Aztec Eternals

The day after Diogo Kahn's death, the Portuguese exploration fleet suspended its voyage. Three sailing ships docked on the nearest coast, and it took two days to erect the last padro, the Explorer's Column. And beside the stone pillar, there is a shallow mound of soil, on which a brand new cross stands.

Bruno stood in front of the stone pillar, silently reading the Portuguese inscription on it.

".In the 6684th year from the creation of the world, and in the 1485th year since the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, the most noble, excellent and powerful monarch, King João II of Portugal, sent his royal knight, Diogo Con, to discover this land, and erect this stone pillar. We dedicate this rich land to the great Kingdom of Portugal, to the great João II. Please pray for us!"

After reading, Bruno lowered his head and prayed sincerely.

"Dear Captain Diogo, may God bless your soul! May Our Lady bless us!"

Afterwards, with a respectful expression, Bruno approached the new head of the fleet, the middle-aged noble knight, Pero da Costa.

"Praise be to the Lord! Honorable noble knight, Pero da Costa."

"Praise the Lord! Bruno, the new captain."

"Excuse me, how to arrange tomorrow's voyage?"

Hearing this, the middle-aged aristocrat Old Perot glanced at Bruno indifferently, and said in a deep voice.

"The Lord is witness! Our fleet is badly damaged, the sailors are short, and the supplies are insufficient. Tomorrow morning, the fleet must set sail and return!"

"yes!"

Bruno suppressed the joy in his heart, bowed his head and saluted.

"Dear Perot knight, how should this place be named on the chart?"

Old Perot fell silent. He stared intently at the tomb next to the stone pillar and at the cross erected above it. After a long time, he whispered.

"Huh, this is the cross where the living are buried, so it's called Cross Point!"

Bruno nodded. Cape Cross, the Cape Cross, is also the southernmost point of this exploration.

At this moment, in this world, only one person knows. The endless Namibian desert stretches south for more than three thousand miles. The further south you sail, the higher the latitude and the colder the climate will be. At the southernmost tip of the desert, moisture from the Atlantic blows over the frigid sea, creating a continuous fog that often triggers storms and makes navigation dangerous and difficult. And once through the hundreds of miles of thick fog and storm area, it will be the border of the southern continent, the turning point of the eastern route, and the Cape of Good Hope that brings hope!

The setting sun is gone, the rising sun is born, and it is another day in a blink of an eye. Under the golden sun, the sailors were cheering, drinking the last wine and feasting on fresh seal meat. They excitedly celebrated the arrival of the new year, and even more celebrated the return of the fleet!

Death Quest is finally over! After one year and three months of long exploration, nearly 70% of the sailors died, and even the captain Diogo Condo was called by the Lord. The Portuguese fleet finally turned its bow and began to return north!

The entire fleet consisted of three sailboats, and nearly a hundred sailors on and off the deck. Everyone was celebrating enthusiastically, except for one person whose face was pale.

Somewhere in the cabin on the flagship, the noble scholar Martin Beheim looked terrified. He curled up like a helpless lamb, clinging to the corner of the cabin, holding a gorgeous dagger in his hand. In front of him were four strong men who were as vicious as wolves, each wearing leather armor and holding a sharp weapon.

"...New captain Bruno, quartermaster Matim, chef Haroldo, carpenter Ivo, what do you want to do!"

"Holy Mother! Dear noble scholar, Martin."

Bruno smiled and spoke softly.

"Please don't worry. We just want to leave a small mark on you. The Lord witnesses! As long as you cooperate with us patiently, we will never hurt you."

"Ah! Imprint? Cooperation? Bruno, you?!"

There was disbelief in Martin's eyes at first, and then deep fear. Thinking of that terrible thing, he suddenly put the dagger across his neck and was about to kill himself. The cold dagger fell on the skin, bringing a stinging chill, like the call of death. The aristocratic scholar trembled violently, but he hesitated to let go.

"What a cowardly nobleman!"

Matim sneered and took a quick step forward.

"boom!"

He deftly used the short sword in his hand to fly Martin's dagger. Then, with a quick knee blow, he knocked Martin to the ground.

Bruno's expression remained unchanged. He said to Matim with a smile.

"Good skill! Matim, take off his clothes!"

"Ah! Ah!."

Martin let out a desperate wail like killing a pig, and was wiped clean by the skilled Matim in two strokes. Then, the carpenter Ivo took out a small brazier, and Haroldo took out a sharp and small dagger, and put it on the brazier to roast it repeatedly.

But after a while, Matim tied Martin up skillfully and asked back.

"Boss Bruno, we want to engrave the devil's symbol on this kid, hold him accountable, and let him stop talking nonsense when he returns to China. But what exactly is the devil's symbol?"

"A symbol of the devil."

Bruno pondered for a while, those horrible memories surfaced in his mind, even after so long, it still made his heart tremble. He thought back to the ancient sacrificial garments of the voodoo high priest, the weird temple with lizards hanging, the terrifying altar inlaid with human heads. He kept waving his hands, trying to draw the evil symbols of the apostles of Satan.

"I met in the land of the devil, it was an incomparably powerful apostle of Satan! I mustered up the courage to fight her tenaciously, and under the blessing of the Lord, I destroyed her witchcraft, and then from hundreds of natives The symbols that break out from the samurai should be like this, distorted like this, gathered like this, and put together like a swarm of mosquitoes."

After a while, Bruno finished talking in a mess. he asked hesitantly.

"Do you understand?"

Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, shaking their heads in unison, and there was silence in the cabin for a while.

After a while, Haroldo, the head chef, took a timid step forward and said in a low voice.

"Boss Bruno, you have gone deep into the land of the devil and seen the real devil. But where do the church masters stay in the rich towns and are served by groups of servants? Where do you see any evil? These real devil symbols, we Carve it out, but no one will recognize it!"

Bruno thought for a while, then asked in a deep voice.

"It makes sense! Harold, then tell me, what should I do?"

"The simplest, that's it."

Low whispers echoed in the cabin. Martin lay in a corner, trying to listen, but he really couldn't understand the dialect of these sailors. After a while, everyone nodded in unison and looked at Martin maliciously. Martin shivered deeply, and shouted hysterically.

"I beg you! My father is a member of the Venetian Republic, and my family is a hereditary noble from Nuremberg. I can give you a large ransom! Uhhh."

Bruno took out a piece of cotton cloth and stuffed it into Martin's mouth. Then, without any further hesitation, the crowd directly pressed Martin on the ground with his belly up and his back against the deck, like holding a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

Harold smiled strangely, and slowly stepped forward while holding the red-hot handle of the knife.

Martin was pale and trembling like chaff. He struggled desperately at first, and then whimpered unceasingly. Matim stretched out his hand impatiently, grabbed Martin's neck, and knocked him out.

"Harodo, do it!"

Bruno ordered in a deep voice.

"Good! Chief Bruno!"

Chef Haroldo smiled easily and stretched out his hand to carve a deep tattoo on Martin's belly. In the hands of a chef, a sharp knife is so precise and stable. Even if the noble scholar woke up in pain, it didn't affect his drawing at all. After finishing the engraving, he inspected his masterpiece, nodded in satisfaction, and then returned to his shrinking look.

"alright!"

"really not bad!"

"This is the way to go!"

"Praise be to Our Lady!"

Everyone looked at it and breathed a sigh of relief. The noble scholar has already fainted from the pain again. Bruno stretched out his hand, checked the other person's breath, and stood up easily.

"Holy Mother! Let's go! Give him time to accept."

"The Blessed Mother! May we return to the kingdom safely!"

"Blessed by the Holy Mother! He seems to be quite rich. After returning to China, you can ask him for some sponsorship."

"Holy Mother Blessing! Don't worry about it. Hurry up and go to the celebratory banquet!"

The four prayed for a while, and then walked out of the scholar's cabin. Before leaving, the carpenter Ivo thoughtfully stayed for a while. He untied the unconscious Martin, took off the cotton gag, put on a covering robe, and then a thin blanket to keep out the cold.

The sun was setting, and the sky was filled with rays of light. In the vast sky, there are countless colorful birds flying; in the mighty ocean, there are only three sailing ships. The setting sun dyes the waves of the sea red, reflecting the crimson desert, which is gorgeous again.

The deck is full of light, and the cabin is a little dark. The cheers of the sailors came from afar. I don't know when, someone sang loudly and sang songs from his hometown, and everyone sang in unison.

"Beautiful girl, you ask me, what is the sea? But I don't know.

I was sailing, one wave after another crashed on my body, leaving behind a wet light.

That is mother, calling out to my young heart, the sea is caress! "

Bruno was promoted to the honorable captain, and all the hidden worries were solved, and he was a little bit elated. He laughed heartily, walked to the center of the sailors, and sang aloud.

"Beautiful girl, you ask me, what is the sea? But I don't know.

I was sailing out and saw a dead boy. He opened his lips to kiss the waves.

There is a beam of light in his mouth, to fall in love with another beam of light in your mouth, the sea is kisses! .”

Hearing this, Matim smiled. He waved to Harold, but the other waved his hand. He stretched out his hand and sang alone.

"Beautiful girl, Yueyaer didn't want to sink into the sea, so she dragged it all over the night.

Your hair is loose, floating with me in the water, like a breeze from my heart.

I smooth your waves with my own hands, and the sea falls into my palm. You are like an anemone, blooming at my fingertips! "

Then, everyone laughed and sang together in the sea breeze.

"Beautiful girl, you ask me what is the sea? But I don't know.

I was sailing out, standing barefoot on the beach, eagerly waiting for the dawn.

It turned out that the sea was a white image, shining among the rocks.

May the Holy Mother bless you! We walked through it, and we were back home! "

The cheerful singing continued all night long. Martin wakes up painfully amidst the sailors' celebratory songs. He moaned softly, rubbing his forehead vigorously. Then, he suddenly opened his eyes, stroked the front and back of his body in horror, and then heaved a heavy sigh of relief.

But soon, Martin felt a tingling pain in his lower abdomen. With the light of dusk, he lifted the cloth robe tremblingly, looked down at the tattoo, and his complexion was ashen. After a long while, the noble scholar murmured tremblingly, that is a chapter of the Bible, Apocalypse, "Revelation".

"...Anyone who has a clear understanding, let him calculate the number of the beast. Because it is a human number, its number is six hundred and sixty-six."

"..the devil turned into a wild beast and carved an evil symbol. This is the number of the beast's name, the code name of the devil, the incompleteness abhorred by perfection, the unforgivable '666'! Ah! The real devil is here, in these Among the Voyagers!"

There was a tear in Martin's voice. After all, he is just an aristocratic young man in his twenties who is well-born and studies academically.

"What should I do? O merciful Lord! Please give me revelation and save me from the evil on board!"

In Martin's pious prayer, the sun sinks into the ocean westward, and the light shines westward, hiding the darkness. In the sailor's ballad, the revelation never came, or perhaps it did.

Note: The sailor's ballad at the end is adapted from the traditional Portuguese poem, "Sea, Sea and Sea".