Sail Shadows in the Sea of ​​Fog

Chapter 129 What's in the Dock?

"I'd like to exchange a boat bottle."

In the captain's cabin of the Flamingo merchant ship, Senfa pushed the dock key on the table in front of Cheng Lang, saying, "Exchange it for this dock key that has lost its secret code."

"Senfa, my friend."

Cheng Lang stated bluntly, "You should know that without the secret code, the dock key can only be accessed from..."

"But this is the key to Eleanor the Pirate Queen's shipyard."

Senfa even lowered his voice when he said this, "Cheng Lang, do you still remember how we obtained those three pieces of ship armor?"

"certainly"

Cheng Lang nodded.

"The swordfish merchant group that ambushed me has been completely wiped out."

Senfa sighed, “The flagship of the Swordfish Merchant Guild was eventually sunk by the Flamingo and the Furnace. This dock key was given to me by the captain of that ship. He used this key to make a deal with me, hoping that I could take care of his wife and children.”

"You agree?"

"The ship's core contract that I signed with him"

Senfa said, "The ship's heart didn't kill him, so what he said is undoubtedly true. This is indeed the key to Queen Eleanor's shipyard, but unfortunately, he doesn't know the password either."

Can I understand it this way?

Cheng Lang picked up the dock key. "Use this beautiful key to exchange for a ship bottle from me, and then join the Brotherhood fleet. However, any liquor trade conducted through this ship bottle will be your personal property."

"That's right"

Senfa answered frankly, "This money is used to settle the employees and their families of Flamingo Trading Company, as well as some employees and their families of Swordfish Trading Company."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Lang fell silent. Even excluding the bottle on the Valkyrie's boiler, he still had two bottles in his hand, one of which was a gift from Prince Boerland.

The ship's bottle was mainly used to store fruit wine, which was used to supply the daily needs of the vine demons and the other crew members of the Valkyrie.

The other boat bottle is indeed currently idle. It was once used to store fresh water and Mist Spirit Liquid, but during this trip to the Sea of ​​Despair, the water in the boat bottle on the boiler was not even used up. This boat bottle can only be considered a personal tool at most.

However, the key to this deal is not the bottle, but whether Senfa will leave the Brotherhood fleet after obtaining it.

On the other hand, trading beverages in ship bottles was originally the Brotherhood fleet's "flagship product," and now that Senfa is taking almost half of it, it will undoubtedly affect future development.

Even so, after a brief moment of thought, Cheng Lang took out an unused boat bottle from his pocket and pushed it to the other party, saying, "For the sake of our friendship, I agree to this deal."

Before Senfa could say anything, Cheng Lang added, "But the Brotherhood fleet already has a ship bottle, and they are also planning to use it to do liquor business."

"The Brotherhood already has a ship bottle?"

Senfa was stunned for a moment, and a look of surprise appeared on his face. This meant that Cheng Lang had "thrown in two boat bottles!", and it also meant that Cheng Lang probably had at least one more boat bottle in his hand!
“If Mr. Senfa doesn’t believe me, he can arrange for a sailor to call Mr. Kervik over,” Cheng Lang said with a smile.

"no need"

Senfa shook his head, thought for a moment, and then said, "How about this, Mr. Cheng Lang, I will guarantee that the alcoholic beverages in the two bottles will be sold at a sufficiently high price, and there will be no competitive dumping."

In addition, for each transaction, I will take 30% of my share to pay you as a usage fee for the bottle, and the bottle can even be entrusted to Mr. Kerwick for safekeeping.

I will work in the Brotherhood Fleet for at least ten years. After ten years, if I want to leave the Brotherhood Fleet, I can simply return this ship bottle to me then.

Aren't you worried?

“I’m a businessman. As long as I have a boat bottle to use, it doesn’t matter whether it’s in my possession or not.”

Senfa smiled and explained, “Mr. Kerwick’s act of keeping the ship’s bottle for me is equivalent to me transferring the risk of holding the bottle to him. That is why I am willing to pay you 30% of the proceeds from that ship’s bottle as insurance premium.”

"All right"

Cheng Lang said proactively, "I guess you definitely need a ship's heart contract as a basis for trust."

“That would be best,” Senfa said immediately.

"Okay, last question."

Cheng Lang picked up the key. "How could you bear to part with such a precious item?"

"First of all, I don't know the secret code."

Senfa answered frankly, "Secondly, even if I knew the secret code, a void dock would be of no value to me. Apart from being a safe enough dock, it can't even be used as a warehouse for goods."

But what would I need a shipyard for? I'm a businessman; I don't waste a single second on any dock. Besides, my Flamingo can become invisible for short periods, so I have no need for that kind of thing.

"If there are any in the dock."

The Flamingo was an armed merchant ship.

Senfa shrugged and explained, "To maximize the profit of every item in the ship's hold, it must be delivered to the appropriate port as early as possible."

I have neither the time nor the interest to haul a ship full of goods to the dock where this key last docked, and then gamble like a bettor on whether it contains Eleanor's treasure.

"All right"

Cheng Lang shook his head helplessly, "Is it too late for me to regret it now?"

"I'm sorry, it's too late."

Senfa laughed heartily, stood up with relief, and said, "My friend, take your broken key and the ship bottle I paid you to keep safe. I can't wait to sign the ship's heart contract with you."

"I am now absolutely certain."

As Cheng Lang walked out, he said, "With your addition, the Brotherhood fleet will make a fortune."

"If you are willing to give me more time, I am confident that I can build a huge commercial fleet."

Please rest assured about that.

Cheng Lang said confidently, "The pirate brothers will plunder enough ships to join the caravan. By the way, what decent supplies did you bring this time?"

"Cannons and gunpowder barrels"

Senfa's honest and gentle face concealed the madness of a gambler. "I brought the cannons and cannon barrels that the Brotherhood needs most."

“This sea is really dangerous,” Cheng Lang sighed dramatically, and then the two captains laughed heartily in unison.

With the help of the hidden magic mirror and the visible Yun Ji, the two captains signed a ship contract that satisfied both parties and agreed to celebrate properly on Dragonfly Island after dark.

After handing the bottle to Kervik, Cheng Lang returned to the Valkyrie with the key. He then immediately had the Silver Queen sail around to the other side of Dragonfly Island to test the accuracy of the secret code provided by the Magic Mirror.

In addition, he also needs to invite Aunt Shenwei over to discuss immigration issues.

"Magic Mirror, are you sure this is the key's password?" Cheng Lang asked, gripping the key, on the open deck of the Valkyrie, which had been brought to a stop.

“At least that’s what I heard,” the Magic Mirror said respectfully, “unless Queen Eleanor changed the code.”

"cough cough"

Cheng Lang cleared his throat, raised the key, closed his eyes, and, with inescapable shame, loudly proclaimed, "My beloved Mr. Van Hart, please provide a safe haven of love for your poor little Eleanor! Mua!"

Amidst the barely suppressed laughter of everyone on board, a glowing door appeared directly in front of the Valkyrie.

However, there was no keyhole on the door; instead, there was only a nautical chart.

"It's actually around the island of exile!" Both the Magic Mirror and Yun Ji exclaimed in unison.

"What do you mean?" Cheng Lang stammered, his face turning completely red.

"We were lucky, but not very lucky either."

The Magic Mirror, barely suppressing a laugh, explained, "The key to the dock was last used near Exile Island, not far from us. If you want to use this dock and find out if Queen Eleanor left any treasure inside, we'll need to go back to Exile Island and open the dock there."

"So you mean I need to shout the secret message again near the exile island?" Cheng Lang asked through gritted teeth.

"I'm afraid so, chuckle."

The Magic Mirror finally burst out laughing, and soon after, Yun Ji, Shen Ba, even the Silver Queen and the big cat Ye Di who had come over to watch the fun couldn't hold back their laughter either. Even the little princess Wu Ying, who had no idea what was so funny, and her pet snake Hishi started laughing like idiots.

"Ideally, there might be some treasure in that shipyard."

Overwhelmed with shame, Cheng Lang finished speaking, turned around and walked towards the conference room on the stern, while also changing the subject, saying, "Laugh if you want to, and come to the conference room after you've laughed enough."

Amidst the unrestrained laughter, Cheng Lang slipped into the conference room, repeatedly asking, "How is the Thorn?"

"Mr. Wilton transplanted seven pairs of dragonfly fins into the Thorn, but that ship is still not as good as our Valkyrie."

When the Magic Mirror said this, its tone was exceptionally proud and arrogant. "In addition, Lord Night God has just temporarily opened the medium channel, and the islanders on Dragonfly Island have begun to move."

After discussion, Wilton will lead half of the Dragonfly school and all the Lyretail Fishmen to live in Lord Nightbringer's royal city. The entire relocation will take a whole night.

"What about the rest?" Cheng Lang asked, and at the same time, Yun Ji and the others walked in.

“The remaining islanders are willing to go into seclusion with Dragonfly Island and have no intention of returning to Starsea,” the Magic Mirror said. “They’ve had enough of discrimination and threats and just want to live a peaceful life.”

“Not bad”

Cheng Lang nodded, "I just don't know if Aunt Shen Wei is willing to accept these islanders and this island."

“If you’re willing to pay more for Poseidon’s blood, I can’t think of any reason why she would refuse,” the Magic Mirror reminded her.

Let's wait a bit.

Cheng Lang said patiently, "I'll contact Aunt Shen Wei after Wilton and the Lyretail Fishmen have finished their relocation."

“That makes sense, as this place is still too close to Pirate City and Lord Panini,” the Magic Mirror agreed.

Let's change the subject.

Cheng Lang tossed the dock key onto the table. "What do you think might be inside?"

"The documents in the Pirate City Library once recorded that the Pirate Queen Eleanor did indeed hide a lot of treasure, and every ten or twenty years since her death, someone has discovered more or less of her hidden treasure."

Yun Ji was the first to voice her speculation, "So I think there might be a treasure she's hidden in the dock."

“I think so too,” Shenba added.

“I don’t know that lady,” the Silver Queen added, glancing at Nightbringer who was sprawled unrestrainedly on the long table.

"I've never been here before," Nightbringer said, rolling around in the air. "I've never even heard of it."

"If it's Eleanor's treasure, I hope it's her flagship."

The greedy magic mirror said, "Legend has it that Vanhart forged a great many ship armors for that ship. If we just take some off, we can make the Valkyrie even stronger."

"Ladies and gentlemen."

Just then, Yun Lan's image appeared on the wall. "As a former supporter of the Pirate Queen Eleanor, if you are interested, I have some trivial information to share."

"Your Highness Yunlan is very knowledgeable, why don't you tell everyone about it?" the Magic Mirror flattered.

"Eleanor died because of bankruptcy."

Yun Lan's first sentence surprised everyone: "That stupid woman, who even sea cucumbers shake their heads at, not only plundered like crazy in order to support Vanhart's armor research, but also invested almost all of her spoils into Vanhart's laboratory."

Her ultimate downfall was due to facing bankruptcy, and the fact that her sailors and companions abandoned her because of her foolishness.

After a brief pause, Yun Lan continued, "Of course, there's also the fact that Vanhart, under her name, borrowed a large amount of precious materials from Lord Panini, forcing her to give all sorts of things to Lord Panini to pay off the debts she couldn't renege on, including her flagship."

"so."

"So the treasures that appear every now and then are actually just bait released by Lord Panini to lure the pirates to explore the relevant areas."

Yun Lan shrugged. "But undeniably, this trick is very effective and has never gone out of style."

"So there won't be any treasures in this void dock?" Cheng Lang asked disappointedly.

"uncertain"

Yun Lan said, "As far as I know, before Eleanor fell, her captains, apart from the delightful and unwavering Mr. Van Hart, were all treasures she couldn't bear to give up."

So, Captain, you will face two situations.

"Either nothing at all"

Cheng Lang said, "Either..."

“Or maybe it contains one of Eleanor’s last few treasures,” Yun Lan chimed in.

"Your Highness Yunlan, do you know who Eleanor kept by her side in the end, besides Van Hart?"

"At this point, the only things that are certain are two strange boxes."

Yun Lan said, "It was written in the memoirs left by Eleanor's last first mate."

Furthermore, this first mate went to Rica after Eleanor's death and founded a business organization called the Swordfish Guild. Before that, he made his fortune by selling everything related to Eleanor.

"My esteemed captain, when shall we proceed to Exile Island?" the Magic Mirror asked impatiently.

(End of this chapter)