Chapter 476 The Legend of the City of Black Sails
Time is running out.
After the Columbus docked at the port of Lagos, it was replenishing supplies.
On the other side, Lan Wen came forward to inform Harland of the Columbus's next itinerary and asked him to help with various procedures, including sea voyage permission and logbook registration.
· The original route reported by the Columbus was the Lagos Port-Oro Principality route.
Because the Principality of Oro is actually a tributary of the Plantagenet Dynasty, it seems that this route is an outbound trade, but in fact it is still in the category of "domestic trade", and the required procedures and reviews are all simplified.
Hence, if you want to go to the City of Black Sails, it is considered a true "international trade", and you need to complete many new procedures.
If these necessary procedures are not completed, it will cause a lot of trouble later.
Under the Plantagenet system, if you want to do long-term business, you must not leave any hidden dangers in terms of "laws and regulations".
This is also one of the reasons why the Columbus made a special trip back to the port of Lagos.
As for Gothe himself, he chose to "stay" on the boat.
It’s not that he was putting on airs, but because of the incident in Makoko District, Gothe had a lot of trouble with the local nobles in Lagos City.
If he steps forward, it will not be to help, but to cause trouble, which will create a lot of difficulties.
That's why Gaode immediately started planning to transfer the Harland Shipyard industry to Auckland after receiving the title of Honorary Master of Auckland.
Experience in his previous life made Gothe understand very well that in a country like the Plantagenet Dynasty, which has strict laws and regulations and strictly follows its own system, for "doing business", it is very important to have local connections.
Halland Shipyard has been continuously expanding its scale this year since Gaode took over. Whether it is the tax revenue contributed or the "jobs" brought by the expanded scale, it is considered a new star in the local area.
In addition, Haaland is generous and does not hesitate to spend money to open a way.
Hence, the procedures that would normally take ten and a half days to complete were completed within two hours with the green light.
These two hours are enough for the Columbus to complete the replenishment of supplies.
Without wasting any time, in the darkness, the Columbus sailed out of Lagos Port with complete documents, sufficient supplies, and a full cabin of cargo brought back from the north, heading towards the City of Black Sails.
In the early morning of the third day after sailing out of the port of Lagos, the bow of the Columbus cut through the phosphorescent sea and officially broke into the territory of the Drake Strait.
A touch of orange had just risen above the sea level, but it was torn into pieces by the rolling clouds overhead.
The cotton-like clouds were moving crazily in the sky, as if the clouds were first twisted into twists, and then torn apart.
"This is the Drake Strait...:::" Gothe stood on the deck, looking up at the chaotic cotton-like clouds in the sky.
The edges of the broken clouds glowed with a strange leaden color, as if they would turn into ice and lightning and fall down in the next second.
The sound of howling and chaotic wind is heard in my ears.
The Drake Strait is extremely vast, spanning nearly a thousand kilometers. It is like a crack that was forcibly inserted by the Creator between the Norland Continent and the Blue Flame Islands. It is the only sea route to enter the Blue Flame Islands.
Gaode is a typical person who likes to be fully prepared before doing things.
Hence, after he decided to go to the City of Black Sails to attend the An Lingjie Auction, he immediately went through the relevant nautical books and archives, learned more about the City of Black Sails in detail, and learned many peculiar points about the City of Black Sails.
One of the points is that there is only one way to enter the City of Black Sails, which is to take a boat.
The fastest airships will not work in the Drake Passage.
The reason is also very simple. There is an extremely chaotic and strong wind belt above the Drake Strait all year round, also known as the Broken Wing Wind Belt, which blocks the passage of airships.
According to the book, the origin of the name Broken Wing Wind Belt is because even birds born with two wings will have their wings torn apart by the raging wind above the Drake Strait.
This is especially true for the wings of airships.
Although Gothe is a science student, as an "academic master", his geographical knowledge is not weak. At least he can infer the cause of the formation of the broken wing wind belt from the limited description in the book:
The north of the Drake Strait is an icy ocean controlled by polar cold winds all year round, and the south is a roaring sea area where the westerly winds prevail.
The polar cold wind formed by the cold high pressure in the north and the strong prevailing westerly wind collided here, causing the wind speed to increase sharply.
In addition, the vertical movement of the airflow here is also extremely violent.
· The cold current in the northern frigid zone and the warm and humid air current from the southern tropics, one cold and one hot air, converged above the Drake Strait, twisting into countless rotating air columns, just like the iron wire that has been repeatedly beaten in a blacksmith's furnace, becoming more and more messy.
This kind of convergence of airflow continues, so the broken-wing wind belt over the Drake Strait has always existed. It never stops under such a chaotic airflow environment and wind belt, and the sky above the Drake Strait has become a restricted area for airships.
In such a natural environment, if the airship sails into the Drake Passage, in front of the broken-wing wind belt, it will be no different from a kite with a broken string. It cannot stabilize its direction at all, and will only gradually fall apart after violently drifting in the wind.
There is a difference between what I learned in books and what I saw with my own eyes.
Even though I was mentally prepared for the existence of the Broken Wing Wind Belt, when the Columbus actually entered the Drake Strait and the Broken Wing Wind Belt was directly above, Gothe was still shocked by the sight in front of me:
The clouds that were torn into spider webs by the strong wind deformed in a very short period of time and spread out in all directions.
The sea breeze blew in his face, blowing the hair at his temples tightly against his cheeks.
Under the command of the captain, both main sails of the Columbus were fully furled before entering the Drake Passage.
But instead of slowing down, the Columbus's speed seemed to be pushed by an invisible hand to speed up.
Gothe held the side of the ship and looked down, and the sea water showed strange layers.
The surface is dark green sea water, with white waves visible.
About fifty meters underwater, a dark blue ocean current was surging westward at a speed visible to the naked eye. Even sunlight could not penetrate the deep water.
【Cyclic flow】.
The warm and humid air currents and cold tropical winds above the Drake Strait form a violent broken-wing wind belt. In the sea water below the strait, the cold tropical ocean currents converge, forming the unique south-north dual-circulation ocean current with the fastest flow rate on the Norland continent.
To the south is the through-channel rapids, which rotates clockwise, carrying ships through the Drake Channel at high speeds and heading straight to the Blue Flame Islands.
The ocean current in the north is called the return vortex. It is a counterclockwise vortex that can quickly send ships heading towards the Blue Flame Islands out of the Drake Strait.
Humistically visible, even in a tailwind situation, the Columbus's maximum speed was only 11 or 12 knots, and the speedometer needle had jumped to an astonishing 18 knots.
This is still cruising speed, and occasionally it breaks the twenty knot mark.
At this speed, it would take less than two days for the Columbus to cross the Drake Passage.
Gothe watched the white track dragged by the stern of the ship being quickly swept into the dark blue ocean current, and he also sighed in his heart at the wonder of geography.
Although the climate environment in the Drake Passage looks extremely dangerous, that is only for airships.
For ships traveling on the sea, this is an extremely stable route and very convenient.
Hybrid current is like a silent pilot, always locking the ship firmly in the safe channel.
Even if the broken-wing wind belt stirs up rough waves overhead, the water flow below the sea surface never deviates from the established trajectory, and also provides strong and powerful free power.
This is also one of the important reasons why the City of Black Sails has become the most famous black market city in the entire Norland continent and even the entire plane: it has isolated the powerful airship fleet with natural barriers, but it has opened its arms to all ships.
At noon on the last day of the Harvest Moon, the bow of the Columbus slammed into an invisible "wall".
It is not a physical obstacle, but a sudden change in the breath in the air.
The strong wind above the head disappeared, replaced by the salty warm and humid air, and the sunlight splashed on the deck like molten gold liquid.
This means that the Columbus has rushed out of the Drake Passage.
Looking back, the gray horizon of the Drake Passage is receding, like a charcoal mark erased by a big hand.
At this moment, they only have half a day's flight left from the Blue Flame Islands.
The vast sea area connecting the strait and the Blue Flame Islands presents a flowing scene of the "Wharf of All Nations", with all kinds of strange and strange ships coming and going, but they are wary of each other and keep a distance.
· Ahead, a three-masted ship with a broken Stars and Stripes flag came into view, and one of its three comb poles was broken.
The broken area was as black as coal, as if it had been struck by lightning or a cannonball. The sail had been patched more than a dozen times, and no one knew what had happened.
On the side of the sea, in the vision of Gothe's Mandora Magic Eye, a brig without any flags was traveling quickly.
In other local waters, especially those under the jurisdiction of the Plantagenet Dynasty, if a ship does not fly a flag representing its identity when traveling, it will be regarded as a stowaway ship or a pirate, and will be attacked by a patrol fleet.
This kind of scene can only occur here in the City of Black Sails.
Farther out on the sea, there are a group of weird-looking barges crowded together. Some of the hulls are spliced with whale bones, and the sails are patched with colorful fabrics. They rustle when the wind blows, like tattered spiritual flags.
There were boxes of spices piled on the deck. Several men wearing turbans stood on the deck, their whole bodies tightly wrapped in a black robe. A thin monkey squatted on one of them's shoulders.
Judging from their appearance, they are most likely a smuggling gang from the continent of Terra.
All ships within sight have a tacit agreement to maintain a safe distance and not approach each other.
Because in a gray area like the Blue Flame Islands, the evil of human nature is magnified to the extreme, and any ship may become a pirate ship at any time for the sake of profit.
So when sailing in this sea area, everyone follows an unspoken rule: you must keep a safe distance when sailing, and you must not approach other ships easily, especially ships loaded with cargo, otherwise you will most likely be regarded as someone with malicious intentions.
Gaode is not worried at all about possible attacks or malice.
Because there is Lan Wen, a fourth-ring mage, sitting on the ship.
In the Blue Flame Islands, the top combat power is only the fifth-level mages. Mages of the fifth-level and above are unable to enter the Blue Flame Islands and the waters to which the Blue Flame Islands belong.
The Columbus, which has a fourth-ring mage stationed there, is not lawless here, but at least there is no problem in self-protection.
This all stems from a legend. It is said that there is a seventh-order sea beast sleeping under the Blue Flame Islands, called Abaddon.
You must know that in the mage plane, although there is a level of nine rings, the most powerful mage recorded so far is an eighth-level mage.
This means that the seventh-level Abaddon can be called the top predator in the entire mage plane.
According to rumors, the Blue Flame Islands are all creations of Abaddon. They were formed when parts of Abaddon's body were exposed to the seabed and secretions accumulated while he was sleeping.
The blue flame crystals abundant on the island may be the energy crystals containing Abaddon. They will emit a blue cold light, and some areas will also emit blue flames.
This is also the origin of the name "Blue Flame" of the Blue Flame Islands.
Abaddon is in an almost eternal state of deep sleep for unknown reasons, with his metabolism reduced to the lowest level and his consciousness silent. It is somewhat similar to hibernation, except that its hibernation period is too long.
His slumber is the prerequisite for the existence of the City of Black Sails.
But even though Abaddon was in deep sleep, his huge life energy and the extraordinary force field emitted unconsciously still enveloped the entire Blue Flame Islands and its surrounding sea areas, forming a unique realm of its own laws.
In this domain, spells of level five and below can be cast normally without being affected at all.
But spells of level five or above, including level-up spells, may be because the magic power is too powerful and cannot coexist and be compatible with Abaddon's domain. Once cast, they will be unconsciously attacked by Abaddon's domain.
First of all, the huge magic power guided by high-level spells will be absorbed/neutralized by Abaddon as a nutrient or source of interference, causing the spell to be extinguished the moment it is cast and the cast to fail.
Secondly, mages who cast high-level spells will be regarded as threatening by Abaddon once they are exposed because their own energy is too powerful.
It is like a foreign object entering the immune system, triggering the rejection of the domain instinct, manifesting as continuous mental oppression and attack.
This will cause the caster to suffer severe physical discomfort, such as splitting headaches, temporary dementia, and even permanent mental damage in severe cases.
This makes the Blue Flame Islands and the surrounding sea areas a restricted area for high-level mages and even high-level earth-line creatures.
For the Plantagenets, they have the power to fight Abaddon, but the price they have to pay is too high.
The harvest is just to eradicate a black market city that does not pose any threat to itself, which is obviously unnecessary.
Yes, this is the primary reason why Black Sails City has become the most prestigious black market city in the entire plane.
Abaddon's biological realm and the natural dangers of Broken Wing Wind Belt jointly created the City of Black Sails.
Otherwise, how could the Plantagenets sit back and watch such a "city of sin" sit beside them?