Chapter 340: Enchantment (Second Update) |
“No negotiation?”
“No negotiation.”
“I want to sell.”
“No one’s buying.”
“How’s the price set?”
“At this amount.”
Huang Tao squinted at the three fingers Zhang Bo held up, narrowing his eyes, “Thirty jin of seafood a day?”
Zhang Bo slapped the table, “What are you thinking? That’s thirty percent. For residents using your boat, after the day’s catch is landed and the minimum earnings are deducted, we take thirty percent.”
“Minimum earnings?”
“Then I’ll end up begging.”
“A lot of people want to cooperate but don’t get chances like this.”
Hearing that, Huang Tao’s brows tightened, “There are still people left in the Alliance now.”
“You can let them rent your boat.” Zhang Bo showed no hurry at all.
Huang Tao’s mouth twitched, “You think you’ve got me cornered?”
Zhang Bo picked at his nails, speaking slowly, “As everyone knows, I deal with matters, not people.”
Seeing this old acquaintance looking so dejected made Zhang Bo feel satisfied inside. Back when he was in the Alliance, Huang Tao always had that superior air—outwardly polite to everyone, but ruthless at heart.
Seeing him like this amused Zhang Bo; he hadn’t expected this side of him.
With that in mind, Zhang Bo said, “Alright, I’m only saying this because we’re tight. I really don’t get why you insist on staying in the Alliance. Brother, it’s been forty-nine years—why still stick with the National Army? You’ve got talent, you just chose the wrong place.”
Huang Tao felt a flash of regret at those words.
But joining the Qin Alliance now seemed too late.
Positions were full—what good would joining do?
He’d held on this long; maybe he should hold on a bit more.
“Zhang-ge, a new batch of fish just arrived, need to weigh them.” Someone ran up from behind, shouting.
Zhang Bo rubbed his face, rose from the sofa, and glanced back at Huang Tao, “That’s enough talk. Any more would be impolite. Go home and think it over. If you agree, sign the contract.”
Watching Zhang Bo’s retreating back, Huang Tao felt a jumble of emotions.
“Yao, an eel!” Zhang Bo stared at the more-than-two-meter eel in the basin, “How heavy?”
“Thirty-four jin.”
“Okay, put it on the flat cart and help me carry it over later... wait, why is there another fish in the bucket?” Zhang Bo called to the young man sorting fish nearby.
The youth said, “That’s a small grouper, only two jin. It came in with the eel.”
Zhang Bo snapped, “Are you crazy? Putting it with the eel—aren’t you afraid it’ll get eaten by its shipmate? If it actually gets eaten, I’ll deduct it from your wages.”
“Zhang-ge, don’t worry, it won’t. The eel has a small wound on its side. I put the grouper behind its tail.”
“A wound? Serious?”
“Not serious, and the basin water’s mixed with Healing Spring, so it won’t get worse.”
They transported it to the riverbank, several people together lifting the eel and tossing it into the water.
They only tossed the fish in; they didn’t pour out the basin water. That water could be reused.
Just after they released the fish, Zhang Bo glanced to the side and immediately stood at attention, “Guild Leader!”
Qin Ziwen returned his gaze with a slight smile, then tossed the Ichthyosaur Stone he held forward, merging it with the River of Living Beings card floating in the air.
Recently, the variety of seafood in the river had gradually increased, and many species still had predator-prey relationships.
With the Ichthyosaur Stone to stabilize things, they no longer had to worry about species attacking one another.
“Guild Leader, we’ll get back to work.”
“Go ahead.”
Not long after, Luoen hurried over in a rush.
“Chieftain, the first ship from the Deep-sea Shipyard has been completed.”
“Oh? I have to go see that.” Qin Ziwen perked up.
As the Home’s second shipyard, the Deep-sea Shipyard had started construction a few days ago after the fish-men settled in.
The fish-men who had just joined the Home were full of energy and working hard.
They wanted to prove themselves, and this Deep-sea Shipyard was their best chance.
Diving down from the edge of the Fish-man Burrow and clinging to the water wall, a cluster of buildings rooted along the underwater cliff edge came into view.
At the sound, fish-men lifted a ship to the surface.
From its shape, the vessel looked streamlined, like a long dart.
The bow was sharp, fitted with a metal ram.
On the hull’s sides, five pairs of adjustable wooden fin-boards extended from openings.
Entering the interior, Qin Ziwen discovered these wooden fin-boards were integrated—they were all linked to a long internal shaft, and at the front of the cabin there was a hand-cranked handle.
Just by turning the handle, you could drive the hull’s side fins.
He realized the mechanism involved reels; these fish-men had, without formal teachers, developed a series of linked pulleys underwater.
“Interesting.” Qin Ziwen circled the hull, even boarding to try it out himself.
He found the hand-crank heavy; weaker people might tire after only a few turns.
Also, it seemed suited only to fish-men, because the cabin was not sealed and contained water.
The speed wasn’t very high, but the hull was very thick—three full layers—offering turtle-like protection, and with the ram at the bow, this was essentially an underwater ramming ship.
Luoen approached, a small smile on their face, clearly waiting for praise.
Not bad, but the speed is slow, not suitable for long-range raids. Qin Ziwen gave an honest assessment, “Also, this ship is tailored to fish-men, so it has a lot of limitations.”
Luoen walked to the hull, rubbed their hands together, a faint blue light emitting from their palms, then slapped their hands onto the hull’s gray planking.
At that moment, the blue light spread like dewdrops across the surface, instantly covering the entire ship.
Zizizi...
Where the blue light passed, large bubbles surged up.
After two or three seconds, the light faded, and intricate patterns appeared on the hull, as if they’d been carved there originally.
“Chieftain, try it again.” Luoen volunteered.
Qin Ziwen climbed inside and turned the crank once more, immediately feeling a difference.
The entire dart-like vessel seemed lighter!
He cranked once, and the ship leapt forward a long stretch!
He cranked again, and it wasn’t a trick—the speed truly increased a great deal.
But he also noticed a flaw: the increased speed only applied to straight-line motion; turning speed and maneuverability hadn’t improved much.
The enhanced dart-ship was suitable for long-distance straight-line charges and short-range straight-line ramming.
If it came to skirmishing or entangled fighting, it was not its forte.
Still, compared to the original, the dart-ship’s functionality and lethality had both been greatly improved. Previously, its speed was low; although it had a ram, it rarely scored hits.
Now it was different.
Thinking of Luoen’s ability, Qin Ziwen concluded this was the effect of Enchant (Rapid).
“Can this ability only be applied to ships built by fish-men, or to all ships? What about other tools, like the vehicle-mounted crossbow or a catapult—can they be enchanted?”