There is no doubt that before the age of steam, sails and oars were quite boring to sail through the endless seas, so boring that the captain had to torment the sailors to make sure they didn't start fighting, brawling, or even rebellion because of their excess energy.

Of course, none of this had anything to do with Zhang Cheng, who handed over the management to the team leader Eric early on, and hid in the captain's room with Celine Baratheon to study the ancient words and mysterious symbols on the dragon's horn.

I have to say that the abduction of "Little Lori" may be the most correct decision he has made since he came to this world.

Because Celine Baratheon not only memorized all the books about the Targaryens, but also knew a little bit of the advanced Valyrian language and script.

Knowing that with the exception of a handful of poems and books that still contain a small number of high Valyrian languages, no one can fully decipher this ancient language and script, so even a hint of exploration is precious.

After two weeks of research and decipherment, Zhang Cheng finally figured out the meaning of most of the high-Valyrian characters, which were actually just a sentence or a eulogy.

"Great Cronada, you are the first dragon and the mother of dragons, and we offer you sacrifices in exchange for the power to bind your offspring......"

Zhang Cheng whispered this sentence that had just been cracked, and he didn't know if there was any error, and an extremely strange expression appeared on his face.

Literally, the Valyrians seem to have discovered this dragon called Clonada before discovering the dragon egg, and all the dragons in the entire world of ice and fire seem to be descendants of this dragon.

Obviously, this information is a bit different from the information he had previously received that the Valyrians had found a large number of dragon eggs in the volcano, and that there are no books or legends that record the so-called "Mother of Dragons".

In order to confirm that there was no grammar or translation problem, Zhang Cheng turned around and asked the girl sitting in the chair: "Celine, have you read the name Klonada in the Targaryen family collection?"

"Uh......h It doesn't seem to be. The little guy frowned and hesitated for a moment, then hurriedly shook his head.

Since the creepy dead skin on half of her face has completely disappeared, her personality has gradually changed from introverted and quiet to lively and cheerful, especially in the recent period of staying outdoors for a long time, and her originally pale complexion has also shown a healthy wheat color, and she is now lying in a hammock responsible for finding out the meaning of the many mysterious symbols on the horn.

But the symbols themselves, far older than the higher Valyrian script, are maddeningly slow.

As we all know, the written word has always been a sign of the transition of human beings from barbarism to civilization, and in the process, some civilizations have preserved the original hieroglyphs, such as the square characters of the Celestial Empire, and others have slowly evolved into alphabets that are easier to learn and understand, such as the Phoenician alphabet, the ancestor of all national languages in Europe.

Unfortunately, the different shapes of the symbols on the surface of the "Dragonbinder" resemble primitive hieroglyphs, but the Valyrians later developed letters.

This also means that there is no connection between the two at all, and it is impossible to deduce the meaning of the oracle bone inscription bit by bit through some ancient books, stone tablets, etc., as the Celestial Empire did.

Zhang Cheng sometimes even felt that these symbols were not invented by the Valyrians at all, but belonged to some more mysterious magical civilization.

The reason is very simple, what the Valyrians have created is far more than the average value of the civilization in other parts of the Song of Ice and Fire, dozens or even hundreds of times, as if a country with the level of science and technology in the 21st century suddenly appeared on the earth BC, which is strictly impossible.

Unless......

Unless the Valyrian civilization was not a native civilization from the beginning, all the technology and magic they mastered came from another civilization.

Bang! Bang!

Just as he was lost in thought, there was a sudden knock on the door outside the captain's room.

"My lord, the lookout has just noticed that there are many islands in front of me, and if you don't go outside, you must have arrived at your destination. I need you to come out and confirm which island we are going to land on. Eric's slightly excited voice came through the crack in the door.

"Oh, really?" Zhang Cheng immediately opened the door to the captain's room.

"Yes! Through the binoculars, we can already see traces of stone people on some of the small islands, and we had better be careful when we land, otherwise we will be infected with gray scale disease. Eric explained, making a gesture of please as he stepped out of the way.

"Don't worry, I've got a way to deal with greyscale. In addition, let the soldiers prepare for battle, and clear the stone people on the island as soon as they land, I don't want these people who have lost their minds to wreak havoc at a critical moment. With that, Zhang Cheng picked up the chart and walked out of the cabin, standing at the top of the deck and looking into the distance.

By constantly comparing them with the charts, he quickly locked on to the target from the countless reefs and islets, and without looking back, he commanded: "Have you noticed the island on the starboard side with its half-tall tower?

"As you wish!" Eric bowed slightly, and began to shout at the sailors to adjust their course.

In less than an hour, the battleship, named "Tus", dropped its anchor and docked in the bay near the island, followed by the crew to lower five or six small boats and methodically land on the beach.

Before they could gain a foothold, more than a dozen stone people covered in gray dead skin suddenly rushed out, fangs and claws and pounced on the person closest to them.

"Be careful! Spearmen prepare!"

The prepared soldiers quickly lined up, holding a shield in one hand and a spear more than four meters in the other, forming a strong line of defense.

Shi Min, who rushed to the front, had undoubtedly completely lost his mind, and he didn't care about the tip of the spear that flickered with cold light, and he crashed into it, allowing the spear to penetrate his body.

The rest was not much better, and there was no trace of humanity in the eyes, and they were followed by spears like moths to fire.

Their horribly contagious blood splattered everywhere, so much so that the soldiers in the first platoon had to step back and scrub their bloodstained shields and weapons with the seawater, not wanting to be infected with the gray scale disease, and they were also left to fend for themselves on some deserted island.

After killing all the stone people, Eric ordered the sailors to gather the corpses and burn them, then find a good place to defend and build a temporary camp, and transport some supplies from the ship.