Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1450 - 1003: The Scholar’s Nautical Journal—A Review of Four Thousand Li Along the Far North Coast from June to October
"In mid-August, we arrived at Great Whale Island and witnessed the magnificent sight of herds of giant whales! The smaller North Sea whales and killer whales are only half the length of a longship, with peculiar white patterns, like sea spirits. The slightly larger fin whales (humpback whales) and gray whales have wide-spread wings and long protruding mouths, resembling Eagle Warriors of the sea... Chief Divine! The most majestic of all is a kind of large-headed giant whale (sperm whale)! They are much longer than an entire longship, like mountains drifting in the sea, easily capable of capsizing a large ship!... Divine protection! Fortunately, these large-headed whales’ disposition is much gentler than the terrifying giant beasts of myth in the Black Abyss. At most, they accompany the longship out of curiosity for a while, splashing water sky-high, and turning away in boredom..."
"Chief Divine bears witness! So many whales gather around Great Whale Island because this sea is rich with fish! Schools of salmon gather in colorful clusters, bloody red, flashing silver, and pink like willow twigs. I’ve tasted them all, and find the red-meat salmon the most delicious... The large schools of black cod look like gray-black firestone, or like willow trees drooping into the water, wandering in clusters. This black-skinned cod is very flavorful; I can eat two pounds in one sitting... Additionally, there are various lobsters, crabs, and halibut lurking on the seabed, which I love, but they are a bit troublesome to handle..."
"Praise the Chief Divine! The exploration fleet discovered a natural harbor on the east side of Great Whale Island, following the warm currents, with some freshwater streams around. We estimated the voyage distance, finding this port to be about a thousand li from Divine Blood Bay Port... So, after consulting with Zuwaro, we left a longship and fifty samurai-sailors here to establish the Kingdom’s Divine Great Whale Port!..."
The azure sea lay calm and unruffled, yet it connected with the deep Black Abyss, harboring untold mysteries and grandeur. Scholar Mikki closed his eyes and once again saw the wandering whales and heard their long calls. Those powerful giant beasts lurking in the deep sea, possessing myth-like immense power, seemed unmatched by any large ship!
"Although the sea surrounding Great Whale Island is rich, there aren’t many Sugpiaq tribes on the island. I reckon, on these seas teeming with sea beasts, their small canoes are too fragile and easily capsized by those sharks and whales, so they cannot get enough food. In reality, only the fleet’s sturdy longships can fully harvest the bounty of this ocean!..."
"In late August, when we left Divine Great Whale Port, we had recruited only over thirty island tribespeople, leaving about eighty people behind. We didn’t spend time recruiting the island’s scattered tribes further. Zuwaro told me he wanted to reach the reportedly clearer, ever closer western island chains as quickly as possible! So, we took the remaining four longships around the south side of Great Whale Island and continued west along the warm current..."
"Divine protection! Westward past Great Whale Island, across two hundred li of open sea, we returned to a narrow continental coastline. The entire coastline, just as predicted by Your Majesty’s prophecy, turns southwest... In retrospect, seeing the Heavenly God Ancestor Peak of the Great Bay of Thousand Islands is perhaps the farthest north the fleet will reach! As for the rumored vast and stormy cold Far North Snow Plains lying inland behind the coastal mountains, it wasn’t on our westward route and is certainly not a place to easily establish a kingdom settlement!..."
"Praise the Chief Divine! We followed Your Majesty’s prophecy with clear objectives, never needing to doubt our direction, needing only the courage to head west! Sailing with the current is swift indeed, covering two hundred li in a day. Throughout, the high white mountains scattered along the coast served as the best navigational markers!... Along the southwestern coast, I marked three tall smoking volcanoes on the map: the long-expansive ’Divine Changbai Mountain’ (Mt Veniaminof, 2507 meters), the grand ’Divine Great White Mountain’ (Pavlof Volcano, 2518 meters), and the towering ’Divine High White Mountain’ (Shishaldin Volcano, 2858 meters)..."
"Chief Divine bears witness! At the foot of Divine High White Mountain, we encountered the first Unanga tribe and finally learned we had reached the end of the southwestern coast prophesied! Beyond the southwestern coast’s end to the west lies the ’Ancestor Island Chain’ of the Giants as spoken by the Unanga. Indeed, the beginning of the ’Ancestor Island Chain’ is right here... Undoubtedly, this long island chain leading westward is precisely the last island chain leading to the western continent as foretold by Your Majesty’s prophecy!"
"Ahahaha! Praise the Supreme Main God! Praise the revelation of His Majesty! We lit the Sacred Fire under Divine High White Mountain and celebrated with the Unanga tribe we encountered!... I met a strong yet beautiful tribal girl; she easily lifted me, but I am sure to conquer her in another way, making her my wife!"
"Ah, Chief Divine! I confess to you and take back the boastful words I said while drunk... Perhaps I don’t need ’conquest’ to prove anything; spiritual strength surpasses physical, and the light of faith is the true glory... Ahem! I will spread your faith and only need her to convert to the Chief Divine, following the rightful path of belief!"
Seeing this, Scholar Mikki blushed, sneaking a glance at his wife, White Bear Gaowa. Then he closed his eyes, vividly recalling the four-month journey covering four thousand li. After the long reverie, he picked up a charcoal pen and briefly recorded the full picture of the Far North Coast exploration.
"Chief Divine bears witness! In mid to late June, at North latitude 58 degrees, seven longships discovered the prophesied Juneau Great Gold Mine, establishing Divine Jinxi Port... Mid to late July, North latitude 61 degrees, six longships reached Thousand Islands Great Bay, establishing Divine Blood Bay Port... Mid-August, North latitude 58 degrees, five longships reached Great Whale Island, establishing Divine Great Whale Port... Early September, North latitude 55 degrees, four longships reached under Divine Great White Mountain, establishing Divine Land Port, exploring Ancestor Island Chain... Early October, North latitude 52 degrees, three longships reached Divine High Mountain Island, currently establishing Divine Peak Mountain Port..."
"Divine protection! With the aid of the westward current, the exploration fleet traveled over four thousand li westward in four months, heading north and then south along the coast, finally reaching the midpoint of the Ancestor Island Chain! We established five ports on the Far North Coast, spread over a thousand li. Of the seven exploration longships, only three remain... oh no, one longship must stay at Divine Peak Mountain Port, meaning only two longships can continue westward..."
As Scholar Mikki pondered, White Bear Gaowa suddenly stood up. She narrowed her eyes, keenly glanced in the direction of the snow plains, and spoke softly.
"Ong, someone, coming."
"Hmm? Who?"
"Chieftain, coming."
"Uh... Chieftain? Oh, it’s Zuwaro."
Scholar Mikki blinked his eyes, gazing down the small hill. Soon, the figure of Exploration Captain Zuwaro appeared within his sight. As he watched Zuwaro, wrapped in a fur robe, coming closer step by step, he finally smiled and spoke when Zuwaro was just a dozen steps away.
"Blessings of the Chief Divine! Zuwaro, my captain, why are you alone? Quick, wipe the snow off your head..."
"Hmm? Snow?..."
Exploration Captain Zuwaro blinked his eyes, running his hand through his hair, feeling no icy touch. It was only then that Scholar Mikki noticed that, instead of snow, what was on his hair was actually many strands of white hair.
"Zuwaro... your hair, it turned white?..."
"Yes!"
Exploration Captain Zuwaro pursed his lips and walked up to Scholar Mikki with a somber expression.
"Witness of the Chief Divine! Mikki, the longship damaged in the storm has been patched up as best as the sailors could. But the fleet lacks timber, and the repairs are only good enough for it to fish, not for deep-sea navigation... and we need at least one ship to return and report the news to all the ports..."
"Hmm, Zuwaro, you mean to say?..."
Scholar Mikki blinked, quickly understanding the words Zuwaro left unsaid.
"Chief Divine! Are we down to just one ship to continue westward in exploration?"
"I’m afraid so..."
Exploration Captain Zuwaro bit his lip and nodded heavily.
"Blessings of the Chief Divine! There’s still more than a month until the North Sea freezes. The third batch of support from the Kingdom fleet, given how it was when we set out, probably won’t be able to head north until March or April when the ice melts... By the time the supporting fleet arrives here, it’ll likely be August next year at the earliest! And if we miss these one or two months, we’ll have to wait another year! Perhaps... it might be time to throw caution to the wind and take a gamble!..."
"Ah! Witness of the Chief Divine! With the March thaw, we began our exploration. In the warm April, ten support longships arrived. Then, with ten full Kingdom longships, over five hundred samurai sailors, laden with food, salt, and firestone, we set sail northward from 48 degrees latitude, from the Whale Clan of the Maki people!... In the blink of an eye, we’re down to our last ship that can continue westward?... Chief Divine! Could it be that the exploration voyage of our fleet is coming to an end this year?..."
At this thought, Scholar Mikki’s expression became distant as his thoughts wandered. After a while, he couldn’t help but reach out to touch the earliest volumes of this year’s exploration journals. It started in March, with early spring’s harsh snow, and June, the discovery of gold mines, the sudden vibrant life of early summer... That initial stretch of two thousand miles validated the prophecy of the Divine Revelation from Your Majesty, beginning with the Whale Clan of the Maki people, already subdued by the Kingdom~
Note: The four thousand mile exploration of the Far North Coast has been fully detailed in the Easter egg Chapter. There are two or three more Chapters left, to recount in flashback the discovery of the great gold mine along the coast of Juneau. Then, it’s off to the final westward exploration, heading to the Kamchatka Peninsula!
