Chapter 100: The Rebirth of Clearwater Port
A flat and spacious stone boat slowly sailed into Clearwater Bay and docked in front of Xinbadi.
Its size was vastly different from the small boats that occasionally appeared in the Silverstream River, and it was so heavy that it hardly seemed to be propelled by human power. Two metal cylinders stood tall on its top, emitting billowing white smoke, and its sides were painted a striking orange-red. Combined with the flat gray-white deck, it looked like a red trout turned upside down at first glance.
Like most of his compatriots, Xinbadi had never left the desert and rarely seen the sea. Therefore, when he saw such a boat, which was obviously not built of wood, he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
The crowd became a little restless.
"Snap!"
Aosha's overseers immediately cracked their whips over their heads. "Shut your mouths! Get in line to board the ship, and make it quick!"
Xinbadi felt the crowd start to move, and people behind him kept pushing him. He couldn't stop even if he wanted to. Caught in the boarding queue, a trace of fear suddenly arose in his heart.
Perhaps he shouldn't have left the Silverstream Oasis at all to come to this strange land—although there was a never-ending water source here, the Three Gods probably couldn't watch over such a distant place. If this ship carried them to the abyss of the River Styx, the gods wouldn't hear their cries for help.
"Hold on tight to me, watch your step, don't fall!" Muli's voice instantly brought him back to his senses.
A small hand clasped his palm, guiding him onto the gangplank, while people were occasionally pushed into the water beside him, making a "plop, plop" sound.
Although someone on the dock would quickly pull them ashore, falling into the river in this weather basically meant losing the qualification for "work".
Those who fell into the water begged to get back on the ship, but their pleas were met with the crack of whips.
Xinbadi and Muli clung tightly to each other, boarding the stone boat with the crowd. The moment his foot stepped on the deck, the expected shaking didn't occur. The hull beneath him was motionless, as steady as walking on land.
After the gangplank was removed, Tulan, a big figure from the Ao Sha clan, appeared on the high platform in the center of the ship, attracting everyone's attention. "Do you remember what I said before? The Great Chieftain values order and discipline the most! Look at those clansmen who fell into the water—everyone could have boarded the ship smoothly, everyone could have had the opportunity to work, and everyone could have gotten ample food during Evilmoon, but now they have to go hungry until the next job opportunity comes! And all of this is caused by your stupidity!"
"They just fell into the water, you can wait for them to change their clothes and then—" A Sand Folk had just spoken halfway when he was pinned to the ground by two overseers, then dragged to the side of the ship and thrown into the water.
"Discipline is everything! There is no individual superior to the collective, only the individual obeying the collective!" Tulan said sternly. "Unlike the past clan competition, those who were eliminated before were your potential enemies, but those who are eliminated now will be your relatives! Remember this, this is the first lesson I give you!" He paused here. "Of course, those who lose their jobs today will only go hungry for a while. If there are still Sand Folk or tribes who don't know how to obey the order in the future, they will be expelled from this Ever Green Land!"
As his voice fell, a deep鸣响 spurted from the metal cylinders, rolling through the Clearwater Port sky.
The huge iron wheels on both sides of the hull slowly rotated, the stone boat trembled violently, and slowly left the shore, heading towards the estuary of the river.
"Thank you, if it weren't for you just now..." Xinbadi looked at Muli.
The latter smiled, her eyes curving into slits. "Don't mind it, I just happened to be in front of you."
"Is that so..." He lowered his head a little embarrassed.
Muli and he were both members of the Fishbone clan. Usually, the two of them would occasionally exchange a few words. Xinbadi had always had a good impression of this girl with long black braids and light brown eyes, but it was rumored that she already had someone in her heart, so he couldn't express this feeling.
After a moment of silence, he looked at Muli, who was lying on the side of the ship, looking at the scenery on both sides of the bank with a fresh expression, and couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you worried at all about the place we're going to?"
She turned her head. "Blackwater Valley?"
"That's right. I heard people from other clans say that it's close to Strangling Swamp and Infertile Wasteland. It's a place cursed by the Three Gods. Once you enter it, you can't come back alive."
"Then did they apply to board the ship?"
"Uh, this..."
Muli couldn't help but laugh. "Those people just hope that there will be fewer people who get this job, so that their clan can get more rewards. You also heard what Zuoer.Silvermoon said, as long as we do as the Great Chieftain tells us, not only will our family have food and clothing, but our tribe will also get resource subsidies." She breathed out a white breath. "Besides, do we have any other choices?"
The last sentence made Xinbadi shut his mouth. Indeed, most of the clans willing to follow Ao Sha to the Southern Territory of Graycastle first were small tribes that were struggling to survive in the Silverstream Oasis, and Fishbone was one of them. The oasis they occupied was being swallowed by the desert bit by bit, and the increasingly dry Silverstream tributary could no longer guarantee the reproduction of the clan. To survive, they either had to join other large clans or venture to the Southern Territory.
"Think on the bright side, at least the Great Chieftain has fulfilled his first promise—we don't have to worry about starving to death in the desert anymore, do we?"
Xinbadi couldn't refute this sentence. According to what Silvermoon said, even those who didn't manage to get a job at sea could get a basic ration supply—as long as they took on the miscellaneous work of rebuilding the Southern Territory, they wouldn't starve to death.
"Besides, Ao Sha's people will also go to Blackwater Valley with us, so you don't need to worry too much." Muli smiled and pointed to the ruins of the port in the distance. "Look there... the land allocated to our clan should be near that black tower, right? It would be great if we could live here all the time."
Xinbadi looked in the direction she was pointing, and the entire Clearwater Port seemed to be divided into two halves—one half was the ruins of being burned, with broken houses and charred wooden frames everywhere. The courtyards and courtyards were overgrown with weeds, as if they had been forgotten and abandoned. The other half was full of vitality, with the tents of the Sand Folk undulating, and figures shaking everywhere in the camp. Broken houses were being torn down one by one, and newly cut wood was being continuously transported into the wasteland with shouts.
Muli's smile made Xinbadi's heart also surge with a burst of expectation.
Perhaps when he returns here after his three-month work period is over, the vicinity of that tower should also be replaced with brand new wooden houses, right?
The rebuilt town slowly retreated until the ship began to rise and fall with the waves, and the endless skyline became the only scenery.
They entered the sea.