Afterwards, Richard and Nancy followed Macbeth back to the port city of Lisburn Island, boarded the giant ship, and started a new voyage.
In a flash, it was the tenth day since the giant ship set sail again. According to rumors, it was already very close to the mainland.
The weather was getting hotter and hotter, and the cabin became extremely hot and humid. Due to the longing for the mainland and the unbearable conditions in the cabin, basically as soon as dawn came, the deck was filled with ordinary students who came up to get some air and fresh air.
On this day, it was mid-morning.
The deck was very lively, ordinary students gathered together in twos and threes and talked. Suddenly the door to the cabin on the deck opened with a creak, and the wizard Dempsey and the wizard Macbeth came out, followed by several wizard apprentices such as Potter, Demi, and Luther.
This suddenly attracted the attention of many students and aroused the curiosity of many students, but no one dared to come forward and ask. Just watching the two wizards leading their apprentices to the edge of the deck, looking towards the front of the giant ship.
Everyone followed and looked together, and saw that the sea ahead was still endless, and nothing appeared.
That…
Everyone looked at it in confusion for a while, and finally someone with sharp eyes noticed something: "Look over there!"
Everyone's eyes flashed and they saw a small black dot appear on the sea, then a second small black dot, and a third small black dot...
In the blink of an eye, nine small black dots appeared in a neat row.
When they got closer, everyone could distinguish it. It was a total of nine extremely imposing azure warships, coming through the wind and waves.
Everyone was stunned for a moment, then looked at the people next to them with doubtful expressions.
Nine warships, what are they here for
Could it be that the wizarding country along the way came to collect taxes? By the way, since Macbeth joined the ship, there were two wizards sitting in charge. It has been a long time since the new type of pirates - the sea tax collectors dared to harass them. Is there a surprise this time
It seems that the other party is well prepared—nine warships!
It stands to reason that even if there are nine warships, Dempsey and Macbeth on the giant ship can handle it. After all, Macbeth easily destroyed three warships by himself.
But the question is, what if there is a wizard on the arriving warship who can rival him? If this is the case, things will be a bit difficult to handle.
Everyone made random guesses that nine warships were already nearby. Eight of the nine warships were divided into two parts, arranged like wings on the left and right, forming a semi-encirclement. The remaining nine warships, the largest one in the middle, approached the giant ship straight away. The giant ship seemed to be frightened and stopped directly on the spot.
Everyone was a little nervous, thinking that they were going to encounter another setback in the last few days of the voyage. Richard's eyes flashed in the corner of the deck. Looking at the expressions of the two wizards, he had different guesses.
At this time, the expressions of Dempsey and Macbeth were calm, even slightly smiling. Facing the increasingly approaching azure warship, they did not look wary or hostile.
In that case...
"Hua Hua Hua", the sea water fluctuated, the warship was getting closer and closer, and there were strange sounds floating on the deck of the warship.
"Tick-tick-wula-tick-tock!"
"Boom-buzz-buzz!"
Everyone was surprised, but Richard quickly distinguished several musical instruments from the sounds, and said to himself: "harp, clarinet, trumpet, um... this should be bagpipe..."
Getting closer, getting closer, everyone could already clearly see the situation on the warship deck, and saw a group of gorgeously dressed musicians standing there, holding various musical instruments in their hands, playing hard.
Then a group of soldiers wearing snow-white uniforms came out, followed by a dignified officer in his forties. Next to the officer was a man who looked like a wizard wearing a black robe.
The warship continued to approach, and finally stopped just a few meters away from the giant ship. A springboard was lowered and placed between the warship and the giant ship.
The music stopped, and a dignified officer in his forties, a wizard in a black robe, and a soldier holding a wooden box walked onto the deck of the giant ship.
The majestic officer glanced at Macbeth, then looked at Dempsey, bowed slightly and said: "Hello Lord Dempsey from the White Stone Tower, Zorro Duke from the Aegean Kingdom sends his regards."
Dempsey said calmly: "Count Zorro is too polite."
"It should be." Zorro said this, but there was not much politeness. The next moment he went straight to the point, "I am here mainly about taxes."
"Say it." Dempsey raised his hand and said.
Zoro said: "Last month, the ore and various materials on the list were completely prepared and sent to the mainland. They should have arrived at the White Stone Tower by now. However, the crystal coins were just collected a few days ago. Qi, I haven’t had time to send it yet.
Considering the value of crystal coins, it is easy to be targeted, and our Aegean Kingdom is weak and has only a few wizards, so escorting it will be very dangerous. Therefore, I waited at sea for Lord Dempsey to arrive and deliver the crystal coins to the White Stone Tower for me. "
"Okay." Dempsey nodded in agreement.
"Thank you." Zorro bowed in thanks, his movements were meticulous, and then he waved his hand.
A soldier who had followed him to the deck of the giant ship ran forward and handed a box to Dempsey.
After Demps took it, without looking at it, he handed it directly to the third-level apprentice Potter next to him.
Zoro raised his eyebrows and said firmly: "Don't you check it, Mr. Dempsey? Put the list in the box. Don't make any mistakes. Otherwise, our Aegean Kingdom will not have the energy to raise another tax this year." . After all, it is not so easy to collect taxes at sea, especially the ships of several wizard organizations, so they must be handled with care. We are still waiting for the White Stone Tower to fulfill its previous promise, if something goes wrong... "
Demps shook his head after hearing this and said: "No need to check, whether it is the Aegean Kingdom or Count Zorro, our White Stone Tower can trust you. As for the difficulty of collecting taxes, our White Stone Tower also understands, so Only then will the extension be allowed. As for the promise, as long as the Aegean Kingdom does what it should do, our White Stone Tower will naturally honor all of them, so there is nothing to worry about."
"Then..." Zoro hesitated for a moment, then nodded, "Okay then, I'll have Mr. Dempsey, goodbye."
After speaking, Zorro did not hesitate, turned around, led the wizard and soldiers, returned to the warship along the springboard, and quickly led the fleet away.
Dempsey and Macbeth didn't say anything more and quickly returned to the cabin with their apprentices.
The giant ship set sail and continued sailing as if nothing had happened.
Everyone on the deck looked at each other in confusion, and they were extremely confused: before, some fleets came to collect the transit fees of the giant ship. Why now that a more powerful fleet came, they had to pay the giant ship in turn
In the corner, Groo looked at Richard with doubts and asked this question: "Your Excellency Richard, what's going on?"
Richard's eyes flashed.
If he hadn't followed Macbeth on his mission, he might not have understood. But after following Macbeth on a mission, I contacted some of the things Macbeth said during the mission, and I have some guesses about the current situation.
It seems that the wizarding kingdoms on the sea are also different: some are supported by the White Stone Tower and are close to the White Stone Tower; some are supported by other wizard organizations and are hostile to the White Stone Tower.
The Wizarding Kingdom, which is hostile to the White Stone Tower, will naturally find a way to tax the White Stone Tower's giant ship. If there are many wizards on the giant wheel and are relatively powerful, like now, tax collection will be temporarily suspended. If there are few wizards on the giant wheel, especially if they are injured, such as some time ago, they will naturally be taxed frequently.
This is like a certain renaissance country on modern earth that sends warships to patrol the high seas near a small island country. Because of its strong power, the island country dare not say anything and pretends to be dumb and blind. But if what goes there is not a warship, but a fishing boat, then a small island country may do something dirty - bully the fishing boat, or even detain the fishing boat.
The reason why the small island countries did this was not because they really dared to offend the Renaissance State, but because they had the support of powerful countries that were hostile to the Renaissance State.
The Renaissance State naturally understands this and will not launch a war against a small island country just because a fishing boat is impounded. This may relieve anger but does not solve the fundamental problem at all. The fundamental problem is to defeat the hostile powerful country. Otherwise, it will destroy a small island country. There's another small island nation that pops up.
Richard thought about this and briefly explained it in words that Gro could understand.
After hearing this, Ge Luo suddenly understood and murmured: "So that's what it is."
Nancy on the side heard the same words from Richard and looked thoughtful. Regarding this matter, because she had done the same task with Macbeth as Richard, she had some guesses of her own, but they were not as in-depth and thorough as Richard's.
Thinking about Richard's words, Nancy looked at Richard for a moment and asked: "By the way, where exactly is the White Stone Tower? What does the continent where the White Stone Tower is located look like? It looks very complicated. .”
"I don't know about that." Richard shrugged, "This question can only be answered when we actually arrive on the mainland and the White Stone Tower."
"But when can we get to the mainland and the White Stone Tower?" Nancy frowned.
"Maybe... it won't take long." Richard said, pointing towards the distance.
Nancy and Grotto looked along where Richard pointed, and saw that under the bright sunlight, in the distance where the sea and the sky met, a black line appeared in their field of vision.