1 Island as the starting point of the longitude and latitude and drew the longitude and latitude for Shrimp World No. 2 to be used in long-distance sea fishing. This great unprecedented undertaking had also become the wisdom enlightenment given to the Wizard Li tribesmen from their living belief, despite the fact that Zhang Lisheng did not even know how to measure the sun angle using a sextant until now.

However, the lack of knowledge on the latitude and longitude did not hinder the young man from putting up an air praising his own greatness. “Very good, Bansaru, looks like you’ve completed the first nautical chart of our Wizard Li tribesmen. We’ll reach the mainlander’s city in the morning if we continue to sail straight ahead. Even though we have taken many detours and have spent a whole two months, we’ve managed to explore a route connecting the Wizard Li island to the mainlander’s country after all. That’s right, if I ask you to go back by yourself now, how long do you think it will take for you to drive the iron ship back to the Wizard Li island?”

“Everything is all thanks to your enlightenment of wisdom, Great Conqueror! Those mainlanders fled with sails and the speed of the ship is ten times slower than our steamship. If I sail in full speed, it would only take six days at most for me to make a return voyage.”

If the return journey was six days, it meant that it would only need three days to complete a one-way trip. In that case, the value of this route heading straight to the Kattaman City State would be even higher, and the answer had far exceeded the young man’s expectations.

“In that case, Hanoo is really very skillful to say so! He didn’t take us to go around many detours and it’s just so unfortunate that he doesn’t have much confidence…” Zhang Lisheng was stunned. He muttered for a while and looked at the young native captain by his feet. Raising his foot, he stepped on the deck made from steel and asked in a raised voice, “Bansaru, since you’re very confident about the speed of this steamship, how do you feel about the strength of the ship?”

“Conqueror, this steamship with the length of 200 steps has a strength that can compete with ten giant wooden fishing ships that have their ten sails all hoisted up!” Bansaru, who was kneeling on the ground, froze as though he had some hunch in his heart. After a moment of silence, he answered excitedly with a trembling voice.

“Very good.” Upon hearing this satisfactory answer, Zhang Lisheng, who was in the darkness, had a ferocious smile on his face. He stared at the brightly lit fleet of boats far away and said calmly, “Since this steamship is so strong, then, pass on my orders and gather the strength of the three iron ships to attack the mainlanders who convened with the fugitives today. Kill their guards and spellcasters, take their ships and drive back to Wizard Li island.

“Yes, Great Conqueror!” Bansaru replied in a high-spirited and courteous manner.

“Remember, tell Tugra after sending the captive fleet back to the tribe, he’s not allowed to kill any of the mainlanders and just lock them up in the stone prison. Feed them well and wait for me to go back and deal with them,” Zhang Lisheng thought about it and added again, “Also, after you have sent the prisoners back, you’ll return to this sea region with three steamships and start patrolling nearby. When you see the fog rising from the sea at noon some day, you’ll come to the shore and look for me.”

“Yes, Great Conqueror!”

“Alright, Bansaru! Let me see your bravery at sea! Pass my words to all Wizard Li tribesmen that your fearlessness on the battlefield is the most sincere piety to me!” As the Wizard Li’s Conqueror was saying so, he surrounded himself in the clouds and soon vanished without a trace, leaving behind only his cold voice floating on the sea, igniting the blood of his believers.

Very soon, the steel warships, which were quickly prepared for battle, ripped the night sky like a ghost and gradually accelerated towards the fleet of the Tantorn Family in the distance. A fierce battle was on the verge of breaking out.

At this time, the mainlanders were unprepared for the upcoming war as they thought they were sailing in the safe waters of the city-state. In the flagship’s main cabin of the fleet, Fandersal was dining with Annete and Helena, who had undergone many sufferings and who had just escaped from their jaws of death, to help them get over the shock.

Due to the reason that the teacher and the governess of both teenagers were by their sides, according to etiquette, Wester, the chief guard of Tantorn Family’s fleet and Dagamma, the flagship captain, were also present, making this slacking vigilance become more vulnerable.

On the flagship watchtower, a short guard, wearing a round hat with a machete on his waist, was enjoying the sea breeze looking around for a moment in boredom and secretly took out a bright silver flat metal flask from his arms. He silently unscrewed the lid and took a sip, before secretly putting the flask back into his pocket.

“Eister, you’ve sneaked a sip again!” To his surprise, before he could even pull out his arm from his pocket, his companion, who was guarding the night back-to-back with him, suddenly said loudly.

“W-What nonsense are you spouting, Apuler? H-How can I possibly drink while guarding the night?” The short guard stuttered in defense in panic. “I’d be doomed if I drank and passed out you know…”

“Stop your quibble, Eister, have you forgotten how sharp my nose is?”

“If your nose is so sharp, well, you probably have smelled the wind from the ship’s hold. Young Master Fandersal is holding a banquet so there’s definitely wine there!” Eister braced himself and continued to argue.

“Alright, you’re right! It could either be you who are drinking while on night duty and it could either be the wine from Young Master’s banquet that I smelled. Since both of us insisted on our own stance, let’s ask Captain Avery to be our judge then!” the short guard’s companion sniffed the air and shouted loudly.

“N-No, don’t Apuler! We are brothers who have known each other for many years…”

“Brother? If you really think of me as a brother, would you still enjoy wine all by yourself in such cold weather?” Apuler scoffed. “You’re so short and you’re already shivering with only half of your head exposed in the watchtower. Did you even think about me at all? I’m so tall and half of my body is exposed you know…”

“Okay okay! Just shut up! Captain Avery will hear us if we continue to bicker on and none of us will be able to drink anymore!” When Eister heard his companion’s voice gradually getting louder as he talked, he took out the flask from his pocket with a bitter look on his face and unscrewed the lid, before using it to block Apuler’s mouth. “There, drink! Drink up! This is a high-grade red sour fruit wine! This one small flask alone costs me 75 copper coins you know! Just shut up after you drink.”

“Oh oh this is a really good wine, my brother Eister!” After gulping down the wine in two sips, Apuler immediately smiled happily. “Hmm it’s sour and sweet and full of ‘oomph’! Ah, my entire body is starting to get warm now…”

“Apuler, look! Why is Blue Crown’s watchtower suddenly lit?” Absently listening to his companion’s nonsense, Eister, whose heart was bleeding over his wine, suddenly saw a flash of brilliance at the right side through the corner of his eye. As he turned to look at it, he saw that the tall watchtower of the ship had already been covered with fire so he could not help but blurt out.

“Don’t lie to me, Eister! I won’t fall for it! Even if there’s a warning, I’ll…” Apuler lifted the flask up and ambiguously replied without lowering his head. However, before he could finish his words, his neck was already pierced by a smooth wooden stick that had a sharp iron blade in front.

Staring at his neck and opening his mouth but could only throw out a mouthful of blood, unable to make any sound after having his neck pierced, Eister’s body went stiff directly as he froze.

However, he was a guard with practical experience after all so he reacted in within a span of one breath. Dexterously, he crouched down in the watchtower and lit up the warning light, while shouting loudly at the top of his lungs, “Javelins! The Hellfire people have killed Apuler using javelins! Dear God, the Hellfire people are here…”

The late cry shattered the otherwise calm night sky, causing the flagship’s deck to gradually stir up.

Fandersal was listening to Annete’s horrifying story on Hellfire Island with interest, eating his fresh tender steak on a large oval dining table in the warm and comfortable cabin, that was warmed by a fireplace. When he heard the weird commotion that was gradually getting louder outside, he had no choice but to spoil the fun and interrupt his guests.

“Wester, something seems to be wrong outside. Go out and see what happened.” He put down the knife and gave his order, before turning to Annete to flash an apologetic smile. Then, he proceeded to gesture the latter to continue his horror story.

The teenager chuckled and continued, “We walked for four to five hours in the jungle and finally came to the beach. In the end, guess what we saw, Fandersal? We saw countless docks, ports, and huge ships. To be honest, those ships were very spectacular. It looks as though the craftsmanship was no less spectacular than the best shipyards in the Kattaman City State. You’ve also seen the wooden ship we stole, erm…I mean snatched from the Hellfire people right? Putting aside the small cabin that is only suitable for the height of the Hellfire people, just the craftsmanship alone is very exquisite already. honestly, throughout the voyage, I was very afraid that the Hellfire people would be chasing after us using those big ships…”

“Young Master Fandersal, the Hellfire people are attacking our fleet! I need you to give me the right to command all sailors to resist the attack!” At this moment, the Tantorn family’s chief guard, who had just been ordered to leave to check the situation, hastily rushed back into the cabin and interrupted Annete’s words loudly.