Pillars of Ita

Garshur floating island, off the coast of Zhili, coordinates are B310314, the weather is fine, the air visibility is high, the breeze is southwest, the Seven Seas Traveler is sailing to the Zhili Islands along the established route, with a silver sail hanging on the mast, quietly in the sea of ​​clouds Sail quietly.

Earlier, they encountered a shipwreck. The loose wooden planks were floating on the wind element layer, and shipwrecks could be seen everywhere among the clouds. Everyone rescued a victim, a beautiful lady wearing white clothes. shirt and long hair like a flame.

Shipwrecks in the air and at sea are not uncommon. Pirates, storms or attacks by sea beasts may lead to tragedy. The other party told them that she came from the 'Cygnus' and it was a rare storm that caused her to end up like this.

"My name is Catherine. Alantz is the family name, although this name is no longer worth mentioning." The woman's body was wet, and her plump and hot curves were outlined. Her long flaming hair also hung down, making her look pitiful. Her appearance - but she has a pair of emerald green dream-like eyes, full of ambition that is incompatible with her weakness, like a group of vigorously growing flames - reveals shrewdness and determination. She is looking at everyone and saying thanks: "We are in this business We are brokers and matchmakers who walk on the empty sea. Everyone should have heard of us. We are speculators and desperadoes. In short, we don’t have a good reputation, but at least I will repay my kindness. "

"So Ms. Eilands is also a smuggler?"

Fang Yu couldn't help but think of the matchmaker Minmil promised to find for them. It was supposed that the other party should have contacted them long ago, but there has been no news since leaving Xinta'an. Communication between the two worlds was rarely interrupted for a month. So they couldn't get in touch with Minmir - to ask what happened?

"Are you also a smuggler? Have you ever met one of my colleagues?" The woman blinked, looking a little surprised, "Since when have there been so many people like me in the air and sea?"

She suddenly stopped, looked up at the emblem on the silver sail, and then looked around - although she seemed to be fished out of the water, it was not actually sea water. There was no sea water in Kukai, and of course it was not far away - The water element is concentrated between the clouds.

The next moment, Catherine's eyes suddenly showed a look of surprise, and she looked at the group of people in surprise: "...Wait a minute, so you are from the Seven Seas Brigade?"

Parker couldn't help but ask sharply: "Do you recognize us?"

Catherine simply twisted the water on her clothes, straightened her fiery red hair that stuck to her forehead, looked at everyone one by one, and finally stretched out a fair and slender hand to Fang Plover, using a mature and mellow hand. He said in a tone of voice: "Let me reintroduce you. I am the 'matchmaker' introduced by Minmir. I originally set out from Sanshak and took the liner 'Cygnus' to meet you. Unexpectedly, I met you on the way. It was only because of this matter that I wasted time——"

After a short silence, everyone looked at each other again, looking a little surprised.

But after the accident came suspicion. How could there be such a coincidence in the world? It was too suspicious.

Miss Nightingale frowned and looked at the other party carefully.

Catherine noticed Alyssa's expression and smiled: "Don't doubt it, I know you are eager to sell a batch of 'goods' to escape the pursuit of the imperial army, but this is nothing to me, after all, like us Most of the customers that such people come into contact with are like this, and we don’t need to do any business that really sees the light of day——"

She looked at everyone: "For me, this is just an ordinary 'business', no different from most similar 'businesses'. What's more, you are still my saviors."

Thoughts of doubt also flashed through Fang Yu's mind, but he finally calmed down and asked: "So Ms. Ellenz, can you help us?"

——They left Xintaan in secret. In theory, no one else would know except Minmir. This woman could call Minmir by name, knew about his relationship with the Seven Seas Brigade, and also knew about the people on their ship. Those 'goods', unless Minmir betrayed them, no third party should know about it.

Catherine nodded lightly, twirling her red hair with her fingers without leaving a trace, looking at the floating image of Garshur floating island on the horizon: "Minmir told me about your situation, your 'goods' are somewhat..." Origin', oh - I don't mean their original 'ownership', that is not important to people like us, but the number, there are too many. If you are eager to take action, I can think of some ways, but maybe--"

"We don't care about that loss, Ms. Alanz." Fang Pliance interrupted her straight to the point: "We must dispose of the cargo before leaving the Zhili Islands, so as to escape the pursuit of the imperial army, handle the cargo and evade pursuit. Equally important.”

Of course he is aware of the tricks of these smugglers. In addition to charging handling fees, the profit margin between smuggled goods is also their 'reward'. However, he does not doubt the people he uses and does not use the people he doubts. The other party is the person introduced by Minmir. They There is no other choice.

Catherine glanced at him intentionally or unintentionally: "Actually, I know some people on Garzhar Island who can handle this batch of goods, but their prices are very dark. I generally don't like to deal with them. In fact, if you are willing to go to Foley If it’s Zhi Islands, I can help you find a more reliable candidate.”

Fang Yu shook his head: "Just choose Garshur."

Gold and silver treasures are just external possessions, not to mention that they are a windfall for the Seven Seas Brigade. He is an adventurer, not a gambler, and will not be blinded by petty profits. Compared with the Imperial Army's emerging For the encirclement network, that loss is not worth mentioning at all.

Seeing his persistence, Catherine naturally had no objection.

She nodded slightly and said: "Well, for people like us, the employer's opinion naturally comes first, but generally speaking, we will add some 'little sweetness' in the remuneration. This is It is a common rule in our industry, but if you save my life, I will naturally repay you. I have some information about those people, and I will try my best to get the most suitable quotation for you, even if it is a small price. I have repaid you all.”

"Then thank you for your help, Ms. Elants."

Catherine only smiled softly: "Just call me Catherine."

After this small interlude, everyone naturally dispersed. The Garshur floating island where the Seven Seas Traveler is located is a link on the outer edge of the Zhili Islands chain. Inward are the Gezelia, Bapar Islands, Buddha Islands and so on. Liechtenstein and the main island of Brianos.

The archipelago is like a string of arc-shaped beads, scattered on the waterway between Cinta'an and San Juan. Because they are both located off the coast of Chili, they are also called Chili Islands, or Chili Island Chain. There are several islands on the island. Among them, the port of Guimana, the capital of Garshur, is not actually located on the main island of Garshur, but is located on another small island seventy miles away from the floating island.

There is a reason for the origin of the port - because the main island of Galshur is actually just a bare rock island. It has neither natural resources nor the freshwater rivers and lakes necessary for life. It was not until the Year of the Falling Star that there was any adventure. Some small mineral deposits were discovered on it.

Guimana comes from the free port established by early pirates. Later, after the Oshu people set foot here, they expelled the pirates and further expanded the original harbor, gradually forming its current scale. Bugarshar is located in a remote area and is generally not valued by the empire, so Guimana only exists as a transit port.

St. Drabno, the largest port in the Chili Islands, is located in the Fritsch Islands. It is the seat of the empire's governing body. The Oshus have a governor's palace there and also station a small fleet, so Catherine is proposing that there When it came time, Fang Yu refused without even thinking about it.

The Seven Seas Traveler was not originally intended to dock at the port of Guimana, but now that it has decided to change its purpose, Miss Ship Officer revised the route and then notified Miss Tata. Ms. Dragon Soul adjusted the sail direction to make the sailboat Started to slowly change direction.

Seeing this scene, Catherine couldn't help but asked curiously: "Is this sailboat turning on its own?"

"Yes," Fang Yu nodded, not shying away: "This is a dragon knight battleship."

In fact, this is not a secret outside the world, and frankly admitting it can conceal the true hidden truth of the Seven Seas Traveler.

After hearing this, the woman looked at the unmanned sails with some surprise.

At 2:10 in the afternoon, the sailboat sailed past the bare stone island not far away. The main island of Garshur was a few miles away, like a skull rock floating among the clouds, with the pale rocks reflecting the The sun shines brightly after noon.

There is almost no vegetation on the island, and there are no large wild animals. There are only some seagulls hovering on the rocky mountains, and there are some "fish" schools in the empty sea. They are species that belong to Aitaria and can be found on the elemental layer. survive.

Among biologists, they actually have generic and unpronounceable scientific names, and Fang Plover also knows that name, but the selector named them with similar names on the earth, naming them Kukai Herring, and it became a convention. Some indigenous people still call them that.

The Papalars were shouting from the bow of the ship, clamoring to explore the island of Garsur. In fact, in the Year of the Fallen Star, a group of adventurers came here and discovered several small crystal mines. They bought the ownership rights of the mines from the empire and made a fortune.

Later, many people came to this place and regarded this bare rocky land as a land of opportunity. But in fact, the good times were no longer good. This rocky island proved its poverty with facts, and soon the place was surrounded by Along with the Guimana Port, it fell silent again.

However, Fang Yu did not dampen everyone's adventurous heart, and asked Miss Tata to dock the Seven Seas Traveler outside the main island of Garshur, and then put down the sampan. He also wanted to go up and record a unique seagull on the island. ecology.

Catherine was somewhat curious about their behavior and politely asked him if she could follow him off the boat.

Fang Plover did not object, but he did not expect that the lady would follow him every step of the way. She watched him record the seabirds that were both strange and familiar to her one by one, and finally couldn't help but ask: "These birds are very precious." ?”

Fang Plover shook his head.

Catherine seemed a little suspicious. She stretched out her hand and grabbed a seagull that had no time to fly. After carefully observing it up and down, she realized that they were indeed just ordinary seabirds that she was familiar with. She couldn't help but hold her hand out with interest. One loose.

Alyssa frowned slightly when she saw this scene.

She looked at the woman, and it was obvious that the other woman was not as simple as she said. Her skills just now were obviously quite good - the strength she showed was at least the same as hers and Fang Plover's.

For an Aboriginal person, this is unusual.

Catherine followed Fang Plover and Miss Nightingale all the way, but gained nothing. She couldn't help but laugh at herself and said to Fang Plund: "People outside say that Mr. Ed is a master craftsman, but in my opinion, you are more like a silversmith." The scholars in the tower.”

"Oh?" Fang Yu asked back: "Catherine, have you met the occultist from the Silver Tower?"

Catherine showed a mocking smile and shook her head: "In our line of work, I have seen a lot of all kinds of people. As for the occultists you are talking about, I don't know, but I have seen a lot of those literate old scholars. "

She made up her mind not to do such stupid things again, and thought that there was some unknown treasure on this island. These people really didn't know what it meant.

The three of them returned to the boat, and the Papalars and their party also happened to return. Parker was loudly criticizing the poor products on the island - they had gained nothing all afternoon, and the larks and marigolds who had gone to the island with him were eating beside them. Laughing.

Fang Plover asked Ian about their adventure, and Ian said: "There is nothing on that island. Even the mine has been abandoned for a long time. We explored it for a while and found nothing."

"The Year of the Falling Star was originally a hundred or two hundred years ago. The crystal mine itself was just a small mine. Even if there was anything, it would have been mined out long ago." Tianlan was congratulating herself for not getting off the ship, "Who told you to explore Didn’t you do your homework before?”

"How do you know?" Parker was looking at Tianlan with squinting eyes. The other person was not usually so smart.

"Of course Kitta told me."

"Oh." The Papalar man said, and immediately left the sky to find Miss Naturalist. He wanted to ask about the Zhili Islands where there was something truly worth 'exploring' and where he could make a fortune.

Although there is treasure on the ship, it belongs to the team - not to him.

Since it stayed in Garshur for a while, the Seven Seas Traveler arrived at Guimana Port almost at nightfall. Looking at the floating island that was far smaller than the main island of Garshur, the most eye-catching thing It is the solitary peak on the island. The peaks form the main body of the floating island, with an altitude of about 1323 meters. Different from the bare main island of Garshur, the peaks are covered with dense vegetation. A river divides the floating island into two. The entire island covers an area of ​​13 square kilometers. About .

The island was once dotted with a large number of grape plantations. Half a century ago, it produced Garzul wine to Sintaan. At its peak, it could reach 1000 barrels per year. However, the prosperity is no longer the same. The economy of the island is now based on pastoralism. Industry-oriented.

Fang Yu told others about the situation on the island. In fact, it was Miss Tata who spoke mainly. Miss Longhun had a whole silver library in her mind. Miss Naturalist pushed up her glasses and occasionally added.

"In its heyday, the island had a small garrison of Silver Helmet knights. However, as the mineral veins on the main island of Garzhar dried up, the plantation production here was also destroyed, the prosperity was lost, and the port of Guimana also declined. "Go on," Jita whispered: "The decline of the vineyard industry is not due to mining, but due to the impact of the rise of the same industry. Since the large-scale influx of Rochard's wine into the empire, due to cost and other considerations, the island has Most of the manor owners sold their land."

That was just the rise and fall of thirty or fifty years. When Campa experienced hardships, the Shili Islands also completed their own transformation. However, that period of history was only a moment for the audience, and even Catherine was fascinated by it.

"I didn't expect you to know a lot," she looked up at the shadowed port, "I have been to this place many times, but I didn't know there was such a history."

"Has Catherine been to Garzul many times?"

"Of course," she replied calmly: "We are people who live on the sea. The closer to the edge of the empire, the more frequent places we visit. I have many old acquaintances on that island. Of course, not everyone They are all our friends.”

"Do we need to be careful about them?" Fang Yu asked.

"Don't worry," Catherine replied in a nonchalant tone: "Those people know the importance. You are my clients. They just have a grudge against me. Maybe one day you will become their clients. They won't You will offend your business partners."

"So after the fall of Guimana, there were no imperial troops stationed there anymore?" the Papalar asked.

"That's more or less the case," Catherine nodded, "It's pretty much what you said. The Oshu people won't care about such a small place. It's still a day's sail from Friedrich, and the Imperial Navy generally won't patrol here. . There may be some Imperial ships in the port, but those are usually Imperial tax administrators."

"Tax administrator?"

"The mortal enemies of people like us," Catherine smiled and replied: "After all, the Oshu people also know where people like us usually operate."

Before she finished speaking, an unexpected news came from the sentry above the mast - Luo Hao lay down on the observation deck and shouted: "Imperial ship!"

Everyone immediately looked in that direction.

You can just see the pointed sailboats standing in the harbor. Sailboats of that style are generally only seen in offshore areas, but there is one exception, and that is the fast sailing ship of the Imperial Navy.

Everyone couldn't help but look at Catherine on the side. The lady was also glancing in that direction, but she didn't show too much surprise on her face. She just took her long fiery red hair and tied it into a flexible ponytail with one hand, and looked at the crowd and said : "Maybe it's the Port Authority's ship, don't worry."

"Are those the people you mentioned?" Tian Lan asked softly.

Catherine nodded and made a calm gesture to everyone: "Leave it to me, don't show your face, I will deal with them."

The others looked a little worried, especially Ian and the other two. Sylvide looked at Fang Plover, who shook her head gently, indicating that she didn't need to worry too much, but the maid beside her said nothing. A pair of armour.

She happily opened the heat sink on it, then gently closed it and made a soft 'click' sound.

Parker and Xiangxiu also seemed to be in good spirits, and they would just fight if it didn't work out. Everyone was really used to such scenes, and even Miss Poet, who was always a little startled, seemed a little at ease.

Everyone just silently opened their cloaks, pulled out their weapons from underneath, and then covered the blades with their cloaks.

Catherine looked at this scene with some surprise, as if what she saw was not a normal adventure group, but rather those experienced... smugglers, privateers and pirates. However, when she thought of the familiar figures on the wanted poster, His face and heart were relieved.

Among the crowd, only Miya said nothing and turned around and walked directly below the deck. When she saw this scene, she couldn't help but look at Fang Pliong with questioning eyes and asked: "She is not a combat member?"

"Uh..." Fang Yu didn't expect the other party to ask such a question.

Good question - so whether the dragon knight is considered a combat member, although generally speaking, the dragon knight will not participate in the battles between newcomers in the first world. He stammered and replied: "Absolutely, Mi Miss Ya...she is a little...not suitable for fighting in this place."

Catherine nodded without asking any more questions.

In fact, it seemed that everyone on the Seven Seas Traveler could participate in the battle, which actually surprised her.

It is not that she has never seen the adventure groups of the Holy Chosen Ones, but compared to the main force, in fact, the craftsmen responsible for logistics, other life professionals, and civilian personnel often account for a larger proportion. It can be said that the Seven Seas Brigade It was the only exception she had ever seen.

Everyone retreated off the deck as she said, leaving only the lady.

"Do you really believe her?"

Miss Nightingale leaned against the window, staring at the situation outside, thinking about the scene she saw in the afternoon, and then asked.

Fang Yu shook his head: "It was everyone's common idea to rescue her. In that case, we couldn't just let it go. Regardless of her identity, if she was really introduced by Minmil, we could only choose Trust her."

"But I always feel like something is wrong."

Miss Nightingale secretly frowned. Although she couldn't find any flaws in the other party's words, she always had a feeling that this woman was full of mysteries.

She didn't like this situation where she wasn't in control of everything.

Fang Yu actually noticed that scene in the afternoon, thought for a moment and said: "Most of the smugglers above Kukai have some background. They can't undertake such a business without any background. She knows Minmir, and her status is probably not ordinary."

"To say the least, the interruption of communication between the two worlds is beneficial to us. Even if she really betrays us, the garrison in Guimana can't do anything to us. If we can dispose of the 'goods' here, that would be great. "

Alyssa pondered for a moment and then nodded slightly.

But the expected situation did not happen. The imperial fast sailing ship did not even approach them, but passed far away from the sea and quickly disappeared into the night.

In a false alarm, everyone pushed open the door and walked out. Catherine turned around, looked in this direction, waved to everyone, and said, "Everyone, something is not right."

"What? Didn't the Imperial people leave?"

"That's not the Port Authority's ship, it's the Imperial Navy." Catherine frowned, with a look of confusion on her face, "Why are they here?"

Fang Yu looked at the other party in surprise. Judging from the look on the lady's face - she seemed to be really worried about those imperial troops?

Did he and Alyssa guess wrong?

"Imperial Navy?" Tian Lan was startled, "Is it the one on Fletcher Island?"

"There is only one squadron on Fletcher Island," the Papalars sneered at this. "Even if they all come, we don't have to be afraid of them. Besides, they haven't noticed us. You are scared here." What are you doing?"

Everyone couldn't help but look at Catherine. She let out a breath and forced a smile and said: "Actually, it's nothing. Just think that I am being overly cautious. After all, people like us are born to be shady. Besides, you are not afraid of the empire. Navy, but I may not. If I fall into their hands, I will lose my skin even if I die."

"So Catherine, what do you think happened on the island?" Fang Plover asked.

Catherine was silent for a moment, "The Imperials were searching, but they didn't pay attention to us, which means the problem lies on the island. Because we were driving towards the port, they didn't check us. If we were leaving from the port, it would be hard to tell." "

"So you think something happened on the island? How about we move to another place?"

"No," Catherine shook her head: "The ship was heading to Guimana Port. The Imperials didn't pay attention to us, but it doesn't mean they can't see us. We are too conspicuous to turn back now and will arouse unnecessary suspicion. ”

Fang Yu remained silent, but he agreed in his heart.

Catherine added: "Anyway, we will dock at the port first, and then I will find a way to contact those people. You pretend to be a supply dock and try not to reveal your identity. We will complete the transaction as soon as possible. I will give those people a deadline. If it exceeds this Deadline, whether we succeed or not, we must leave this port immediately."

Catherine looked at everyone, looking very careful, as if she was a veteran in this industry, "I have seen many such situations, and the best choice is to protect yourself wisely. What do you think of this opinion?"

No matter how rich the experience of the Seven Seas Brigade is, everyone has never been a smuggler. If they lack experience, they can only follow the arrangements of this 'experienced' 'facilitator', not to mention that the other party's suggestions don't sound wrong. Proper place.

Therefore, everyone including Fang Plover nodded.

But what is the Empire searching for?

Fang Yu was a little surprised. Could he be looking for them? But the Seven Seas Traveler's appearance features are so obvious, so the Imperial Navy shouldn't be so careless, right?

...(End of chapter)