Set sail, head out to sea.
On the huge Gallic Pirate ship, many skeletons hung from the edge of the mast, a row of them looking quite unsettling.
This was also a psychological tactic; whether it was a merchant ship or a warship, often when people saw that row of bones on the mast, most would already be terrified.
It was also thanks to the Camelot Knights' good psychological resilience that they could be brought out, otherwise the Gauls wouldn't have suffered so many losses.
The more bones there were, the more phosphorus there was, and a row of bones placed there meant no need for lamps at night.
The eerie green flames, like will-o'-the-wisps, gathered around the ship and did not disperse, looking like vengeful spirits seeking lives.
An ordinary person would have had a mental breakdown long ago, but these Barbarians regarded it as a beautiful sight.
Previously, they often left survivors, but recently, not a single one was spared.
Women were taken back to bear children, only to die after giving birth, while men were all hanged; they even considered feeding them to sharks a waste.
This was a very savage race.
And almost all three large ships were decorated this way, singing Gallic war songs that were bold and fierce.
Long, large ox-horn trumpets rested on the bow, blown by the strongest and bravest warriors, and with the rhythm, fifty oars on each side simultaneously cut through the waves.
The Gallic warriors in the cabin laughed heartily, drinking wine while effortlessly rowing with oars as thick as a baby's forearm.
Their songs reached the sky, their arms were thick and powerful, and most of them wore animal skins.
Those wearing white fur were the strongest warriors, capable of wrestling polar bears bare-handed and bringing back their pelts to make badges of honor.
These 'White-Skinned Warriors' were like the Viking Berserkers, capable of fighting many opponents at once; in other words, they were elites!
Each warship had twenty-five oars on each side, divided equally in length.
Excluding the helmsmen and oarsmen, the ship carried one hundred and fifty people; including the helmsmen and oarsmen, it was about two hundred people.
Three ships totaled six hundred people, which was a considerable force.
However, they weren't going to fight; they were going to demonstrate their power and seek allies.
Although Camelot was rich, as a single pirate faction, he couldn't swallow it.
No, it should be said that no pirates could swallow it.
Camelot was too rich, too strong, too powerful!
And his goal was to devour all of Camelot, so naturally, the more people, the better.
He was going to negotiate, but he had to show his strength.
Firstly, to establish equal status, and secondly, he was afraid of being swallowed whole by others.
As a Gaul, he naturally understood the Gallic way of thinking; killing him and taking his ships was not impossible, and even highly probable!
So, he absolutely had to show his strength and muscles.
This fleet cruised the English Channel for a whole month, finally gathering at Iceland.
Over a hundred ships, Gauls, Vikings, all present...
Viking Pirate ships had double masts, double sails, carried three hundred people, and could be considered brave.
They were generally thick-skinned and tough, and despite being at sea, they never engaged in long-range combat.
Relying on their thick hulls and speed, they would charge in, either ramming ships or engaging in close-quarters boarding combat, truly ferocious.
The strongest among the Vikings were called Berserkers, just as powerful as the Gallic White Bear Warriors.
However, a Berserker was any qualified individual who, upon encountering an enemy warship, would charge into boarding combat, handled by the Berserker alone.
If he won, he would slaughter the ship and earn a title; if he lost, he died.
The Vikings were the only race whose single ship dared to charge at an organized warship.
Even the Romans couldn't help but feel intimidated when they encountered these fearless giants.
Such a gathering was rare in a century, but the security measures taken by the organizers were excellent.
Neither Camelot nor Rome had even heard a whisper of it.
The spiral-shaped cliff was filled with various pirates; Gauls and Vikings had different styles.
Gauls preferred using cutlasses, three fingers thick, capable of directly cutting the neck or severing the waist of a horse or person.
Vikings preferred axes, the bigger the better, holding an axe in one hand and a round shield in the other, which could be thrown to injure people or used for close-range combat to directly smash through thin wooden shields, very fierce.
Due to different races and numbers, aside from the bickering among the major leaders, the pirates sitting on this spiral cliff were all impatient.
They discussed for a whole month until all the supplies brought by each party were completely consumed.
Only then, with a belly full of frustration, did they agree to reconvene the month after next.
As for next month, they would naturally go on raids.
Piracy was truly a profession where one raid could feed them for a week, but without it, there was nothing at all; it was a completely uninsured, high-risk occupation.
However, merchant ships had become clever now, all equipped with fast sails, and they didn't take the shortest routes, instead circling to the Red Leaf Ridge port.
There was also a small island town under the Roman Empire's jurisdiction at sea.
If they suspected pirates, they would stop at the small island's sheltered harbor.
After all, they weren't in logistics; goods transported from south to north simply needed to be sturdy and they weren't afraid of delays.
Piracy was becoming increasingly difficult.
Half a year passed with this back and forth, but they finally reached a conclusion.
Millions of pirates were slowly brought together, eyeing that small island with greed, slowly developing covetousness.
What was Kayal doing during this half-year?
He had a lot of things to do!
Not to mention the recent plans to clear the demon beasts from the forests within Scotland, just the previous period's recruitment of two hundred and fifty thousand slaves and one hundred and fifty thousand laborers to dig canals was magnificent! Truly magnificent!
It was also fortunate that horses were plentiful now; with just a small amount of contribution points, one could mortgage horses as farm horses.
Then, with a bronze plow, sowing and other tasks were quickly done.
Although horses' endurance wasn't as long as oxen's, their speed was definitely much faster than oxen's, and good farm horses' strength was certainly not inferior to oxen.
This freed up a large number of young, able-bodied men in every household, and Kayal always believed in making the best use of everything.
Why would he let so many young men sit idle?
Immediately, he recruited one hundred and fifty thousand young men to join the two hundred and fifty thousand slaves in digging the canal.
Digging this canal was a big undertaking; it needed to be wide and deep, and most importantly, it had to be dug low, otherwise seawater couldn't flow in.
At settlement, one could choose to receive money or contribution points; it was up to them.
Eighty percent of people chose contribution points.
Are you kidding? Money would come when this year's wheat harvest came in, but could you exchange for contribution points? They might not even allow it!
While the canal was being dug, Kayal was not idle.
Forest areas greatly restricted Knights, so Kayal did not deploy them.
He transferred the Knights to coastal defense, patrolling along the coastline, while over fifty thousand militiamen mixed with five thousand Camelot infantry marched mightily towards the interior of Scotland.