A flat and spacious stone boat slowly sailed into Clearwater Bay and docked in front of Simbady.
Its size was vastly different from that of the small boats that occasionally appeared in Silver Stream. It was so heavy that it could hardly be rowed by a human. Two metal cylinders stood at the top of the boat, from which white smoke billowed out. The sides of the boat were painted an eye-catching orange-red color. Together with the flat gray deck, it looked like a red trout with its belly turned upside down.
Simbady, like most of his compatriots, had never been out of the desert and rarely seen the sea. Therefore, when he saw such a boat that was obviously not made of wood, he could not help but exclaim in surprise.
There was a sudden commotion in the crowd.
"Crack!"
The Osha watchman immediately cracked his whip on their heads. "Shut your mouths! Now line up and get on the boat. Hurry up! "
Simbady felt the crowd begin to move. People kept pushing and shoving him from behind. He could not stop even if he wanted to. Caught in the middle of the group boarding the ship, he suddenly felt a trace of fear in his heart.
Perhaps he should not have left Silver Stream Oasis and come to this strange land. Although there was a water source here that would never be cut off, the Three Gods could not see such a distant place. If this boat carried them to the Styx Abyss, the Gods would not hear their cries for help.
"Hold on tight. Watch your step. Don't miss anything!" Molly's voice instantly brought him back to reality.
A small hand clasped his hand and guided him to the gangplank. From time to time, people around him were pushed into the water, making splashing sounds.
Although there were people at the dock who would quickly pull them ashore, falling into the river in this weather basically meant that they were disqualified.
Those who fell into the water begged to get on the boat again, but they were answered by the whip.
Simbady and Molly stuck close to each other and followed the crowd to board the stone boat. The moment he stepped on the deck, the expected shaking did not happen. The boat under him did not move at all, as if he were walking on the ground.
When the gangplank was removed, Thuram, the big shot of Osha clan, appeared on the platform in the center of the boat, attracting everyone's attention. "Do you remember what I said before? What the Great Chieftain valued the most was order and discipline! Look at your people who fell into the water. Everyone could have boarded the ship smoothly and got a job. They could have had plenty of food during the Months of Demons. But now they have to wait for their next job with an empty stomach! And all of this was caused by your foolishness! "
"They just fell into the water. You can wait for them to change their clothes —" A Sand Nation was pressed to the ground by two guards before he could finish his sentence. He was then dragged to the side of the boat and thrown into the water.
"Discipline is everything! There is no collective that accommodates individuals, only individuals that obey the collective! " Thuram said sternly. "What's different from the clan competition in the past is that those who were eliminated previously were your potential enemies. But now, those who will be eliminated will be your relatives! Remember this well, this is the first lesson I'm giving you! " He paused for a moment. "Of course, those who lost their jobs today will only starve for a while. In the future, if there are any Sand Nation or tribes who don't obey the rules, they will be driven out of this evergreen land!"
As his voice trailed off, a deep roar came out of the metal cylinder and rolled over the Port of Clearwater.
The huge iron wheels on both sides of the ship began to rotate slowly. The stone ship trembled violently and slowly left the shore, heading for the estuary of the river.
"Thank you. If it weren't for you..." Simbady looked at Mully.
Mully smiled and her eyes curved into slits. "Don't mind me. I just happened to be in front of you."
"Really..." He lowered his head, feeling a little embarrassed.
Mully and he were both members of the Fishbone Clan, so they occasionally talked to each other. Simbady had always liked this girl with long black braids and light brown eyes. However, it was said that she already had a sweetheart, so he did not show his affection to her.
After a moment of silence, he looked at Mully, who was lying on the side of the ship and looking at the scenery on both sides of the river curiously. He could not help asking, "Aren't you worried about the place we're going to?"
She turned around. "The Blackwater Valley?"
"Yes, I heard from other clans that it's close to the Choke Swamp and the Rotten Wasteland. It's a place cursed by the Three Gods. Once you stray into it, you won't be able to come back alive."
"Have they applied to board the ship?"
"Uh, this..."
Mully couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Those people just hope that the fewer people who get this job, the better. That way, their clans can get more pay. You heard Lady Drow Silvermoon say that as long as we do things according to the chief's instructions, not only will our families not have to worry about food and clothing, but the clan will also get resources. "She exhaled a white breath." Besides, do we have any other choice? "
Her last words made Simbady shut his mouth. Indeed, most of the clans who were willing to follow Osha to the Southern Region of Graycastle were small tribes in the Silver Stream Oasis, and the Fishbone Clan was one of them. The oasis they occupied was gradually being swallowed by the desert, and the increasingly dried-up Silver Stream tributary could no longer guarantee the survival of the clan. If they wanted to survive, they had to either join other large clans or venture to the Southern Region.
"On the bright side, at least the chief fulfilled his first promise — now we don't have to worry about starving to death in the desert, right?"
Simbady could not refute this. According to Lady Silvermoon, even those who did not get the job at sea could get the most basic rations — as long as they took on the menial tasks of rebuilding the Southern Region, they would not starve to death.
"Besides, the people of Osha will also go to the Blackwater Valley with us, so you don't have to worry too much." Mully smiled and pointed to the ruins of the port in the distance. "Look over there... the land that our clan got should be near that black tower, right? It'd be great if we could live here forever. "
Simbady looked in the direction she was pointing. The entire Port of Clearwater seemed to have been divided into two halves — one half was burned ruins, with dilapidated houses and charred wooden frames everywhere. The walls and courtyards were crumbling and overgrown with weeds, as if it had been forgotten and deserted. The other half was full of vitality. The Sand Nation's tents were rising and falling, and people were moving around in the camp. Broken houses were being pulled down one by one, and newly peeled wood was being carried into the wasteland.
Mully's smile made Simbady's heart surge with anticipation.
Perhaps when he returned to this place after three months of work, there would be brand-new wooden houses around the black tower.
The rebuilding town slowly receded until the ships began to rise and fall with the waves, and the endless skyline became the only scenery.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
