Chapter 407: Biting the tongue, Sneaking around and Setting sail
=Pathos, be honest with me.=
=Did you know that this ship was the one that our lord and his family were going to take to get to Roaring Tide?=
=Yes.=
=Huh…that’s…weird.=
=Well…with your proclivity for mayhem and all my centuries of knowing you…I figured you somehow planned it that we’d end up breaking our lord’s upcoming vessel as a means to mess around with it and him.=
<...>
=What? Can you blame me?=
=I’ve known you for a little over a thousand years, I should hope we get along at this point.=
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“This ship is a lot bigger than I expected.”
“All this clicking and whirring, it’s like being inside of that clock that grandfather keeps in the sitting rooms.”
“What the fuck is this funnel thing?”
“I don’t know, but if you turn that crank, it sings.”
“For real?!”
As the Zhen clansmen settled into their assigned cabins, unloaded their various pieces of luggage and looking over all of the amenities the ship has to offer, Zhen Liu was busy…cringing in his own cabin.
To be more exact, he had packed away his luggage into his cabin and was now laying facedown, above the sheets, in a surprisingly comfortable bed while releasing a low whining sound.
Fortunately, he wasn’t suffering by himself, although it wasn’t the kaijin comforting at this time.
“By the gods…why…”
“It’s okay Xiao Liu, it’s no big deal,” Jin Fang comforted her upset boyfriend while lightly petting the back of his head.
“I’m confused, why is he cringing?,” Rianna asked while sitting off to the side, watching the pair, “the ship looks great and will probably be a lot more comfortable than a galleon.”
“That may be the case,” Zhen Liu replied while not moving his face up from the bed and interrupting Jin Fang in the process, “but it’s precisely because I made this ship that I am cringing so badly. It’s bad enough I accidentally changed this place on a technological level when I tried to fix it, but now I’m accidentally roping my family further and further into my shenanigans.”
“Uhh, don’t you already do that?”
“Yes, but covertly. I can at least lie away sudden leaps and bounds in terms of cultivation, because everyone is familiar with that and heard all of those stories, but this is straight up new and foreign technology.”
Zhen Liu say up from his laid down position in order to sit and hug his legs.
“Maybe it’s paranoia, but I know people and people tend to be a bit more accepting of what they’re familiar with suddenly evolving, and not stuff out of their control suddenly changing. That and I’m kind of embarrassed about some of the design choices made here and there.”
“…”
Jin Fang and Rianna could only silently stare at their mutual interest sulking over such a bizarre thing to worry about…and yet, they could tell this was bothering him on a level deeper than what he wanted to admit.
It wasn’t so much he was embarrassed about his family using the ship…it sounded like he didn’t want to accidentally hurt them with something he had made.
Thankfully for them and him, he had companions who knew this despite him not saying anything about it.
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“Hey, have you figured out what’s the deal with all these pipes? I found like three different types of them and I swear, some of them appear to be prettier than the others and I swear they seem to be connected to all the rooms.”
“Oh! I actually do. I asked one of the sailors and they said it was a nu…nu…nusomething. Apparently they use it to send messages all over the ship.”
“Really? What about the other two?”
“Well, one is suppose to carry steam all over the place while the other carries sound.”
“Huh? Isn’t that redundant with the nusomething pipes?”
“Not really.”
As two members of the Zhen Clan conversed about the strangeness of the ship they were on, four small figurine-like creatures were hiding out of sight to eavesdrop and watch.
This little group consisted of a figurine that looked like a heroic doll made of jade, a little toy mammoth made of metal, a little ballerina that looked to be made of porcelain and a little toy frog made of blue dyed leather.
These four were none other than Nepherage Frosttusk, Razorstella and Hurricroak, but they had updated their “mini-mode” to look more in tune with the ship’s steampunk aesthetic.
The four of them had been sent out to keep an eye everybody make sure nothing went wrong, granted that didn’t stop them from speculating about what could go wrong.
[Man, I knew that comment would come up,] Hurricroak complained, [also it’s pneumatic, didn’t we include the manual somewhere? Or a new dictionary?]
[Think so,] Frosttusk answered surprisingly quicker than normal. Evidently, the mammoth man(toy) learned that pipes carrying several tons of pressurized steam can get really really hot and he was loving that fact.
[Should be fine though, with the ship being as it is now, we won’t have to worry about people asking too many questions for too long…well, until the return trip.]
[Speaking of the ship,] Razorstella interjected, [you guys want to take a bet on how long it takes until someone in his clan touches something they probably shouldn’t and cause a massive cascade of issues? I’m betting three days into the voyage, if our lord is any indicator for cascading issues, the whole family might be a liability here.]
[Razorstella, that’s a very insensitive bet and observation and you should be ashamed, ] Nepherage answered, […that said, I’m going to guess it won’t happen until we sit a sea monster or a storm.]
[Hah! How optimistic.]
[I’m gonna be a little nicer and say six,] Hurricroak answered.
[What about you, mammoth man?]
[Pirates.]
[Really?]
The four mini kaijin kept up this tiny bit of banter for a little longer until finally coming to a fork in the decj halls and deciding to split up.
The more they spread out, the more likely they could handle any issues that arise.
Granted, they needed to be equipped with the right skills and abilities for that.
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“Yeesh. I still can’t get over all of these new controls.”
Captain Douglas stood in his new steering room admiring all of the levers, buttons and the giant ship wheel that controlled the whole vessel.
He did have a new captain’s chair to which he could sit and oversee everything, but it felt right that the first maiden voyage of his “new” vessel was something he felt on his own two feet.
As he stood there, eventually his cabin boy and helmsman entered the room, with the former informing the latter about everything he needed to know about the ship.
“Alright, over there is the wheel. All you have to do is steer the ship as normal. The rest of us are going to be in charge of the consoles and make sure all of the pipes and paddles go where you need to them go.”
“Uhh…alright.”
The helmsman looked lost, but that was to be expected. Today was a big day and this was a crazy moment for everyone involved.
“You all ready to sail?,” The caption asked his crew.
“Yes sir.”
“Then anchors away.”
With the order given, the PS Nimona suddenly roared to life as every crewman got to their stations and prepared the ship for launch.
The captain walked over to his captain chair and settled in, his hand reaching out and grabbing a funnel he learned to be a communication system connected to the whole of the ship.
He cleared his throat for a moment before speaking.
“All hands and guests, please hold on as we make our way out of the harbor,” the Captain’s voice rang out the ship, “if you so desire, make your way to the top deck so you can get a view of the port retreating into the distance. That is all.”
The captain replaced the funnel once he was done and let out a breath.
He didn’t know why, but making announcements without having to shout them was novel and surprisingly exhausting.
“Maybe it’s because I have to put more thoughts into my words?”
Regardless, as of this moment, the ship was getting ready to set sail.
