"The same goes for hair. The sea breeze is actually very dry. If you blow it for a long time, it will make your skin and hair quality worse."
Turning his head slightly, Qi Ji saw Meili walking towards him step by step, with her hands behind her waist, looking at him, her eyes revealing subtle worry and helplessness.
Her eyes were the same deep purple as her hair, almost gray-black in the sunlight.
"...Oh." Qi Ji responded.
With her physique, hair and skin are definitely not afraid of the sea breeze, but in order to maintain her current image as a "genius top student who just graduated from the magic school", she turned around obediently, leaned against the railing, and avoided the sea breeze.
"Is this your first time sailing?"
Seeing her complete lack of knowledge of the laws of the ocean, the worry on Meili's face became more obvious, but she managed to suppress it in time. If it weren't for Qi Ji's extraordinary eyesight, he would definitely not have noticed it.
"Well... that's right."
Qi Ji looked sideways at the top of the mast and thought for half a second, recalling the memories of different lives in his mind. After making sure that there were few similar experiences, he answered like this.
"I know you're amazing, but adventures on the ocean are completely different from those on land."
Meili leaned against the railing with her and smiled familiarly:
"Many adventurers who were famous on land suffered from vomiting and diarrhea as soon as they boarded the ship. Not to mention maintaining their combat effectiveness, even staying conscious was difficult. There were even precedents of them dying of illness at sea."
She was reminding the girl not to be proud - the sea would not harbour any mercy.
Qi Ji did not argue with her, but looked at her profile and asked:
"In fact, even without me, you won't give up setting sail, right?"
Hearing this question, Meili was stunned for a moment, then said with a little doubt:
"That's right... I'm a true mage myself, and even without other guards, I can handle a certain degree of danger with my own strength... But that would be too risky, so I think it would be better to hire one more person."
But there was another half sentence she didn't say: due to funding constraints, she was very clear that it would be difficult to recruit qualified people with the salary she offered, so she didn't have high expectations at the beginning.
Of course, this cannot be said in front of Qi Ji, otherwise wouldn't it be implying that she is not only incompetent, but also a sucker?
"Thank you very much for helping us, Miss 105. Otherwise, the danger of our voyage would be greatly increased."
After expressing her gratitude, Meili continued with the previous topic:
"On the ocean, facing sirens and pirates, there is no chance to use ordinary spells and martial arts. If you want to use your extraordinary power, you must use special means..."
"For example?" Qi Ji raised an eyebrow.
She was indeed very curious. How could a superhuman with only the second level of strength play a role in a battle where the distance scale could easily reach several kilometers? It was easy for a mage to do so, but what about a warrior? Could he jump into the sea and fight the sea monster?
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Chapter 408 Magic Rapid-Fire Cannon
Mary wanted to use this kind of equal conversation to subtly impart and teach the young girl knowledge about sea adventures.
Seeing that the other party did not show any disgust, but instead showed a strong curiosity, he immediately smiled and nodded readily to explain:
"Come with me, I'll show you something."
After saying that, he walked towards the middle of the deck with his long legs wrapped in jeans, and the hard soles of his leather boots made dull, short knocks as they stepped on the wooden boards.
Qi Ji naturally would not refuse. He followed her to the door of the ship's tower in the middle of the deck, and went down the stairs to enter the interior of the double-decker ketch.
In order to save lamp oil, the cabin was not lit during the day, so they could only see things through very weak sunlight. Fortunately, the two were not ordinary people, and their night vision was stronger than that of ordinary people, so they did not feel the change.
After turning a few corners, Meili led Qi Ji to a heavy, old wooden door and stopped:
"This is the Challenger's main hangar."
As she spoke, she took a bunch of keys from the leather waistband of her jeans, picked one out and opened the wooden door.
Suddenly, a stale, oppressive smell hit me in the face, mixed with a very obvious, cloying sweetness that made me feel a little nauseous.
Meili seemed to have adapted to the smell. Her expression did not change. She walked straight into the warehouse and used magic to light a flame on her fingertips.
Under the illumination of the fire, a large pile of items was revealed. The size of this light sailing ship was not large, so naturally there was not much storage space inside.
However, this not-so-spacious space was packed with all kinds of items, leaving almost no place to stand.
The items in the warehouse are mainly divided into two piles, stacked on the left and right sides, leaving only a "walkway" more than half a meter wide in the middle for walking.
These items were all wooden boxes of similar shape and size. Qi Ji's perception could detect that most of them contained cotton and sugar - which were the goods that the Challenger wanted to sell to the Star Confederation.
However, the most eye-catching thing in the warehouse is not the piles of storage boxes, but a dark, huge and heavy object at the end of the "aisle".
Thick and strong hollow tube, solid and sturdy main body, heavy and rough base...
This is a cannon.
Strictly speaking, in terms of appearance... it is similar to the rotary cannon of the 16th century on Earth. The barrel can rotate up and down and left and right without moving through the axis of the main body and the chassis.
"This is a 'Magic Rapid-Fire Cannon', 25 pounds... well, it should be called '87mm caliber'."
Meili put her hands on her waist, her face looked a little proud, as if she was very proud to have such a thing in her ship's warehouse:
"On a long-distance voyage, the most valuable item is often not the cargo, but cannons like these - the number of them often determines whether the ship can return safely."
Qi Ji understands:
"I know this thing. The energy source for launching the shells is not gunpowder, but spiritual power...but it does not contain independent spirituality, so it can only be launched by extraordinary people."
This thing is actually quite famous, because for ordinary private armed forces, its practicality is ridiculously high:
The power depends on the strength of the extraordinary person who uses it. Theoretically, if it is driven by an extraordinary person in the second realm, it can accurately hit the target ten kilometers away. This is simply a dimensionality reduction attack for conventional artillery and extraordinary people in the same realm.
And because it does not possess independent spirituality, its manufacture does not require the participation of psychic warriors or magicians, which makes its price much lower than that of ordinary spiritual items.
However, from the documents that Qi Ji had read, only the military had the authority to equip this thing, and it was illegal for private armed forces to purchase it... But from what Meili said, this thing was a standard feature of long-distance sea voyages?
"It turns out that these navigators recruit extraordinary people as bodyguards, not to let them use magic and martial arts to smash the enemy, but to use them as energy to drive magic cannons... I always feel like I'm just a tool."
Qi Ji couldn't help but feel a little self-deprecating.
"You know a lot."
Perhaps she was surprised that Qi Ji actually knew all this knowledge in the field of HNA, Mei Li looked at her approvingly and continued to introduce:
"That's right. The ironclad ships of the Holy Church of Grace are equipped with a strengthened version of this thing! In other words, as long as it can hit, it can even penetrate the armor of the ironclad ship!"
As she spoke, she walked over to the revolving cannon and gently stroked the rough barrel, as if she was caressing an extremely precious and fragile treasure:
"With it, ordinary pirates are completely useless. Just hearing its unique roar will scare them so much that they will run home to find their mothers - but of course they usually can't find them.
"Even if we encounter a group of Sirens, as long as we use explosive bombs, we can still cause very effective damage. If we shoot accurately, we can blow several Sirens to pieces with one shot."
Perhaps because of her long sailing career, her way of speaking was not as euphemistic and implicit as the women Qi Ji had met before. Instead, she was very straightforward and rarely avoided using vulgar words.
Whatever comes to mind, just express it in the simplest language.
Those princes and nobles might look down on it, thinking that it was inappropriate, vulgar and lowly, and that women should not be so frank.
But Qi Ji liked it very much. At least she didn't have to bother figuring out the other person's true thoughts. What she said was what she wanted to express.
"Oh, to be honest, our previous financial situation wasn't that bad."
Meili took back her hand and smiled awkwardly:
"It was because of the purchase of this gun that the ship's funds ran out...
"But this is a worthwhile deal. Before we had it, every time we went out to sea we could only pray to the Sea God, Deka, and ask him not to let us encounter any danger that was too troublesome. We were always on edge the whole time."
Qi Ji could understand her thoughts. After all, no matter how much money one had, one had to live to spend it. If spending money could buy safety, then what did it matter if one was on the verge of bankruptcy?
After that, the two returned to the deck. After the conversation and waiting time, the Challenger was about to completely leave the "Harbor of Thousand Sails" and enter the real "ocean".
Looking over the side railing, Qi Ji saw the sea level filled with raised sails and silhouettes of ships, but there was one ship that stood out in particular.
It was a huge ship that was nearly a hundred meters long. The Challenger, which was only twenty meters long, was like a vulnerable child in front of it.
This huge ship was cruising slowly and powerfully in the distance. It had no sails like an ordinary ship, but only two thick and conspicuous chimneys, which kept spewing steam that rolled up into the sky.
The early morning sun shines on its slender hull, reflecting an oppressive metallic luster.
This is the main battleship of the "Sea Knights" of the Holy Church of Grace. It is a steam ironclad ship, a sea giant weighing more than 7,000 tons, with a speed of 15 knots. It can be called a mobile fortress. Even if it is alone, it can easily defeat and annihilate the most stubborn and brutal pirates.
It is responsible for patrolling the edge of the port waters and defending the dignity of the theocracy's waters with absolute violence.
Seeing it at this distance means...
The Challenger is about to leave the waters of the Templar State and enter a free, chaotic, ownerless sea without any law, mercy, civilization or rules, governed by the laws of the natural environment.
This is also the first time that Qi Ji has truly... left the control of the human world.
Chapter 409 Sailing
"Whirring whirring--"
The sail, which has turned yellow due to long-term wind and sun, hangs high above the mast, and is propped up in a powerful arc by the strong sea breeze.
“Clatter! Crater…”
The waves hit the bow heavily, and were crushed into countless waves by the hard wooden boards, forming pieces of water mist that slowly fell down.
The twenty-meter-long two-masted light sailing ship "Challenger" sailed at full speed on the shimmering blue sea. The sea surface was cut by the slightly wide and fat hull, and then quickly healed at the stern, leaving a long white scar.
This is what is meant by “riding the wind and waves”.
Standing on the top of the ship, Qi Ji looked out at the endless sea and sky.
Above my head is a blue sky as pure and flawless as a whole sapphire. The bright sun hangs high in the sky, pouring out endless light and heat.
There are endless blue waves under my feet, and the sound of waves comes to my ears wave after wave.
The two meet at an unimaginably distant sea horizon, forming a clear, straight boundary.
Nothing else.
Being in such an ethereal and vast environment, even though he possessed supreme power enough to move mountains and boil seas, Qi Ji couldn't help but feel a little insignificant in his subconscious.
Now she completely understood why those navigators would rather spend a lot of money to hire extraordinary bodyguards with many years of sailing experience.
Being in such an isolated island environment... a few days or a week is fine, but once the time is extended, even if nothing unexpected happens, a rookie may face the risk of mental breakdown.
And on an ocean-going ship, no matter what is done... the order of the civilized world cannot restrain it.
"When I first went out to sea, I had a similar reaction to yours."
Seeing that Qi Ji seemed to be staring at the sea in a daze, Captain Meili came up from behind her, holding the back of her head with both hands, and said in a leisurely and casual manner:
"Even with a few years of experience, I still feel shocked when I see this scene. I heard that even those who have been sailors for decades are not immune to this - this is a kind of spiritual power that cannot be accustomed to."
Qi Ji turned around and saw the female captain coming to her side. Perhaps because it was noon and the temperature was rising, she took off her leather jacket, tied it around her waist, and put on a short-sleeved shirt.
Her wheat-colored skin is tight and rosy. The thin short-sleeved shirt and fitted jeans highlight her figure just right, which is plump without any excess. The fabric on her chest is stretched tightly, and combined with her exotic face, she exudes a mature and heroic charm.
Qi Ji inexplicably had a feeling that it would be very comfortable to be held in her arms, just like crawling into a bed, with a sense of security as if his whole body was fully wrapped.
Seeing that the little guy was still wearing that black cloak that looked very thick and could absorb a lot of heat, Meili asked in surprise:
"Aren't you hot?"
Qi Ji was slightly stunned, and then his face looked a little embarrassed:
"It's okay... I'm used to it."
She certainly didn't feel hot, but there was more reason why she didn't take off her cloak and enjoy the cool sea breeze...
That is, she really underestimated the energy and hunger of a group of strong men who had been wandering on the sea all year round!
It had only been half a day since she set out to sea, but she had already encountered at least ten near-harassing advances from the sailors, which really made her feel sick.
If her refusal was not very clear and firm, and her identity was not a guard to ensure the safety of the voyage, it would be difficult to guarantee that these overly energetic guys would not do something even more outrageous.
During that time, Meili happened to be at the helm in the captain's room, so she didn't know what Qi Ji had experienced during that period.
As the captain, Meili is also a powerful mage. No crew member dared to harass such a respected figure. As a result, she did not have a clear understanding of the extent of those guys' hunger and could not understand Qi Ji's embarrassment at all.
So she just thought that Qi Ji had "a quirk of being an academic mage" and didn't ask too many questions. After all, in the world's impression, mages like to wear cloaks or robes, and a "wild" mage like Meili naturally also has this stereotype.
He just reminded with a little concern:
"Be careful of heat stroke. If you are thirsty, come down and drink some water. There is plenty of fresh water on the Challenger."
This is the benefit of having a wizard on board. The preservation technology of this era was not yet mature, and fresh water was often directly stored in oak barrels. It would soon become sour and green. If you don't drink it, you will die of thirst. If you force yourself to drink it, you will have diarrhea and vomiting. It's always the wrong way.
