Roaring Heroes Battle the Overlord (Ainz) - Part 1 (Chapters 1 to 200)

Chapter 188: Vast Stellar Gate

The gold, silver, jewels, and treasures were quickly distributed. Barrett also picked out plenty of valuable items for the adventurer party, planning to sell them all once they left the desert, trading them for solid gold coins and hard currency gold bars.

Leaving the Blacktar Wastes meant truly entering the Eight Greed Kings desert. The Golden Aquarius caravan hoisted their goods, led the camels, and the group of several dozen people set off in a grand procession toward the desert.

EeDechi and her companions followed behind them, but EeDechi figured that after traveling together a bit farther, the Last Defender of the Way adventurer party would part ways with the Golden Aquarius merchant group.

Hot winds gusted relentlessly, the harsh desert vista already unfolding before everyone's eyes.

The sky was an endless azure blue, dotted with the occasional thin, indifferent white cloud. The ground was likewise an endless desert, sand dunes rolling in waves, the yellow sands stretching far to the horizon without end.

A blazing sun hung high in the center of the sky, its light and heat spraying down like flames without restraint onto the desert. The vast sands baked like an oven, heat waves closing in.

EeDechi squatted down and cupped a handful of yellow sand in her hands. The dry, coarse grains slipped through her fingers, still warm from the desert's heat. This was the path they'd be traveling next.

"We should grab a few camels." Franco said, shading his eyes with his hand. His voice was full of worry, clearly dreading this terrifying scorching desert.

Steve Damon sidled over and offered a sincere invitation: "Please travel with us. Our merchant group is happy to cover all your food and lodging."

"Do you ride camels to cross the desert?" Barrett didn't answer directly. He'd noticed that the caravan didn't have all that many camels.

"No, we don't ride camels—we take ships." Steve smiled confidently.

He walked to the front of the caravan and pulled a crystal-clear, wide-mouthed glass bottle from his spatial ring. He held the bottle sideways, lifting it high toward the sun, the bright light illuminating what was inside.

A ship in a bottle.

The glass bottle held a shallow layer of golden sand, and atop the sand, a miniature model of a three-masted warship gleamed brightly.

Steve set the bottle sideways on the sand dune, then twisted off the brass cap. From the wide mouth of the bottle, the three-masted warship model slid out along with the golden sand. Once it cleared the opening, its size swelled in the wind, growing bigger and bigger!

Steve leaped back three steps to avoid getting smacked by the expanding three-masted warship.

In the blink of an eye, the model that had been no bigger than a palm transformed into a real massive ship! The keel was solid, the lines graceful, and atop the towering thick masts, the pale white linen sails were primed and ready.

Steve straightened his collar and boomed out grandly: "First mate, prepare to board! Hoist the sails, set sail!"

First mate Bill Hades started directing his crew to haul the crates of goods aboard, and the camels were led up onto the deck too.

"Can this ship really sail through the desert?" EeDechi looked up at the enormous hull, unable to hide her amazement. Now the three adventurers finally got why Steve was called "Captain" by everyone.

"Of course it can," Steve said, puffing out his chest.

"This three-masted warship, named the Emerald Sandboat, is a magical warship built just for sailing across deserts. After all, us folks from the City Alliance can't live without our ships."

EeDechi had heard of the City Alliance—it was an independent city-state up north on the continent, right by the sea, with several top-notch ports and rivers weaving all through the city. Trade boomed there, the economy was thriving, and it was a merchant's paradise.

"May I invite you aboard?" Captain Steve Damon asked with a smile.

"Sure, let's catch a free ride."

The three of EeDechi didn't refuse and boarded the Emerald Sandboat warship.

The pale white sails billowed, and the wide propeller at the stern dug deep into the yellow sand, propelling the warship toward the south of the Eight Greed Kings desert.

...

The Emerald Sandboat warship sailed very steadily, as if cruising on a calm sea without wind or waves, only jostling a bit when it occasionally climbed high sand dunes.

On board, the people of the Golden Aquarius caravan bustled about, methodically handling their tasks to keep the big ship running smoothly.

"As a warship, the whole vessel is equipped with 32 16-pound fire magic cannons. Twelve on the top deck, eighteen inside the cabins. One at the bow, one at the stern." Steve proudly boasted about his magic ship.

"Are there really tough enemies? Do you need that much heavy firepower?" Barrett asked.

Though he hadn't seen much of fire magic cannons, looking at those black, massive muzzles, the power of these guns was nothing to sneeze at.

Steve sighed, "Of course we do. The Eight Greed Kings desert is the last remnant of the Eight Greed Kings era—the climate here shifts like crazy, sandstorms hit all the time, and the surges of magical chaos are totally wild.

"Whether it's the magic or the Eight Greed Kings themselves, the monsters here thrive in this bone-dry desert like they're right at home, and they're super creepy and terrifying, with danger levels way higher than in other deserts—several times over, at least."

He was a well-traveled merchant and hit it off chatting with a seasoned adventurer like Barrett.

"Of course," Steve laughed. "If it weren't for all that, the treasures buried in the Eight Greed Kings desert would've been scooped up ages ago. It wouldn't be our turn now."

"What are you heading into the Eight Greed Kings desert for? Are there folks in there you can actually trade with?" Barrett asked, puzzled.

"We're not going to trade; we're heading to the Vast Stellar Gate."

Steve fanned himself with his hand, feeling a bit hot, and shouted toward the control room in the cabin: "Cray, turn on the ship's chilling aura. We're about to strike it rich—don't be stingy with that bit of magic!"

Faint magic flowed through the ship's frame, spreading across the vessel. The heat waves gradually faded. In the desert under the blazing sun, the three-masted warship sailing on the sea of sand cooled down, the hot air vanishing.

The temperature kept dropping, even white frost spreading across the floor. Steve yelled again toward the control room: "Cray, level one on the chilling aura is enough—don't crank it to level three! We're a trade ship, not hauling frozen seafood!"

"Oh, got it, Captain." The person in the control room replied, and the temperature gradually rose back to normal.

"What's the 'Vast Stellar Gate'?" Barrett asked, having heard an interesting place name.

Steve said: "Right, you're not from the City Alliance, so you wouldn't know. The Vast Stellar Gate is a portal built during the Eight Greed Kings era, able to take you straight from the south of the continent to the north.

"In other words, you can cross through the Vast Stellar Gate in the Eight Greed Kings desert and arrive directly at the City Alliance. It was infrastructure built by the Eight Greed Kings to solidify their empire's rule, connecting the whole world into one.

"Only on the fifth-to-last day of every month does the Vast Stellar Gate rise from the yellow sands, like a brilliant blue sun appearing on the horizon. Then, we pass through the Vast Stellar Gate and reach the northern coast of the continent.

"Our Golden Aquarius traveling merchant group is specifically here for the Vast Stellar Gate.

"The caravan sets out from the City Alliance, heading south all the way, doing business with various countries and cities along the route, buying local goods and merchandise, raking in piles of gold coins, then crossing through the Vast Stellar Gate back to the City Alliance, our home."