Silent Crown

One day later.

Below the cliffs at the stronghold, massive iron gates sealed the entrance to the covert port. The nonstop banging of steel came from behind the huge iron gates.

The constant roaring of machines could be heard. Noises from the operations of mechanical cutting axes and hydraulic presses filled the air.

Then shrieks rang out.

"Mr. Ye! Help me, Mr. Ye! Help!" Igor cried out as he rushed forward, threw himself at Ye Qingxuan's feet and clutched his thigh. "Save my child, quick! Those a*holes, those barbarians are trying to take my boat apart!"

Ye Qingxuan, who had just entered, looked up in utter confusion and saw that the secret port had become almost unrecognizable, with metallic tower cranes and scaffolding everywhere.

The port had been transformed into a huge workshop.

At the center of attention, lying on a high platform erected in the water, held by layers of steel cables was Igor's ship. It was factory-fresh and had just completed its maiden voyage. It hadn't even been given a name yet…

"So much progress has been made?" Ye Qingxuan coughed awkwardly and looked at the embarrassed Carol beside him. Carol stared upwards at the ceiling, as if he was expecting to see a flower there.

Ye Qingxuan sighed and patted Igor's shoulder, saying, "Captain, get up from the ground first. We can talk about it slowly."

Boom! A loud bang interrupted him. Igor screamed in sorrow as if his parents had just passed away. The whites of his eyes showed as he almost fainted. Behind them, the ship that had been mounted on the platform was completely broken into two parts under the operation of an engineer.

Half an hour later…

"Your ship was almost broken by the time it sailed here anyway," comforted Ye Qingxuan.

He handed a cup of hot tea to Igor, who buried his face in his hands, sobbing all the while. Igor squatted on the stairs with a blanket draped over him, tearfully watching his ship being dismembered. He looked as if he had nothing left to live for.

"After all, it's a merchant ship. It has already been incredibly lucky to kill the Mountain of Nomadism. Surely you can't be hoping that it can still be sailed after that? The keel is almost broken, three and a half out of the four engines have exploded, even the front deck has a big hole burnt in it... You see, it's beyond salvation."

"And whose fault is it?!" Igor wept, "I've been saving up money my whole freaking life, and finally I could afford a ship! Do you think it's easy for me? My dream of cleaning up my name, gone in smoke! I've been counting on its expeditions at sea to earn me a noble title..."

Ye Qingxuan sighed. "Okay, don't act like a little girl, Mr. Igor. How are there so many grievances between us? Who was the one who rushed to the sea of darkness without another thought upon seeing my check?

"I couldn't possibly have forced you to sail here, could I? I know that this ship is very important to you, but there really is no other way at the moment... You have two choices."

"Which two?" came Igor's reply. His face lit up immediately, wiped away his tears, and glared at Ye Qingxuan with bloodshot eyes. He was almost back to his old self who haggled over every penny. He contemplated taking out his portable calculator to start discussing reparations.

"My apologies, but first of all I have some bad news for you," said Ye Qingxuan. He raised his brows and continued, "The deposit I paid you is actually the last of my money, so don't expect to get even one more cent from my impoverished Church account."

"F*ck!" Igor was furious and he leaped up. "Then what about the balance payment! The balance payment!"

"Why such impatience?" Ye Qingxuan picked his nose, looking like a scoundrel, and said, "When I save Anglo and restore its glory, we will be able to take anything we want from the entire national treasury, won't we? Even giving you ten times the payment would be a piece of cake... This is venture capital. Venture capital, my dear sir. You have to take the risk before you get the returns."

Igor's face turned purple with rage, and he pointed at Ye Qingxuan, totally rendered speechless.

"You have already boarded this pirate ship [1], Mr. Igor, so from now on don't complain that you want out, nor ask for a refund." Ye Qingxuan patted his shoulder, a calm look on his face, and said, "Come, sit down, let's have a proper talk about your two choices."

Igor glared at him for a long time and finally managed to squeeze out a word, "Speak!"

"The first option…" Ye Qingxuan held up a finger and said, "We have expropriated your ship. You have nothing to do with everything here from now on. In the name of Holmes, I promise you that a smuggling route from the city of the Cloud Tower will be handed over to you after the reclamation of Avalon, and only you alone will be allowed to operate it.

"Next, the only thing you need to do is to find a gentleman like me, who is willing to loan you money. Perhaps at a usury rate, and you can start recruiting men for your fleet.

"Think about it. The trade between the East and the West annually, the silk route that flows with black gold… Even if you only earn one hundred-thousandth of the total amount, it is enough for you to become rich overnight. If you are willing to buy enough government bonds, you'll definitely be able to find a country that is willing to help you register as an aristocrat of the Holy City, not to mention mere noble titles.

"Between your last name and your first name, you will be able to add the esteemed middle name of 'Feng', and you can bid farewell to your lowly life of the past and become a distinguished aristocrat. "

Dead silence…

Igor swallowed dryly and stared at Ye Qingxuan with wide eyes which were almost turning red as he envisioned what Ye Qingxuan had described. "You… Are you serious?"

"Provided that I can succeed, of course." Ye Qingxuan shrugged like a rascal, but the look in his eyes was devoid of any jest. "But one can say the returns are a hundred times the risks, don't you think so?"

Igor almost agreed immediately on impulse, but he couldn't shake his gut feeling, which was like an earthworm burrowing its way through his mind, sending shivers down his spine. It was as if a flame was burning him.

He started to speak but was shocked by the hoarseness of his own voice. "Then... What about the second option?" he asked.

"The second option?" Ye Qingxuan smiled, and it was an exceptionally pleasant smile, like a predator when food was being delivered to its plate, holding cutlery in both hands.

He reached out and patted Igor on the shoulder. "Mr. Igor, you are an excellent captain. Even among the pirates in the Illusion Islands, you are one of the best. The fighter of the anger waves, it's a really good name, I like it," he said.

Igor was stunned for a moment, then felt a pang of fear in his heart. He asked, "How do you know this?"

"Fear not," came the reply. Ye Qingxuan pointed to his brain and said, "You have to believe me on this, I really didn't do it on purpose. Although I am a musician of the School of Mind, and one of the best at that. I never intended to spy on other people's thoughts for fun.

"However, when my perception threads were connected to your mind, your mental defenses with loopholes everywhere were really not of much use. One minor careless mistake on my part was enough for me to see everything…"

Upon hearing that, Igor looked as if he had just f*cked a dog, but Ye Qingxuan remained smiling, full of enthusiasm.

Ye Qingxuan continued, "You have plenty of combat experience and are loyal in terms of character, Mr. Igor, and I find that particularly satisfying. Plus, you have another 80 brave, obedient young men who are tired of working as pirates and want to turn over a new leaf like you. Coincidentally, I can offer a new job for all of you here; a perfect job that you have never even dreamed of. "

Igor was stunned for a moment, then realized what Ye Qingxuan meant immediately, and shot him a dirty look. "You want us to serve you with our lives?" he asked.

"Weren't you all risking your lives for money in the past anyway?" Ye Qingxuan replied with a question of his own.

"How can prostitution and marriage be the same!" Igor leaped up, shaking his head vehemently as he refused, "Initially, you hired us! We worked for the pay! Although we are not pirates, we will never give up our freedom and become your lackeys!"

"Mr. Igor, If you're bad with metaphors, just don't use them in your descriptions, okay?" Ye Qingxuan's face twitched as he sighed and said, "In any case, that's the gist of it. If you render your service to me, you can clean up your name, and get recruited by the navy of Anglo..."

He paused for a moment and turned his gaze towards the ship that was being taken apart into pieces, his voice becoming deep. "I can let you all operate this legendary warship, unique to the world. You'll have the chance to surpass the legends of the Revenge of the Queen, the Intrepid and the Star of the Sea, and become a true legend together with it."

"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. 𝒇𝘳𝐞𝚎𝓌𝑒𝑏𝒏𝑜𝙫ℯl.c𝚘𝒎

"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. 𝗳𝗿𝐞ℯ𝙬𝗲𝗯n𝗼νel.𝒄𝑜𝘮

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.