The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Iron Hoof Island, Bull Hoof City.

Now taken over by the Sapphire Family, but the scars of war had yet to be erased, the huge castle standing by the sea still bore pockmarked and cracked traces on its walls.

Those had been left by the First Prince when he led the Knight Order to capture Bull Hoof City.

At the moment, the port of Bull Hoof City was densely packed with various sailing ships, flying a variety of banners. The Red Tulip Flag of the Tulip Family was quite inconspicuous. During the stopover for supplies, Liszt found the Red Crab Island Fleet, led by his uncle, Mesiro Taro.

"Uncle, I want to rent the Red Crab Island Fleet to transport a batch of serfs for me," Liszt stated directly.

Mesiro was quite fond of Liszt, his nephew who had the fine features of the Long Taro Family: "No problem, as long as you pay the corresponding reward, the Red Crab Island Fleet can be rented at any time. How many serfs are you planning to transport to your domain?"

"I'm planning to transport at least ten thousand. If I can buy more, I hope to round up to twenty thousand."

"Black Horse Island is just an undeveloped barren island, isn't it? Are you sure you can support so many serfs based on your territory? If there is a food shortage, it may cause unrest in the territory, and the death of serfs would also be a huge loss."

"I have already stocked enough food for ten thousand people to survive the winter. Adding another ten thousand would just tighten the food supply in the domain. I believe that I can obtain food from other channels and support us safely until the next year's harvest," Liszt replied confidently.

Live off the mountains if near the mountains, live off the sea if near the sea.

If the serfs had nothing to eat, they would be sent to the sea to catch seafood, and seafood could also be purchased from the various coastal towns of Coral Island. There was absolutely no problem with filling their bellies.

It was just a matter of how many Gold Coins it would cost.

"You are prepared for this, and that's enough," Mesiro said with a hint of nostalgia in his eyes, speaking gently, "If Melissa were still alive, seeing how you are now, she would surely have a radiant smile every day."

To Liszt, Melissa was merely a symbol.

She had passed away when his former self was very young, so he had no memories or much to talk about regarding her, and thus he changed the subject: "How is grandfather doing? With Meioubao and Angela's marriage, Long Taro Castle must be filled with even more warmth."

"He's getting stronger by the day, with no need to worry about worldly affairs, but his temper lately is not good. Every day Meioubao and Angela do not bring a Long Taro Family heir into this world is another day he will not be satisfied. Even a princess must strive for the continuity of the Long Taro Family lineage."

"Yes, family succession is the most important issue," Liszt said, and then suddenly remembered the Smoke Mission from before - Meioubao and Angela did not have a harmonious marital relationship.

At that time, his first thought was the taboo scenario of "cuckoldry," so he immediately changed the mission.

But upon thinking it over later, he felt maybe he had overthought it, always viewing Angela, with her liberal lifestyle, through tinted lenses - The Smoke Mission mentioned a lack of harmony in the marital relationship, leading to an inability to continue the family line, which includes several other possibilities.

It could be that Meioubao had a problem with his virility, preventing Angela from becoming pregnant.

It could also be that Angela had fertility issues, preventing her from conceiving.

Another possibility was inactive sperm unable to reach where they were meant to go, naturally making pregnancy difficult.

If it were the first two possibilities, there would be no solution, but if it were the latter, it required regulation. If it was just an ordinary level of inactivity, eating foods rich in zinc, maintaining proper rest and relaxation could improve the activity level - oysters, also known as oysters, contained the highest amount of zinc.

The zinc content in animal livers is also quite high.

"If Meioubao and Angela cannot conceive for too long, I really should step in to help, at least by providing them with oyster food," he thought to himself.

...

After anchoring at Bull Hoof City for just one night, the fleet continued its journey.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

On the azure Sea of Azure Waves, a line of sailboats sailed in formation. Liszt specifically climbed to the crow's nest at the top of the mainmast, took out his telescope, and gazed at the surrounding fleet.

The telescope he held in his hand was the second generation model, both precision and clarity far surpassing the first generation. This stemmed from the Earl's continuous investment; he was very fond of the telescope, and after Liszt explained the principles behind it, the Earl pushed hard to have crystal craftsmen research and refine it.

Just then.

Through the telescope, Liszt caught sight of a whale leaping mightily from the ocean's surface to the right of the fleet, only to crash back into the water, raising a large spray of waves.

These massive creatures were a part of the scenery on the voyage; they would often accompany the fleet for a while.

As long as the ships didn't attack them, they would not attack the ships, and all was well. Liszt had even heard crew members say that when ships were attacked by sea monsters, these large whales would sometimes come to their aid, chasing away the monsters—their immense size meant average low-level sea monsters simply couldn't cope.

"This could be the whales' protective behavior towards their young. Sea monsters hunt baby whales, so the adult whales try to block any hunting behavior by the monsters, not allowing them to develop peacefully and reducing the chances of the young whales being hunted," Liszt deduced.

He had watched documentaries where humpback whales would often embark on rescue missions over thousands of miles to save prey about to fall into the jaws of an orca.

There was no evidence as to why they did this, but they seemed to enjoy it, showing gallant valor.

During this voyage.

Besides witnessing a few instances of whales escorting the fleet, there were no other memorable moments; they didn't even encounter a single sea monster. Tales of attacks by sea monsters abounded in the ocean, yet the chance to actually come across one in a lifetime as a sailor was quite rare indeed.

The vast ocean was simply too immense; sea monsters had specific prey and had no reason to attack wooden ships or to munch on humans, hardly worth a snack.

What really hindered humanity from setting their sights on the ocean were the constraints of their understanding, and the fact that acquiring resources in the ocean was far more difficult than on land.

Indeed.

If Liszt had a large fiefdom on the continent, he wouldn't think about developing the ocean to lead the era of great maritime voyages. The profound ocean always emitted a mysterious and shadowy aura. Sometimes, as he stood at the helm, gazing into its unfathomable depths, he couldn't help but feel a tinge of fear.

The merciless ocean could swallow a man whole with ease.

Cultivate.

Cultivate.

Cultivate.

The monotonous six-and-a-half-day voyage soon ended, and the fleet was already heading towards a major city of the Steel Ridge Kingdom—Comb City—where they would gather, resupply, and collect information before launching an offensive on the Sardine Bay Area.

"The Pioneer Mandate warfare is of a different style compared to the battle of Iron Hoof Island. Liszt, here, defeating opponents and plundering resources is our primary task," the Earl said spiritedly as he looked towards the approaching port, "The wars that take place on the continent are the true battleground for knights."