Chapter 521: Surprise Saar Harbor (1)

Niels Youle waited quietly until the footsteps of the servant passed the tiled platform gradually away.
He spent a long time looking at the letter in his hand, and then put it in his pocket.
Niels took a slow breath, savoring the taste of Thrall in the dimmed light.
The smell of dust and sea breeze rushed to his nose and mouth. He likes the time of night. The heat of the day rubs against the coolness of the growing shadows. The taste of water and the warm paving stones bring a layer of dust and chaos. The roof of the building rises in smoke, as if the whole city itself is breathing.
He took another breath and let himself stop for a moment.
The sky seemed to be a cobalt-blue dome, the edges of which were dotted with gold and pink by the setting sun. The city stepped down from the edge of the balcony along irregular levels, and the valley-like streets slid down to the flat coast and delta. On the ground, the rocky roof gives way to a port that extends all the way to the sea.
Most of the cities are flat-roofed buildings, but it is those towers that really catch the eye.
There are hundreds of tall towers in the city, some of which are small and have been weathered for many years, and others are punctured into the sky. These are all made of stone, but these stones have thousands of textures and colors.
The black Ayr lighthouse gleamed, and the sky tower looked like a spiral bone horn.
Niels smiled, just for a moment, only a person with everything he saw would have a smile.
Saar City-a treasure in the barren sea, his hometown.
He leaned against the stone fence and looked at his hands.
The skin looks a bit old, how does this happen? How did so much time and responsibility impose on him?
He raised his hands and stroked the soft skin on his face, as well as his gray hair.
This is a habitual posture, imitating the action of splashing water on the face after a day of exhaustion. His daughters learned this action almost before they learned to speak. Memories about them mimicking his actions with a smile brought a smile. Back to his face.
The wind rose, and the smile faded.
He turned away from the guardrail and pulled out his pocket watch as he stepped down the stairs leading to the street below. The clothes he wore were far worse than those he usually wore.
Those who knew him would be greatly shocked by the fact that he was wearing a worn gown that was popular among the working class.
But he actually likes simple clothes, they are comfortable, and he enjoys the trembling of keeping anonymity when walking through the streets of Saarland under the gradually falling night.
People walked past him, some people greeted him by raising their hands, and whispered good luck, but no one looked at him more.
He looked like another person who walked home at the end of the day, who had nothing but food and the promise of sleep in his brain, or a poor veteran.
He grew up in these streets. He ran on the roof and climbed over the plant stands that crossed the walls of ancient buildings.
He was not poor at that time, but wealth and glory were still a distant future for him at that time. Life at that time was not always pleasant, but it was simpler.
He misses the simple, he misses the clarity.
So he likes to return to those streets, the comfort of stepping on ancient stones, the smell of cooking meat and the smell of hops soften the foul smell of the dirty sewer.
What he enjoys most is that people look at him, or simply don't look at him. He is not surrounded by guards, he does not wear tailored fabrics, and he does not follow him.
He likes to have a short time, not to be Niels Yule, the admiral of the Republic, the commander of the First Fleet.
People have begun to say that this country is slowly dying.
As he walked through deeper and deeper shadows, he was also thinking. After losing a large area of ​​Essex, the country may retreat to his grandfather's time: a trivial, poor colony.
This process may be as long as a hundred years, but it must happen. At that time he should be dead, but his daughters may still be there.
The twin girls were only teenagers at this time, with a smile on their faces and carefree.
They need a future.
A shout interrupted his thoughts, he stopped, and the shout came again, clear and sharp.
He could hear footsteps coming from a corner a few steps away.
Niels ran over without thinking.
He rushed to the corner while pulling out his sword.
The hilt wrapped in the leather of this sword is very suitable for gripping. He still remembers how his grandfather gave it to him with a smile. This is a curved double-edged sword. It is said that the sailors used to bring it when they left Hong Kong. With such a sword.
Niles turned the corner, the street in front was very narrow, the building was pressed tightly from both sides, strangling out the light above.
There were two people there, one was muscular and the other was thin and tall.
The third person curled up on the ground. In dim light, these people seem to have only blurred outlines.
One of them kicked someone on the ground, and once again shouted across the sky.
"Give us the money, old man."
The thin man shouted, Niels stood firm in three steps, then the big man turned around, he saw a wide face, one eye was shining, staring at him closely.
The big man shouted, moving his knife forward.
"If you want to know who a person is, look at his weapon,"
Niels remembers his grandfather once said:
"The sword has its own meaning."
"Don't do much business!"
The big man swung a knife sharply, and the blade reflected twilight.
Niels escaped with a low body, and at the same time, a sword passed over the man's thigh. The big man was chopped and screamed. He stepped forward and cut his elbows on his arm holding the knife.
"what!"
The man's weapon was cut off, and blood ran down his slack arm.
He turned to look at his colleague, but the thin man was already running away, and Niels took a step back and looked at his opponent.
The man hesitated. Niels slowly raised his sword and shook his opponent with reflection. The man nodded immediately and limped away, leaving a trail of blood on the stone street. .
Niels watched him run away, then wiped his sword into the sheath.
He looked at the man on the ground, and a dirty face looked up at him as he bent down. It was an old man, with wrinkles covered with dust and gray hair.
"Can you stand up?"
Niels asked, and the old man gasped and nodded.
"Thank you, it's respectable."
Niels could tell from the tone that the old man was old and had no teeth in his mouth, but these words almost made him smile.
He noticed that the gray creased fabric on the old man's clothing was damaged, faded, and brought sweat and dust. This man was a countryman from an underdeveloped area.
"Did they take anything?"
Niels helped him stand up.
"No no."
The old man stabilized his body through Niels and took a trembling breath.
"The Father smiled because of your kindness."
"Come."
Niles took a handful of coins from his pocket and passed it.
"no no."
The old man shook his head and pushed Niles away.
"I cannot benefit from your kindness twice."
Niles extended his hand again, but the old man shook his head and walked away.
"You have given me enough, and luck will fall on you."
The old man dragged one foot away and Niels stepped forward to help him, but the old man shook his head again.
Niels felt that the old man wanted to leave this quiet street. He looked around. The sky was almost completely dark. He needed to leave this street by himself.
"I know where I am going."
The old man smiled at him and nodded.
"It's not far away."
Niles nodded and wanted to say something, but the man had already turned the corner.
He stayed in place for a while, feeling something was wrong, he turned around and walked a few steps in the street, his hands unconsciously reached into his pocket.
He froze.
The pocket is empty and the letter is gone.
He suddenly felt cold all over, he checked his other pockets, and then looked in the street again.
Nothing at all.
He started to run in the direction where the old man left. The blood vessels were filled with coldness and panic~EbookFREE.me~ turned the corner of the street, the wide street stretched into the darkness, quiet and empty except for the garbage debris flying in the air.
"You have given me enough."
The old man said that just now, Niels took another step, thinking about whether to run across this street to find the old man.
He stopped. He knew that he could never find the old thief. The hazy alleys of Saar City could disappear in a few steps. The man had a dozen different escape routes.
He took a deep breath and tried to stabilize his thoughts and pulse.
He must—
A flash of light in the sky suddenly turned the street white. Niels raised his hand to protect his eyes, and in a moment he could see the blood vessels in his eyelids.
He looked up and the stars were falling, bursting into sparks, rolling through the night sky.
Fireworks.
He thought of an unplanned celebration, or meteor shower...
The siren began to scream, starting from a distance, one by one, until the high-pitched chorus echoed around.
He could see the doors and windows opened, and people were looking out.
Deep in his heart, possibility and fear combined, and he thought of his daughter, who was staying in a mansion on the other side of the city.
People are now rushing to the street and gushing out of the doorway. Most of them froze when they came out. Their eyes were fixed on the sky. They shouted with their mouths open, but the shouts were overwhelmed by the howling of the siren.
Niels began to move, first slowly walked a few steps, then began to stride forward, pushed the crowd away, and then he ran away.
Above him, the sky was shed tears of fire.
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