Iron Powder and Spellcasters

   Chapter 347 Hunting (Part 2)

  The team stopped on a higher mound to ensure the terrain advantage.

  The horses sniffed nervously when they smelled the sulphur nitrate in the air.

   The Tiefeng County Mission has entered a battle-ready state, and the soldiers quickly unloaded the whole box of armor and helped each other wear it.

   "I...I caused everyone trouble..." Anna held Winters' hand tightly, bit her lip, and blamed herself in a panic and uneasiness.

   "Don't be silly, it's just a small scene." While comforting Anna, Winters neatly helped Anna wear the half-body armor: "You stay in the carriage for a while, and try not to get out of the car."

  Anna nodded vigorously.

   "Okay." After confirming that the straps were all fastened, Winters patted the plate armor on Anna's back habitually, and laughed inexplicably and uncontrollably.

   "What are you laughing at?" Anna turned her head and asked suspiciously.

   "I... I suddenly thought of a... nasty joke."

  Cultivated ladies shouldn't be curious, but Anna couldn't help but ask: "What?"

   Winters whispered to Anna's ear.

   "You... what do you know? The armor doesn't fit!" From her cheeks to her earlobes, Anna was so angry that she reached out and pulled the short gun on Winters' waist.

   "Be careful! There's ammunition in the gun!"

   "Really? That couldn't be better!"

The    short gun still fell into Anna's hands - because Winters had intended to leave it to Anna as well.

   After finally helping Anna put on the helmet, Winters squeezed the little she-wolf's hand, turned and got out of the carriage.

   Interpreters, accountants, precious metal craftsmen and cooks are important members that cannot be lost, so they are all protected in the center of the formation.

   Father Kaman was also kept in the "safe zone".

When    Winters got out of the car, Kaman was praying, and he was holding a scripture in both hands and a mace under his arm, chanting words.

   Seeing Winters approaching, Kaman just nodded coldly, while Winters nodded solemnly in return.

   stepped out of the temporary circle formed by the cart, took the reins from Ciel, and Winters jumped onto the war horse in one step.

  In an instant, there seemed to be an invisible wave spreading around him with the origin as the origin, sweeping across the entire hill.

  Some sort of subtle change happened to the riders, and from a bystander’s point of view, it’s hard to tell exactly what has changed, but something has changed.

   Involuntary saliva? Getting short of breath? Is it slightly sweaty palms? Or dilated pupils... It is not clear whether the physical state affects the spirit, or whether the changes in the mental state are reflected in the body.

   If they were just knives in a box before, now they are ready to go.

   "Your Excellency." Heinrich asked in a deep voice, "Do you want to show your flag?"

   "No." Winters looked at the smoke from the horse's hooves in the distance: "Don't scare them away."

   As early as the night before yesterday, the scouts who came out found a group of Heards two hours away.

After    was rewarded, Winters ordered not to disturb the other party.

   He doesn't plan to make contact with each other, because "road encounter" in the wasteland can only mean danger, especially since he is an outsider.

  The wasteland has hospitable hosts, but there is no shortage of greedy, cruel, hungry beasts. The law of the jungle is not a metaphor here, but a **** way of life.

  Whenever a strong leader is lost, the Hurd tribes inevitably fall into this costly infighting, until the next one emerges who can restore order from chaos.

  Although Winters took the initiative to avoid, but as the day passed, the distance between the two sides not only did not widen, but became smaller and smaller.

   Until the Hurds also discovered the whereabouts of the convoy, they took the initiative and quickly rushed over.

   The smoke and dust were getting closer, the hoofs were getting louder, and the silhouette of the Hurd rider was looming on the ridges of the undulating hillside.

   Just when the action of coming to ride was completely exposed, the sound of hooves stopped abruptly. The figure of the Hurd disappeared in a flash, as if plunged into the ground at once.

   "What's going on? Where are the people? Where are the barbarians?" Vashka looked around and muttered softly.

   Winters pointed his whip to the hillside a kilometer away, and said with great interest: "It's hidden on the backslope of that hillside. It should be that he doesn't want us to see the truth... Interesting guy."

  Old Sergey glared at his son, obviously dissatisfied with Vashkar's timid behavior.

  The old man drove forward and volunteered: "Your Excellency, let me take a few sabres and take a look! Hmph, no matter what tricks he has, give him a shot first!"

   "No hurry, wait." Winters said calmly: "However, if you really fight, don't rush too far ahead, Mr. Morozov, I'm afraid others won't catch you."

   "Hey hey." Old Sergey took advantage of this, grinned, and returned to his place triumphantly.

   As Winters said, silence is only temporary.

   It didn't take long for three riders to climb over the hill where the smoke disappeared and galloped towards Winters' position.

  The distance of one kilometer was just around the corner. The three riders had just run to the bottom of the **** when they heard the leading rider shouting at the top of his voice—the voice of the little lion: "It's not the enemy! It's not the enemy..."

  The little lion panted and climbed up the hillside. Seeing the attitude of Winters and his party, he was startled at first, and then laughed: "Don't be tense! They have no hostility."

   The subordinates all looked at Winters, but Winters did not order to disarm.

   "No hostility?" Winters asked.

   "No." The little lion replied with a smile.

   "Who are they?"

   "Hunter, the hunter of the Bad Earth Department." The little lion said meaningfully: "Actually, they are more afraid of you."

   After a quarter of an hour, Winters saw the head of the Bad Earth.

"Batu, you don't know me." As soon as we met, the burly, dark-skinned leader of the Bad Earth Department labored to introduce himself in blunt common language: "But I've met you, I'm a rich man. Shihaqi, your men are defeated."

  …

  …

  [10th day after leaving Hibabe wintering pasture]

  [The wasteland, an unknown small river valley]

  Although their identities have been confirmed, and even though they are "dropping in", the Iron Peak County Mission and the Bad Earth Hunters still tacitly keep a certain distance from each other.

  The leader of the Badlands Department [Koshihachi] is very unique, and he takes the initiative to visit the Tiefeng County Mission every day.

  Koshihachi has a strong curiosity about the world beyond the wasteland.

   What makes Winters interesting is that Koshkach doesn't hide his curiosity about the outside world.

   He is always asking questions: astronomy and geography, local customs, religious science, institutional technology...whatever comes to mind. Some questions are ridiculously naive, while others are too advanced to answer.

When    asked a question, Winters saw no shame in Koshhach's eyes; when he didn't get an answer, Koshhach never showed any discouragement or resentment.

When Koshhaqi did not ask questions, he would observe with interest the every move of the Paratus, from dressing to eating, from camping to rushing on the road... Even the members of the embassy dig the toilet, he carefully watched once again.

   Winters' subordinates stared at the "barbarian" with surprise, disgust, or vigilance, and the "barbarian" seemed to feel nothing and continued to go his own way.

"...Leave the Inland Sea and sail south until you leave the Golden Summit Mountains behind, and you'll arrive at the [Broken Lands]." Winters narrated the geography of the continent as he heated the fire: "There are only barren hills, With more than a dozen large and small principalities, from the nobles to the common people, they are impoverished..."

  The campfire was crowded with members of the mission, some of whom liked to join in the fun, and some of them fascinated. Naturally, Koshhaqi was also present. He sat among the Platoons as if there was no one else, leaning on his knees and listening.

   As he spoke, Winters found that the glass was empty, and got up to pour water.

When    Winters was silent, there was an immediate noise around the campfire.

   "Herd!" Someone asked Koshhachi mockingly: "Can you understand?"

   "I don't understand!" Koshhaqi grinned and replied in half-familiar common language: "I understand a little more. The more I listen, the more I understand."

   In a few words, Winters has returned with the iron kettle.

"Batu." Kuoshhaqi said bluntly: "In the various tribes, even the master of a tribe as small as a horseshoe does not do things like fetching wine and milking! You do the work of a woman, and the children only do it. I'll look down on you."

   "[Excited vulgar words] Fart!" As if bitten by a dog, Ciel immediately grabbed the water bottle from his brother's hand and pushed back **** for tat: "The blood wolf needs you to look down on it, look down on it?"

  Koshihaqi nodded thoughtfully: "It makes sense! Warriors like Batu, even if they fiddle with needles and threads every day, will have a large number of children vying to follow."

  Winters: "To be clear, I don't like needles or threads."

   Weak laughter came from the carriage five paces away.

  Koshihachi didn't seem to care about the personal preferences of the Palatine champion. He asked impatiently: "Batu, where is the south from the 'very broken land'? Where is the further south?"

   "Sand Sea." Winters recalled the contents of "Geography": "Desert without end like the sea."

  Koshihaqi scratched the top of his head: "What desert is it?"

   "Have you seen the sand on the beach?"

   "Have seen."

   "A desert is a place where there is nothing but sand. The book says so, and I have never seen a sea of ​​sand with my own eyes."

   "Just sand, no grass? No water?"

"right."

   "How do you raise horses? Raise cattle and sheep? How do you farm?"

   "Nothing can be raised, nothing can be grown." Winters added: "It is said that there are also some small oases in the desert, I don't know if it is true or not."

  Koshihachi was disappointed to learn that Shahai could not be grazing, and he continued to ask, "Where is Shahai further south?"

"do not know."

   "Why don't you know?"

   "Because I can't get through." Winters smiled wryly and spread his hands: "It is said that someone once walked south for a hundred days, and all they saw was still sand.

Ancient scholars [Tossenes] believed that the sand sea was endless, extending to the end of the world, and finally merged with the extreme ice cap that would not melt for ten thousand years; some people said that the sand sea was another sea further south; others said Further south of the Sand Sea is the Pit of the World, into which all the sea water will eventually flow. But what the truth is, no one knows. "

   Everyone sighed in unison.

   "What is the ice sheet?" Koshhaqi asked persistently.

"Ice caps are ice that can't see the end." Winters couldn't help laughing: "The ancient imperial people kept going north, and when they reached the extreme north, they found that there was only endless ice left, so they thought that the extreme south The land is also nothing but endless ice."

   "How about a boat?" Pierre, who was sitting beside Winters, asked thoughtfully, "Isn't the sea on the east side of the Sand Sea? Can't we go south by boat?"

   "Uh..." This time Winters was questioned.

After searching his stomach, he said embarrassedly: "Sorry, I don't know either. I also think it is feasible to take a boat, but for some reason, I have never seen a description of crossing the sand sea by boat in the book. It seems that scholars They all think it's not okay to go by boat, or someone has tried it and I don't know... I really don't know much about sailing, and if 'good luck' Gold was there, he should be able to tell some reasons..."

   "Is there something you don't know about Batu?" Koshihachi burst out laughing, causing others to glare at him.

   "I don't know much more than I know." Winters readily admitted his ignorance. But for some reason, he had some subtle, sad regrets.

   "Don't pay attention to him." Ciel jumped up emotionally: "What does he know as a barbarian?"

"Badu knows as many things as the stars in the sky." Kuoshhaqi said cheerfully: "If Batu said he knew very little, wouldn't I be even more stupid than the stubborn stone on the ground? "

   Witnessing this savage savage in front of him speak the most disgusting flattery in the most frank tone, the members of the mission have mixed feelings in their hearts.

   Only the little lion was overjoyed, laughing so much that he fell back and forth.

   Winters felt a tap on his shoulder, and when he turned around, it was Father Kaman's impatient face.

   "Here." Kaman handed Winters a piece of paper folded in half, shook his head and walked away.

  Unknown Winters checked the paper by the firelight, and the eyebrows immediately stretched - because the paper was Anna's graceful handwriting.

   Winters coughed twice, and the area around the campfire fell silent.

"I just learned some new knowledge." Winters solemnly told everyone: "The reason why I can't cross the Sand Sea by boat is because the east of the Sand Sea is the never-ending thunder squalls, storms and winds. Stormy waves."

  The crowd held their breaths involuntarily, and could only hear the beeping sound of firewood.

Winters said with a smile: "The ocean east of the Inner Sea is called the [Storm Ocean] because of the harsh sea conditions, and the Storm Ocean is like a docile gelding compared to the ocean east of the Sand Sea - that ocean is called [Rage Ocean].

   Legend has it that the Furious Ocean was the place where the Sea God of the Golden Age died. When the Sea God fell, he cursed mortals, so mortals would never be able to cross that sea.

   Many Veneta merchant ships have attempted to cross the Furious Ocean, but all attempts have failed. The vast majority of ships failed to return, and those that were lucky to return also failed to clear their way. On the shore of the sand sea, there is a coast named Shipwreck Beach, which is said to be because of the wreckage of the wrecked ships.

  After the rise of monsoon navigation, the center of trade in the inland sea turned to the east, and people were no longer interested in the worthless southern route... This is the reason why the southern route is rarely mentioned in books and literature. "

After    Winters finished speaking, there was a neat exhalation around the campfire.

   "So it is." Pierre nodded admiringly: "It makes sense. Stormy, stormy waves... The sea is so terrifying? It's a pity that I have never seen the sea."

   "The ocean is a moody beauty, but she is very gentle most of the time." Winters said with a nostalgic smile: "Otherwise, how could there be a sea blue beside the inland sea?"

Wasika shouted unconvinced: "Centurion, when there is no war in the future, let's go to that furious ocean! I don't believe it, it's just wind and rain, and it can scare us Dussack. ?"

   "What do you know?" Old Sergey raised his hand and slapped his son on the head: "Have you ever been on a sea boat?"

  Washka scratched his neck: "Why? Have you ever sat?"

"Your father really **** you!" Old Sergey raised his hand and gave his son a slap: "When I and Pierre's father took a boat to the front of the mountain, we only stayed on the boat for a few days? I almost threw my life into the sea! I vomited and vented, and I climbed down when I got off the boat. Ride your horse honestly, and think about the boat!"

   Winters couldn't help laughing, and there was a cheerful air around the little campfire.

  …

at the same time

   Furious Ocean

  The clipper [Dreadnought] is chopping the waves, trying to cross this sea of ​​death.

   There was no sign of fury coming: one moment, the sea was calm; the next moment, pea-sized raindrops slammed on the hull, and storms followed one after another, and Furious Ocean instantly revealed its hideous face.

   The cloudy sky was illuminated by lightning bolts that seemed to tear the air apart.

  The strong wind raised huge waves more than ten meters high.

  Everything is really like a dying sea **** venting his unquenchable resentment and rage.

   The 60-ton clipper [Dreadnought] is like an ant in the hands of a cruel child. It was thrown high by the waves and fell heavily on the sea the next moment.

   If the hull hadn’t been built with great effort, this heavy hammer would have smashed the Dreadnought into two pieces.

   A deck sailor failed to grasp and was thrown overboard in an instant. The safety line also failed to save the sailor's life, instead dragging him to the bottom of the boat, causing him to experience a death more painful than drowning.

On the stern deck, a sturdy man yelled at the other man at the helm: "Recover the country! Recover the country! Recover the country! You have to save your life first! You have to put us all here!! "

  The man who steered the helm had a firm gaze, and the hand holding the steering wheel did not tremble at all. He turned a deaf ear to the roar of his companions, and calmly gave the order: "Keep a third of the sail!"

  Sailboats rely on strong winds to sail, and they will also be overturned by strong winds.

  Some people once praised the "sail" for taming the "wind", but the captains all know in their hearts: in the face of the real power of the gods, the only thing you can do is to put up the sail and pray.

  But not now—at least not at Fury.

  Without the sail, the boat can only be sailed by the waves.

   And the waves of the raging ocean point straight to the northwest—directly in the direction of the sand sea.

  Any ship that loses its sail in the raging ocean will be mercilessly thrown to the shore by the waves, and eventually shattered in despair in the reef-covered offshore waters.

   Another terrifying flash of lightning, the dead wood and wreckage on the shipwreck beach took shape like bones—they are the remains of ships, the only traces left by countless failures.

   Now, the only force that prevents [Dreadnought] from destroying the ship is the "wind".

   Only roaring, furious, gusts of wind that swore to destroy the Dreadnought.

  The man at the helm watched the lean man, and calmly repeated the command: "Keep a third of the sail!"

   Keep a third of the sail? Easy to say!

   The Dreadnought's winch had long since been destroyed, and the only means of furling left was to climb up the mast and operate at the top of the boom—almost suicidal.

   Even the brave sailors carefully selected did not have the guts to climb the mast at this moment.

   Their will has long been shattered by the fury of the sea god, and the only thing the sailors can do, and the only thing they are still doing, is prayer.

   The shrewd man was so angry that he cursed. He tore off his shirt, threw off his trousers twice, pulled out his saber and bit it in his mouth.

  Suddenly, the shrewd man turned around, punched the steering man hard, and immediately climbed on the rigging and climbed to the top of the mast naked.

  The man at the helm spit out **** spit, still firmly controlling the steering wheel.

   At this moment, on this sailboat with forty-two sailors, the only people who can perform their duties are the captain—the steering man and the chief mate—the tough man.

   If Winters Montagne ever had the opportunity to witness the deeds of two warriors against the gods, he would be surprised by the coincidence of fate.

   Because both the captain and the first mate are Winters' "old acquaintances".

   The shrewd man who is struggling to climb the mast at this moment is the famous pirate captain, the master of the Union rigging, who once commanded the Taniglia Fleet and the Admiral Nareshaw in the battle of Lighthouse Harbor [Frank Drake].

   And the man holding the rudder at the moment is the one who rescued Drake at the last moment of the naval battle at Lighthouse Harbor.

   In name, the Taniria Federation has ceased to exist.

But the reason why the two masters of rigging, and the two leaders of the Taniria Federation, are here in Furious Ocean is precisely to complete an important mission entrusted by the Taniria Federation—if there really exists south of the Sand Sea A route to the Empire's Far West colonies, find it!

   Find it!

  The storm showed no sign of abating, and the cables creaked from the critical ultimate stress.

   Finally, a certain tiny fiber could no longer bear it and broke.

   Then the second, the third... A rapid chain reaction caused one of the Dreadnought's main cables to be torn apart in a split second.

  The elastic energy accumulated inside the cable was suddenly released, and the cable swept across the rain screen and pulled straight towards Captain Kenway.

   In a flash of lightning, Kenway evaded a fatal blow that could shatter the skull with incredible agility.

   If you let go of the rudder, maybe the cable never had a chance to hit Kenway.

   But there was no if, Kenway made sure that his hands never left the steering wheel at the cost of being hit **** the left shoulder by the end of the rope.

  Drake witnessed this crisis, and his center of gravity was unstable and he fell from the mast.

   Ignoring the piercing pain in his bones, Drake stood up and grabbed the safety rope to climb to the stern of the boat.

   "Edward!" Drake shouted with tears in his eyes, "Don't die!"

  The hull undulated violently with the waves, Drake climbed into the stern with difficulty, Edward Kenway's hands were still firmly on the rudder.

  Captain Kenway's face was pale, but there was no pain in his voice: "Are the sails stowed?"

   "Okay!" Drake shouted at his throat - if not, Drake couldn't even hear his own voice in the storm: "Then what?!"

   "Stand at the helm for me!"

   Intrepid's rudder is connected to the rudder through a pulley lever system, and the force of the rudder is directly transmitted to the rudder.

As soon as   Drake held the steering wheel with both hands, he immediately felt the huge reaction force on the rudder. He gritted his teeth and said, "Then what?!"

  Kenway climbed to the stern rail and fastened himself to the wooden post with ropes.

   "We are going to die here!" Drake has become a little crazy: "Hahahaha!!"

"Sooner or later you will die! Listen to me carefully!" Kenway's voice had an unusual penetrating power, clearly reaching Drake's ears: "I've figured it out! Sail along the coast! Headwind plus headwind Waves! Never cross the raging ocean!"

   "[Expletive]!!" Drake used all his strength to fight the steering wheel, ignoring Kenway at all: "Hahahaha!!"

   "There has always been one and only one route through the Furious Ocean!"

   "We're going to die here!!"

   All the noises disappeared, and the heavy rain seemed to stop at this moment.

For the first time, Edward Kenway's voice brought out the uncontrollable frenzy, and he said the real plan word by word: "That is to go east! To the unknown! To the sea! To the center of the storm! Go where no one has ever been before!"

   "And then?" Dredd yelled.

  "Then?" It was only for a moment that he lost control of his emotions. Edward Kenway regained his composure and said lightly: "Then we take a farther route around the Furious Ocean, and then we continue to fight until victory or death."

   In front of Kenway's crazy plan, even the mad Drake was as wise as a philosopher.

  Drake's eyes were bloodshot: "You know what you're talking about? How do you know you can do it? You bastard! Just for this? You brought me into a frenzy for this?!"

  Kenway smiled contentedly: "Yes, are you going to buy me to win?"

   "Hahahaha!!" Drake laughed happily: "Edward Kenway, so you are the craziest gambler!!"

   "You are the one holding the rudder now."

   "Hahaha! Give an order! Your Excellency Captain!"

  Edward Kenway finally looked back at the familiar land and suddenly laughed: "My friend."

  Drake gritted his teeth and asked, "What's wrong?"

   "Perhaps now..." Edward Kenway cast his eyes on the unknown sea and smiled even more wantonly: "This is the moment when we step into immortality!"

   "Fuck you!" Drake wiped a handful of blood, tears and seawater, and cursed: "With you buried with me, I'm worth it!"

   In the pouring rain, Kenway, whose left shoulder blade was fractured, exhausted, and tied to the railing, said in a relaxed tone, "Deputy Drake?"

   "Captain Kenway." Drake, who was naked, returned a hat with no top hat.

   "Set heading southeast!"

   "Yes, set heading southeast."

   "Towards immortality!"

   "Yes, toward immortality."

   Edward Kenway's final roar: "Go on!"

"go ahead!"

"go ahead!!"

  ——Appendix——

"...In February 560 of the OIE, Edward Kenway and Frank Drake successfully crossed the Furious Ocean...The logbook records Edward Kenway's famous 'Forward to immortality,' order...It is said that in the most perilous time At the juncture, the two also maintained an excellent demeanor..."

  ——"History · Grade 7 (Part 1 [New Hailan Education Press]

   [There is a subtle premonition that the naming structure of 'Shangzhong, 3, 4, 5' will appear again]

   [About Edward Kenway's crazy plan: the first time in the history of human navigation to bypass the Cape of Good Hope, that is to use the method of "do not go near the sea, change to the outer circle" to bypass the seas near the Cape of Good Hope against the wind and against the current]

   [In the public perception, the early Portuguese voyage exploration was to sail along the coast of Africa, it seems that there is no difficulty]

   [But limited by navigation skills, sailing along the coast will still encounter insurmountable waters]

   [It took Portugal more than 20 years to break through the short distance between Portugal and Liberia. During this process, the Portuguese even mistakenly thought that the westernmost point of Africa was the southernmost point of Africa, and champagne was opened at halftime]

   [As well as Cape Storm/Cape of Good Hope, you can already see the southernmost tip of the African continent, but because of the ocean currents and sea breeze, it is difficult to get through]

   [In 1488, Bartolomeu Miu Dias bravely sailed into the vast ocean with his back to the land (Note: America had not yet been discovered at that time). After a voyage of more than a month, he crossed the Cape of Good Hope and reached the east coast of Africa]

   [So the plot of this chapter is a parody of a fragment from the Age of Discovery]

   [Of course, Dias' feat is achieved in a specific environment, latitude, ocean currents, climate... are indispensable]

   [The author has no knowledge of meteorology, but in order for the story to continue, please allow us to assume: a certain low-latitude sea area of ​​a continent in a different world where the story of this book is located also has similar conditions (escape)]

   (end of this chapter)