Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 213 Transform, transform, transform me into a first-class ship!

"Come on, Sister Axiao, let's go to sea and see how it works."

Wang Cheng took Yun Xiao's hand, his dragon robe and python robe billowing. With a gust of wind, they transformed into two dragons, one green and one white, and landed in the Jiulong River outside.

The two waterlines vanished in an instant, rushing out of the mouth of the Jiulong River and arriving on the vast ocean, where they both transformed back into human form.

Wang Cheng tossed the dragon pearl above his head, made a hand seal, and uttered a low shout:
"Mirage Cloud Dragon, open!"

Endless clusters of milky white mirages poured down from the depths of the Dragon Pearl with the howling wind, while large swaths of eerie shadows rose from the water's bottom.

In the blink of an eye, the white and black figures merged, weaving together to form a long, narrow treasure ship with a cold, hard iron color beneath their feet.

It is 42 zhang long, with a dragon head at the bow and a dragon tail at the stern, each raised high, while the hull in the middle is covered with smooth, wavy scales.

It looked exactly like a super-sized dragon boat.

The dragon pearl returned to its place and fell into the dragon's wide-open mouth at the bow of the ship.

As if adding the finishing touch to a painting, it imbued the originally inanimate object with a touch of spirit, and a majestic dragon roar emanated from every corner of the dragon boat.

“Yin——!”

The evil spirits captured by the royal ship spread throughout the treasure ship, transforming into malevolent crew members who were completely bound to it.

With a clear division of labor, the grain officer, cooks, pathfinders, and imperial guards stood in rows, exuding an aura of solemnity and authority.

It seems that these ghosts were truly a group of elite military spirits who died in countless battles in their previous lives.

But that's all.

Apart from the ship and crew, the current basic version of the Mirage Cloud Dragon ship is just an empty shell.

The power system [Thunderfire Cardinal] can reach a maximum speed of approximately 30 knots (55 kilometers per hour); the control and transmission system [Luban Pillar] integrates the power of the entire ship and unifies the Tiangong Treasure Ship into a whole.
The ship god's protection system, [Golden Jade Shrine], which invites gods to reside there and can maximize the power of ghosts and gods to ensure safe navigation, is absent; however, combat systems such as [Five Thunder God Cannon], [Ten Thousand Dragons Emerging from the Water], and [Divine Fire Golden Crow] are all missing.

Their combat effectiveness is out of the question.

Yun Xiao reached out and touched the empty hull, which seemed to be about as hard as iron armor. As an "investor," she was clearly not satisfied with the return on investment this time.
"Xiao Chengzi, there's nothing on the boat except a group of crew members. They can barely manage to row a dragon boat."

But what's the difference between rowing a dragon boat out to sea to fight people and being a sitting duck? Even if it's a bit tougher than an ordinary wooden boat, it's useless if you can only passively take hits.

It will probably take a long time before they can develop combat capability.

The Dragon Girl wasn't worried about the money; she was simply concerned that Wang Cheng would be bullied if he went out with this half-finished product.

He wondered whether he should steal some treasures from his father Yan Gong's treasury to help Wang Cheng.

Wang Cheng smiled mysteriously:
"Sister Axiao, that's not necessarily true."

The moment to witness a miracle has arrived; open your eyes wide and don't blink.

As the owner of the royal ship and the creator of the Heavenly Craft Treasure Ship, he was naturally the captain of this beggar's version of the treasure ship, possessing the highest level of control.

He has discovered that even the most core technology, the [Universal Soil] used to adapt to and activate different national treasure effects, is not available.

However, the nine demonic dragon souls, the obedient dragon pearl, and the design blueprints were remarkably compatible, and with the control technique of the [Surprising Dragons] in hand, they had already solidified the most basic ability of transformation!
It can be as small as a wine bottle or as large as a mountain city.

Wang Cheng stood on the deck, closing his eyes and concentrating.

A thick white mist rose from the Niwan Palace and merged into the warship beneath their feet.

The beta version of Mirage Cloud Dragon has become ethereal again, with every part of the ship's hull stretching and deforming.
Suddenly, a strong wind blew.

A-Xiao's eyes were blinded by the mirage, and she only heard Wang Cheng chanting three words of mantra: "Change! Change! Change!" When she opened her eyes again, the dragon boat under her feet had changed drastically.

"This is... a sailing warship?"

"What a huge warship! It even has four gun decks!"

The girl clung to the tall gunwale, stood on tiptoe, and looked down. Suddenly, she felt a little dizzy.

However, Wang Cheng transformed the dragon boat into the only four-deck warship in the history of the Eastern Franco Empire—the first-class ship [Supreme Holy Trinity]!
It was also the largest warship of its time, without exception.

It was 59.53 meters long, with a keel of 50.82 meters, a width of 16.09 meters, a draft of 8.06 meters, and an unprecedented 140 cannons!
The main gun weighs 42 pounds, which is about the same level as coastal defense guns.

Of course, at present, there are only 140 empty gun positions on this ship. The [Mirage Cloud Dragon] cannot yet conjure up sophisticated war machines like cannons.

You'll need to configure it yourself later.

"Unfortunately, although the Donghai Kingdom's cannon-casting technology has improved a lot compared to before, it is still not technically capable of meeting the requirements for 42-pound cannons used in warships of this class."

Moreover, using a first-class ship as a combat platform is simply too slow.

Before A-Xiao could marvel for long, Wang Cheng rejected this combat mode himself.

The white mist in the Niwan Palace continued to billow out, and the massive warship beneath their feet continued to expand and change, eventually settling into its ultimate form—a mirage.

When A-Xiao opened her eyes again, she saw that the warship had turned into a strange military fortress with about three stories high and four corners, surrounded by mist like a fairy mountain at sea.

However, if Westerners come here, they will be shocked to find that this is not an ordinary city gate in the traditional sense, but a bastion specially built for the artillery age!

To put it simply, it's about turning the fortress from a convex polygon into a concave polygon.

This means that no matter where the enemy attacks the fortress, the attacker will be exposed to two or three bastion faces, allowing the defender to launch multiple attacks using crossfire.

Moreover, the fortress walls were sloping, making them ideal for withstanding artillery fire. Wang Cheng then snapped his fingers in satisfaction.
"I've heard that the Frankish allies of the Otomo family are best at naval siege warfare, but how can it be called naval siege without a city?"

Just as a doctor must know medicine, a naval siege must have a city!

Today, although my Mirage Cloud Dragon Ship is just a shell, it has filled the void of having no city at sea.

I hope the Francois will be pleased with this gift.

Perhaps the base model of the [Mirage Cloud Dragon Ship] doesn't even have the most basic power source, and can only move by raising the sails or temporarily rowing.

Its sole function is to serve as a very stable combat platform.

Even though it's just a basic version and hasn't yet grown by consuming evil spirits, Wang Cheng felt that equipping it with a couple hundred cannons, each weighing several tons, shouldn't be a problem.

Ah Xiao then pointed out a question that hit the nail on the head:

"Xiao Chengzi, the key issue is where we're going to get so many cannons so that the fortress can form a complete combat capability."
Since the Otomo family has allied with the Franks, even if we have money, we can't buy weapons from the Franks. The Dutch, who are at odds with them, don't have that kind of power for the time being.

By the time they transport the weapons all the way from their homeland, it will be too late.

Wang Cheng was also seriously considering this issue.

The Avish dynasty, which ruled the Kingdom of West Francia, had just changed kings a few years earlier. The new king, Sebastian, ascended the throne as an infant.

The Kingdom of West Francia is currently ruled by Katharina, the grandmother of the Habsburgs from East Francia, while the King's mother, Juana, is also from the Habsburg royal family of East Francia.

The Franco merchant also said that the child king had a congenital physical defect and might not be able to have children.

Therefore, during this period, East and West France could almost be regarded as one country, and it wouldn't be long before they would become a confederation of a common ruler worshipping the same king!

The combined strength of the East and West Franks was enough to crush any maritime power. To make an enemy of one was equivalent to offending the other, so don't even think about using their strength against them.

However, Wang Cheng had a plan, and he revealed a confident smile:

"Common heavy cannons won't work, but we can use others."

As it happens, I have an 'invention' that is no less impressive than a flintlock pistol. Not only is the manufacturing technology simple and inexpensive, but it is also quite powerful.

The preliminary technical issues are not a big problem; we'll get started as soon as we get back.

Sister Axiao, I gave the first flintlock pistol to my senior sister. Once I've made the first prototype into a talisman, I'll give you the cannon to play with; their sizes are a perfect match.

Ah Xiao, who is influenced by her surroundings, has recently been infected by Wang Cheng. She seems to have thought of some unspeakable scene and pinched him on the waist again.

Immediately, Wang Cheng retrieved the fortress, tossed the Dragon Pearl above his head, and with a surge of inner light, swept it into the Kidney Temple, which represents water, and placed it there.

"The beneficiary version of the Mirage Cloud Dragon ship can not only carry cannons, but also live people. The Yin-Yang exchange function of [Tian Shi Jun Ping] suddenly has strategic significance."

My immediate priority is to forge cannons and analyze the other functional modules of the Tiangong Treasure Ship.

They also need to find a way to eliminate Han Wugui, the crown prince of Guangze, and completely transform the "Good Dragon Pearl," which has fused the dragon energy of three dynasties, into a national treasure.

With a complete, divinely crafted treasure ship, I will have the confidence to conquer the five regions and seven provinces of Yingzhou!

He raised his hand and adjusted the invisible scales, switching his Yin and Yang bodies back together.

The Mirage Cloud Dragon Ship will become the exclusive vehicle of Prince Jinghai and will not have any contact with Wang Fugui for the time being.

At dawn the next day.

Shen Yueye left her elderly father with these words:
"Father, I'm going to the Eastern Sea Kingdom to help my junior brother manage the family business. See you at the New Year!"

He then resolutely boarded the first batch of thirty-eight cargo ships to support the Donghai Kingdom.

He refused to take Wang Cheng's first "Junping Tiandi Express" cargo ship, fearing that if there were any problems with the cargo ship, he would have to personally escort it as a fifth-rank official.

What can an old father do?
The sky is high and my father is far away. Once this daughter goes to the Eastern Sea Kingdom, she is truly like water spilled from a cup, and I'm afraid she can never be brought back.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but ultimately gave up, thinking to himself:
"A daughter is like a tree that cannot be kept at home once she grows up. As long as she doesn't get pregnant before the official marriage, let them be."

On second thought, even if someone dies, it might not be a bad thing.

There are advantages to marrying far away; after all, the neighbors can't see it and won't gossip.

Ideally, one should have seventeen or eighteen children in one go, and then adopt one to the Shen family, the God of Wealth, to inherit their national treasure, the "Treasure Basin."

The old man watched his daughter and the "gold-carrying ship" sail away, still feeling conflicted and uncertain.

Zhao Jinbao, the head shopkeeper of Fenglinzhai, came to his side and asked for instructions:

"Sir. The second batch of merchant ships has been assembled. Shall we continue loading cargo? Because of your large-scale purchases, many in-demand goods have become more than 10% more expensive."

Shen Yuting sighed deeply, but still responded firmly:
"Pack!"

Supporting the closed-door disciple is no longer just about helping one's daughter gain face.

Today, the Donghai Kingdom has become a beacon in the hearts of all the Tanka people, water gatherers, and all those with aspirations.

This proves that Prince Jinghai not only said it, but also did it himself. The better the Donghai Kingdom performs, the more it proves the value of "On Sea Power".

At this point, Shen Yuting was no longer the only investor who was optimistic about Wang Cheng.

(End of this chapter)