They climbed up from the oak plank path of the fjord cliff to the top of the Torture Abyss.
Liu Qian stood on a high place, overlooking the product of nature's magic.
Entering through the narrow, twisted chasm hundreds of feet high, the waterway barely allowed a boat to pass through, flanked by slippery and steep black rock walls full of holes and cracks.
After passing a nearly right-angled, steep and unusually steep fjord turn to the left, the eyes suddenly opened up.
A huge fan-shaped natural harbor is embedded under vertical rock walls, like a pit smashed by a giant hammer.
The water surface of the harbor is relatively open and calm, and all ships are tied to simple wooden docks or anchored directly in the harbor, including three larger warships and a dozen paddle boats left by crab claws.
But even with nearly twenty ships, the water surface of the harbor only occupies a small area, and at a cursory glance, the entire harbor can accommodate at least a hundred ships.
"It's a natural haven." Liu Qian couldn't help but sigh.
Rollo pointed to the harbor and proudly introduced: "My lord, you are right, not only is this port naturally formed, but the surrounding mountains are also full of natural sea caves, which can be used for people to live in, and can also store food and weapons." "
The two walked towards the top of the cliff of the sea cave, and followed a plank road down from the top of the cliff to the bottom.
The shore of the harbor is not a sandy beach, but a huge platform eroded by seawater at the base of a steep rock wall and a series of sea caves of various sizes.
These caves are the lair of pirates.
Residences, warehouses, prisons, and even humble forges are hidden deep within.
The entrance to the cave is filled with debris, fishing nets, and materials for repairing boats, and the rock walls are darkened by smoke.
Last night's battle did not destroy the plank road and some wooden sheds suspended from the cliff wall, and most of the main structure of the cave deep into the rock wall remained.
At this moment, the figures outside the cave longed for it, and the surrendered pirates were cleaning up the ruins of the battlefield under the cold surveillance of the dragon spirit guards.
The roar of the waves crashing against the rock wall echoes in the abyss of sea erosion under the action of a huge natural loudspeaker.
Liu Qian took Luo Luo into the core of the crab claws, the huge sea cave "hall".
As soon as you step in, a smell of the sea hits your face.
The vastness of the space in the cave is shocking, and the sound of footsteps on the hard ground can arouse echoes.
The rock wall is filled with burning torches, illuminating every rugged corner as bright as day.
The ground is not flat, but is sharpened by some kind of heavy blunt object to create countless diagonal lines of different shades.
Looking up, the towering dome is suspended with stone stalactites of different shapes, and from time to time there are cold water droplets condensing and dripping, emitting "Da... Da...".
The most striking thing is a huge map carved directly from the rock wall.
The map lines are rough and precise, covering large rock walls.
It is dotted with countless shapes of different sizes and shapes.
Rollo Uhoris said respectfully: "My lord, those are the islands, reefs, and sandbars of the Stone Steps Islands and their surrounding waters, and some important nodes are even marked with charred charcoal or dyed shells, and it took more than ten years to perfect the crab claws to this extent." "
Liu Qian's eyes swept over the rock carved chart: "Where are we?" "
"Here, my lord." Rollo immediately stepped forward, his finger pinpointed to a place in the southeast corner of the map.
There is a figure surrounded by dense short lines, next to which is carved a crooked skull mark.
"This is the torture abyss. You see, it is guarded by a circle of natural reefs, like a moat, and it is difficult for large warships to approach," Rollo's fingers drew a circle on the map, pointing to a few slightly larger graphics, "The surrounding large islands are quite far away from us, but here..."
His finger moved towards the eastern edge of the map, near the salient in the southwest corner of the continent of Essos, "not too far from the "disputed land" of the continent of Essos..."
Liu Qian's gaze did not stay for long, and turned to the northwest direction of the map.
There are two figures that are obviously several times larger than the other islands, like two huge portals.
"What about these two?"
"That's Bloodstone Island and Gray Gallows Island." Rollo's voice was filled with a hint of awe, "They are the two largest islands in the Stonestep Islands, one north and one south, like two fangs, guarding the throat between Dorne and the Stonestep Islands, and almost all ships that want to enter the Narrow Sea or the Summer Sea from the coast of Dorne have to pass under their noses." "
He seemed to catch some kind of intention from Liu Qian's focused gaze, hesitated for a moment, and added: "But my lord, that is the territory of the 'Prince of the Narrow Sea' Salado Thorn, whose fleet has more than twenty triple-decked oar warships, which are much larger than our rowing boats, as well as a large number of commercial sailing ships, punts, whaling ships and speedboats, and his influence in that sea area is very terrifying." "
"Salado Thorn?" Liu Qian is no stranger to this name.
Reese's pirate family speculated on Stannis in the War of the Five Kings, but after Stannis went north to the Great Wall, he gradually lost confidence in him due to the delayed commission, and abandoned him in the process of sending the "Onion Knight" Davos to White Harbor, and returned to the Stone Steps to do his pirate business.
"Yes, my lord, he comes from the Thorn family of Reese, which has been pirates and smugglers for hundreds of years, and is so powerful that everyone knows about it in the Stone Steps Islands."
Rollo's tone was full of fear of the overlord of the sea.
Liu Qian nodded slightly, and his fingers unconsciously tapped the cold rock wall map: "Tell me, besides this 'prince', what other forces are worthy of the name in the Shijie Islands?" "
Luo Luo did not dare to hesitate, and pointed out on the map like a few treasures.
He pointed to an island in the middle of the map that looked like a broken lower palate:
"This island is called Split Palate Island," entrenched a crazy pirate leader, 'Shipbreaker' Kago, this guy is a complete madman, his subordinates are all outlaws, and he likes to use the collision angle on the ship to directly sink merchant ships, and then fish for things in the wreckage ruins, so he got this nickname. His lair is in the 'split palate hole' on the island, which is also a natural sea cave, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack. "
He looked at the map again, pointing to an area in the middle of the map full of dense dots:
"This is called Crying Reef Island," it is the territory of the 'salt widow' Mara, this woman is ruthless, it is said that her husband and all her brothers died at sea, she relied on a ruthless force to gather the remnants, she is good at setting ambushes, using the complex and strange undercurrents and reef groups around Crying Reef Island to ambush, and the ships she is targeting rarely escape. "
Rollo then pointed to an island in the northern part of the map that looked like a broken spear:
"This is Broken Spear Island, on which there is a black market in the village of 'Spear Handle', nominally a free port where smuglers gather, managed by a group of merchants, but everyone knows that behind it stands Teloxi, one of the nine free trade city-states, where the largest stolen goods and supply point in the Stone Steps Islands, weapons, slaves, spices, contraband... As long as there is money, there is nothing that cannot be bought, and the garrison is very strong, and it is said that there is a regular army of Telosi disguised as mercenaries. "
Liu Qian rubbed his chin, his eyes scanning the marked forces on the map with a deep gaze.
His mind was racing, thinking about how to break the situation in this broken and chaotic sea and take this "pirate web" into his palm.
Seeing Liu Qian's silence, Luo Luo thought that the new master was worried that other forces were coveting the torture abyss that had just arrived, and quickly comforted: "My lord, you don't have to worry." The Shijie Islands have always been like this, today you rob me, tomorrow I will kill you, and it is common for the nest to change hands. "
He pointed to the circle of reefs on the map and continued: "The place of Torture Abyss is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the location is biased, unless there is a deep hatred or huge interests, those guys will not run so far to gnaw hard bones after eating and supporting. Their main focus is still on plundering the merchant ships, which is a steady stream of gold. "
Liu Qian smiled and shook his head when he heard this.
His eyes looked at Rollo like a torch, and that smile made Rollo's heart tighten inexplicably.
"I'm not worried about them coming to hit me." Liu Qian's fingers drew a circle on the map, dividing Bloodstone Island, Gray Gallows Island, Split Palate Island, Crying Reef Island, Broken Spear Island... Even further afield is included, "I'm thinking about which one to start with in the future and bring them all to the end." "