Chapter 257: The Main Warship Appears

Great King had Liang Bian, this walking Shocking Physique, and his emotionally stable cousin by his side, and also enjoyed a few peaceful days.

As Zhu Ti went farther away, Great King also came to understand the outside situation.

Seven days later, he learned that the Xiongnu cavalry and Xianbei allied forces had begun to gather in Anding Commandery, and that the surviving soldiers from the battlefield had retreated to Anding Commandery.

Indeed, Wuwei Commandery had been abandoned.

The remnants fled back to Anding Commandery.

The situation was as bad as Great King had feared.

Zhu Ti said that the refugees fleeing from the northwest reported that the Xiongnu cavalry had already left Beidi Commandery and headed south.

"Past Anding is Chang'an; Anding will see a great battle. Does Chang'an have any news? If they have any sense, they should muster all their strength to block the Xiongnu alliance at the Anding battlefield." Dragging the battle to Chang'an would carelessly lead to national ruin.

Great King began to worry again, but he temporarily had no solution.

His whip was too short to reach.

Secluded Prefecture lay at the farthest east, while Anding in the northwest was very far away.

After another two days, his military dock was completed. Great King that night launched the main warship, and early the next morning he skipped court, taking Wei Shen, Zhang Tu, and Zhao Chuan to the seaside to watch.

He thought it over and decided to start with just one.

One reason is that he currently has no use for a navy; releasing them would still require manpower to operate, and keeping too many people at sea would be wasteful. Right now, the fierce fighting is in the inland northwest.

Another reason is that he feared frightening everyone else besides himself.

Besides Wei Shen, who had heard him mention it, and who had tasked Zhao Zhuge with buying an overseas warship, the other two leaders still didn't know what this warship was.

However, Great King had greeted them and told them to first select a group of soldiers who could swim or had fished before, to temporarily serve as navy.

Great King did not let them pick the strongest troops; instead, he had them choose from the rear, which they were happy to do, and today they set out with the first batch of five hundred sailors.

The military dock lay outside Dragon Head County, too far to return in a day, so Great King again skipped work and studies.

When they arrived at Dragon Head County, it was already afternoon; even though they rode good horses, those five hundred on foot had no idea where to go, and only then did Great King realize the dock was rather far.

Before even reaching the dock, they saw a sign along the road that read: 'No approaching the military dock ahead.'

Wei Shen clicked his tongue: 'Who is this written for? How many people in the Secluded Prefecture can even read?'

Great King: '…None of your business; the meaning is just that, and the attitude must be there.'

Further ahead, there was actually a wire fence enclosing the area around the military dock, with signs prohibiting approach hung on it, much like that.

That fence looked tall and sturdy, which Great King thought was good, so he wouldn't need to station too many people here to keep order.

Wei Shen then pointed out bluntly: 'This is iron! Be careful they don't haul it back to make something else.' After all, iron is valuable, and you've built such a huge wall. Who could guard a treasure mountain and not be tempted? I heard the counties nearby are the poorest in Youzhou.

Great King stepped forward, touched it, and said firmly: 'It's not iron; even the Great Jin couldn't melt it, and stealing it would be useless.'

The two leaders looked strange. 'No, the Great Jin is this backward compared to overseas, yet Great King is still proud—how can that be?!'

Then Wei Shen drawled from behind: 'You could use it to fence a chicken coop and raise chickens.'

Great King: ……

"How annoying, this cousin."

Wei Shen: "Hahaha……"

Fortunately, this thing seems tough to cut through.

Once they found the gate in the fence, ahead they had also rebuilt a wide road.

Before they even reached the seaside dock, the four of them stood on the road and stared dumbfounded at the huge looming figure appearing at the end of their sight.

This thing is actually taller than a treasure ship!

It was docked there, making you able to ignore the brand‑new facilities and buildings around the pier.

What kind of huge ship is this?

It is a genuine marine behemoth.

It exudes a chilling aura, quietly moored at its maximum berth at the dock.

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The main warship Azure Waves looked taller than a treasure ship, and its color scheme differed greatly—its main hue was black.

At least from a distance, the high‑raised prow certainly wasn't wood; in the sunlight it gave off a metallic cold gleam.

Great King couldn't wait and rushed over, while Wei Shen behind him began to feel anxious: 'Has the overseas world really developed to this extent?'

When they drew near, Great King circled to the side and saw the full appearance of this marine behemoth.

Up close it resembled a small city, with four decks and three golden masts shooting straight into the sky.

On the warship's deck, a ring of cannons large and small stood ready, their black muzzles exuding a fierce killing intent that made Great King's heart leap with joy.

The three people who had run up behind it were already dumbfounded, asking, 'Is this a ship?'

They didn't recognize the cannons, but the crossbow bolts fixed to the deck's edge were clear enough—could this be the legendary crossbow?

Wei Shen took a moment to regain his voice: '…No, would they really sell such things to outsiders?' What must their home armory be like to have this!

Great King: ……Yes.

Hearing the commotion outside, the few people on the ship lowered the gangway; Great King dismounted and, with three companions, climbed aboard.

On the deck were also four people: the dock supervisor NPC Zhao Zhuge and the three support NPCs for the main warship.

"Mr. Zhao, long time no see! You bought this warship for Your Majesty, and Your Majesty loves it!" Great King greeted him warmly.

Zhao Zhuge smiled, bowed, and said, 'Your Highness, as long as you're satisfied. It's called Azure Waves, the largest of the six warships in your order.'

With outsiders present, Zhao Zhuge then began to introduce the NPCs.

"Your Highness, your warship fleet is a novelty in our Great Jin; no one knows how to use it. Following your wishes, I have already hired three technicians. Let me introduce them one by one: this one is Ke Tu, the commander of the warship fleet."

The one called Ke Tu clasped his hands toward the King and said, "My lord!"

The King nodded in satisfaction.

"This is Ke Shu, the warship's helmsman, responsible for steering this large ship. The last one is Ke Qie, the weapons technical officer; all weapons on this ship fall under his charge, and he can teach the rules and techniques of using weapons."

Three excellent technical talents! Especially the last one, a weapons expert, and a senior weapons expert at that!

The King looked at them and was practically drooling; Wei Shen nudged him from the side, "Enough, enough!"

The King glared at him fiercely, "You don't understand anything; that's your ignorance—you've never seen the power of cannons! Once you have, I guarantee you'll really drool! By then, you'll still be able to stay so calm in front of these three Ke-surnamed fellows, and I'll take your surname!"

Wei Shen obviously didn't get it; he thought those cannons were just bigger versions of crossbows—all in all, strange and weird.

The King cordially greeted each of them, then requested to set sail to test the cannon, so that the two commanders and his cousin could broaden their horizons.

The Great Jin has already fallen into utter chaos, time is pressing! After testing this cannon, he can naturally propose removing a few cannons from the city wall, and the safety index of You Prefecture could directly skyrocket.

The employer's request naturally had to be met; Ke Tu immediately said he could do it.

The large ship slowly started up, and the others weren't idle either, with Ke Qie giving them a rundown of these weapons on the deck.

These four people, besides the King not even knowing what a cannon is, watched those three rush over and surround the crossbow bolt launchers mounted on the ship's rail; the King was utterly speechless, "You lot don't know a thing!"

The King himself walked around those few large cannons, going in circles, "This… is kind of big! It looks bigger than the ones he saw at White Poplar. Can they be easily removed?"

Seeing Ke Tu standing quietly nearby, the King directly asked him, "If I want to take this cannon down and use it on the city wall, would that work?"

Ke Tu nodded: "It can be done, but it's unnecessary. If you want to mount it on the city wall, you can just take the small smoothbore cannons from the assault ship. Our ship is equipped with large and medium ones; they're made of copper, heavy, and inconvenient to move onto land. Fixed to the city wall, the range of the small ones is sufficient."