Three days later, Sembawood led the thunderstrike fleet and escorted a transport convoy of over eight hundred merchant ships and cargo vessels to Romani Cape, immediately requesting an audience with
"Your Highness, here is the manifest of goods and personnel list for the transport convoy. In total, there are eight hundred and forty-three large and medium-sized merchant ships and cargo vessels. Among them, one hundred and three large oceangoing merchant ships are carrying over a hundred thousand conscripted recruits forcibly raised by the Commercial Alliance from the provinces in the southern continent—all young and able-bodied. Over five hundred ships are loaded with grain, and the remainder mostly carry various military supplies. Oh, and thirty-eight large cargo ships are carrying nearly a hundred thousand barrels of greenvine sap..." Sembawood's report was quite detailed.
Lorist was taken aback. Why was the Commercial Alliance transporting so much greenvine sap? A hundred thousand barrels was roughly the Roman Empire's entire annual output. He picked up the supply manifest Sembawood had handed over and saw that it documented the Twin-Headed Dragon Trading Guild purchasing the Roman Empire's entire annual output of greenvine sap at thirty percent above market price, as well as sweeping their stockpiles clean.
Strange. What did the Twin-Headed Dragon Trading Guild need so much greenvine sap for? Lorist pondered for only a moment before understanding. Three years of continuous bloody warfare had turned the Mana Hill Plains into ruins. The Twin-Headed Dragon Trading Guild's purchase of so much greenvine sap from the Roman Empire was most likely for the reconstruction of the Mana Hill Plains, and perhaps also to use it to build defensive installations and restore the destroyed walls of those fortress cities that had been recaptured by the Commercial Alliance.
A single barrel of greenvine sap weighed a hundred jin, and a hundred thousand barrels meant ten million jin. With all this greenvine sap as a binding agent, a plan that had been forming in Lorist's mind over the past two days could be perfectly realized. This was truly a pillow delivered at the moment of drowsiness, and it delighted Lorist greatly.
"Excellent, I was just short of manpower and labor." Lorist said to Sembawood with great satisfaction. "Have those hundred thousand conscripted recruits disembark and get to work on shore. They are now prisoners of our
"Uh? Your Highness, aren't we transporting those hundred thousand barrels of greenvine sap back to the family's territory?" Compared to those hundred thousand able-bodied young prisoners, Sembawood valued the supplies more—a tendency perhaps rooted in his early days as a pirate, where he prized possessions over human lives.
"Come with me." Instead of answering, Lorist led Sembawood out of the captain's quarters and onto the deck.
"See that? I plan to build a city and establish a checkpoint here. This will be the starting point for our Norton Family's control of the Golden Coast along the Sunlit Sea." Lorist said.
Sembawood stared with his bull-like eyes for a long time, seeing nothing but rolling waves. Then, following the direction of Lorist's finger, he looked toward Romani Cape with its towering cliffs. Could it be that Lorist wanted to build a castle on the cliff face? Sembawood was utterly baffled...
When he received no response, Lorist turned to look at Sembawood and immediately realized the man's thoughts had wandered somewhere entirely wrong. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Where are you looking? I don't mean to build on the cliff—I mean to build in this reef-strewn area."
Only then did Sembawood understand. Lorist was indeed pointing at this stretch of sea. But even so, how could one build a city on a reef area? The depths here ranged from ten or so meters to as shallow as two or three meters, and even at low tide, only a few rocks were exposed. Unless Lorist intended to fill in the entire reef area, it would be utterly impossible to build a city on top of it.
"This reef area is close to the Golden Sea Route. If we build a city and establish a checkpoint here, our family will only need a few thunderstrike warships and bronze cannons mounted on the city walls to control the chokepoint for southern sea traffic heading to Hidden Gold Bay. The Commercial Alliance's maritime lifeline will be in our hands. Our family won't need to risk venturing into the southern seas. Building a city here, coordinating with Shilowas Island to the north and south, will also give our family fleet a supply base and foothold in the southern seas..." After receiving Shivard's report two days ago, Lorist had been struck by inspiration and conceived this idea of city-building. Over the past two days, he had already sent people to survey this reef area.
"But Your Highness, this is a massive project." Sembawood swallowed hard. "Our family is still at war with the Commercial Alliance. Even with sufficient supplies and a hundred thousand prisoner-laborers, filling in this reef area isn't something that can be done in a short time—it would take at least three or four years. Is it really worth spending such enormous manpower and resources?"
Lorist laughed. "If it took three to four years to fill in this reef area, then as you say, it wouldn't be worth it. However, I believe two months will be enough to fill in the reef area and begin construction. In half a year, this place can become a base for our Norton Family fleet."
"What? That's impossible!" Sembawood cried out. "Your Highness, how could anyone fill in this reef area in two months? Even with those hundred thousand able-bodied prisoners working day and night without rest, it couldn't be done..."
"Of course it can be done, because we don't need to fill in the entire reef area." Lorist chuckled. "Sembawood, did you know? The results of the sea battle three days ago came in. Of the Invincible Fleet's four hundred and seventy-two warships, only one hundred and forty-seven remained intact. Excluding the seventy-four large armed warships of the vanguard that we destroyed, the remaining two hundred and fifty or so warships of various sizes all bore more or less damage from our cannon fire. But they can only be moored along the shore to be battered by wind and rain and slowly rot away. Repairing these warships and sending them back to sea would be a gamble and a betrayal of the sailors' lives. Perhaps they could hold out a while longer in the calm southern seas, but in the rough northern seas, they wouldn't withstand the tempest.
But our Norton Family is based in the Northland—the northern seas are the foundation of our North Sea Fleet. So these cannon-damaged warships have become a dilemma for us: useless to keep, wasteful to discard. In that case, I plan to put them to use. Think about it—if we fill these warships with rocks and earth and sink them around this reef area, they'll quickly form a seawall.
At the center of this reef area lies an elliptical lagoon, over ten meters deep in places and more than twenty meters in others. Remove a few obstructive rocks, and this lagoon will become a harbor for our family fleet to anchor. That's why those hundred thousand barrels of greenvine sap from the transport convoy are so incredibly useful to us. No mixing required—just dilute the greenvine sap and pour it into the holds filled with rocks and earth. Once it hardens, these sunken ships will become the foundation for the impregnable castle fortress we build on top."
So this was Lorist's scheme—making use of the discarded, filling wrecked ships with earth and stone, sinking them into the reef area to form a ring of seawalls, then building a ring of city walls and fortifications atop them, mounting bronze cannons to control the Golden Sea Route from the southern seas to Hidden Gold Bay, while simultaneously giving the family's North Sea Fleet a supply base and foothold in the Sunlit Sea.
Sembawood's comprehension dawned like the sun, and his admiration knew no bounds. This was nothing short of creation from nothingness—building a castle fortress in a reef area surrounded by sheer cliffs along the coast, utterly impregnable by land. And at sea, what warship could possibly attack a castle fortress armed with bronze cannons? Just as Lorist had said, this amounted to seizing the chokepoint of the Commercial Alliance's maritime supply line—a knife thrust deep enough to cause mortal pain.
"Your Highness is truly wise..." Sembawood slapped his own forehead. "I never could have imagined such an inconceivable method. Once the castle fortress and checkpoint are built here, our family will receive an enormous annual income from maritime tolls. No smuggler will be able to escape the taxes our family levies. Your Highness, may I request that this revenue be used to expand the family fleet?"
Lorist was taken aback. "Sembawood, I've already ordered the Bullhorn Bay shipyard to construct ten more thunderstrike warships, planning to expand the North Sea Fleet's thunderstrike warships to twenty-four. At the same time, I'll reduce the number of large armed warships and redesign a new type of large oceangoing armed transport warship equipped with a small number of bronze cannons to serve as supply vessels for the thunderstrike warships. But what do you mean by maritime tolls?"
Upon hearing that Lorist had already ordered ten new thunderstrike warships and was even developing a new type of oceangoing armed transport vessel, Sembawood was overjoyed and hurriedly explained: "Your Highness, maritime tolls are essentially a form of disguised taxation. Before, the Invincible Fleet was the hegemon of the southern seas. All family ships and private vessels sailing in the southern seas had to pay a fee to the Invincible Fleet to obtain passage rights before they could trade with the coastal nations of the Sunlit Sea and the Golden Coast. Otherwise, the Invincible Fleet would sink or confiscate their ships under the guise of piracy or smuggling. As far as I know, the annual fee for a large oceangoing merchant ship was twenty-five gold Forde."
"Oh? Wasn't the Chikde Trading Guild supposed to be the hegemon of the southern seas? How did it become the Invincible Fleet?" Lorist asked. The intelligence report submitted by Tagel had clearly stated that the Chikde Trading Guild was the hegemon of the southern seas, yet Sembawood was telling him something different.
"Your Highness, saying the Chikde Trading Guild is the hegemon of the southern seas isn't wrong either, because the Invincible Fleet operates on a joint-stock system. The Chikde Trading Guild holds forty percent of its revenue, with the remaining sixty percent belonging to the other six major trading guilds of the Commercial Alliance. However, after we destroyed the Weisia Trading Guild, their shares in the Invincible Fleet were swallowed by the Twin-Headed Dragon Trading Guild.
On the surface, the Invincible Fleet is the overt hegemon of the southern seas, empowered to act as it pleases in those waters under the banner of the Commercial Alliance. The coastal nations of the Golden Coast, intimidated by the Commercial Alliance's might, have no choice but to swallow their grievances. The Chikde Trading Guild, meanwhile, covertly controls the Invincible Fleet while also monopolizing several of the most profitable commodities produced by the nations of the southern continent. Their trading guild's merchant fleet and armed navy are also the largest in scale after the Invincible Fleet's.
Some coastal nations' ports and docks have even fallen into the Chikde Trading Guild's grasp. One could say the Chikde Trading Guild has woven an enormous maritime trade network across the coastal nations of the southern continent. Only the trade they deem unworthy becomes something that the noble fleets and private shipowners of those coastal nations scramble to claim. So calling the Chikde Trading Guild the hegemon of the southern seas isn't wrong." Sembawood explained. The Invincible Fleet and the Chikde Trading Guild had always been his primary focus.
"I see, so that's how it is." Lorist understood. The Invincible Fleet was called the maritime hegemon because of its military might, while the Chikde Trading Guild was called the maritime hegemon because of its comprehensive strength. "So, Sembawood, you were saying that once this castle fortress is built, we can collect enormous maritime tolls? But what if those merchant ships simply don't come?"
One round trip, after deducting costs, could earn a merchant ship at least a hundred gold Forde. A single voyage per year would be enough."
"I see. But how do you know all this so well? Could it be that you've been doing some business on the side?" Lorist eyed Sembawood with suspicion.
Sembawood broke into a cold sweat. "Your Highness, I haven't been doing any private business on the side. All of this I learned from the private shipowners when I went to take possession of the transport convoy. They did me a great favor—they prevented the personnel the Invincible Fleet had placed on their ships from scuttling the vessels and destroying the transported goods, and delivered the entire transport convoy to me intact. I asked them what reward they wanted, and they said they wished to come pay their respects to Your Highness."
Lorist's interest was piqued. "What do they want to see me about?"
Sembawood scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed. "Your Highness, technically speaking, since these private shipowners' merchant ships were requisitioned by the Invincible Fleet and the Chikde Trading Guild to join the Commercial Alliance's transport convoy, and are now our prisoners, they should all belong to our family as spoils and war prizes. But these private shipowners want to see you specifically to plead for their merchant ships back. Although they did our family a tremendous favor by stopping the scuttling, a reward of ten or so gold Forde would be more than sufficient—there's no need to return those merchant ships..."
"I won't meet with them," Lorist stroked his chin. "Grant their request. Let them complete the delivery of goods, and then they can have their ships back."
"But Your Highness, that's over three hundred large and medium-sized merchant ships and cargo vessels—worth a considerable sum..." Sembawood was still reluctant.
"Return them. The transport convoy has over eight hundred ships. Even if we give back these three hundred-odd vessels, we'll still have nearly five hundred remaining. What we lack right now isn't ships, but the sailors and crew to man them. In the short term, we can't recruit enough trustworthy seafarers. Moreover, this presents an opportunity for our family."
Lorist mused thoughtfully. "Hasn't our family been unable to break into the trade routes of the Sunlit Sea's Golden Coast nations for the longest time? Perhaps this could be a wonderful opportunity.
Previously, all trade routes to the southern seas were monopolized by the Commercial Alliance's Chikde Trading Guild and the Peterson Trading Guild, reducing our family's territorial products to nothing more than procurement sources for those two guilds. Trade has since been completely severed.
This time, let these private shipowners transport goods to Shilowas Island. Let them view our family's product displays, let them purchase freely. Perhaps our family's products will reach the nations of the southern continent through these private shipowners..."
"Yes, Your Highness. I will follow your instructions to the letter." Sembawood understood what Lorist intended.
"Mm. If Shilowas Island can also become a linchpin on the Golden Sea Route, then the castle fortress and checkpoint established here could indeed bring our family substantial revenue. When the year ends, I'll take stock. If the sum is considerable, I may consider expanding the North Sea Fleet into three separate squadrons—twelve thunderstrike warships, plus twelve new-type large oceangoing armed transport warships, and twenty-four new-type medium fast armed warships also equipped with cannons. That will be more than enough for you to roam the northern and southern seas." Lorist promised.
"Thank you, Your Highness..." Sembawood was so delighted his grin stretched from ear to ear.
But then Lorist's expression turned serious. "Sembawood, your tasks ahead are heavy. First, hand over all your naval assault units to Shivard's command—he needs the manpower to supervise those hundred thousand able-bodied young prisoners in their labor on shore. Second, take ten thunderstrike warships and escort the Qigeda Kingdom's Firebird Legion, the Invincible Fleet's captured crew members and sailors, along with those three hundred-odd private merchant ships delivering supplies to Shilowas Island. I have already dispatched a messenger hawk to order Baron Kamora to proceed to Shilowas Island to receive the prisoners and supplies.
The remaining transport convoy and the Invincible Fleet's warships—I will lead them to Ametlin Port to rendezvous with the Rockstone Corps and the Imperial Guard Corps. As for you, after delivering the prisoners and supplies to Shilowas Island, return here. First, to supervise the reef-filling project and control this stretch of sea. Second, to gradually transport these hundred thousand able-bodied young prisoners to Duke Kenmes's family territory in Xidegele Province—disembarking from Platinum Beach and marching to the Yungeshangdela Province. The family needs these hundred thousand laborers to develop that province..."
"But, Your Highness, weren't you going to attack Hidden Gold Bay and seize
Sure enough, Lorist shook his head. "Attacking Hidden Gold Bay no longer requires the North Sea Fleet. Look at the warships and transport convoy we captured from the Invincible Fleet—we can use them to enter Hidden Gold Bay and seize Morant City."
Yes—disguising themselves as the Invincible Fleet to enter Hidden Gold Bay would be far safer and harder for the enemy to anticipate. If thunderstrike warships appeared, it would only alert the enemy and put them on high alert. Sembawood quickly grasped this point.
"Very well, Your Highness. I will complete my tasks." Sembawood said dejectedly.
...