Swirl Continent, the Mermaid Kingdom.
Plunburg was a crucial port for the the Mermaid Kingdom. When the channel connecting to the human world opened up, this port had brought in massive fortunes and imported resources for the Mermaid Kingdom.
Sailing boats and steam paddle wheeler ships densely covered the coastal waters. The thriving marine trade and growing number of merchant ships announced the beginning of the Great Navigation Era.
Humans, fairies, orcs and mermaids had only discovered less than half of the world and had only opened the channel to Yalan Continent and Swirl Continent. More than half of the world remained uncharted. Nevertheless, fleets continued to travel across oceans. Unknown, remote islands were discovered, channel after channel was created, vast oceans and worlds outside the continent were explored and marked on the map.
The vast sea bordered by Alan Continent, Swirl Continent and Yalan Continent was called the Sea of Storms because of frequent maelstroms, dangerous waters and countless monsters.
Islands were discovered in the Sea of Storms and one by one, safe channels were opened. Humans were now all over the oceans. Adventurers chased fortune, faith and fame by rushing to the oceans, and with the growing number of merchant ships, pirates emerged as well.
Some merchant ships and even a few kingdoms’ navies took up piracy as it turned out to be a lucrative business. Chaos prevailed on waters. There were no laws. Like a watery jungle, killing and plundering ruled the sea. The Kingdom of Rosa d’Oro and Sean City-State Alliance were the two strongest human powers across the sea since they had a huge number of ships.
The Queen of the Mermaid Kingdom, Gina, had worn the crown for more than a century. With great knowledge of the human world and alchemy warlocks, she started a revolution after she returned to the Mermaid Kingdom. It began with merging the Koutao sahagins into the Mermaid Kingdom. Numerous Koutao sahagins began to take on crucial positions within the empire.
The Mermaid Kingdom was divided into several classes and groups. Mermaids were the highest class, controlling sacrificial rites and kingship. Koutao sahagins controlled the army and politics. The lower class were civilians and slaves.
Not hesitating to transform the ruling class of Mermaid Kingdom, Queen Gina also developed the culture, commerce, religion and education greatly. She created a system similar to the alchemy college where a huge amount of mermaid scholars, alchemy warlocks, artists, architects, craftsmen and metallurgists were nurtured and trained.
Moreover, numerous fleets were created as soon as the Nautical Age arrived. Trade with the human kingdom was initiated and channels leading to Alan Continent and Yalan Continent were successfully opened.
Even though mermaids had a natural advantage in the water, only with ships and fleets could they travel to the deep sea. Ships provided shields and protection for them during sea battles. It was similar to how humans used horses and chariots despite being able to walk. Without a large number of fleets, the power of the Mermaid Kingdom would be limited to the coastal waters and the inland of the Swirl Continent.
With years of training and development, the Mermaid Kingdom fleets now cruised freely on the Sea of Storms, capable of fighting against both the Kingdom of Rosa d’Oro and Sean City-State Alliance. The Mermaid Kingdom had changed completely in the last 100 years, developing population, culture, economy and military.
“How things have changed! It feels like I only dozed off for a moment, and the Mermaid Kingdom is now completely different!” Lu Zhiyu said, lying down on the bow of a steam paddle wheeler ship.
The sea breeze brushed his face, ruffling his black hair. The wheels on both sides of the ship rolled forward as smoke rose from the chimney at the back, disappearing slowly into the sky.
“Oh, the wind is rising,” said a girl with blonde hair and a white lace hat.
She was wearing a light-colored dress and red shoes, holding on to her pretty hat so that it would not be taken by the blowing wind.
Verthandi raised her head and gazed at the distant horizon.
“More and more new things,” she said. “This world just keeps getting interesting! The unchanging world has only become beautiful because of the development of these colorful lives.”
Verthandi looked to Lu Zhiyu and smiled brightly like the sun on the deck.
“This is why I am helping you, dad, to develop this world further. All the lives here can move forward together!”
Lu Zhiyu laughed. “Is this such a noble act?” he asked, “I feel more like a supervillain behind all these things. One day, the hero of justice will come and take me down!”
Verthandi threw her arms around Lu Zhiyu’s neck. Her eyes glimmered.
“You are the almighty creator,” she said earnestly. “Everything started with you and will end with you. Your existence is the reason why we, and everything in this world, exist!”
The ship reached shore and moored at the port of Plunburg harbor. The fleet did not raise any attention, it was just one of the many fleets that arrived at Plunburg. Ships and sailboats came and went, forming a unique view on the horizon.
Many Koutao sahagins were on the dock, wearing simple shirts and leather pants. The mermaid priests looked over the port from afar.
For this visit, Lu Zhiyu wished to see if there were any potential candidates for a god’s name from the mermaid race. There were quite a few capable human candidates, however, Lu Zhiyu did not wish to have all human gods. He wanted to see a balance between other races as well. Verthandi had tagged along when she heard his intention.
The fleet Lu Zhiyu was with belonged to the Mara Kingdom. The queen of Mara Kingdom had just named a maritime official and built their own fleet.
As the merchants arrived at the Mermaid Kingdom, they immediately went to the City of Adara to meet with Queen Gina. They wished to sign a trade deal with the queen so that they could acquire a huge amount of merchandise.
Both the Kingdom of Rosa d’Oro and Sean City-State Alliance rose extremely quickly with the help of the oceans. As a coastal kingdom, the Kingdom of Mara wanted to be a part of the Great Navigation Era, and take an important position.
At the same time, in the city of the God of the Sea, Adara, a heated discussion was taking place. Many Koutao sahagin officials and mermaids were arguing in front of Queen Gina.
“This is the tenth time that our town was robbed. We must not tolerate these human criminals!”
“The elderly and children were all killed. They also took our young adults. I have heard that there are many slaves from our kingdom in the human world. The humans even auctioned them in public!”
“My siblings were locked up in cages, treated like animals. All thanks to these human robbers! We must take revenge! Even if we have to declare war!”
“Exactly! We should limit human access into the Swirl Continent. And they should not get close to the coastal waters. The patrol fleets should expel them the moment they see human fleets!”
Many Koutao sahagin soldiers and officials shouted inside the palace, kneeling on the ground, crying out loud, complaining to the queen.
Finally, a mermaid stepped forward.
“Your highness, it was pirates who robbed the towns,” he said. “We need to combat piracy more but not to stop trading with humans. Trade with them has brought us great development and fortune. As we can all see, we have developed very rapidly in recent years!”
“That’s right. What we need to combat is piracy. We must not close the trading ports!”
Those who’d been enslaved and robbed were low-class Koutao sahagins. It was nothing for the mermaid race. They were more interested in the profit they could gain from trades.
The Koutao sahagins jumped in.
“Pirates? What kind of pirate could have such powerful fleets? Powerful enough to cross the Sea of Storms and plunder our towns? We already know that it was a fleet from the Kingdom of Rosa d’Oro that robbed our villages and enslaved our siblings!”
“Combat piracy? They pretend to be pirates, then become official fleets that have trade deals with us and are safe in our waters!”
“Revenge! Revenge!”
“We need to show the humans our rage!”
Many Koutao sahagins howled and shouted in anger. All looked to the beautiful, blue haired woman sitting on the throne and wearing the crown. They all looked to Queen Gina.
Gina raised her head in displeasure and made a decision.
“If the story checks out, send out emissaries immediately,” she said. “Tell the King of Rosa d’Oro he must give us an explanation!”
“Abolish the trade deal with the Kingdom of Rosa d’Oro!” cried the Koutao sahagins.
“Expel all fleets and merchants of the Kingdom of Rosa d’Oro!”
“Search and investigate every individual related to enslaving mermaids! Search every merchant ship! Anyone disobeys the order, put to death!”