When the fleet rounded the southernmost tip of that enormous Indian peninsula, as an act of revenge for the pirates’ previous actions, they launched a bombardnt at one of Ah San’s harbors.
Of course, before the bombardnt, they had already used a spell formation to warn the townspeople, telling them that this was a Thainan retaliation against their inability to control their pirates.
From Malin’s ship, he watched as those civilians, dragging along their families as if on a picnic, fled to the beach—yes, instead of escaping the city, they gathered on the beach. Many of them even started preparing food right there.
They simply watched as the fleet turned the entire city upside down with the bombardnt.
"What does this an?" Both Jason and Sostak No.3 remarked that this was far too romanticized.
"The people of this city are already used to it; every ti our Thainan fleet sails past the peninsula’s coastline and encounters pirates, we fire a few rounds here. Then they’ll report to their lord, who will track down the pirates’ base and bring us along to collect debts. The loot from the pirate base is then handed over to their lord as compensation." Mr. ng explained.
Malin had co to understand—if the Thainans directly sent this city’s lord to lead people to attack the pirate base, they’d likely be considered traitors. But by broadcasting that it was to avenge their own people, things took on a completely different tone. His people would thank him, and the neighboring lords wouldn’t feel threatened. After all, if the pirates hadn’t attacked the Thainan fleet first, the Thainans wouldn’t need to randomly attack the coastline.
Many tis, as long as things are cloaked in a reasonable justification, the trajectory of events can change entirely.
Since it was sumr, after the fleet finished its bombardnt, they threw food stored on the supply ship for a while onto the beach for the civilians using small boats.
Then the fleet set sail again. Along the way, the number of fishing boats they encountered increased. By the ti Sostak No.3 announced that the fleet had reached the mouth of the river leading to what was once Hatiya Island, Malin beheld an enormous city—the buildings from the Great Destruction Era intertwined with the current wooden structures. The river mouth was filled with small fishing vessels, and even larger fleets were setting sail—so ships had tal hulls and were larger than any fishing boats Malin had seen before.
"These belong to Mr. Hajji’s fleet. He is the largest leader here, holding a small factory for manufacturing boats. All the vessels you see here were made by him. He is the biggest supplier of fish on the southwestern side of the peninsula and one of our key collaborators." Mr. ng’s customary introductions arrived on cue once again.
The Thainan fleet conducted a brief resupply here, selling so luxury goods from the Western Human World—mostly spirit leather armor and weapons from Dwarf masters. This year, Malin’s workshop also produced rifles for sale.
These items were highly sought after, especially Malin’s rifles. These firearms, capable of hitting targets accurately from 500 paces away, drew many fascinated gazes.
Malin had asked Mr. ng why the Eastern Human World also had firearms, yet—just like the Western Human World—the Hangzhou armory could currently only produce bolt-action rifles similar to those from Malin’s workshop. Within Thainan, lever-action rifles remained the primary standard, while in this region, muzzle-loading firearms were common, and paper cartridge rounds were considered cutting-edge.
Items like these were essentially treasures, which ant the fleet earned a considerable profit. All 200 rifles they had brought were sold to Mr. Hajji, who offered a price that greatly satisfied the fleet’s rchants.
Although auctioning them might have fetched even higher profits, as the most powerful local lord and a close ally of the Thainan people, Mr. Hajji had never let the Thainans down; thus, the Thainans wouldn’t disappoint their allies either.
The fleet continued southward and arrived in Yangon. Once again, Malin witnessed a sprawling tropolis—before the Great Destruction, Yangon had been the largest city in this region. After the Great Destruction, all survivors in the area relied on this city to fight on for three epochs until Chaos subrged everything.
Later on, people rebuilt the city. Now, Yangon hosted Thainan people, survivors who had fled inland during the Great Destruction, and, of course, mostly the younger generation holding out hope for tomorrow.
Upon arriving here, the fleet had entered the traditional sphere of Thainan control, which deeply moved Malin. The Great Destruction had truly changed too much; how could the world of eight millennia ago ever have imagined what it would beco eight millennia later?
ng Quyi claid he would take Malin to see Thainan Union’s southwesternmost city, so while the fleet rested, Malin followed ng Quyi into Yangon City.
In this era, Yangon was a city built upon its network of rivers. The two used water-walking techniques, navigating the waterways and attracting curious gazes.
This was a great tropolis from before the Great Destruction, with many buildings styled from that pre-destruction era. Jason’s intelligence indicated that the city was being developed as a tourist destination; hence, apart from grand hotels with towering structures, most buildings were only three to five stories high.
"When I was very young, my mother took here once. That over there was our ho, now cared for by dostic fairies." ng Quyi led Malin skillfully to a small courtyard and knocked on its door. The automatic door promptly opened, and several dostic fairies—wait, these dostic fairies seed taller. Could they be what the Eastern Human World refers to as small goblins?
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