Red Moon Returns

The endless sea and sky are connected in a line, and the salty sea breeze blows in your face.

A fleet of three multi-masted sailing ships was docked at the pier. The masts stood like guns, and the decks reflected the dazzling sunlight. The sailors climbed up and down along the masts and cables, making final inspections for sailing. Shouts came and went. Straight into the clouds.

The porters staggered onto the cargo ship carrying large buckets of water and supplies. The door of the warehouse was open, and the chief accountant was loudly counting the goods in the cabin. They were all ready-made clothes and metal daily necessities. These are the two most famous products of Rhine City. , very popular throughout Rand and even half of Middle-earth.

"Come aboard."

"Sail inspection."

"Add coal and start the steam engine."

"Uncable."

Black smoke billowed from the stern, the propellers stirred up pale water, the gangplank was retracted, and the sailors at the top of the mast kept calling out flags to echo each other. The three large ships slowly left the long bridge and began to move slowly with the waves.

"Ready to go..."

"Woo~~~"

The long horn was interrupted, and a carriage came galloping in the distance, causing the pedestrians on the pier to scream. At the same time, seven or eight small boats came up from all around, blocking the three boats before the big ship left the long bridge and entered the waterway. The way of the ship.

"Stop the ship and get inspected."

A flag signal was played on the small boat, and then the big ship was forced to stop, and the gangplank was extended again. Several rampaging carriages stopped just beside the long bridge. A group of local lord sailors rushed onto the deck of the flagship, followed by several mysterious black men. Clothed priest.

Naturally, Knights Lynch and Rick led the knights from the church to catch up, mobilized the garrison at the port through regular channels, and forced the fleet to stop at the last moment.

If this allowed them to leave the harbor, it would be impossible to catch up with them. Now seeing the three ships stopped, Lin Qi, who put on the robe of the Night Priest, breathed a sigh of relief.

"What's going on, what's going on."

The captain in a bright red coat hurried over and was stunned when he saw the people on the deck. Then he smiled at the leading navy officer and strode forward to greet him. He stretched out his hands to hold the officer's hand eagerly and gave him three Frye coins. The German gold coin slipped into the officer's hand like magic.

"Now that we suspect there are prohibited goods on your ship, shut down the steam engine immediately and undergo inspection."

The officer pushed the captain's hand away with a serious face and winked at the priests behind him.

"Sir, what's going on? We are all registered legal cargo ships. The fleets of the Commercial Daily Chamber of Commerce are all loyal subjects of the kingdom. They can never transport prohibited goods." The captain said with a sad face, "Look Our moorings have been untied and the chickens sacrificed to the Poseidon have been killed. If we were to stop the ship again, it would be a curse for us to encounter a shipwreck when we set out."

"That's your own business. Who asked you to transport contraband? Now open all the cabin doors and wait for the search. After the search confirms that there is no contraband, you will be allowed to leave."

"Sir, this is illegal." The captain also darkened his face. "Our ship has already left the shore, which means it has left Rand's territory. You can only do random inspections when boarding the ship in territorial waters, and you do not have the right to conduct a thorough search."

"Do you still know the law? The lord's order is the law. Stop talking nonsense and hurry up, or you will be executed on the spot for disobedience."

The officer snorted with a stern face, and the soldiers behind him immediately stepped forward neatly, their rifle butts resting on the deck at the same time, full of momentum and pressure.

"etc."

The captain was a little too calm. Lynch realized something was wrong and wanted to warn the officer, but...

"Crack, click, click."

Dazzling flashes of light flashed continuously in the darkness below the deck, and then more than ten people emerged from the deck, followed by several workers carrying cameras. When the workers moved the camera to the deck and set it up again, there was another burst of snapping photos. More than a dozen people, both men and women, most of them wearing light jackets and shoes, holding pens and papers in their hands, lowered their heads to write notes. With.

"Donald, there's no need to be angry with them." Then, a middle-aged man in formal clothes walked out slowly with a cane. He was somewhat similar to the description of the captured smuggler. He should be Jefferson. He looked at the soldiers and priests. They leaned forward slightly, squinting their eyes and smiling sinisterly, "It just so happens that there are reporters from all the influential newspapers in the Rhineland. Sirs, please show the momentum of our Rhineland soldiers."

reporter?

Most people's expressions changed.

Of course, if no one sees it, it will be easy to handle. If one or two media are present, they can also start a quarrel later. But if all the media in the city are present, it will be a disaster of public opinion. The question is how did these reporters appear?

"Haha, in ten days it will be the birthday of King Friedmann and the Queen Mother. She is the aunt of His Majesty Rudolf II. As His Majesty's loyal subjects, of course everyone is interested in reporting on this event. Our chamber of commerce happens to have a ship. He invited his colleagues from Rhine to set out together." The philistine man smiled, "What, sirs, do you have any objections to us newspaper reporters? Or do you insist on violating Rand's laws and forcibly searching the entire ship?"

He was actually defeated by an army.

The officer leading the team looked embarrassed and glanced at Knight Rick secretly, but Rick also felt a little troubled at this time.

These reporters were Jefferson's safety measure. No wonder he set sail leisurely with the fleet and was escorted by representatives of the city's media. It was much safer than him escaping in a hurry.

"Hahaha, officers, are you still going to delay our trip? We are not as leisurely as you are. Every minute is very precious and cannot be wasted, haha."

Rick felt that he was in a dilemma. Now he could ignore the reporters and cameras on the ship, forcibly detain everyone, and then search the entire ship. From Jefferson's performance, he was 80% sure that the thing was in his hands.

However, the cost of doing so was also quite serious. Even if the thing was found in the end, it would cause a storm of public opinion. At that time, other churches would definitely be happy to step on it, and the reputation of the entire church might be affected in the end. And if the thing was not found, it would be even more troublesome. He would become a laughing stock of the whole Rand. Even if the church wanted to protect itself, it would not be able to do so and would definitely be punished.

"Commanders, we are discussing the reporting matters. We really don't have time to play with you. If you don't intend to forcibly search the entire ship in violation of the law, please push the gangway back from below. Our journalist friends never like to contact you, and I...ha, I don't like to see your faces either, so please leave."

"You..."

The leading officer clenched his fists, but looking at the reporters around him, he took a step back involuntarily. And Knight Rick also looked ugly. With his strength, everyone present could be easily killed, but he could only suppress his anger and do nothing about Jefferson's cold smile.

Do you know that he is a criminal, but you have to watch him get away so proudly?

"Just now I heard what you said, according to Rand law, ships can also be inspected in territorial waters?"

Lin Qi pulled the hood of his robe. The sound was not loud, but most people on the ship could hear it.

"Yes." Rick felt a glimmer of hope, "Each ship has the right to randomly check three to five key compartments."

"That's easy." Lynch slowly walked up to Jefferson, looked at his smiling face, and asked softly, "Sir, what makes you think that I can't sense the things my goddess threw away?"

Jefferson's smile froze, and he stepped back half a step with his hands on his chest.

"Do you think I can find the stolen goods you hid, Mr. Jefferson? Now, General."