Pillars of Ita

Elisa's low-grade fever continued to recur, and she fell into a state of half-awake and half-dreaming, accompanied by delirium. Fang He was a little worried, but the conditions on the ship were limited, and there was no priest or doctor on board.

Finally, Olivia developed a simple treatment plan, using dried chamomile bouquets, seawater and mint distilled in a copper kettle, and ginger slices soaked in gin. Fang He was a little worried and couldn't help asking where she learned these things. The bachelor lady smiled and whispered that this was a tradition in the Bay Area.

Fortunately, tradition seemed to work, and the situation got better. At least Miss Nightingale stopped mumbling and fell into a deep sleep while lying on the swaying hammock.

Fang He was busy for half the night, but he was still very awake and not tired. Olivia was sleeping beside him with a blanket wrapped around her. The bachelor lady lowered her eyelids, tilted her head and rested it on his shoulder, breathing softly, looking very relieved.

Now it was the turn of the two groups of sailors to be on duty. The other two sailors came down and asked if there was anything they needed, but Fang He shook his head - a north wind blew at night, and it would take about four hours for the ship to drift into the atoll along the current. The voyage was not easy, as there was only one route into the atoll from the north, and there were many reefs under the clouds.

Fang He was a little worried, so he gently helped Olivia up and put her aside, then stood up and motioned the sailor to take him out to have a look. After the two left, the bachelor lady opened her eyes from the darkness, looked in that direction, and couldn't help but smile.

Fang He bent down, passed the low beam, climbed up the ladder, and came to the deck outside, only to find that Luo Yu and Catherine had been waiting there for a long time.

Luo Yu was wearing a brown robe, holding his magic wand in his arms. He looked at him and asked, "How is she?"

Fang He nodded, indicating that it was okay. "It seems that the young lady is still useful." Although Catherine no longer cares about the dragon blood, she still seems to have a grudge against Olivia, "It's not completely useless."

"You should take a rest." Luo Yu said to him.

Fang He shook his head and looked at the shadow standing in the darkness in front of him. That was the cliff on the north side of Pacus Island. The entire atoll was divided into two parts. The main island was about 310 square kilometers, and the south side was a group of scattered islands.

There is a mountain on the island, with the main peak 951 meters above sea level, but the floating island is just over 100 meters above sea level, so the mountain is actually not as high as marked.

The prevailing winds are blocked by the hillsides, and the annual precipitation on the north slope is less than 200 mm. The area is covered with exposed white rocks, and agaves and other succulents curl up between the cracks in the rocks. The southern slope is blessed by the terrain, forming a rainforest and an oasis.

There are unpredictable turbulence zones on both sides of the island, and only at night there is a current between the layers that can bring ships in and out of the island.

In the early years, a captain named Esteban and his ship were stranded here, and thus discovered the secret of this island. However, because the route is too secretive, the island remains sparsely populated to this day.

Fang He listened to the wind, the subtle changes in the air currents as they passed through the floating reefs, and only experienced sailors could hear the difference. He didn't have this ability, but one of the four sailors he brought could do it, and Catherine herself could do it.

With their guidance, the boat sailed safely and a cliff that plunged straight into the sea of ​​clouds soon appeared in front of them. Logically, they should turn here and sail around the cliff until they enter a nearby bay.

But at this time an accident happened. Fang Yu heard a whistling sound coming from above his head. He subconsciously raised his head, only to see an overwhelming shadow rushing towards the boat.

The temperature around him became hot and there seemed to be a pungent smell in the air, like sulfur. He heard a sharp scream and the heavy pressure in his soul made his eyelids twitch.

"dragon--!"

He heard the sailors' shouts, and Luo Yu stood up from his seat, holding high the Staff of the Dead Suns in his hand. The top of the staff emitted a startlingly bright light.

The shadow flapped its wings, and the air currents hit the boat, causing it to sway from side to side like a leaf in the wind and waves.

Fang He wanted to do something, but when he took out his clockwork fairy, the machine he was so proud of flowed away from his hands like sand.

His mind was blank, and all his memories of the craftsman were gone. It was like a fear rooted in his genes, the instinctive fear of the ancestors of living things when facing predators.

I clearly wanted to do something, but I couldn't move even a finger, as if I was trapped in a nightmare loop.

He was indeed awakened from the nightmare, with cold sweat on his forehead and the night wind blowing coldly. Fang He looked up and found that Luo Yu had put his hand on his shoulder and was shaking him.

"what happened?"

Fang He looked around and realized that the ship had entered the harbor at some point. It was quiet all around. Where was the sea of ​​fire and the evil dragon?

They had already reached the shore, and the sailors were trying to push the boat onto the beach to prevent it from being carried away by the current during high tide. Clouds and waves were hitting the rocks on the shore, and mist was lingering on the sea.

Catherine turned around and looked at the two of them. "Are you sleepy? It's not a good idea to fall asleep on the deck. Be careful not to catch a cold."

Fang He shook his head. After that strange dream, he no longer felt sleepy. But why did he have such a dream? Could it be that he thought about the same thing at night as he thought about it during the day?
"Didn't you feel anything unusual just now?" he couldn't help asking.

Luo Yu shook his head.

"Having a nightmare?" Catherine asked him.

Fang He did not answer. It seemed that it was just an illusion. However, this bad omen reminded him of the scholar's dream for no reason. Could this be considered a premonition?
But when Fang He looked to one side, he couldn't help but be stunned for a moment - he realized that there was more than one ship in the harbor, and there was also a large ship anchored not far away.

A three-masted sailing ship, a circle larger than the Seven Seas Storm, was quietly anchored in the Cloud Bay under the moonlight; its sails had been lowered, leaving only three bare masts, and the towering side of the ship looked like a dark wall.

The ship was not of the Imperial style, nor did it have the logo of the Primus of Flame on it. Rather, it looked like a style popular in the Gulf region. This style of ship is rare nowadays.

"What's that ship?" he asked.

"This is exactly why Luo Yu woke you up," Catherine also frowned and looked in that direction, "It's an exploration ship. The people on the ship have been monitoring us when we entered. But they haven't greeted us until now."

"But don't worry too much," she added. "In the eyes of the other party, we are the strange intruders. They don't show any hostility, which means there is still room for communication."

"They may not come to negotiate with us at night. Let's be alert and wait until the next morning."

Catherine obviously didn't expect that there would be a third-party ship here. She only considered the Imperials and the Order of the Flame, but she didn't expect that there would be other people in this sea area at this time.

Fang He nodded slightly. After the Gray Disaster, he was no longer the same person he used to be. There was also Luo Yu on the boat. Even if they met Balossa again, they could deal with it easily.

If it was a pirate ship, they wouldn't have to worry too much.

However, the other party did not send anyone to greet them, so they did not sit idle. They first explored the nearby area. Fang He released the clockwork fairy and inspected the rocky slopes within two or three miles of the landing point.

The landing point was near the north slope. All I could see were large areas of exposed white rock. I didn't find any place like the one described by Eleusis. There was only one stream on the mountain, but it was in the dry season.

However, he did find something unexpected. He found a building in a canyon. It was not an ancient relic, but a trace of human activities.

Catherine noticed that he raised his eyebrows slightly and asked, "What's wrong?"

“The island is inhabited.”

"Impossible," Catherine retorted immediately. "The House of Representatives established a colony on the island in 1045, but it was revoked shortly thereafter. The conditions on the island were not suitable for human habitation."

"Ms. Catherine, come and see for yourself."

Fang He took out a crystal and simultaneously projected what the clockwork fairy saw. A heavily guarded bunker appeared on the screen, covering an area of ​​about 1 hectare. The building in the center of the wall was made of stone, and the outer wall was made of wood.

This doesn't look like a temporary camp in any way. The key point is that there are people moving around in the fortress, and the flag on the tower is clearly visible. It is not the Imperial flag, but the cross star of the Salt Bone Fleet.

But why is the Saltbone Fleet in this place?

We can't say that the Danzhou ship is lying to them, or that the Xingmen Port fleet is wrong? The main force of the Salt Bone Fleet is not all in the north of the bay?

But Fang He shook his head. It was unlikely that the navy would make such a low-level mistake. Besides, all he saw here was a camp, which didn't mean anything.

The clockwork fairies that were sent out did not make any more discoveries, and the current conditions did not support their in-depth exploration, so Fang He decided to wait until tomorrow morning.

But even so, he still sent confirmation messages to the Danzhou ship and the Seven Seas Storm. At present, Tianlan and the others should have completed the reunion with the big cat people and are on their way here.

However, the two messages sent out were like a drop in the ocean, with no response. This was not surprising to Fang He, as this was a fault sea and anything was possible.

He only instructed the two sailors to send it again in three hours.

Then he found Eleusis and asked her about the Fountain of Youth and the island of Pacchus, but the lady knew nothing. "The spring must be on this island. Pacchus is not big. It won't take you ten days or half a month to search the entire island. Don't you have a clockwork fairy?"

"Then what use are you to, Miss Eleusis?" Fang He asked a little annoyed, "When Olivia vouched for you, she said you played a key role."

"She's not wrong," Eleusis smiled mysteriously, "You don't think anyone can find that spring, right? It should have been discovered long ago, and only I have the method to enter the forbidden area." "Forbidden area?"

She snorted softly, "You'll understand when the time comes."

Fang He had no way to deal with this lady. If what she said was true, then they could only rely on her for the time being. However, after the conversation, he threw her aside so that he wouldn't be bothered by her.

Daybreak soon came and the sky was covered with a layer of glaze. Fang He took a short break while thinking about the function of the stone blood flowers. He planned to try using these flowers soaked in dragon blood in Aymeya's blessing, but he had not yet figured out how to use them.

His messy thoughts made him fall into a deep sleep, but he was soon awakened by the noise. When he woke up, he saw Alisa lying on the hammock, looking at him with her eyes open.

Miss Nightingale still looked a little weak, but it seemed that her fever had subsided. She looked at him quietly, which was unusual for her. Then she said:

"Luo Yu came to see you, but he saw you were sleeping and didn't disturb you. I asked him to let you rest for a while."

"What's going on outside?"

Fang He heard an argument coming from outside the cabin.

"I heard that someone came from that ship," Alyssa replied, "but you didn't wake up, the others couldn't make up their minds, and Luo Yu didn't let Catherine disturb you."

"I'll go out and see."

Fang He called a sailor and went to the deck with the latter, only to find that there were many more people on the beach. The three-masted sailing ship had sent an envoy delegation consisting of the second mate and sailors of the ship.

Catherine has already found out the other party's identity. It is the ship of the Senate advance team. Although she doesn't know the composition of this advance team, she can roughly figure out that the other party is indeed on the side of the Sons of the Gulf.

“They asked us what we were doing there.”

Catherine replied to him, "They are also very nervous about our intentions. They may think we are pirates."

Fang Plover nodded.

After figuring out the other party's identity, he felt relieved. These people should be the same as them, sent by the three city-states to find the Fountain of Youth, but the two parties just happened to meet in this place.

Honestly speaking, he didn't really care who found the Fountain of Youth first, because his original intention was just to find clues about Wo-Salastir through the connection between them.

Besides, the Fountain of Youth itself was not magical except for its sole function of removing curses, so he directly explained his purpose to these people and stated that he had nothing to do with the pirates.

"And your ship?"

The second mate looked at their boat and asked, it was impossible for anyone to sail all the way from the Gulf to this place in such a small boat.

"Our ship encountered a storm," Fang He answered truthfully, "and stopped somewhere else first. We came here to investigate the situation."

But he didn't expect that after hearing his answer, the second mate was startled for a moment, with a strange expression on his face. He looked at their ship and asked again:
"What did you say you were looking for?"

"We came here to find the spring at the request of Perahvan."

The second mate was fine. The sailors behind him couldn't help but laugh out loud. "What a wild idea." Someone even couldn't help but say to them, "But it's not surprising. There are indeed many crazy people among these people."

Luo Yu looked at these people with some confusion.

The second mate suppressed his smile and said to them, "There is no fountain of eternal life on this island, gentlemen."

He couldn't help but laugh when he said this, "But I guess you guys plan to explore this island. The commander wants to meet you."

"Your Excellency the Commander?"

Fang He couldn't help but look at the ship. Could it be that the Salt Bone Fleet was really in this place? But they came here at the request of the Three Cities Alliance, so it was impossible for the Salt Bone Fleet not to know about this.

The second mate shook his head. "He is not here. The commander is on the island. We will not hinder your actions. But if you have no objection, you can go with us to meet this gentleman. It will be good for you."

Fang He hesitated for a moment. The current situation was somewhat beyond his expectations. These people were not looking for the Fountain of Youth? Then could their purpose be related to the Imperials and the Pivot Flame Oath Court?

Could it be that they were the ones who defeated the combined fleet of the Imperials and the Order of the Flame?

So who exactly is this commander?
And he vaguely felt that these people and the parliament had no jurisdiction over each other, but the parliament of Perlachven did not tell them what was happening in the turbulent layer.

What is going on now?

But it seems that at least the commander is willing to receive them. No matter how powerful the other party is, they will know the truth after meeting him.

So Fang He looked at the other party and nodded to agree to the other party's invitation.

The other party also agreed that he didn't need to bring everyone with him. "You are not prisoners, but guests," the second mate said, "You can decide for yourself who to bring with us. By the way, my name is Costa."

Fang He also told these people his name, and then decided to take only Catherine with him. If Miss Nightingale was in good condition, she could have gone along.

But the current situation obviously does not allow this.

Luo Yu has to stay in this place. He is the only fighting force on the ship. He must be on guard against others. He must leave a reliable person to protect others on the ship.

But after hearing about it, Olivia said she wanted to go along, too. She had a good reason: "Who among you knows more about the traditions of the Gulf than I do?"

Fang He thought about it and agreed to her request.

When the bachelor lady got off the ship, she saw the uniforms of the sailors and the second mate, and she was slightly stunned.

However, her gaze stayed on those people for a moment, and she quickly regained her composure.

As the group followed the sailors out of the harbor, Fang He soon realized that the direction they were heading was exactly the direction of the fortress that they had discovered last night.

Facts proved his guess. They indeed arrived at the place not long after. The sailors asked people to open the door. After entering, he found that this place was somewhat new.

The soil used to pave the playground was new, and the wooden buildings around it seemed to have been built not long ago. Looking at all this, Fang He couldn't help but wonder, could it be that the Salt Bone Fleet had just re-established a base here not long ago?
If they were going to deal with the Imperials and the people of the Central Flame Oath Court here, it would make sense to establish such a base, but there was only one ship in the bay, and there didn't seem to be many people in the fortress.

Fang He found it hard to believe that such a small number of people could defeat the combined fleet of the Imperials and the Court of the Oath of the Pivot.

The bachelor lady was even more curious as she looked at everything around her. She almost couldn't take her eyes off it and even showed a hint of shock.

She finally looked at the flag on the city wall, and after a long time she withdrew her gaze. She opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.

Fang He didn't notice Olivia's subtle expression. The sailors had led them into the central stone building. In the study on the second floor, they met the "Commander".

The other person looked quite ordinary, a serious middle-aged man with short silver-gray hair. He looked serious but well-educated.

He was wearing a military uniform, most definitely the uniform of the Sons of the Gulf fleet, but the captain's coat looked rather plain and even had a tear on it.

But the other party didn't care. He motioned the sailor to put the tea in front of them, and then said, "I heard from the people below that you are here to find the Fountain of Youth?"

"Yes, Your Excellency."

"That's just a legend," the middle-aged man shook his head. "You must have been deceived. The House of Representatives will not let anyone look for such an illusory thing. There is no such thing in the world that can make people immortal."

"...?"

Fang He was stunned for a moment.

...(End of chapter)