"Contraband? Contraband about what?" Su Changxing questioned.

The skinny man scratched the back of his head, some dirt under his fingernails, and said indistinctly:

"I’m not too sure either, probably some materials, seems to be related to Magic, anything related to Magic is contraband, but that might change in the future."

The burly man next to him, the one who had previously attended the counter, his name was Kareem, added, "I heard the First Navy was extensively attacked by Witches, and by this morning, they were completely defeated, and General Wante was captured."

"That was probably the Duke’s doing too, what’s the difference between Witches and Heretics, they’re all traitors who consort with Demons."

"Yet the Duke let them appear openly and gain recognition from the Empire, it’s ridiculous."

A new term again, Witch?

They should be a group who understand Power, or can they use real Magic?

Su Changxing suddenly felt that the Duke’s actions were more like those of a reformer, the Empire originally forbade Magic, Magic was not supposed to exist on this land.

Perhaps he used Magic for Power, but it undoubtedly brought new changes to this land.

Whether it would be a disaster or a rebirth, was hard to say.

Most likely a disaster.

Perhaps the Empress’s original approach was a good balancing method.

"The Duke wants to destroy the Empire, he’s gone mad!" Kasmin said with a frown, "Magic will bring disaster to this land, how can something like Witches appear openly."

When there’s a legitimate Witch, there will be more legitimate Witches, who wouldn’t want to become stronger than others.

"Why do you say that? What’s the basis?" Su Changxing asked.

Kasmin, as the Princess, was quite knowledgeable about the history of the Empire, and said concisely, "There is a precedent, the previous Empire on this land was the precedent, the Sindaga Empire, it was an Empire destroyed by Magic."

"Our Wodan Empire was built on the ruins of the Sindaga Empire, this place used to be one whole continent, and now it’s split into archipelagos."

"But that was also a lost era, Magic, after that, was mostly lost as well, and we don’t need to pick it up again."

Kasmin had a clear understanding of Magic, knowing that it could allow individuals to possess it, but it shouldn’t be allowed to exist legitimately.

The Empire is a tightly structured society, and the Power of Magic can easily shake such a structure, causing destruction from the bottom up.

Listening to Kasmin, Su Changxing had a different understanding, feeling that the previous Empire’s destruction wasn’t due to Magic, but because of the Players.

Players don’t belong to this world, aren’t bound by it, hence they can easily disrupt the original structure of this world.

Though this is a High-Level World, to even higher-Level Players, it’s undoubtedly an ordinary world.

...

Before dawn, Su Changxing and another person entered a half-empty cargo box, where it was pitch black, with light filtering through holes, allowing them to see outside.

As time passed, the number of people increased, and the sounds of flocks of seagulls could be heard.

Kasmin stiffened her body, squatting in the corner, appearing very tense, with the constant possibility of being discovered.

The plan, although seemingly reliable, still carried great risks and wasn’t entirely foolproof, depending on a bit of luck.

Who knows if a low-probability event isn’t actually a low-probability event.

Su Changxing seemed very relaxed, lying on the side, closing his eyes, ready to sleep.

"You’re preparing to sleep at this moment?" Kasmin questioned in a low voice.

Su Changxing yawned, teasingly saying, "What else to do if not sleep, there’s nothing else we can do now, can’t you sleep? Want me to sing a lullaby to help you sleep?"

Kasmin fell silent, "You sleep, I’ll wake you if anything happens."

Su Changxing said casually, "Alright, thanks for that. Might have to kill later, so better get some rest."

Then, he fell asleep on the floor.

"He really slept? How unreliable..." Kasmin felt Su Changxing’s steady breathing, biting her back tooth, feeling angry.

She couldn’t understand Su Changxing, being able to sleep during such a tense moment.

Not long after, the cargo box started to move slowly, the sound of waves became clearer, and chatter around made it noisy.

Soon, she heard the sound of the cargo box being opened.

"What’s in here?"

"Sir, are you sure you want to inspect? These are the Duke’s goods."

"Of course, we need to conduct a routine check... but we’ve pretty much checked everything, the goods are fine, let’s go!"

Everyone knew the Duke would soon become the Emperor, no one dared to offend the Duke, not even one of the Duke’s henchmen.

Kasmin breathed a sigh of relief, having passed this hurdle, they could at least safely set sail, but then she heard noises outside again.

Peering outside through the gap.

A man, dressed as a captain with a white hat, was angrily scolding, "Where are the previous people?"

Standing opposite him was a plump man wearing a monocle, seemingly a businessman, saying with a smile:

"A lot of people died last night, so we need new manpower, otherwise we’re truly shorthanded."

"A lot of people died?"

The captain showed a puzzled expression, clearly unaware of the situation, having just arrived from East City, reeking with a pungent perfume, supporting his back with one hand.

The businessman nodded, "Wasn’t there a rebellion last night? By an unfortunate coincidence, it affected us, many died."

The captain looked at the unfamiliar crew, "Are they reliable? I don’t need some newbies, a lot of hassle."

The businessman laughed, "Rest assured, the people I found are all experienced sailors, hired at a high cost, with at least three to four years of sailing experience."

Then, he moved closer to the captain, whispering, "Many of the original guys were getting old, it’s time for new blood, isn’t this an opportunity?"

Because of the long voyages, people on ships have good relationships, often replacing them isn’t as easy as a captain wanting it, with many ships having some elderly veteran sailors.

These veteran sailors are experienced, but having too many isn’t good, as they aren’t as physically fit as younger folks, also they’re often seasoned operators, some more senior than the captain, their words might hold double weight.

The captain’s expression softened, thinking that he made sense, these people didn’t die because of him, so he had no qualms:

"It’s a pity about those brothers, you newcomers shouldn’t have any burdens, we’re all a family once on the ship."

"As long as you do your job well, if there’s meat for me, there’s soup for you."

As the captain delivered this motivational speech, Su Changxing also opened his eyes, waking up, "Interesting."

Jefferson can really pick people, this captain seems easily swayed, else, if he was serious, they might not head out to sea today.

But there’s also the point that the goods are urgent, with no time to delay, the Duke’s people demanded immediate delivery.

Therefore, without reorganizing the manpower, the captain haphazardly set out to sea.

The journey from here to Singe wasn’t long and was considered safe.

He thought there shouldn’t be any major issues, after all, he was an old captain.

An experienced old captain fears no difficulty!