Path of Light.

Chapter 947, Section 946: The Soul Reaper

In the dead of night, the waves licked the rocks on the shore, and the broken spray in the air turned into the salty smell of the sea breeze.

Just a dozen steps away is the Luyun Fortress naval port, which is under the control of the Grey Dwarves' Northern Fleet. Although it is located on the northern part of the western coast of Mensa Plains, the Grey Dwarves have already reached an agreement with the Horde Orcs that they will build the naval port here and open a free trade market on the cliff top.

Forty three-masted sailing ships were moored at the dock. The waves were quite large, and the neatly arranged three-masted sailing ships were rocking constantly, with the masts making creaking noises.

After nightfall, a thin layer of mist rises from the sea, a type of mist that is not common in the Mensa Strait...

This place is a natural and excellent harbor. The Grey Dwarves hardly made any changes to it and built it into a harbor that can accommodate forty warships. However, this time the Northern Army fleet had a lot of ships, and more than thirty three-masted sailing ships were unable to dock at the pier.

These three-masted sailing ships were anchored in the sea near the dock, surrounding the two giant ships, and a large number of gray dwarf warriors were active on the deck.

From the deck, you can see the terraced stone houses on the cliff face of the Nouyun Fortress. These stone houses are like terraced fields in a valley, built layer by layer on the cliff face. Each layer is filled with gray dwarves, and they are built one after another, following the contours of the mountain.

On deck, several grey dwarves looked at the dark sea, reeled in their fishing hooks, and whispered among themselves:

"Go to hell! They live in stone houses, drinking and eating meat, while we're left on the boat drying salted fish. Why? Just because his beard is three centimeters longer than mine?"

"Not only is your beard longer than ours, you should know better than us exactly where it's longer..."

The other gray dwarf warriors laughed maliciously.

"Let's go. I still have a bottle of rum in my cabin. We'll share it tonight."

"We shared a bottle of rum, and it wasn't even enough for us to rinse our mouths..."

"Something is better than nothing. What kind of world is this? The pirates from the Elf Continent have stopped sending supplies to us, and life is getting harder every day."

"Yes! I haven't tasted that sweet orange liqueur for three months."

"Hey, what are you guys still thinking about? If you get there any later, all you'll be able to do is hug the bottle and smell the alcohol..."

"Just come!"

Several gray dwarf warriors quickly wound up their fishing lines and hurried into the cabin below deck.

The corridors of the ship's cabin were noisy; these gray dwarf warriors were all loud-voiced and would shout at the top of their lungs no matter what they were doing.

It took them five months to travel from the Frozen Island to reach the Rune Fortress. For these grey dwarf warriors, the Rune Fortress was merely the closest transit point to the Frozen Island. After resting, they would head to the Gulf of Aden Fortress.

During this southward migration, the fleet reached the southernmost point of the Northern Fleet's control area only after traveling from the frozen island to the Gulf of Aden.

If the elves hadn't cut off their southward migration route through the waters off Que Island, they should have arrived here with even more ships. Now, the fleet's high command has sent them here so that Commander Koster can assemble the fleet in the Mensa Strait and launch a full-scale attack on Que Island, making sure to completely open up the southward migration route...

In fact, this southward migration route has always been controlled by the Grey Dwarves, and the most chaotic and narrow area is the waters around Quel'Thalas.

Because the Silvermoon Elves have always occupied the Queen Ivani Islands, the Naga Sea Clan's city of Gomez is only a few hundred nautical miles from the waters of Quel'Thalas. Even the ships of the Northern Fleet dare not sail swagger over the head of Gomez city...

Therefore, the only area where the gray dwarves can safely pass through is the sea area around Que Island.

This place was originally a place where gray dwarf bandits roamed freely. They plundered a lot of resources here, and many of these resources would be given back to the gray dwarf people who stayed behind at Durag's Knee.

The grey dwarf bandits in the waters of Quel'Thalas have become too arrogant. They have not only colluded with the sirens of the Misty Sea to start a large-scale slave trade, but have also tried to seize the Queen Evanni Islands.

It was this major blunder in decision-making that caused the Grey Dwarf bandits to lose the waters off Quel'Thalas.

Thus, the most crucial transit point on the southward migration route was occupied by the mixed-race elves.

As the territory of Durag's Knee continued to fall into the hands of the Dark Legion, the Northern Fleet had to assemble a large number of warships and travel thousands of miles to Quel'Thalas, where they needed to reclaim it.

The high command of the Northern Fleet suddenly discovered that nearly 300,000 gray dwarf bandits who were active in the waters around Que Island had all vanished without a trace.

"The Silvermoon Elves have deployed some Silver Pegasus Legions along the west coast. Our fleet should have circled around Quel'Thalas. Why provoke them for no reason? We won't restrict your elven slave trade, but you should know how to act within your means!"

"Now the elves are starting to fight back, and you guys can't hold them off. It'll be our Northern Fleet that'll have to clean up your mess!"

On the ship's roof, a gray dwarf captain, drunk, spoke to an old friend who had escaped from the waters off Quel'Thalas.

His old friend once owned seven ships in the waters off Quetzal Island, and it's a miracle he managed to escape back to the frozen island alive.

He didn't really want to come.

But if Commander Koster doesn't actively participate in the recapture of Que Island, he will completely lose his foothold in the waters around Que Island...

He had also drunk a bit too much, and the three-masted sailboat was rocking back and forth, making him dizzy and confused. He could see that his friend across from him had two heads.

“We didn’t want it to be like this either, but we didn’t go to raid the Queen Evani Islands. The waters around Que Island were already too crowded with so many gray dwarf bandits. We originally planned to expand northward, but unfortunately the islands near Mulayaki Port were not as resource-rich as the Queen Evani Islands.”

"Furthermore, we also found a way to deal with the Silver Pegasus Knights, but who would have thought that those half-elves would suddenly appear and interfere..."

The grey dwarf captain filled the other man's glass with fruit wine and asked:
"So you contacted imperial merchants and made them risk their lives to sell half-elf hybrids to the continent of Roland?"

"Those imperial merchants are really shrewd, but they also have some weaknesses. All merchants are greedy and stingy. After they heard that this was a business with no capital, they all rushed to the Elf Continent one after another."

The grey dwarf captain then asked, "Didn't you agree with them to meet them on the Nantali Islands and take them to the Frozen Sea?"

"Yes, but I just heard that those half-elf chased them all the way to the Mensa Strait and intercepted many Imperial merchant ships..."

The two drank and chatted on the roof of the ship. Apart from the sound of the waves, strange noises could be heard from the dark sea.

Having lived at sea for so many years, they were used to it.

At least fifty grey dwarf warriors patrolled back and forth on the deck, and two grey dwarf lookouts were on the mainmast, intently watching the distance despite the pitch-black sea.

A light mist shrouded the bow of the ship, and the gray dwarves noticed that the wine they drank tonight seemed even more mellow; they felt a little dizzy even though they hadn't drunk much.

The sea breeze carries ancient folk songs...

The whispers sounded as if they were recounting the hardships and struggles of the past years.

Occasional sadness and moments of triumph welled up in my heart.

Before they knew it, tears had blurred their vision. As the dwarves talked, they couldn't help but hug each other and weep bitterly.

Why is life so hard?

……

In the pitch-black sea, the siren warriors struggled to swim, following the glimmers of light reflected from the silver scales ahead...

The faint light emanating from Lady Zezana serves as a beacon for their journey, and all the sirens chase after that light.

Behind them, the whispered blessings of dozens of siren singers flowed like threads of power through the blood of every siren warrior, causing their bodies to stir and their blood to boil...

The sirens quickly reached the bottom of a row of large ships. They pulled out chisels from their waists and skillfully inserted them into the gaps between the ship planks.

This time, the ship's planks were covered with a thick layer of shellfish. The sirens had to remove almost all of these shellfish before they could see the planks, which were tightly sealed after being soaked in seawater. They pressed chisels against the gaps and took out hammers to smash them hard.

The chisel entered the hull smoothly, digging deeper and deeper until it felt like it had pierced through the bottom of the ship. Then, it was time to use a ram's horn to pull the chisel out...

If it were a siren, it would have to spend at sea all night to sink a three-masted sailing ship.

If three thousand siren warriors were to try to breach the thirty three-masted sailing ships outside the Lu Yun military port, it would only take them a quarter of an hour. Seawater would gush out from the bottom of these ships like an underground spring.

Miss Olive cast a level four group hypnosis spell, 'Sleeping Cloud,' and the light mist over the entire sea was her magic.

Meanwhile, the siren singers she brought sang mournful dirges to weaken the gray dwarves' senses.

Not only the grey dwarves on the ship, but even the grey dwarves in the stone houses of Luyun Fortress were affected. Yet, for so many years, not only Luyun Fortress, but the entire Mensa Strait had not seen a single siren...

So they never imagined that a siren could appear here.

As the sea began to flood the hold, the sea monsters who had been scuttling the ship did not climb aboard. Instead, they silently sank to the bottom of the sea after scutting the ship, waiting for the three-masted sailing ship to sink.

According to Boss Roy, it wasn't worth the risk of boarding the ship and fighting these grey dwarves in an environment they weren't used to.

Their mission was to sink these ships outside the Nouwen Fortress, which would also block the three-masted sailing ships docked at the pier.

……

The attack alarm was sounded by a drunken grey dwarf warrior as he went down to the wine cellar to get some wine. Half of his body was submerged in seawater, and as he looked at the oak barrels in the cellar, which were all scattered and submerged in the sea, he let out a desperate howl.

'what……'

The screams of grief at losing a loved one brought some of the gray dwarf warriors back to their senses.

Then all the grey dwarf warriors on the ship heard that muffled alarm sound. They were awakened and began to look around to see where the enemy attack had occurred...

As roars echoed from the lower deck, the gray dwarf warriors surged into it.

As everyone crowded into the stairwell, they could already see the seawater surging up.

"Oh no, our boat is taking on water!"

The gray dwarf warrior reported to a gray dwarf officer who had inquired about the situation.

The officer was furious, wishing he could kick the gray dwarf warrior off the field. He roared:
"Hurry up and find the leak and plug it! What are you all standing here for?"

The gray dwarf warrior shook his slightly dizzy head, took a deep breath, and jumped into the churning seawater.

These grey dwarves are all excellent swimmers.

They can hold their breath and remain at a depth of 50 meters for about 15 minutes.

The hold was full of miscellaneous items, mostly oak barrels filled with wine. These barrels, soaking in water, caused a lot of trouble for the gray dwarf warriors, who quickly found the leak in the hull.

They reappeared from the stairwell, wiped the seawater from their faces, and reported to the gray dwarf officer who was waiting there:
"Sir, the entire lower deck is riddled with leaks, like a sieve..."

The gray dwarf commander pounded his head with his chubby fist and roared:

"Quickly seal up the hatch in the lower deck!"

Several gray dwarf warriors quickly began to move, but these hatches were not waterproof and airtight. Although they were closed, seawater still seeped up through the gaps in the hatches.

The entire ship of grey dwarves was alarmed, and chaos ensued.

The seawater surged upwards rapidly, quickly spreading to the second floor below, which was the living area for the lowest level gray dwarf warriors. The cabins here were very cramped, with four gray dwarf warriors crammed into each cabin. As the seawater rushed into the corridor, a large number of gray dwarf warriors, dressed in thin linen clothes, ran out.

They didn't even have time to put on the armor hanging in the room.

Perhaps they didn't want to run in heavy armor through a seawater-filled corridor, so they crowded into the corridor, shouting and cursing as they surged toward the deck.

The gray dwarf commander had originally intended to use other hatches to contain the surging seawater at the bottom of the ship, but in the chaos, he was forcibly dragged onto the deck by a group of confused gray dwarf warriors.

As the three-masted sailing ship continued to be engulfed by seawater, its hull creaked and groaned under the strain.

A large number of gray dwarf warriors rushed onto the deck, only to discover that their ship wasn't the only one leaking; the neighboring ships were also in chaos, with gray dwarf warriors constantly shouting:

"Our ship is leaking! Everyone, get to the deck quickly!"

The once spacious deck was soon crowded with gray dwarf warriors. Only when they were gathered together did they feel a sense of security amidst the chaos.

But then one of the gray dwarves suddenly saw a short spear fall from the sky and easily pierce his companion's skull. The gleaming spear tip emerged directly from his chin, and blood flowed down his beard onto the deck.

The gray dwarf stared wide-eyed, his eyes filled with terror, and fell straight into his arms.

In an instant, the entire deck was filled with wails.

In the darkness, a barrage of short spears rained down from the sky, relentlessly claiming the lives of the gray dwarf warriors on the deck.

(End of this chapter)