Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 316 The Supreme Crown, A Hundred Ghosts Parade (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
Wang Cheng is still unaware that the Eastern Frankish Empire doesn't consider him a threat at all.

Before even starting a war with himself, he had already begun to devise a crazy plan to conquer the Great Zhao Dynasty.

He had no idea that the reason the third-class ship he had captured had come to the East China Sea was because of the "Southern Ocean Void" curse he had previously guessed from clues such as the Global Fleet and the Basket Serpent Tail.

At this time, they were busy making the final preparations before the battle.

Inside Pinghu Port, in a secret dock where outsiders are strictly prohibited from entering, two extremely large warships are moored side by side.

Strands of pale blue light flowed from the [Five Peaks Flag] and seeped into the [Mirage Cloud Dragon Ship] like winding streams in the air.

From inside the latter's hull, Wang Xiaoqi's excited shouts could be heard from time to time:
"Comfortable. This is the place I should be living in. It's so big and spacious."

With the Yin-Yang Thunderfire Cardinal and the Obedient Dragon Pearl completed, the Heavenly Craft Treasure Ship Mirage Cloud Dragon Ship is basically formed. Naturally, she, the ship spirit born from the [Common Horror Dragons], should return to her rightful place.

As for how Wang Fugui will explain the "Five Peaks Flag" to the imperial court?
We can deal with that later. At worst, we can re-enchant this warship into a guardian spirit. Anyway, no one else has ever seen Wang Xiaoqi.

The two were a perfect match, with the ship spirit and the hull fitting together perfectly without any rejection reaction.

In just half an hour, Wang Xiaoqi had completely completed the migration, becoming the official ship spirit of the Mirage Cloud Dragon Ship, and also mastering a powerful force that surpassed that of ordinary high-ranking living ghosts and gods.

call--!
A sea breeze carrying moisture blew by.

The originally intangible little ship spirit, supported by the ever-changing mirage energy, finally became a visible and tangible entity, and even appeared to have grown a little.

Her long silver hair cascaded down to her calves, and she wore a plain-colored ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), with a blue silk ribbon cinching her slender waist.

A violent maniac who looks pitiful when he's short on ammunition but sees everyone as a target when he's fully loaded, now seems somewhat ethereal.

But Wang Xiaoqi's serene appearance was ultimately just an illusion, which crumbled in a mere second. Standing atop the mast, hands on her hips, she burst into wild laughter:

"Haha, from today onwards, let's see who dares to raise their voice at me?"
"Brother, oh no, Xiao Chengzi, come here right now and call me 'sister' first, or I won't give you the big boat!"

The little guy became arrogant after gaining power; I don't know who he learned that from.

But after laughing for a while, she realized that no one was paying attention to her, and she felt bored. She sensed Wang Cheng's location and her body disappeared with the wind.

When it reappeared, it had already arrived at the second level of the Three Officials' Realm [Earth Official's Realm].

This layer has successfully condensed, transforming into a blessed land roughly the size of a normal town within the ship's cabin.

However, unlike a true blessed land, it cannot produce miraculous herbs and medicines; instead, it serves as a complete experimental and logistical base.

With the fundamental rule of possessing all three functions and the ever-changing nature of this divinely crafted treasure ship, as long as the basic principles are known, any experiment can be simulated at zero cost, including metallurgy, electrical engineering, and chemistry.

The upper limit of the materials that warships can change has also been greatly increased.

Originally, the warship was just a mirage, but now it can imitate and transform any substance that exists in the material world.

In other words, even if it becomes a "turreted armored ship", it can still have most of the functions.

In addition, as long as Wang Cheng can provide real materials and energy, he can also use the rules here to bypass the limitations of backward technology in the feudal era and directly obtain industrial products.

For example, the first experiment Wang Cheng initiated was electrolytic aluminum!

Zhao Liangcai, a sixth-rank official in charge of the Donghai Kingdom's independent shipbuilding program, excitedly rushed up to him, holding a tray:
"Your Highness, you are truly amazing!"
Following your method, the molten aluminum actually came out. We even made this from the first batch of samples, and unexpectedly, it turned into a talisman.

A silver-white crown was placed neatly on the tray.

Wang Cheng, who had been waiting for a long time, reached out and took it, and found that it was as white as silver, but much lighter than silver.

This is elemental aluminum, which is almost non-existent in nature. It has a wide range of uses, including profiles, wires, and even incredibly powerful thermite bombs!

Of course, since it has not yet been mass-produced, what he has at this time is the only one in the world, and its value is immeasurable.

Perhaps it was precisely because of its unique characteristics that it was transformed into a talisman and talisman through the collective will of the people.

Wang Xiaoqi, who happened to be in the Earthly Official's Realm, felt that the crown suited his temperament perfectly, so he snatched it away like a gust of wind and was about to put it on his head.

But Wang Cheng reacted quickly and snatched it back, kicking her in the butt as he did so.

"Go away, go away, you dare to play with anything."

I'm already a little idiot who can't even do addition and subtraction of numbers greater than ten. If you dare to wear this thing, you'll become a big idiot who can only say, "Aba aba, I can't do this problem."

"Maybe I'll have to change your diapers too." He raised the crown in his hand and looked at it, sensing its power.

[Rare Item: The Supreme Crown (A one-of-a-kind aluminum crown, far more precious than any gold or gemstone).]

Effect: As long as you wear it on your head, everyone will think you are the most noble person in the world, and gold and jewels will seem like dirt in front of you.

Monarchs and powerful people are subconsciously attracted to it and crave it.

Side effect: Increases the probability of developing Alzheimer's disease by 100%!
The average life expectancy worldwide is not high. In China, anyone over thirty years old can call themselves an old man, so being thirty years old is the basic condition for the application to take effect.

The longer you wear it, the more severe the symptoms become, including memory impairment, cognitive impairment, language impairment, thought disorder, behavioral and emotional disorders, and reduced self-care ability, etc.

Note: Global awareness of aluminum is virtually zero, and its side effects accumulate over time, making its effects subtle and difficult to detect.

Looking at the precious crown, Wang Cheng's wicked schemes began to churn violently:
"I've heard before that if you use aluminum tableware, pots and pans and ingest too much aluminum, you're more likely to get Alzheimer's disease."

This crown, on the other hand, was very straightforward, going straight to the top.

If used properly, it can be a magical tool.

I am currently powerless to intervene in East Franco's territory, and it is difficult for me to threaten their homeland.

Even if we win this battle, there's no guarantee that we won't lose the younger ones and then the older ones come along.

At present, the only option is to fight to make peace, win this battle with all our might, and then present this 'Wang family heirloom crown' to the Habsburg monarch in an attempt to 'reconcile' with him.

Anyway, given the Habsburgs' centuries-long history of inbreeding, it's quite reasonable for them to develop Alzheimer's disease in addition to their numerous genetic diseases, right?
If we could drive him to a frenzy and declare war on the ruler of the state, that would be ideal.

At the same time, on the island of Sifan to the east.

Bang bang bang.
Gunfire and cannon fire filled the air, as if all the large and small samurai clans had joined the struggle for supremacy, vying for the titles of "Overlord of the Four Domains" and "Number One Archer of the South China Sea."

Moreover, the intensity was significantly greater than when Wang Cheng unified the nine islands!
The flintlock musket was simpler to operate than the matchlock musket.

You don't even need a complete unit of foot soldiers. As long as you can gather a group of farmers who know nothing, they can have considerable fighting power after ten or fifteen days of training.

Wang Cheng named this military system, which "drained the last drop of blood from the people of Yingzhou," "One Commander, One Sufficient," so that it could mobilize the strength of the people in the territory to the maximum extent.

They then sold this system, along with flintlock muskets, to the lords, large and small, on the four islands and the main island.

This greatly lowered the threshold for rebellion.

Some minor clans that were not originally qualified to join the battle for supremacy suddenly found that as long as they sold everything they owned, they could also have a considerable armed force.

Coupled with the inherent "subordinates overthrowing superiors" tradition within the samurai class, the expansion of power inevitably leads to a dramatic expansion of ambition.

Competing for supremacy is like starting a business conglomerate in a capital-intensive industry; the barriers to entry are usually very high, and only a few top players can participate.

But Wang Cheng gave them a hand, allowing these heads of small powerful families to become his "distributors" with less capital, thus qualifying them to join the game of competing with rival groups.

As a result, the intensity of the war in Japan on Yingzhou Island naturally began to rise sharply.

In particular, when Chosokabe Motochika, who was the first to establish trade relations with the East Sea Kingdom, annihilated the Motoyama clan's arquebusiers with flintlock muskets covered by rain covers in the drizzling rain, the reputation of the Four Seas Trading Company's military industry soared.

Naturally, the casualty rate among soldiers on the battlefield and the civilians affected also skyrocketed.

"One penny, then another penny."

On the brutal battlefield, the Lucky Boy, holding the talismanic item [Craftsman's Silver] that can infinitely store incense and religious money, uses Wang Cheng's [Minting Rights] to open the boxes one by one on the ground of the "human mines".

His face was beaming with immense joy.

As long as he gets enough incense money, Wang Cheng will have plenty of big jobs to do.

[Wealth can move mountains] He can call me daddy; [Money and Sword Qi] He can call all swords to return to their origin; [Risk Hedging] He can be hit by anyone. He can use all of these, and he is not afraid even if he faces a top-three opponent.

The Lucky Boy had finished clearing one battlefield and was about to head to the next when he suddenly stopped.

Before him appeared a bald-headed, kasaya-clad, mid-level third-rank demon.

This is actually a slippery ghost that can trigger a "night parade of a hundred ghosts" and cause countless evil spirits to go berserk?
Its direction of travel is towards Jiufan Island, which is just across the strait!

(End of this chapter)