Book 4, Chapter 34

The Beast Bone

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

------------------

           "But what??"

　　    "We

can't transport the corpse because it's too big!" 　　

           "So

it's not here?" Zirai asked.

　　    The old designer slowly turned around. "It's

sitting over the mountain yonder. You need to move it here on your own. The

cave is guarded by some monster recently and I never tried to

enter the place ever since. If you can chase the monsters away and move the

corpse here, I'll help you build a large wars.h.i.+p. You won't even need to pay

for the keel."

　　    "Right

on it!" I led everyone and rushed towards the mountain's direction. 

            But

the old man stopped us from behind.

　　    "Not yet!

I'm not finished. The beast's evil power still remain on the corpse so it is

too dangerous to approach. Use this to purify it before touching anything!" 

           He took out a crystal bottle from behind his back. "Take this holy

water to banish the devil. Just spray some of it on the corpse." 

　　    He

called it a mountain but the place is actually a big dirt clump, not any

larger than a small park. It took less than 30 minutes for us to climb over the

terrain. 

            There's the cave. We don't see anything at the entrance besides

some twisted gra.s.s and weed.

　　    "Where

are the monsters?" Coin watched around the area.

　　    "Maybe

they're inside." I told everyone to stay on guard. I also drew my weapon

to prepare for any encounters.

　　    We

reached the entrance. There's a lone pa.s.sage leading towards deeper inside. After a dozen meters we

entered a large stone hall. A series of blue magic lamps hang on the wall

around us, making the hall bright as day. The bone carca.s.s of an unknown

monster is located in the far end.

　　    From

the remains I can tell the thing was at least 300 meters in length when alive. Even

Lucky would feel like a kid compared to it. The corpse lies in a coiled

position inside the cave. The breast part should be somewhere around 200 meters

long, which means our s.h.i.+p will come out around a similar size when finished. We

should be able to put several crystal cannons on a s.h.i.+p like that.

　　    "WHO

DARES TO DISTURB MY SLUMBER?!" 

            A loud, aged voice boomed around us, making

us jump.

　　    Zirai

looked around without finding anything, so she just spoke towards the ceiling.

"Who are you?" 　　

            "I

am the divine beast, Bi-Lin." (*) 　　

            "And

where are you?" 　　

            "Right in front of you!" 　　

            "In

front??"

　　    "You

claim that you do not see this magnificent body of mine? Your joke is

appreciated, young one."

　　    "You

mean, you're this, skeleton?" I figured it out first.

　　    "An apparent answer." 　　

            "But

aren't you dead?" 　　

            "A

divine beast never dies!" 　　

            "But,

but you're only bones left!" Yuri exclaimed. It silenced the "divine beast"

for a brief moment.

　　    "My...body

was badly damaged so I gave it up." 　　

            "So

why are you still here?" 　　

            "The hatred!!" The voice suddenly became excited. "I demand revenge!! It

shouldn't have come to this!" 

            It's becoming more violent. Even the cave began to shake, a number

of falling rocks forced us to dodge for cover. 

            So the "monster" the

old man mentioned must be this soul or spirit or whatever it is.

　　    "Hey

easy. Calm down, please!" 

            I need to do something or we'd get buried alive! "Just, you know, tell us who did this to you, maybe we can help?" 

            I immediately regretted that. Whoever killed this thing must be way powerful

beyond our imagination, which means there's no way we can help!

　　    "It

was a snake with nine heads. It claimed to be a G.o.d spirit from the land of

pirates east of here." 　　

           "Land

of pirates? You mean j.a.pan?" Zirai yelled. "You

fell against the snake monster from j.a.pan? Is it strong?"

　　    "Humph!

A petty creature. Do you know about the four symbolic beasts on this land?"

　　    "Oh

I know. Vermilion Bird, Black Turtle, White Tiger and Azure Dragon?"

　　    "The

Azure Dragon of the Eastern Rain, and the Vermilion Bird of the Southern Flame

are my disciples. The nine-headed snake couldn't even beat these two kids back then.

However, that cursed abomination and those eastern pirates lured me into a deadly trap. I

managed to get away alive, but those wounds they inflicted on me could never be

healed, so my only choice was to stay here and wait for perish. Ahhhh... the hatred!!" 

           "Aha!

So that's how things went." Zirai snickered. "I thought those j.a.ps

don't know how to count." (**)

　　    I

pushed the topic:"Your excellency, we are actually planning to fight with

j.a.pan and stop their intrusion upon our land, now we need a keel bone to

construct a s.h.i.+p. That's why we came here for the body you left behind." 　　

            "If

that's what you're going to do, just take it. These bones are of no use to me anymore." 

            So generous!

　　    "But

what about your soul?" 　　

            "Just

make sure you don't break up the bones and keep it whole when making that s.h.i.+p

or yours so I can remain. I may even help you protect the s.h.i.+p." 　　

            "Much

appreciated! We will be moving it now."

　　    I

summoned Lucky, Rosa, Loong'er and Phiona to help with the bones. Tank would

help too but he's still on cooldown for using that cannon skill. Zirai also

summoned her t.i.tans and Skyfire to help. With some extra effort from Pa.s.serby's

Roachy, we barely managed to move the giant skeleton remains.

　　    It's

already afternoon when we finally got the bone to the boatyard. The old man

walked around and inspected it in delight.

　　    "Good

stuff! So the legendary beast is real."

　　    "Well,

get to it will you?" 

　　    "Of

course, of course. Shall we settle on the extra requirements and payments?" 

            Yup, this is very expected. 

            He took out some paper roll. "Tell me how you would like the s.h.i.+p, and I'll

give you a final price for it."

　　    I

gave him a troubled look. "Truth is, this is the first time we're trying

to make a s.h.i.+p so we really don't know what to look for. Can you give us some pointers?" 　　

           "Oh

that's no problem." He gave me a small handbook. "It's a purchase

guide, just read the instructions."

　　    They

even prepared something like this! 

            I read it aloud so everyone can hear it. 

           "First, determine your desired s.h.i.+p keel according to the size and

functions of the s.h.i.+p you're expecting."  

           "We can skip that one."

Hawk said.

　　    I

turned the pages. "Once the keel is set, choose the materials. There are

usually the following available choices:" 

           I pa.s.sed all the cheap ones

and began to read through the more st.u.r.dy ones. 

           "These are pretty good

materials so let's pick among them. 

           Teak Wood, average protection, light weight,

so you can put a lot of stuff on the s.h.i.+p. Problem, easy to burn. 

           Iron Lumber, high

resistance against both impact and fire, very heavy. 

           Sun Wood, average

protection and weight, resistant to spells, won't catch fire. 

           The last one is

Crystal Wood. Very strong, average weight and good spell and fire resistance. But

several times more expensive than the other choices. 

           Okay, which one?"

　　    "It

would be best if we can choose the crystal one but...?" Zirai seems unsure

about the cost.

　　    "How

much money do we have?" Rose asked the simple question. 　　

           "I

have a million crystal pieces on me." I checked my inventory.

　　    Hawk

opened his too. "I have 550 thousand here, collected by everyone."

　　    "1.55

million that is." Rose turned to the old man. "How much if we use

Crystal Wood on this keel?"

　　    He

glanced over the structure. "So I won't be asking money for the keel... From

the size of the breast part I'd say 500 thousand crystal pieces."

　　    "But

Bi-Lin asked us not to break it apart." I quickly added. 　　

           "As

a whole?" He considered for a moment. "It's possible but the final

product would reach beyond 300 meters. And you'll need to pay 600 thousand for

mere materials."

　　    Rose

continued: "How much for labor work?" 　　

           "That

depends on how you plan the cabins. It costs more if you build something

complex. But 500 thousand crystals should be enough for even the most difficult

layout."

　　    Rose

did some mind-calculation. "I guess we have enough fund to use full

crystal wood. We should make it best as possible since Bi-Lin gifted his

valuable bones to us. We won't find a second chance like this." 　　

           Zirai jumped: "Rose is right! Here, I have 50 thousand, take it."

　　    I

spoke to the old man. "Okay, Crystal Wood please. Next is...let me see. The

cabins. First, do we need lounges and storage rooms? We need them if we're to

go for any long-distance sails or crews will die. Opinions?"

　　    Zirai

jumped again. "Of course! We're going to travel all the way to j.a.pan right?"

            "Sure.

One storage room and one lounge cabin please." 　　

            "How

many crew do you need? You should decide on those rooms after telling me the

number of sailors that are going to live on the s.h.i.+p. One lounge cabin is only

enough for 20 people, and one storage can hold supplies enough for a hundred

people to survive 10 days."

　　    "Hm.

Let's think about that later. Go for the next items." Hawk suggested.

　　    "Next,

paddle chambers. They must be symmetrically placed on both sides. Each paddle

chamber holds a long oar which needs four sailors to operate. How many levels

of chambers we can build depends on the draft length between water level and

s.h.i.+p's rail, and how many chambers we can put in each level depends on s.h.i.+p length."

　　    "What

is the draft length for our s.h.i.+p?" Rose asked him. 　　

           "More

than 8 meters, or 9 meters at most. That means five levels of cabins. Be sure to

leave enough s.p.a.ce for the cannon rooms though." 

           "For

something with this size...125 rooms should be no problem." 　　

           Rose

considered for several seconds. "Three levels of paddle chambers, 125 on

each side of the level. That's 750 chambers in all, 3000 sailors."

　　    I

read further. "Cannon emplacement. They share the same positions as paddle

chambers, while you can also place cannons on the deck, or build a front cannon

room on top of the bow of the s.h.i.+p." I looked at the old designer. "Can

you make the front cannon base rotatable? We're going to put the crystal cannon there."

　　    "Of

course." 　　

            "Then...fill

all the rest of the s.p.a.ce with cannon rooms." 　　

            "They

all use small sized firelock cannons, mind that they're way weaker than

that crystal cannon you have. You still have two levels of windowed chambers, plus

a row of cannons on the deck. 100 rooms each side of the level, one cannon in

each room, each cannon will need 3 sailors. That should be 600 cannons and 1800

sailors."

　　    "Next

is...mast. We need one or three or five vessel masts." 　　

           Coin

spoke:"Well of course we put five of them for a s.h.i.+p so large." 　　

           "Five

it is. Next is sailcloth. Three choices, Lug-Sail, high downwind speed but

cannot leverage any side wind. Lateen (triangular sail), average downwind speed

but can have a boost when there's side wind. Or combination of them, so we can

use any types of wind but of course it will be expensive."

　　    "Obvious

choice." Zirai said that without hesitation.

　　    I

can see the others nod too. "Composite then. So, rudders. We need to

decide their number and positions. That's beyond me, any advice sir?"

　　    "They

usually go behind the tails of s.h.i.+ps but since your s.h.i.+p is bigger than average,

I'd suggest you use separated rudders. Two in the front and three at the

b.u.t.tock, so you can control the whole thing better."

　　    "Let's

do it." I kept reading. "Do we place a ramming horn or figurehead in front?"

　　    "I

don't think we're going to ram people using this giant with all the cannons. Let's use a figure." Hawk said.

　　    "We

choose figurehead. Outer plating? We have iron plating, mithril plating or

crystal wood pads."

　　    "Mithril. It doesn't catch rust and can withstand spells."  Elfy said after reading over the descriptions.

　　    "That

should be all. Can you help us settle up the lounge rooms and storage? And give

us the final price."

　　    The designer read through the long paper roll. "You have 3000 paddlers, 1800 cannoneers, 300 sail

settlers, 200 support crew. That's 5300 sailors, so you need 265 lounge rooms

and 159 storage rooms to last for a month. Let's see...you still have a lot of

spare s.p.a.ce on the s.h.i.+p."

　　    I

thought this over. "Make it 400 lounge rooms, and build 40 additional

double rooms. Fill the remaining areas with storage." 　　

            "Alriiight...Give

me a moment to finish this up. Oh and, you also need a captain room and a chart

house."

　　    "Just

give us the best plan." 

　　    "Right

on it." 　　

           He

even needs some more people to help measure the s.h.i.+p. It doesn't look like he's

going to finish anytime soon. We have nothing better to do so we all moved to

the harbor to enjoy the view.

           That's when we saw King Conqueror's s.h.i.+p coming

back.

　　    We

saw the Ocean Might drifting towards the port in a strange angle while giving

out thick smoke. I said drift because none of the broken paddles or tattered

sailcloth seem to be working anymore. 

           We ran to the docking area and asked

about the situation.

　　    When

the s.h.i.+p went close enough, we can see countless holes on the s.h.i.+p's hull.

A number of sailors are running wild, I also saw King giving out orders to

put out all the fires. Their mail mast is almost burnt out!

　　    We

watched in shock as the ma.s.sive battles.h.i.+p b.u.mped into the buffer ropes around

the dock and finally came to a halt. More workers on the dock joined the fire

fighting as well, and a group of boatyard NPCs ran towards it with all sorts of ladders, hammers or wooden planks. Guess Ocean Might needs one

h.e.l.l of an overhaul this time.

　　    I

decided to help too. The s.h.i.+p is damaged like this in a fight against the

j.a.panese after all. I can't repair s.h.i.+ps but putting out some fire is

no problem. 

            "Loong'er, come out. Can you control the sea water?"

　　    "That's

my job!" (***) 　　

            "Nice.

Can you do something about the fire on that s.h.i.+p?" 　　

            "Surely!" 

            She dived into the sea. The area quickly turned dark. A small-scale rainstorm completely

extinguished the last ember, before suns.h.i.+ne returned as fast as the rain came. 

           Loong'er

didn't return when everything's done. She instead began to swim and dance on

the water surface. I think I should let her into the water more often in the

future.

　　    Since

there's no more work to do, King Conqueror came down from the s.h.i.+p and walked

to us. 

            "Did you get your s.h.i.+p?" 

　　    "Not

yet. That's a battles.h.i.+p we're talking about, it takes time." Coin

complained.

　　    "Battles.h.i.+p?

So you're going to beat j.a.panese pirates too?" 

           His face is blackened by

all the smoke. He wiped it using one of his hands, only to make it look even funnier.

　　    I

looked at the broken wars.h.i.+p. "Do you end up like this every time you

fight them?" 

           That's too much damage to my liking. 

　　    He

forced a chuckle. "Not every time. We encountered a big fleet today. Seven

of them, and we only had one. We sank a s.h.i.+p, damaged another, before we

escaped."

　　    Zirai

spoke with excitement: "Are there no other guilds fighting with you?"

           "There

are, but only few of them. Besides their s.h.i.+ps aren't gonna hold themselves

against those j.a.pan ocean wars.h.i.+ps. Not everyone can afford these babes you

know."

　　    "I

see..." 

            We became silent. Must admit, the j.a.panese have way more money to

spend right now. We have a bigger land but everything becomes scarce when "averaged"

to individuals.

　　    "It

must cost a ton to repair your s.h.i.+p." Zirai spoke.

　　    "Ah,

nothing to worry about. We seized a lot of stuff from previous fights, and we

get EXP too. Worth it." 　　

            "Wait,

what? Exp? The j.a.panese count as monsters too?"

　　    "Nonono,

of course they're players. But you still get EXP by killing foreign enemies. A

lot I'd say. Players are considered as high level monsters so these battles

level you up even faster than grinding by normal means. You know, if you

kill a s.h.i.+p, everyone on board dies."

　　    "I

see it now." Elfy sighed. "I was wondering why you're so pa.s.sionate

about it. So you get both fame and wealth out of these fights huh?"

　　    "Right-ho!

Ha-hahaha!" 

            King let out a hearty laughter, as if he already forgot about

his precious, now badly damaged Ocean Might.

(*) I found little English reference about this creature. Something about "the mentor/master of the four symbolic beasts." 

(**) They're talking about Yamata no Orochi, the "8-branched giant snake" in j.a.panese mythology. However it is often considered to have 9 heads in Chinese ill.u.s.trations because of two reasons:

1: It is confused with Xiangliu, a Chinese mythology creature with 9 heads;

2: Language issue. The correct Chinese translation for Orochi is "the giant snake with 8 forks". And someone believe that "8 forks" means "9 heads" .

The confusion still exist even today.

(***) In some Chinese mythologies and stories (such as Journey to the West), eastern dragons are not majestic or very powerful creatures. Rather, they're more like "local officials" who are responsible to control local weather and obey orders from other higher-ups.