Chapter 190: The Fantasy of Ocean Hegemony!

"Lucky maggots, you've hit the jackpot!"

"Our great Lord Gervas Gale has rescued you from the death-row dungeon; now, you no longer need to tremble and wait for the gallows!"

"You only need to work obediently for Lord Gervas, and then you will be lucky enough to survive!"

"Now, please welcome my great Lord Gervas, the new master of you lucky maggots, to speak!"

On the coast of Storm Domain, a full one hundred and eighty pirate captives taken from Odin City's death dungeon were gathered on the shore.

Of course, these were all artisan pirates and their families.

As for the other pirates who participated in the fighting, Gervas did not take them.

Although he had shown leniency to some pirates of the Skull Gang last time, that was only to keep pirates as cannon fodder for the kingdom's war.

If they survived among the cannon fodder, Gervas would fulfill his promise; that was all.

To say that Gervas truly had any fondness for these pirates would be absolutely impossible.

Pirates burn, kill, and plunder, committing every evil; death is what they deserve.

It is worth mentioning that these artisan captives did not cost Gervas a single coin; they were given to him for free by Adams.

This was a thank-you gift for Gervas selling the subsequent three hundred kilograms of white sugar at cost.

Seeing that he was so sensible, Gervas even left a note, teaching this Hou Jue's son how to seize a title.

After all, the character of this Hou Jue's eldest son was quite good; he was someone with whom one could trade in the long term!

"My slaves, I am your new master, Gervas!"

"Originally, as pirates, neither you nor your wives and children could have survived in any way."

"It is I, the Master of Storms, who mercifully saved you from the hands of the Austin family, and for such a life-saving grace, I do not require much from you in return."

"You only need to work hard for me, and furthermore, in the coming time, I will mercifully provide you with enough food and clothing!"

"Even more luckily, as long as you work hard and do not shirk, then after three years, all slaves will be pardoned and become honorable serfs of Storm Domain!"

Buzz!

Gervas's reward system still worked; at least, the pirate slaves, who had previously been cowering and numb-faced, immediately stirred into a commotion upon hearing this.

"Do not be excited, because in my Storm Domain, this is merely normal management; almost everyone has a chance!"

"And what is truly important is that besides this rule of working hard for three years, my Storm Domain has another rule: those who achieve major merit during this period can shed their slave status even faster!"

"Currently, in Storm Domain, there are already at least several hundred slaves who, due to outstanding performance within three months, directly became serfs!"

"I know that perhaps many of you may not believe it, and regarding the truth of this matter, you will be able to inquire clearly yourselves in the coming days!"

"My only requirement for you is to work hard and follow the arrangements!"

"Of course, conversely, my mercy is directed only at those who are honest, decent, and work hard; therefore, whoever shirks or causes trouble, I will not mind sending them quickly to the gallows!"

"Do you all understand clearly?"

"Un... understand clearly, Mas... ter..."

"You maggots, haven't you eaten? You are blessed, yet you don't speak louder! Do you all understand clearly?" Magistrate Thomas immediately scolded upon seeing this.

"We understand clearly, Master!"

Only then did Gervas nod in satisfaction and let Thomas take them away.

With this batch of artisans, Gervas's domain could accelerate its development.

For example, building more public facilities, including mills, water wheels, granaries, and so on.

Of course, most importantly, Gervas was preparing to build a shipyard dedicated to repairing and constructing sea vessels!

According to his understanding, several of the carpenters among these slaves were actually shipwrights.

They had previously been specifically kidnapped by pirates to help repair pirate ships.

Although Gervas currently did not have excess Sea God Stones.

But this did not matter; the construction of a sea vessel is not a matter of one or two days, especially with such a small number of artisans.

Therefore, start construction first; by the time the sea vessel is finished, the problem of the Sea God Stones will likely be solved!

Although the oceans of this world are dangerous, Gervas knew that this also meant the interests within the oceans were even greater than in his previous life!

Besides the shipyard, Gervas also handed Thomas a blueprint.

On the blueprint was a thick, dark black cylindrical tube, with a dark black hollow in the middle of the tube.

Yes, this was a cannon.

Although this world had no gunpowder, the powder of Blue Scale Sea Beast scales gave Gervas hope.

Especially since Gervas had a heart to conquer the oceans, he would try making this cannon no matter what.

After all, if cannons could be produced, Gervas in the future could quickly elevate the 'Storm Fleet' to the world's top tier.

Of course, all of this was currently Gervas's fantasy of ocean hegemony; everything had just begun.

Returning from the coast to the castle, another piece of good news arrived: the Lightning Silver Fish had finished spawning and were beginning to swim to the shore in succession to await capture.

Thus, Old John arranged for at least three hundred serfs daily to be responsible for catching and transporting them.

About three thousand kilograms of Lightning Silver Fish could be caught daily; it was estimated that this period of gathering would have a peak lasting at least one week.

After one week, it would gradually decrease.

And with so many Lightning Silver Fish, with the support of ice, there would be no risk of spoilage.

After being sent back to the castle, it would give the recruited female workers enough time for cleaning and salting.

Upon learning that the Lightning Silver Fish harvest had begun, Gervas immediately instructed Old John that, from today on, Lightning Silver Fish would be supplied for consumption by the Storm Legion.

This included knights, knight squires, and the guard corps.

The rations for each person, from high to low, were five hundred grams per day for knights, two hundred grams for knight squires, and one hundred grams for ordinary guards.

This distinction was not only intended to highlight the different statuses of the three, but also to better motivate subordinates to strive forward.

More importantly, it is because the three constitutions differ, and the nutrients they require differ as well.

For instance, a guard; if you feed him five hundred grams of Lightning Silver Fish flesh, that is a complete waste.

"My lord, even ordinary guards are being fed this; will this not be too wasteful?" Old John was somewhat surprised.

"Old John, the Storm Domain is not short of resources now; what we lack is armed forces sufficient to protect our resources!"

"Therefore, feeding Lightning Silver Fish to ordinary guards, though it sounds wasteful, is very necessary in the long run to let them rapidly strengthen their power and allow those with talent to receive the Dharma Art!"

"Yes, my lord, you are truly a wise and far-sighted noble!"

"Captain Iron Bear! Do you think that human noble will truly keep his promise?"

"He has sworn an oath to their god; I believe he will certainly keep his promise!"

"Does that not mean we can go home!"

"It should be so. Although I do not know what this human noble is thinking, if we cannot even defeat fifty ordinary humans, then we have no way to call ourselves Black Bear Clan warriors!"

"Captain Iron Bear, look over there; are those the human soldiers who are to fight us?"

"It should be them. Excellent; I indeed sensed no aura of fighting qi from them!"

"But Captain Iron Bear, look, why have they separated the arena?"

"Is it not better that they have separated it? If we defeat them in a direct confrontation, then that noble will have nothing to say!"