Chapter 249: No Way to Overturn

The speed of the Nisan was not slow, but it still took ten days to sail on the high seas. Old Wang checked the map and found that they had only covered a small section of the sea route.

To be honest, based on the rough map of the Nine Heavens world, Old Wang's understanding of this world was quite vague. However, now it seemed that the Nine Heavens world might be much larger than his 'hometown,' with land and sea areas possibly three to four times as large. Given the backwardness of transportation in this world, truly traveling the entire world would likely be a very difficult task.

This was different from what the Navy rumored about pirates having 'big business.'

While on the Half-Orc ship, Old Wang had heard Sessys mention that pirates also had their own circles. Every few years, in the Dragon Abyss Sea, some highly respected pirate organizations would organize a grand maritime festival for the pirate community. This was a religious activity for pirates, commemorating those who had perished at sea, as well as setting common rules for pirates, mediating conflicts, conducting large-scale trade, or roughly dividing territorial waters among super pirate groups. It was a grand event for all pirates, and only those with bounties of a million or more were eligible to participate; otherwise, they lacked the necessary reputation.

With so many pirates gathering in one place, their combined strength was formidable, and they often launched raids on nearby major port cities. This was both a feast for them and a form of retaliatory demonstration against the Navy and various duchy governments. Therefore, during such times, the Navy and ports would be exceptionally tense. If the pirates succeeded, both races' navies would be humiliated, but if they were stopped, it would instead become a grand military achievement for the Navy.

This year's maritime festival was taking place in the distant Floss Islands, a major event across the entire Dragon Abyss Sea. However, that should be a concern for the Navy and merchants of the Floss Islands, which were close to the deep sea and not under the jurisdiction of the Debang Duchy. With many pirates converging there, many shipping routes had been forced to halt, bringing a large area of the sea to a relative calm.

Due to the naval alerts in various regions and the lack of detailed information among ordinary civilian merchants, the owner of the Nisan was somewhat worried when they set sail. However, over the past few days, the journey had been smooth sailing, without a single pirate sighting, making it a peaceful and uneventful voyage.

The ten-day voyage on the ship was relatively pleasant for Old Wang. The ship's owner was a proper businessman who enjoyed life, bringing two chefs skilled in preparing Azure cuisine, which tasted similar to that in Aurora City. The seafood caught fresh at sea was particularly delicious, satisfying Old Wang's appetite.

When he wasn't teasing Dage, chatting, or showing off his card tricks, Old Wang would take Er Tong for walks around the deck.

During the last shipwreck, Er Tong was rescued by the Half-Orc Pirate Group searching the sea surface and naturally returned to Old Wang. These demonic beasts could actually be sealed using soul beast cards, but it was a bit troublesome. Old Wang planned to deal with it after returning to Rose.

The problem was its enormous appetite. The amount of food this creature consumed was more than ten times what Old Wang and Dage ate together. Raising it was almost like maintaining an entire team... Old Wang truly experienced the troubles of being a soul beast master, watching this creature devour his wallet like a gold-eating monster every day. Indeed, being a soul beast master was something only the wealthy could afford... Fortunately, he was now considered a wealthy man!

Seasonal Wind Port in the Azure Duchy was the busiest port near the coast and one of the most important ports on the eastern coast of the Blade. The position of Aurora Free Port was further south, closely connected to Seasonal Wind Port by sea routes, but also by extensive modified tracks.

From Seasonal Wind Port to Aurora Free Port, this region in the southeastern part of the Blade was the most prosperous, with large vehicles running on these thoroughfares daily. In terms of travel speed, taking a ship was clearly far inferior to riding a modified vehicle.

Large modified vehicles were more like trains, fast and with ample capacity, featuring both public areas and private compartments.

Back on land, Dage seemed like a different person, once again becoming expressionless and serious. Most of the time, she sat in the small compartment on the vehicle, revising her notes or recording things, and her conversations with Old Wang gradually shifted towards the affairs of Rose. Clearly, Dage's tone was different from before when she used to give him 'tasks.' Now, it was more of a consultative approach, carefully considering his opinions.

"New President... Brother Karida, you see, I've been away from Rose for so long that the little popularity I once had has been squeezed out like toothpaste. Now they want me to pull out nails as soon as I return; it's quite a challenge! Of course, it's not impossible, but mainly it's about the budget and authority..."

"The money isn't with you?"

"What money?"

"Pretending to be innocent? The money from the giant algae nucleus, I have a share in that." Karida smiled slightly: "I won't say more, just get things sorted out below. For the budget, take what you need from my share. As for power..."

Karida glanced at him: "You were a slave before, now you're free. You earned this freedom yourself, but if you want more power, you'll have to earn it."

"It's settled! Brother Karida, if you think like this, it's settled!" Old Wang had been waiting for these words. Damn, finally he could hold his head high again. He said excitedly: "This time, we'll go back together, and unify Rose! This is what they call 'when husband and wife are of one heart, their strength can sever metal...'"

Karida gave him a sharp look, her eyes as keen as a blade.

Women's hearts are truly like needles at the bottom of the sea. A few days ago, she was still laughing and joking with him on the ship, but now that they were back on solid ground, her eyes turned to knives.

Old Wang hurried to correct himself: "Ha ha, slip of the tongue, slip of the tongue. It's brother and sister united... brother and sister united, their strength can sever metal. See, it's just as smooth!"

After two months apart, Aurora City looked unchanged, except that people on the streets were dressed more lightly, giving off a strong summer vibe.

The Rose Holy Sanctuary remained the same. Under the scorching sun, there were fewer people moving around the campus. Karida disappeared as soon as she returned to Rose, but she had already arranged a separate storage room for Old Wang and a place for Ertong at the Soul Beast Academy, where there were special enclosures for beasts, and the conditions were quite good.

With Karida's signed document, he went to the administration office to collect the key, and the orc handlers hauled the three large water tanks containing the algae nuclei over there.

Back at his dormitory in the Foundry, it was no surprise to find the door half-open, the lock burned and broken.

The room wasn't too dirty or messy, but all the drawers were empty, and the snacks were gone. Strangely, some valuable items were untouched. The box of mixed potions under the bed felt a bit heavy when he lifted it, suggesting it was about half full. The key was with Fantasi, so he couldn't open it to check.

He hadn't even sat down properly when the half-open door was kicked open.

"Wang Feng!"

"Captain!"

"Afeng!"

At the door stood Winnie, Fantasi, Kela, and Wu Di.

Earlier, Old Wang had spent quite some time dealing with Second Barrel and the three large water tanks. News of Wang Feng's return had spread through the Holy Sanctuary, and the four of them had come as soon as they heard.

Fantasi, upon seeing Old Wang, burst into tears and flew into his arms, his two-hundred-pound body hanging off Old Wang, sobbing uncontrollably: "Afeng! Where have you been? I thought you didn't want me anymore!"

"Damn..." Old Wang felt himself drenched, unsure if it was snot or tears, and quickly kicked him away: "Can we try a different greeting next time? This new outfit is expensive; can it still be worn?"

"Captain!" Kela and Wu Di's faces were beaming with unrestrained excitement as they each came forward to hug him.

"Hmm, Wu Di, you've grown taller, and stronger too!"

"Oh, Kela, you seem bigger than before... Ouch! Don't pinch, I mean you've grown up, more mature!"

The only one left at the door was the haughty little girl with her arms crossed. Old Wang smiled at her, and Winnie pouted: "I thought you'd died out there, but you actually remembered to come back!"

Old Wang walked over, arms open wide.

"Eh!" Winnie's face was full of suspicion and rejection: "Don't give me that, Kela can do it, but I'm not like those two useless ones. What kind of hug is this? How old are we, really? So childish!"

"Ha ha ha! Saying one thing and meaning another!" Old Wang forced a hug on her, lifting the little girl almost off her feet: "It's been so long, what's wrong with a hug?"

"Pah pah pah! Put me down!" Winnie seemed to forget that she might be stronger than Old Wang, her face tinged with a blush: "You're covered in Fantasi's snot! So dirty!"

Fanxi said sullenly, "Winnie, don't talk nonsense. Where did you see any snot? Those were clearly my tears of happiness..."

"It is what it is!" Winnie glared at him fiercely. "What, planning to practice extra this afternoon again? Speaking of which, you've been getting lazier with your training lately, always making excuses—either you're doing business or checking on the Institute of Potions..."

"How can those be excuses? Winnie, I really don't want to deal with these things," Fanxi wasn't flustered. After two months apart, he felt this guy had become bolder, daring to argue with Winnie. He smiled and said, "Anyway, I'm not good at managing them. Now that Feng is back, I can finally hand over the responsibility smoothly and focus on training. If you want me to stop practicing, I wouldn't be happy about it!"

Everyone laughed.

The issues Fanxi mentioned had been troubling everyone for some time, causing headaches for all four of them.

But now that Old Wang was back, these problems that had once plagued the entire team seemed to have solutions. Even though Wang Feng hadn't said or done anything yet, let alone asked any questions, everyone suddenly felt reassured.

Because everyone knew that the backbone of the team, Old Wang, was back!

"This time I went out mainly to execute a highly confidential mission. There's no way around it; in the entire Rose and even Aurora City, besides me, Old Wang, there's no one else she could find to complete this task..." Old Wang casually boasted. These people used to be the type who would ask endless questions, so he had to come up with a story for them.

After all, the matters concerning the Ice Spirit Kingdom couldn't be kept secret. In fact, the Light of the Holy Sanctuary had already spread the news about the Ice Spirit Kingdom throughout the alliance. Although Old Wang's name, as the fiancé of Princess Zhiyu, was also listed, the main focus was on Oscar, the Ice Spirit nuclear weapon who had performed sixth-order magic and reached dragon-level standards. As for Wang Feng, he was only briefly mentioned as background.

As usual, after Old Wang finished his boasting, Winnie and the others would immediately mock him, and then everyone would laugh and joke around, and the matter would be brushed aside.

But perhaps because the past few months had been tough for the four of them, they deeply reflected on and appreciated how capable their captain was when he was around. This time, even Winnie didn't make any sarcastic remarks but listened quietly to his boasting. Wu Di truly believed Old Wang and said admiringly, "Captain, you're amazing!"

Winnie just smiled at him, Kela remained silent, and Fanxi clapped from the side.

This made things a bit awkward. Old Wang cleared his throat twice. It had only been two months, but it seemed the kids had gone through a lot and had grown up a bit. The methods to entertain kindergarten children wouldn't work anymore; he'd need to change his approach to something more suitable for primary school students.

"Anyway, I've completed my mission and returned triumphantly," Old Wang had to gloss over it and said, "It seems we've had some minor issues at home, but don't worry, I, Hu Hansan, am back..."

"Captain, who is Hu Hansan?" Wu Di asked seriously.

"That's from his hometown!" Winnie and Fantasi said in unison.

"Look at that, look at that!" Wang Feng gave them a thumbs up, praising, "This is what teamwork looks like. Honestly, how long has it been since you had this kind of chemistry?"

Kela smiled, "The chemistry has always been there, just not as strong as now."

"It's better this way." Old Wang laughed heartily, "With me, Old Wang, here to take charge, good times are ahead for all of you. Those who have taken from us will spit it out, and those who have eaten from us will pay back double!"

"Then it's all up to you." Winnie looked relaxed; she hadn't felt like getting a manicure in ages: "The current president is quite a character, not the old Luo Lan, and the Rose has changed."

Wu Di nodded in agreement beside her, "That acting principal is really strict, always siding with the new president."

"What new president? Just a temporary acting president of the Student Council! Even that principal is only acting!" Old Wang said dismissively, "Now the real ones are back, where do they have room to jump around? Don't worry, they won't be able to cause any trouble!"