Chapter 140
Chapter 140
"Such a large fleet, we can't take them head-on."
"Right, we're short-handed; we have to be clever about it."
"Block the ship. These mountains for dozens of miles will keep them from climbing up."
"There are ships upstream. Sink a few in the channel; it should at least block the larger ones."
"We need to be quick. The nearest port is still several dozen miles away."
"No problem. It's ebbing tide now, and the next high tide is at midnight. They probably won't risk night navigation. In that case, they'll have to wait until tomorrow afternoon to set sail we have time."
In the howling cold wind, two mages ran side by side, exchanging words. To be precise, the only one running on his own two legs was Daniel the special forces mage; Garrett, as usual, was being carried by a barbarian...
The warriors also ran with them. Starting with Captain Barnes, they all focused, fearing to miss a single word. Suddenly, the captain shouted:
"Loewi."
"Huh?" The young archer turned his head. Captain Barnes, while running, took off his short knife and handed it to him:
"Go back to the main camp and report the situation! Whether we can stop them or not, news of the fleet must reach Count Nordmark!"
"But..."
"Hurry!"
Captain Barnes was firm. Loewi shrugged and clenched the knife, then turned and descended the mountain. At the foot of the mountain, he mounted his horse, urging it towards the main camp.
The rest of the group rode along the mountain ridge, taking turns to climb to the mountain top to scout. As the sun set, the mountain road under their feet gradually became unclear. Garrett and Daniel had to take turns casting Light Dance spells to illuminate the path for the team. When the first spell was cast, Daniel was surprised:
"You're a mage? Then why be a priest? Which church accepts that?"
"Uh..." Garrett was used to such questioning and ignored it, only answering the last question: "The Church of the Natural Spirits..."
"Oh, them." Daniel had been following the scout team all along and hadn't heard Garrett's gossip. But as soon as he heard the words 'Church of the Natural Spirits,' he immediately understood:
"No wonder. They're alright. The Church of the Natural Spirits is particularly ancient. Back in ancient times, they didn't distinguish between mages and priests..."
They galloped for half the night, and when the moon was at its zenith, they finally saw a large ship in the canyon. The wanderer secured the ropes, went down to inspect, and came back to report:
"The ship is quite large, but I alone can't sink it. There's not much on board that can be burned, and trying to block the channel with explosive methods might not work."
"What's on the ship?"
Captain Barnes asked. The stealthy one recalled:
"Ore, clay pots, pig bristles, flour..."
As he spoke, Captain Barnes shook his head. Daniel, the mage, asked on the side:
"No olive oil? No tung oil? Not even cotton?"
He asked about one thing, and the stealthy one shook his head. Daniel pondered for a moment, then sighed:
"Never mind, let's go down. Bring the ship to the center of the channel and see if we can sink it with brute force."
"Seems like the only option." Captain Barnes sighed. Under the moonlight, he looked dejected with his red beard, and everyone collectively slumped in frustration. Garrett had been silent, but when he heard this, he suddenly had an idea:
"Flour?"
"Yeah, flour." The stealthy one nodded affirmatively. Garrett grabbed him and asked:
"How much flour? Where is it stored? Is it finely ground?"
The stealthy one was startledreally startled. If he hadn't corrected his course in time, he would have almost fallen off the cliff. Under Garrett's impulsive move, he even directly grabbed the hand that was playing with bladesbig brother! I'm playing with blades here!
Fortunately, the infiltrator was skilled in evading, retracting his hand in time, averting a potential tragedy. After careful recollection, he answered:
"There's quite a lot of flour, stored in the lower cargo hold, at least 200 bags. 100 pounds per bagpretty fine. I don't know what's inside; I cut one open and saw it's good quality white bread flour."
"That's good!" Garrett confidently clapped his hands. "Let's go down, take control of the ship, bring it to a shallow area, and blow it up!"
He explained his plan in detail. Although everyone was skeptical about the crucial point, after Garrett demonstrated his unique fire magic, they agreed to proceed accordingly
Of course, it might also be because Garrett added that if the ship couldn't be blown up, they could use brute force to sink the shipboard.
With a level seven warrior and two level five warriors on the scene, plus three level four warriors, with a fierce pounding, it might, probably, perhaps, still be possible to sink it.
With the help of the infiltrator, they reached the bottom of the canyon, sneaking onto the docked cargo ship. Garrett, still feeling pity, suggested not to harm the crew, so Daniel the mage took the lead, using a Sleep Wind to put everyone on the ship to sleep. Working together, they tied them up, gagged them, and brought them to the shore.
Then, the barbarian Bernard exerted his brute strength, pulled up the ship anchor, and went downstream.
"Spread the flour in the cargo hold! Spread it evenly!" Captain Barnes, accompanied by his personal attendantthe dual-wielding warriorcontrolled the ship, while Garrett, with two other warriors, tampered with the cargo hold. Of course, Garrett didn't do any manual labor; he just kept urging:
"Quick! Move faster! We don't have much time! Try to spread as much flour as possible! No need to ignite; just use Light Dance!"
"Is it ready? We're here!" The cargo ship went downstream for a dozen miles, not requiring much time. Captain Barnes estimated that after passing this bend, they could directly see the Radiant Church fleet. They didn't dare to go further, dropping the anchor about five or six miles away.
"Almost done! You guys retreat!" Garrett answered loudly. The sound of footsteps on the deck echoed in a series of thuds as everyone retreated. When Garrett heard that everyone had evacuated, he turned to Daniel the mage:
"Let's do it together! Use Wind Creation to blow up the flour as much as possible! Three! Two! One!"
The two mages stood side by side at the cargo hold entrance, chanting spells. A strong wind howled out. Changing wind strength was a first-level spell, and Garrett's use of it was average, but Daniel the mage could sweep a large area with one spell. When flour dust fluttered throughout the cargo hold, Garrett returned to the deck, pointing upwards. The light orbs of the Light Dance spell rotated around him
Soon, he saw torches swinging on the top of the cliff, first in one direction and then in the other. Excellent, everyone successfully evacuated and retreated to the mountaintop!
"Alright! Let
's retreat too!" Garrett exclaimed joyfully. He handed Daniel the mage to Bernard, letting the barbarian carry the mage up the cliff, and then returned with a steel shield from the cliff to stand beside him. The two stood outside the cargo hold; Bernard crouched slightly, Garrett used both hands and feet to hang onto his back.
The barbarian faced away from the cargo hold, one arm bent backward, shielding his back with the steel shield. Garrett tried to minimize his surface area behind the shield, with one hand around the barbarian's neck, trying to turn his head to look backward, and the other hand reaching out beyond the steel shield. When the flour exploded later, the shockwave would be formidable, and although Bernard ran fast, having a shield cover was still better...
All defense work completed. Garrett concentrated for a moment, aimed at the cargo hold's interior from a distance, and launched his modified Burning Hand.
"Three, two, one!"
Boom!!!
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