"Everyone, eternal glory awaits you on the other side of the ocean. You will be the first brave ones who will go to claim it." With these words André stepped down from the podium amid the applause of the crowd.
After André's speech, Simón climbed onto the podium and gave a passionate motivational speech, earning the goodwill and respect of his subordinates. This made André happy, for in this mission the prestige of the commander was of the utmost importance.
At midday, in an already constructed corner of the maritime port, a dozen medium-sized ships and one large one of the Napoléon series, together with two large ships of the Demologos series, were preparing to depart toward their mission.
Many sailors sang loudly the motto that André invented for them: "Heading toward a new world."
**Boooom! Buuuuuuum!**
A loud sound was heard coming from the ships, startling the majority of those present and causing a small scene of panic among the crowd.
The sound of the steam escape was produced when the surplus was released through the exhaust valves, creating a noise of hissing or jet of steam.
André, who was standing on the dock together with Gregorio, Roberto, Sebastián, and Grace, smiled. It was time to depart. André awaited with eagerness the results of his expedition. Then he made a sign to Simón, who was observing him from the cabin of Napoléon number one.
In the captain's cabin of the Napoléon I, Simón was standing with his hands behind his back, observing and waiting for André's signal, who was standing on the dock very close by.
Upon receiving the signal, Simón turned around, looked toward the infinite sea, and asked:
"Are the boilers ready?"
"Yes, captain. Since the morning we have been heating them. We can set sail at any moment," answered the vice-captain of the Napoléon I.
Satisfied with his answer, Simón smiled and then said:
"Engines! We set sail at this moment. Transmit my order to all the ships."
"At your order, captain."
Then all the ships of the expedition set sail, not forgetting to shout their motto loudly: "Toward a new world!"
Standing on the edge of the dock, observing the ships that disappeared on the horizon, André could not help but sigh.
"If you were so worried, then you should not have sent them." Grace spoke at his side with a tone of reproach.
"There are things that cannot be avoided and you must take them head-on." André did not commit himself on this subject.
"I hope history does not repeat itself, because if it does we are all finished. And you do not have the power of the world emperor of that time." Inadvertently, in her words, Grace revealed André's greatest concern.
After listening to what the records of the world emperor said, certainly André had a little doubt about whether it was a good moment to carry out this expedition. But then he firmly supported his idea that what he was doing was right.
"Whatever you are referring to, but be certain that that will not occur this time."
The fear of Grace and André was the same: they feared that said death would return to that continent. It should be known that the power of the world emperor at that time was immense: a legion of tens of millions under his command, thousands of times compared with André, and even so he could not maintain his empire.
"How are you so certain?" Grace was not optimistic about that.
"I don't know; it is only a presentiment. Something tells me that I must know what is happening on the other side of the ocean." André did not lie about that. His plans for this expedition were much further ahead, but he always felt a great urgency. He felt that if he did not do it now he would lose something very important for him.
"I will not say more about this subject. I will trust in you."
Upon seeing André's serious face, Grace always felt that he was not lying to her. Then she decided to trust in him.
"I am glad to hear you say that."
Without prior notice, André took her in his arms, causing her face to turn red like an apple.
"What are you doing? We are in public!" Full of shyness, Grace in vain tried to move away from André's arms.
"What is wrong? We already confirmed our relationship." André mocked her, making her face turn redder.
After a moment he released her, making Grace, at great speed, move away from him, leaving him with an ironic smile.
"In a few years you will not be able to escape… haaaa, this child's body of mine…"
With a middle-aged mind, he did not know how much he had had to contain himself with this child's body.
**Change of scene**
"Haaa, I don't know how much longer we will be able to resist. If we do not have reinforcements in ten years, we will all have finished." A beautiful girl was leaning on a long table complaining, making everyone in the hall look at her.
What was surprising was that all at the table were beautiful girls and all had red hair.
"Joanne, according to the sage Olleg, within ten years there will surely be reinforcements. All the signs have already been given. We are certain that they will not be more than ten years. Now we must persevere." Another young woman, with a soft voice and an older-sister aura, spoke.
"I know, Mary, but sometimes I ask myself why we are fighting if our lord is already dead. Waiting for what the old Olleg prophesied to be fulfilled… who knows if he was wrong." Joanne complained a little.
"Do not say that again, Joanne. You know that Olleg gave his life to give us a possibility of victory." Mary scolded her this time with force.
"I know… but two thousand years have already passed."
Her words silenced all those present.
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