Chapter 80: The First Day at Sea

At noon that day, following a brief ceremony to honor the gods, the Sea Windmill slowly departed the dock under the guidance of the lead ship. Crowds of elegantly dressed men and women gathered at the pier to bid farewell to the Sea Windmill; all were shareholders in the three great whaling companies of Dunkirk. Whenever a whaling vessel set out, throngs of shareholders would come to pray for the ship's luck, hoping for a bountiful haul.

The Monoceros Mad Whale was a high-level magical beast whose entire body was valuable. The three-meter-long horn atop its head was a weapon material coveted by all master smiths; each horn could be forged into a legendary weapon, its worth beyond measure in gold. The hide of the mad whale was a supreme material for soft armor; owning a fitted soft armor made from its hide was akin to having several extra lives. Once inscribed with protective enchantments, whale-hide armor provided formidable resistance to both physical and magical damage, making it a coveted lifeline for every cowardly noble and official across the land.

The flesh of the mad whale was not only delectable but also enhanced one’s strength and fighting spirit. Every mad whale hunted was purchased at great expense by the empire’s logistics department. Certain elite, secret units of the empire subsisted on mad whale meat, which contributed to the exceptional abilities of their soldiers. Every military in the continent longed for their elite units to dine routinely on mad whale meat, but only the Gaul Empire and the Vias Commercial Federation possessed the means to do so.

As for the blood of the mad whale, it was the finest neutralizing agent for secret medicines, essential in many advanced concoctions. Oils extracted from its organs had miraculous effects: restoring vigor in elderly men, banishing wrinkles and returning youth to aged women, and serving as indispensable fuel and materials for magical smiths. Even its bones held great value—pure white and delicate, preferred over the finest ivory by nobles and dignitaries. Whale bones were several times larger than ivory, perfect for crafting oversized art pieces, each worth a king’s ransom.

The whale’s eyes and magic core were even more precious, regulated by the empire and unavailable for private trade. The massive magic core of the mad whale was essential as the energy center for certain large-scale magical battle arrays; its eyes were extraordinary magic materials, able to create powerful wands or serve as single-use magical artifacts of astonishing potency.

Thus, every mad whale was worth a fortune and brought immense profits to Dunkirk’s three major whaling companies, fattening the wallets of shareholders large and small. For this reason, each time a whaling vessel set sail, crowds of shareholders came to see it off as though bidding farewell to a beloved elder.

The Sea Windmill was the newest of the twelve whaling ships owned by Dunkirk’s big three companies. Far larger than its counterparts, it stretched a hundred and twenty meters in length, stood as tall as a multi-story building, and boasted a deck over ten meters wide—a true leviathan. The main structure was built from centuries-old timber, with critical sections reinforced by metal, and the hull clad in a thumb-thick layer of steel, etched with small defensive enchantments. Each whaling ship served as an imperial navy warship; in times of war, these specialized vessels would be conscripted into the naval fleet.

Pitch-black from bow to stern, the Sea Windmill resembled a small mountain as it slowly left the harbor. Driven by the immense power generated by its magical arrays, the whaling ship cut into the turbulent northern sea, sailing against the wind. Once the port of Dunkirk faded from sight, Lin Qi and Enzo emerged from their cabin, wrapped in thick bear-fur coats and belted with safety ropes to prevent falling overboard, gazing into the distance from the deck. The gale raised towering waves, and within their view drifted a dozen icebergs slowly heading south. On these icebergs stood unfortunate ice-armored white bears or fat, long-tusked seals.

“These unlucky creatures—once the icebergs reach shore, they’ll quickly become our clothes and our dinner,” Lin Qi waved at the bewildered magical beasts atop the icebergs. “Of course, they might also end up in the arena, just like the ones we bet on the other night.”

Drawing in the biting cold air, Lin Qi’s face lit up with a smile. “We’ve struck it rich, Enzo! We’re wealthy now! Just as my father taught me—playing by the rules never makes you rich! If you want wealth, you must take risks, you must speak with sword and blade! Those two women truly have money; we’ve made it!”

Enzo’s face paled. The Sea Windmill pitched and rolled amid the waves, at times the bow rose thirty degrees, making him feel as though the vessel might capsize at any moment. The wind howled, waves battered the deck, and sky and sea blurred into a white expanse. Enzo could hardly distinguish sky from ocean.

He forced a laugh, fighting nausea. “Lin Qi, why only fifteen days at sea? Are they certain they’ll catch a mad whale within fifteen days?”

Lin Qi shrugged, grinning. “Oh, fifteen days is plenty. They have special methods to lure mad whales in. Besides, each whaling ship is allowed to hunt only a few mad whales per year—fifteen days, two or three mad whales, that’s the limit!”

He laughed with pride. “Any more, and they lose their value, Enzo! Any more, and they’re worthless! To ensure our descendants can still make a living hunting mad whales, Dunkirk’s three big whaling companies supply only twenty to thirty mad whales to the continent each year. The most ever was forty in a year—never more!”

Leaping merrily on the deck, Lin Qi shouted, “I love these big fellows! Hey, have you ever tasted fresh stewed whale whip?”

Enzo turned green, clutching his mouth without replying, his body swaying helplessly with the pitching ship.

Lin Qi, oblivious to Enzo’s discomfort, reminisced with longing, “I haven’t had it either! My father never let me! But that’s the most valuable treasure on a mad whale—even more so than its magic core. I can’t fathom why so many kings and emperors send envoys every year to bid for it. That’s the only thing about mad whales I truly don’t understand!”

With a sudden retch, Enzo vomited, collapsing to his knees on the deck as he emptied his stomach, even spewing yellow-green bile.

“Oh, you rookie!” Lin Qi burst into gleeful laughter at Enzo’s misery. “You’re seasick, you unlucky novice!”

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Off to dinner; will continue writing afterward!
Awooo!