Me and My Cold CEO Wife

Chapter 2155 - 2144: The Late Merchant Ship

After saying all this, Sangganda hesitated and said, "Mr. Ning, there's something I'm not sure if I should say…"Ning Fan laughed. "Old village chief, that doesn't sound like you at all."

"Mr. Ning, that set of battle armor you're wearing… it looks a bit like Holy Armor used exclusively by Knights of Light?"

It was more than "a bit like." Back in the Netherworld Realm, when he ran into Saint Jessica, Ning Fan had basically guessed the origin of the armor.

This battle armor was very likely forged by Divine Spirits under the God King of Light, and that particular Divine Spirit clearly wasn't some nobody.

Otherwise Saint Jessica wouldn't have completely thrown away her shame to snatch it.

The armor's background was too big. Just as Ning Fan was hesitating over whether to tell the truth, he heard Sangganda say, "If possible, try not to use the armor in front of the public."

Ning Fan asked in puzzlement, "Why?"

"If you're mistaken for a Paladin, it might draw the attention of the Church of Light."

"Got it. Old village chief, thanks."

Though Sangganda hadn't said it outright, Ning Fan understood exactly what he meant.

It all came down to his black hair and black eyes.

As everyone knew, the Church of Light almost never admitted members of the Alien Clan, let alone someone like Ning Fan, who came from another continent.

If they discovered that an Alien Clan like him possessed Paladin armor, with how overbearing the Holy Church was, the consequences were obvious.

Sangganda's point was very simple.

Use it if he must, but use it secretly, and don't let anyone see what lies beneath the armor.

"Looks like you understand, sir. That puts my mind at ease."

Seeing Sangganda's serious expression, for a moment Ning Fan found the old man quite amusing, and couldn't help asking, "Old village chief, which god do you worship?"

Sangganda replied bitterly, "What right do we have to worship any god?"

Ning Fan immediately recalled the origins of Hill Village, and how their ancestors had been refugees on the Green Continent.

Apart from technically being free, they were no different from slaves, still counted among the lowborn.

Seeing Sangganda's downcast expression, Ning Fan comforted him, "Don't dwell on it. Even if you can't bask in divine grace, isn't Hill Village getting along just fine?"

What Ning Fan really wanted to say was, "What the hell are Divine Spirits anyway."

But Vivian had reminded him countless times,

When it comes to Divine Spirits, you can choose not to believe, and you can even dislike them in your heart.

But in Middle Earth, you absolutely cannot openly show disrespect toward Divine Spirits, or you'll only earn other people's resentment.

In terms of Earth, this would be considered behavior with no upbringing, and the consequences would be far more serious.

If Ning Fan didn't want to stir up trouble on the Green Continent, he had to keep a tight rein on his mouth.

"Let's not talk about this."

Sangganda waved his hand, then said with a guilty look, "I really have wronged you this time, sir…"

"There you go again! Keep that up and this conversation's over."

Seeing Ning Fan start to get up as if to leave, Sangganda's old face flushed with embarrassment. He stammered, "It's just that this time is far too strange. All these years, it's the first time I've run into something like this."

Ning Fan had heard similar words from those Disciples as well.

It was very rare for merchant ships to be "late"; in most cases, they arrived ahead of schedule.

Right now was when the ocean monsoon was at its most stable. In another month or two, the weather would turn much worse, and the risks of sailing would increase.

It was precisely because of that that Sangganda had dared to guarantee it back then.

Who would have thought they were now more than ten days past the agreed date, and there was still no sign of the merchant ship.

Thinking carefully over these matters, Ning Fan mused, "Looked at that way, it really is a bit odd."

But so what if it was odd? All they could do was keep waiting.

As for flying over?

Ning Fan had thought of that too at the start.

Though Hill Island lay in the coastal region, in reality it was quite far from the mainland.

Without any coordinates, if his flight deviated even slightly from the intended direction, he could end up tens of thousands of miles off from where he was supposed to be.

"Village chief, I'm going out for a walk."

Just as he stepped outside, Ning Fan ran into Vivian, head crowned with a flower wreath and surrounded by a group of girls.

When they saw Ning Fan coming over, the laughing girls instantly froze their expressions, faces going stiff with restraint. They bowed at the waist and said, "Greetings, my lord."

"Uh… carry on with your fun."

Ning Fan smiled and nodded, silently blaming the old village chief in his heart.

It wasn't just the girls; everyone in the village showed the same expression when they saw him.

It wasn't fear, but Ning Fan's status was simply too high.

Some of the younger boys and girls were even of the generation of his Disciples' children and grandchildren.

Which Disciple would dare joke and laugh in front of the founder of the sect?

Even if Ning Fan himself didn't mind, their parents definitely wouldn't let it slide.

There used to be a few little brats who would play around him.

But after the villagers took him as their master and swore a Blood Oath, every child who dared do that got a good beating, and from then on they became all proper and solemn in front of Ning Fan, paying him respectful courtesy.

As Sangganda put it, Hill Village might be poor, but they weren't uncultured savages; they understood the importance of respecting the master and honoring the Way.

As for why Vivian, who was also one of the teachers, wasn't affected by this sense of status?

Ning Fan could only say that this came down to differences in personal charm.

A few more days passed in waiting. As Ning Fan lay on the beach doing "Photosynthesis," he suddenly noticed a black dot appear on the distant sea.

When the black dot gradually grew larger, Ning Fan's eyes lit up in delight; he could already make out the silhouette of a ship.

"Finally!"

Ning Fan was so excited he almost shed old-man tears.

This stretch of sea was simply too vast. In nearly two months, he hadn't seen a single outsider's ship.

Aside from Hill Village, he hadn't seen any other people at all.

The fishmen didn't count.

Whenever he thought of that huge pot of fish-head soup, Ning Fan could never classify those fish-headed things as an intelligent race on par with humans.

"Huh?"

Staring hard at the distant vessel, Ning Fan noticed something off. "That ship's coming from the Deep Sea Region… it doesn't look like a cargo ship."

The Canglan Empire divided ships by purpose into four categories: fishing boats, cargo ships, merchant ships, and so on.

Fishing boats were naturally for fishing.

Cargo ships were sturdier than fishing boats and had greater endurance, but since they were relatively weak, they only traveled and traded within the coastal waters.

Hill Island sat on the edge of the deep sea; one step further and you were officially in the Deep Sea Region.

That was also why so few other ships were ever seen here.

If it were a cargo ship, it should be coming from the opposite direction, out of the coastal waters.

"Could it be a merchant ship specialized in hunting Sea Beasts?"

Though called a merchant ship, the hull itself was actually a warship.

Even though Canglan Empire's heavy ocean-going fleet had been completely wiped out, and they'd even disbanded the navy as a formal branch,

perhaps as a form of revenge,

the Empire did not forbid civilians from owning warships. As long as they registered, they could sail freely.

That was how merchant ships came about; only with the military performance of warships could they protect themselves in the deep sea.

When he finally saw the warship clearly, Ning Fan couldn't help but be stunned by the shipbuilding of this other world.