ALL NOVEL
Chapter 62: You Must Be Depressed
【Uwaaa! That was a great nap!】
System 12345 yawned.
【My host, did you catch up with Vernier? Let me take a look…】
【What happened?!?!】
A brilliant light burst forth from System 12345 in the void.
【What the… How did she suddenly die?】
Vernier’s profile had turned gray over on its side, indicating that she had passed away.
System 12345 anxiously turned to the frozen screen.
Under the dark sky, smashed ships, wooden planks, and… corpses were floating amidst the billowing sea. Chances were that Vernier was one of the corpses too.
System 12345 was stunned.
【Was it a storm? This is… Argh! How did it turn out like this?!】
Only a storm could have sunk so many boats and taken so many lives.
System 12345 was in despair.
【It was all going so well! Why did such a tragedy occur when we were just a step away from victory?】
It thought that its host could finally conquer a target, but this dashed its hopes. After all the mishaps it had been through, it couldn’t help but feel deflated.
【Wuuuuu!】
【My host, you must be grieving now. Who could have thought that the woman you have chased for so long would suddenly drop dead?】
【Haaa… Life is unpredictable. Tragedies always come from unexpected angles.】
It would have usually tried to console its host under such circumstances, but the sheer bad luck here left it at a loss for words.
【Haaa, I should sleep a little more. Maybe it’s just an illusion?】
【My host, you should take a rest too. Don’t be too upset over this. Your health comes first.】
【…】
Speaking of which, was my host wearing armor?
That was the final thought in System 12345’s mind before it fell asleep.
…
“The blood twin-headed eagle!” one of Crete’s sentries shouted.
War drums boomed as the news swiftly spread.
“It’s the Khitan Caesar!”
“Ready our defenses!”
“How did the Khitan Caesar get here so quickly?” A mercenary was confused. “Didn’t our provincial commander head off to take care of him? Where are they?”
The platoon leader kicked the mercenary and scoffed, “Isn’t it obvious? He must have lost the battle, so he fled and left us here to die! Those despicable Venetian merchants are as scummy as usual. Hurry up and grab your weapon!”
When Crete’s garrison troops gathered together…
“We don’t have enough troops!” someone in the army lamented, “We don’t even have 200 people here! How are we to fight against the Khitans like that?”
“They don’t have many people either,” a sharp-eyed individual climbed onto the sentry tower and reported. “It’s only a single ship, and there are only about 20 to 30 people onboard.”
“That should be roughly equivalent to 150 of us… We still stand a chance.”
“That’s true.”
The other mercenaries nodded in agreement.
“Go sink a few ships by the coast. Don’t let them land. We’ll use our crossbows and ballistae to fend against them. We should be able to stop them as long as we keep them off our shore.”
It was a pity they were too naive.
Shu Yichao would have some trouble landing on shore if they didn’t sink those ships, but now that they had done so, their floating debris only became convenient stepping stones for him.
“Hahahahaha!”
Shu Yichao laughed manically as Galewind leaped from the edge of their ship. He used the wooden debris of the sunken ships as platforms to make a beeline for the port.
“Stop him!” a Venetian guarding the port screamed in despair.
They tried firing their ballistae and crossbows, but most of their spears and arrows were off target, and those that were on target were easily deflected by Shu Yichao’s spear.
“How are we supposed to stop him?!” a veteran mercenary squatted down and bawled.
“I should have known! That’s the Scourge of God! I never should have gotten greedy!”
“I only took this job because I thought the Khitans would never arrive at this island…”
“It’s over!”
It was during times of crisis that heroes were born.
“I sirwender! I suwendah!”
A white flag was raised.
“That bastard!”
The others were outraged to see someone raising a white flag.
“These mercenaries have no guts!”
“They secretly learned the Khitan’s tongue!”
They dragged a nearby boy and surrounded him, asking, “Aren’t you good at learning bird calls? How did those people say those words again? Copy them!”
The troops stationed in Crete were both unmotivated and weak, so Shu Yichao took the island with ease.
Having yet to satisfy his craving for battle, Shu Yichao turned his sights to Anatolia.
“We’ll first pummel the Ottomains before heading back to Constantinope. After that, we’ll head northward to burn Venice down. Attack! Attack! Attack!!!”
…
In Venice, in a study room cloaked in dust, a woman who had wrinkles forming at the corners of her eyes was busy writing on a goatskin parchment…
“Noble spirits who struggle for survival.
“Rich merchants who flaunt and hoard their wealth.
“Ignorant peasants who march toward death amidst fear.
“The old era is past us.
“Everyone will have to learn how to survive in the new era…” the woman murmured as she wrote.
The door opened, and a messenger with a bitter frown walked in.
“Governor-General Giraud, I received a letter…” he said.
Giraud’s quill stopped. “It’s bad news, right?”
The messenger lowered his head and replied, “My condolences, Governor-General Giraud. Senato Vernier has displayed exceptional courage, confronting the Khitans together with the Crete fleet. However… Crete has now fallen into the hands of the Khitan Caesar.”
Crk!
The quill in Governor-General Giraud’s hands snapped.
“Vernier, you useless thing!” she growled under her breath.
She looked out of her study room’s window.
A copper statue stood imposingly in the square, as always, but the vendors who usually operated around it were nowhere to be seen. The streets she saw within her sights were filthy, the houses were tattered, and beggars were hiding in the corners.
Even the occasional breeze couldn’t blow off the misery of the pedestrians.
This was a sight that would have shocked anyone who had ever been here.
Was this still the great Venice, the brilliant Pearl of the Adriatic?
To the Venetians, the sea was their home and source of their wealth. For centuries, they had relied on the trading ships sailing day and night across the emerald waters to accumulate their wealth.
It had been no easy feat, but through careful management and strategic planning, they slowly climbed their way up to become the powerhouse of the Adriatic Sea.
Venice was reliant on sea trade, so the absence of sea trade inevitably spelled their downfall.
The savage Khitans devoured their colonies and trading ports like an unstoppable flame, devastating the foundation of what had made them great in the first place.
This calamity forced many Venetian shops and markets to close down, and its port and shipbuilding factories turned into rubbish piles. Countless people lost their jobs and went bankrupt…
Venice was already on the verge of dissolution!
Despite being the kin of the culprit behind this, Giraud was still able to retain her seat as the governor-general purely because no one wanted to take over this absolute mess of things!
Giraud was hoping for good news from Crete, but Vernier ended up squandering away the last bit of leverage Venice had.
I told you to get the Khitans’ sea route; how did you make such a mess out of things?
“…” Giraud took two deep breaths before rising to her feet. “Pack my luggage. I’ll be paying a visit to the Holy Romain Empire.”
I have to seek the Blood Rosalia.
Venice will inevitably lose its dominant position, but I can’t allow it to be completely destroyed…