Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!

Chapter 1909

In mid-February, the Portuguese Fleet continued westward along the territory of the "Eastern Stone Alliance," hugging the "Muggle Coast" (Magua), advancing with extreme caution. To verify the information he had obtained earlier, Bruno had captured several more local East Stone Taino Tribe people, yet the answers he got were still exactly the same!The Prophecy of the White-skinned Demons had long since spread across the whole of Haiti Island, reaching all the Five Great Alliances. And the mark of these "Demons" was "white skin, big beards," "Large Ships, thunder Magic Artifacts," "Crosses, demanding Gold"!…

"Damn it! This damned 'Satanic Prophecy' has spread all over this so-called 'Haiti Island' in the mouths of the Natives!… When these Natives see us, they either run or resist… There's simply no way to communicate properly, it's hard even to resupply food!…"

"Fortunately, these local Natives don't have much courage to attack; at most they mobilize the strong men of their tribes, using crude weapons to defend! They haven't done what Columbus's sailors described, suddenly attacking in oar-sail ships… If we went farther west to the 'Cipangu' Great Island, that would definitely be even more dangerous, practically every place an enemy!"

"Hmm… Columbus recorded that at 25 degrees north latitude, those 'Bahamas' islands—the Natives there are kind and docile… Perhaps we should turn northwest and sail straight to the Bahamas?… Or maybe find a suitable pretext and simply sail back?…"

Having confirmed that the Prophecy of the White-skinned truly existed, Bruno furrowed his brow; for the first time the thought of returning arose in his mind. It was hard for him to imagine, under the spread of such a prophecy, what native tribes would be willing to come forward to communicate and cooperate with them. Unless… following the experience from the Southern Continent, some tribe had run into serious trouble and urgently needed outside support to the point of throwing caution to the wind?…

With this in mind, Bruno once again tried to inquire about the situation among the various tribes on the island. After that, around 20 degrees north latitude, when leaving the Eastern Stone Alliance and entering the border of the Western Stone Alliance, he finally heard some exhilarating news!

"What! Your Eastern Sun Alliance is fighting with two Alliances in the South?… What, 'Western Sun' and 'Central Sun Stone' have formed an Alliance to seize your Water sources and fields?!… What, you're at a disadvantage, and all kinds of bad news are coming in?!…"

Bruno's spirits soared. As long as there was chaos and slaughter on the Great Island, as long as the Natives harbored conflicts and hatred among themselves… then the Kingdom of Portugal would have a foothold, a chance to stir up native strife and profit from it! And in a moment like this, the weaker side was the best trading partner, even a potential ally!

In the original history, it was after Columbus reached the Western Stone Alliance that the Santa Maria ran aground and was wrecked. Then he met the Western Stone Sun Chief, who was eager for outside aid, concluded an alliance with him with extraordinary ease, and led him to readily convert to the Lord! After that he left a ship's complement of men there and established Spain's very first short-lived harbor outpost in all of America—Navidad Fort…

"The Almighty be praised! Good, excellent!… Tell me, where is your Sun Chief now? Four days' sailing to the west, around the cape, is the Marine Great Tribe?… Very good! Matim, give him a small gift and see him off!"

This time, there were no screams aboard, and, unusually, no killing. The Portuguese Fleet truly put the captured Western Sun Tribesman ashore in a friendly manner and even let him take away some shining glass beads. The Fleet's supplies were nearly exhausted; Bruno urgently needed to find a safe resupply point and establish trade and communication with the Natives.

All the way north from the Lesser Antilles, they had almost never taken on proper supplies. As for the Caribbean Natives, there was no need to mention them: "violent non-cooperation"—they fought on sight. And when they finally reached Haiti Island, the Natives here were clearly milder in temperament, yet they too practiced "non-violent non-cooperation": on sight they either ran, or curled up like hedgehogs…

Without the resupply from native tribes, a blue-water fleet would fall into a very troublesome situation. With food in short supply, they would have to spend huge amounts of time fishing, which would slow their movements. Coastal sailing did not lack fresh Water, but they had to risk native attacks whenever they stopped by a riverbank to replenish.

As for the local hydrography, lacking guides recruited from the area, they had to chart everything themselves. They had to guard against hidden reefs along the coast and could not sail too fast. The Fleet might even, as before, enter some dead-end bay, placing themselves in extreme danger…

Thus, securing the support of a local native tribe was critically important in the early phase of exploration; it was also the Kingdom of Portugal's golden Law of oceanic exploration! Even now, when the Fleet was inclined to sail home, they first had to replenish enough food to sustain them across the barren, desolate deep sea!

"Let the Almighty witness! Stay vigilant! When we anchor at night, we must keep away from the native tribes, away from their shores!…"

"Aye, captain!…"

Sunset and sunrise, two days of sailing passed in a blur. The Portuguese Fleet anchored once and had another "friendly contact" with the local Western Stone Alliance. The Fleet further confirmed the Western Stone Tribe's plight—its struggle with the two southern Alliances—and that there was a real possibility of communication and alliance…

Before sunset on the third day, they finally arrived at the northwesternmost point, Haiti Cape. This was the place on all of Haiti Island closest to the Cuba Main Island! From here to the easternmost tip of Cuba to the west was less than two hundred Li! And from Cuba's eastern tip to the central eastern hub of Iron Bay Town, it was less than five hundred Li!

"Oh Almighty! According to the Natives, if we cross this Strait… we reach this 'Cipangu Cuba', the Great Island of the Native Kingdom, the one Columbus reached?…"

The Portuguese exploration Fleet lay at anchor off the cape, while in the Western sea the setting Sun cast a deep and brilliant red light. This magnificent spectacle over the Caribbean fell into Bruno's eyes as an omen of tremendous mystery and danger!

"Satan has opened his great maw, waiting for us to step into it, like the ferocious Jotun Giant of myth (Frost Giant)…"

"O Almighty! If only I had a powerful Kingdom Navy in my hands, I would not fear the Demon's threats! But now…"

"For the opening of a new sea route, for bringing back to Your Majesty news of the New Continent… we absolutely must not fall into the Demon's trap and rashly sail to Cipangu Cuba!…"

Bruno let out a long sigh of regret, fully assuming the posture of a man who, for the sake of the Kingdom and the Lord, had no choice but to preserve his own life. Then, after glancing at Sir Silvira—who had bowed his head in silence and was equally fearful of the Demon's power—he gave his order decisively.

"Turn southwest! Continue to sail along this 'Mountainous Sea Island'! From now on, keep your guard up and keep all the sailors in check! When we reach the Natives' 'Marine Great Tribe', everyone must show a friendly face, but no one is allowed to go ashore rashly, and no one may reveal any information about the Fleet!…"

"Did you all hear me?!…"

"Aye, captain!…"

"Silvira?"

"Yes, Sir!…"

"Guide Shushu?"

"Yes, Captain Capitao!…"

"Very good! Then we sail again! Once we've taken on enough food from the Natives, we head straight for the South! We'll skirt that damned island chain of Caribbean 'horseflies' and sail directly to the New Continent to the South!… May the Almighty protect us!…"

With the intelligence he had, moving through a map like a fog, Bruno was like the wariest Portuguese white stork. He had avoided the most dangerous Cuba Snake Island and also the major stronghold of Iron Bay, seven hundred Li away, where large numbers of oar-sail ships gathered.

He did not know that just five days before, three small boats of Taino people had set out from this very place, rowing westward with all their strength to carry word of the arrival of the White-skinned Demons to the Cuba Main Island!

And this virtually delay-free, extreme-speed transmission across Haiti Island was all due to the arrangements of a certain Chief God Priest! He was also the only Chief God Priest on all of Haiti Island, secretly watching the movements of the Portuguese Fleet from very, very close by…