Chapter 59: Stranded Ghost Ship!

When passing Linhai Village, Thomas entered to inquire about a shipwright and indeed found an elderly one.

It was said that when the Storm Domain was first opened, the Kingdom's great army landed from the sea, and he was one of the ship-repairing craftsmen who followed the pioneers.

He later stayed in the Storm Domain.

Though not a master craftsman of exquisite skill, ordinary repairs were absolutely no problem for him.

Of course, the shipwright was now quite old, and his strength was insufficient for high-intensity physical labor.

"It doesn't matter; bring the man along first. Tell him this trip won't be in vain; there will be a subsidy of a loaf of black bread!"

"Yes, my lord, praise your mercy!" Thomas hurried off, bringing that shipwright serf to the formation.

The formation set out again and arrived at the southeast coast half an hour later.

"Lei Meng, Knight Mi Gen, each of you take a squad and search along the coast for a stranded sea vessel!"

"A stranded sea vessel?" The knights were stunned.

Because their lord's intelligence had been accurate before, Lei Meng and the others had not questioned coming to this dangerous coast this time.

But hearing that they were now searching for a sea vessel, everyone found it hard to believe.

The oceans of this world were exceptionally dangerous; ordinary vessels, let alone venturing out to sea, might even encounter sea beasts attacking right by the coast.

Therefore, every sea vessel was forged from special, rare black-striped ironwood; this black-striped ironwood was light in weight, yet its hardness far surpassed ordinary wood.

Beyond that, most importantly, a Sea God Stone had to be present within every sea vessel.

The Sea God Stone was said to be a rock stained with the blood of the Sea God Titan.

Its effect was much like the Dragon Might of a giant dragon; it could suppress sea sirens and sea beasts, causing both to leave voluntarily out of fear.

However, Sea God Stones were extremely rare, and their suppression effect was judged according to their size.

On the market, even a Sea God Stone the size of a fist was worth several hundred gold coins.

Thus, sea vessels were always the exclusive domain of great nobles.

Lesser nobles, let alone possessing a Sea God Stone, could not possibly have the foundation to build a vessel.

How could such a precious sea vessel be found so casually?

"Yes, it is a sea vessel. Go quickly and return quickly; just do not get too close to the coast!" Gervas paid no mind to everyone's surprise and continued giving orders.

"Yes, my lord!"

Finally, the subordinates dared not say anything more.

They immediately led over a hundred serfs to begin searching along the coast.

With an intelligence system in place and the sea vessel being a very obvious target, the search was very quick and convenient; soon, the search squad led by Knight Mi Gen brought good news!

"My lord, the God of Glory favors us! There really is a sea vessel, a complete great sea vessel!" Before they could even approach, Knight Mi Gen shouted excitedly from horseback.

Although Gervas had been mentally prepared, he still perked up and immediately spurred his horse forward. "Where is it located?"

"My lord, it is right at the junction of a beach and a reef three li away; half the sea vessel is submerged in water, and half is on the shore."

"Let's go, take me to see it!"

Gervas immediately followed Knight Mi Gen toward the location of the sea vessel.

The other search squads also received the news and converged one after another.

"Heavens, it really is a sea vessel, what a huge sea vessel!"

"Yes, and it is so complete. Tell me, how did it come to the Storm Domain? There doesn't seem to be a single soul on board; could it be a ghost ship?"

"Whether it is a ghost ship or not, we have our lord; we fear nothing of the sort. Moreover, it is better that there is no one on board; in that case, this ship belongs to our lord!"

"Lord Gervas has arrived!"

At the shout, the surrounding knights and serfs all moved aside to the two sides.

Gervas stepped forward directly to take a look at the great gift the storm had brought him last night.

The entire sea vessel was about twenty-six meters long and over eight meters wide; judging by the water marks on the hull bottom, the draft was over three meters; it was a single-masted sailing ship.

"Thomas, where is the shipwright?"

Of course, Gervas was not a professional regarding sea vessels either.

Soon, the old shipwright was brought to the front; after just a moment of inspection, he immediately formed a more detailed judgment.

From the old shipwright's mouth, they learned this was a standard Kingdom single-masted sailing ship, primarily intended for use as a commercial sea vessel.

Because its hull was rounder, wider, and deeper, allowing it to carry more cargo!

The drawback was that its speed became slow, making it unable to beach.

Therefore, if it were a warship used by the army, the hull bottom would be sharper, narrower, and shallower.

"My lord, when fully loaded, this can carry at least thirty people, plus cargo equivalent to about fifteen horses!"

"And the sea vessel's appearance is very complete; it likely still has usable value."

"Now we only need to determine its damage condition, plus the most important thing: whether the Sea God Stone is lost!"

Gervas nodded. "Shipwright, what is your name?"

"My lord, this humble one is called Jack!"

"Jack?! What a good name. From now on, I shall call you Old Jack! Old Jack, you are quite familiar with sea vessels; now I will have Knight Lei Meng and a few others protect you as you board the sea vessel to inspect it. Do you dare to go?"

"My lord, this humble one has lived fifty years; it is a great honor to serve you."

"Very good!" Gervas was very satisfied.

Thus, under the escort of Lei Meng, Knight Mi Gen, and a few others, Old Jack went to the coast.

Immediately, a long ladder brought in advance was propped against the sea vessel, and everyone boarded smoothly.

During the wait, everyone held their breath, praying no danger would appear, and hoping for good news regarding the hull and the Sea God Stone.

Only Gervas knew the sea vessel was absolutely still usable, and that there was no danger inside the sea vessel.

The only possible danger could come from the sea.

After roughly a few minutes, Lei Meng and the others returned to the deck.

Joyful expressions were on everyone's faces; the outcome spoke for itself.

"My lord, the Sea God Stone in the ship is intact, at least the size of a fist. Old Jack says this can defend against fourth-tier sea beasts and sea demons, allowing the ship to sail in coastal waters!" Knight Mi Gen rushed forward again to deliver the good news.

"What about the damage to the ship?"

This was what Gervas cared about most.

And this had to be answered by the professional Old Jack. "My Lord, the ship must have hit a reef when the storm washed it ashore. Fortunately, the keel was not damaged; there is only a hole one meter long and half a meter wide."

"With such a hole, as long as there are materials, it can be repaired in at most a week!"

"Old Jack, how about I entrust the ship's repair to you? I will have the carpenters of the domain cooperate with you. As for other personnel and materials needed, I will also have Magistrate Thomas prepare them as soon as possible!"

"My Lord, this humble one is willing to serve you!" Old Jack respectfully agreed again.

"Very good, Old Jack. From now on, I appoint you as the Chief Repair Officer of this Storm Ship, specifically responsible for all maintenance and upkeep of the Storm Ship!"

"And your salary will be twenty copper coins per day!"

"This..." Old Jack was stunned. He dropped to his knees with a thud; the My Lord's grace was endless!

"Thank you, My Lord, for your bounty!"

"Rise, Old Jack. Actually, I have another request: I hope you will select at least five apprentices from the domain to teach them the repair and maintenance of ships!"

"Yes, My Lord!"

With the matter of repair personnel settled, there was one more important task: pulling the ship onto the shore.

This was also one of the reasons Gervas had brought so many serfs.

With a full hundred people using logs as rollers, it took three hours to finally pull the ship to a spot two hundred meters from the seaside.

This was only possible because it was a flat beach; otherwise, had it been a place with reefs and steep slopes, Gervas would probably have been able to do nothing but watch.

The ship was now ashore and secured. With nothing else left to do, Gervas immediately dismissed everyone to return to Wheat Town.

As for himself, he made the excuse that he needed to patrol the surroundings, then rode Pursuing Moon alone toward the Southern Death Mountains.

"Golden Dragon Egg, I am coming!"