Chapter 91: Lieutenant Colonel of the Navy

“They are gone!” Long Cheng, who was holding another spear and standing on the stern railing, let out a long sigh. He looked at Lin Qi in surprise and asked, “You said they were religious fanatics? They should have chased us down relentlessly!”

Lin Qi handed the heavy, dozens-of-pounds broadsword—clearly a controlled item—to a sailor. The sailors on the deck were busy hiding the illegal weapons in a secret compartment at the bottom of the ship and bringing out fishing knives, daggers, large axes, and harpoons commonly used by sailors. They handed one to each sailor.

Hearing Long Cheng’s question, Lin Qi responded irritably, “They are religious fanatics, not religious fools!”

Long Cheng paused for a moment, then cracked a smile as if Lin Qi’s words made sense. Religious fanatics, not religious fools—seeing twelve warships rapidly approaching, if they had insisted on fighting the Sea Windmill, it would have been a death wish.

With a strange smile, Lin Qi sneered, “But you, respected Mr. Long Cheng, these guys might not care about the Sea Windmill, but they will never let you off. Two Temple Warlocks were taken down by you. Even if they were just the lowest-level soul Shamans, this incident would definitely alert the monsters of the Odin Temple. You are in big trouble!”

Snorting disdainfully, Long Cheng handed the steel spear to a sailor and laughed arrogantly, “Why would I be afraid of them? A bunch of uncivilized savages—I’ve killed countless fools like them. If they dare cause me trouble, I’ll just kill them all… Heh heh, I’ll take the land route back to The East. I won’t pass through here again.”

Lin Qi’s face twitched. This shameless guy—his earlier words sounded so heroic, as if the Odin Temple were nothing but dirt and scarecrows in his eyes. But his next sentence completely exposed his true nature. He planned to take the land route back to The East? This utterly shameless guy would leave without a care, leaving the people of the Western Continent to face the retaliation of those Alien Races.

However, as long as Dun Er Ke wasn’t affected, and with so many port cities in the northern part of the Continent, let those Alien Races cause trouble wherever they pleased. What did it have to do with Lin Qi?

Giving Long Cheng a thumbs-up, Lin Qi saw the distant warships rapidly approaching with the wind. He ordered the sailors to wipe the murderous looks off their faces and put on innocent expressions. Some sailors even made shallow cuts on themselves and lay on the deck groaning, pretending to be badly injured.

Captain Joe Arjang had other sailors splash fish blood on these ‘severely wounded’ men, making them look covered in blood as if they were about to return to the embrace of the Gods.

On the lookout of the leading Empire warship, a signalman raised a flag requesting to board. The Sea Windmill immediately slowed down as directed by the flag signals and proceeded south at a normal speed. The twelve warships formed a defensive formation around the Sea Windmill, ready to face any attackers. A small boat was lowered from the lead command ship.

Six fully armed soldiers rowed the boat, while two officers stood onboard. The small boat tossed on the waves for a while before carefully approaching the towering hull of the Sea Windmill. Joe Arjang directed the sailors to lower a rope ladder, and soon, two Empire naval officers and four soldiers came aboard.

Joe Arjang and Lin Qi went to greet the two young Empire naval officers. Joe Arjang skillfully tried to get familiar with them, while Lin Qi squinted and carefully examined the two young officers.

After all, Enzo was a top student at the Imperial Army Academy and had some understanding of the Empire navy’s organization. A patrol squadron made up of twelve medium-sized warships should be the core fleet responsible for combat patrols in the waters around Dun Er Ke. Since it wasn’t a main fleet, the commander should hold the rank of Major. However, standing before Lin Qi were a Lieutenant Colonel and a Captain—clearly the fleet commander and his deputy.

The commander of a patrol fleet was actually a Lieutenant Colonel, and this Lieutenant Colonel looked to be under thirty years old. This was something worth pondering. Especially since the Lieutenant Colonel wore a silver thorn-patterned anchor, sword, and shield commemorative medal on his collar and a dark blue medal ribbon on his right chest, indicating he came from a family with a military background.

Looking at the Lieutenant Colonel’s neat uniform, shiny military boots, and the slightly worn Magical Beast Hide belt with gold trim, one could imagine that this promising young Lieutenant Colonel had climbed to such a high rank at a young age due to his family’s influence, but it seemed the power left by his family wasn’t very strong anymore. Hence, despite his high rank as a navy Lieutenant Colonel, he could only command a patrol squadron.

In particular, the worn Magical Beast Hide belt with gold trim looked ancient and ornate, clearly another family heirloom. With such neat attire, why wear a slightly worn belt? Clearly, his current family situation might not be very good. Young officers always paid great attention to their military appearance and would do everything they could to look their best, just as Enzo had done in Borelly.

A worn belt was something a young officer from a well-off military family, who had achieved a high position at a young age, would never wear around his waist.

So Lin Qi eagerly stepped forward, tears in his eyes, and warmly shook the Lieutenant Colonel’s hand. “Lieutenant Colonel, thank you for saving us. You saved everyone on the Sea Windmill! Oh my, if it weren’t for you, those damned, brutal, savage, dirty Alien Race scum would have taken our skulls and turned them into drinking cups!”

Shaking the Lieutenant Colonel’s hand enthusiastically and tearfully, Lin Qi shouted, “Brothers, send some good things to our noble, brave, and fearless navy comrades. Send over thirty Hammerhead Sharks, along with the good wine, tea, and lemons we have onboard. We are heading back now, but our navy comrades will still have to stay at sea for many days to protect our safety!”

From an angle no one could see, Lin Qi skillfully slipped a small, flexible piece of paper into the Lieutenant Colonel’s sleeve. He smiled and said, “May I ask your honorable name, respected Lieutenant Colonel? I will send an official letter to the Empire Military Department to commend your brave act of rescuing us from the fanatics of the Odin Temple!”

The navy Lieutenant Colonel was taken aback. He instinctively touched the small piece of paper in his sleeve, and a smile appeared on his stern face. “Neville. I am Lieutenant Colonel Neville, recently assigned to be in charge of the daily security within a thousand nautical miles around Dun Er Ke.”

Lin Qi’s smile widened even more. He continued shaking Neville’s hand warmly and said, “Lieutenant Colonel Neville, I am Lin Qi. It is such a joy to meet you!”

Long Cheng smiled thoughtfully. Only he had clearly seen Lin Qi’s little trick.

He was growing to like this little rascal Lin Qi more and more.