Chapter 282: Crossing the Sea

Initially, Sane’s group had only a sparse few dozen mercenaries and over ten teenage beastmen.

They robbed people and robbed money every time they passed by any beast arena or mine after that. The group had reached a few thousand people as a result now.

Sane wanted to sit in a carriage himself many times along this journey. Unfortunately, these horses were frightened stiff by the pressure on his body every time they approached. He had to shrink himself to sit on the head of that adult White Tiger clan beastman.

This world was constantly embroiled in the chaos of war. Sane’s Divine Energy became more abundant than ever not long after breaking his shell because of this.

However, he rarely took action himself to eliminate the slave owners. He let the group members fight on their own instead. He only took the responsibility of standing aside to observe. He pointed out a few shortcomings, taking action when the situation was truly dangerous.

The initial crowd and those he saved later all respected him extremely. They revered him as a Divine Envoy. As for the words he roared at the Swordsman earlier, he said he had spoken missing words because of being too angry. Everyone believed him. No Deity would personally travel together with lowly ants like them.

"Lord, Halloway seaport is past this forest stretch. How should we travel?"

Sane raised his head to look at the sky. His forked tongue flicked in and out for a moment. He said sternly:

"Find a shelter first. We cannot cross the sea during this time. A storm will probably arrive in the coming days."

The captain of squad two appointed by Sane looked up at the sky doubtfully. He only saw a patch of clear blue sky flooded with sunlight. He completely saw no signs showing a storm was coming at all. However, it definitely must be true if the Divine Envoy said a storm was coming. This captain immediately ordered people to go into Halloway town to rent inns.

Halloway town was right next to Halloway seaport. The Mayor of this place had ordered the construction of rows of inns lying closely packed together. This was convenient for sailor crews to rent long-term.

The inn areas in the town were mostly packed with people at this time. Renting rooms was quite difficult therefore. They walked for several hours but only managed to ask for over ten vacant inn rooms. This was completely not enough to stuff nearly four thousand people.

Sane thought for a moment. He said: "We do not need to rent rooms anymore then. Let’s find stone caves to stay temporarily. This storm will not be small anyway. Normal mud-brick houses might not be able to hold up."

The group turned to another direction ultimately. They proactively carved out a few mountain caves to stay temporarily. Digging stones to carve caves was completely not too difficult with so many non-humans in the group.

A rumbling thunder sound indeed echoed outside four days later when the group moved into the stone caves. It was only light rain initially. The rain became heavier by evening. The wind and tornadoes churned.

Sane transformed into human form. He sat before the fire, roasting meat leisurely. He thought about some matters regarding the sea trip in the coming days in his head. People not belonging to his team would be mixed on the boat if they bought boat tickets. Very many troublesome matters would occur at that time. Sane hated trouble extremely.

Renting a private boat was also not good. This bunch of boat owners considered non-humans as animals. Wanting to get on the boat required slave trading papers bearing the Church of Light’s seal. The people in his team were all free non-humans meanwhile.

A thought flashed in his head. Why not just establish a maritime fleet? Boats could be bought. The Dwarves in the team could reinforce them according to the boat model the Beastman Continent still used. Captains and sailors could be hired.

He was the boat owner. He decided who the boat carried.

Not only that, this maritime fleet could also be given as a gift to his mate later. His mate would certainly like it very much.

He did as he thought. Sane ordered people to scout news about establishing a maritime fleet on the third day when the storm had dissipated. Establishing a maritime fleet was very simple. The boat owner only needed to own three or more large boats. Having fifty sailors and six captains was enough to go to the Maritime Guild of Halloway port to ask for a certificate.

Sane entrusted this matter to the captain of squad one.

The captain of squad one was the Sword Saint who had fainted on the spot under the prison cart chassis that day. His name was Godfrey. He did this job much neater than Sane thought.

Money was surplus in the safe. Money spoke for almost everything at a trading port. Godfrey went down to the dock for two days. He bought out twelve three-masted boats of a company heavily in debt. He bought them exactly at the asked price. He did not haggle a single sentence. The old company boss became so happy he personally led Godfrey to introduce captains as a result. The boss even stood as a guarantor with the Maritime Guild for them.

The Guild collected thirty gold coins as a certificate fee. They looked through the boat register. They counted enough sailor heads, then stamped the seal.

The certificate recorded the fleet name as Lyra Maritime Fleet. The purpose was already too clear. The story about Lyra had spread across this continent. Everyone knew the bizarre place where humans and non-humans lived peacefully with each other.

The Guild did not care how bizarre it was as long as enough gold was paid.

Sane had all twelve newly bought boats pulled into the shoal. He rummaged through his spatial bag. He finally pulled out a stack of boat blueprints Kaelen had drawn previously. He handed them to over two hundred Dwarves in the group.

The Dwarf group received the blueprints. Their eyes all lit up upon finishing looking at them. They asked Sane for ten days to remodel these old boats.

They only spent exactly eight days completing all twelve boats in reality.

They replaced all bottom planks. They overlapped the planks instead of edge-joining strictly following the boat style of the Beastman Continent. They inserted an additional layer of resin-soaked hemp into the joints. They partitioned the lower hold into three decks to stuff enough four thousand people. A few native shipwrights stood outside watching. They initially even criticized it as a waste of wood. They stopped criticizing watching until the fourth day. A few guys pulled out chairs sitting to take notes watching until the eighth day.

The Dwarf group showed an extremely repelled expression. They held pickaxes, wanting to chase the shipwrights away. Sane said however: "We do not need to hide. Just let them learn. Whether they can learn it or not is their own skill."

The Dwarf group did not chase people away anymore therefore.

The register book of the Lyra Maritime Fleet recorded three thousand nine hundred and sixty-four passengers on the day of departure.

The clerk at the checkpoint held the pen. He looked at that number. He then looked out the window at the place the group was sequentially boarding the pier. He wanted to speak several times but stopped. Godfrey frowned:

"What? Do you have any opinions?"

The clerk shrugged. He shook his head vehemently: "No Sir. I only intended to ask a few questions. It is probably no longer necessary."

It was other people’s boats. Whoever they carried was their business. The clerk had no right to interfere. Whether they were humans or non-humans was not important, as long as it was not contraband.

The twelve boats left Halloway port at dawn on the third of November. The wind was favorable. The sea was calm.

Sane lay on the cabin roof of the leading boat. He watched the coast behind getting smaller. The coast then disappeared completely. He shrank himself only when all four sides were water. He coiled a few rounds. He raised his head toward the north.

Nine days by sea. Half a month by land route.

He recited that number to himself for the umpteenth time that day. He used his tail to tap the magic stone on the bracelet after finishing reciting. He stopped seeing still nothing after tapping for a while. He tapped again a moment later.

Nearly four thousand people got to ride a boat without chains for the first time in their lives in the lower hold. The majority were seasick. They vomited profusely. The rest squeezed to climb onto the deck. They wanted to see the thing they had never seen in their entire lives.

The Fox clan girl clung to the railing. She looked at the water surface whizzing past below. She turned her head back. She asked:

"Sir, is there truly a city across the sea where humans and non-humans can peacefully coexist?"

Sane nodded: "Of course. My mate is there. He will not let any human or non-human suffer an unjust situation."

The female Fox let out a wow. She looked toward the distance with eyes full of anticipation.

The girl had been sold through countless generations of slave owners since birth. She dreamed of a day being free to walk on the street. She wanted to wear beautiful puffy dresses like the aristocratic young ladies on the street. It was not only the girl anticipating together. All non-humans in this World were also anticipating.

Sane lowered his head. He looked at the girl’s anticipating expression. He unconsciously thought of his children.

He wondered how the kids over at the Beastman Continent were doing. Were they living well? Had they learned how to manage the tribe in place of their two fathers yet?

He wondered if that Sunlight brat had transformed yet. Would it be black eyes and black hair? Or had it changed to a purple color like himself already...