An hour later, more than a dozen enormous ships came speeding across the sea from the northwest, a dark mass against the water.
Hogan counted them carefully. There were still thirteen ships in all, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
Although every report he had received along the way said the fleet had encountered no major problems, only seeing all thirteen ships arrive safely with his own eyes could truly put him at ease.
As the fleet began entering the harbor, everyone at Stansome Port sprang into action.
Once the first large cargo mana-powered ship had moored securely at the dock, Nevall led the way down from it. On seeing Hogan and Dicardo, he gave them both a hearty hug.
"Nevall, well done!" Hogan clapped Nevall firmly on the shoulder and praised him loudly. "When you get back this time, the president will definitely give you a special reward."
Nevall laughed. "Rewards don't matter. Just completing the task the president assigned me is enough. Besides, we're more than two months behind schedule. I'll be happy if the president doesn't punish me, never mind reward me."
"Conditions at sea are complicated. There's nothing strange about being unable to follow the original schedule. The president will understand," Dicardo said with a smile from beside them. "But Nevall, who are these people?"
Nevall turned to look in the direction Dicardo was pointing and saw a group of people disembarking from the large cargo mana-powered ship. Their clothes varied widely, and their appearances were distinctly different as well.
"Oh, they're representatives sent by the countries we passed along the way. They heard that our Xinfei Merchant Guild had sent a fleet to explore the northern waters and wanted to come along and have a look. Remembering the president's instructions before we left, I