Chapter 564: Wokou Pirates
The towering city wall, nearly 20 meters high, radiated an awe-inspiring majesty under the sunlight.
The grayish-white wall was densely inscribed with mysterious runes and patterns.
Carlos stared at the seamless wall, a trace of shock flickering in his eyes.
The newly built wall of Bay Territory was taller and sturdier than the Blood Fortress currently being reconstructed.
He could vaguely sense that the material used to build the wall was very similar to the paving stones used for roads.
However, the subtle differences within must be one of Bay Territory's secrets.
Inside the nearly 10-meter-long gate passage stood three massive steel gates.
Carlos faintly sensed danger within the passage and carefully examined the clustered construction workers.
Compared to Bay Territory from a few months ago, the changes now made it feel even more unfamiliar.
Passing through the final gate, they saw a busy construction site.
Heavy steel machinery over 20 meters tall stood aligned beside the wall.
Thick steel cables, as wide as a wrist, wrapped around them, transporting one gigantic weapon after another onto the wall.
Just among the weapons Carlos and his group could see, there were large dwarven cannons, gigantic crossbows, and massive catapults.
Aside from these steel and mechanical weapons—
Carlos also sharply noticed several steel turrets engraved with dense magical runes.
These were weapons he had never seen before. Could they be new inventions from Bay Territory?
The members of the Yao Moon Family stared at the ongoing construction of the wall, their eyes gleaming with disbelief.
Contrary to expectations of a sea of human workers, most of the labor was being done by engineering golems.
Under the supervision of the workers, the engineering golems methodically transported various materials, built structures atop the walls, and delivered large amounts of still-liquid magical cement.
Any physically demanding tasks that used to require human workers were now largely performed by corresponding engineering golems.
More than a dozen types of different engineering golems coordinated in perfect order, executing scheduled tasks at speeds dozens of times faster than normal manpower.
They could clearly perceive that many of the construction workers were Professionals, with a few even being spellcasters.
To the members of the Yao Moon Family, this was truly baffling.
Professionals building city walls?
Spellcasters doing "manual labor"?
Why was Bay Territory so strange?
Before arriving in Bay Territory, Carlos hadn't explained much about it to them.
He had only vaguely mentioned that Bay Territory's army was very powerful and that they were committed to cultivating Professionals.
To the Yao Moon Family, Bay Territory sounded like a war-hungry military camp constantly absorbing people and turning them into soldiers.
Yet everything they'd seen along the way, like the construction site before them, had left them more than a little shocked.
A member of the Yao Moon Family couldn't help but ask, "Does Bay Territory have a good relationship with Grand Arcanist Cronorman?"
Carlos didn't respond directly, but he noticed everyone was looking at him.
He understood his compatriots' thoughts well, but for the sake of smooth future cooperation, he explained in detail:
"Lord Matthew is a student of Grand Arcanist Cronorman. The latter does have some cooperation with Bay Territory."
Seeing the "ah, that explains it" expression on their faces, Carlos reminded them carefully:
"However, Bay Territory's development mainly relies on their own efforts. You'll understand once you stay for a while."
"Our cooperation talks will take quite some time. Feel free to look around and get a real feel for the uniqueness of Bay Territory."
Carlos understood the urgency of matters in the New World, but he valued the relationship with Bay Territory more.
Though their actual contact hadn't been long, he had observed Bay Territory's rapid development closely.
In fact, Carlos had some of his own "investments" in Bay Territory, hoping to catch a ride on their fast track to growth—which turned out quite satisfactory.
Leaving behind the massive wall, they saw an even larger construction site.
Rows of spacious tall buildings rose from the ground.
Considerable space was left between each building.
In between, various flowers, plants, and trees were planted, giving everything a sense of order.
"These are the rental units prepared for adventurers—both singles and suites."
"If you don't want to join Bay Territory, you'll have to pay rent."
"After all, Bay Territory doesn't allow people to sleep on the streets or in sewers."
"What if someone doesn't have money? That's easy to answer."
"You apply directly with Bay Territory. The Adventurer's Guild and staff will assign you a job. Usually, a training fee is required in such cases."
"For new adventurers like you just arriving in Bay Territory, I recommend starting with clearing out the fishmen along the river."
"Then, you can head to the outer parts of the Dark Forest for gathering and kobold capture tasks..."
An elderly adventurer was introducing all this to a group of curious and inexperienced young adventurers.
One hand on the steering wheel, he controlled a magic-powered sightseeing vehicle as it slowly rolled past the Yao Moon Family.
Judging by the direction, he was probably heading for the Silvermoon River or the outer camp of the Dark Forest.
Shuyou closely observed the magic-powered sightseeing vehicle.
Its all-metal exterior didn't appear especially bulky.
When it moved forward, there was no loud rumbling of steam engines—only waves of magical energy pulsing outward. Clearly another magical creation.
With so many golems and magical constructs, Shuyou did a quick mental calculation of the mana consumption—and came up with a terrifying figure.
Even a mage tower's energy supply probably wouldn't be able to support this much consumption!
While she was deep in thought, her companion suddenly exclaimed beside her.
"Is that a church? No way!"
"That church is huge! Isn't that a bit too much?"
"What are they doing there?"
"Over a thousand priests? That's impossible!"
Following their line of sight, Shuyou saw a massive cathedral over 20 meters tall.
The cathedral had a simple elegance with an Eastern flair, and the eaves were carved with the emblem of the Goddess of Magic.
Its entire body shone with a deep azure color, symbolizing arcane mystery and the depth of the Weave.
Under the sunlight, dazzling halos shimmered around the cathedral.
Compared to other churches of the Goddess, it was less mysterious and more radiant.
Feeling the holy power surrounding the cathedral, a flicker of surprise and doubt passed through her black eyes.
Not even the Mother Earth Cathedral of Yao Moon City shone this brightly.
Could this cathedral be under the "gaze" of the Goddess of Magic and become a site of divine manifestation?
In the plaza before the cathedral, the goddess's statue sat atop a square platform, the four sides of which were inscribed with the Church's doctrines.
If one looked closely, faint whispers could be heard near the ears—only to vanish as soon as one tried to listen.
In front of the statue, over a thousand robed priests chanted the teachings of the Goddess of Magic aloud.
A soft golden glow drifted among them, delivering a visual shock.
After a while, the members of the Yao Moon Family finally snapped out of it.
They kept discussing the scene they had just witnessed, making more speculations about Bay Territory's incredible development.
But soon, their attention was drawn by a mass of figures in training.
On a massive training ground, over ten thousand figures in training uniforms were sweating under the guidance of their respective instructors.
Shuyou quickly noticed that these trainees were all ordinary people, and the training content was all basic combat movements.
The others asked Carlos the question that had been on her mind.
"Is this Bay Territory's army? It really does look impressive."
"Probably not the army, right? Maybe newly recruited militia."
"They're not that strong, but their attitude is extremely serious."
"These troops selected by Bay Territory are quite good. How many soldiers does Bay Territory have in total?"
Hearing these questions, Carlos couldn't help but laugh and shake his head. Recalling the new recruits of the Eighth Legion, he looked at the trainees with envy and said:
"They're not militia—just ordinary citizens who participate in weekend Professional training. Bay Territory trains them for free."
This left the rest of the Yao Moon Family speechless.
These trainees, whose discipline was no worse than Yao Moon Family soldiers, weren't even militia?
Didn't that mean Bay Territory provided free Professional training to all its citizens?
So much money, so many resources—was Bay Territory insane?
Just as they struggled to believe it, a patrol squad of a hundred marched in formation toward their vehicle convoy.
Shimmering silver armor, perfectly synchronized strides, and an overwhelming aura of power and discipline.
It deeply moved everyone in the entire Yao Moon Family convoy.
Carlos patted his horse and stepped forward to greet Old John with a smile. After receiving the stationing letter, he returned to the convoy.
Pointing at the gradually departing, mighty figures of the patrol team, Carlos said to the others, who were still stunned:
"See that? Those are Bay Territory's soldiers. Each one is elite, and together, they're absolutely unstoppable."
Before the others could even recover from the shock—
Carlos, who was leading the convoy into the newly built warehouse district, saw something that shocked even him.
Ten five-masted large ships lay quietly docked at the expanded harbor.
Busy heavy machinery kept hoisting items onto the ships.
One elongated cannon after another.
One super-heavy crossbow after another.
One oversized container after another.
One small canvas boat after another.
Watching the ever-improving fleet, Carlos couldn't help but wonder inwardly.
"Has Bay Territory already figured out our intentions? Or are they planning to expand along the coast themselves?"
This thought didn't fade with time.
On the contrary, as the ships grew more complete, the thought gripped his heart more tightly.
Carlos didn't delay further. He spent a little money to entrust the merchant convoy to the warehouse district, then headed straight to the Lord's Estate with several core members.
Along the way, they saw dozens, even hundreds, of construction teams at work.
Buildings blending Eastern elegance and Western features—pavilions, towers, villas, and courtyards—lined the streets.
What caught the interest of the Yao Moon Family most was a large building in the center of one residential area.
This building had six floors, each adorned with corresponding signs and advertisements.
There were also holographic displays showing food, clothing, weapons, training facilities, and extremely flashy posters.
Clicking his tongue slightly, Carlos asked Old John beside him:
"With all these new buildings, how much has Bay Territory's population grown?"
"It's already at 3 million. The monthly growth rate is estimated at 450,000."
Recalling the recent chaotic period, Old John smiled bitterly and shook his head, though his eyes brimmed with joy and pride.
Staring at a poster showing a heavy-armored Warrior swinging an axe to decapitate a Wyvern, Shuyou curiously asked:
"Is that promoting someone's heroic feat? Did he really kill a Wyvern?"
Hearing her question, the others from the Yao Moon Family withdrew their eyes from the dazzling array of shop goods.
Remembering the devastation wrought by the Dragon Frenzy in their own territory, they were extremely curious why Bay Territory remained unaffected.
Killing a Wyvern was no simple feat!
As a high-level magical creature, they were already incredibly powerful.
On top of that, the dragon bloodline and the boost from the Star-Slaying Dragon Frenzy greatly amplified their strength.
Some Wyverns had already surpassed the advanced tier and broken through to the Extraordinary level.
Just a month ago, the Yao Moon Family was attacked by seven or eight Extraordinary Wyverns.
Lacking proper preparation, the assault caused tens of thousands of casualties.
Without deploying Legendary-tier combat power—
They had to spend more than two weeks probing and searching for weaknesses.
Only after sacrificing hundreds of elite soldiers did they manage to slay those Extraordinary Wyverns and disperse the minor Dragon Disaster.
Naturally, they were very interested in Bay Territory's high-end combat power.
To their surprise, Old John smiled and enthusiastically recommended:
"Ha, that's a film shot by our territory's film company about fighting the Dragon Frenzy."
"The soldier on the poster is a symbol of the many soldiers in Bay Territory."
"As for those who actually killed Wyverns—currently, Bay Territory has over 1,000 Warriors who've slain more than 15 Extraordinary Wyverns. 12 of those were slain by soldiers from Bay Territory's army."
"The film is played 48 times daily in every community cinema at the local rest centers, so people on different shifts can watch it."
"If you're interested, you can also visit the Movie Plaza for a better viewing experience. It's always packed with people."
A movie?
A film company?
These novel terms piqued the curiosity of the Yao Moon Family.
Looking again at the finely crafted posters, they suddenly felt an urge to watch it.
Carlos was intrigued as well, but with more important matters at hand, he hastily proceeded toward the Lord's Estate.