Chapter 232: Return Voyage

The sudden request from Queen Gale and Mia gave Wu Qingsong a bit of a headache. In his plans, Gale Island already had a place, and he hoped to maintain good relations with these indigenous people.

To say nothing of the fact that when he began to spread his newly created religion among the penguins, it would be very difficult to do so without Queen Gale’s tacit approval.

However, taking Mia to the mainland posed significant problems. Bird people had been absent from this world for a long time, and if she were seen, it would undoubtedly attract great attention, which wouldn’t be good for keeping Gale Island hidden. While Ram’s ability could hide Mia’s presence, she couldn’t spend all her time just doing that.

“For your safety, I can’t do this,” he said, using this reason to refuse Queen Gale’s request. “But I will certainly return within six months at the latest. If the situation in Orgrimmar has improved by then, I will take Mia to see the mainland?”

“We were being presumptuous.” 

This reason was reasonable, and Queen Gale could only accept it. However, she then handed him a wooden tablet. 

“In that case, please accept this. I heard from Miss Ram that you are training talented children. This is a method passed down from our Gale Clan ancestors for training spiritual power. I originally hoped Mia could help you, but since she can’t go now, this will have to suffice.”

This was a genuine surprise. Dark Moon probably had something similar, but Wu Qingsong had never thought about asking them for it. Queen Gale’s gift was like a timely rain for them.

“Thank you!” he said sincerely. “Thank you so much.”

The wooden tablet was inscribed with text they couldn’t understand, so Mia had to step in as a teacher to explain the contents to them.

This delayed their departure by a few more days, but the method wasn’t overly complex or powerful. Although Wu Qingsong hadn’t fully grasped it yet, both Ram and Ling had already learned it.

“It seems to work!” Ram said excitedly after a few attempts. She noticed a slight improvement in her mental strength.

This completely put Wu Qingsong’s mind at ease because he had been worried that the differences in physical structure between beastmen and bird people might make these techniques unusable.

Ling didn’t say much but instead seized every opportunity to train.

It was easy to imagine that her future life would become even more monotonous, revolving around following Wu Qingsong, practicing her abilities, training her mental strength, or perhaps doing both at the same time.

“Meow~ I don’t feel any different,” Liuli said, scratching the fur on her head in frustration.

“You should just go catch some fish,” Wu Qingsong said, shaking his head.

***

The day of departure finally arrived. It was a sunny day, and nearly all the bird people came to see them off. For them, especially the penguin people, Wu Qingsong was practically a savior. Unlike the farsighted harpy mages, the penguin people couldn’t comprehend the possibility of the fish people returning. To them, Wu Qingsong had almost single-handedly driven away the sea creatures that had threatened their lives for generations, allowing them to fish freely in these waters. They no longer had to fear hunger, live in constant anxiety, or say goodbye to their families each time they entered the water. Such a favor was something they would remember for a lifetime.

Wu Qingsong couldn’t understand their words, but he could feel the emotions they were expressing, giving him an indescribable feeling.

For a moment, he even considered bringing all his loved ones to this island to live safely and happily, forgetting about the struggle against the elves.

But such a defeatist and unambitious thought was quickly banished from his mind.

“I will be back soon,” he said to the people.

From a distance, he saw Captain Aifre and the others standing on the rocks. He couldn’t see their expressions clearly, but he was sure they weren’t feeling great.

Meanwhile, Chiyue had clearly taken the time to dress up. She stood on the dock in a pitiful posture, saying nothing but looking at them with a sorrowful expression, ensuring they noticed her.

Both Ling and Ram felt a pang of sympathy, but they didn’t dare ask Wu Qingsong to take her along.

She must have finally figured out that the only way to deal with someone like Wu Qingsong was with a gentle approach rather than a hard one, but it was already too late. If she had used such tactics earlier, she might not have been left on the island.

“We’ll see what she thinks next time we come,” Wu Qingsong said.

Seven or eight giant octopus corpses began pushing the Black Pearl out of the makeshift dock, slowly sliding it into the sea. Once the entire ship was in the water, they started towing it into the deep sea under Wu Qingsong’s command. People might find it strange or even frightening to see a ship without masts or sails speeding across the sea, but for Wu Qingsong, this was the most convenient and fastest method.

Queen Gale and her ministers stayed on the ship, chatting with Wu Qingsong and his companions. After the ship had traveled several miles northwest, they took flight and left. A few of the best fliers among the harpies stayed on board to act as lookouts.

The harpy mages’ flying ability was limited, but the harpies could glide hundreds of miles with the help of the wind. Once Wu Qingsong and his crew found land, these harpies would risk another journey to fly back to Gale Island.

The journey was uneventful. With the harpies’ help, Wu Qingsong and his crew could avoid reefs and strong currents and even detect distant storms and change their course accordingly.

After all, the view from the mast’s height was completely different from the view from a few hundred meters up, and the harpies’ eyesight, especially their farsightedness, far surpassed that of the beastmen.

The Black Pearl, dragged by the undead sea creatures, was able to maintain a speed of about seventeen to eighteen knots. This speed was actually close to what it had achieved under Eddie’s command. After all, the wind couldn’t always be favorable, and the wind speed couldn’t always be ideal.

For a long time, the entire sea was empty except for the lone Black Pearl, until two days later when the harpies signaled to them with a prearranged gesture that they had spotted land to the southwest. However, it was just a few uninhabited islets, and sea tribes occupied the surrounding waters.

Wu Qingsong didn’t attempt to approach but made a note of this location.

These islets were approximately four hundred miles from Gale Island, a considerable distance but not completely unmanageable.

The harpies could easily fly to these islets, and the penguin people should be able to swim there. As for the harpy mages, using a ship to reach these islets could be considered.

As allies, the stronger the Gale Kingdom’s forces, the better it would be for them.

These harpies were also evidently excited because having islands along the way meant they had rest stops for their return journey, reducing the risk significantly.

It turned out that this part of the ocean wasn’t as barren as they had thought. As they continued sailing northwest, more uninhabited islands occupied by fishmen appeared along their route, generally spaced about two hundred miles apart. Perhaps the ancestors of the Gale Kingdom had fled east along these small islands and finally settled on Gale Island?

Six days later, the harpies finally flew down from the sky excitedly to tell them that they had spotted the mainland.