Above the mage!

Chapter 374 Promotion and Reimbursement
After leaving the port, Gode stayed in Lagos for another half day.

This is because it is difficult for him to deal with Aldridge and the seven "henchmen" who released the foul water salamanders in the Makoko area.

According to the general process, you can directly clear the way as a Sea Sentinel Mage and temporarily detain them in the local mage prison.

However, this matter concerns the nobles in the city, and in order to avoid alerting the enemy, they cannot do so.

But it's not a big problem. Goder sent a brief message back to Dorne, requesting support from the Sea Sentinel and waiting for them to send someone over.

He took advantage of this rare free time to collect local tree species in Lagos.

After all, Lagos is 361 kilometers away from Doone in a straight line, and there are still many differences between the local tree species and those in Doone.

Without being stingy with money, Gaode collected 14 tree species that were not found in Walar Bay in less than half a day.

In fact, even though Lagos is a coastal fishing city, the number of tree species that exist is definitely far more than this.

You know, in the previous life when there were no supernatural powers, there were more than 60,000 known tree species.

In the extraordinary world where the continental area is much larger than that of the previous life, the number of tree species will only be greater.

But the market rules are the same. The tree species you can buy on the market are only common tree species that have economic value and are easy to grow.

Gode ​​also understood this very well, so he decided to buy a shop in Dorne so that he could purchase tree species and even magic tree species on a long-term basis.

Trees can be roughly divided into six categories according to their uses:

First, there are trees for timber and industrial raw materials. This category of trees accounts for the largest proportion, 30% to 40% of all tree species.

The second largest group is edible trees, which contain fruits, seeds, oils, sugars, etc. for human or animal consumption. This category of trees accounts for 10% to 20%.

Then there are ecological trees, whose common functions are windbreak, sand fixation, soil and water conservation. This type of tree species accounts for 10 to 20 percent.

The fourth category is trees that produce medicinal and special substances. Medicines, spices and other substances can be extracted from these trees, accounting for about 10%.

Finally, there are ornamental trees and trees for other special purposes, such as various flowering trees or mulberry trees, both of which account for only half of the total.

Of course, this classification is relatively rough, and in many cases, the same tree species is often used for multiple purposes.

The tree species sold on the market are often mainly the first two categories.

The 14 tree species that Gaode bought in Lagos all belong to these two categories.

There are two types of edible trees. One is the red stone grain tree, whose fruit is cheap and easy to grow. Boiling its branches in water can also cure diarrhea. The other is a tree species similar to coconut that can produce sweet water.

The remaining twelve tree species are all related to shipbuilding or fishing.

For example, the bark fiber of the Hibiscus tiliaceus is often used by fishermen to make ropes, the wood of the Casuarina equisetifolia is used to burn charcoal for grilling seafood, and the large-scale teak tree can produce high-quality wood that is resistant to seawater corrosion.
These tree species are extremely practical and are in urgent need of Phoenix.

Especially in Gaode’s envisioned development plan, the North will definitely develop its own shipbuilding industry in the future.

Then the raw materials needed for shipbuilding must be planned in advance.

It would be troublesome if we wait until we are ready to build the ship before starting to plant trees!

In addition, if we cannot be self-sufficient, the cost of shipbuilding will be too high, and we will easily be controlled by others and be "sanctioned."

Therefore, Gaode purchased more than a hundred pieces of each tree species.

Although the quantity is large, it didn't cost much.

Tree seedlings are better, one tree may be worth more than ten coppers, and the price of large seedlings can reach as high as 1 silver dragon.

The tree species are not very valuable. In fact, the tree species sold in the market are generally not calculated by the piece, but are priced directly by weight.

For example, the Hibiscus tiliaceus tree species only costs 5 copper stone coins per pound.

However, there was no gain in terms of magic tree species.

Compared with ordinary tree species, the price of magic tree species is much higher. More importantly, they are rarely seen in the market.

Gaode returned from the market with a lot of things and was about to go back to his newly booked hotel. As soon as he arrived at the door of the hotel, he saw two mages in sea sentinel uniforms waiting for him.

One of them is an acquaintance.

"Mage Melia, Lieutenant!"

Gao De hurried forward and greeted him.

He didn't expect that the wizard sent by the Sea Sentinel would be of such a high standard.

Melia was only a first-class trainee wizard. Although she was one level higher than him, she was still a trainee wizard like him.

The key point was that another wizard he didn't know had two parallel golden stripes on the shoulders of his uniform.

These are lieutenant's shoulder straps.

"Master Gode, I heard that you made a big fuss." Master Melia joked when she saw Gode.

"What a coincidence, we ran into each other." Gao De chuckled.

"This is Lieutenant Leisen." Mage Melia introduced him to Gode, who nodded to him.

"Where are the people now?" he asked directly.

"I temporarily placed them in an unused warehouse."

Because he asked Danica to sign the acquisition contract of Harland Shipyard on his behalf, in order to prevent others from linking him with Harland Shipyard, God has left the Orphanage and also transferred Aldridge out of the Orphanage.

"Take us to see it."

Gold took the two men to the warehouse where Aldridge was housed.

"What exactly happened? Let me see the mission record." Lieutenant Lei Sen saw the person and then began to care about the details.

What Gao De sent back was a briefing, which only gave a general overview of the situation here, but was unable to elaborate on the details one by one.

Without hesitation, he handed over the parchment he kept close to him.

Lieutenant Leisen took the parchment and read carefully the confession recorded by Gode.

At first he was somewhat indifferent, but the more he looked, the more shocked he became. In the end he suddenly raised his head and looked at Gao De.

"This second-in-command of the Embroidered Nail Gang, Aldridge, is a second-level mage? Did you capture him?"

"He has just been promoted to the second ring less than half a year ago." Gao De nodded very naturally and gave a rough explanation of the specific reasons.

"One ring is better than two rings, what a great ability!" Lieutenant Lei Sen raised his eyebrows, surprised.

But he did not ask how Gode, a first-ring mage, defeated Aldrich, a second-ring mage.

Not only will he not ask, but when Goder returns to Dorne to report, the Sea Sentinels will not ask either.

It’s not that I don’t care.

In the world of mages, it is not uncommon for the weak to defeat the strong, but these cases are so rare that every time they happen they attract huge attention.

But first of all, before mastering the [Spell Constancy], there is a possibility that the mage may be knocked down by unconventional means.

For example, traps, poisoning, or some other crooked ways.

In addition, the second of the three major rules of a wizard is "Never let others know your spells", which is an axiom recognized by all wizards.

It's talking about magic, but in a broader sense, it should be understood as "means".

Including equipment, pets, and more private "expertise".

If one must ask for specific methods of "winning the battle", it would be equivalent to forcing the mage to reveal his "expertise" and "spells" one by one.

There is no such reason. Even the official cannot risk going against the world.

Apart from anything else, if we really do this, people will be divided and it is inevitable that everyone will hide something.

In order to avoid possible interrogation, no one will dare to do their best. Therefore, the Sea Sentinel only looks at the results and evidence. As long as your methods are not harmful to the world, no one will ask about the specific process, nor will they be allowed to ask.

Even though Lieutenant Lei Sen was curious, he would not violate this rule.

He returned his gaze to the parchment and read the rest of the confession.

Then he took a deep breath and handed the parchment back to Gode.

"It's just an ordinary water beast expulsion mission, but the involvement behind it is so huge, and it was figured out by a trainee wizard like you. You have made a great contribution." Lieutenant Lei Sen couldn't help but say.

"Lieutenant Lei Sen, how much military merit do you think I can get this time?" Gao De put away the parchment with anticipation in his heart.

Lieutenant Leisen thought for a moment and said, "I heard that this is your first time going out on a mission?"

"Yes." Goder nodded.

After hesitating for a moment, he stretched out his right hand and made the sign of three, "Three second-class merits."

"Finding out the person behind the water beast in the Makoko area counts as one, and defeating the second-ring mage Aldrich with the first-ring mage level counts as one. As a newcomer, you will also be awarded a second-class merit!"

Three second-class merits!
Even though he had expected it, Gaode still couldn't help but be surprised.

Three second-class merits are equivalent to thirty third-class merits when evaluating.

They are only equal in numerical value, but their actual value and significance are incomparable.

For example, in terms of military merit exchange, one second-class merit can be exchanged for ten third-class merit-exchanged materials, but the reverse is not true.

For example, in the case of military rank promotion, if an apprentice mage wants to be promoted to a sergeant-level mage, he must have second-class merit in his military merit book. If not, even if he has a hundred third-class merits, it will be useless.

Melia on the side was even more envious.

Three second-class merits.

She has not yet won a second-class merit.
"I'm a little jealous. It's the first time I've heard of a newcomer getting such great credit in his first mission." Lieutenant Lei Sen couldn't help but sigh.

This is the truth. Even though he is already a lieutenant, it is not easy to get a second-class merit.

Because the evaluation of merit is often related to strength.

The reason why Gode was able to obtain a second-class merit for defeating Aldrich was because Gode was only a first-ring mage.

If he were to take action, he would at most be awarded a third-class merit.

"What luck, what luck, I just happened to meet you." Gao De smiled shyly.

"Luck. This Makoko District Water Beast Quest has been around for several years. How come no one else got this credit, but you did?"

"This is ability, not luck." Lieutenant Lei Sen said seriously.

"Thank you, Lieutenant Leisen." Seeing this, Gao De was no longer humble.

"Why should you thank me for your contribution? I didn't do you any favors," Lieutenant Leisen said, waving his hand. "What happens here has nothing to do with you. Go back and report."

"it is good."

After packing up his things, he bought a ticket for the airship and boarded the airship. In the evening, Gode rushed back to Dorne from Lagos.

As soon as he came back, he went straight to the Haiyuan White Tower and entered the supply department.

If it’s any later, people will have “got off work”.

"Deliver the mission." Gaode handed over the parchment scroll of "Macko District Water Beast Expulsion Mission" and the mission settlement vouchers he had collected: the tail fin of the stinking water salamander and the eye of the magic octopus, to Mage Neil who was "in charge" of the supplies department.

Master Neil glanced at the parchment scroll, counted the number of tail fins and eyes, then looked up at Gao De and said, "No problem, according to the task content, you can get a third-class merit.

However, the mission to expel water beasts in the Makoko area is special, and the reward is doubled, so it is two third-class merits. Do you have any doubts?"

"No." Goder shook his head.

Upon seeing this, Master Neil took out a piece of parchment from the drawer, picked up a pen and began to record.

This is to make a military merit book for Gaode.

The Military Merit Book is standard equipment for every Sea Sentinel Mage.

The Sea Sentinels will keep a detailed record of each time a mage obtains military merit, including the specific content of the task, the process experience, and the final number of military merits obtained.

The staff recorded these one by one, stamped them with the official seal as proof, and then sealed them for archiving, placing them in a box signed by the master.

When you are promoted in military rank or competing for a position in the future, the military merit book will be a very important reference material.

According to Gaode, it is actually equivalent to an archive.

For example, among the sea sentinels, the mages with the rank of colonel and above are said to have accumulated several thick boxes of military merit books.

After finishing the recording, Mage Neil looked up and saw that God had not left yet, "Do you have anything else to say?"

Godard chuckled and handed over the parchment that recorded the confessions of Aldridge and others, "And this."

"Hmm?" Mage Neil took the parchment with surprise in his heart.

At first he just glanced at it casually, but later he gradually sat up straighter.

After reading it all, Mage Neil looked up at Gode.

"This military merit recognition still needs to be evaluated, which is beyond my authority. It needs to be reported to the higher-ups for a decision. It should take a day or two to be finalized."

"Okay, thank you, Master Neil." Goder thanked.

"There are definitely two second-class merits." Obviously, Master Neil's understanding of the evaluation of sea sentinels' military merits is far less than that of Lieutenant Leisen, and his guess is more conservative.

"Moreover, it's just in time for the year-end evaluation. With this great achievement, you will definitely be promoted directly to a first-class trainee mage."

"Although it is not particularly difficult to be promoted to a minor military rank, this speed is rare." Mage Neil said with a hint of amazement.

If it wasn't written in black and white, he would have found it hard to believe that an ordinary and despised mission to expel the Makoko water beast could lead to such a great achievement.

It's one thing for this kid to be lucky, but it's another to be able to catch him.

After completing the task, Gao De said goodbye and left, but he did not leave the Mage Tower directly. Instead, he turned around and went to the financial office nearby.

——There is still reimbursement to be done!
It's not a lot of money, but even a small mosquito is still meat.

It is impossible to work at your own expense.

"Good evening, Miss Roxanne." Goder remembered Melia's instructions and walked in with a smile on his face.

"Master Gaode!" The freckled young lady called out softly when she saw Gaode, "Are you here to get reimbursed?"

"Yes," Godd nodded and handed over a small stack of receipts he had prepared. "I hope I didn't add any extra work to your workload."

"No," Luo Shan said seriously, "I still have half an hour before I finish my work today."

After that, she took over Gao De's credentials and carefully counted them. "The round-trip airship ticket from Dorne to Lagos is 4 gold, 3 silver, and 20 bronze. Accommodation is 3 silver royalties a day, a total of ten days of receipts, which is 3 Plantagenet coins. Add to that the additional meal allowance and transportation allowance of 1 silver royalty a day. Your mission this time is a total of 24 days. It's so long, so that's 4 gold and 8 silver."

"Then add it up." Luo Shan was calculating in her mind, and Gao De had already come up with the answer in his mind.

12 gold, 1 silver and 20 bronze.

"12 gold, 1 silver, 20 bronze!" She finally calculated the total and checked with Gao De: "Do you think there is any problem?"

"No problem." Goder shook his head.

"That's good, but it still needs to be reviewed first. Only after it's reviewed and approved can we reimburse you." Luo Shan said seriously.

"Generally, the review takes 3 to 5 days. If you don't want to waste time, you can come back after five days."

"Okay, I'll come back then." Gao De was not surprised. Reimbursement was something like that, especially within the system, no matter in which world, it was rare that it could be settled on the same day.

(End of this chapter)