Chapter 180

"Lord Thousand-Householder, examine this adhesive." She traced the fish-glue patterns on the marble fragments with her fingertips. "This 'Nine-Turn' recipe was a secret passed down from when Yu Tonghai built the Poyang water stronghold in the Hongwu reign. How could it be mixed with fragments of icons from the Hagia Sophia?" Suddenly, chants erupted from the lagoon. Fifty Byzantine craftsmen, disguised as boat-dwelling fishermen, surfaced from behind the reef. The forging marks on the gold-leaf hammers they held were identical to the scales used by the Japanese pirates seized by Wang Zhi during the Chenghua sea battles. Shen Xitang’s Silver Silk shredded a statue of the Virgin Mary, revealing a fallen scrap of the *Golden Horn Secret Ledger*—next to an official document claiming "eighty thousand taels of coral tax falsely reported," there was a notation in Greek: "Resold to Venice Bank as collateral for weaponry!" "Look at the growth rings on this giant clam!" Xiao Heng shattered a thorny oyster with his scabbard. Inside the exposed Bronze Fuze, the Manchu ciphers matched the "lighthouse repairs" expenses falsely reported in the *Nanhai Tax Registry* perfectly!