106. The Road of Adventure (IV)

When Udos Napin finally led Mo Fei and his group to the docks outside Kanmuha City, his jaw dropped and he could not close it. Before him were ten of the Death Empire's maritime behemoths, warships more than twice the size of his own largest vessels.

In truth, Mo Fei was just as shocked as Udos Napin. He had only known that Elder Ove was building new warships, but he had never expected the elder to be so monstrously creative. The empire's previous seven giant ships had already been the largest on the continent, yet these ten new ones were more than twice their size. Elder Ove's wisdom was once again vividly demonstrated; perhaps this was the legendary creativity of the Dwarven race.

"Napin, what do you think of my warships?" Mo Fei teased Udos on purpose.

"I... well... this..." Still reeling from the shock, Udos could barely form a coherent sentence.

Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Mo Fei felt confident that once the Bear Clan on this continent witnessed this tangible and intangible deterrence, they would remain quiet for a long time. At the very least, they would not easily spark another war until they managed to catch up.

"Wake up, Napin. Where are my mages?" Mo Fei asked, as Udos Napin was still staring blankly at the behemoths.

Along the massive hulls, nearly four hundred ballista ports were arranged in three tiers on each side. A portion of the bolts for these giant ballistas were fire magic arrows carved by Mo Fei himself. Judging by the oars protruding from the lowest deck, each behemoth carried a combat force of at least three thousand men. True to Elder Ove's style, every person aboard these ships could instantly transform into a fierce land warrior the moment they stepped ashore. Thus, although Mo Fei brought only about a hundred people with him on this journey, the actual forces at his disposal included the warriors aboard the accompanying warships—at least three thousand per ship.

"Oh," Udos Napin finally snapped out of his daze, realizing Mo Fei was asking about the mages. "They're almost here. They are traveling with the main army, so they're moving a bit slower than us. But the vanguard warriors said they'll arrive shortly."

"Good. Get ready, we will be leaving soon," Mo Fei said with a smile.

"Are you taking all ten of these behemoths with you? I feel like you're going to plunder rather than explore," Udos Napin asked blankly.

"I'll take two at most. Why would I need so many? It's not like I'm going to rob them openly. Even if I were to plunder, I'd have to see if it's worth it first."

Needless to say, the warriors aboard these ten warships were all elite troops handpicked by Elder Ove and Kane, ready to provide Mo Fei with timely assistance whenever necessary.

Before long, the ten chosen Bear Clan mages arrived, panting heavily. Looking at their exhausted state, Mo Fei sighed. In this condition, even if they reached their destination, they would have lost all combat capability.

"Don't you know that pushing yourselves like this is a taboo for mages? Right now, even the greenest warrior with a kitchen knife could take your lives. If you don't even know how to protect yourselves, how can I trust you to support our frontline warriors in battle?"

"Because the Clan Chief ordered us to..."

"No matter who ordered it, you are mages. Maintaining your combat readiness and managing your physical strength is of the utmost importance. If a battle were to break out here, what use would you be even if you arrived? Could you even crush an ant right now?"

"We understand. We will pay attention to this in the future," a slightly younger mage replied.

Udos Napin stood by, watching Mo Fei lecture the ten mages. He had only told them to hurry up; he hadn't told them to run themselves to death like this, had he? Still, Mo Fei's words made sense, so Udos found it hard to speak up.

"From this moment on, you are my subordinates. I intend to bring you back alive, just as I am taking you out. Our destination is a continent none of us have ever visited, and I hear it is plagued by constant warfare. Therefore, this journey will likely be very dangerous, and some of us may never return. If any of you do not wish to go, speak up now. I will let you leave, and I will ensure your Clan Chief does not blame you."

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, we are all here voluntarily. The Clan Chief did not force us," one of them said.

"There is no need to call me Your Majesty. From now on, our group will be called the Explorers. You may address me as Captain."

"Yes, Captain," the ten mages replied in unison.

"Alright. The ships are stocked with everything we need for the journey. Double-check your belongings, and once you are ready, board the ship."

"We are all prepared and have left nothing behind. We can board now," the younger mage spoke up again, seemingly acting as their leader.

"Very well, get on board," Mo Fei ordered. There were crew members assigned to show them to their quarters, so Mo Fei did not have to worry about these details. Elder Ove knew Mo Fei too well to expect him to handle such administrative tasks. Instead, the elder had arranged everything flawlessly, leaving Mo Fei free to deal only with emergencies.

"Napin, we are off. You should head back. Remember what we discussed; I truly hope we never have to face each other on the battlefield again," Mo Fei said solemnly, looking at the young, new leader of the Bear Clan.

"I think even if that day comes, it will be many, many years from now," Udos Napin murmured, staring at the ten maritime behemoths. "Right now, if anyone dares to instigate a war between my clan and your Death Empire, I will be the first to take their head."

Looking at these ten giants of the sea, Udos Napin knew all too well that the gap between the Bear Clan and the Death Empire was far from small. On land, his side was only slightly stronger due to sheer numbers, and even then, they might not hold an advantage. As for the sea? Forget it. Back then, just seven smaller ships had thrown them into utter chaos. And now, look at their warships—were they even built by mortals? How could the people of the Death Empire be so monstrous? Why couldn't their own master shipbuilders construct something of this scale?

Lost in his resentful thoughts, he didn't even hear what Mo Fei said at the end. It wasn't until the ships began to pull away from the dock that Udos snapped back to reality.

"I don't want to be your enemy either. I hope you can truly control your empire as you claimed," Udos Napin thought with a heavy heart as he watched the ships fade into the distance. Since when had his continent fallen so far behind? Would the Death Empire really be content with just this small pocket of territory? In the past, others had always been on guard against them. Now, if they didn't catch up quickly, the Bear Clan might one day be forced back into the wilderness of the forests.

In the distance, seven of the warships turned around and left the fleet, leaving only three to continue sailing straight ahead. Udos knew that Mo Fei had only kept two other ships to accompany him and had sent the rest back. He wondered when his own navy would ever possess such colossal vessels.

After Mo Fei embarked on his expedition, Storm City accelerated the completion of its inner city with the financial backing of the Goldstone Empire. With Elder Ove's active involvement, the construction speed of the inner city increased dramatically. It was estimated that by the time the seven returning warships reached the base set up at the Minotaur village, the work here would be finished. At that point, they could gather a large amount of local resources to ship back to the other continent. Once the trade route was established, they could do whatever they pleased.

Indeed, while Udos Napin and Mo Fei had been on the road, Mo Fei had mentioned that Storm City would open its gates to the outside world, and many goods not found on this continent—such as heavy armor and finely crafted sabers—would be traded within the city. Udos Napin had burst into laughter upon hearing this. Not long after Mo Fei's departure, a military commander nearest to Storm City, acting on the Clan Chief's orders, arrived in the city.

When Elder Ove heard the Bear Clan commander request a purchase of one hundred thousand sets of black heavy armor identical to those worn by the Death Cavalry, he did not know whether to laugh or cry. The two were completely different matters. The armor of the Berserkers was designed to be elastic, allowing it to expand when the Berserkers underwent their transformation. The investment required for this feature alone was astronomical. Even if they simplified the design, producing one hundred thousand sets of heavy armor was not something that could be done overnight.

Elder Ove immediately began negotiating with the Bear Clan commander. Upon learning that they could only supply ten thousand sets of armor per month at most, the commander looked troubled. The Clan Chief had asked for one hundred thousand, but he hadn't specified that they all had to be delivered at once. Ten thousand sets it was, then. Next was to discuss how the transaction would be made.

Barter was the primary method of trade on this continent; gold coins were only used among the upper classes. How to value the goods gave Elder Ove another headache. In the end, he had no choice but to ask what they could offer in exchange. To his surprise, the commander had no idea how to conduct the transaction either, and could only return to consult the Clan Chief first.

After seeing the Bear Clan commander off, Elder Ove broke into a cold sweat. It seemed that if they wanted to do business, they would first have to resolve the issue of gold coins.

Thus, having been left utterly dazed by this initial attempt at trade, Elder Ove eventually initiated a system to promote the use of gold coins across the continent. With the strong cooperation of the Goldstone Empire, it took less than a year for gold coins to become the standard currency in most parts of the continent, and the practice of bartering gradually faded. But that is a story for another time.

As for Mo Fei, he was still sailing across the vast, endless ocean, with no land yet in sight.