That is impossible, the Holy Temple will never take sides, no matter what, the Great Priest would not act so hastily.

And it was at this moment that the bells on the White Lighthouse rang again, the sound of the bronze bell making the surrounding ground tremble, with sand and stones shaking, echoing tens of miles away, audible even in half the city. The bell announced the arrival of a ship, and Wood and Ican raised their heads to see a sailboat with three large sails docking at the port.

"It’s the ship returning from Lubick," Ican recognized it immediately after seeing the flag on the ship.

"The storm is about to block the southern sea route this season; this should be the last ship returning from Lubick this month. It’s somewhat late, and those who sail the seas year-round are recklessly risking their lives," Wood glanced at the ship and couldn’t help but sigh.

"People are blinded by money; while wealth is important, life is nonetheless more precious," Ican also shook his head.

But this time, the Chief Priest did not agree, instead using a famous quip from Heisen I, who was mocked as the ’King of the Road’ in Erune history, to sigh: "Without wealth, where does life come from?"

...

While the two Lords Priest lamented the state of the world on Lighthouse Mountain, the various big and small officials at the Ampezel Port Authority were not so leisurely inclined. To be precise, these small individuals, who were usually extremely busy, were now almost in chaos. Junon Opalis was from a not too large and not too small noble family in the city of Ampezel, and through his father’s connections, he had managed to secure the position of Deputy Director of the Port Authority. But it had not even been half a week since his appointment when a piece of news nearly caused him to abandon his sharp-pointed helmet and flee in panic.

"What did you say? Palin, you bastard. What did I tell you yesterday — if you get drunk again or joke with me, I’ll definitely kick you out. I don’t care who your old man is!" The unlucky young man was almost yelling at the communication crystal stone in his hand, almost smashing the valuable item worth thousands of gold: "Do you think I’m an idiot?"

"No, I’m serious!" On the other end of the communication crystal was Junon’s friend, known among Erune as a good brother who grew up playing together from childhood. He was also of noble descent, though somewhat unreliable, fond of drinking, fraternizing during duty, brawling — pretty much every crime one can commit at the docks, he had committed. However, Junon kept him around because they were genuinely close. But now, this usually lackadaisical young man seemed extremely frightened, and he spoke in a sobbing tone: "Brother, I swear by Lord Marsha’s name, I’m not lying. I really saw a Sea Demon Whale — of course, if that woman who claimed to be a female pirate last time wasn’t lying to me, listen to me, that thing is exactly like the tattoo on her left butt cheek... No, no, I’m saying the thing at sea now is much more terrifying..."

"To hell with her butt, don’t mention that woman to me," Junon, at this moment, couldn’t even bother with the last vestiges of noble pride, and indeed, nobles of their generation didn’t have much to speak of, especially having grown up in a mixed environment like Ampezel. He fiercely tugged at his collar, but hearing the other swear by Marsha, he felt unconfident. Though he understood that if he could, that lawless guy might even dare to lay a hand on Lord Marsha — of course, that’s just a way of speaking. Junon was now starting to feel somewhat at a loss.

A Sea Demon Whale preparing to attack the port?

My God, was he living in some mythical age? Junon sat by his precious mahogany desk, thinking for a long time, and managed to come up with the following three comprehensive plans:

Embezzle funds and escape, embezzle funds and escape, and embezzle funds and escape.

But he immediately messed up his hair, for if he did that, his old man would be the first to kill him. Born as reckless as his good brother, Junon, who feared not even the King of Erune, immediately showed his true colors in front of his old man. The thought of his old man’s furious expression made his legs go weak, and after swallowing for a long time, a sentence of ’Brother, take care of yourself, I’ll go first’ turned into: "Wait for me, I’m coming right away!"

At the port, the sailors were in chaos, but someone at sea was watching the distant Ampezel with resignation.

"Ampezel, this port city and the surrounding areas and towns are home to three hundred and ten thousand people, with an enormous magic system maintaining the city’s operation, dealing with sewage, lighting, water supply, and waste management — mysterious magic, rare in the southern wilds of Erune, is ubiquitous here. Merchants spend heavily to hire wizards to serve them. Some wizards have been working here for decades and are deeply embedded in their positions. The wizards have formed a guild called ’The Eye of Ampezel.’"

"This wizard organization not only maintains the city’s daily operations but also handles port security, preventing adventurer conflicts, setting city spell locks to prohibit outside wizards from casting spells within the city, and they have set up a massive anti-air array in Ampezel’s inner city to prevent attacks on the port from above."

Brand stood by the ship’s rail, introducing this place to others, suddenly sighed, turned back with eyes filled with a kind of helplessness approaching despair, finally seeing the legendary creature, the king of sea beasts, the enormous Sea Demon Whale, waving its fin like a playful child before slowly diving into the deep sea.

"My elders say the Sea Demon Whale’s intelligence is no less than an adult human’s. Now it seems true," Captain James also saw this scene and couldn’t help but exclaim.

But Antitina, looking at Brand in confusion, couldn’t help but ask: "Lord, what exactly did you give those Nagas? They look at you as if they are seeing their king, allowing the Sea Demon Whale to escort us into port. How can we hide our identities now?"

"But I’ve heard the Naga king is a woman." Little Roman, now able to move freely on deck after a week of recovery, rolled her eyes and directly feminized Brand.

Brand wiped his sweat, not expecting the Nagas to be so ’warm and hospitable.’ However, to have the Sea Demon Whale escort them into port was something only Sani’er the Stupid Fish could creatively achieve, something not ordinary people could do.

He coughed, almost not believing himself, saying: "We’ll see. Anyway, people in the port don’t know this big guy is with us. As long as we don’t admit it, we’re good." Saying this, he looked at the young captain. James shrugged, replied, "If the lord doesn’t wish to be famous, I definitely won’t act out of turn; my ship’s crew can rest assured, Lord," he continued.

Here, the young captain also seemed somewhat helpless: "Honestly, now your reputation with them is much higher than mine, even if I don’t tell, they would keep quiet about it too." Naturally, he was speaking of Brand’s two bottles of Holy Water showing miraculous effects, making the entire crew on board admire Brand, this noble lord who had a Sword Saint as a mentor and was benevolent and kind, as a god.

...(To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)