Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1580 - 1119: August Reeds, From Jinxi to Whale Harbor

The north wind howled, the bay turned, and the mountain island stood tall, the cliff rugged. The ocean-blocking sea ship adjusted its sails, cautiously navigating the bay, not daring to sail too fast. This rugged and complex coastline, known to the local Tlingit tribe as "Tongass," means "windy bay." In later generations, it inherited the indigenous name, "Tongass National Forest Park."

Being named "Forest Park" naturally means dense forests and abundant trees. A panorama of green and red, the high points of the mountain islands along the coast, are home to tall redwoods and yet-to-turn-red hard maples. These trees between the cliffs are so tall and magnificent, one can only barely glimpse the crowns from aboard the ship.

These redwoods typically range in height from thirty to forty meters, densely packed together. The sprawling branches stretch across sea and sky, casting a faint green reflection, having endured countless seasons to grow from the mountains to the clouds!

"Oh Bodhisattva! So many, so many towering and straight great trees! … Chief Divine be my witness! These endless great trees, if felled, could build a thousand mighty sea ships!…"

"Haha, Chief Divine be my witness! Gold Shipwright, you haven't yet seen the coastal redwood forests of the Tolowa tribes on the Western Sea Coast! Those fifty-foot tall trees stand like cliffs, and their crowns pierce the clouds. Among them, the tallest Giant God Tree can even reach a hundred feet!…"

"What? A Giant Divine Tree reaching a hundred feet high?!… Such a godly tree in this world?! Wouldn't it have to grow for thousands of years, becoming an essence, gaining spirit…"

"Ah, what did you say? Spirit?… Oh! That Divine Tree of Chuyun is indeed a gift from the Chief Divine, revered by numerous tribes around it as a Great Divine Tree!…"

Long winds along the coast, the sea ship following the wind, can travel two hundred miles in a day. At the start of August, the ocean-blocking sea ship passed the end of the Tongass Bay, arriving at the Kingdom's Divine Eagle Wing Port.

Among all ports along the journey, the Divine Eagle Wing Port is the largest. It has as many as three hundred tribespeople, and is the largest "Longship Tribe" within two hundred miles around. The tribespeople in the port include Tsimshian tribe from the South Coast, Tlingit from the North Coast, and even Haida who have dove over from the large island in the west.

Tribespeople from each tribe have converted to the Chief Divine, engraving the Chief Divine's emblem on their foreheads. The port camp has opened up more than four hundred acres of potato fields and a longship, along with fifty or sixty fishing canoes.

The Kingdom Priest in charge of Divine Eagle Wing Port is named Mazatli. This name in the Navajo language means "pineapple."

"Praise the Chief Divine! Revered High Priest Miki, we have thoroughly scouted the area. There are no major tribes here; it's the intersection of Tsimshian, Tlingit, and Haida ones. And we can stand firm here thanks to help from the Great Tribe of Eagle Island to the south! Especially, they have helped us build several fishing canoes…"

"Praise the Chief Divine! Pineapple Priest, I know that to get support from Eagle Island Tribe, you even married the daughter of the Great Chief of Tsimshian Eagle… Thank you for your hard work!…"

"Ah! Revered High Priest Miki, it's all thanks to High Priest Zuwaro's guidance!… His third wife is the sister of the Great Chief of Tsimshian Eagle… The exalted High Priest Zuwaro is truly devoted to the Chief Divine!…"

"Hmm. High Priest Zuwaro, indeed he has always been so! At the moment, he is already on the opposite side of the sea on the Divine Revelation Continent, and has married a wife from some Mountain Tribe to personally ally with the Western Sea tribes… In this regard, I am far from matching him…"

The sea ship rested at Divine Eagle Wing Port for two days, then sailed another two hundred miles southeast to reach the Eagle Island Tribe of Tsimshian. This great tribe of a thousand people is very welcoming to the Kingdom's sea ship; many tribespeople even wear the Sun Amulet of the Chief Divine.

Part of the reason for this warmth and closeness is the Kingdom's mighty force and intertribal marriages, while another aspect comes from the potato fields of the Eagle Island Tribe that are about to be harvested. In close exchanges with the Kingdom Port, they have also started planting hardy potatoes and successfully harvested a season last year, greatly shocking the whole tribe.

Among the tribespeople of Eagle Island Tribe, the Chief Divine "Vizilopo" is "the true God of Flora," "the God of Potatoes." Reverently, they even call the harvested potatoes as "Vizilopo's Fruit"…

"Praise the Great Divine Spirit Vizilopo for granting us the bountiful and hunger-sustaining Vizilopo's Fruit… Great Carrot of Vizilopo!…"

"Uh… Praise the Chief Divine! He granted us potatoes…"

After praying together with the tribespeople of Eagle Island Tribe, there was a grand welcoming banquet. Summer food was plentiful, fitting for tribal proliferation. Everyone spent a fulfilling, enthusiastic, yet tiring night before departing south again.

Heading south from Eagle Island Tribe, traveling eight hundred miles along the lush coast, the ship arrived at the Kingdom's Divine Shellfish Port. Divine Shellfish Port is situated on the western side of Vancouver's Long Island in later generations, bringing some warmth of the Western Sea Coast climate, with more tribes gathering around.

Miki the Sage stood at the bow, watching the sparse canoe fishing boats outside the port, recalling the origin of this port's name. On a whim, he personally cast a net, and surprisingly, like Zuwaro, only caught a net of shallow-sea large scallops and worthless California red abalone as large as turtle shells…

"Ah, this? So many shellfish?!… Divine Shellfish Port truly is the Chief Divine's auspicious sign, the divinely inspired name of the Chief Divine, indeed!…"

The Kingdom's Divine Shellfish Port occupies a natural harbor in the northwest of Long Island, close to the freshwater lakes on the west of the island. Currently, the port's scale is similar to Divine Eagle Wing Port, around three hundred people. The most conspicuous spot in the port camp is the potato field, sprawling with weeds and potato vines beside the western lakeside, flat and spacious.

"Long Fish Priest, Divine Shellfish Port not only yields abundant catches but also has a flat terrain. The climate here is relatively warm, with ample fresh water on the west side… Actually, among the entire Far North Coast, this port is the most suitable for planting!"

"Yes! Revered High Priest Miki, the Chief Divine bless us! It's perfect for planting potatoes here; more than four acres can sustain one person… Last year's harvest turned out great, and this year we've cultivated seven hundred acres of potato fields, waiting for a divine-blessed harvest!"

"Haha! Very good, very good! The food from various ports along the Far North Coast depends on you there!… Tonight, I shall have potato stew fish soup, with the orange aroma of highland oregano and enough spicy red pepper…"

"Good! Praise the Chief Divine! Revered High Priest Miki, I'll also prepare you a portion of delicious grilled red abalone… ensuring you have a night strong as a leopard, wrestling bears barehanded!"

"Uh? Grilled red abalone? Cough… cough! Long Fish Priest, have you received word from Whale Harbor? Where's the Kingdom's third batch of support fleet?…"

"Third batch of support fleet?… Oh! Chief Divine be my witness! Last month, a longship from Whale Harbor brought news of the support fleet: the third batch of support fleet consists of ten longships, having already reached the Kingdom's West Mountain Port… Calculating the time the message arrived, it's estimated that the support fleet is currently at the North Port by the Great River outlet?"

"Hmm, past the Kingdom's North Port is the Whale Harbor at the end of the Western Sea Coast. Perhaps, we can meet there… Rest for two days, and the morning of the day after tomorrow, we'll embark again!"

After two days of feasting, small potato-sized as duck eggs and abalone as large as a hand filled the ship's cabin of the ocean-shielding ship. On the third morning, the sea ship set sail, riding the sea wind still blowing south, swiftly heading towards Whale Harbor. Only six days later, the sea ship circumvented the thousand-mile-long island, reaching the Strait of Whale Harbor surrounded by whales.

"Woo~ Ooh ooh~ Ah~ Aow aow~"

The resonant whale song echoed between the sea and sky, spreading across the ocean to distant places. This awe-inspiring melody reached the Great Whale Port five thousand miles away in just an hour. Yet, coming along this five-thousand-mile coast took the fleet more than a month, from early July to mid-August…

The shallow bay reflected the emerald cliffs, projecting the azure sky. The eastern end of the three-hundred-mile bay is the warm and humid, tribe-rich Hundred Lake Bay, the future prosperous Seattle. The western end marks the beginning of the steep cliff-lined Western Sea Coast, culminating at the Kingdom's Whale Harbor.

"Aow~ Ah ah~~ Woo~ Aow aow~~"

Groups of whales splashed water in song, passing by Whale Harbor like the ends of the earth intersecting at the sea's edge. These fearless and colossal creatures of the sea, occasionally drawn by peculiar foreign songs, curiously and eagerly swam into the narrow strait near the shore.

However, as the ocean-blocking sea ship, with its sails raised high, followed the curious giant blue whale to the narrow strait outside Whale Harbor… waiting for them were not melodious singing beautiful whales, but twelve rugged whaling longships glinting coldly under the golden sun~