by Feng Yue
Ye Qingxuan realized that there must be something no one had expected in it. Compared to conduct researches to improve technology, it was easier to block existing technologies. In that case, what they needed to do was reveal them gradually, and not much investment was need.
It’s just that…
“How advanced is the technology controlled by the Church?”
“No idea,” said Shi Dong.
Shi Dong shook his head. “Except the water tank, there is more technology that is not known to the world, not to mention the related files or products made available to the world. We were never allowed to know any of that.
“It’s not only about weapons. Some files even have priority levels higher than the Purgatory built by Gaius; they are mostly from the catastrophes.
“Compared with the human world, the secret they held were much to terrible and massive. The world might be wiped out by those powers if someone got careless. Therefore, they were sealed.”
Then he paused and gave a mocking smile. “After all, all this is to maintain the ‘Correct’ history.”
From the Catastrophes?
Frowning, Ye Qingxuan said “What catastrophe would communicate with humans except the Three Wise Men and the Three Pillar Gods?”
“None.” Shaking his head, Shi Dong said, “They cannot speak any language. How can they communicate with humans? What’s more, if you want something, you can rob it instead of trading for it. Just like the snake of crystal.”
The Naica Nest of the Crystals. Ye Qingxuan recalled his memory of the ruin he had been to before he went to Romulus—the crystalized earth and the deep hole. That was the evidence of the fight between the humans and the catastrophes. Yet, what have men gotten from the body of the snake of crystal?
The body of the catastrophes were made of pure aether and music theories circulated all over the body. There was no flesh or blood. The death of it is caused by the collapse of the core music theory and then the body couldn’t be kept long. It would collapse into pure aether and disappear for a long time. Then, it would resurface to the world. There, it was not in any way similar to a tiger’s skins and bones, which could be made into leather robes and medical wines.
How did the churches get the forbidden technology from the catastrophes?
In the silence, the two walked down the wall and into the courtyard. Surrounded by walls, the courtyard was empty, without even a single tree or any grass, not to mention flowers.
There was nothing to see in the courtyard.
Shi Dong stopped at the center of the yard. He turned back and looked at Ye Qingxuan. “Sir, please get everyone out of here,” he said in a low voice. “This might be a good place for talking about secrets.”
Ye Qingxuan immediately understood what he said. Compared to a closed room which could be monitored or bugged, this kind of open ground was safer. There was no room to hide. And Ye Qingxuan’s Wyrmrest enchantment could fend off any one who wanted to wiretap them.
Ye Qingxuan thought about it for a while. Then he nodded and looked behind him. Then everyone following him went away. Then, he deployed two layers of sound-isolator and his Wyrmrest enchantment at a diameter of two meters.
“As you wish, Mr. Shi Dong.” Ye Qingxuan said, “You may now say what you want to tell me. And it’s also the best chance now if you want to assassinate me.”
“What I’m telling you now, is what the first leader of the Witch’s Hammer and Grand Inquisitor told me when he died.” Shi Dong lowered his eyes. “It is the secret he kept for his whole life. If it is disclosed, even the Religious Court of Inquisitors would be purged ruthlessly by the Church. It’s about the real body of the catastrophes.”
“The real body?” Ye Qingxuan was surprised.
“Yes. The real body.” Shi Dong said, “Or its ‘source’—the power and essence of it. That is the reason why catastrophes don’t die.
“The catastrophe we called is only a very small fraction of something hidden in the darkness. If we don’t destroy the roots, they will come back into life endlessly.
“We can only kill them by destroying their real body. The whereabouts of the real body and the source is the biggest secret of each and every catastrophe and their only weak point.”
Shi Dong continued, “The technology and secrets held by the Church are also from the real bodies of the catastrophes. Up until now, men have killed six catastrophes. The real bodies of them were kept in secret by the Church, bringing us a lot of technologies and power beyond imagination—weapons, power, music theories, medications, you name it. Every catastrophe is a great treasure, even corrupted ones.
“The ‘Hundred Years’ War’ between Anglo and Burgundy was for the ruin where a catastrophe’s real body was buried.”
Silence.
In the silence, Ye Qingxuan got his pipe with his trembling hand. He was thrilled. He filled the pipe with Tabaco, lit it and smoked to calm himself. He puffed out the smoke and re-found his faith which had been ruined by Shi Dong’s words. But it was not like before.
“Every catastrophe has its real body?” he asked.
Shi Dong nodded. “The Three Pillar Gods are special. They came from the Originator, which cannot be figured out for sure. Except them, as observed and documented by the Church, every other catastrophe has.
“The Three Wise Men, the Four Living Creatures, the Eight Phenomena and everyone else, they all have their own origins.”
“What exactly are their real bodies?
“No one knows.” Shi Dong shook his head. “In the three wars against catastrophes, the last phase of the wars was carried out by a secret force I never knew anything about. I have never seen a real body of any catastrophe but the vague contour of one.
“I had once, on my escort mission, seen them carrying something to the cart. It was a huge container, covered with heavy dust cloth. I might be mistaken. But I think the size of the thing was not fixed.
“At the first time, it took a whole month and six trips by train to transport the real body. Yet, at the second time, only several men and a suitcase were needed. Maybe different catastrophes have different real bodies. They may be of different levels.
“The musicians told me there was nothing peculiar that could be sensed about the real bodies. We may think they are worthless if judging from their appearances.”
Ye Qingxuan couldn’t help ask, “What would happen if the catastrophe abandons its real body?”
Shi Dong thought about for a while and shook his head. “I don’t know. But, I guess they may lose their powers if they are alive and may not be able to reborn if they die. However, the power will not disappear if the origin is not destroyed. There will be new catastrophes born from it.”
“Really?” Ye Qingxuan murmured.
Shi Dong glanced at him and said, “No catastrophe as I know has done this. What kind of creature would be so silly as to give up eternal life?”
Ye Qingxuan smiled as if mocking himself and felt relieved. With no particular reason, he became happier and sadder at the same time.
“That’s right.” Lowering his eyes, he murmured, “No creature except humans commit suicide, right?”
Boss, it seems you really are dead.
-
They talked until it was six o’clock in the morning. Yet there was no light at all in the darkness. Shi Dong looked tired. It was torture like hell to stay up late into the night as his life was at tis end.
“Thank you for telling me those things, Mr. Shi Dong.” Ye Qingxuan removed the Wyrmrest enchantment and the sound isolating layers. Then, he poured the music theories of the Stone of Sages into Shi Dong’s body, which turned into aether to circulate with his blood around his body, giving him great energy of life.
In great pain, Shi Dong vomited a lot of deep-purple sticky liquid, which smelt like corrupt body. Carroll and several apprentices got so scared that they hurriedly came up. Shi Dong raised his hand and waved them away.
Shi Dong looked even more haggard, yet
his eyes brightened up.
“Is this the reward for following you? You are so generous, your holiness.”
“Consider it a reward for telling me those secrets.”
Shi Dong looked at Ye Qingxuan and seemed to understandwhat was on Ye Qingxuan’s mind: you may not die now. You need to live until I allow you to die.
“Yes, your holiness.” Shi Dong smiled bitterly and heaved a sigh. “I’m afraid you have known that the death of Hyakume means a lot more than it appears. The Sacred City will no longer be able to control this world. The descending of the abyss brought about not only darkness and wars, but also untied the bounds of the humans.
“I’m afraid more and more people will yearn for the power of the catastrophes. Even they are in deep trouble, they will want the secrets of the catastrophes. The war to decide the fate of the world will begin.
“Your holiness, it will begin very soon.”
“Do you look forward to wars like that?” Ye Qingxuan asked.
“I’m old, your holiness. I’m abandoned by the time.” Shi Dong shook his head in dismay. “The future belongs to the young and talented like you.”
“The future?”
“Yes.” Shi Dong smiled and looked at the dark sky.
The future…
555 A New Legend
One day later.
Below the cliffs at the stronghold, massive iron gates sealed the entrance to the covert port. The nonstop banging of steel came from behind the huge iron gates.
The constant roaring of machines could be heard. Noises from the operations of mechanical cutting axes and hydraulic presses filled the air.
Then shrieks rang out.
“Mr. Ye! Help me, Mr. Ye! Help!” Igor cried out as he rushed forward, threw himself at Ye Qingxuan’s feet and clutched his thigh. “Save my child, quick! Those a*holes, those barbarians are trying to take my boat apart!”
Ye Qingxuan, who had just entered, looked up in utter confusion and saw that the secret port had become almost unrecognizable, with metallic tower cranes and scaffolding everywhere.
The port had been transformed into a huge workshop.
At the center of attention, lying on a high platform erected in the water, held by layers of steel cables was Igor’s ship. It was factory-fresh and had just completed its maiden voyage. It hadn’t even been given a name yet…
“So much progress has been made?” Ye Qingxuan coughed awkwardly and looked at the embarrassed Carol beside him. Carol stared upwards at the ceiling, as if he was expecting to see a flower there.
Ye Qingxuan sighed and patted Igor’s shoulder, saying, “Captain, get up from the ground first. We can talk about it slowly.”
Boom! A loud bang interrupted him. Igor screamed in sorrow as if his parents had just passed away. The whites of his eyes showed as he almost fainted. Behind them, the ship that had been mounted on the platform was completely broken into two parts under the operation of an engineer.
Half an hour later…
“Your ship was almost broken by the time it sailed here anyway,” comforted Ye Qingxuan.
He handed a cup of hot tea to Igor, who buried his face in his hands, sobbing all the while. Igor squatted on the stairs with a blanket draped over him, tearfully watching his ship being dismembered. He looked as if he had nothing left to live for.
“After all, it’s a merchant ship. It has already been incredibly lucky to kill the Mountain of Nomadism. Surely you can’t be hoping that it can still be sailed after that? The keel is almost broken, three and a half out of the four engines have exploded, even the front deck has a big hole burnt in it… You see, it’s beyond salvation.”
“And whose fault is it?!” Igor wept, “I’ve been saving up money my whole freaking life, and finally I could afford a ship! Do you think it’s easy for me? My dream of cleaning up my name, gone in smoke! I’ve been counting on its expeditions at sea to earn me a noble title…”
Ye Qingxuan sighed. “Okay, don’t act like a little girl, Mr. Igor. How are there so many grievances between us? Who was the one who rushed to the sea of darkness without another thought upon seeing my check?
“I couldn’t possibly have forced you to sail here, could I? I know that this ship is very important to you, but there really is no other way at the moment… You have two choices.”
“Which two?” came Igor’s reply. His face lit up immediately, wiped away his tears, and glared at Ye Qingxuan with bloodshot eyes. He was almost back to his old self who haggled over every penny. He contemplated taking out his portable calculator to start discussing reparations.
“My apologies, but first of all I have some bad news for you,” said Ye Qingxuan. He raised his brows and continued, “The deposit I paid you is actually the last of my money, so don’t expect to get even one more cent from my impoverished Church account.”
“F*ck!” Igor was furious and he leaped up. “Then what about the balance payment! The balance payment!”
“Why such impatience?” Ye Qingxuan picked his nose, looking like a scoundrel, and said, “When I save Anglo and restore its glory, we will be able to take anything we want from the entire national treasury, won’t we? Even giving you ten times the payment would be a piece of cake… This is venture capital. Venture capital, my dear sir. You have to take the risk before you get the returns.”
Igor’s face turned purple with rage, and he pointed at Ye Qingxuan, totally rendered speechless.
“You have already boarded this pirate ship [1], Mr. Igor, so from now on don’t complain that you want out, nor ask for a refund.” Ye Qingxuan patted his shoulder, a calm look on his face, and said, “Come, sit down, let’s have a proper talk about your two choices.”
Igor glared at him for a long time and finally managed to squeeze out a word, “Speak!”
“The first option…” Ye Qingxuan held up a finger and said, “We have expropriated your ship. You have nothing to do with everything here from now on. In the name of Holmes, I promise you that a smuggling route from the city of the Cloud Tower will be handed over to you after the reclamation of Avalon, and only you alone will be allowed to operate it.
“Next, the only thing you need to do is to find a gentleman like me, who is willing to loan you money. Perhaps at a usury rate, and you can start recruiting men for your fleet.
“Think about it. The trade between the East and the West annually, the silk route that flows with black gold… Even if you only earn one hundred-thousandth of the total amount, it is enough for you to become rich overnight. If you are willing to buy enough government bonds, you’ll definitely be able to find a country that is willing to help you register as an aristocrat of the Holy City, not to mention mere noble titles.
“Between your last name and your first name, you will be able to add the esteemed middle name of ‘Feng’, and you can bid farewell to your lowly life of the past and become a distinguished aristocrat. “
Dead silence…
Igor swallowed dryly and stared at Ye Qingxuan with wide eyes which were almost turning red as he envisioned what Ye Qingxuan had described. “You… Are you serious?”
“Provided that I can succeed, of course.” Ye Qingxuan shrugged like a rascal, but the look in his eyes was devoid of any jest. “But one can say the returns are a hundred times the risks, don’t you think so?”
Igor almost agreed immediately on impulse, but he couldn’t shake his gut feeling, which was like an earthworm burrowing its way through his mind, sending shivers down his spine. It was as if a flame was burning him.
He started to speak but was shocked by the hoarseness of his own voice. “Then… What about the second option?” he asked.
“The second option?” Ye Qingxuan smiled, and it was an exceptionally pleasant smile, like a predator when food was being delivered to its plate, holding cutlery in both hands.
He reached out and patted Igor on the shoulder. “Mr. Igor, you are an excellent captain. Even among the pirates in the Illusion Islands, you are one of the best. The
fighter of the anger waves, it’s a really good name, I like it,” he said.
Igor was stunned for a moment, then felt a pang of fear in his heart. He asked, “How do you know this?”
“Fear not,” came the reply. Ye Qingxuan pointed to his brain and said, “You have to believe me on this, I really didn’t do it on purpose. Although I am a musician of the School of Mind, and one of the best at that. I never intended to spy on other people’s thoughts for fun.
“However, when my perception threads were connected to your mind, your mental defenses with loopholes everywhere were really not of much use. One minor careless mistake on my part was enough for me to see everything…”
Upon hearing that, Igor looked as if he had just f*cked a dog, but Ye Qingxuan remained smiling, full of enthusiasm.
Ye Qingxuan continued, “You have plenty of combat experience and are loyal in terms of character, Mr. Igor, and I find that particularly satisfying. Plus, you have another 80 brave, obedient young men who are tired of working as pirates and want to turn over a new leaf like you. Coincidentally, I can offer a new job for all of you here; a perfect job that you have never even dreamed of. “
Igor was stunned for a moment, then realized what Ye Qingxuan meant immediately, and shot him a dirty look. “You want us to serve you with our lives?” he asked.
“Weren’t you all risking your lives for money in the past anyway?” Ye Qingxuan replied with a question of his own.
“How can prostitution and marriage be the same!” Igor leaped up, shaking his head vehemently as he refused, “Initially, you hired us! We worked for the pay! Although we are not pirates, we will never give up our freedom and become your lackeys!”
“Mr. Igor, If you’re bad with metaphors, just don’t use them in your descriptions, okay?” Ye Qingxuan’s face twitched as he sighed and said, “In any case, that’s the gist of it. If you render your service to me, you can clean up your name, and get recruited by the navy of Anglo…”
He paused for a moment and turned his gaze towards the ship that was being taken apart into pieces, his voice becoming deep. “I can let you all operate this legendary warship, unique to the world. You’ll have the chance to surpass the legends of the Revenge of the Queen, the Intrepid and the Star of the Sea, and become a true legend together with it.”
