On the Canal, white sails fluttered and boats streamed back and forth. The Azure Treasure Ship cleaved through the waves, smashing the oncoming spray into foaming droplets and leaving one cargo ship after another in its wake.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Ta Ta Kai sat in the lookout post, his brown fur streaming in the wind as he curiously fiddled with the monocular in his paws. He wiped the lens with a furry claw, then aimed it at the mast and knocked it about, suspecting it was some sort of fragile weapon ill-suited to his claws.
This was a new gadget from the Southern Zhili Treasure Ship. The crew aboard had been kind enough to give him an outdated old version.
After tinkering with it for quite some time,
Ta Ta Kai caught sight of a crewman climbing into the lookout post opposite him from the corner of his eye. The man pulled out the tube and held it to his eye. After a moment's thought, Ta Ta Kai copied him, pulling out the tube and raising it before his own eyes.
Woo! His pupils dilated.
Behind the monocular, his furry mouth fell wide open.
He wiped the glass with the back of his paw and aimed the gleaming tube at the sky, at the great river, at the sun... Mm, a little dazzling. After sweeping it around, the tube settled upon the prow, where an enlarged Heavenly God was half sprawled over the rail.
"What a grand spectacle!"
Liang Qu pressed against the rail, the river wind blowing over him as he leaned out to look back at the ranks of soldiers behind and to his left.
When escorting treasure, quality mattered more than quantity.
There were only five ships in total. Four were arranged in a diamond formation, guarding