Lord of Winter: Beginning with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 634: Chapter 371: The Dawn Fleet Arrives

The morning sea was shrouded in a light mist that glimmered gold in the sunlight.

Nine warships moved slowly among the waves, like nine silent steel giants.

The Dawn led at the front, with the Dawn and Tide to its left and right, while the other Dawn-class escort ships followed closely, forming a formation as precise as a moving wall.

The gilded Red Tide Emblem at the bow shone brightly in the sun, reflecting a dazzling light, as if it were a burning sun.

On the deck, sailors moved with rhythmic steps, their hands gripping the ropes.

They wore windproof jackets with the Red Tide Standard, and the brass buttons on their chests shone bright under the marine fog.

Someone adjusted the signal flags at the masthead, while others polished the railings on deck, laughing and passing water to each other as they debated whether there would be extra butter on the bread for lunch.

A kitchen apprentice carried a food bucket by, joked at: "Kid, don’t let the soup be too bland today."

The apprentice scratched his head and replied with a smile, "No problem."

The sailors would take turns resting, some napping against wooden barrels, others gathering to play dice, and some humming old songs from the Northern Territory.

Even in the open sea, they adhered to their routines, conducting patrols every third watch, changing sails every second, and reporting daily on wind and currents.

No one slacked off, and no one complained.

"This ship really puts people at ease," an old sailor laughed, "Back on the Empire’s ships, whether you lived to see the next port all depended on fate."

"Thanks to Lord Louis," another old sailor laughed beside him.

Both were veteran sailors recruited at Dawn Port. Initially, they thought serving on a ship from the Northern Territory would be unreliable, but it turned out to be the most reassuring ship they had ever been on.

The deck’s wooden planks creaked softly under their feet, blending with the wind and the waves into a gentle yet steady symphony of navigation.

Meanwhile, Alwyn Sether stood on the observation deck, wearing a long coat with the Red Tide Standard, with metallic shoulder guards that gleamed in the light.

He was the chief commander of the Dawn fleet, born in the Empire’s Southeast Province. He served on ships of the Calvin Clan in his early years but later fell out of favor with the nobles and became a knight under Louis, being one of the first Red Tide Knights.

He initially thought going to the Northern Territory was a dead end, but under Louis, he found prosperity.

In just a few years, he advanced from Official Knight to High-tier Elite Knight and volunteered to be the chief arbiter of this voyage.

To him, this journey was almost a return home with honor and triumph.

Alwyn squinted, his gaze crossing the thin mist to lock onto that distant silhouette of land gradually waking up.

The sea breeze brushed across his face, carrying the faint scent of salt and warmth.

"That’s the spire of Vero Port!" the lookout suddenly shouted loudly.

After a moment of silence, the entire ship erupted in cheers.

"We’ve reached the Southeast Province!" "We can see the port!"

The crew rushed to the deck to gaze at the increasingly clear city.

The distant tower stood tall in the morning light, flags fluttering in the wind, and the lighthouse at the port twinkled like starlight.

"It took us only a little over two months from the Northern Territory... We actually did it!" a helmsman shouted excitedly, almost at the top of his lungs.

Applause broke out on the deck, with someone blowing a horn, its sound akin to a victory announcement, traversing the sea breeze and reaching every warship in the fleet.

The Dawn responded with a whistle; soon after, the Tide gave a deep echo.

The horns of the nine warships rose and fell in turn, forming a majestic maritime ensemble.

The waves rolled beneath the hull, and the fleet maintained its perfect formation as they sped forward.

Alwyn looked down on everything, a subtle smile on his lips, that smile hinted at a sigh of relief after surviving a peril.

Recalling the journey, several life-threatening dangers had been overcome, and looking back, his heart still fluttered slightly.

It was the twelfth day of the voyage, the stormy night, where the wind felt as if it might tear the sky apart, and the waves were so high they seemed they could overturn the heavens.

The Dawn tossed up and down amidst the turbulent waves, the deck washed as if it were the icy surface of the Northern Territory.

The sailors could barely see each other’s faces yet continued their tasks according to routine; this was a scenario they had practiced and rehearsed during their time in the Northern Territory.

For three days and nights, the fierce storm raged, and they survived by adhering to every rule in the "Twelve Laws of Navigation."

When the storm passed, silence reigned over the sea, and Alwyn watched the fleet emerge from the waves, murmuring quietly, "If it had been an ordinary Empire fleet, they would have perished that night."

The second peril occurred in the sea of dense fog.

That night, the sea was as quiet as a grave, the fog so thick one couldn’t see their own hand, and the fleet was scattered, with a cargo ship drifting off course.

The masthead of the Dawn lit up with signal lamps, the alchemical sound array humming in the darkness, a new Red Tide technology, allowing the ship to echo like a heartbeat in the fog.

Alwyn used sonar commands to guide, listening to the echoes drawing closer little by little.

When the silhouette of the lost ship emerged once again, the entire fleet erupted in cheers long suppressed.

The third peril was the sudden pirate attack.

That afternoon, the sky was a ghastly white, and a band of speedboats bearing black flags surged out of the sea fog from the flank, like a pack of blood-scenting sharks.

Even before Alwyn could issue a command, the Dawn’s secondary cannon had already turned its direction.

The cannon roared, the deck trembled, and fire and smoke burst instantaneously.

The Red Tide battleships were like a cold iron wall, the fire arcs precise, tearing the pirate ships into splinters.

The Dawn and Tide quickly encircled, their actions as precise as a drill; the entire battle took less than half a moment, leaving only floating wreckage on the sea.

Alwyn recalled the pirates’ terrified cries; they thought they could prey on merchant ships but encountered a naval legion instead.