Necromancer, summoning 055? What the heck?

Chapter 153 The Dawn of the Vast Ocean: A New Voyage Northward

The surging waves, tirelessly crashing against the silent shore, shattered against the rocks, leaving behind a sky full of white foam and a deafening roar.

In just over half a month, the dock area has undergone earth-shaking changes. Oren, the Northland Merchant Steward of the Seven Luminaries Garland Trading Company, couldn't help but linger on the shore watching for a long time.

Yes, Oren has now been promoted from deputy deacon to deacon, crossing a crucial hurdle in his life—the transition from deputy to head.

At his age, it's no exaggeration to say he has a bright future.

However, whenever he came to the Vast Ocean Territory, he always felt like a slime that could only crawl among the decaying leaves on the forest floor, moving forward too slowly, too slowly!

The last time I saw this place, it was a collapsed coastline with pebbles scattered in the clear seawater, stained with green; rows of long-rotten wooden stakes and stone blocks were crookedly stuck in the sand; rusty iron rings were half-buried in the cracks of the rocks filled with mud; some ancient building remains were even completely embedded in the stone, as if they had grown out of this state.

Now, this area of ​​ruins has been transformed into a bustling construction site.

Amidst the mountains of materials, the massive skeleton of a seagoing vessel has already taken shape.

During this time, the diligent dwarf foreman Thor led his assigned subjects and centaurs to cut timber, lay the keel, fix the ribs, and nail the hull together... working in two shifts, around the clock, doing nothing but work except sleeping, and finally managed to complete the main construction of the large ship within the lord's planned timeline.

Inside the somewhat rudimentary Emerald Bay new shipyard, the bare skeleton of the behemoth lies quietly, while workers bustle about like ants, carrying out the final laying of planks and filling of gaps.

The air was filled with the fresh scent of wood and the pungent smell of waterproof paint.

What's odd is that it has no masthead, no oar window, only a huge tail rudder that's been covered up, so much so that at first glance, the well-traveled Oren almost mistook it for a fixed water platform.

Or is it a floating dock?

The young lord said that this thing was a boat, and it didn't even have a smokestack. How was it supposed to move?

Could it be that we can rely on that meager amount of electricity?
The recorder behind him clearly thought the same thing, muttering under his breath, still indignant about the guard's earlier statement, "Magic photography is prohibited here."

"This dilapidated ship, which doesn't even have a mast, is supposed to be powered entirely by a magic circle? Even if you have money, you can't just waste it like this!"

Yes, Lord Hanhai is rich. Everyone in the trading company knows that in the past year, Hanhai's bulk purchases accounted for one-fifth of the Seven Luminaries Garland Northern Trading Company's transaction volume.

Once Oren became the deacon, no matter how envious his competitors were, they could not shake his position.

"Stop complaining, tell the enchanter team to get to work!"

No matter how perfect the blueprints are or how exquisite the craftsmanship is, there are still a few processes that cannot be avoided when building this large ship.

The first is waterproof.

No matter how tightly the planks are joined together, it is difficult to completely prevent water seepage. Therefore, these gaps are filled with a special hemp fiber material and then coated with "slime glue" from the outskirts of the Dark Forest.

According to traditional shipbuilding techniques, after applying slime, the material must be left to stand in the sun for four to five months in a waterproof condition.

Han Hai Ling can't wait that long.

Therefore, enchanters among the artisans are needed to speed up this process.

Although none of these enchanters had reached the first job advancement, as technical talents specially supported by the merchant guild, they were skilled in various auxiliary spells, magic circles, runes, scrolls, and so on. Soon, they quickly set up several "Sunlight" magic circles, and the magical flames began to gently scorch.

Chen Mo, who came specifically to watch, pressed the timer, and at the same time, multiple cameras on site began recording from all angles.

The magic crystals buzzed in the center of the array, and the moisture in the air seemed to be evaporated instantly. The gel on the hull turned from milky white to transparent at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the surface shimmered with a fine luster.

Well, once these documents are sent back, my hometown will be in for a headache for quite some time.

Every ten minutes or so, the head of the enchanters would stop the magic circle from operating, lead a team to quickly check it, and then adjust the mana crystals in the "Sunlight" magic circle before moving on to the next stage.

It took no more than forty minutes for the head enchanter to finish the fifth inspection and raise his hand to signal that he had completed it.

The guild coordinator beamed, "Lord, Deacon, the enchanters have completed the curing of the waterproof sealant. You can arrange for someone to inspect it now!"

so fast!

Of course, it's really expensive!
Chen Mo looked at the group of twelve guys dressed in the merchant guild's magic robes and felt a strong urge to join them.

If I ever get the chance, I absolutely must get a group of enchanters like that; they're just too useful!
The inspection was a long process. While Thor led the craftsmen up into the ship's hold, the lord invited Oren and his entourage to a sumptuous lunch.

Next, the afternoon's work will be even more demanding.

They're going to give the entire ship's masts.

The reason for not using a traditional mast and steam drive is, of course, to utilize a cutting-edge technology system from East Xia on Blue Star.

It wasn't that Chen Mo didn't want to save on transport capacity, but the situation in Han Hai Territory was special. Even with ships, he still couldn't solve a core problem: the crew.

Sailing on the sea is not something just anyone can do. Even with a small sailboat, you won't be able to master it without enough experience.

In the vast ocean, it's already difficult to gather a group of people who don't get seasick, let alone know how to drive and operate a boat.

Therefore, even if the traditional mast and sail system is installed, without a suitable sailor, no one can understand it.

As for steam turbines, their technology is quite mature, and they, along with puppet power, are known as the two major universal power sources on the Starry Continent.

However, Chen Mo was actually subjected to a damned technological blockade.

The Duchy of Frostwind, a major supplier of steam turbines and one of the important settlements of the dwarves, rejected the purchase from the Sea of ​​Vast Territory.

The stated reasons are quite sufficient: first, this is a high-end strategic material, and its eligibility needs to be carefully assessed; second, the order book is full, so an application must be submitted first and then a wait must be made; third, the road to Hanhai is through war zones, which is unsafe.

In reality, the factors are quite complex.

The Duchy of Froststorm is not large, and its geographical location is very special. It is also located in a typical battleground, surrounded by stronger regimes on all sides.

Logically speaking, whoever becomes powerful should come and give it a beating.

However, precisely because of its crucial geographical location—not only guarding the only lowland pass on the Dragon Ridge Mountains, but also directly connecting the longitudinal transportation route from the Qiyue Dynasty to the Mirror Lake Kingdom, through the Red Tree Highlands, to the Xiyue Federation, and reaching the Silver Duchy in the south—no one can tolerate their enemies and rivals occupying this core transportation hub.

Anyone who dares to hit Shuanglan will most likely be ganged up on.

Ultimately, it's because the situation on the mainland is too balanced, with no single power dominating, that small countries in strategically important locations become valuable to court.

Therefore, Frostwind is somewhat like a "neutral country," with good relations with various major powers, and even has friendly talks with the Misty Moon Divine Court, which it does not border.

At the same time, due to its strategic location and relatively safe environment, Frostwind became the preferred choice for various races to escape war. The largest dwarf race, the Ironarms, owned a considerable territory in the Frostwind Duchy.

Therefore, it's quite normal for Shuanglan, who is adept at navigating both sides, to look down on Hanhai Territory. At the same time, Hanhai Territory seems to have offended quite a few forces, and who knows if there are any guys causing trouble behind the scenes.

In short, this almost made Chen Mo vomit blood.

I, the successor of Dongxia, have a hometown that can fly, travel to the moon, and take whatever I want. Now, I'm buying a steam engine locally, and you're telling me it's a high-end strategic material...

Are you choking me?

Chen Mo had no choice but to bring back a hybrid power system from his hometown.

During the shipbuilding process, the engineering drawings provided by Dongxia already reserved space for this system. After the local hull was completed, the shipyard spent another fifteen days, with detailed video guidance down to the location of every single screw, to complete the installation of the keel reinforcement, alloy hull ribs, and mast base, and to place the battery pack, motor, and propeller in place.

The ship has a total of six main masts, the technology of which comes from Dongxia's intelligent retractable folding sails, each weighing 1.74 tons.

Does this look familiar? That's right, this is to prevent Chen Mo from not being able to level up. So, we'll use one at a time, even if it's slow. It's the same old approach: first, solve the problem of having enough.

Because large-tonnage hoisting equipment could not be transported at the moment, Chen Mo had to rely on the enchanting team of the trading company to complete the installation of the integrated sail mast.

The enchanters began setting up new magic circles.

This thing is like a giant mage's hand, using psionic power to insert the thick masts one by one into the mast bases fixed to the hull.

Enchanters laid out intricate magic circles around the massive mast structure, and the runic lines glowed with a pale blue light on the ground.

The resonance of magic caused the air to tremble slightly. Under the control of the mastermind, the massive mast was slowly lifted by an invisible magical hand, steadily aligned with the ship's base, and slowly sank and locked in place amidst subtle metallic meshing sounds.

The entire process was filled with the beauty of a combination of power and precision.

Once all masts were in place, the final step was for all unrelated personnel to disembark, and the Centaur electricians to board and begin completing the final wiring connections, sensor checks, control system verification, and navigation equipment debugging.

The entire ship is powered by DC electric engines, podded propulsion systems, and alloy propellers, and is also equipped with a complete sail propulsion system.

With six sails, it can autonomously adjust the angle of attack of the sails in real time based on the wind speed and direction data collected by the sensors and the direction of travel. Even in headwind conditions, it can still obtain good thrust through Z-shaped maneuvers.

When the wind is strong enough, the ship can recover kinetic energy during its forward movement to power its electrical equipment.

As long as the equipment doesn't malfunction, a power outage should never happen on this ship.

Regarding the driving system, although there is no satellite positioning at present, the complete intelligent control system, which integrates manual settings, surface radar, underwater sonar, and terrain memory, can basically achieve short- and medium-range automatic driving and reef avoidance in near-shore areas with clear landmarks.

This largely avoids the shortcoming of the lack of experienced sailors in the Han Hai Territory.

In early March, the breakwater was opened, seawater flooded in, and the ship underwent its first sea trial.

On March 10th, the second near-sea voyage was completed. Amidst the boiling cheers of the people in the harbor, the lord personally named the ship "Qiming".

On March 15th, the weapon systems of the Qiming were fully tested and commissioned, including a long-range main gun, a light rapid-fire anti-aircraft gun, a Hive drone reconnaissance and strike system, a squad of Terran advanced warriors, and a protective force of 120 militiamen and crew, all in place and ready to go.

The centaur field army squad, which was originally highly anticipated, suffered a total loss when 70% of the centaurs were seasick and the rest showed obvious signs of maladjustment. In the end, none of them were able to board the ship, and the entire squad was wiped out.

Chen Mo has no plans to build a large navy for the time being, since warships can only circle around the shore until the sea tribes are dealt with.

The final large electric sailing warship has a full-load displacement of about 1,900 tons, and after deducting its own weight and weapon systems, its carrying capacity is around 900 tons.

Weapons and equipment are still too heavy to carry.

After the Qiming completed its second sea trial and sent all the data back to Earth, and after confirming that everything was normal, it finally embarked on its first long voyage.

Head north, head north!
-

After obtaining permission from the Thunder Cliff tribe, Comrade Liu Zaiyue led the Blade of the Vast Sea eastward, traveling day and night, until they reached the easternmost coastline of the White Deer Plain.

The surging waves relentlessly pounded against this coastline.

Old Niu stood on a towering reef, gazing southward for a long time, his eyes filled with the salty sea breeze—the direction of the Vast Ocean Territory.

"Chief, we've captured a few local humans. They say there are several bays here, all deep enough to hold their large ships!"

Shortclaw squinted, standing cautiously on a rock, keeping himself slightly lower than the leader but not so low that the lord would have to bend over to speak, and gesticulated wildly as he reported.

The beach area was too lazy for the orcs to come to, so it naturally became a refuge for the humans.

Although the land here is relatively barren and has limited produce, experienced humans can still manage to survive by fishing and catching seafood on the beach.

However, without the harassment of the orcs, there was also no protection from the orc camps. If they encountered roaming bandits, they could only hope for the best.

"Alright! Send a message to the lord!"

That's the good thing about Old Niu; he's not very smart, so he never has to use his brain and just follows the lord's orders.

For the next period of time, the members of [Blade of the Vast Ocean] began to establish a temporary base in a relatively flat sandy forest behind the beach.

Orc soldiers wielded massive axes to clear bushes and shrubs, while human soldiers set up makeshift tents and fortifications to defend against wild animals or small groups of bandits that might appear at night.

Subsequently, Lao Niu dispatched several small teams to explore along the coastline in both directions. Whenever they reached a promising deep area, they would lower underwater probes to collect underwater information.

After spending six or seven days, they finally identified a deep-water port area in a place known locally as Hailuokou.

The sea here is located to the south of the land. On the right side, there is a huge clam-shaped reef that effectively blocks the wind and waves. Just a dozen meters from the shore, the seawater is more than twenty meters deep, and there are no messy reefs on the bottom.

Although it is somewhat narrow and not a particularly good major port, it can still easily accommodate one or two large ships at a time.

Next, we need to build a simple dock and erect signs.

Ogres became the main force in the construction. Lacking large tools, they relied on magic and brute force to chip away at the rocks, creating a gentle slope and clearing away the surrounding rubble to create a berth for ships.

Next are the landmarks.

Old Niu erected a nearly 20-meter-long log near the beach, with a huge red flag painted with animal hides and bright dyes stuck on top.

It looks like an orc tribe's camp, but our own people can tell at a glance that this is the advance team of the Vast Ocean Territory.

At the top of the flag, two solar-powered lights were suspended, emitting orange light diagonally to the left and right. Although not very bright, they were enough to penetrate the vast sea fog and make it visible to ships at sea from more than ten kilometers away.

The days of waiting seemed exceptionally long.

Every day, the old ox climbs up the rock where the marker pole stands and looks out toward the vast sea. The sea is as empty as ever, with only seabirds and ceaseless waves.

That afternoon, the lookout soldier stumbled and crawled into the camp, so excited he was almost incoherent: "A ship! A big ship! It's flying a red flag, it has signal lights, and it's coming towards us!"

The entire camp erupted in excitement! Everyone rushed to the beach and crowded onto the high rocks.

On the distant horizon, an elegant yet enormous white figure is breaking through the sea mist and slowly approaching.

Its hull has smooth and powerful lines, and the deck is very clean. Several simple and sturdy metal masts are unfurled with wide intelligent sails, billowing in the wind as it moves forward.

Of course, its most distinctive feature is that it has no chimney.

Old Niu was almost immediately certain that this was the lord's ship!
The sentries began sending out light signals, and behind the camp, three beacon fires shot into the sky—the final confirmation signal.

This large ship that has traveled a long way is the "Qiming" from the vast ocean.

The warship and transport vessel slowly entered Hailuokou, launched its small boat, completed the docking, and finally slowly approached the temporary dock on the shore.

The airbags and wooden stakes were gently pressed against the rock face, the planks were erected, and the fully armed guards of Hanhai took the lead in setting up the cordon.

Old Niu took a deep breath, straightened his leather armor, adjusted the badge on his chest, and strode forward to meet them.

From this moment on, Razor Fortress and Flag Mountain Pass became less important.

The landscape of the Bailu Plain is about to undergo a dramatic transformation, starting from this hidden harbor.

(End of this chapter)