"Seize the Mast?"
"Is Old Lu crazy?"
"Seize it with what?"
Lu Guizhou didn't explain, simply calling out across the crowd:
"An Youyu."
An Youyu looked up.
"You come too."
"We'll discuss this below the commune monument."
...
In less than fifteen minutes, everyone in the commune capable of taking charge gathered before the commune monument.
The rest of the commune members hadn't dispersed either, surrounding them in three inner and three outer rings.
Some were still whispering softly that Lu Guizhou was crazy.
Some looked across the crowd toward Ning Cang, clearly remembering A'Man, who was supposed to have waited for this term's Tide Battle.
Others counted through the commune's young people one by one, ultimately saying nothing, only letting their gazes fall upon An Youyu.
From the lingering voices in the old items left behind by A'Man, An Youyu had actually heard the phrase "Seize the Mast" several times.
That youth had asked more than once when it would finally be his turn.
Every time it was brought up, the excitement in his voice couldn't be suppressed.
Presumably, it was a very prestigious affair.
But how exactly one seized it, and what winning would net them, was not left in those fragmented lingering voices.
Lu Guizhou turned and went to the public warehouse.
When he returned, an old wooden box was cradled in his arms.
The lid was flipped open.
Pressed right on top was a faded commune flag.
Three holes were torn in the flag's corner, and the grinning clown on the flag had only half a face left.
Beneath it was also an old sea chart.
Lu Guizhou spread the sea chart out before the commune monument.
No sea routes were drawn on the chart, only twenty-nine Sea-Calming Stones.
The largest one sat in the center, labeled 【Seven-Masts Anchorage】.
The outer twenty-eight stones corresponded to twenty-eight float-communes respectively.
Beyond Seven-Masts Anchorage, seven circular platforms were drawn.
Upon each platform stood a high mast.
Lu Guizhou pressed his hand against the stone in the center.
The Seven-Masts Waters Map.
The surroundings gradually quieted down.
The older generation had all seen this chart before.
However, An Youyu had registered his residence not long ago and knew almost nothing about the rules of the Seven-Masts Anchorage Association and the twenty-eight communes.
These words were primarily spoken for An Youyu to hear.
"There are twenty-nine Sea-Calming Stones in total in the Seven-Masts Waters."
"Sea-Calming Stones are divided into 【Anchorage Stones】 and 【Commune Stones】."
"This stone in the center is an Anchorage Stone, supporting 【Seven-Masts Anchorage】."
"The twenty-eight stones on the perimeter are Commune Stones, each sustaining a float-commune."
"These are the twenty-eight communes."
His finger moved upward, stopping between seven high masts.
"However, within the Anchorage Association, there are only seven seats."
"They are called 【Mast Seats】."
"Twenty-eight communes compete for seven seats."
"Whichever family's flag hangs on Seven-Masts, that family claims one seat."
An Youyu asked, "What are the benefits of sitting up there?"
"First is anchorage residence status."
Lu Guizhou said, "The seven float-communes occupying a mast are considered anchorage residents for three years. Entering Seven-Masts Anchorage to trade, moor, or handle maritime affairs requires no additional permission from anyone."
Old Knobby chimed in from the side, "That's only a small part of it."
"What makes the Seven Seats truly valuable is the authority held in their hands."
"How fishing grounds are partitioned, how Sea-Calming Rent is set, which Commune Stone is leased to whom, and whether lease agreements are renewed upon expiry—all must be discussed together by the Seven Seats."
"Though right now, for Clown, only one rule matters most."
"【Anchor Protection】."
"The float-commune where the current term's seven masts reside automatically gets its main anchor lease renewed for three years, with three years of waived Sea-Calming Rent."
Lu Guizhou looked at those seven masts.
"So if Ugly Stone is to stay, we don't need to beg Feng Dehai, nor do we need to wait for the Seven Seats to show mercy. So long as one of these—"
His finger pressed down heavily.
"—hangs Clown's flag."
An Youyu glanced at the sea chart again.
"How do we hang it?"
Surely it couldn't be snuck up there in the dead of night.
Lu Guizhou took out that tattered commune flag from the wooden box.
"Once every four years..."
Beside him, Old Chaotou coughed.
"Three years."
Lu Guizhou paused, glancing at him.
"Once every three years."
"Seven-Masts Anchorage holds the 【Seven-Masts Tide Battle】, commonly known as Seize the Mast."
"Twenty-eight communes, one spot per commune."
"Entering the contest has only two requirements."
"Under twenty years old."
"Registered First-Transformation."
"There is no upper limit on the number of transformations, nor do they care which King Path is taken."
At this point, many eyes beneath the commune monument fell upon An Youyu.
Lu Guizhou continued explaining.
"The first match is a free-for-all."
"Twenty-eight people enter together, eliminating half first, leaving only fourteen."
"Only those who remain are qualified to step onto the Mast-Seizing Platforms."
His finger swept across the seven circular platforms.
"Fourteen people, seven platforms—in the end, only one remains on each platform."
"Seize the platform, raise your commune flag to the top of the mast, and defend it until the final tide chime."
"When the tide chime strikes, whichever seven flags are hanging on the seven masts in the end—those seven families will sit in the Anchorage Association for the next three years."
An Youyu kept staring at the sea chart.
"The Seven Seats hold such immense power. If another commune's flag is raised, what if they refuse to yield their seats?"
Old Chaotou laughed first.
"Then what the hell kind of Tide Battle would it be?"
Lu Guizhou said, "Mast Seats change hands every three years; they were never any single family's ancestral property to begin with."
"Once the Tide Battle results are out, those who should step down must step down. If someone truly refuses to leave, the Maritime Affairs Office is responsible for clearing the seats."
An Youyu frowned slightly.
"The Maritime Affairs Office can even clear the Seven Seats?"
"Doesn't it usually work for the Anchorage Association?"
Over the past month, he had intermittently heard the name "Maritime Affairs Office" from the lingering voices in old items and conversations between Ning Cang and his wife. It was only today, seeing the Maritime Affairs officer collect rent with his own eyes, that he had pieced together roughly what it managed on a daily basis.
Yet according to Lu Guizhou, it seemed not to be merely an administrative office under the Seven Seats.
Lu Guizhou raised his hand and tapped Seven-Masts Anchorage at the center of the sea chart.
"Simply put, the Seven Seats are the rulers who change every three years."
"The Maritime Affairs Office, on the other hand, is the permanent group of personnel managing affairs in the Seven-Masts Waters."
"Normally collecting rent, handling maritime affairs, and maintaining order in the anchorage—when encountering sea bandits, demon beasts, or major tide disasters, they can even mobilize armed personnel and vessels from each commune according to the 《Seven-Masts Covenant》."
"All twenty-eight communes pool money and grain to maintain it, and what they acknowledge is that covenant, not any specific term's Seven Seats."
An Youyu interrupted, "What is the 《Seven-Masts Covenant》?"
Lu Guizhou explained, "In the past, there was no Tide Battle. Over Sea-Calming Stones and fishing grounds, communes would frequently mobilize their entire fleet and fight to the death."
"Later, the twenty-eight communes together established this covenant."
"When facing external matters, every commune obeys the Maritime Affairs Office's dispatch."
"When competing for internal interests, they no longer mobilize fleets to wage war."
"Each commune sends one young person—twenty-eight people competing for seven flags. Whoever wins sits in the Mast Seats for the next three years."
"That is how the Seven-Masts Tide Battle came to be."
An Youyu somewhat understood.
However, another question quickly occurred to him.
"The seven families have sat in those Mast Seats for so many years. Could there be no people of theirs inside the Maritime Affairs Office?"
He had seen far too much of this in the Yan Clan.
When a place was controlled by the same group of people long enough, the rules on paper were one thing, while secret collusions were quite another.
Lu Guizhou did not evade the question.
"Of course there are. Not a single hand that can reach in will be missing."
An Youyu pressed on, "Then they can't tamper with the Tide Battle's outcome?"
"They can't."
Lu Guizhou tapped the seven high masts on the chart.
"On the day of the Tide Battle, all twenty-eight communes will be present."
"Who seized a platform, who raised their flag—everyone will see it with their own eyes."
"They can trip you up before the battle, or favor their own people during the fight, but they cannot, in front of all twenty-eight communes, call a win a loss, or claim a flag hanging at the top of a mast isn't there."
"If they truly dared to do that, no one would believe in Seize the Mast ever again."
"If even the outcome of Seize the Mast could be ignored, why would weak communes still abide by the lease agreements set by the Anchorage Association?"
"They would stop paying rent; strong communes couldn't peacefully occupy Sea-Calming Stones either; the twenty-eight communes would resort to fighting over anchorages and fishing grounds all over again; and the Seven-Masts Waters would quickly turn into a chaotic mess."
"When that time comes, whether it's sea bandits, demon beasts, or anomalous tides, any single one could devour the fractured twenty-eight communes one by one."
"The old Seven-Masts knows this, and so does the Maritime Affairs Office."
"Therefore, everyone dares to exploit loopholes in this rule, but no one dares to destroy it with their own hands."
Old Chaotou sneered.
"If it were truly destroyed, why bother yielding seats at all? They might as well launch full-scale commune wars directly."
An Youyu finally understood.
The Seven-Masts Tide Battle was of course unfair.
Strong communes had more fish materials, better fish registers, and could afford to nurture stronger young fish-transformed.
Yet at the very least, those final seven flags still had to be acknowledged.
As long as a flag could be raised, weak communes still had a path to strive upward.
No wonder A'Man had always looked forward to Seize the Mast: thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river; never look down on a youth just because he is poor.
Lu Guizhou released the sea chart and picked up the tattered commune flag at his hand.
"Twenty-eight communes competing for seven masts."
"Only by seizing a mast can Clown have a future."
An Youyu stared at that flag.
"How much time is left until the Tide Battle?"
"Twenty-eight days."
...
Rate on N.U.
