The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

This chapter is sponsored by "Wu Ma Wei Yang" for the generous reward.

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With a slight push on Loki's neck, Liszt soared into the air and landed on the railing of the Sky Ship. Following the route pointed out by Kostor, he clearly saw what the dragon bone of the Sky Ship looked like.

It was indeed an entire tree branch.

Starting from the bow, instead of a ram, the branch split into two, extending towards both sides of the ship's bottom, forming three parallel lines with the main branch. These three lines constituted the main dragon bone and two side dragon bones, together forming the ship's main support structure.

Above these dragon bones, many smaller branches extended to either side, forming the ribs.

In other words, the core structure of the Sky Ship was constructed out of a single tree branch. Only this branch was very standardized and symmetrical, as if cast from a mold. The other parts were assembled on this trunk, and upon closer inspection, it was observed that many components, like the dragon bone, were also whole tree branches.

This was a Sky Ship "grown" from various branches.

"Indeed, it is incredible," Liszt couldn't help but marvel, "Such technology definitely surpasses this era. No noble in our country possesses this kind of technology."

"Lord, our country has the most advanced shipbuilding industry. If our country cannot build such large ships, then I think... only the Moon Empire has the capability to build such ships," Marcus, who followed up, offered his firm analysis, "This ship might have sunk to the ocean's depths thousands of years ago!"

The Moon Empire was a convenient scapegoat.

Anything inexplicable or unexplainable could be attributed to the Moon Empire.

Naturally, Liszt wasn't going to reveal now that this was a Sky Ship built by the Child of the Sun race from another continent. So he joined in the blame-shifting, "I think so, too. Only during the era of the Moon Empire was there such a powerful force capable of building such great ships."

"We have actually salvaged a shipwreck from the Moon Empire, this is truly magnificent!" Blair praised earnestly, "The glory of the knight truly favors you, Lord, favoring this territory!"

In traditional belief, the relics of the Moon Empire were synonymous with treasures.

This shipwreck had been deemed by them as such a relic, and salvaging it was a common method of obtaining treasures found in knight novels.

A method of wealth everyone pursued and aspired to.

Of course, in Liszt's territory, aside from the designated commercial and agricultural revenue, all other produce belonged to Liszt.

This shipwreck, too, belonged entirely to Liszt.

"Kostor, you have a better understanding of ships. Do you think it's possible to modify this ship into a sailing ship?" Liszt tested the hardness of the "tree branch," which, despite being submerged in the sea for countless years, was still strong and showed no signs of decay. The main structure of the entire ship remained intact.

Kostor pondered seriously, "I think it is possible, Lord. We have a stock of rockwood for making masts, Thorn Ironwood for supplementing the rest of the ship's body, plus the intact dragon bone of this Moon Empire shipwreck can be used to build a fast sailing ship... however, we lack shipbuilding technology."

Liszt had brought many serfs and craftsmen from the continent, but there were no shipwrights among them who could build ships.

Shipwrights who could build large sailing ships were exclusive to the Duchy of Sapphire, with the expertise concentrated in the hands of a few major families.

"If we lack the technology, we'll explore. We'll train our shipwrights. We've refitted several cargo ships already; are we afraid of not gaining experience? With rubber, an excellent adhesive material, I believe that even a ship put together at random could sail the seas!" Liszt declared seriously.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The Fresh Flower Vessel, Thorn Number, Pearl, Mangrove Number, plus three newly purchased cargo ships.

The serfs of the territory had also learned quite a bit of shipbuilding technology. They might not be able to build advanced sailing ships, but the technology level of the sailing ships of this era wasn't high to begin with. With rubber replacing rivets in the joining techniques, the shipbuilding technology was greatly simplified to the level of assembling blocks.

As long as one wasn't foolish, with enough study and practice, it was possible to build the sailing ships of this era.

...

Branches from the ship's hold, light blue metal, and twenty-one skeletons were transported to the warehouse in the harbor town.

As for the wreck of the Sky Ship, Liszt researched it for several days in a row. The only thing he confirmed was that the branches used to make the Dragon Bone were the same as the ones stored in the ship's hold. Beyond that, no further discoveries were made, so he handed the remains over to Blair, instructing him to organize serfs and try to convert the Sky Ship into a sailing ship.

"My plan is for you to select the more clever serfs from this group and train them to become shipbuilders capable of constructing ships."

"Yes, my lord!"

Liszt then instructed Kostor, "You are the sailing instructor of this territory, and I hope you can train more sailors quickly. I'll continue to supplement our fleet with more cargo ships in the time to come. You must ensure the sailors are adequately staffed and definitely train more qualified senior crew members such as captains and first mates."

"Lord, that may be difficult in a short time. The serfs that come from the continent are completely unacquainted with the sea; they don't even dare to swim, let alone overcome their fear of the ocean," Kostor responded.

"I will have Consultant Goltai provide you with ample support. What you need to do is to train qualified sailors for me!"

"As you wish, my lord!"

...

When leaving Black Horse Island.

Discover hidden tales at empire

Liszt took some branches and light blue metal with him for further research—items stocked in the hold of a Sky Ship were certainly no ordinary objects.

Especially these branches, which could grow into Dragon Bone, simply defied imagination.

"If I thoroughly research these branches, does it mean that I could make my own Sky Ship? Even if I can't make a Sky Ship, I can still continuously produce seafaring sail ships. Naturally-grown Dragon Bone is obviously much sturdier than Dragon Bone assembled with rivets," he pondered.

In his spare time, he often visited the glass greenhouse.

Unfortunately, even after five days, not a single seed inside the glass greenhouse had sprouted. He wasn't sure if it wasn't time yet, if the temperature was not right, or if the seeds were dead.

He still had patience to wait.

On the other hand, he was gradually losing his patience.

"Bawel, haven't you managed to make tofu yet?" Liszt arrived at the Fresh Flower Tavern to inquire about the chef Bawel's progress. More than a week had passed since he funded Bawel's research.

There was still no sign of tofu.

Bawel was a bit panicked; he had gotten a sponsorship fee of ten Gold Coins and had even hired ten assistants, but still no results: "I'm sorry, Lord Landlord, I... I haven't found a way to make tofu yet."

"As soon as possible!" Although Liszt was anxious, he kept his impatience to himself, considering that the other party was a candidate recommended by the Smoke Mission.

Perhaps the success of making tofu lay with Bawel.

Pressuring him too much could inadvertently impede the appearance of tofu.

After urging Bawel, Liszt also chatted with Chris Truth, partly to collect the month's supply of Magic Potions and partly to see if she had any ambition to become a Grand Magician right away. If she managed to break through directly, there wouldn't be a need to rush the Smoke Mission.

"Viscount, I haven't attempted to break through to Grand Magician recently, I am focusing on researching Elf Bug Amber. I have a feeling that the secrets it contains are key to my breakthrough!" Chris spoke with excitement—she had found many significant clues within the amber.

...