Chương 140: Chapter One-Hundred-and-Forty

"I hereby vow to never sleep again," Lasse said.

"I can't believe I missed this."

"You should've woken us up," Ellen grumbled. Cathy and Jabari didn't seem at all upset about the large ship Adam had brought up alongside the Creaking Madam. The moment they stepped onto its cloud-spun deck, they were both like small children, running around and exploring every nook and cranny. He hadn't realised just how loud the horn had been, but everyone on the Creaking Madam far below the island had immediately woken up. They'd been awaiting him on the deck as he brought the legendary ship down.

"What do we do with the old ship?" Ellen asked as she looked across the bridge Adam had extended from the side of the cloud ship.

"We leave it," Adam said.

"But let's bring our provisions and valuables across." The airship he had summoned with the horn wasn't quite like the other ships of the Floating Sea, since it had no propellers on the back nor fins on the side. It was three times the length of the Creaking Madam and had three masts, as well as gaff sails, jib sails, foresails, and topsails. Its figurehead was a hippogriff, a chimaera with the front half of an eagle and the back of a horse.

Despite the fluffy clouds that the ship was built from, the statue was rendered in exquisite detail, almost seeming alive. Even though the ship was much longer than the Creaking Madam, it wasn't that much wider nor deeper, though it did have two floors below the main deck, with the first one for their artillery and the bottom one for storage and sleeping. The sleeping quarters featured actual beds, as opposed to the hammocks of the Creaking Madam, which seemed to excite the others.

The weaponry also didn't consist of ballistae as was the standard for the Stage's ships, but instead it had cannons that fired self-replenishing cannonballs. Adam wasn't sure it made much sense to shoot condensed clouds at their enemies, but since the ship was magical, he had a suspicion they'd be strong.

Compared to the other large airships of the Floating Sea, the cloud ship had a lot more firepower, since it featured seven cannons along each broadside, as well as four mounted to shoot out of the bow of their ship, with the gun ports set into the hull on either side of the hippogriff figurehead. The captain's quarters were a lot more spacious too and the floor of the helm was raised two metres from the main deck as a result.

The room featured a large bed, chests for storage, and, most importantly, an ornate wooden desk with a map that automatically updated based on their location and surroundings, showing a compass in the bottom right. Already, Adam could see what awaited them ten kilometres away to the north, and even the names of the islands were visible.

It doesn't show enemies nor the information like skulls, treasure, and so forth that the other captains' maps show, but between this, my blood-sensing power, and the memory of what I saw on Morgan's map, we should be able to thoroughly search everything. The island where Adam had found the horn wasn't listed on the map at all, which was curious, but the other islands below and above their current elevation were on it. They had a fuzzy appearance to them, though the names were still legible.

Outside the captain's quarters, Lasse was busy climbing the ratlines up the main mast to the crow's nest high above. Once he reached the top, he yelled back down, "There's a telescope up here!"

"This ship really has everything…" Ellen commented suspiciously. Adam showed her the Relic and the others stepped up to inspect it as well.

"A Legendary?" Cathy remarked in surprise.

"It was quite a long-winded affair to get this thing," Adam said.

"I'm glad the reward was worth it."

"I'm sad we're leaving the old ship behind," Jabari said wistfully.

"Really?" Ellen asked him sceptically.

"No," he replied with a grin.

"What about the hull upgrade and the anchor shot?" Ellen asked Adam.

"I have a feeling this ship is sturdier," he replied, "and we don't need the anchor shot because it comes with the ability to lift up and down on its own."

"How do you control that?" she wondered.

"You just have to grab the wheel," he told her.

"But I don't think anyone besides me can control the ship, since it's tied to my Relic." Lasse came back down from the crow's nest, dropping the last few metres to land on the deck which caught his weight easily, bouncing slightly from the impact.

"So, what are we calling this thing?" he asked.

"The Hippogriff," Adam said without having to really think about it. Lasse stayed awake to keep Adam company as they sailed north towards Windtop Cove, but everyone else was sound asleep, even Julie. To avoid getting into fights, Adam had lifted their airship a hundred metres above the standard floating point for most islands, allowing them a good overlook at what lay before them, which, along with the map in the captain's quarters made it easy to figure out if any of the islands were worth coming back to later.

Even though they'd gotten themselves an amazing ship upgrade, Adam still wanted to get his hands on the Golden Slug, mainly because of the special compass, but also because of the bonus objective and Iffen's quest. To that end, he was checking the map every so often, trying to spot Iffenguard anywhere, though it was clear they needed to see Captain Drew's map for a proper overview of the surrounding region. The slice of the world featured on the Hippogriff's map was just too small to find anything specific.

The cloud ship flew with quite a lot of speed, even when Adam wasn't holding the wheel, but the acceleration was hardly felt, and the wind that should've been whipping about them instead seemed to always come from behind them as a warm gentle breeze, pushing their sails forward and requiring no adjustments of the lines. When Adam turned the wheel, the ship quickly followed and the gentle wind shifted course accordingly. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author.

Report it. They passed over Fallow's Glory, the island with the volcano, man-eaters, and shipwreck with a Relic Chest that Adam and Emelia had gone to last time to prepare their ambush of the Golden Slug. From the melodies emanating up towards Adam, it seemed most of the man-eater inhabitants were asleep. It would be easy to swoop down and loot the shipwreck, but before he could stop, a cluster of peaceful melodies made him realised that Windtop Cove was close, and thus he decided to leave the looting for later.

< < Settlement Discovered > > < Windtop Cove > The White Flags guarding the large settlement gaped in surprise as the Hippogriff coasted through the opening in the wall surrounding the settlement, before parking itself alongside a large airship belonging to the Whale Eaters. Adam and Lasse went down below deck to rouse the others, though it was still night outside and would be for a few more hours.

Once they were all awake, they left the Hippogriff after tossing some cloud-spun ropes to the bewildered men on the dock. Normally airships parked inside the dock by hooking into the rings that hung suspended from the ceiling where the portsmiths worked, but the cloud ship didn't need help to spin around since it could do that on its own. Windtop Cove had one eye open while it slept, and most of the activity came from the guards who seemed to work rotating shifts.

There were fortunately three people in the captain's quarters who were still awake, but Adam couldn't tell if one of them was the captain. One of the White Flags guards led them up to the torus-shaped building and they went inside, finding four people within, Captain Drew, a Treasure Hunter, a fat Whale Eater, and the Cloud Skimmer they'd seen at Morgan's Rest, called Davies.

The Whale Eater had a dark metallic mask covering the top of his face and half of his scalp, leaving his bottom jaw and filed-down teeth visible. His big belly pushed against the dark metal and cloth armour he wore, and his arms were covered with metallic plates, both ending in snap gauntlets that were disabled for the time being.

Davies had brown slicked-back hair and wore a trimmed version of the grey and black boilersuit of his faction, with a black leather jacket over it, a long crossbow rifle on his back, and a toolbelt on his waist that held bolts and two daggers as well. The Treasure Hunter had chemically-blonde hair and wore a loose-fitting straw-brown shirt with black dirt-stained pants. From his left hip hung a sharpened shovel with a telescopic handle, and on his right was a holster carrying a hand-crossbow.

The bald clean-shaven Captain Drew stood between the three, his muscular body covered with the chain outfit of his faction, though he also had a white cape hanging down his back. Everyone paused and turned to look as Adam's group entered. Even if Adam hadn't been able to notice the issue himself, the look on Jabari's face immediately gave it away. One of these men is the Half Mimic.

"What can I help you with?" Captain Drew asked.

"We're in the middle of something."

"We were sent here by Morgan," Adam said. Out of the corner of his eye he saw how Lasse was squinting suspiciously at the Cloud Skimmer man. From how his body was totally unreadable to Adam's Mandate of Blood, it was clear he was the mimic. We'll have to wait for him to leave before we do anything about him.

"Did he rope you into catching something for him?" Drew asked.

"It wasn't anything we couldn't handle," Adam replied. Drew sighed.

"He told us to speak to you about the Fallen's new captain," Adam went on.

"We were just talking about that," said the Treasure Hunter.

"They have taken over the Godstone Temple which we were in the middle of exploring."

"Not that you can do much about it, seeing as the Fortress stole your little toy," teased the Whale Eater in a gruff voice.

"Why are you even here, Scrap?" retorted the Treasure Hunter angrily.

"If not for your ambush, we might have been able to save the artefact!"

'Davies' looked between the two men lamely. He had none of the arrogant personality that'd been on full display at Morgan's Rest, which was another clue to his true nature. Drew pointed at the three men and gestured over his shoulder with his thumb.

"Y'all get back there and wait for me to finish talking. We will find a way to cooperate." The Treasure Hunter scoffed loudly.

"As if I will work together with such a murderous oaf!" Then he stormed out.

'Davies' gave Drew a look but then followed after the man. As they walked past Adam's group, the Half Mimic shifted his eyes to Jabari for a split-second, quick enough that nobody except Adam and Lasse noticed. Then the two of them were gone. Jabari gave Adam a look and he nodded.

"Take Ellen and Cathy with you," he said. The three of them left to follow the Half Mimic, while Adam, Julie, and Lasse stayed behind with Drew and Scrap.

"So, what do you want to know about Captain Goldtooth?" Drew asked, not seeming to question why half of Adam's group left.

"Morgan said you might know where we can find him," Adam replied.

"Like Seban there just said, he's at the Godstone Temple," Drew answered, referring to the Treasure Hunter by name.

"And where do we find that?" Adam asked.

"Are you planning on taking them on?" the Whale Eater named Scrap responded.

"Possibly."

"You needn't bother, Offal is bringing the Golden Slug. Those gold-sick louts will soon be reunited with their old master." With that, the Whale Eater left as well. Drew watched him leave before gesturing Adam, Lasse, and Julie to follow him over to his bone-white desk with golden veins. There he pulled out a map and pointed at a spot far north-northeast of Windtop Cove.

"This is where you'll want to go. I would be mighty glad if you could get rid of the Fallen's new captain. The Whale Eaters made trouble for the Cloud Skimmers and Treasure Hunters recently, leaving them open to the Golden Fortress who apparently stole something they were seeking. It seems to be a key for the Godstone Temple." I wonder if he's only telling us this because we already found out who has the mechanism.

"Actually, we'll be assaulting the temple with the Golden Fortress," Adam said.

"They're bringing their fleet here tomorrow." Drew sighed.

"That's unlikely to go well." Before he could roll away the map, Adam made sure to absorb as much information as he could, such as the fact that Iffenguard was to the north-west, Shipwreck Isle with the mad captain was to the east, and Lenny's Landing was far north-west.

"It was probably a good thing y'all came in when you did," Drew admitted.

"The other factions won't ever work together, there's just too much bad blood. I don't know why I even tried to convince them… If you don't succeed in taking down Captain Goldtooth, then I'll have no choice but to mobilise the White Flags. The longer those lunatics are left unchecked, the stronger they'll get."

"What was the Golden Slug thing that the metal guy mentioned?" Lasse asked.

"Eh, it's the name they've given their massive floating stronghold," Drew said.

"It's made for hunting slugwhales and dragons. I'm sure with all the trouble the Fallen have caused, they may just head south for the Drakes' territory and attempt to kill Mast-Chewer again…" Drew massaged the bridge of his nose.

"Today has been a long day, so if you will excuse me, there's a bottle of rum calling my name." The White Flags captain was truly out of it, because he left without packing away the map. Lasse gave Adam a glance, but he shook his head.

"What does it matter if they like us or not?" Julie asked.

"In the end, we'll be killing them."

"The Flayed Lady prefers betrayal, remember?" Adam pointed out.

"She sounds… nice," Lasse remarked. Adam leaned in to try and see what else might be worth hunting down on Drew's map, but then a powerful discordant note from Jabari's nearby melody snapped him to attention.

"We've gotta go help the others," Adam said urgently. They ran out of the captain's quarters and down the interlinked bridges that led to the docks. Once they reached their own ship, Adam immediately saw what the issue was. Jabari and Ellen were arguing while trying to get the Hippogriff to move, and Cathy was nowhere in sight. As they went up the helm, Lasse immediately asked, "Where the hell is Cathy?"

Adam pushed Ellen and Jabari away from the wheel and immediately put the cloud ship into action, utilising its ability to lift and sink at will to chase after a sleek spearhead-shaped vessel flying below the floating point. It had large fan-like fins designed to swim through the air and defy the natural buoyancy of the sea.

"She's down there," Adam said, pointing at the rapidly-fleeing airship belonging to the Cloud Skimmers.