Chapter 558

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Protagonist:

Chen Yi

The azure sky was still as autumn water. Beneath the white clouds lay a world of light sails and light smoke.

The broad waters of the West River were murky yet tinged with green, rolling up waves like folded corners of a quilt, gently lapping at the wharf by the shore.

A broad-nosed bulk cargo ship sailed out of the canal at the mouth of the West River, then adjusted its direction slightly and drifted slowly down the river. Two small boats led the way ahead, their boatmen constantly measuring depth, current speed, and other hydrological data.

Behind the bulk carrier was another open cargo ship half its size, its bow deck occupied by a group of men in work clothes, along with three or five Knights.

Most of the men in work clothes were smoking and chatting, occasionally glancing at the legendary Knights; only the lead man stood alone at the bow fishing, showing a strange harmony.

"Old Ba, the boat's going so fast, can you even catch fish?" A man nearing forty sat on the deck, his tone cheerful, eating melon seeds while tossing the shells into the river.

"This is my secret technique, just watch."

"I've been watching for half a day, not a single movement at all."

The others joined in with loud laughter, one saying: "Old Ba heard there's a fifty-jin Carp King on the West Continent, he's so eager he doesn't even care about his wife anymore. As soon as he arrived he went out to sea—he's just itching to try his hand."

The melon-seed eater chuckled and said: "I say, Old Ba, you're really wasting things. You finally made one trip and actually brought a fishing rod. If you sold it to those 'luggage agents,' you'd make at least several thousand."

"Don't talk nonsense. If you dare sell it, I'll deal with you first." Old Ba lifted his head, baring a mouthful of white teeth viciously—a man who doesn't smoke, that's his one thing worth showing off.

They all hissed in response. They were shipyard workers from Jiangnan who hadn't been laid off, then came the shipyard's prosperous period, and now they'd come to the West Continent. Seeing such a vast shipping market, their moods opened up, with a sense of happiness like before the reforms.

Back then, they were state-owned enterprise workers with money and status.

A slightly young Combat Knight slowly approached a group of shipworkers, half-leaning on the ship's rail, examining the fishing rod and line closely.

The transparent nylon rope was not naturally obtained; its tight and consistent performance was something West Continent people had never seen. The Combat Knight expressed deep doubt about its load-bearing capacity, saying: "Can a rope like this pull a fifty-jin fish?"

Old Ba loved talking about fishing experience above all else. He immediately abandoned his coworkers, turned and smiled: "A fifty-jin fish is nothing. Even a hundred-jin fish, it can hold."

He patted the electric winch fixed to the ship's side and said: "Once it's hooked, unless it can drag the ship away, it only has a fate of being brought ashore."

"Can I take a look?" This Combat Knight was just too curious; otherwise he would never interact with a Commoner like this.

"Here." Old Ba had the generosity of a worker; he clamped the fishing line and made room.

The carbon thick rod, the tight fishing line, the colorful float, and the hard metal hook—the Knight felt from top to bottom, studied for a while, then pulled the rod from the slot and whipped it down into the river, a movement indescribably beautiful.

The moment the hook hit the water, the fishing line suddenly straightened taut.

The Knight hefted it with his hand and exclaimed in surprise: "It can hold a hundred-and-fifty-jin fish?"

"Yes. Easily. Several hundred jin is fine." Old Ba was saying this, but his eyes widened and he asked: "Did you catch one?"

"Yes," said the Combat Knight, easily.

"And you didn't even put bait on……"

"I hooked its mouth," said the Knight, his right arm bursting with Qi as he lifted hard.

A fat-headed, big-eared stupid fish about a meter long leapt into the air.

"Red Gan Fish, grilled it's not bad." Yin Sen Chong at the bow saw it and easily activated the Divine Art "Divine Power Shaping"; at the moment the fish fell, a table case rose on the deck, flat and just right for holding this fish.

Also a foodie was Divine Art Knight Yin Sen Zhu. He drew a knife with a swipe and removed the Red Gan Fish's scales in midair, so that several worker big brothers couldn't even get a glimpse of the big fish's beauty.

"Truly impressive!" Old Ba gave a thumbs up and said: "Just this skill, in a big city doing sashimi or whatever, you could become famous."

"Fish sashimi." The melon-seed eater took the opportunity to show off a trick.

The captain also came out of the wheelhouse, laughing heartily as he watched the fun, saying: "Just a casual cast and you get such a big fish, really not easy."

"There are big fish everywhere in the West River; this is a small one." Coming out with the captain was Malacheng's Little Priest, his chubby belly quite convincing.

"Really?"

"Haven't you seen the food factories in the city all producing canned fish? How many tens of thousands of portions per week?" Everyone in the wheelhouse had come out.

Encouraged by this, the Combat Knight cast his rod again and again, and soon had three big fish, piled by the ship's side, cutting and grilling until it became a lunch gathering.

The ship drifted downstream and soon reached the river mouth.

The captain returned to the wheelhouse smelling of fragrance, and based on data sent from the lead ship, began adjusting course. He was a resource left behind by the former Xi Family. Xi Tan automatically went to the isolated island to "make a show," so his resources naturally needed a redistribution process.

Chen Yi had no interest in the Navy system, only paying attention to logistics; as a result, he instead gained relatively complete power, with about a dozen high-ranking officials from three systems attaching themselves, and under every tree naturally stretched many small roots like captains. Whether in their original positions or on the West Continent, they could all play no small role.

In an environment without satellites and geographic data, crew members with military backgrounds could instead play a greater role. Merchant ships would have to wait until they completed their detection missions before officially setting sail.

Chen Yi hoped for hundred-thousand-ton-class cargo ship transport, which required water depth to remain above twenty meters to be safe. Even in a great river like the West River, only the center had such conditions, and at some bends, further dredging might be needed.

These pieces of information needed to be recorded by several ships, and only after obtaining a complete plan could they be implemented.

However, ten-thousand-ton cargo ships had much lower requirements; they were the main vessels running to the West River, and many ships hadn't even unloaded their goods before being directly loaded onto ships to other locations—truly fast and convenient, reducing much trouble.

"The lead ship changed course."

"Course northeast." The captain drew a line on a crude map and issued the order.

The Chief Mate repeated it once, then began reporting specific parameters.

The captain instructed: "We can still sail forward about 120 kilometers; watch the distance."

Then he checked his watch and went out again to enjoy the food.

The 120-kilometer restriction came from the Light Curtain with a radius of 400 kilometers. Otherwise, what came out of the West River should have been large ocean-going ships, not such a mismatched little fleet.

The barbecue feast ended in the evening. Two large ships and two small ships slowly docked at a local crude wharf, and under dim lights, they stepped onto land again.

"Was the trip over smooth?" A young man in a striped shirt, surrounded by many Martial Arts Hall members, came before the captain.

"Chen, Mr. Chen, the journey went smoothly. Originally scheduled to arrive in fourteen hours, actually took twelve hours and thirty-five minutes." The captain's hands were sweaty; he turned and wiped them on his pants before shaking hands with Chen Yi.

"How does the West Continent's sea feel?"

Asked a professional question, the captain gradually calmed down and recalled: "The wind and waves weren't big, but the swell was strong. Two people on our ship got seasick, and several on the cargo ship ahead too."

"What if going to the open sea?" Chen Yi said while walking.

The captain hurriedly followed, saying: "Today we went no more than 50 nautical miles from shore and encountered no danger. But without further ocean data, the danger of typhoons and reefs remains significant."

Chen Yi greeted the other crew members, and over there Li Changning gestured with his hand to indicate unloading was complete.

Looking again at the crude wharf without even a crane, only three Divine Art Knights and seven or eight Combat Knights were there, panting while drinking cola and Red Bull.

Several thousand tons of goods were only a few hundred containers; the knights lifted two at a time, tossed them into the air, and the knights below caught and tossed them again—two containers were placed in under twenty seconds, faster than any crane.

Only such knights, besides Chen Yi, no one could afford to hire; he wasn't hiring them with money, but mostly with prospects.

This was the greatest difference between the West Continent and Earth: the undeveloped commodity market could hardly reach the point of selling everything.

Chen Yi exchanged faith for the Divine Art Knights' loyalty and hard work, which was more like barter.

"Captain, sorry, we're going to dismantle the ship." Li Changning walked over.

"It's fine, I know." The captain looked nostalgically at the open-deck ship he had brought, over 3,000 tons displacement, just a slightly larger fishing boat; the peeling white paint made it look dilapidated, but no matter what, it was after all a ship he had commanded.

The previously laughing shipwrights climbed into the ship, preparing to dismantle parts that still had value.

The West Continent was still in a state of trade deficit, meaning more goods were imported than exported. Many ships were not worth sending back, so it was better to dismantle them on site and sell the decent scrap steel.

A 3,000-ton displacement cargo ship could yield about 1,000 tons of scrap steel; give it to any Divine Art Knight to process, and it could be sent to the battlefield as weapons. The intact parts removed could also continue to serve as reserves, more economical.

Chen Yi didn't even need to peddle them; temple quartermasters were already waiting in the simple shacks at the simple dock, ready to buy the removed metal.

Compared to much of what was sold at West River, the performance of the scrap ship plates was even better.

For the gentlemen on the battlefield, no amount of metal was ever enough. Temple wars were always a way to reduce population, shift domestic contradictions, and simultaneously destroy many countries' economies.

"The second batch of 1,000 tons of steel goes to the Fire Dragon Temple, thanking you for your efforts in dock construction." Chen Yi was referring to the simple dock beneath his feet.

The Fire Dragon Temple envoy was flattered, hurriedly saying "You're too polite, too polite," and respectfully presented whole boxes of gold, laughing: "As we agreed before, it's all here."

Chen Yi nodded, and had his subordinates count it.

The envoy jumped in ahead of others, saying: "Divine Art Knight Sir, our side is currently bearing the enemy's main attack, and supplies are always short. Can we increase the monthly metal and food provision?"

"Increase by how much?"

"Double."

"You're asking too much. How many of your legions are fighting? Whose family doesn't bear the main combat mission?" Without Chen Yi speaking, the envoys of the Water Dragon Temple and Wood Dragon Temple shouted back.

West River City-State provided one to two thousand tons of supplies to the Fire Dragon Temple monthly, food roughly for 30,000 people—not a decisive proportion, but an indispensable quantity.

And if doubled, it would nearly reach 20% of their total required supplies, truly exceeding the supply of some large dioceses.

Before the canal was completed, even if Chen Yi wanted to agree, he couldn't do it.

As for now, he had plenty of tonnage to supply.

Let alone two thousand tons of supplies, even 20,000 tons or 200,000 tons was nothing more than what Divine Art Knights could move in half a day's work.

Besides transportation being troublesome, the principal of these things wasn't worth mentioning.

Chen Yi put on a full show of posture, waited for the other representatives to voice their opinions, then said: "It's not impossible, but the documents here must be signed by the Temple High Priest."

Li Changning cleverly put down a thick contract.

This was an exclusive contract stipulating Chen Yi had final decision-making power and priority rights over transactions between the various temple city-states and Earthlings; if one picked at the clauses, it meant all transactions between the city-states and Earthlings would go through Chen Yi.

Without the threat of temple war, certainly no High Priest would be willing to sign.

Several envoys looked at me, I looked at you, and finally all buried their heads in the contract.

On the West Continent, contracts cannot be violated casually; not only is there moral risk, but also substantive damage.

Therefore, compared to Chinese people who have never believed in a contract society, West Continent natives instead understand the power of chain contracts better.

After a long while, the Fire Dragon Temple envoy spoke: "I am the temple's War Chief Priest; let me sign the contract, how about it?"

Chen Yi wasn't as unfeeling as expected; he smiled and said: "If you're willing to sign, I can increase supply by 30%."

The envoy looked at this fellow younger than his own son, suddenly had an epiphany: this contract probably wouldn't be the only one he, or His Excellency the High Priest, would sign.

"Starting next month, increase supply by 30%, alright?" The envoy wasn't qualified to decide whether the High Priest would sign, but as quartermaster, he had an obligation to strive for more supplies.

300 tons of metal monthly, whether for standard weapons or knights' weapons, could greatly improve military combat power.

He didn't care about the contract details, only treating it as a business contract, scribbled his name, and pressed his handprint.

"We demand the same treatment." The other envoys were anxious too. West Continent natives were actually like old landlords in European and American countries; the higher the status and the wealthier the fellow, the less they would lightly sign their names. Chen Yi could wait for correspondence, but the envoys worried about not bringing back supplies and being punished by military law.

During temple wars, killing a few nobles or an entire regiment of priests was nothing new.

"Remember to let your High Priest see the documents." Chen Yi was quite satisfied watching them sign.

The envoys at least represented official attitudes; just this layer of relationship meant Earthlings newly arrived on the West Continent would need one or two years to break through.

This also required at least one Combat Knight to appear among them.

Otherwise there would be no opportunity for equal exchange at all.

"By the way, do you need mounts?" Before parting, Chen Yi suddenly said.

The envoys stopped in unison and asked: "What kind of mounts?"

"Earth Dragons, all juveniles, untamed Earth Dragons." He was referring to the latest breakthrough of the cloning plan; although ultimately only "Earth Dragon" was a successful case, it was already more than enough.

Just look at the envoys' shining eyes to know.

……(Unfinished. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian. com) to cast recommendation votes and monthly tickets; your support is my greatest motivation.)