"There are truly many mysterious and unknown things in this world..."
Byron Kirk sat in the office of the Port Military Managent, unable to help but remark.
Outside the window, the sound of waves from the distant sea rose and fell, while the cries of seabirds occasionally swept over the port area. The slanted sunlight spread into the vast buildings of Northport from the broad sea surface, casting distinct shadows between the new ramps, houses, towers, and walls. A squad of soldiers marched in neat formation toward the watchtower for a shift change, and farther away, magic-guided vehicles laden with supplies rolled over the newly paved concrete road. rchants responding to the recruitnt lined up at the checkpoint to wait for passage, and the noise of engineering machinery roared from a further distance—that was the direction of Pier No.2 Connection Bridge.
A gentle warm breeze blew through the office of the managent, where two visiting representatives sat on the backed chairs beside the desk. One was a beautiful woman with dium-length blue hair, wearing a dark blue gown of unknown material, with a golden pendant on her forehead. She was attentively examining several crystal vessels placed on the table. The other was a woman almost entirely covered in scales and tough skin, seemingly a fusion of humans and so deep-sea creature—she was particularly eye-catching. Her lower body was a bizarre mix of water snake and fish, posed awkwardly on the chair, with an extra half of her tail unsure of where to place itself, constantly twitching awkwardly. Her upper body, though distinctly feminine, bore features of deep-sea creatures.
Byron couldn’t help but let his gaze settle again on the ’Naga’ and explained, "Sorry, Lady Helen, I an no offense—but it’s indeed my first ti seeing a Naga in person."
"Everyone should be seeing a ’Naga’ for the first ti," said the awkwardly seated female Naga with a smile, seemingly unconcerned, "After all, we only recently... were reborn."
"Your crystal processing technology is different from before," said the blue-haired woman, seemingly unconcerned with the conversation between Byron and Helen. She curiously picked up the cup on the table and swirled it, "I rember the last ti I saw man-made white crystals from the land, they were filled with impurities and bubbles, and could only be crushed and used as base materials for magic symbols..."
"Uh... artisanal and vessel-grade white crystals have been around for many years..." Byron didn’t mind the sea demon lady’s interruption, only showing a hint of puzzlent, "Lady Viola, may I ask when exactly was the ’last ti’ you ntioned?"
"... I don’t quite rember; I’m not very attentive to things outside the technical field, but I vaguely recall that you humans were still trying to break through the nearshore blockade line..." Viola, the blue-haired sea demon, thought for a mont and nodded seriously, "Well, now you’re still trying to break through the nearshore blockade line, so it can’t have been very long."
Byron was stunned for a mont before he realized how her tiline had jumped. He was instantly dumbfounded: "What you’re talking about must be the Age of Sailing seven hundred years ago... It’s already been seven centuries, Lady Viola!"
The blue-haired sea demon spread her hands: "See, I said it wasn’t long ago."
Even Byron, who prided himself on his eloquence and quick wit, didn’t know how to respond to such a topic at this mont. It was Naga Helen who broke the awkwardness: "The ti perception of sea demons is very different from that of humans, and even among sea demons, Lady Viola’s ti perception is quite... formidable. I ask for your understanding on this."
"Oh, oh... Of course, of course, in fact, I also know so long-lived races, so I can understand the differences in ti perception between you and humans," Byron was taken aback for a mont before nodding and speaking, then he stood up with a smile and opened his arms in a welcoming gesture to the two visitors from afar, "In any case, many thanks to Aeo for the technical assistance to the Cecil Clan. Your technical team is crucial to Northport. We are currently at a critical phase of the entire project—are you interested in visiting the shipyard with ? The rest of the technical team should already be there."
Naga Helen jumped down from the chair imdiately, a faint smile appearing on her alien-like face: "Of course, that’s what we’re here for."
...
On the east side of Northport, near the newly built shipyard in Shelter Bay, the roaring of machinery never ceased as the intense and busy construction work gradually reached its final stages.
A new ship, primarily made of steel, lay quietly in the dry dock. A large number of supporting structures on both sides of the hull kept it stable. Along the scaffolding distributed over the hull and frawork, technical workers were inspecting various critical structures of the new ship and ensuring the crucial power spine had been installed in place. Welding flashes continuously lit up in the few open sections of the hull not yet sealed, where builders were closing off various chanical structures and critical compartnts.
On the ground at the end of the dock stood a platform raised several ters high. Technical personnel responsible for shipbuilding and so special "guests" were gathered there.
Among them were so humans dressed in Cecil Navy or technician uniforms; the rest were beautiful won and "Naga" with distinct deep-sea creature characteristics. These individuals collectively focused on the construction progress on the nearby ship platform, so pointing at various parts of the ship, while others held blueprints, explaining the contents to those around them.
Clearly, their "collaboration" had just begun, and there was still a very palpable unfamiliarity between them. Human technical personnel couldn’t help but cast curious glances at the sea demons and Naga, while the latter were always curious about other magic-conducting machinery in the shipbuilding facility. They alternated between discussion and idle chat, but overall, the atmosphere was harmonious.
A magic-guided vehicle stopped near the platform, and Byron, Viola, and Helen got off. Helen was still curiously looking at the "peculiar vehicle" she had just ridden in, while Viola had already focused her attention on the ship platform. Byron glanced at the nearby platform, sweeping his gaze over the sea demons and Naga who had already mingled with his technical staff, unable to help but mutter to himself, "The atmosphere looks pretty good..."
In fact, these technical personnel had only arrived in Northport yesterday—they had suddenly erged from the nearby sea surface, giving the patrol personnel on the beach quite a scare. And after a hurried welcoming ceremony, these far-flung "technical experts" imdiately went into work mode.
They arrived earlier than anyone expected, fortunately, information regarding the Naga and sea demons had reached Byron weeks ago, and extensive intelligence about them had been conveyed to the main personnel of the port facilities through conference audio and video materials over the past few weeks. This way, these brisk "deep-sea visitors" didn’t cause any chaos in Northport.
This special "deep-sea expert group" was led by the sea demon "Viola." This beautiful lady with blue hair claid to be a "Deep Sea Witch"—according to the sea demons, this seed to be a title for a technical position. Besides Viola, there were also two primary Naga assistants, one of whom was Helen, while the other was a male Naga nicknad "Philosopher"—that Naga hadn’t appeared in the managent office, but had followed other sea demons and Naga to the shipyard early in the morning. He stood on the platform not far away now, but Byron couldn’t discern his appearance among the Naga and couldn’t tell which one he was.
"This is the ship you built..." Viola’s eyes slowly moved across the slipway, the large vessel with the tallic shell reflected in her beautiful eyes. She looked at the streamlined hull, the Magic Energy Wingboards installed on both sides of the ship, and certain structures on the deck, nodding slightly, "The ships made by land dwellers are quite different from our modes of transportation, but at least it looks reasonable."
"There’s nothing wrong with the external structure," Naga Helen also nodded, "However... we didn’t expect you to have progressed to this point already. I assud you’d wait until we arrived before truly starting the construction of the new ship."
"When Northport started construction, no one could say for sure when you would arrive, and we couldn’t possibly halt everything just waiting for the technical team of others," Byron said with a smile, "Besides, we have shipbuilding experience on inland rivers. Though these experiences may not necessarily apply at sea, it is more than enough to build an experintal coastal sample ship — for us, not only to get all Northport facilities up and running as soon as possible but also to accumulate valuable experience."
Byron spoke honestly, but there were still so words left unsaid — the fact was that even before the sea demons’ technical team set out, Gawain had discussed the construction of sea vessels with him. There was one principle both of them adhered to: whether or not third-party technical experts arrive, and when they do, the Cecil Clan’s own research and construction projects should proceed according to plan. Even if this results in so resource wastage, from the perspective of laying solid foundations and mastering technology to accumulate experience, it is all worthwhile.
After all, outsiders are still outsiders. Good as technical experts may be, they are not one’s own. It’s certainly good to foster relations with more allies, but relying entirely on others’ technical experts for major projects is particularly unwise.
Byron wondered if the "Deep Sea Witch" beside him and the "Naga" who was once one of the Sons of the Storm could think of these insights, but he didn’t really care. He simply looked proudly at the beautiful Steelclad Ship on the slipway, a smile on his face, "It’s a beautiful ship, isn’t it?"
"Does it have a na?" Helen looked at Byron, her ocher vertical pupils filled with curiosity.
"...In fact, I initially wanted to na it ’Pea’, but the King disagreed, and my daughter nagged about it for half an hour," Byron shrugged, "Now its official na is ’Curiosity’. I think this fits its role well — it will be a symbol of humanity’s renewed exploration of the ocean after the end of the Classical Sailing Era. We will use it to reopen the coastal routes of the northwest continent and attempt to explore the boundary between the open sea and the coastal waters."
"Curiosity... is indeed a good na," Helen blinked, her long tail covered in scales sweeping over the ground, creating a rustling sound, "Curiosity..."
The tone of this Naga seed complex. Perhaps she thought of the courage and exploratory spirit humans showed when first venturing into the sea, or perhaps she thought of the brief glory of the Church of Storms during the Classical Sailing Era, or maybe she thought of the regret over Storm Clerics falling into darkness and humans staying away from the ocean for hundreds of years afterwards... However, the scales on her cheeks and the body she hadn’t fully mastered prevented her from making the rich facial expressions she could when she was human, so eventually, all her reflections ended in a sigh.
...
On the platform at the end of the dry dock, a tall male Naga with deep-set eyes and pale blue scales covering his skin withdrew his gaze from the sea at the end of the dock.
A Naga companion next to him joked, "Philosopher, are you about to compose poetry again? You’ve had that contemplative look all day."
"I’m rely considering what parts of ’Curiosity’ need improvent and can still be altered in ti," the male Naga with deep-set eyes and tall stature glanced at his companion, "The techniques used in this ship are quite unfamiliar to us. Back when the Church of Storms built ships, they relied on magic, manpower, and sails for propulsion, while ’Curiosity’ primarily uses magic-conducting machinery for motivation... Different power systems an drastically different ship structures and characteristics during navigation. These are essential considerations."
"That’s true," said a deep water technician sea demon, nodding, "Although we’re here to provide technical support, we also need to study human’s Mage Guide Technology to understand exactly how to support them..."
"Human’s..." muttered the Naga technician known as "Philosopher" softly upon hearing this term, but he soon shook his head, "Yet no matter how things change, natural laws remain constant, and the fundantal principles of ship navigation won’t change much."
His statent quickly gained the approval of the attending technical personnel. These individuals, from different species and groups, even with vastly different perspectives on the world, gathered once more to study the blueprints of "Curiosity."
Standing not far from the platform, Byron observed the movents of the technical personnel on the platform. As a Transcendent, he could hear their discussions — matters purely technical, which this "Marshal of the Navy" didn’t really understand, but he clearly grasped the non-technical aspects.
Regarding ocean exploration, the people from the Typhon Empire indeed took an earlier step. They started sooner, have a richer foundation, possess superior coastlines and natural harbors, and have a unique natural island chain between near and distant seas ideally suited for building a Forward Base. Their advantages are substantial, hard to ignore.
But the Cecil Clan will confidently catch up.
The Cecil Clan understands Magic Guide Technology, the Naga who was once a Son of the Storm knows shipbuilding, and the sea demons understand the ocean.
Now, these three entities have co together.
This is the Cecil Clan’s advantage in this field.
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