Phosphorus, Airship and Silver Dragon Chronicles

Chapter 35: Turning the Loot into Cash - The Mary Gwen Hatchery and a Breaking Headline! [Two-in-One, Please Subscribe!]

"877 kilograms of phlogiston ore, 62 kilograms of gold, 32 kilograms of blood-red amethyst ore, three barrels of Linde brand post-malt whisky, eight boxes of black flame cigars, two third-tier silver ring snakes, one second-tier dream fox, several sperm-devouring worms, 112 cherry blossoms, and 76 double-headed pleasure grasses—the rest are either damaged, spoiled, or contain too many mutated residues and are not included in the calculation. The total price is 2,800 gold coins!"

"What swindler? How can the amount you've calculated be more than yours! This is money we risked our lives for. Just counting yours, it's three thousand taels of gold; if we count them together, it's five thousand!"

"That's not how it works. If it's a hunting spirit, we'll naturally pay a high price, but these—they're clearly stolen by you. If they're not cleanly obtained, we have to consider the risk of being tracked down. You robbed a wealthy family, and it'll be in the news tomorrow. We have to deal with it overnight. The risks and costs are incalculable."

"We hunters always go after everyone, so no one will come after you! Here's what we'll do: your estimate of 2,800, if we calculate it all, it'll be 4,500. If that doesn't work, we'll sell it on another island."

"Three thousand eight hundred, that's more than we can do."

"Three thousand eight —"

Roya traveled to several sky islands along the Merlin route, and 3,800 was the highest price that itinerant merchants could offer.

Businesses with fixed storefronts will only offer lower prices.

This made Luo Ya realize that if he wanted to quickly dispose of ill-gotten gains, the selling price would be at least halved.

Finally, on the floating island called Stormtown, where the wind howled all day long, Roya cleared the deck of loot for 3,888 gold coins.

At dusk, the clouds were bathed in the glow of the sunset, resembling a crimson ribbon.

As the sun set, Emil stared at the empty deck, then looked at the large bag of gold nuggets that Roya was carrying, and felt a little regretful.

"So many treasures, and they only sold for three thousand eight?"

She witnessed Roja's perilous adventures as a teammate, and also devoured Roja multiple times as an enemy.

Any other hunter would have died eight hundred times over.

She ate the more than one hundred dragon crystals that Luo Ya had risked his life to obtain.

The treasure obtained after defeating the Ardennes, despite losing two armored vehicles, was sold for only 3,800 gold coins.

"Captain, we can find a safe floating island and spend a month slowly selling these things. I guarantee we can get ten thousand gold coins!"

Roya reminisced about his three past adventures, each one grander than the last, with more and stronger enemies each time.

However, he felt more and more relaxed each time.

He narrowly escaped death in a cave in the Hillis Mountains.

At the Mica Hunting Grounds, Wendell saved his life.

The Extraordinary Factory appears to be a chaotic mess, but Arden's illusions, created by mechanical beings and clockwork crows, are perfectly countered by his extraordinary abilities, making it the easiest place for him to operate.

The key is that as he gets stronger step by step, and his teammates and equipment increase, he has more room for error.

Now that we have money, in addition to creating a new version of the Blue Dragonfly to enhance our strength, we can also purchase high-level Blood Forbidden Armor to minimize the damage from extraordinary abilities.

Thinking this way, he comforted Emil, who was feeling slightly guilty: "There is no absolutely safe sky island. Selling loot for a long time is too risky."

Moreover, time is money. A hunter's spoils must be quickly turned into strength as soon as possible so that he can fully devote himself to the next hunt and obtain more valuable treasures.

"The biggest prize from this trip to the Extraordinary Factory is my awakening, followed by you, then Arden's mechanical body; the rest are just scraps."

Upon hearing that her importance was second only to the captain's awakening, Emil's eyes shone with a glimmer, and the nonchalance she had been forcibly maintaining on her proud little face was about to melt away.

Roya smiled and touched her dragon horns.

"I assure you, with your abilities, this sky holds endless treasures and an inexhaustible supply of you waiting for us!"

Emil's expression instantly crumbled.

His body collapsed as well, turning into a puddle of translucent mud that stuck to Roya's legs and feet, and he cried his heart out.

"Captain, waaaaah, Captain—"

Roya and Wendell looked at each other, while a joyful atmosphere filled the deck.

into the night.

Starlight shines down, and the surging clouds resemble the Milky Way.

Upstream of the Meilin Waterway, in the town of Da Laker.

This is a large floating island with a permanent population of over 20,000!

The Wide-Area Silent Ship hovered 100 meters above the northern part of the Sky Island.

On the deck, Roya took out the red sickle conch shell that Colonel Rogge had left him and blew it towards the sky island, producing nine short and one long conch shell sounds.

This is Colonel Rogge's identity conch shell within the Revolutionary Army, which can be used to contact Revolutionary Army informants on any sky island with a population of over 10,000 in the Merlin Passage.

Shortly after, a young woman riding a small motorboat, dressed in a black leather jacket and wearing goggles, circled the airship several times before landing on the deck of the Wide Silence.

She took off her goggles, revealing a pretty young face, but it was obscured by overly mature makeup.

The young woman eyed Luo Ya and his companions warily.

"You're Colonel Rogge?"

Roya shrugged. "No, just a man who was asked for something by Colonel Rogge but couldn't get it, so he left a token."

Only then did the woman lower her guard.

"The colonel is currently undergoing upgrades and cannot meet with you. You can trust me if anything happens."

A whisper of wind carried by the evening breeze reminded Roya, "Captain, this is a third-tier transcendent being disguised as a second-tier transcendent."

Luo Ya remained calm and nodded slightly: "Come with me."

Upon seeing the ship's hold filled with white-bearded scallops, and the faint breaths and pure blood essence emanating from within them, the woman froze in place, speechless for a long time.

Recalling the urgent message she had just received that evening, she immediately identified these people.

"So you were the main characters in the Extraordinary Factory incident!"

Tomorrow's news will focus on the Silent Hunters and the Dragon Chaser Team; you'll likely only be mentioned as surviving supporting characters. Who would have thought—

"Your movements are secretive, and your contributions are immense. If you were to join the revolutionary army with these children, your rank would soon surpass mine—no, it would surpass that of a colonel!"

"We are hunters, we have no interest in military ranks, and we will not join the revolutionary army, but we can help you with a little bit in exchange for some money—I think you should understand that we risked our lives to rescue these children."

"Of course I understand, and I understand you even better, Mr. Roya!"

The woman became emotional.

"If you hand these things over to the Empire, you'll definitely get more money—Colonel Rogge may be a bit odd, but he's not wrong about people; you're a revolutionary!"

No, I am a hunter.

Moreover, the Revolutionary Army is a huge organization, and even if Roya trusts the whole, he cannot trust every single person in it.

He could take this opportunity to investigate thoroughly.

He had already injected a trace amount of blood into each scallop, which fused with Emile's soft mucus, making it extremely difficult to detect.

"I have my own revolution. Before talking about faith, you'd better meet my material needs."

"Yes, I believe the Revolutionary Army will do its best to rescue these children, let them grow up, and freely choose the path they want to take."

At this point, the woman changed the subject and asked Roya, "However, could this expose the empire's evil deeds?"

"Do as you please, just don't go too far."

"I can pay you one thousand gold nairs. This is all the reserve funds we have on this sky island. You can also come with us to the Mayon County branch and apply there. You will definitely get more money—of course, it will not be as much as what the Empire gives. If you want to maximize your benefits, it is best to join the Revolutionary Army."

"No need, a thousand taels of gold is more than enough for you."

In Luo Ya's memory, this kind of situation usually resulted in 500 gold coins, and 1,000 gold coins was already beyond his expectations.

Then, the woman summoned a high-speed military airship disguised as a small cargo airship and loaded all the white-bearded scallops onto it.

The hunched old captain brought over a bag of gold coins, his deep eyes sweeping over Wendell and Emil, and said to Roya, "The Revolutionary Army isn't as rigid as you think. Special talents can apply to headquarters for non-human assistants."

Luo Ya smiled.

"It's not because of inhuman teammates, I just simply don't like having a leader."

The old captain and the young woman were speechless.

In the middle of the night.

At Wendell's suggestion, the Wide-Area Silence landed in a hunter town that was brightly lit at night, filled with steam and large robotic arms.

This is the only large floating island along the Merlin Passage named after a city—Shepa City.

A small mechanical town that integrates the manufacturing, modification, repair, and sales of airships and armor.

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In addition, there is an entry-level academy for extraordinary individuals to reside and cultivate.

It is not only the starting point for countless hunters who travel west to obtain their first airship, but also the place where many hunters who travel east prepare for the annual Hunter Association membership examination.

Even in the dead of night, the city of Shepa was brightly lit, steam billowed, and filled with the sounds of people.

With the design blueprints for the new Blue Dragonfly, Roya found a professional armor modification shop.

Liver Armor Shop.

Roya selected a Tier 3 armored steam engine as the main engine for the new Blue Dragonfly.

The miniature engine within Arden's body serves as a hidden secondary engine for the blue dragonfly.

Provides armor materials for Yellow Sand Guards and Ardennes.

In addition, some space is reserved for a miniature dual-color lattice differential engine.

Roya stayed at the nearby Ganda Tavern and was in charge of supervising the entire process.

Based on the above points, Luo Ya and the store manager agreed on a budget price of two thousand gold coins.

Ultimately, the specific price will be calculated based on factors such as the construction period, total working hours, and the amount of materials used in the store.

The price should not fluctuate by more than 30% above or below the budgeted price.

The middle-aged store manager, who was thin, had graying temples, and wore a monocle, was very knowledgeable, but he was still amazed when he stared at the design drawings of the transforming armor drawn by Luo Ya.

"If you hadn't become a hunter and had opened an armor modification shop next door, my little shop would have gone out of business."

Mechanical genius is hard to hide, which further strengthened Luo Ya's determination to devote himself to the aerial hunting industry.

"You flatter me, I just enjoy doing design."

The shop manager paid no attention to the bounty Blue Dragonfly had accumulated in the newspaper.

The bounty offered to any hunter who had settled in Shepard was no less than a thousand gold.

"We'll hold a meeting with core employees tomorrow morning to officially begin work. Wishing us a successful collaboration!"

"It's a pleasure working with you."

After reaching an agreement, Luo Ya parked the Wide-Range Silent Ship at the custom shop's designated berth.

At this moment, Wendell reminded Roya: "Perhaps you should keep Arden as your mechanical bodyguard. If you can control him, Arden is stronger than I am now."

Ishtar is, after all, a sealed demon lord; I still can't completely trust her.

Roya understood Wendell's concerns, but his design would only make Blue Dragonfly more well-rounded than Arden.

"Arden's face is too famous in Merlin Passage. Even if you force him to get plastic surgery, his physique and built-in Tier 5 micro-engine are still too eye-catching."

Moreover, Arden lacks long-range weapons, his hand-to-hand combat skills are easily predictable, and he's unlikely to participate in airship chases. I want to transform him from a one-sided student into a well-rounded fighter.

To save money and for safety reasons, Roya did not stay at the tavern next door, but continued to stay on the Wide Silence, which was docked at the conversion shop's berth.

After resting in my room on the ship for the night.

The next morning.

The morning glow spread across the sea of ​​clouds.

Roya, along with Wendell and Emil, went to the Ganda Tavern next to the modification shop for drinks, while also gathering information and waiting for the latest newspaper news.

Even in the morning, the tavern was full of hunters.

Roya glanced around and saw that there were almost no ordinary people in the tavern; they were all extraordinary hunters.

On the main wall of the tavern, next to a huge notice board, there is a calendar of major Hunter events.

The calendar shows that there are 27 days left until the Hunter Association's membership entrance exam!

The hunters who have gathered in Shepar City are all there for the annual Hunter Association Merlin District membership assessment.

After passing the assessment, the Sky Hunter Team heading east will register as a prospective member of the Hunter Association by paying the bounty or completing the given task to eliminate the bounty.

Embark on the Silver Dragon Channel branch line located within the Blue Nest Kingdom!

This year's membership assessment in Meilin District was even more spectacular than ever before!

"Captain, look, the news says that since Merlin District passed the membership test and joined the association this year, they will be able to catch up with the airship Mary Gwen, which is passing through Merwen County."

"USS Mary Gwent airship carrier —"

Roya remembered that Wendell was referring to the airship carrier Jingzhe.

He took the old newspaper from Emile and looked at it carefully.

The Mary Gwent is the Hunter Association's entry-level cruiser incubator, measuring 9,800 meters in length. It will slowly sail along the Silver Dragon Route branch towards the main route, accompanying all the eastward-bound Sky Hunter groups.

It provides hunters who accompany them on their hunts with one-stop basic services such as banking, first aid, insurance, supplies, fuel trading, mechanical modification, and leisure and entertainment.

"Nine thousand eight hundred meters long, what a colossal object! It's practically a mobile floating island! And it's just an entry-level incubation ship—"

Roya was amazed, finding it hard to imagine just how enormous the airship mothership Wendell had described was.

Wendell sipped his tea while flipping through related news articles.

"Besides the Marigwen, the Hunter Association reimburses the bounty of the annual district assessment champion. This year, the district assessment has also prepared a hidden prize: a Stealth Dragon Ball!"

"Stealth Dragon Balls?"

Luo Ya was no stranger to this.

Dragon Balls are legendary stones that are formed within the bodies of dragons or their descendants.

It is said that placing the Dragon Balls into the steam boiler of an airship can give the airship some kind of superhuman flight ability.

Of course, this is just a legend.

On the Merlin Passage, ordinary hunters who have not yet awakened are most concerned about the Mica Dragon, while extraordinary hunters are most concerned about the Stealth Dragon Ball.

It is said that the Stealth Dragon Balls can greatly suppress the aerodynamic trajectory and steam trail of airships, reduce the visual area, and eliminate the roaring sound from boiler vibrations.

It's not exactly invisible, but it certainly lives up to the word "stealthy."

The major newspapers along the Merlin Passage have been tracking the whereabouts of the Stealth Dragon Pearl for years. During the three years that Roya has traveled through time, the focus has shifted to a fifth-tier black Stealth Dragon.

"Merchants like to attract hunters with dragon elements. The Stealth Dragon Ball will probably follow the same pattern as the Mica Dragon. I guess the registration fee for this year's assessment will increase significantly."

Emil pointed excitedly at the news and said, "Captain, look! The news says that the top ten Skyhunting groups in Mayven County by total bounty, up to the day before the assessment begins, will be invited to participate in the membership assessment for free!"

Luo Ya picked up his beer and drank it all in one gulp.

"I'd rather pay a high registration fee than have the bounty go up."

Just then!

The tavern's wooden door creaked open.

A young newsboy, carrying a newspaper basket on his back, dashed into the tavern and shouted at the top of his lungs—

"Breaking news! Breaking news!"

Arden's extraordinary factory has fallen!

The Silent Hunters have been severely damaged!

The Dragon Chasing Sky Hunting Team and the Four-Person Sky-Walking Hunting Team have each offered a bounty of 10,000 gold coins, both breaking into the top ten of the Mevin County bounty list!

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