As the Clown approached the outer harbor, it was quickly intercepted by a patrol boat.
Xu Jian presented his resident officer badge and return pass, while An Youyu handed over his temporary transit pass.
The patrol boat registered the accompanying status of Lu Guizhou and Ning Cang, then hauled in the barrier line, swung its hull aside, and let the Clown enter the visiting vessel channel.
"Old Lu, you hauled in some good stuff this time!"
As soon as the hull pulled alongside the dock, shouting from the shore chased after them.
The speaker was a fish market manager in his forties with a stout build and a black mole on his forehead, his eyes already locked onto the flying dagger wood ray visible in the open rear cabin.
He called over his workers to board the ship, inspecting it all the way from its cold-silver blade-beak to its woody scales, and quickly quoted a generous price.
Lu Guizhou pressed his hand down on the long cord binding the fish.
"Not selling."
"Think it's too low?"
"Not that, but we haven't drawn our donation lot yet, so the fish stays for now," Lu Guizhou said. "If we actually draw a flying dagger wood ray of this quality, we can turn it in directly to the central warehouse and save ourselves the hassle."
"The New Residency donation lot?"
Only then did the manager's eyes shift from the wood ray, passing over Lu Guizhou to land on the Clown commune badge at An Youyu's waist.
"So, Clown really registered for this edition's Tide Battle, and the candidate is this fellow?"
"You sure pick up on things quickly."
"Doing business at the dock, just knowing how to appraise fish isn't enough."
Meeting that appraising gaze, An Youyu also glanced at the badge on the man's waist—【Lockhead Float-Commune: Zhou Manchong】.
Lockhead Float-Commune.
At last night's strategy meeting, the elders had mentioned this name.
Supposedly, the Sea-Calming Stone anchored by Lockhead Float-Commune was square and thick, with a hole running straight through its center. From a distance, it looked like a lockhead, which was how the commune got its name.
However, what Lockhead Float-Commune was truly famous for was its cold storage and fresh fish material preservation.
Whenever a Harvest Tide arrived, most of the fresh goods that other communes didn't have time to sell off were sent to their cold storage.
No wonder Zhou Manchong had locked his eyes onto the flying dagger wood ray at a glance.
But business was business, and the Tide Battle was the Tide Battle. In the previous run, Lockhead Float-Commune had only ranked nineteenth—in the eyes of the anchorage folk, it was still a weak commune.
Zhou Manchong squatted back down beside the wood ray, tapping his knuckles against the woody scales as if the transaction weren't over yet.
"Word spread through the anchorage long ago that the Seven Seats aren't renewing Clown's lease. No matter how politely that document was written, it's no different from kicking you out of the Seven-Masts Waters."
"Lately, people in the fish market have even been saying that the Seven Seats didn't target Clown just for Ugly Stone."
"In recent years, the ship loads of fish brought to the scales by each commune have been shrinking with every turn. Some are saying that if all twenty-eight communes keep sharing this patch of water, no one gets full—so it's better to sacrifice one first..."
"If something really can be refined out of that Sea-Calming Stone, and the gains distributed among the remaining twenty-seven communes, Clown Float-Commune's lease happens to be expiring, and its strength is at rock bottom. Making an example of you is the least troublesome option."
Lu Guizhou asked, "Who started that rumor?"
"Dozens of boats come through the fish market every day; it got mixed up and lost long ago," Zhou Manchong said. "Whether it's true or false, weigh it yourself."
Zhou Manchong added, "If this talk is true, the moment Clown takes a mast, the scapegoat will have to be picked anew from the other twenty-seven. What choice do you think everyone will make?"
"Is that even a question?" Lu Guizhou said. "They'll help Clown win a mast."
"Once Clown takes a seat, a stone-destroying decision like that won't be able to gather the joint seal of all Seven Seats, and no one will have to leave their home or abandon their commune. That's the safest option for everyone."
Zhou Manchong burst out laughing at this.
"Anyone can say sweet words like that. Back before they won their masts, which of the current Seven Seats didn't claim they'd stand up for weak communes? But once they sat comfortably in those seats, didn't they look after their own first?"
"So don't expect twenty-seven communes to gamble their own peace on Clown staying the same after taking a seat. To them, the least troublesome choice is still putting Clown out of the running first."
"Don't laugh just yet," Lu Guizhou said. "Lockhead only ranked nineteenth last time. Are you really that much safer than Clown?"
"By staying silent today just to protect yourselves and tacitly agreeing that Clown can be sacrificed, you're tacitly agreeing that when your turn comes in the future, others can stand by and watch all the same."
"You call this standing by and watching?" Zhou Manchong raised his hand, pointing at the seven tall masts in the anchorage. "All twenty-eight communes have their eyes on this. If we didn't even give you the chance to fight for a mast and turn things around, that would be standing by and watching."
"If you have the capability, win the mast back; if you can't win it or keep it, then accept defeat."
"It's true for Clown, true for Lockhead, and true even for the current Seven Seats. No one needs to cry injustice—that's always been the rule of Seven-Masts, hasn't it?"
While they were still arguing, Xu Jian, holding his document box at the exit, urged them, "Are you registering or not? The office won't wait past the hour. If you miss the deadline, not a single shell-coin of the registration fee paid last night will be refunded."
"We are, absolutely!" Lu Guizhou answered.
Ning Cang locked the rear cabin, and the three of them quickly caught up with Xu Jian.
The exit of the dock faced a long street, packed with people and cargo from every commune moving to and from the heart of the anchorage.
Fish-oil lamps burned brightly even in daylight, while the smells of steamed buns, fried fish, and spices drifted past in waves—no sooner had you identified one scent than it was overwhelmed by the next.
A stall owner turned a nozzle beside the wall. A rushing sound echoed inside the pipe, and clean water gushed into the pot with a splash.
An Youyu had grown accustomed to seeing such things in the Northern Jurisdiction fish-transformation camp, where they were called 【faucets】.
A high elevated water tank stored the water; when the nozzle opened, gravity pushed the water out. Seven-Masts Anchorage's copper valves and iron pipes were simply made thicker, but the underlying principle was no different.
At sea, metal and timber were rare. Not a single part of a resource fish could be wasted on just its most valuable asset; alchemists would identify the properties of various raw materials, then dismantle and refine them into more durable materials, labor-saving tools, and machinery.
Faucets, water pumps, and steam machinery were all created by alchemists.
If An Youyu hadn't unlocked his apertures back then, the Northern Jurisdiction fish-transformation camp would have transferred him to the alchemy camp to start learning material identification, furnace keeping, and tool crafting.
Water pipes ran along the eaves into the depths of the streets and alleys. At a street corner, a heavily patched steam engine drove a water pump up and down, its valve venting bursts of white steam from time to time.
Behind them, the steam winch at the dock started up again, iron chains grinding against the cargo rack as harsh metallic screeches rose over the rooftops and echoed into the long street.
Xu Jian had already walked ahead quite a distance, so An Youyu quickened his pace to catch up.
Further ahead lay Fish Material Street.
Most street-facing water tanks displayed supply signboards from the current Seven Seats, leaving uncommon fish materials squeezed into the back of the shops.
Passing through Fish Material Street, a fork in the road ahead held three signposts pointing to the 【Anchorage Association】, 【Maritime Affairs Office】, and 【Central Distribution Warehouse】.
The residential cabins on both sides mostly displayed duty badges from the Maritime Affairs Office or commune signs of the current Seven Seats.
Xu Jian offhandedly mentioned to him that those who could reside long-term in the anchorage were mainly personnel on official duty and anchorage residents of the current Seven Seats. Other communes could come to deliver goods, trade, or handle maritime affairs, but obtaining permanent residency here was no easy feat.
A handcart fully loaded with fish material crates blocked the path ahead.
Xu Jian navigated around the rear of the cart, leading the three of them into a side street indicated by the sign for the 【Tide Battle Office】.
The deeper they walked, the fewer shopfronts there were.
At the end of the alley, a plaque reading "Tide Battle Office" hung right above the doorway.
"We're here."
Rate on N.U.
