The Unstable Dagger

The battle was over.

If the pirates had previously fought desperately with the will to resist to the bitter end, this sudden and terrifying attack completely shattered their fighting spirit. The battle was quickly over. Apart from a few who fought valiantly and were killed, the rest of the pirates laid down their weapons and surrendered. If they couldn't win, fine; if they couldn't even escape, what was the point of resisting? They might as well save their strength to become prisoners.

"What on earth is going on...?"

Gazing at the wreckage slowly sinking in the distance, Vincent frowned. Unlike the crew, he didn't believe it was a miracle, especially the final strike, which seemed more like the work of a powerful mage than a divine intervention. With that thought, Vincent turned to the direction from which the ball of light had come, observing it carefully, and then gestured to the lookout standing on the high ground.

"Look over there, see what's there!!"

After receiving Vincent's order, the lookout quickly looked in the direction Vincent indicated, and soon his eyes widened in surprise.

"Captain! There's... there's..."

What is it?!

A convoy is approaching!

These words immediately caused another uproar on deck. Had pirates arrived again?

"What kind of flag is that?!"

Vincent frowned. Although he already suspected that they must have rescued him, this was at sea. Moreover, judging from what had just happened, if they were indeed the ones who helped, their strength was definitely beyond his reach. Being rescued by such a fleet, he really didn't know whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Captain, they appear to be legitimate merchant ships."

The lookout breathed a sigh of relief. Although the other party's flag was that of a maritime merchant association he had never seen before, at least they didn't seem like pirates. This also put the sailors, who had just narrowly escaped death, at ease. If another group of pirates had come, who knew what might have happened? Vincent sighed. For some reason, he had a feeling that the visitors were up to no good. Deep down, a strong unease seemed to be warning him. However, at the moment, he had no better way to solve this problem than to silently pray that the other party meant no harm.

Standing at the bow of the deck, Li Lin silently watched the approaching fleet. Just now, Nia had told him the rumors about this Sea-Encircled Country. They were a united country composed of small islands in the sea. Their power was weak and limited; they were originally just sea natives who had fought among themselves over territory and other issues, but eventually, under the leadership of a certain figure, they became a unified nation. Although this nation was still small, their maritime strength was undeniable. They knew where the safe routes were and where the hidden whirlpools were. Every member of their nation was a master seaman, so they wielded considerable influence in the coastal cities.

Shortly after this country was established, the Five-Nation Alliance considered merging them into its fold. After all, they were all landlocked countries, and while they might be willing to develop a navy, the ocean involved too many complexities. Furthermore, two of these countries were completely isolated from the sea; unless sea levels rose and turned their surrounding areas into a vast ocean, these two countries would have no connection to the sea until the end of the world, so they were naturally reluctant to help. Now, with a small country on the sea, they naturally wanted to shift the responsibility onto that country to avoid unnecessary losses for themselves.

The Sea-Encircled Country was initially quite interested in the proposal, but the Five-Nation Alliance was far too aggressive, bordering on bullying. Consequently, the Sea-Encircled Country harbored considerable dissatisfaction with this diplomatic relationship. What had initially been a relatively harmonious relationship gradually became more fraught with tension. The Five-Nation Alliance controlled most of the coastal ports, while the Sea-Encircled Country controlled the sea. Although the two appeared similar, the sea was uninhabitable and far more dangerous than land. Therefore, in these negotiations, the Sea-Encircled Country consistently came out on the defensive.

Nia had previously visited the Sea-Encircled Country during her travels. At that time, subtle voices of discontent had already begun to emerge within the country, and this was something she had prepared for Li Lin.

"If we can win over the Sea-Encircled Country, then we will have an ally who can deliver a fatal blow to them from behind."

This was the key to Nia's persuasion of Li Lin.

Of course, this matter itself is not easy. After all, the Sea-Encircled Country is an island nation composed of several small islands, and it's impossible to sway them without sufficient incentives. Moreover, Li Lin is alone; although his strength is gradually recovering, the most important elements—a nation, territory, and soldiers—are still nonexistent. The Sea-Encircled Country is, after all, a small country, no match for the Five-Nation Alliance in terms of resources and soldiers. How could they be so easily instigated?

However, regardless of what He-Tu-Shu said, the relationship between the Five-Nation Alliance and the Sea-Encircled Country was not good, a fact that Li Lin should take note of.

Of course, Nia informed Li Lin immediately that the people of the Sea-Encircled Country were all native seafarers and did not have a deep relationship with the Five-Nation Alliance.

After all, this is the most important thing to them.

As the fleet drew closer, the two sides began to communicate. The other captain seemed to be a rather intelligent fellow, immediately expressing his gratitude for Li Lin's assistance. Although Li Lin believed that at such a distance, he couldn't possibly see what was happening clearly, the captain had obviously made his own judgment.

After a brief exchange, the two sides finally met.

"Oh..."

Looking at the young man in a long robe standing before him, Captain Vincent opened his mouth wide, unsure of what to say. However, he coughed and gave a warm smile.

"Thank you for your assistance, esteemed mage. Without your help, we would likely have been wiped out by those despicable pirates."

"It's nothing."

Li Lin raised his hand and spoke with a gentle smile.

"Since we're all on the same sea, we should naturally help each other, especially when facing those despicable pirates. We should fight together, shouldn't we?"

"Yes, you're right..."

Vincent spoke, but his expression was somewhat strange. Li Lin naturally understood what he was wondering about. In fact, Vincent had probably already been suspicious since their first meeting. So many merchant ships, all managed by elves, and apart from Li Lin and a few others, there weren't any humans at all? That was too outrageous. Although the Sea-Encircled Country didn't despise elves like the Five-Nation Alliance did, they understood the current status of elves in human society. One or two elven slaves as sailors was one thing, but so many elves as crew members was a bit...

"In fact, I never expected to meet someone like Captain Vincent here."

The portly merchant standing next to Li Lin greeted him with a hearty laugh, displaying an unusually enthusiastic manner, perhaps because he had been cooped up among the elves for too long.

"You must be from the Sea-Encircled Country. Ah, I've long heard that every man there is a powerful seaman. Seeing you today, it's truly well-deserved. To be able to fight so bravely against such ferocious pirates is truly admirable..."

The portly merchant's flattery was quite pleasing. Although he wasn't like Li Lin and couldn't use magic to see the battle, judging from the captain and his sailors' expressions, he could guess the situation pretty accurately. Moreover, both sides knew perfectly well that their victory over the pirates was undoubtedly due to Li Lin's powerful magic. Praising them for defeating the pirates would be somewhat awkward for Captain Vincent. But to say they bravely resisted the enemy... that was a fact, wasn't it?

"Not at all. If anyone should be thanking someone, it's this powerful mage."

As he spoke, Vincent took off his hat, stepped back, and bowed deeply to Li Lin.

"Thank you again for your assistance, powerful mage. To be honest, I didn't have a very good impression of mages before, but now I have to change my foolish and short-sighted perception. Anyway..."

At this point, Vincent raised his head, a hint of probing in his eyes.

"This is the first time I've seen anything like this... Hmm, a unique fleet indeed."

Indeed, if we're talking about uniqueness, it's quite unique. In the previous introduction, the fat merchant stated that he and his caravan belonged to Li Lin, meaning that this mage was the true owner of the caravan and fleet. This was indeed a strange thing. Although everyone on the continent had slightly different opinions about mages, their impressions were generally similar: they lived in tall mage towers, spending their days performing strange, dangerous, and terrifying tricks. When did they start traveling and wandering around like merchants? Aren't mages supposed to be homebodies?

"I've always delegated my responsibilities to my subordinates."

Li Lin spoke up, glancing at the fat merchant at the same time; in fact, he wasn't wrong.

"The reason we went out together was simply to broaden our horizons. Some things can't be understood just by reading about them in books; personal experience is also very important."

"Truly worthy of being a monk; his words are truly extraordinary."

Vincent smiled, clearly accepting Li Lin's explanation. Although his age was disproportionate to the strength he had just displayed, he wouldn't dare to doubt anything now.

"Well then, though it may be presumptuous... I wonder where everyone's destination is? If possible, would you like to travel with us? We may not excel in other areas, but we are confident in our ability to navigate the ocean."

Vincent wasn't wrong. While they might not be as good as Li Lin in combat, they certainly knew more about the sea than these mages and merchants.

Li Lin considered Vincent's suggestion for a moment, and finally, he made up his mind to speak.

"Before we set sail, we heard an interesting rumor."

"Oh... it's just a rumor..."

Vincent was still smiling, but his expression had turned somewhat unpleasant.

"That's right, so we plan to head to that legendary 'Grand Line' and see what's inside."

Upon hearing this, Vincent's expression changed slightly.