Chapter 219: Buying a Magic Ship
The water pigmen slaves were the most important item in the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps’ transaction list.
Reaching an agreement on this caused both the dragonman youngster and Zong Ge to let out a breath.
Next, they returned to look at their ships at port.
The port had been one of the main battlefields and was left an atrocious ruin.
The port had many ships berthed there.
The source of these ships was complicated.
Some were from mercenary corps, some from merchant alliances, and plenty were pirate ships.
During the final phase of the melee, Hun Tong had used the light beam cannons to deal immense casualties to the enemy, many pirates perished, leaving many ships behind.
Some ships sank, but most were saved and towed to shore.
The ships had varying degrees of damage, some were still seaworthy, and others needed overhauling. Some keels were broken apart, requiring testing and calculation and if the repair costs were too high, they would be abandoned to be rebuilt or purchased by another.
The Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps required many ships.
During the fighting, all of their ships remained at port, unlike the other mercenary corps and merchant alliance ships that had sailed out.
Of course, the latter’s fate wasn’t good.
They were first intercepted by magic traps, then engaged in fierce fighting with the Vinger Jar Pirates. They were also ruthlessly backstabbed by Hun Tong during this time, leading to a mournful end.
In any case, the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps’ ships also suffered calamities.
When they came to Two Eyes Island, the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps had 12 ships. Of them, 2 were medium sized, and the rest were small sized ships.
During the beast tide, the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps had lost 5 ships.
After the battle for Two Eyes Island, only two small sized ships still remained in working order.
Luckily there were many ownerless ships at the port.
Before making the trade with Hun Tong, the survivors spotted their targets.
On average, ordinary ships cost 50 gold. Ship volume influenced price, and small sized ships usually cost less than medium sized ones. But different sea environments can have different ship prices. At the same time, ship composition is also an important factor. For example, how many masts and sails there are, how big the cargo hold is, how many cannons it has, and more.
Hun Tong didn’t need these ships, not only were they not useful to him, but he also needed to spend a considerable amount on maintenance and repair for them.
The patrol fleet hadn’t suffered much damage during the battle.
One Eye used bombardment tactics.
This had its benefits, that is it conserved the strength of one’s fleet.
The downside was that One Eye barely stood out on the battlefield.
Hun Tong didn’t lack ships, but money, thus he needed to sell these ships for as much as possible.
He wore a smile, spoke frankly with assurance, and with constant business tricks that never repeated, he displayed his true “bargaining strength”.
But the dragonman youngster and his entourage held him off.
Hun Tong had fallen into Zi Di’s scheme and sold off the water pig slaves on the cheap.
If Zi Di was currently present, she could vie with Hun Tong, so too could Fei She.
But the people here right now were not Hun Tong’s match.
Zong Ge didn’t speak, he understood this was a battlefield he wasn’t an expert in.
Men Shi was glaring, amazed that a human lord as cunning and sinister as Hun Tong could speak so benevolently.
Chi Lai was quiet.
The dragonman youngster was the only one that could tackle this difficult job himself, and as expected, started to concede.
“Can I say a few words?” During this challenging situation, Mu Ban suddenly interjected.
Seeing an ordinary person butt in, Hun Tong was puzzled and his brows slightly wrinkled.
Who was he?
He was a gold level, an imperial noble.
To be honest, him discussing business with a silver level mercenary like Long Fu was demeaning him, now an ordinary person dared to cut into the conversation.
This was an offence.
But Hun Tong restrained himself.
If it was one of his people, he would punish them severely on the spot.
He looked at Long Fu.
The dragonman youngster’s eyes flashed.
He trusted Mu Ban.
On Mystifying Monster Island, they had experienced tribulations and fought power enemies together, he was a comrade he could entrust his back to!
“Go on, you have something to say?” The dragonman youngster supported Mu Ban.
Mu Ban took a deep breath, and with a touch of nervousness, began to recount a ship’s defects.
He was a veteran carpenter, good at making crossbow arrows. Though not familiar with ships, since escaping Mystifying Monster Island, he had been attentively studying many books on ships.
This information had come from War Merchant’s database, very detailed, reliable, and valuable.
Mu Ban not only acquired this knowledge, but he also put it to practical use.
As the ships set sail, he served as a repairman that maintained the ships.
Therefore, Mu Ban was very familiar with the structure of ships.
“That is a paddle sailboat, a Tardia model ship. It requires more sailors to paddle it, putting more pressure on the trip and supplies, its range also cannot compare to a true sailboat.”
“Don’t be fooled by the fact that that ship has a stern, it is actually an improved model Nef ship. Originally used as small costal fishing operations and trade vessels. Although this ship is an improvement, with a bigger volume and has 3 more masts, because of its hull design flaws, it is very heavy.”
“That Cog ship seems to be pretty good. Upon careful examination, it is built from oak wood and uses shiplap joints, but it is too old. You can see moss and shellfish attached to the bottom of the ship. Despite not suffering too much damage during the battle, it can only sail for a few more years, and any large gale will decrease its already limited life span.”
Hun Tong was dumbstruck.
The more Mu Ban spoke, the more confident and achieved he felt, “A day really came when I could refute a gold level imperial noble, a feudal lord at that?”
With Mu Ban’s help, the dragonman youngster finally stabilized his feet in the negotiation.
“Your corps really is a galaxy of talent.” Hun Tong wore a smile as he spoke with deep meaning, “At the same time, he’s got big guts too!”
He had no choice but to concede that this ordinary person was talented.
But there were many talented ordinary people, and they all lived at the lowest rungs of society!
In this world of the strong, what truly decided one’s status was how powerful they were individually.
As an ordinary person, Mu Ban being able to interfere in this conversation could be said to be the greatest highlight of his life.
Most of all, it was the dragonman youngster who gave him the chance and space to display his talents.
Finally, the dragonman youngster purchased 7 ships.
Two medium sized ships, one to the dragonman youngster, the other to Zong Ge. The other 5 were small sized ships.
Blindly purchasing one type of ship model was not proper.
One needed to have ship models matched up with each other.
Like how troops were partitioned up into groups such as long ranged and close range, each had their duty and worked with each other, fleets were the same.
Small sized ships were often fast and agile, large ships had much more firepower and defenses, and medium sized ships were the backbone, more balanced.
The Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps’ fleet wasn’t that big, and buying big ships would encumber their speed, so medium sized ships would do.
There was another reason too, there weren’t many large sized ships for sale on the port, and those available were of poor quality.
After selling the seven ships, Hun Tong received several hundred gold coins
He was still doing his best to sell more, “There are still many ships I don’t need. How about this, Commander Long Fu, the more ships you buy, the bigger discount I’ll offer. The 8th ship will only cost 45 gold, the 9th will only be 40 gold, and so on.
The dragonman youngster forced a smile and shook his head, “The remaining ships are too damaged, and them, we will need to repair them.”
“What’s the difference between the repair cost and the normal market value?”
Hun Tong laughed, “Doesn’t your corps have alchemy puppets? They can repair these ships.”
The survivors had used basic maintenance puppets to repair their ships.
This information had been leaked and collected by Hun Tong.
The dragonman youngster shook his head, “Those alchemy puppets expend magic power and repair materials.”
Hun Tong muttered to himself, then replied, “How about this, I will drop my price by another 5 gold coins.”
The dragonman youngster stared blankly for a moment and couldn’t help but be moved.
Finally, he bought 3 more ships, all of which were small sized ships that were relatively undamaged.
The Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps had lost many members and needed to recruit more in the future.
But the dragonman youngster didn’t intend on replenishing on Two Eyes Island.
Since they were going to Ice Sculpture Island, the personnel on that large island would undoubtedly be more outstanding and have a wider selection of choices.
After considering it for a bit, he decided to buy a few ships ahead of time to fit more future mercenaries in them.
Hun Tong had given him a rare chance – the more he bought, the lower the price, and in accordance with Hun Tong’s discount plan, the price would eventually hit 0!
But that was actually a pitfall.
On the one hand, the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps had finite members and couldn’t operate so many ships.
On the other hand, after several rounds of actual combat, the dragonman youngster understood that during naval warfare, ordinary ships were at best expendable, the most reliable ships were magic ships!
“Don’t you want to buy supply ships?”
“Look at this, this large ship is much more suitable!”
“When you leave the island, many accidents can happen on the seas, and one more supply ship can store more food and water, guaranteeing your voyage more.”
Hun Tong was still not satisfied; he did his very best to sell the best looking large sized ship.
The dragonman youngster shook his head, “We aren’t planning to have a long voyage, too many supplies will go unused.”
Hun Tong suddenly smiled, “There is one ship I believe you’ll find interesting. But perhaps it will be somewhat troublesome, who knows if you’ll dare buy it.”
Hun Tong’s indirect statement grabbed the dragonman youngster’s and the others’ interest.
They didn’t know. Which ship would cause Hun Tong to say this?
The deal with Hun Tong had already been completed.
Actually, after obtaining the rights to those ships, the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps had used a number of basic maintenance puppets to rapidly repair them.
Hun Tong personally witnessed these alchemy puppets in action and was somewhat moved by them.
He noticed that these basic maintenance puppets had 30% greater work efficiency than normal models.
He asked if he could purchase one or two from the dragonman youngster.
But the dragonman youngster tactfully declined.
The basic maintenance puppets had come from War Merchant, and the survivors didn’t want these puppets wandering outside to avoid becoming a flaw that would provoke suspicion.
By noon, the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps’ fleet set sail and slowly began to leave Two Eyes Island.
They had 11 ships altogether.
A few maintenance puppets were still banging about, conducting their repair tasks.
The dragonman youngster stood on the port, saying his final farewells to Hun Tong.
“Feudal Lord, thank you for dispatching your subordinates to transport the supplies to our ship holds, they saved us a lot of time.” The dragonman youngster thanked.
Hun Tong reached out his hand and wanted to clap the young man’s shoulder, but because of their height differences, he could barely touch his upper arm, “We fought side by side, you are a comrade in arms. Remember that Two Eyes Island will forever welcome you all. I also look forward to having a deeper collaboration together.”
At that moment, a group of people rushed into the port, indignant at injustice and streaming out with torrents of insults.
“Our flagship is sailing off!”
“That’s our ship!”
“Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps! Do you want to make war against our Bandage Mercenary Corps?”
“Lord Hun Tong, how could you secretly sell off another’s ship?”
The dragonman youngster was stunned, and his brows immediately wringed up, “Lord Hun Tong, didn’t you say the White Bandage was yours? This is an entirely different kind of trouble that I thought.”
Hun Tong laughed, unconcerned, “I defeated the enemies, drove back the pirates and fishmen, otherwise the Bandage Mercenary Corps would have been wiped out.”
“Therefore, the White Bandage is naturally my spoils of war!”
“Naturally, I admit, these mercenaries are somewhat obstinate.”
“That doesn’t matter, this transaction has no problems. I will handle these matters well enough.”
“Go on then, that ship has sailed.”
The dragonman youngster looked at the furious and wronged Bandage mercenaries, and couldn’t help but feel remorseful, but like Hun Tong said, the ship had sailed already.
He had no choice but to bite his teeth, jump up with great strength, and land onto the last ship.
Standing on the aft, he gazed at Hun Tong’s figure on the port, his impression of the latter becoming worse.
“The Commander Beng Dai died by Hun Tong’s hands.”
“Without its sole silver level. the Bandage Mercenary Corps probably won’t survive.”
“For his own benefits, Hun Tong began to act against this power.”
“This absolutely isn’t a righteous action; such table manners are too unsightly.”