Chapter III The fleet that does not exist 1

    (xi)

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    October 29, 1666

    Intra-Residents Phase Port Eastport (Gap Prefecture)[ Search for the latest updates]

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    "The rent Attic! The magic that you put yesterday was an accident!"

    She was awakened by the shouting downstairs.

    The big door of the landlord in the downstairs is deafening, and the shouts of middle-aged women can penetrate almost all defensive magic and dreams.

    She rushed to the window and rolled open the window.

     Looking out from the window of her bedroom, I can see the symbol of the phase port.

    The phase bridge across the Shuimen Strait reflects the golden-green light in the morning sun, reflecting through the mirror at the top of the bridge.

    From here to the Phase Bridge, all of them are jagged roofs, mostly bricks and even wooden oriental buildings with decades or even hundreds of years of history. Years of disrepair. The messy attic is overlaid on the roof, and the clothesline is like a spider web moving through the air above the streets and alleys, but with a magical chaotic beauty.

    Another roar from the downstairs interrupted her hopes.

    "Mouse! All are mice!"

    There are most yellow islands in the Shuangdao and Archipelago areas. Like ordinary people with a cultural background, the landlord Chen Dazhao looks closer to whites, but it is a mixed lingo with a lot of oriental vocabulary. When you arrive near the Green Bull House, people will use it to become an oriental cavity with a lot of Koman words. Fortunately, with simple translation magic, most people's communication with each other is not a problem.

    "Miss White! White House's girl! I saw you open the window, should be a voice!"

     In Donggang, people who are not familiar with it call her Miss Bai, or use the classical expression of the Eastern language, "Bai's." In Donggang, the average person does not ask the lady's surname and nickname.

     Of course, this is also an important reason for her choice of this oriental identity. If she chooses a Western name, it will inevitably be checked; but the Eastern ladies can use the custom as a shield to avoid a lot of checks.

    "Know it, come down now!"

    "Miss White" yelled and replied. Grab a small mirror on the side and look at his looks in the mirror.

    Although she lost her long-term memory, she can still judge that it is an unusually beautiful face.

    There is no flawless golden straight hair, transparent blue-blue pupil, no matter who sees it, it is unforgettable, as if it should not exist in the world. face.

    ——So you can't use this face.

    She sighed a little, and regrettably applied a special mask to her face, covered with a thin mask of magic. This layer of mask is so thin that its magical aura reaction will be confused with the ordinary body magic, even the most experienced high-level wizard will only produce a little doubt.

    "The whole street mouse gave you the magic of last night, come and solve it!"

   ;  The voice of the landlord in the downstairs sounds impatient.

    "The original is that..."

    After completing all the camouflage work, she lifted the mirror again.

    Reappearing in the mirror is an inconspicuous oriental woman who is also very arty to paint ugly makeup. Although I have tried my best to use make-up techniques and easy-to-capacity magic, I can only make "ugly" become "face-to-face".

    She put on a linen dress without any cuts, even if it is loose, it looks quite similar to those of the Taiping monks. In Donggang, and even the entire Eastern cultural circle, tailoring is still not well known. The Eastern civilian woman does not admire the exposed body and fit tailoring like the Coleman, which saves her the trouble of wrapping her chest.

    Of course, this inconspicuous linen cloth also carries a simple defensive magic that a five-stream amateur novice wizard would like, so as to cover up the easyness of her. The aura of magical items.

    No one can see that this poor and ugly oriental female monk is the beautiful cadre of the old thief union of the phase port that has been destroyed, "White Silk" - Of course, she is no longer using that code name.

    In fact, in the months of the Thieves Guild, her blond face was only seen by three competing female thieves, the guild People only know that her code name is "White Silk" and she does not know her true appearance.

     After completing the preparations needed to go out, she smashed her hair and rushed downstairs from the narrow attic staircase.

    "Miss White! Look at these, these mice...and the giant rat, my God!"

     The landlord is holding a wok, knocking in a panic, and summoning the neighbors in the street.

    The history of Donggang is much longer than that of Westport. The small and crowded Donggang Street has a much higher population density than Westport. There are already dozens of people watching downstairs. The mousetrap set by Miss Bai. The vast majority of women of all ages and those who are still underage, adult men mostly went to work in the port early in the morning.

    The mousetrap is actually the magic trap she set last night - the material is a stoneware broken tank, which was originally buried halfway across the house. Outside the temple, a few planks were placed around the grass. The tank emits a fatty aroma of the grilled animal fat, and the harsh sound of the mouse in the trap. The children were surrounded by the water tank and pointed at the mouse struggling inside, and were pulled away by the adults around them from time to time.

     "The female mage is coming! The female mage is coming!"

    I don't know who called it up The children followed suit.

    She instinctively smiled at them, revealing two rows of disguised slanted slanted dentures, but scared away a few children. After arranging the crowd, she stepped on the board and went to the side of the tank and looked down.

    There is a giant rat inside, the visual test has twenty pounds, which is bigger than the average two or three cats. In addition, there are hundreds of small mice, all of which are vainly scratching their claws on the walls of greasy walls.

    "What are the treatments for these mice, and the giant mouse! I paid for it last night, just to eliminate the mouse in the rice warehouse, did not say that I want to The rats in the street are all coming over! Miss Bai, you are responsible, if you can't solve it, I have to rent it!"

    The landlord complained about the imposing manner However, it reveals a faint savvy. She knows that it is a small citizen's jealousy: as long as she shirks her responsibility, she can take her position and take advantage of it, and prevent her from asking for further compensation.

    If she is really just a wandering poor female mage, she might argue with the landlord; but she is not. She used to be the cadre of the Port of Hong Kong Thieves Guild (which has been banned), and is now making her own new legal status. She does not want to be extravagant in these trivial matters.

     "Do not worry, there will be no problem, Aunt Chen. This is even a little care for the neighbors." Concealedly conformed to the landlord's little greed. "After all, this is just superimposed on the animal lure and improved greasy technique that is now sold from the magic net. It can't take a few magical powers. I didn't expect to receive it. Amazing..."

    She handed the fire to the pottery jar, and the oil on the cylinder wall immediately burned quickly. The heat wave forced the people around me to retreat two steps.

    "...So, solved."

    This is just a little magic, but the effect But with the help of the fire oil, it seems to be powerful. The crowd looked at the piece of fire with a little fear and admiration, and automatically dispersed a circle, for fear that the big tank would burst.

     "Is it a true mage?" "I see the military guru of the independent gendarmerie is just that."

     There is also a few hundred magicians of different schools in the East and West. There are military mage, guild registered mages, as well as wandering mages like her, hiring mages and even fake scams. However, the average person still rarely sees the attack magic, and will not distinguish the strength of these attack magic.

    She noticed the tension in the air, busy laughing and saying: "It’s just a little trick. If you have any needs from neighbors, buy some magic items, Ink, paper or something, you can come to me, I also solve everyday problems like this. If I am not at home, you can find Aunt Chen."

      "If you want to learn spells? Auntie, will you teach us?"

    A bold little boy suddenly spoke up. Although she knows that her disguise is in her 30s and 40s, the name of her aunt is still a little unhappy.

     "Do you want to learn spells? You have to learn magic, you have to study, you have to pay more, do you have a family? Then you literate? Square or Ke The word is OK?"

     After getting a negative negative answer, she had to shake her head and pull out a thin piece of paper and hand it to the child.

    "The front of this paper is the 'Magic Network Basic Protocol' written in the Coyman language, and the reverse is the Oriental version. If you later If you master these protocol spells, you can buy a migratory roller..."

    "We want too!"

    Seeing that there is a cheap, the surrounding children simply can't listen to what she is talking about, and embrace the big people, and the adults around them also use their eyes to encourage their children to go up and take advantage of it.

    "...and then you can use these magic papers to get free magic from the magic net."

     The female mage sighed and took out a pre-printed stack of protocols, one for each child.

     "Don't grab, don't grab. You remember, if you really become a magician in the future, take care of my business!"

    The children who got the spell paper smashed and the adults around them talked about it. In their view, it’s not a bad thing to have a female mage on the street that looks good.

    "You are really a mage. I thought you were the kind of fortune-telling word to sell fake water, and it’s not like those grandmothers. Ah." Seeing the crowd gradually dissipated, the landlord shook his head and shook his head. "Since you are really a mage, you can only prepay a monthly rent for three months."

    Miss White frowned. She knows that the landlord means "have never seen a female mage who looks so ugly like you." But in any case, it is good to be able to only pay one month's rent.

    "In fact, I have used the magic of the easy. The little girl is not good at learning. It is really embarrassing."

    ;  Seeing the plain-looking woman in front of her, she confessed to the fact that the landlord was not good enough to run on her again. She waved her hand irritably and said, "Well, wait until you rent the three-month room and rent it. You can pay it by monthly. Go back to the house, it's time to open the meal!"

    The cost of this loft includes two meals in the morning and evening. The poor people in Donggang can't eat wheat bread, and they can't eat oriental rice. The staple food is a scone made of a mixture of barley and corn. Two meals a day, every meal is definitely not enough. There are also coarse grains and porridge in the breakfast. Although it is not so thin that it can shine out of the figure, it is impossible to say that it can be hungry.

    "Early, Xiao Yin." "White cousin, good morning."

    The oriental girl sitting at the table put down the wooden bowl and nodded. This is actually the earliest rent of the "silver plate", and then she is a guarantor and rents the attic to the "white silk". Of course, she also used a common oriental surname: Yin, which is said to be the oldest surname of the Eastern Empire.

    "Today is going to Westport, cousin?"

    "Hmm." Nodded, "Die treasurer has already rented a car."

    The two tacitly nodded and no longer talked.

    The Di treasurer they mentioned is naturally another person in this small group, the mixed-race girl codenamed "Skin". Just as the half-elf is the head of the company in the overseas colonies of Sassen, the Orientals also employ a large number of mixed-race children as treasurers. The three agree that “skin” is the best person to do this. "Cui Jie" died after half a month ago.

    Of course, the rented carriage is not accessible to such a remote slum. If you are in Westport, most of the roads can accommodate double horses or even four horses, but not in Eastport, which has a longer history. After having breakfast, the two took good belongings and walked along the alley to the main road.

    "This side here!"

     Just as soon as you walked up the street where you can pass the carriage, The two heard the lively voice of "skin".

    She rented a light single-horse carriage with no compartments and only two open-air seats. The horses in front of the cart were not considered good horses. She is sitting in the driver's seat.

    "Long wait." "White silk" leaped lightly into the seat, and pulled the "silver plate" together. "I prepared the bridge." Fees, let's go directly to Westport."

    "貂皮" skillfully swiping the whip, the light carriage will run. As soon as the car ran, with the cover of the hooves, the petite former female thief rushed to open.

    "We really want to go, Bai Jie? When I rented a car, I talked with the clerk there. He also said that there are a lot of people renting cars today. It seems to be Westport. There are a lot of big people in the port to come."

    "Of course I really want to go. Last night the gendarmerie issued a notice through the Magic Net and the Independent Masters Association, today The first batch of tenders will be held to sell some of the Eastern company's warehouses, management rights and vessel equity, so there will be so many people renting cars. We are also taking this opportunity to bid - I remember that everyone had been with you last night. Having said that?”

    The expression of “White Silk” was a bit surprised, and she felt it might be necessary to retell the two companions for the purpose of today to prevent mistakes.

     "No. It’s a matter of fact to talk about what was planned last night. It’s another thing to go..." I wandered irritably. "I mean, it’s too dangerous for us to gather together so clearly to Westport. White sister. That’s the genre’s nest, isn’t it? We have a relationship with the thieves’ guild, that’s It’s not clear at all, let alone we have detained so many of the goods we handled. Those gendarmes burned and looted, no evil, no will not let us go, Bai Jie!”

  ;   "I also heard that. The young governor seems to be a traitor, and he has asked for a young and beautiful blonde woman to tribute him. The news has already spread. The clubs that used to do the flesh business before the guild, They have already tribute the blonde to him, and all the tributes have been banned by the gendarmes."

    "Silver plate" interface, and gently held The arm of "White Silk". Feeling the concern of the companion, the girl was a little moved, but the face of her face concealed her expression.

    "I know what you said. The gendarmerie can kill us all with a little finger - it’s even more dangerous to hide and hide! The big men of the past have all finished, and even the mayor and the speaker have been taken by the villain. The entire Donggang is the sphere of influence of Zhangjia, can we avoid it?"

    "You can also go to the outer port, go to the mainland, or even go to a foreign country. They all say that life on the mainland is better than ours. Like a white sister, you don’t escape from the mainland..."

    "What do we do to cut down these guild properties? Can you really give up?"

    The other two girls are silent and can only hear for a while. The noise emitted by the wheels. Even a small part of the underground trade property of the guild is a huge number for the individual. No one wants to say that giving up so much property and fleeing to the outside world risking his life and re-engraving the theft.

    "White Silk" hit the iron and continued: "I don't think we can find a boat that can kindly transport us out with so many goods. So we must To get a legal identity, you can directly associate with the gendarmerie, so that we can maximize our security."

    "I understand." "Skin" whispered as he drove the car. "I understand. But, Bai Jie, I have to give so much money to the enemy of the "Cuijie", I am still not willing."

    "Those guys are enemies of 'Cuijie', but they are now the rulers of the phase port. As long as we successfully establish a relationship with them or Zhang, there will be a chance one day. "

    "Silver Plate" listened silently, holding the package of gold and silver coins in his hand tighter. That is all the property they will not be traced.

     "But is that really feasible, cousin. Why should the gendarmerie work with people like us who are unknown?"

  ;   She raised the issue in another direction. "White silk" thought about it and took out two pieces of paper. These two pieces of paper are very similar to the paper she used in the morning, with a faint magical reaction, with the magic ink printed on it.

    "This is the notice issued by the gendarmerie's army mage yesterday to all magic users in the phase port on the magic net, as long as you master the basic magic net surgery They did not hide the intention to launch a large-scale military operation, to sell bonds and purchase military supplies to local merchants in the phase port. I will not elaborate on the conditions, but it is quite favorable. The merchant who subscribes to the bonds can get the original elves. The rights of the merchant fleet shares will also be subject to the relevant military supply contract."

     "But our identity does not stand up to verification -"

    "It seems that the Governor of Solton is a doer. It’s only half a month after arriving at the Port of Hong Kong, Li Wei, Chang Jiang, and Qiu, what to do We only need to say that the goods we get are imported from overseas before the news leaks, and they will not be too bad if they are mixed out in the military service."

    ;  See the "Silver Plate" look still has doubts, "White Silk" Dao: "Do not worry. His independent gendarme is stronger. Even if he can expand the army ten times, he will only have two or three thousand soldiers and horses. In this phase, there are five or six hundred thousand people in Hong Kong and Twin Cities. Ten times this, the population around the narrow sea and the Qianlong Sea is fifty times and one hundred times more. He can't do all the business by himself. He wants to tax, he wants to issue bonds. He wants to buy food, he wants to import and export wealth... He needs someone like us. As long as we have mixed up with him to kill Liwei, don’t say that you have a legal status, even if you rebuild a thieves’ guild, it’s not It is possible."

    The carriage turned onto the East Avenue, the road surface became better, the speed was raised, and the sound of the wheels was not so noisy. Seeing the road pedestrians and vehicles began to increase, the three no longer talk.

     Soon, the carriage left the journey in Donggang and stopped in front of the Phase Bridge.

    The crossing of the Shuimen Strait in the phase port, only a few decades ago, can only rely on ferry, not only takes a little half a day and considerable money, but also bears The ferry boat is in danger of being knocked over by a large sailing ship, and every year there will be an accident in which the entire ship is overturned. However, since the completion of the Phase Bridge, there are four heavy-duty passenger carriages towed by four horses or even six horses to communicate with the two ports. Private carriages can also be taxed, and the collected taxes are used to repay the principal and interest and daily maintenance costs of the bridge bonds. The bridge has seven or eighty masters and priests to maintain every day, strengthen the weakened magic, check the strength of the materials to replace... The operating costs of the Independent Masters Association are almost all from the bridge’s traffic tax. of.

    The bridgehead has a tax card for collecting bridge taxes. Regardless of how the management of the phase port changed, the tax card here remained the same, only one or two people wearing red military uniforms instead of the supervisors of the original city council. Sure enough, there are dozens of carriages stuck in front of the bridge, and it seems that they are all going to Westport to attend the morning ceremony. The release speed was very slow, and it took ten minutes to get to the front of the white silk.

    The tax official shouted out the tax payable. In terms of tolls, it is quite high, which is roughly equivalent to the three full-day rents of the three of them. If they are on the mainland, they may be expensive. But here is the central port of trade. The merchant who can afford this price has it – who can rest assured that he can do business with someone who can't afford to pay the bridge fee?

    "Silver plate" took out gold and silver coins on the tax official's plate, making a crisp clang. Experienced accountants or accounts can know how much money they have when they hear this voice, which eliminates the possibility of a lot of **. After checking the true and false of the coin, the tax official waved it.

    When the horse rides on the phase bridge, it immediately appears empty. The road under the horseshoe is made up of pure magic, and its weight is almost zero. Only such material can span such a long water channel. Although I have been to and from the East and West Ports many times in the public carriage, this is the first time that Baishi has passed the bridge without the means of carriage.

    Looking down from the bridge, you can see more fleets moving slowly in the distant sea level than the past, the ship is full A dense slogan.

     "Right. There are still things that have to be done before going to Westport. We can't use the code name to sign contracts with the gendarmerie or Donggang Zhangjia. You have to have a formal name like a big businessman. You said that the day before yesterday you said that there is no pseudonym available, right?"

     "After all, only your sister confessed. We I don't want to use the nickname, but if we don't use the code, we don't even have a name."

    "貂皮" said with a smile, "Silver plate" followed nod.

     "Time is a bit tight, fake names don't work well, don't be angry."

     "White Silk" took a humble bag from his arms and poured a few seals into his hand.

    "Hey, this is the name of the person I have carved for you. This thing is the same as the Coleman family crest in the commercial habits of the East. The production time is rather rushed, things are a bit rough - but too fine and not good, it will cause suspicion. You may not know the words above, but you must recite them. Later, this is our name. "

    She picked up her first seal and handed it to a female thief who was petite and code-named "skin." The "skin" that was driving was back and took over, looking at the three complicated square characters above, and gently "snap".

    "Your name is pronounced 'Di Meiyi'. You are a mixed-race, and it is more appropriate to have names that do not use allusions. The identity is the treasurer of our firm. They are I don't know if we only have three people. When we hear the shopkeeper, we will pay more attention to it. After all, only regular businesses will have a semicolon dispenser."

    "Meiyi... Is this actually similar to my codename '貂皮'?"

    "Well, but if someone else calls you in public, you have to call yourself Miss Di. According to the custom of the East, the name of the woman does not need to be told to the average person."

    When she recites her new name, she takes the second A seal is handed over to the "silver plate" around you.

    "In the setting, you are my distant cousin and account, a serious Oriental, and you have to get a slightly elegant name. You On this seal, I wrote Yin Rujing."

    "Yin... as a mirror."

     The skinny yellow-skinned girl took the seal and repeatedly stroked the embossed text with her fingers. The fingertips were stained with red ink.

    "This is a mirror, more elegant than the one she used -"

    driving The girl suddenly came in: "Can't I use more elegant, white sister?"

    "Do you think you are suitable, Xiao Di? Even if it is Kana, don't let people doubt!"

    When the word "kana" was heard, the "silver plate" suddenly frowned.

    "Oh, if you like... of course."

    "Bai Si" looked at the girl next to her, stroking the movement of the famous chapter, suddenly the nose was sour I was busy turning my head in the direction of the sea.

     "Then I want too. Di Meiyi sounds at least better than suede."

     "White Silk" can understand why they are so keen on the "name". However, even they do not know, even she has no name. I can't remember the name, I can't remember it anyway.

    Because she has no memory. All her life and memories are in the months of the phase port and her companions. She felt a sore nose and changed her name.

     "The last is the name of our firm. The line number... is this seal. You hold, silver... Yin cousin. The above six words are not It's hard to remember, it's 'Phase Port Huai Cui Xing'. It would be nice to transliterate them directly to the Oriental pronunciation."

    Yin Rujing, who just got a new name, took it again. This slightly larger seal, carefully looked at the magic loop above. As far as the work of this thing is concerned, it is indeed like a seal used by a regular trader in the phase port branch.

    "Wai Cui... is the meaning of 'remember the green ring'?"

    " Of course." She nodded.

     "If Miss Tsui has a name, it would be fine."

    "There will be." She took a nap. "When we settle down, we have a name, and there will be a name on her tombstone."

    This heavy topic makes the girls Silence again, Di Meiyi mechanically licked the whip in his hand.

    The carriage crossed the Phase Bridge and after a few layers of checkpoint guards, it gradually approached the noisy port area.

    In the designated parking lot, Di Meiyi stopped the carriage. It has been filled with all kinds of carriages, and many civilians have come to walk, but it is still orderly under the pressure of the gendarmerie.

     "Right, Bai Jie, what is the name on your seal of the 'Daofa Consultant'? It should not be 'White Silk'. ""

    "Of course not." She snorted and laughed. "How can a stupid parent give his own lady a name, Bai Si. My, The name on my seal is 'Bai Ruisi'."

    "White...Reese? Is Rex a textile?"

     "Of course not." Bai Ruisi laughed again. "Rui Si refers to the 'wise thoughts' in the Eastern written language. Since I came from Haidong, Then there should be a more classical name. It sounds pretty good, isn't it?"

    "It's really nice, Rui Sijie." Br />
    "Don’t call me outside, this is not in line with the Eastern etiquette..."

    Port The salute that sang with the fleet sounded . The military band released the national anthem of the free nations, and placed the marches of the two republics of Interre and François.

    The three stopped at the periphery of the crowd. Seeing this battle, "skin" and "silver plate" could not help but expressed surprise.

    "And welcome ceremonies? When can I start talking about business?"

    "Wait until The ceremony is over. There should also be foreign businessmen coming from the ship."

    "So many people, really want to work..."

    "嘘."

    Bai Ruisi did not participate in their conversation. She picked up her toes and narrowed her eyes, looking in the direction of the port.