Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!
Chapter 980 - 581: Wooden Boat Goes West, Longship Comes East

Chapter 980: Chapter 581: Wooden Boat Goes West, Longship Comes East

The Long River rolls on, heading southwest. It’s the second largest river in the world, and the Alliance’s longest river in the south, known as the Tarsas River. The Tarsas River runs from east to west, winding for two thousand Li, serving as the only path connecting the eastern and western regions.

At the westernmost end of the Long River, it flows out to the sea at Trout Fish Village, merging into the vast Eastern Pacific Ocean, right by the emerging Black Rock Mountain iron ore mine. This marks the southernmost border of the Kingdom of the Lake and is also the starting and ending point of the kingdom’s first sea exploration.

Three Crocodile God oar-sail ships, laden with the spoils of exploration, returned to the kingdom from here. Afterwards, they sailed upstream northward, reaching the vast and flourishing Atoyac Lake, where they lingered for several months at the Southern Shipbuilding Department outside Zicao City.

The Prepecha shipwrights carefully inspected and repaired damaged planks and sewed up the scattered sails. And when the first double-hulled canoe, full of Telascallan youths, arrived at Atoyac Lake, a new Royal Decree, accompanied by the rainy season’s dark clouds, rolled in.

When the Mexica Warriors, carrying the prince’s Royal Decree, found Chiwaco in a small village outside the shipyard, he was lying on a pile of straw, wearing a large straw hat, leisurely basking in... well, there wasn’t any sun in the sky, just dark clouds and mountain wind. The old militia was enjoying himself in the breeze, holding a bag of sunflower seeds, leisurely cracking them.

This time at sea, the fleet exchanged low-cost for a lot of gold and silver ore. After returning to the kingdom and refining it, everyone divided the gold and silver ingots.

Most of the extra earnings, Chiwaco had someone take to his daughter Luwei and son-in-law Weizti in the Capital Region. As for the remainder, the old militia used it to set up a house near the shipyard, improving his accommodation and food. Having spent too much time at sea, rowing in battle, dealing with wind and dampness, his old back ached terribly, unable to withstand exertion like before, feeling most comfortable lying on straw.

"Royal Decree: The exploration fleet must set out immediately, and within one month, arrive at the Water Valley City’s camp to receive new divine instructions!"

The prince’s Royal Decree allows no defiance. The warriors left the seal and Jade Talisman, then turned and left. Chiwaco was left standing there, staring blankly at the rainy season’s dark clouds. Not until the first clap of thunder struck from the sky did the old militia suddenly awaken. He glared, gritting his teeth, and angrily threw the bag of seeds in his hand to the ground, cursing.

"Ah, what a blind old heaven! Why can’t the thunder falling from the sky strike that detestable prince!"

"Boom!... Boom!..."

The thunder roared, and the rain came down suddenly. The old militia stomped his feet, cursing a few more times in the rain, then spat a few times at the sky before hurriedly crouching in the mud, picking up the scattered sunflower seeds one by one and placing them back into the bag.

"Chief Divine! Rain Divine! Three Gods! And all the other gods, please spare this old bag of bones!..."

"Boom!... Boom!..."

The stormy winds and thunder of the rainy season came from the East, unceasing, just like the king’s decree. Four brand new Crocodile God oar-sail ships set sail from the Southern Shipbuilding Department, carrying a hundred and forty sailors and sixty warriors, joining the existing fleet. The entire kingdom’s exploration team expanded slightly over three hundred people, with seven oar-sailed longships, and the Prepecha Warriors commanded by Huitu Puapu also reached a hundred men. Thereafter, the Kingdom of the Lake’s exploration team stayed for several months, and during the peak of the rainy season, set sail once again.

Traveling by boat during the rainy season was full of hardships. The further upstream, the more turbulent the Tarsas River’s waters became. The fleet passed the Two Hundred Li Town, Four Hundred Li Town, reaching Six Hundred Li Town, Tal Town, to repair the ships again. The entire Long River lacked maintenance work, often encountering floating logs and underwater reefs. Fortunately, both the oar-sail ships and canoes had very shallow drafts, unaffected by the reefs during this high-water season.

Since the Eastern Conquest, Tal Town, as a node for east-west communication along the river, had become increasingly prosperous. Elder General Etalik, following the prince’s orders, deployed two hundred warriors and a thousand militia to build a simple wooden fort, the Sikkim Fortress. The so-called "Sikkim" naturally contained both tin ore and gold mines. The Telascallan captives transported here amounted to three thousand people. Among them, two thousand young men and women were stationed here to cultivate the riverbank lands; the remaining one thousand sturdy men served as laborers, constructing simple docks and working in the surrounding mountain tin mines. As for the scattered small gold mines, the stationed militia secretly mined them, although they were not yet sizable.

The exploration fleet stayed for ten days, avoiding the peak of the rainy season. Chiwaco often stood at the dock, watching the canoes sailing in the wind and rain, adventuring westward, silent and unspeaking.

These small boats were still loaded with Telascallan captives, regardless of day or raining, sped westward with the swift river currents towards the western kingdom. They went with wind and water, speeding westward, able to travel eight hundred Li in just ten days! From the Eight Hundred Town of the alliance’s south to the south of the kingdom at Atoyac Lake. Of course, when these canoes returned upstream, it took more than a month.

"Phew! Sailing at this time, with strong winds and swift waters, if someone falls into the water, how could they be saved?"

"Ha! Old Chiwaco, what are you worried about? They’re just Telascallan captives, not our Prepecha people! I’ve heard from Prepecha warriors stationed at Sikkim Fortress; for every fleet transporting captives, the prince sets a military law: on this thousand-plus-Li journey from Water Valley City to Atoyac Lake, each batch of returned captives shall have no more than twenty percent deaths. Exceeding this number means the leader will be beheaded! Delays beyond half a month also mean beheading! And if more than twenty percent of the captives escape, it’s still beheading!"

Speaking of this, Puapu smacked his lips with admiration.

"Tsk tsk, the prince’s military law is truly formidable! By the way, I’ve also heard the prince’s grandfather, the Alliance’s High Priest, previously died in the Holy City of Cholula. To avenge, the prince set the entire Holy City of Cholula ablaze, sacrificing all twelve priestly families! Those were twelve divine descendant priestly families, with legacies spanning hundreds or even thousands of years, storing untold divine objects and treasures..."

"What?! Burned down the Holy City of Cholula with a single fire?"

Upon hearing this, Chiwaco couldn’t help but shiver. A thunderous roar arrived, startling Chiwaco into a panic jump. He cautiously looked at the dark clouds and touched his head, then lowered his voice.

"What’s that? The High Priest Great Master’s death? How many people will lose their heads?"

"I guess... a total of at least several thousand or even tens of thousands? This Eastern Conquest, said to be a divine war of archrivals, the Mexica legion fought fiercely, terrifyingly fierce! Seeing these boatloads of captives, tens of thousands cannot be stopped. With so many captives captured, how could the dead be few?..."

"...Sigh! The Telascallans, it seems, are finished! The prince even set deadlines for us, but it’s hard to sail against the current, with the heavy rain and turbulent waters, it’s certain we will miss the deadline. Could they... behead us too?"

"Uh... this... shouldn’t be, right? If they behead us, who will go to the sea for the prince?..."

Hearing this, Puapu shuddered all over. He looked at the gloomy sky, hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth, and advised in a deep voice.

"Old Chiwaco, I think we shouldn’t wait any longer. The peak of the rainy season has passed. Even if it involves some risk, the fleet should head north as soon as possible!"

"Hmm!"

The two exchanged glances and nodded resolutely. The long wind blew from the horizon with a vast sound, the deafening thunder roared, and dense raindrops poured down, all coming from the East.

The next day, the seven oar-sailed longships set sail again. They ascended the river, traveling two hundred Li to reach another node along the eastward river, the Eight Hundred Town. Upon reaching this point, it marked the mid-upper course of the Tarsas River. Beyond here, the river steeply ascends, making upstream navigation impossible, requiring the summoning of hundreds of towpath workers by the warrior leader of the town for upward towing.

Chiwaco pursed his lips, standing on the bow, watching the roaring river, lost in thought.

Mountain Bird Cavado from the Yaolem tribe stood beside him, curiously looking around. As a hunter from the Northern Tribe named after the mountain bird, he had excellent vision, so the old militia appointed him as the ship’s lookout.

As they traveled, Mountain Bird saw countless trees, uncountable people, saw unknown heights of temples, and experienced torrential rains he had never encountered on the northern wilderness. To him, everything along the way was fascinating, like a wild bird that had ventured into a city-state, never seeing enough.

"Such a long, long river! As long as the tail of the mythical fire-bringing divine mouse!..."

Mountain Bird widened his eyes, looking at the long river ahead. A protruding "turtle" caught his attention. He squinted his eyes, watched closely for a moment, and suddenly pointed in the turtle’s direction, shouting harshly in broken Prepecha.

"Man! There’s a man!"