Chapter 237: Whaling Ship |
"At that moment, a huge sea monster surged up from beneath the sea, directly flipping the boat over."
"Guild Leader, I only heard Brother Biao shout one last word, something about a 'dragon.' I was too panicked, didn't have time to think much, and just swam back as fast as I could. I don't know if I was just lucky, but that sea monster didn't chase after me." On the shore, a man with a ghastly pale face, constantly sniffling, wiped his nose and spoke with lingering fear.
Zou Jianghe's face was expressionless.
Last night, the moment he received the news, he had brought some trusted followers over.
Because the tide hadn't receded yet at that time, and the sea was too deep, it was very dangerous.
No one dared to go into the water.
The salvage and rescue operation had to be suspended.
It wasn't until the early morning hours, when the tide finally receded, that the floating wreckage of the boat ran aground on the mudflats.
"Zou Jianghe, it's all because of you!" He Biao's wife shrieked hysterically, her finger almost poking Zou Jianghe in the face.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know beforehand either," Zou Jianghe's voice carried a note of helplessness.
Huang Tao, standing behind him, steadied him. "Guild Leader, a two-character name that includes the word 'dragon'... it's either an Ichthyosaur or a Mosasaur."
Zou Jianghe waved his hand dismissively. None of that mattered now.
Because the people were already dead.
He hadn't expected that between two islands so close together, such a sea monster was lurking.
Who could have thought that right next to the residential complex's spawn point, a major BOSS had directly spawned.
Just yesterday, there had been no signs of any sea monster or giant beast activity.
Facing the families of the deceased ahead, Zou Jianghe bowed deeply.
"This incident is my responsibility. Everyone, please believe me, I will definitely kill this monster and avenge our fallen brothers."
After the crowd gradually dispersed, Zou Jianghe found Qin Ziwen.
"Guild Leader Qin, there is a sea monster roaming near the residential complex. For safety's sake, I hope our two sides can join forces to kill this sea monster."
"I know," Qin Ziwen nodded. "I heard about what happened on the grass, but it's not that simple."
After a pause, Qin Ziwen continued, "If the vehicle-mounted crossbows attack an animal in the water, the kinetic energy of the crossbow bolts will drastically decrease after entering the water. The only way is to figure out how to lure it to the surface."
At this point, Qin Ziwen said, "However, we can handle the hunting aspect ourselves. There's no need to trouble President Zou."
Zou Jianghe remained silent for a long moment, then asked, "Can't we cooperate? My side can contribute as well."
Qin Ziwen looked surprised. "Contribute in what way?"
This question directly stumped Zou Jianghe. He opened his mouth to speak but stopped, running through several possible responses in his mind.
But he dismissed them one by one.
It suddenly occurred to him that whether his Alliance existed or not probably didn't make much difference to the Qin Alliance.
In the end, he gave a dejected smile. "Then I'll trouble Guild Leader Qin."
With that, he turned and walked away, his back looking desolate.
"Guild Leader." Around him, several high-ranking members of the Alliance exchanged glances, then hurried after him.
...
After Zou Jianghe left, Qin Ziwen looked out at the sea. He hadn't expected that when night fell, a sea beast would still be active beneath the waters.
He needed to find a way to deal with it, or at least a means to drive it away. Otherwise, ships simply couldn't set sail.
Judging from yesterday's incident, this sea beast's aggression was very strong.
A beast that has tasted human flesh is more dangerous than one that hasn't.
Similarly, a sea beast that has destroyed a ship is more dangerous than one encountering a ship for the first time.
Because it has destroyed a ship before, it has experience and knows how to capsize a vessel.
It has tasted human flesh, knows the flavor of humans. On its menu, humans might very well be added as a new item.
But how to hunt this sea beast was also a problem. Although the Crowned Eagle eats fish, he couldn't exactly have the Crowned Eagle hunt a giant sea beast directly in the ocean, could he?
Jia Liangcai spoke up, "Master, this sea beast in the ocean is like a wall, temporarily separating us from the residential complex opposite. It not only blocks us but also prevents them from contacting us. If we cannot resolve this, our range of activity will likely be limited to the current island reefs and the areas accessible after the tide recedes."
Qin Ziwen said, "Then we are at a disadvantage. That larger island opposite probably has other animal activity, and it also has more trees, making it easier for them to build ships. The longer this drags on, the more advantageous it is for them."
After thinking for a moment, Qin Ziwen said, "We can't just give them time to develop for free. Later, I'll take the Crowned Eagle and go check out the situation first."
With that, Qin Ziwen first returned to Home and went to the ghost shipyard to find Tao Fu.
At that moment, Tao Fu and the ghostly shipwrights were constructing the second ship.
Judging from the keel frame, this ship was about twelve meters long.
Significantly larger than the keel ship by more than just a little.
Pale blue, ethereal ghostly shipwrights were lying on the ship's surface, constantly hammering away.
On the other side, placed on the ground, was the first completed keel ship. According to the plan, this ship was supposed to be launched this morning.
But after last night's incident, the wooden ship launch plan was temporarily suspended.
Because based on what happened, a wooden ship of this class offered very little resistance against a sea beast.
Even though a ship over seven meters long was a bit longer than Zou Jianghe's five-meter-class wooden boat.
It was only a bit longer.
Facing this sea monster of unknown exact length and class, a wooden boat that was only two meters longer wasn't safe.
To be honest, Qin Ziwen felt that even a ten-meter-class wooden ship trying to withstand a sea beast twenty or thirty meters long would depend heavily on luck.
So he presented new requirements to Tao Fu. "The ship's weight needs to be increased, and the bottom plates must be thickened. Ideally, add a layer of iron plating, then apply multiple layers of waterproofing. That way, even if one layer is bitten through, it won't affect the entire ship."
After hearing his lord describe last night's events, Tao Fu quickly nodded.
"Rest assured, my lord, there are no problems technically." After collaborating with these ghostly shipwrights, Tao Fu had gained a lot of confidence.
He discovered that although these ghostly shipwrights couldn't speak, they could basically complete any task he assigned.
It was quite miraculous.
And perhaps because they were ghosts, some relatively difficult forging techniques seemed to come easily to them, not very hard at all.
Tao Fu's role was more about guidance and constructing the overall ship's framework.
Qin Ziwen said, "Besides that, I also need to install several heavy crossbows on the ship. You should know about whaling ships, right? Try to build it according to whaling ship specifications."
Tao Fu hesitated because he had never built a whaling ship before.
But thinking of the ghostly shipwrights, and then recalling the formidable siege engine manufacturing capabilities of the Yanwu Military Arsenal...
Tao Fu thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
"Good. Coordinate well with Li Tieshan. I hope to see your results as soon as possible."
After giving his instructions, Qin Ziwen mounted the Crowned Eagle and took to the skies from the side of the residential complex.
He flew towards the other island on this map. At the same time, he instructed Du Yu and the others to be ready to provide support from within Home at any moment. In case he encountered a crisis situation, he would have no choice but to open the node and call for reinforcements.