Chapter 59: Beached Ghost Ship!

When passing through Linhai Village, Thomas entered the village to inquire about shipwrights, and indeed found an elderly one.

It was said that when the Storm Lordship was first settled, the kingdom’s army landed from the sea, and he was one of the shipwrights who followed to repair vessels.

He later stayed in the Storm Lordship.

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

Of course, the shipwright was now quite old, and could no longer manage heavy physical labor.

“No matter—take him along. Tell him this trip won’t be for free: he’ll get a loaf of black bread as subsidy!”

“Yes, my lord, praise your mercy!” Thomas hurried off and brought the shipwright-slave to the column.

The column resumed its march, and half an hour later reached the southeast coast.

“Lei Meng, Mi Gen, each of you take a detachment and search along the coast for a beached ship!”

“A beached ship?” The knights stared in astonishment.

Because their lord’s intelligence had proven accurate before, Lei Meng and the others raised no objections about coming to this dangerous coast.

But hearing they were to search for a ship, they found it hard to believe.

The ocean in this world was extraordinarily dangerous; ordinary ships could not even sail out, let alone risk being attacked by sea beasts near the shore.

Thus, every sea vessel was forged from rare black-grained ironwood, which was light in weight but far harder than ordinary timber.

Beyond that, the most crucial element was a Sea God Stone inside the ship.

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

Its effect was similar to a dragon’s aura—it suppressed sea witches and sea beasts, causing them to flee in fear.

Yet Sea God Stones were extremely rare, and their suppressing power depended on their size.

On the market, even a fist-sized Sea God Stone was worth hundreds of gold coins.

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

Lesser nobles could not even dream of possessing a Sea God Stone, let alone the resources to build a ship.

How could such a precious vessel be casually found?

“Correct—it’s a ship. Go quickly and return swiftly; just don’t get too close to the shore!” Gervas paid no mind to their astonishment and continued giving orders.

“Yes, my lord!”

Finally, the subordinates dared say no more.

They immediately led over a hundred slaves to search along the coast.

With their intelligence network and the ship’s obvious target, the search was swift and easy; soon, Mi Gen’s search party brought good news!

“My lord, blessed by the God of Glory! There really is a ship—a full-sized sea vessel!” Before even drawing near, Mi Gen shouted in delight from his horseback.

Though Gervas had prepared himself mentally, he still perked up and spurred his horse forward. “Where?”

“My lord, just three li ahead, where the beach meets the reef. Half the ship is submerged, half on land.”

“Take me there!”

Gervas immediately followed Mi Gen toward the ship’s location.

The other search parties also received word and converged.

“Good heavens, it really is a ship—what a huge one!”

“Yes, and so intact. How did it get to the Storm Lordship? There doesn’t seem to be a soul aboard—could it be a ghost ship?”

“Who cares if it’s a ghost ship? We have our lord—nothing to fear. And if there’s no one aboard, all the better—this ship belongs to our lord now!”

“Lord Gervas arrives!”

At the cry, the surrounding knights and slaves stepped aside.

Gervas stepped forward to behold the gift the storm had delivered him last night.

The entire vessel was about twenty-six meters long and over eight meters wide; from the waterline marks on its hull, its draft was over three meters—it was a single-masted sailboat.

“Thomas, where’s the shipwright?”

Of course, Gervas himself was no expert on sea vessels.

Soon the old shipwright was brought forward; after a brief glance, he immediately made a more detailed assessment.

From the old shipwright’s account, this was a standard royal single-masted sailboat, likely used for commercial shipping.

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

The drawback was slower speed and inability to beach.

Thus, a military warship would have a sharper, narrower, and shallower hull.

“My lord, under full load, this ship can carry at least thirty people and the equivalent of fifteen horses’ worth of cargo!”

“And the ship’s exterior is remarkably intact—it likely still has operational value.”

“Now we only need to confirm the extent of damage and whether the Sea God Stone is still intact!”

Gervas nodded. “Shipwright, what’s your name?”

“My lord, I’m Jack.”

“Jack? Good name—I’ll call you Old Jack from now on. Old Jack, you’re familiar with sea vessels. I’m sending Knight-Leader Lei Meng and others to guard you as you board and inspect the ship. Will you dare go?”

“My lord, I’ve lived fifty years—I’m honored to serve you.”

“Good!” Gervas was satisfied.

Thus, under the escort of Lei Meng and Mi Gen, Old Jack reached the shore.

They promptly set up the long ladder they’d brought, and boarded the ship without issue.

While waiting, everyone held their breath, praying for no danger and for good news about the hull and the Sea God Stone.

Only Gervas knew the ship was certainly still usable and held no danger within.

The only possible danger could come from the sea.

After several minutes, Lei Meng and the others returned to the deck.

Their faces beamed with joy—the outcome spoke for itself.

“My lord, the Sea God Stone aboard the ship is perfectly intact—at least fist-sized, Old Jack says it can repel fourth-rank sea beasts and witches, allowing the ship to sail near shore!” Mi Gen rushed forward with the good news.

“What about the ship’s damage?”

This was what Gervas cared about most.

Only the expert Old Jack could answer: “My lord, the ship was likely driven ashore by the storm and struck rocks—but fortunately, the keel was unharmed. There’s only one hole, one meter long and half a meter wide.”

“With materials available, such a hole can be repaired in at most a week!”

“Old Jack, I entrust you with repairing this ship. I’ll have the lordship’s carpenters assist you, and Thomas, the civil administrator, will quickly prepare all other manpower and materials you need!”

“My lord, I am willing to serve you!” Old Jack bowed again respectfully.

“Good. From now on, I appoint you Chief Repair Supervisor of the Stormwind—responsible for all repairs and maintenance of the Stormwind.”

“Your salary: twenty copper coins per day.”

“This…” Old Jack was stunned. He fell to his knees with a thud—his lord’s grace was beyond repayment!

“Thank you, my lord, for your mercy!”

“Rise, Old Jack. I have one more request: choose at least five apprentices from the lordship, and teach them ship repair and maintenance.”

“Yes, my lord!”

With the repair personnel settled, one more crucial task remained: hauling the ship ashore.

This was one reason Gervas had brought so many slaves.

Over a hundred men, using rollers, spent three hours finally dragging the ship two hundred meters from the shore.

This was only possible thanks to the flat beach—if it had been rocky or steep, Gervas would have been forced to stare helplessly.

The ship was now secured on land; nothing else remained. Gervas immediately dismissed everyone to return to Wheatfield Town.

He himself, claiming he needed to patrol the area, rode Zuiyue alone toward the southern Death Mountains.

“Golden Dragon Egg—I’m coming!”