Chapter 284: Chapter 157: 30 Years of Piling, Never Defeated (Seeking Monthly Votes)

One merchant ship after another sailed across the sea, the flag representing the Immortal Hawk Kingdom fluttering in the breeze atop their masts.

No pirates, merchant vessels, or fishing boats dared to approach as they passed by.

Even if they encountered any, they would steer clear from a distance; nobody dared to collide with or offend a fleet flying the Immortal Hawk flag.

Although there were occasionally those who sought death, they were in the minority; most merchants still had some discernment.

“Phew~~”

A merchant convoy avoided the Immortal Hawk fleet, and the captain heaved a sigh of relief.

“Captain, why are you so scared? What’s the story behind that fleet?”

The crew members were puzzled, for they had never seen their captain lose composure like this before.

“What do you know? That’s the emblem of the Immortal Hawk Royal Fleet,” said the captain.

He said, “We used to have to avoid Coral City’s flag, but the Immortal Hawk Royal Fleet is like Coral City’s big boss!

Dare to offend it, and you don’t want to live?!”

“Hiss~~~”

To these merchants and peddlers, the City Lord of Coral City was already the stuff of legend.

The Immortal Hawk Duke, what kind of immortals were they!

“I’ll give you a heads-up,” the captain said, “From now on you better memorize all the flags on this sea, especially these flags. Whichever you see, if you don’t want to die, you’d better run as far away as you can, immediately.”

“Yes, yes, yes.”

In Miracle Mainland, large states functioned more like alliances, and true land ownership was primarily reflected in territories.

For example, the Immortal Hawk Nation, Thistle Province, and White Birch Territories, among others.

For many natives, it was these Princely States that fostered a greater sense of identity.

“But is it really that scary?”

A sailor said, “I thought the nobles of Coral City were already scary enough.”

“Nobles?”

The captain scoffed, “What do they count as nobles? The true nobles never show themselves. Have you ever seen the City Lord of Coral City?”

“I’ve heard that the City Lord of Coral City, Haitang, has lived for more than a hundred years.”

“Wow, that would make her an old granny.”

“You know nothing.”

The captain said, “The waters of this sea are much deeper than you imagine. Have you heard of Morgan, the King of the Southern Sea?”

“Isn’t he the one who controls sea monsters and drags ships to the ocean floor? Isn’t that just a myth?”

“Once, I met Sigurian in person,” the captain spoke with an air of authority; “That man, monstrous in his presence, the look he gave when he swept his gaze across—I will never forget for the rest of my life.”

The relations between the Miracle Nations and the Miracle Sovereign State were akin to those between the Zhou Emperor and the Warring States princes during the Spring and Autumn period.

Of course, not like the princes during the Warring States period.

In the Warring States era, the Zhou Emperor had almost no speaking power, so the influence of the Iron Eagle, Mountains, Star Night, and Azure within Miracle Mainland was indeed more aligned with the Spring and Autumn period.

Azure is a parliamentary-style alliance, where three Princely Kings hold considerable equal power.

Usually, the direction of the nation is decided by consultations and discussions, unanimously outward looking.

But as the Immortal Hawk Duke and such beings live far too long, the concept of human time has long since lost meaning for them.

Individuals who are seen as big figures and legends in mortal eyes, including Sigurian, Haitang, and even the likes of Foolish Kristin.

Dumbass: What do you mean by the likes of a fool? I’m super awesome, too! Ah! I’m upset! Bring me another bowl of cat food!

In short, mortals only knew whom they couldn’t afford to offend, but as for why they couldn’t, the Upper Tier mostly kept silent. Even those aware of the existence of miracles dared not take the huge risk of revealing the secrets of Miracle Power to the common folk.

“Captain?”

“Back to Coral City.”

The captain seemed to sense the undercurrents swirling beneath the sea, “The weather might be changing. We should not head out to sea for a while; let’s wait until things cool down.”

Azure is the most peaceful among the neighboring states.

Indeed, its reputation as a permanent neutral trade nation has allowed it to secure a foothold on Miracle Mainland.

Moreover, without any friction for hundreds of years between the Three Kingdoms of Azure, the relationship among the three lords is extremely close, and the people of Azure have nearly merged into one.

Apart from Miracle Citizens who, due to Miracle Power, cannot be completely unified, most of Azure’s population doesn’t care much whether they’re subjects of Immortal Hawk, Shen Niang, or Yang Bo.

Everyone is an Azurean, at most differentiated by the place of their birth, like those from Coral City, Shockwave City, and so on.

There is no racial discrimination, at most a bit of regional bias.

But city folks looking down on country folks, that’s universal everywhere.

“Uncle, where are they sending us?”

The speaker was a twelve or thirteen-year-old girl, short and poorly developed due to years of malnutrition.

If you were to describe her in Bailuo’s terms, she was ‘flat as an airport runway and as smooth as a pancake rolled over by a tank without a single air bubble in the cling film.’

The girl’s name was very complex and hard to pronounce, but translated into Yatun language, it was ‘Tide under the Moon,’ or ‘Yue Xi’ for short.

“How am I supposed to know? I’m not a prophet,” grumbled the old man.

They were on a slave ship, and a grey-haired elder, resting against the wall with eyes closed, tried to conserve his energy.

“But you were right last time,” Yue Xi said, looking at the unkempt, disheveled old man. “You said our ship might get inspected, and it really did.”

Yue Xi: And you say you’re not a prophet!

“That was just a wild guess,” he retorted.

The slovenly uncle was named Glarus, over fifty years old, and his relationship with the girl could not be more unrelated.

Ironic, considering Bailuo specifically requested family groups—parents with children or grandparents with grandchildren.