Book 4, Chapter 33

The Plan

Alert: Minor offensive content towards j.a.pan.

            "Hahaha that's so lame!" Everyone laughed.

　　     Even

Big Pot himself began to laugh hard, which made us worry that he's too stressed because

we laugh at him. 　　

　　     Violet

nudged him. "Hey. You ok? We didn't mean to make fun of you, sorry for that." 

　　     Violet

gave us a look. We all nodded quickly until we felt dizzy.

            "See, we meant

no harm. We were trying to lift the mood."

　　    Big

Pot posed a "V" at me. "Thank you for throwing me off like that!!"

　　    "Did

you b.u.mp your head somewhere?" Hawk looked at Big Pot with a raised eyebrow.

　　    Razor

checked all those footprints on his body. "Maybe someone broke him by

stepping on his head?" 　　

            Merciless

pointed out the question. "You fell into the water right? It didn't wash

off the footprints? And, why are you not wet?"

　　    "Oh yeah! That doesn't look right." We just noticed the missing point here. What

made him so happy if he dropped into the moat and without any water on him?

　　    Big

Pot looked at himself and spoke: "Wet? Of course I'm not wet! Ziri buddy, you're

awesome! I'm so following you from now on, you're my belief!"

　　    "...What

did I do?" Something feels creepy.

　　    "You

don't know? You and your knights pushed like a thousand people down into the

river. It's just a small water ditch. It was filled up with all the players! I

fell on top of a group of cute girls! They felt so soft!" 

           Ok. Is that making him happy? I don't want to question it.

　　    Hawk

interrupted his daydream. "Alright, let's get back to business. Where's

the crystal cannon, Zirai?"

　　    "I

put it at the central plaza. Skyfire is watching. Nothing to worry about, this

place is like a ghost city or something, I don't see a single living thing."

　　    "You

know what, I enjoy places like this." I led them towards the plaza while

chatting about random stuff. "It's like being the king of the entire city.

I can use anything here as I like! Oh, Hawk, do you still

have the money I gave you for selling the companion eggs?"

　　    "Yeah.

We don't lose money on death anyway so I didn't take the time to bring it to

bank. You want it back?"

　　    "Yes,

all of it. I need to pay my debt." 　　

           "Debt?"

Zirai gave me a puzzled look. "You borrow money from someone?"

　　    "An

NPC. He repaired my armor last time and I didn't have enough to pay him. Now I

have some money so I'd better pay him fast!"

　　    "NPCs

allow IOUs?" Everyone opened their mouth wide, except for Wayne and Rose. They already know about my business.

　　    "Why

not?" I turned to Hawk. "I'll go take care of it. You all wait for me

at the plaza. Won't take long."

           "Clark?"

I rushed into his shop. Of course, no one's here. He's probably over at the

clothing store again. 

           Sigh. This sugar guy... 

           I ran to the clothing store. Yup, as

expected.

           "Why do you run wild all day instead of looking over your own

shop? Here, 150 thousand crystals."

　　    He

took the money. "You actually got enough money all of a sudden?" 　　

           "I

sold something and made a small profit. Oh, right. Do you know how to use a

cannon?"

　　    "Cannon?

You mean, the magic crystal cannon?"

　　    "That's

it. We stole one of them and haven't figured out how to get it working. Actually

we don't even know how should we make good use of it." 

           Clark was a chief

in the demon legion, he must know about such stuff.

　　    He

held his chin for a while. "Where is it? I need to take a look. Our troops

had mobile ones and stationed ones, they all work differently. Can't give you

answer before I look at it myself."

　　    "Follow

me then!" 

            I poked my head around Clark and shouted to the store mistress.

"Hey sister, I'll borrow your dear husband for a bit."

　　    "Oh

shush you!" 

            Is she blus.h.i.+ng??

            We

walked to the central plaza. Everyone else is waiting. Hawk drew his sword

hastily when he saw us. 

           "Ziri, behind you!! A Shadow Warrior!"

　　    "It's

my friend!" 

           Clark walked straight to the cannon while only sparing a small

glance at Yuri, of all people. Looks like everyone else didn't add much

Charisma like us. 

　　    He

touched around the two-meter tall mechanism and spoke: "Good stuff. This is

the biggest sized magic crystal cannon used for military fortresses. We also

have some here in the Lost City."

　　    "You

do?" Well I never saw them.

　　    "Yeah,

hidden in the river. When the Eye of Underworld opens, they'll emerge from the

water and attack anyone who approaches. You can't see them now. You stole this

thing from Cloudtop I a.s.sume?"

　　    "Huh?"

I jumped. "How did you figure that out?"

　　    Clark

pulled out a giant violet crystal as big as a human head from under the cannon. 

            "The crystal still has Cloudtop's mark on it. Look here." 

            We all

looked at it closely. There is a strange symbol on the crystal, though it seems

no one knows what it means.

　　    "This

thing is the energy source of the cannon, be very careful with it. The crystal

becomes pale after every shot, and depletes when it turns pure white." Clark

jumped off the cannon and turned to me. "Don't throw it away when that

happens. You can sell it to me, I recycle these things."

　　    "What

for?" 　　

           "It's

a perfect material for crafting high level armor pieces, what do you expect? Oh

one other thing. You can't shoot the cannon too fast, make sure you wait at

least 30 sec before the next shot. Otherwise the cannon may explode!"

　　    "Understood!"

            I wasn't

expecting the cannon to be so complicated.

            "Where can I find extra

crystals like that one?"

　　    "That's

beyond me. Go ask Domergor, that kid should know something." 　　

           "I

see. How do I operate it?"

　　    "Here."

Clark pointed to a handle-like part on the cannon base. "Pull that thing

and the cannon will shoot. It goes back on itself when the shot is over. Don't break it."

　　    "Thank

you!" 　　

           "No

need to. Just help me collect materials. You still have that list I gave you

right? Don't forget." 　　

           "Of

course brother. I'll keep it in mind."

           Hawk

went to me when Clark left. 

           "Is that an NPC? That's really different from

everyone else."

　　    "The

NPCs in this city are all different, just try to be nice to them. So what do we

do?  Leave

the cannon here? There are still months before nation wars start."

　　    "I

have an idea." Merciless stepped up. "We use it to fight j.a.pan right?

We can deploy it in naval wars first."

　　    "Naval

wars?" Hawk looked between us. "What do you mean naval wars?"

　　    Everyone

seems lost so Merciless began to explain. "Ziri, you remember the

Far Land city?"

　　    "Yeah.

That's where we met."

　　    "You

left in a hurry and didn't get a good look at it. It's actually a port city."

           "Port

city? As in, a city with a lot of boats?" Pa.s.serby became excited. "It's

my dream to sail the sea! They have boats in this game? Then I'm definitely

going!"

　　    Elfy

seems interested too. "Are there any seaside entertainment? Some enjoyment

would be nice!"

　　    Merciless

chuckled. "Yes. There's also one other thing you won't be expecting."

           "What?"

We asked that together.

　　    "j.a.panese

pirates!" 　　

            Ohhh! 

　　    "But

nation war hasn't started yet?" 　　

            "That's

true. But the game world is still a complete map. All countries or regions

exist on the same planet, so we're pretty close to j.a.pan. There's only a small distance on the sea. Same for other adjacent countries you can find on the

globe. We're separated by mountain ranges. So, you can travel to whichever

country you like as long as you get past a special zone. When nation war starts, travel routes will appear and we can fight

with them for real. We can't do that now but small teams with several dozens of

people can still cross the border if they can manage it. So if you want to go

to j.a.pan, just use a boat."

　　    "You

mean those sc.u.ms can send people to us right now??" 

            Zirai seems the

typical anti-j.a.pan extremist. She gets drastic whenever someone mentions j.a.pan.

　　    "In

theory yes. But they haven't done anything big, only some random players will

show up now and then and raid the citizens who live close to the sea." 　　

           "What

did you say??" 

           Man, I see blood veins in her eyes. I'm really worried she

might just jump into the sea, swim there and get revenge. 

           "Have we done

anything to stop them? We just let them do whatever they want?"

　　    "Some

of the guilds sent patrol teams along the coastline. They usually level up

there while watching out for enemies. I even heard some richer guilds have

their own battles.h.i.+ps. But...you never know when those pirates will come, and

we can't be staying on guard twenty-four-seven, so they won over us most of the

time."

　　    "Argh

I can't believe this!!"

            Now Zirai looks like an infuriated bull with those steam coming out of

her nostrils. Scary.

　　    "Hey

calm down. Calm it!" We tried to soothe her. Or she might do something

stupid for real! She was brave enough to steal property from the system city

after all.

　　    I

tried to change the topic. "So how are we going to use the crystal cannon?"

　　    "The pirates come here on boats right? So what if we sink their boats with the cannon?"

Someone suggested. 　　

           "Oh

nice idea!" Zirai jumped up again. Hawk and I tried to press the girl down, and we failed. "Let's go get the cannon over to the sea!"

　　    "Hold

it!" Elfy stopped us. "The coastline of China is...over 26 thousand

kilometers. One cannon won't help much." (*)

　　    "Ah..."

We all became quiet. 

            Having a big land isn't all about advantages it seems.

　　    "Merciless

mentioned battles.h.i.+ps. How about building one of those ourselves?" Big Pot

raised a very practical point. "The cannon can't protect much area on its

own but what if we place it on a s.h.i.+p and move around with it?"

　　    "Yes,

yes, YES! Let's do it! Quickly!!" Zirai went berserk for a third time.

"Skyfire, go!"

　　    We

reached the Torrent Point city (with a little bit of chaos, with Zirai urging

our a.s.ses), which is the biggest port city within the Chinese game region. We're

more familiar with the Far Land city but it's too small to hold any big vessels.

Of course we can't put that cannon on a pathetic wooden plank. 

           It's almost

evening. After some dedicated persuasion, Zirai finally allowed us to log off

and rest, leaving the plan to tomorrow.

           We

went straight to the port area the next morning. And wow it looks big! The

docking area expands more than 10 kilos along the sealine, full of all kinds of

s.h.i.+ps and boats. But I can only see a small number of combat cruisers, most of

the rest are fis.h.i.+ng boats.

　　    The biggest sailboat attracted our attention. It's made of wood, with tons of

people working on it. I can't tell which are players and which are NPCs from

here. A giant triangular sail hangs on the main mast, with a small flag on the

tip of it. The actual size of the flag should be pretty big though. It appears to be small compared to the other parts. 

           There's a sun on the flag, similar to the red

object on the j.a.panese nation flag. A shark is drawn beside the sun, with its

maw wide open, ready to swallow the sun in whole.

　　    An

unfamiliar voice dragged us out of admiration mode. 

           "The Ocean Might is

the biggest battles.h.i.+p in Torrent Point city. She already took down seven

j.a.panese s.h.i.+ps in the past two months."

　　    I

turned to look at the new face. He stands taller than average, with full black

battle armor on his body. But it looks seriously rusted. Very common appearance. That pair of thick eyebrows gives him a heroic look.

　　    He

stretched out a hand. "h.e.l.lo, name is [King Conqueror], leader of the Anti-j.a.panese

a.s.sociation."

　　    "Good

day. I'm Ziri!" I shook his hand. "So that boat belongs to your guild?"

　　    "Aye.

Our members raised all the money for this customized galley. It cost us 500 thousand

crystals! But those trophies are worth the ticket! Want to join the board, miss?

Our guild-- Uh, h.e.l.lo?"

　　    I

face-palmed and crouched on the ground. Not again! They're hurting my feelings! 

           King Conqueror's hand is still left in the air. Zirai quickly took it over.

"Anti-j.a.p a.s.sociation? I like that name. We need people like you!"

　　    Obviously

he never noticed Zirai until now. He looks more than surprised. He s.h.i.+fted

his gaze between us for several times before finally asking Zirai: "That's...your

sister?"

　　    Zirai

didn't answer him, "Where did you order your s.h.i.+p?" 　　

           "Oh,

you want one too? It costs a fortune you know!"

　　    "Just

tell me." Getting a s.h.i.+p to fight pirates is the only thing on her mind

now.

　　    "If

that's the case...follow me ma'am." 

           He kept chatting with us on the way.

"May I know your name too?"

　　    "It's

Zirai." 　　

           "So,

Ziri and Zirai? I knew you're sisters! You look almost the same."

           Zirai gave

me a glance and smiled but didn't help me explain. Geez.

　　    We

walked a long way to reach the edge of the docking area. There's a giant

harbour structure, separated from all the other ones. It has a roof too. 

           "Here.

This is the boatyard. Go talk to the NPCs to order a s.h.i.+p."

　　    Before

he leads us in, someone rushed to King. 

           "So you're here! Move it! The

j.a.ps showed up again. Ocean Might is departing!"

　　    "Again?

Then let's show them who's boss!" 

           King ran away while shouting

back to us: "I'll be back once we rid those thieves. Will talk to you then!" 

           There he goes.

　　    "That's

an interesting dude." Hawk commented. "Alright, let's go get our own

s.h.i.+p so we can beat up some pirates too!"

　　    "Let's

do it!!" Zirai is pumped up again and dragged me towards inside. "Hurry

up sister!" 

           She's doing that on purpose!

           There

are many people running up and down in the boatyard. The keel structure of a

medium-sized boat is placed in the middle, with people fixing planks onto it. Must

be another new order they received. (**)

           I dragged a random NPC over and asked him

where to order for a s.h.i.+p, and was told to go find their designer in a small

room deeper inside. 

　　    We

reached the said room in the far corner. It looks broken, and feels like about

to come down at any moment. Still, we pushed the door open. There's an old man

inside writing something on a piece of paper. He stopped his work when he saw

us. 

            Pale blue gown, a big ap.r.o.n, typical carpenter setup. He's also wearing

gold-rimmed gla.s.ses. 

           "You want to order s.h.i.+ps?"

　　    "Yes.

A special one!" I spoke before everyone else. I have the highest Charisma

here so I should do the talking to make thing easier.

　　    "Come

here then." He opened a room and signaled us to get in. I never noticed

there's a door on the wall...is it a hidden backdoor? 

           We walked into a place

and saw a series of giant sailboat keels lined up. 

           "These are keel

templates. You choose which size to use based on what you want to do with the

s.h.i.+p. The smallest one is for ordinary fis.h.i.+ng boats. You might need to choose

the bigger ones if you want to catch whales or sea monsters."

　　    "Pardon me please," I stopped him from explaining further. "We need a

battles.h.i.+p."

　　    "Battles.h.i.+p?

You should've said that earlier." 

            He led us around the keels and towards

another area with even more templates. These ones are big, and they all have more

frames and beams to make them st.u.r.dier. 

            "These are wars.h.i.+p keels. You need

to choose a keel first because it decides the s.h.i.+p's overall size. Equipment and everything else can be determined later. So, anyone catches your eye?" 

　　    "Are

there any bigger ones than these? Truth is, we have something really bulky to

load onto the s.h.i.+p and I think we need something extra large. The larger the

better." 

           The biggest one I see here is about only 50 meters in length, which

means just a bit bigger than the Ocean Might we saw outside. The cannon is

apparently too large for a s.h.i.+p like that, and we already saw how much kickback

it produces. I don't want the cannon to sink our own s.h.i.+p first.

　　    The

old man inspected us for a while. "I do have a secret collection but..."

           Persuasion check, successful.

           I quickly tried to flatter the old man with every commendatory word I can dig

up in my brain. 

           "Alright, I'll share the knowledge since you're such a

bright and mannered young man. I have another keel which may qualify as 'extra

large' you mentioned." 

           He glanced around and then whispered into my ears: 

           "It's actually the corpse of an ancient beast. Those breast bones are

perfect for forging the keel of a s.h.i.+p. However, the beast was once a foul

existence. Its plagued aura still lingers even after it has been dead for a

thousand years. With those bones you can make your s.h.i.+p exceptionally huge, and

way stronger than those s.h.i.+ps you can see out there. But...!" 

           He stopped

where it's important!

(*) This may not be a correct number.

(**) A "keel" is the base frame used to support a s.h.i.+p's hull. I hope I used the right word.