Chapter 319 - Chapter 319: Fleet Departure: Ironclad Battleships and Airships, Maple Harbor
Chapter 319: Fleet Departure: Ironclad Battleships and Airships, Maple Harbor
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Before setting off, Ji Chen opened the forum and posted information about the five low-level Skeleton Nests and one intermediate-level Skeleton Nest he obtained from the Skeleton Secret Realm. It took some time to find potential buyers for these.
After careful selection and negotiations, he finally confirmed five buyers. The trade location was also set on the Northern Continent, the shortest distance from the New Moon Islands and the port he would be heading to in a few days – Maple Harbor.
Before departure, Ji Chen recruited all the military units for the week, further expanding his army.
The number of Tyrant Azure Dragons increased to 12, Giant Octopuses increased to 35, Deep Sea Roamers increased to 70, and Tidal Sea Spirits increased to 8.
These units, recruited using rare resources, cost a total of 8400 units of crystal, mithril, fine gold, and iron, with 2400 units of each.
After this recruitment wave, he was left with only 2600 units of crystal, 3600 units of mithril, and 6600 units of fine gold.
This amount wouldn’t be sufficient for the next recruitment.
Ji Chen checked the resource points of the various rare resources currently under the territory.
The several mithril mines discovered earlier had already been depleted and were slowly recovering in dormancy. It could be said that they couldn’t be relied upon now.
“This trip to the Northern Continent seems like 1’11 need to search for resources carefully.”
This journey would be Ji Chen’s first time setting foot on the continent, so he brought the highest specification of military force.
This included all the Tyrant Azure Dragons, Naga Berserkers, Dragon Blood Murlocs, Elemental Sea Pixies, and other four main military units. He also brought Alice, Benbo, and a group of white, green, and blue-tiered mid-level heroes.
Anina, Daro, and others would be stationed at the Crown of the Ocean with the remaining troops.
On a sunny morning, a fleet consisting of thirty-five ocean-going ships set sail with an unstoppable momentum, heading towards the open sea.
Among them, in the central position of the fleet supported by all the ships, was a gigantic five-masted warship.
With mastheads that seemed to pierce the sky, densely packed cannons on both sides and a ferocious ram at the bow, its larger hull compared to ordinary ships demonstrated its power.
This time, the fleet carried a vast cargo, including weapons, equipment, and precious jungle wood produced from the underground Lizardman world, premium coffee beans, and other territory specialties. It also included rare ore resources from the northeastern peak of the main island and the underground Lizardman world. Moreover, there were five rolls of exquisite Merfabric, which were considered rare treasures.
The quantity and richness of this trade far exceeded any previous ones, and Ji Chen believed that this time, it would make the world reconsider the Crown of the Ocean.
At the same time, Ji Chen also had some hidden expectations for this journey to the Northern Continent.
Although he had visited the Silver Islands before, it was, after all, a relatively prosperous gathering place for indigenous people in the Western Mid-Ocean.
The true core of this world was still on the mainland, where elves, dwarves, humans, trolls, gnomes… a multitude of races thrived and established civilizations that had been passed down for hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of years, along with massive cities.
Not to mention the level of prosperity, there was a huge difference in population between islands and mainland.
The islands had limited space and could only support a limited population. In the Western Mid-Ocean, an island that could accommodate three hundred thousand people was already considered a large island.
But on the mainland, three hundred thousand people was merely the average population of a normal large town.
Cities of strong races commonly had populations ranging from six to seven hundred thousand, and many core cities had populations in the millions.
As for the most central capital cities, they were inhabited by millions of people, covering vast areas, and possessed formidable military power.
From the discussions in the chat channels and forums, Ji Chen had outlined the outlines of these cities.
Towering buildings stretched for dozens of miles, housing countless residents. Massive city walls hundreds of meters high surrounded the cities, and beyond the walls lay numerous farmlands, with caravans arriving from distant lands.
Ji Chen, who had been active on the islands and in the ocean since his arrival, naturally had a sense of curiosity and anticipation for the mainland.
In this state of anticipation, even the monotony of sailing on the sea seemed to fade away.
There were no adverse weather conditions along the way, not even significant waves. The wind was favorable, so the fleet’s speed increased considerably.
Seeing this, Raymond gazed at Ji Chen with a deep and thoughtful look in his eyes.
In his heart, he was already a hundred percent sure that the Lord had received the favor of the gods. Otherwise, how could the journey have been so calm all the way, with even the sea breeze blowing in their favor?
Magic! This must be magic!
After several days of sailing, the fleet gradually approached its destination, and the number of ships around them increased.
When they saw this massive fleet, each of them was greatly surprised, especially the enormous flagship positioned in the center, which was truly awe-inspiring.
However, some of them recognized the symbol of the Crown of the Ocean on the sails and pieced it together.
During this time, they had heard about a fleet that claimed to be from a territory called the Crown of the Ocean. Not only did they bring a large quantity of high-quality weapons, equipment, and military supplies, but they also transported a precious batch of wood that had caught the attention of those pointed-eared folks.
They were curious about this territory that had gradually gained fame and were thinking about when they might have the opportunity to visit and purchase some goods for trading..