Do you have a problem with necromancers?

Chapter 81 Fleet (5k)

"Damn it!"

Seeing that several ships on the opposite side had been hit by the dragon's breath, Raine quickly cast several calming spells on Dia:
"Fool! Don't burn my ship!"

Although it was very inappropriate, everyone couldn't help but feel speechless: You've already taken all the ships on the other side as yours, haven't you?
Aurora drew her bow again, this time aiming at the pirates running towards the crossbows and catapults on the deck, and accurately shot them down before they arrived.

Soon, the pirates were forced to realize that there was an extremely skilled sniper on the other side, so they all lay down on the deck and began to crawl towards the military equipment on the side of the ship.

"Raine!" Aurora cried out urgently, "I can't shoot anymore!"

Her preferred tactic is to climb to the highest point to snipe, and with her excellent visibility and accuracy, she has a clear view of most targets.

However, this small boat was significantly lower than the pirate ship in the cave. Anyone lying down on the deck could immediately use the height difference to conceal themselves.

"Get on the dragon's back!" Renn reacted quickly. "Dia, descend!"

Dia quickly lowered her tail. Aurora slung her bow over her shoulder, grabbed onto Dia's dragon scales with both hands, and swiftly climbed up like an agile ape.

While the sniper was still climbing the dragon, the pirates on the other side finally seized the opportunity, rushed to the side of the ballistae and catapults, and aimed these military machines at the dragon clinging to the rock wall.

To escape the cave by boat, you must first kill the dragon blocking your way!
With a blank expression, Raine cast a spell, and countless white bone shields emerged from the sea to shield Dia from these deadly attacks—there were a large number of skeletal remains on the seabed inside the cave, whether they were prisoners captured and killed by these pirates or victims of their internal strife.

These piles of bones, once evidence of piracy, have now become a fatal obstacle preventing them from escaping the cave.

Aurora finally climbed onto the dragon's back, found the best vantage point, sat cross-legged, and looked down at the panicked and chaotic pirates below.

Wow, that's an amazing sniping view.

She took eight arrows from her quiver and fired them at an extremely fast speed.

Quick Nock, which players often call "Rapid Fire," requires a special technique for generating power and is extremely demanding on arm strength and stamina.

Players who can hit the target with three consecutive shots can post it on the forum to show off and be admired; Aurora, as an ancient hero of the wood elves, is even more overpowered in this regard, and can even empty all the arrows in her quiver in one go.

Raine had anticipated this and prepared ten full quiver quivers for her before she left.

Soon, there were no pirates left standing on the deck.

Ellina rowed the boat to the side of the large ship, and the group swaggered onto the deck. They saw the pirates' corpses lying haphazardly in pools of blood, most of them with three or four arrows stuck in their bodies. Without the protection of armor, these pirates had almost no means of resistance when they encountered skilled archers at sea.

The rest of them almost all hid in the cabin, armed and lying in ambush around corners, behind wooden crates, or in the shadows, making a final, desperate struggle.

Raine casually cast necromancy, resurrecting all the corpses on the deck into zombies, and commanded them to rush into the cabins below the deck to fight the enemies lurking inside.

“These ships don’t look very good,” Bersalia remarked casually, glancing around. “They seem to be converted from stolen merchant ships.”

“That’s normal. Pirates wouldn’t have their own shipyards and craftsmen.” Rein counted the number of ships around him, feeling quite satisfied.

Apart from the three ships that were initially hit by Dia's dragon breath, which all suffered varying degrees of hull damage, the remaining ships were in relatively good condition.

Unfortunately, as Berthalia said, most of them were converted from looted merchant ships. They might be able to bully ordinary fleets, but if they encountered a professional navy or a noble fleet, they would probably be sunk after a few hits from their armaments.

It's okay, I have Aurora.

Raine began to seriously consider whether he should take the risk and find an opportunity to get his hands on Aurora's beloved bow, when he suddenly heard Dia ask:
"Raine, if you kill all these pirates, will we be able to sail all these ships back?"

"Why not?" Renn laughed heartily. "Have you forgotten who I am?"

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

A ghost fleet sailed on the sea.

The sailors on deck were all stiff-faced, bluish-green zombies. Although their movements were slow and their postures were rigid, they were sufficient for simply hoisting the sails and steering the ship.

We arrived at Salt Island late at night.

Since the Iron Harbor City docks were owned by the family and were too crowded and conspicuous, Raine opted for a less desirable option: the most remote and easternmost island of Salt Island, Bea Island, as the fleet's anchorage.

No ports or docks? No problem, just leave the ships on the sea and let the lizardman sailors swim over.

After anchoring the ship in the waters near Bay Island, Raine manipulated the zombie sailors to take turns jumping into the sea to commit suicide. He then led everyone onto a small boat and quietly returned to Iron Harbor City.

"Galvin! Galvin!" As soon as he entered the Blood Castle gates, he summoned the castle steward. "Where is Diamond? Tell him to come here immediately!"

Gariven was already used to the lord's style of "immediately calling for people to implement any new ideas he had", so he quickly summoned a castle servant and sent him to the market to summon Diamond.

Diamond rushed to the lord's study, only to hear Raine say:
"I don't care what methods you use, just select all the experienced sailors from the lizardman refugees and human fishermen on the island as soon as possible!"

Diamond was immediately alarmed. Since Ryan had made this request, it was clear that he had already acquired enough ships.

The Red Sails pirates are finished?!

"Do you have any more questions?" Renn's expression turned cold instantly.

“No, no, sir.” Diamond bowed slightly and said humbly, “I will select sailors for you as soon as possible who can conquer the seas.”

"Well, finish it as soon as possible. You may leave now." Rein gave the order authoritatively, while his mind was deep in thought.

The fleet is now in its infancy, starting from scratch in all aspects. We have no right to be picky and choose, so we can only "use whoever is available," accepting both humans and reptilians without reservation.

Once the fleet is running smoothly in all aspects, it will be necessary to start considering the selection of middle-level personnel such as captain, first mate, and bosun for each ship.

This isn't actually difficult: the core secret is simple: use your own people.

Raine suddenly looked up and saw a raven flapping its wings and flying into the study through the window of Blood Keep.

The letter scroll tied to his foot, bound with the wax seal of the Fahre family, indicated that it was sent by the old Marquis.

He took down the letter and unfolded it. After reading its contents, Ryan frowned slightly.

Marquis Fahre ordered him to go to Gull Castle in Searock City immediately, just as he had summoned Gary and Diamond before, a forceful summons from a superior without any room for argument.

Could it be that my adoptive father found out about me getting a fleet of ships from pirates?
Hmm, impossible.

Because given the old marquis's temperament, if he knew of the existence of these ships, he would definitely come to Salt Island to confirm it immediately, instead of summoning me over in this tone—wouldn't that give me the opportunity to move my fleet?
After pondering for a long time, Raine called over the butler who was waiting outside the door and asked him to summon Dia and the others.

Everyone was exhausted after returning from the open sea. Dia hadn't even finished her bath when her maid informed her that the lord had summoned her. She could only quickly change her clothes and follow Renn out of the Blood Castle gates.

"Where are we going this time?" Ellina asked.

“Sea Rock City,” Raine said.

Ellina raised an eyebrow slightly. To be honest, every time she pretended to be Renn's wife in front of the Faher people, she felt an instinctive sense of repulsion and disgust.

You're telling me, I'm a princess from an ancient elven empire, and I never even had a romantic relationship in my previous life, so how did I suddenly become a wife?
“Eileen, your expression is off,” Aurora suddenly said. “It’s too cold; outsiders will notice something’s wrong…”

"Do you need me to fake a smile?" Ellina sighed, revealing an impeccably elegant smile.

“No need for a fake smile, that would be too deliberate,” Aurora said. “Just be gentle. Watch my performance.”

She turned to look at Renn, her eyes filled with tender affection, and her smile radiated warmth and love. "How did you do that?" Ellina asked in surprise. She couldn't help but wonder if Aurora truly had feelings for Renn, because the expression on her face was so realistic that there was almost no trace of acting.

“After being chosen as the Eye of Nature, I received special etiquette training,” Aurora sighed. “The Hand of Nature and the Eye of Nature are required to act as a model couple in front of all the Wood Elves, and these are all etiquette skills that must be mastered.”

"Eileen, if you'd like, I can teach you."

“Forget it.” Ellina shook her head. “I don’t need to play the role of a model couple with him.”

"Me! Me! Me!" Bersalia exclaimed joyfully, raising her hand. "I want to learn! Teach me! Is that right?"

She turned to look at Ryan, her eyes sparkling with passionate desire, her smile brimming with alluring charm.

“This isn’t gentleness, it’s debauchery,” Aurora said seriously. “If you’re going to play the role of Renn’s mistress, then I don’t need to teach you. No one will doubt your expression right now.”

Walking behind the group, Dia couldn't get a word in edgewise, and a thought involuntarily popped into her mind:
Should I learn from Aurora how to play the role of a professional maid?
The group boarded a ship at the Iron Harbor City dock, crossed the strait, and arrived at Sea Rock City.

Raine led them to Gull Castle, handed his personal weapons to the family knights guarding the gate, and then entered the banquet hall, where they found seats at random.

The Fahrenheit around him were all watching him. To be precise, they were all watching Aurora's new face.

Every time he comes to a family gathering, there's always a beautiful woman by his side, which makes people so jealous... no, so incredibly envious!

Despite being watched by everyone, Aurora showed no sign of discomfort. She calmly surveyed the scene, thinking to herself that if two teams of archers rushed into the hall and unleashed a hail of arrows at everyone, there would be nowhere to hide except under the table.

Sigh, I shouldn't have handed over my weapon just now.

Bersalia read a complex mix of envy, jealousy, and resentment in the gazes of the men around her, which she found increasingly amusing. So she deliberately sat closer to Rein, her buttocks almost touching his.

Ellina sat coldly beside Renn, but out of the corner of her eye she noticed Bersalia's subtle movements, and a surge of annoyance rose within her.

If you sit so close to him while I keep my distance, the Fahrenheit people will become suspicious! Don't cause me any trouble!
The elven princess was silent for a moment, then reluctantly moved closer, lowering her voice as she said:
"Sit back down!"

“No way.” Berthalia chuckled. “I want to play his mistress… Haha, look at the way these men are looking at me, they wish they could replace Ryan!”

“Sit back down.” This time it was Raine who spoke.

The caged bird's commands were absolute, so Elrina and Bersalia had no choice but to return to their original positions. The former breathed a sigh of relief, while the latter was somewhat annoyed.

The Marquis of Faher's delayed appearance puzzled the clansmen waiting in the hall.

After a moment, a family knight entered the hall and said:
"The chieftain invites Mr. and Mrs. Renn over."

A commotion erupted in the hall. The Marquis had summoned us all here, and then called Mr. and Mrs. Renn over separately—what was he planning?
Rein and Ellina got up and left the banquet hall, following the family knight who had delivered the message to the patriarch's study, where they saw the old Marquis Faher standing by the window, his face extremely grim.

"The family's trading fleet with the Gem Islands," he practically spat out the words, "has disappeared."

"Hmm...interesting." Raine didn't offer any comfort to his father; he simply pulled up a chair and sat down, casually asking, "Missing or out of contact?"

"Is there a difference between the two?" Marquis Fahre asked him, glancing sideways.

“It’s up to you,” Renn chuckled. “I don’t know if you have any other means of monitoring the smuggling fleet besides planting spies within it, like a magic compass that can show the fleet’s exact location or something…”

“No,” Marquis Fahel said curtly. “Magical artifacts are not so easy to obtain. Only a handful of noble families in the entire River Bend province possess them.”

“I suspect that the fleet has been seized by the High Elf navy, because the letters sent to the Gem Isles have not been replied to. If we rule out the possibility that the raven failed to deliver the letters, then it is most likely that there is some serious political crisis in the royal court, which has led the other side to choose to sever cooperation with us to avoid being implicated.”

“If that’s the case, we should forget about the smuggling fleet for now,” Renn said casually. “Let me remind you, even if the Emperor himself gave the order, it would be impossible to bring back the fleet that the High Elves have detained from the Gem Islands.”

"That's why I invited you here." Marquis Fahl's expression was serious, and his gaze suddenly turned to Ellina. "We humans can't enter the High Elf Kingdom to gather intelligence, but you can."

Renn chuckled inwardly. The father-in-law actually addressed his daughter-in-law as "you" (formal), such a humble and submissive manner was truly something else.

"You mean," Ellina pondered, "that you want me to return to the Gem Islands and check on the situation of Faher's fleet?"

Seeing that the other party did not refuse immediately, the old marquis quickly said:
"If they are detained by the navy, it would be best if they could be released. We are willing to pay the fine. If that's not possible, at least extradite the sailors back first."

Ellina looked at Rein, meaning "You decide."

"Why don't we go and see what's going on?" Renn said with a smile. "What if they weren't detained by the Navy?"

“That’s right, that’s right,” Marquis Fahl said repeatedly. “Ryan, I’ll leave this matter to you. The captain of the fleet, Bodak, is your great-uncle. He’s not only old, but also not in very good health. He can’t withstand the torture of the High Elves’ prison.”

“However, there’s still one problem,” Renn said, stroking his chin. “Under what guise should I go to the Gem Islands?”

“Of course, it’s Ellina’s husband, a Faher from the southern Reach,” the old Marquis said immediately.

“Father,” Renn sighed dramatically, “Eileen’s family over there… I’m sorry, I have to keep the details confidential. Let’s just say that a marquis’s son without a title is probably not even worthy of their attention. What do you think, Eileen?”

“Hmm.” Ellina said expressionlessly, “I will help explain, but it may not be helpful.”

Her indifference stemmed from her disdain for acting, but in the eyes of the old Marquis Fahel, it was interpreted as her daughter-in-law's deep dissatisfaction with her husband's treatment within the clan.

So the old marquis gritted his teeth and said:

"Dolowell doesn't have much prestige within the tribe, and many tribesmen don't respect him. Renn, you have to work harder!"

Good heavens, even the phrase "the crown prince is often ill" has come up. Do you think I'm some ignorant fool?
Ryan naturally didn't want to accept this empty promise, so he simply shook his head and said:

"No matter how low Dolores's prestige is, at least he still has Eagle Castle under his control, and everyone knows what's going on. As for me? Salt Island, haha."

"Didn't you choose Salt Island yourself?" Marquis Fahl had a million complaints in his mind, but now that the smuggling fleet was completely out of contact, the only ones who could go to the Gem Islands were the Rennes... So he could only force a smile, pull a signet ring from his desk drawer, and stuff it into Rennes' hand:
"Here, take this. Since we're representing the family in the High Elf Kingdom, we can't let them look down on us!"

Upon closer inspection, Renn was quite surprised to find that it was actually a marquis's signet ring.

Each family's coat of arms has unique details. This ring is engraved with the raven of the Fahel family, representing the marquises of the Fahel family.

If anyone writes a letter in the name of the Marquis and then applies ink to the signet ring and stamps it at the bottom of the letter, any family member or knight who receives the letter will consider it an order personally issued by the Marquis. In other words, the signet ring can only be possessed by the Marquis and his heir, the latter of whom is permitted by the former to "act in the name of the Marquis".

Raine bent down to put the signet ring into his pocket, and when he looked up again, his expression had become extremely serious:

"As a member of the Faher family, the honor and disgrace of the family is always on my mind. Please rest assured, I will definitely investigate the truth of the matter and find the whereabouts of the fleet for the family!"

“When you get there, don’t act too rashly.” Marquis Fahel secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then adopted a fatherly tone and demeanor, reminding him, “No matter what clues or progress you make, contact me immediately. Do not act on your own and put yourself in danger, understand?”

“Of course,” Ryan said with a smile. “Just wait for my good news.”

After leaving Searock City, on the ship back to Iron Harbor City, Ellina explained the situation to the others in detail.

“We’re going to the High Elf Kingdom,” Bersalia sighed, after all, she had been assassinated on her way there. “I have a bad feeling about it.”

“I’ve never been to the Gem Islands,” Dia said hopefully. “I’ve heard that the artistic atmosphere there is very strong, and that high elves will suddenly start singing or even dancing while walking down the street. Is that true?”

“It’s fake,” Ellina said calmly. “Singing and dancing for no reason is for children.”

“Eileen,” Aurora reminded her, “you know about the High Elf Kingdom a thousand years ago. Perhaps a thousand years from now, the High Elves are already a race that loves to sing and dance.”

“Absolutely not.” Ellina said firmly.

　I took my child to get vaccinated during the day, so I'll only be updating 5k today.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)