Late at night, the waves lapped against the shore reefs, and shattered spray dissolved into the salty tang of the sea breeze.
A dozen steps away lay Luyun Fortress's military harbor, an area controlled by the Gray Dwarf Northern Army Fleet. Though it was located in the northern part of the Mensa Plain's West Coast, the Gray Dwarves had already reached an agreement with the tribal orcs. They would build the military harbor here and open a free-trade market atop the cliffs.
Forty Three-Masted Sailboats were docked at the piers. The waves were somewhat rough, and the neatly lined vessels swayed constantly, their masts creaking.
After nightfall, a faint mist rose over the sea surface. Such fog was uncommon in the Mensa Strait...
This was a naturally excellent Safe Harbor. The Gray Dwarves had barely needed to alter it before turning it into a harbor capable of holding forty warships. However, the Northern Army Fleet had brought too many vessels this time. More than thirty Three-Masted Sailboats had been unable to dock at the piers.
Those Three-Masted Sailboats clustered around two enormous warships in the waters near the docks, while large numbers of Gray Dwarf warriors moved about on deck.
From the deck, they could see the terraced Stone Houses built into Luyun Fortress's cliff face. Like fields carved into a mountain valley, the Stone Houses rose layer upon layer along the cliffs. Every level was packed with Gray Dwarves, densely arranged from bottom to top according to the mountain's contours.
Several Gray Dwarves on deck looked over the pitch-black seawater, reeled in the fishing hooks at the bow, and muttered among themselves:
"Damn it all, they're drinking and eating meat in Stone Houses while we're left aboard to dry salted fish. Why? Because his beard is three centimeters longer