Chess Mage of Faerûn

Chapter 279 The Perfect Liquid

Lawrence rattled off a series of data with practiced ease. Zhang Yuan, who had checked the ledger twice and confirmed that it was correct, nodded and handed the ledger back.

Before going into seclusion, the mage made some changes to the team's asset structure. Instead of directly pocketing all the funds, he would keep them in the team's accounts for a month, and only transfer them to his own private treasury when the funds were deposited the following month.

After all, coming to Luskan wasn't just about fighting and killing. Besides, I was busy with research, so many things were handled by my teammates, and they seemed to be doing a pretty good job.

Everyone has their own expertise. If you asked Mr. Zhang to play the role of a gang leader, he might not be able to do it better than this guy Kegan.

Therefore, under these circumstances, it is appropriate to delegate authority appropriately. With the support of funds and pawns, the team that transformed into shining gold coins conquered the northern part of the market area in less than a week, connecting it with their previous territory.

For a time, the small gangs that made a living in the market area were all in a state of panic, and the name "Money Gang" spread like wildfire.

However, considering the limited manpower and the concern about causing too much impact, the team stopped its expansion and began to reorganize and consolidate its existing territory.

This was one of the few decisions Zhang Yuan made during this period. At that time, Kegan had just completed the defeat and expulsion of the rival gang and was in high spirits and full of confidence. Lawrence had some concerns but could not stop the dwarves above him, so he reported it directly to this place, which made the mage personally intervene and finally put the matter to rest.

Although there was no heavy drinking or singing at the banquet, everyone enjoyed themselves immensely until late at night before finally dispersing.

The squad operated as usual on the second day, as if everything was the same, except that a certain spellcaster hiding in the camp had begun to sneak around and play some tricks.

"Perfect liquid!"

Looking at the mutated elves surging like endless waves before him, the mage narrowed his eyes and revealed a hint of amusement and self-satisfaction.

The reason he chose this residence despite the trouble was twofold: firstly, out of curiosity, and secondly, because of its location—it was just over twenty meters from the Mirar River, surrounded by walls on three sides, with the backyard right on the riverbank.

The short distance was quickly traversed by the morph elf, who then plunged into the river and, under the mage's remote guidance, entered the sea at the mouth of the Miral River, heading north towards the northern docks of Luskan—the Open Coast.

The Morphling unit is constructed very differently from most pieces. Abandoning its fixed form, it is like a pool of magical water that flows like the tide, much like the legendary and extremely rare Elemental Golem.

Of course, in a sense, it wouldn't be wrong to call him an elemental golem; he's also known as the Water Golem.

Water is the home ground for Morphlings. Even without the ability to become invisible, when a Morphling leaps into a river, the effect of blending into the water is just as good as the most sophisticated invisibility spells and techniques.

After all, who can distinguish a single stream in a vast expanse of water?

The water creature was moving downstream at an alarming speed, almost as fast as the bighead carp escaping in the river. In less than fifteen minutes, it had arrived outside the Luscan North District dock.

The mission of the Water Man on this mission is to monitor this important but relatively closed port. The Water Man, who dives into the ocean current, does not need to reveal his form. Any wave that rises with the waves could be his eyes.

Through the water elemental's perspective, Zhang Yuan clearly observed the activity at the North Wharf. Compared to the bustling Dragon Coast in the South Wharf, the port had significantly less ship traffic, yet it was much more organized.

The reason for this is that the merchant ships traveling here are much larger, and those small, unorthodox sampans have almost disappeared. On the sails of those large ships, you can even see the emblems of several companies that are famous or notorious in the Sword Bay.

For example, the Zantarin and the Miraba Merchant Guild. Not far from these trading ships, warships flying the flags of Luskan or the five major gangs were anchored, their size comparable to that of the Silver Shield Duke of Baldur's Gate's fleet.

As for the sailors' discipline, let's not even go there.

These were not Zhang Yuan's main concerns. By remotely controlling the water elementals, he observed and searched, hoping to find the Bloodsail Gang's ships or those of the Deszel and Manuel families of Neverwinter.

But he soon realized he had misunderstood.

These three are indeed the targets and major suspects of this trip, but given the current hostile situation between the two cities, and the status of these three in their respective camps, how likely is it that they would openly travel between the two ports?
Zhang Yuan surveyed the entire dock and only saw the Bloodsail Gang's fleet. The blood-red background and the crossed scimitars were very eye-catching, while there wasn't a single ship from Neverwinter City in sight.

The mage, who had been comfortably reclining in the armchair, sat up straight and carefully manipulated the morph sprite to gradually approach the dock berth along the ebb and flow of the tide in order to observe the loading and unloading of goods more clearly.

Watch Lao Tzu's micro-management!
Zhang Yuan, confident that his disguise was flawless, successfully infiltrated the vicinity of the large merchant ships' mooring area without causing any disturbance. A surging wave took in everything.

However, this was of no use!
All the loading and unloading of goods appeared to be normal logistics and trade transactions.

Of course, in Luscany, a land of great value, the sale of weapons and armaments is a perfectly normal business.

In short, for the next three days, water people came to visit the North Port in two shifts every day. Except for the time when the mage himself had to sleep in the middle of the night, this area was monitored almost around the clock.

Still finding nothing, until dusk on the fourth day, before the last rays of the setting sun had sunk into the western horizon of the Sword Sea, a somewhat strange merchant ship sailed into the bay.

The reason it is considered strange is that the ship's design has a distinctly exotic feel. On its flag, apart from an unfamiliar emblem, there is a golden crescent moon below, with four towers standing on the crescent that are very similar to those of the Persian civilization of the past.

"Karinshan's reach is so far? It's even reached Luskan?"

The mage's curiosity was piqued. The port of Kalin, located in the south where it was summer all year round, and Luskan, which was considered the last civilized town in the far north, were two places that spanned almost the entire continent of Faerûn.

Of course, the two do have some things in common, such as factions, both being places full of chaos, intrigue, and murder.

However, the two are vastly different in size. How could the Karinsan Empire, with its population of over five million, and the Luskan Empire, in its harsh and cold lands, possibly have so much in common?

With a mix of surprise and anticipation, the monk repeated his old trick, hiding amidst the crashing waves as he approached the ocean-going vessel that had arrived under the cover of night.

The feeling of remote micro-management is quite nice.

only. . .

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(End of this chapter)