The Rise of the Black Plain - Chapter 2669: The Last Year in Oqia

Months passed, and Minos’ group was still in Marrin.

Earlier, they had split up to find Tiolos and search for navigators with experience of at least part of the Violent Sea in one of the local ports.

While Minos and his group had ordered the construction of the ship that would transport them to Uzira, the rest of the group invested their time in talking to the locals, in particular, experienced sailors.

Over the next few weeks, the group would learn about the stories of a group of interesting individuals who claimed to have sailed and survived surreal experiences, or who at least had great fame in the area.

They would investigate the situation of these navigators and thus arrive at those who were most reliable and most likely to actually be individuals with useful skills.

In the meantime, Leger’s group set off from Marrin, beginning the countdown to the departure of Minos’ people.

A year was nothing and the time would soon come for them to set off on the most dangerous journey of their lives.

…

At the beginning of the group’s eleventh month in Marrin, Minos and his group had the crew ready for departure.

However, the construction of their ship had fallen behind schedule and there were still a few weeks to go before the deadline agreed with Leger.

Today, however, Minos left the cultivation tower where he had been spending most of his time in the city, having just been notified of the completion of his ship.

Alongside Tiolos and Abby, he made his way to the shipyard behind the development of his vessel. The others stayed behind, cultivating or standing guard to protect the group and its resources.

In the months up to this point, they had bought everything they could get their hands on locally for this trip, with some of them even using the months to cultivate in seclusion, improving their strength a little more before the perilous journey ahead.

Anyway, Minos, Tiolos and Abby made their way through the local streets without worrying about their companions in the tower, heading for the local port where their ship should be waiting for them.

On the way, they came across one man they had invited to join their crew, an experienced sailor who had actually traveled the Violent Sea.

Unlike Leger, Diret had not completed the crossing of the Violent Sea. He had ‘only’ traveled 3,000 kilometers inland, a short journey, but extremely significant for someone who had never made such a trip. He hadn’t used Leger’s route and made many, many journeys over this distance, which made him even more of an expert on this stretch of the Violent Sea than Leger himself.

“Senior Minos.” Diret greeted his boss first and then Abby and Tiolos, while looking as calm as ever. Being a level 114 Sovereign, he was old and experienced, enough to keep his cool even in front of Supremes.

“Navigator Diret, is your group ready?” Minos asked after nodding in acknowledgment to this man.

“Certainly, Senior. My group is always ready. The journey ahead will just be my group’s next step.” Diret said confidently. “I’ve heard that our ship is ready. Is that true?”

“Yes, I’m on my way to collect it right now. Are you curious?” Minos smiled, imagining that this old sailor wanted to get to know the new ‘toy’ that he would be commanding from today onwards.

As much as Minos was the leader of the group, he really had little naval experience and preferred to let a sailor who had lived a good part of his life at sea handle the command of his group’s vessel.

“Certainly.” The eyes of this three-meter-tall, humanoid-bodied, gray-skinned individual shone as he accompanied the three of them to the local port.

Soon they would arrive at the pier where a large blue ship was parked, with a decorated bridge connecting it to the pier and several men dressed in similar clothes waiting in front of its entrance.

“Senior Minos, sorry we’re late… Fortunately, we finished in time for your group to leave,” said the main builder of the 34-meter-long and 10-meter-wide ship.

The blue metal construction also had a height above the water level of 14 meters, with a modern construction model, with lots of glass decorating the upper cabins.

But what was really striking about the ship were its weapons, its defensive shields, where powerful formations were positioned.

After a greeting from Minos’ group to the shipyard staff behind the ship’s construction, the main builder presented the ship and its systems, taking Minos’ group inside.

“Senior Minos, your ship, Ursa, has 22 independent areas, with 7 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 2 kitchens and 5 cultivation and training areas. There’s also the command center and three observation/resource storage areas, weapons, etc.

Its defenses are so strong that even Senior Tiolos could unleash his full power, and nothing on this ship would be damaged. Its cannons can fire laser beams capable of melting the bodies of newly promoted Supremes.

Ursa is not just a ship, it’s a marine weapon,” said the builder with a proud smile plastered on his face.

“Also, its engines can reach a speed of up to 300 kilometers per hour and, when combined with the concealment formations, it can become invisible to enemies up to 5 kilometers away from it, even at its maximum speed.

I don’t want to brag, but this is the most advanced ship on the entire continent. We’ve spared absolutely nothing and everything on it is of the highest quality you can find in Oqia.”

While listening to the presentation, the four walked around the different compartments of the ship, seeing well-organized and furnished resting places, but also feeling the quality of the training and command areas.

Surely this ship could take them a long way on their journey and guarantee them all the protection they had hoped for from the Qilnats who had paid for it.

Diret soon went to the engine room, checking what he could count on for the journey ahead.

As the builder had said, the ship was incredible, and he felt even more confident when he saw and touched some of the equipment.

“This will do. We might cross the Violent Sea with it,” Diret said, satisfied.

Minos smiled when he heard this, shaking one of the builder’s hands and thanking the man for his service.

Looking at Tiolos and Abby, Minos said, “Now that we have everything ready, we can prepare for our departure. Tell the rest of the group, we’re leaving for Uzira in 6 weeks!”