Translator: CinderTL
The early spring morning mist still clung to the Sea of Tranquility as a sleek clipper, sharp as a blade, sliced through the waves and sped into Frand Port at full speed.
The silver anchor insignia of the Aldor naval fleet was emblazoned on its sails, identifying it as the navy's communication vessel, the Flying Dove.
The letters it carried were immediately dispatched to Alden Town by a special courier.
The letter, penned by Gran himself, remained legible despite the ship's turbulent voyage. Paul unfolded the parchment in the Lord's Manor, his eyes scanning the lines of text with growing astonishment, then erupting into unrestrained joy.
Events were unfolding even more favorably than his most optimistic predictions.
Gran wrote: "Starting with the Great Creek Tribe, the northwest fleet used cannon fire to destroy a Serdan slave ship attempting to land, rescuing dozens of bound catkin captives on the spot. The ship was burned beyond the coastline, and news of this action spread rapidly among the tribes along Anahuac's eastern coast."
The Serdans' brutality had become the northwest's most effective advocate.
Terrified indigenous tribes began proactively contacting Aldor camps. No longer questioning the motives of these hornless people, they urgently asked: "Can you protect us? Can your firearms defend our children?"
Under the leadership of the Great Creek Tribe, over twenty beastkin tribes—including minotaurs, catkin, and rabbitkin—had sent envoys within just two months, eager to forge protective covenants with Northwest Bay.
The terms closely aligned with Paul's envisioned New Zealand model—Gran never quite understood why the Marquis had chosen that name. The tribes agreed to allow Northwest to establish defensive outposts and trading posts within their tribal territories, permit the exploration and mining of precious metal deposits, and allow some of their young adults to voluntarily join the joint defense force, receiving basic training and firearms.
In return, Northwest would provide weapons, medicine, and ironware, and pledged to deploy a patrol fleet to monitor the southern sea. Any Serdan ships heading north would be immediately warned and intercepted.
"They don't see us as invaders," Gran wrote at the end of his letter. "They call us protectors."
Paul slowly set down the letter. He had originally planned to gradually open up the new continent using goods and technology as bait, but the Serdan's atrocities had unexpectedly paved the way for him. It was a truly unexpected stroke of luck.
He immediately convened an emergency meeting of the Council of Administration and key military leaders at the Lord's Manor in Alden Town. After briefly summarizing the letter's contents, he issued three decisive directives on the spot, his actions more decisive than ever before.
First, establish the new continent development bureau. Directly under the Council of Administration, it will coordinate the exploration, extraction, transportation, and smelting of precious metal deposits. Recruitment notices must be immediately issued in all Northwest cities, conscripting miners, engineers, smelters, surveyors, logistics personnel, and other necessary staff. The initial team of one thousand personnel must be assembled and trained within one month, ready to accompany the fleet to the new continent.
Second, assemble a long-range expeditionary fleet. Admiral Austin will personally oversee this task, selecting experienced captains, sailors, and navigators from the existing navy to form a highly self-sufficient permanent fleet. The fleet must be equipped with supply ships, armed merchant vessels, and repair barges to ensure long-term deployment and independent operations across the ocean, unconstrained by voyage limitations.
Third, establish a permanent military presence. Austin will personally lead the fleet to escort the development bureau personnel and supplies to the east coast of Anahuac. Building upon the existing Aldor camp, a permanent fortress must be constructed at a strategically chosen location. The fortress must include defensive fortifications, cannon emplacements, shipyards, and storage facilities, serving as the Northwest's strategic foothold on the new continent.
Simultaneously, the marine corps accompanying the fleet will serve as the permanent garrison force, responsible for protecting development bureau personnel, mining operations, and trading posts. They will defend against Serdan raids and conflicts with local tribes. The marine corps commander will report directly to both Austin and Paul, ensuring seamless coordination between military and development operations.
With the orders issued, Alden Town's administrative machinery sprang into action. The Council of Administration drafted recruitment regulations overnight, while the navy began reorganizing its fleet roster. Shipyards received urgent orders to refit the expeditionary fleet with upgraded cannons and reinforced hulls.
Admiral Austin was ecstatic.
Since the end of the Horns Bay War, the northwest navy had endured a long period of inactivity. Sporadic pirate raids and trivial, repetitive tasks—escorting merchant ships, suppressing small bands of raiders, patrolling coastal waters—had become the norm.
Even these minor duties were handled by fleet commanders, requiring no personal intervention from Admiral Austin himself. His responsibilities had dwindled to signing documents, reviewing budgets, and attending Council of Administration meetings, transforming him into a respectable but suffocating office general.
He had grown weary of this life, yearning for storms and long voyages, longing to stand on the bridge of a warship and watch the horizon split beneath the bow.
Now, Paul had given him a brand-new battlefield: crossing the Sea of Tranquility, penetrating the uncharted continent, establishing fortresses, commanding a permanent fleet, and leading an unprecedented long-range naval deployment.
Thank the Lord of Light, a true expedition was finally beckoning him!
Upon returning to naval headquarters in Frand Port, Austin immediately summoned his adjutant, his voice booming with authority: "Notify all fleet commanders to convene at naval headquarters at 8:00 AM tomorrow. I will personally select the captains and sailors for the expeditionary fleet."
He unfurled a sea chart and traced his finger along the route from Frand Port to Anahuac: "Instruct the shipyard to prioritize repairs on the Anvil and Wavebreaker. I'll be leading this expedition myself."
Thanks to the relentless maritime explorations of adventurers in Northwest Bay, the vast and calm Sea of Tranquility was no longer a realm of unknown terrors.
At the cost of countless sailors' lives and voyages, they had meticulously recorded wind patterns, charted ocean currents, and marked hidden reefs, finally compiling a comprehensive system for transoceanic navigation.
They discovered stable circulatory patterns within the Sea of Tranquility: the westward-flowing equatorial warm current, the southward-flowing cold current along the continent's western coast, and the eastward-flowing return current in higher latitudes. Mastering these patterns allowed ships to abandon blind crossings, instead skillfully leveraging ocean currents and seasonal winds to shorten the round-trip voyage from Frand Port to Anahuac's eastern coast by nearly a third. Sailing with the current, clippers could traverse the ocean in under two months, like arrows loosed from a bow. Even against the current, they could navigate low-latitude routes, skirting treacherous sea conditions by harnessing favorable winds.
The scattered islands along the maritime routes had long been integrated into the Northwest's maritime network. Initially exploited for their thick layers of bird guano—a natural phosphate fertilizer crucial for boosting agricultural yields in the Northwest—these islands gradually evolved into permanent outposts as mining operations deepened. Alden established comprehensive facilities: freshwater collection systems, rudimentary docks, granaries, lighthouses, and medical stations. Beyond their role as fertilizer sources, these islands became indispensable resupply hubs along the long-range maritime routes.
With the full-scale launch of the new continent development plan, shipping demand was projected to surge exponentially. The Council of Administration swiftly responded by expanding all resupply stations. Engineering teams were dispatched to the islands to enlarge docks, construct additional storage facilities, and deploy more technical personnel and garrison troops. On some larger islands, plans were even drawn up for permanent residential communities to support the anticipated increase in vessel traffic and maintenance needs.
These islands were transforming from mere resource extraction points into maritime stepping stones across the Sea of Tranquility, making long-range voyages no longer a perilous undertaking.
(End of the Chapter)
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