Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1466 - 1018: Arrival, New Continent!
"Chief Divine protect us! Row with all your strength! Sail towards the islands in the East!..."
"Chief Divine protect us! Row with all your strength! Search for Grandmother Island in the Northwest!..."
Exploration Captain Zuwaro’s arms were bulging as he led the rowing. His face showed a mix of steadfast composure and secretly hidden excitement. His venture to the West was partly to fulfill Your Majesty’s Divine Revelation, and partly because he indeed wanted to be the first Divine Revelation Priest to reach the New Continent!
After all, unlike Scholar Mikki, he did not possess such writing prowess to compose epic tales for posterity, nor did he have connections in the Royal Capital Priest Group. As a true commoner priest, he had only his own hands rowing to win a brand new, vast future!
"All your strength! Steady! Hold down!... Hold down the wind and waves, keep the bow steady in the Northwest!..."
Waves rose several meters high, wave after wave, causing the whole longship to shake continuously. Yet, such multiple meter-high waves were already the most suitable season for navigation in this far north sea, the gentlest sign of the storm season!
"Chief Divine protect us! Row towards the Northwest! Hold steady, you must keep the direction steady!..."
The Great Snow Wolf continued to row at full speed towards the Northwest amidst turbulent winds and waves for four or five days. Zuwaro estimated they had rowed at least seven hundred li. However, the anticipated appearance of Grandmother Island never revealed itself in the sea. Moreover, the storm season was drawing closer, and the sea swells grew larger!
"The waves are getting bigger! Everyone listen up, put on waterproof rubber raincoats and wear your straw hats! In such weather, if drenched by the tide, it could lead to sickness and death!..."
Exploration Captain Zuwaro was somewhat anxious, but his face showed no sign of it. He patiently instructed everyone and reassured the sailors and guards. For this voyage, the Kingdom’s prepared supplies were truly ample. The rubber raincoats worn by the crew were made from the Kingdom’s densest thick fabric, with the outer layer entirely smeared with waterproof rubber, providing maximum resistance to wind and waves!
Soon, immense waves poured in, soaking through the entire longship, pressing the ship down heavily! The sailors rowing swayed in the waves, their heads and faces showered with seawater. Only after enduring waves that lasted several tens of seconds could the sailors spit out the salty seawater and wipe their wet faces. They uttered a sincere prayer before continuing their relentless rowing.
"Chief Divine protect us! Search again! Search all around! It should be around here!"
The Great Snow Wolf circled and searched for another three days on the Northwest sea surface. However, when the sailors climbed the ten-meter-high mast, all they could see was the vast, boundless sea, vast, boundless sea, vast, endless white sea!
"Chief Divine! Captain, the sea has turned white! It has turned white!...To the North, to the North, there is floating ice!..."
Upon hearing this news, Exploration Captain Zuwaro’s heart shook. He ran to the ship’s rail, gazing towards the northern sea and indeed vaguely saw the distant reflections of the white color.
"Chief Divine! White reflections...signs of freezing!..."
Undoubtedly, the far north freezing season had begun amidst the cold wind. Those flashing whites were large blocks of floating ice forming in the colder northern seas, drifting with the tides and waves relentlessly!
If they collided with such floating ice, even a sturdy hull made of Mexican Yun Shan wood could suffer damage or breach! Furthermore, if a fierce cold wave moved south, freezing the entire ocean surface, the entire longship might be trapped, frozen alive on the white Ice Sea awaiting death!
"Damn it! We can’t find Grandmother Island, nor do we have time to keep searching!..."
Zuwaro gritted his teeth, showing a hint of determination on his face. He dampened his fingers, extending them into the wind, feeling the strong northeast wind, making a resolute decision!
"Let the Chief Divine witness! Raise the sails at the bow and stern! Tilt the angle slightly, leverage the wind to sail southwest!..."
"Chief Divine protect us! Let’s go directly to the Western! To the tomb of the Ancestor Giants, to the New Continent in the Divine Revelation of Your Majesty!..."
"Yes! Raise the sails! Head southwest! Chief Divine protect us!..."
A moment later, the Great Snow Wolf hoisted the twin sails, adjusting the angle, harnessing the fierce wind. The longship that once crawled like a slow-moving turtle suddenly transformed into a running giant rabbit, the ship speed suddenly accelerating!
"Whoosh! Whoosh!"
The turbulent wind drove the massive sails, creating a rushing wind sound. Compared to the sturdy wooden keel and resilient Yun Shan hull, the Kingdom’s sailing technology was far simpler and primitive. The Great Snow Wolf used primitive stiff sails, composed of thick cotton fabric, treated stiff paper, and robust bamboo. With the Kingdom’s current stiff sail technology, the usable wind angle could not deviate by 45 degrees, resulting in inefficient wind use...
Nevertheless, with favorable wind direction and strong force, relying solely on the wind, the longship’s speed quickly rose to fifteen li per hour! Such a speed, equivalent to 4 knots, was astounding for the Kingdom’s heavy longships!
"Chief Divine protect us! Sailors rest where you are, adjust the sails constantly! Keep the bow towards the West, control the speed heading South!..."
The cold long wind blew continuously from the cold high-pressure belt in the North to the warm sea in the South. The vast sea ice drifted, starting from the freezing northern sea, scattering towards the warm ocean in the South. The Great Snow Wolf headed southwest, raising sails during the day and resting the ship at night. It was like a vanguard paving the way for floating ice, progressing two to three hundred li a day!
"Chief Divine! At such speed, without accurate directional positioning...will we miss the Western continent?..."
With strong winds, massive waves, and surging tides, Exploration Captain Zuwaro kept tight lips, wiping off the sea spray, also watching the high-wind, high-wave sea surface. The fleet rapidly headed slightly southwest, traveling for four days, covering at least a thousand li!
"Chief Divine! We reached 51 degrees north latitude in just four days! Strange, why is the temperature dropping while the fleet heads south? The north winds have diminished, but the ship speed is still increasing...at night, while the ship is at rest, it continues drifting south...what’s this?...Underneath the sea surface, a southerly ocean current, a cold current?!"
November’s cold wind grew sharply, biting skin painfully. Zuwaro rubbed his face vigorously, exhaling misty white breath. He puzzled this abrupt temperature change with the direction of the ship.
He did not realize that the counter-clockwise Kurile Cold Current constantly draws cold from the far North, driving the longship on the sea surface from the icy Bering Sea towards the Northwest Pacific Ocean. In fact, this cold current is also known as the "Kurile Cold Current"! And its presence signifies...
"Chief Divine protect us! Chief Divine protect us! Oh! Captain! There’s an eagle! A mountain eagle flying over the Western sea!..."
"Oh? An eagle?!"
Zuwaro ran to the bow, gazing persistently at the Western sky, at the fearless mountain eagle circling overhead. He stared for a moment before tears suddenly flowed! The appearance of the eagle was an unmistakable signal, indicating land was very near in the West!
"Chief Divine protect us! Chief Divine protect us!...Completely furl the sails, row full speed to the West!..."
A moment later, the Great Snow Wolf adjusted its bow, sped westward, towards where the eagle appeared! The longship rowed for half a day when a two-thousand-meter-high mountain suddenly loomed in the Western horizon, faintly visible to everyone’s excited eyes. Shortly after, after rowing for a few quarters, a vast, headless stretch of white coastline, extending north to south, appeared extensively in the West! 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎
"Chief Divine! Such a vast coastline!...Is this, could this be?...No, it definitely is!...The New Continent! The Western continent in Your Majesty’s Divine Revelation!..."
"Praise the Chief Divine! Praise Your Majesty!...Oh! Oh!...We finally arrived! We finally arrived!...After two full years of arduous navigation, we finally reached the prophesied Land of Divine Revelation, the boundless, cold New Continent!..."
At that moment, Zuwaro was tearfully collapsed on the longship. Behind him, ninety crew members also knelt on the ground, faces full of devotion and frenzy. All together fervently prayed to the Sun in the sky, shouting enthusiastically in a cathartic outburst!
"Praise the Supreme Main God, ever protecting us! Praise the prophetic Majesty, whose prophecies always come true!...Ah!! My divine Zuwaro, truly the first to discover the New Continent!!!..."
