Civilization Chronicles: Rise of the Divine Creator

Despite the night crew of the ship responding promptly to her calls, Allina knew that given their relative positions, it was going to be a challenge for the large warship she was now steering to catch up to the smaller, more agile smuggling craft.

The only solution to this problem was to increase speed, and there was only one way to do that.

”Rowers, to your stations!” Allina ordered.

The river warships of the Rockwell Kingdom used a combination of sail and oar for propulsion.

Most of the time, when they weren’t in a big hurry, the ships would rely entirely on wind-power. Not only was this more efficient, it also ensured that the sailors and soldiers aboard the ships didn’t exhaust themselves.

Of course, this problem could be solved by having a dedicated team of rowers composed of simple labourers or even slaves, but the minimal benefits these additional personnel would add didn’t justify the additional upkeep that would be required.

Still, when a sudden burst of speed was needed, sailors and soldiers breaking out the oars was the best solution, and now was one such a time.

Unfortunately, since they weren’t expecting to run into any kind of combat on this journey, most of the crew had been relieved of duty and allowed to rest in their quarters, leaving only a third of the usual number of soldiers at their posts.

Allina’s shout had woken the rest of the ship by now, and sailors were scrambling to their positions, but it had just passed midnight and much of the ship was dark, so it was going to take some time to get everyone organized.

Realizing this, Allina handed the wheel of the ship back to the sailor on duty and ran back to the bow of the ship, snatching a longbow from one of the crew along the way.

Assuming a shooting stance, Allina channeled Spirit and Soul Qi into her voice and delivered a warning to the fleeing ship, ”This is Commander Crest of the Raging River Legion! Stop now or I will open fire!”

Predictably, the ship didn’t stop.

In fact, Allina’s warning only caused them to speed up, now seemingly desperate to reach the far shore, probably believing that soldiers from the Rockwell Kingdom wouldn’t pursue them into the Darr Kingdom.

It had to be said that these smugglers had some intelligence.

Allina wanted to catch and interrogate them for information, but she wasn’t going to risk an international incident with a hostile kingdom for some as-of-yet unknown gains.

The issue was, at this distance, while Allina had confidence she could hit the other ship, ordinary arrows wouldn’t do much damage.

On the other hand, if she used Firestorm Arrows, there was a risk the other ship would catch on fire or even sink outright, killing everyone and destroying all the possible evidence aboard.

That might solve the issue of this one ship, but from her own experiences and from what Garrison Commander Margaret had told her, Allina knew that smuggling was becoming more and more of a problem.

Without getting to the root of the issue, the situation would only continue to deteriorate, so taking prisoners was a higher priority right now than simply eliminating them.

As she was hesitating about what to do, however, Allina witnessed something completely unexpected.

The smuggling ship ahead, which was still a good 5 or 6 kilometres from the other shore, had actually been lit on fire!

Are they trying to burn their cargo, even if it means cutting off their chances of escaping? Allina was shocked before her gaze hardened.

The more desperate these smugglers were to destroy the evidence, the more Allina was determined to get her hands on it.

No longer worrying about the other ship going up in flames, mainly because it was already on fire, Allina pulled a Firestorm Arrow from her Space Bag and took aim at its mainmast.

Channeling Spirit Qi into the longbow and the Firestorm Arrow, Allina charged up the Spirit Weapon for 5 seconds to fully activate it, then fired, sending a red streak sailing across the night sky.

Through a combination of skill and luck, Allina managed to score a direct hit, blasting away the fleeing ship’s largest sails, crippling its wind propulsion.

Pulling another Firestorm Arrow from her Space Bag, Allina channeled her Spirit Qi again, this time aiming for the exposed port side oars of the smuggling vessel.

5 seconds passed again as Allina charged the arrow before letting it fly.

This time, however, her shot deviated significantly, landing harmlessly in the water nearly 50 metres away from her intended target.

”Tch,” Allina clicked her tongue as she looked down at the cracked longbow.

This wasn’t a Spirit Weapon or even a high-Grade Mortal Weapon, it was just a standard-issue longbow meant for Vein Opening and Core Formation soldiers. Even though Allina had reinforced it as much as possible with her own Spirit Qi, it still couldn’t take the stress of being fired by a Peak-Rank Spirit Initiate.

Worse yet, the cabins and hallways down below were in a state of chaos, so trying to push her way through the crowd to get to her room and retrieve her own bow was basically impossible.

It was a serious mistake on Allina’s part, having left behind her secondary weapon thinking there would be no need for it tonight.

With no other choice, Allina tossed aside the broken longbow and grabbed another from a nearby soldier.

Fortunately, bows were standard equipment for sailors, so there were still several more of these weapons available to her.

Even if she could only get 1 good shot off before breaking a bow, it would be worth it in the end if they could capture the escaping ship.

3 shots and 3 longbows later, Allina had succeeded in crippling the smuggling vessel while the rowers on her own ship had finally managed to fully assemble.

The gap between the two vessels was closing quickly, but the flames on the enemy craft were growing more intense by the second.

”What’s happening?” Sasha, who had finally managed to push her way through the throng of soldiers, arrived at the bow of the ship and asked.

However, upon seeing the burning ship up ahead, and several snapped longbows discarded at Allina’s feet, Sasha had a pretty good idea of what was going on.

Gripping her spear, Sasha frowned and muttered, ”Smugglers again?”

”Seems that way,” Allina, whose gaze was fixed on the burning ship, nodded before frowning, ”But something is different about these smugglers. They’re too desperate and decisive, not like the usual cowards engaged in smuggling. Whatever they’re carrying, it’s precious to the point they would rather destroy it than get caught by us.”

”Isn’t this similar to what happened back at the orphanage?” Sasha mused, finding a lot of parallels between the current situation and the crisis they had just dealt with in Crystal Lake.

”En,” Allina nodded solemnly.

This was becoming a pattern, which indicated there was more going on here than just smuggling.

Allina didn’t much like what that might mean for the future.

If she wasn’t sure the ship was already moving as fast as it could, Allina would have shouted to increase speed again.

A couple minutes passed, and the distance between the ships closed to within 500 metres; but, by now, Allina had determined that they weren’t going to make it.

By the time the warship she was riding maneuvered close enough for ordinary soldiers to board the enemy vessel, the fire would have spread too far, making it too risky to launch such a raid.

Understanding this, Allina pulled her war hammer from her Space Bag and smashed away a section of the gunwale while she said to Sasha, ”Assemble 5 Squads and prepare to receive prisoners.”

”Huh? Me? What are you going to do?” Sasha tried to ask, confused by Allina’s strange actions.

However, instead of answering Sasha’s doubts, Allina dropped her hammer and retreated a good 20 or so paces from the hole she had just made, stripping her armour in the process.

Circulating her Spirit and Martial Qi, Allina dashed forward.

She wouldn’t, Sasha gawked, but before she had a chance to call out and try to stop her, Allina reached the edge of the deck and kicked off hard, rocking the entire ship in the process.

Soaring at least 50 metres through the air, Allina dove head-first into the darkness of the Lorren, sending up a great splash as she entered the water.

The Raging River Legion ship was currently moving at about 20 kph, while Allina could swim for short distances at about 30 kph. In other words, if she swam, she could cut the time it would take her to reach the smugglers in half.

It might not save her more than a minute or two, but that short time might mean the difference between gathering some useful intelligence and capturing a few prisoners, or winding up with nothing.

Sasha was momentarily dumbfounded by Allina’s reckless actions, but she soon shook her head wryly as she couldn’t help thinking to herself that this always calm and composed woman was actually much more like her daredevil grandmother than she appeared.

Pulling herself together, Sasha began shouting orders, ”Adjust heading starboard! Bring us downstream of the enemy ship! Get some more soldiers and Spirit Lamps up here! As well as some rope and nets! We’re going fishing for smugglers!”