Crack!
The lashing of the whip made a loud crackling sound above the heads of the slaves.
"Hurry up! Hurry up and carry the silver to the ship. If we delay the departure time, I'll skin you alive! "
The naval soldier who was the supervisor yelled and urged them to speed up.
Because the construction time was too short, the third island of Potosi had yet to use animal power, let alone steam equipment. No matter how heavy the work was, it was done by the native slaves.
But.
Who cared?
The lives of the slaves were worthless anyway.
Obviously, no matter who won in this "silver war" that determined the ownership of Potosi, it made no difference to the original owners of the new continent.
No matter who gained control of Potosi, it was inevitable that they would capture wild Atreans as slaves and engage in the most dangerous mining work.
However, most of the slaves were Atreans from the new continent, and some were Anumar from the southern continent. However, there was also a considerable number of white-skinned Nimansts from the old continent.
Because these people … were also slaves!
However, they were slightly better than the natives. Because of their status as indentured slaves, they did not have to be slaves for the rest of their lives. Instead, they could regain their freedom after a certain period of time.
Due to poverty, politics, religion, and other reasons, these natives of the old continent came to the new continent in search of a chance to survive.
However, because they were too poor to pay for the journey, they signed a contract with the ship owner or employer, paying for the journey with four to seven years of unpaid labor.
Compared to the native slaves, they were not a small number. According to the statistics of the scholars sent by Faletis to the new continent.
Currently, about 60% of all the Nimansts in the northern part of the new continent were indentured slaves, or were once indentured slaves!
Compared to the "stupid" Atreans and Anumars, these people more or less grasped some technology or had stronger learning and communication skills. They could undertake the most technical part of the mining work.
For example, silver ore, salt, and water were heated together, then combined with mercury to form silver amalgam. Finally, the mercury was evaporated to obtain silver.
However, compared to the native slaves who had to do high-intensity physical labor and died of exhaustion in less than a month after the construction of the facilities, these Nimansts were not much better.
If the protection was not in place, they might die of mercury poisoning at any time.
At present, the mining and refining facilities for Mines 1 and 2 belonging to Shilius and Mine 3 belonging to the Three Kingdoms had all been completed.
Under full mining, the daily output of the silver mine was about 660 kilograms.
However, although the third island's reserves only accounted for a quarter of the total, the actual production could account for nearly half of the total production, which was about 320 kilograms.
While the reserves were low, that didn't mean that the mining speed was slow. The manpower and resources of the three nations combined far exceeded what Shilius had invested in a single mine.
Clearly, the upper echelons of the various countries had vaguely sensed that something was amiss, and they were eager to finish mining their portion as soon as possible so that they could get away from their tyrannical neighbor, Shilius.
However, even with full support, it would take at least a few decades to empty this silver mountain.
After more than a month of stockpiling, Island No. 3 now had 12,000 kilograms of silver in reserve. According to the agreement between the three countries, each country would have 4,000 kilograms, which was a total of four tons of silver.
In order to avoid any unexpected problems, the people in charge of the various countries stationed here had already decided to transport this batch of refined silver ingots back to their respective bases in the colonies as soon as possible.
Furthermore, it had become a rule that once the total amount of silver ingots accumulated reached 12,000 kilograms, they would be cleaned up once. Being together with the notorious Shilius, the people in charge felt extremely pressured.
"Dong! Dong! Dong! "
Under the urging of the supervisors, a group of slaves transported 120 heavy wooden boxes to the three cruisers docked at the docks.
There were three other warships escorting them.
Although they didn't have the ability to open up a channel like the Commander of the Guards, such a long time was enough for them to explore a safe deep-water channel in the reefs outside the archipelago, allowing the large warships to enter the harbor.
A mere four tons of weight was not much different from a feather to the cruisers, and they could transport this silver back to their own territory as quickly as possible.
Furthermore, the armistice agreement between the four countries had already been signed and approved by the respective churches. At least on this point, there was no need to worry that Shilius would go back on his word and send warships to intercept.
Moments later.
"Anchor! Set sail! "
The captains of the cruisers gave the order one after another, and a total of six warships sailed out of the temporary harbor on the third island.
Zack and Atlan headed west together, while Faletis headed south. Each country's silver fleet had one warship responsible for transportation and another for protection.
Even the average pirate wouldn't dare to have any ideas about them, and under normal circumstances, it was enough to ensure that nothing would go wrong.
But …
In just six hours after leaving the Potosi Archipelago, less than a hundred kilometers away, the warships of the three countries had already encountered trouble.
"Crown, Skull, Blood Scimitar, those are the subordinates of one of the two kings of the Golden Ocean, 'Oathbreaker' Bradley!
They have gathered five single-masted schooners that are faster than us!
Send the signal to them to back off! "
Captain Faletis, who was in charge of transporting the silver, wanted to send out a signal to emphasize his identity and make them back off.
"Get close, take over the side, seize the ship!"
The group of nimble single-masted schooners ignored him, and like a pack of wolves, they pounced without hesitation towards the two warships that stored the silver.
They obviously knew the situation of the transport fleet like the back of their hands.
The fate of the four warships of Zack and Atlan was even more despairing.
"That's' Oathbreaker 'Bradley's flagship,' Chiseltooth '!!!"
Faced with a peak Grand Knight personally plundering, the officers and soldiers on the four warships instantly turned pale.
"Hahaha! Hand over the silver, and I can spare your lives! "
A giant more than two and a half meters tall stood at the bow of the ship, and his thunderous voice echoed on the sea for a long time.
Although the previous attack of the pirates did not have an immediate effect on the battle situation, and many pirate ships that followed Bradley's call to attack Zack and Atlan's colony disappeared without a trace halfway.
This also made Bradley feel that he had lost face.
But now, Shilius was still willing to give them a chance.
As long as there were enough political contributions, the previous promise was still valid!
So … Plundering on the sea, who wasn't plundering?
Now that Shilius was facing a huge military budget deficit, in order to prevent the low-level soldiers who relied on their salaries to survive from mutiny, every silver coin was extremely precious to Shilius.
Of course, the ready-made silver mine of Potosi entered their sights at the first moment. While comforting the low-level soldiers who were emotionally affected by the delayed payment of their salaries, they sped up their plans.
Although the property rights of the silver mine could not be publicly reneged due to the justice of the gods, the production could be 100% obtained through Bradley's hands, and this extremely easy to mine silver mine could be turned into cash as soon as possible!
As for whether they would continue this plundering operation after they had collected enough military funds, hehe …
.....
Inhale — Inhale —
Elvin held a wooden longsword used for training, and used the most basic Knight breathing technique to practice the "White Sail Swordsmanship" move by move.
He converted the gains in the spirit world into physical memories, and then truly turned them into a part of his own strength.
Although it was possible to replicate the abilities of the real world in the spirit world, the same swordsmanship performed by the soul was ultimately different from the physical body.
Slash —
Gradually, the surface of the unsharpened ironwood training sword in Elvin's hand seemed to be covered by a thin layer of white mist. When he swung it gently, there was a faint ear-piercing sound of air being torn apart.
Thud!
Elvin's slightly closed eyes lit up.
He suddenly took a step forward, and strength rose from the bottom of his feet. Like a fully drawn bow, he combined the strength of all the bones, tendons, and muscles in his body to stab forward.
Slash —
Amidst the black wood shavings, Elvin had already pierced through an ironwood pillar that was as thick as a man's waist with his training sword.
The wound was so smooth that there was not even a hint of coarseness.
This was an ironwood that was made of the same material as the wooden sword in his hand, and its hardness was almost comparable to steel!
Even if there was a Knight's heavy armor here, the outcome would not be any different.
"Phew —"
Elvin slowly exhaled a breath of white air, his expression unchanged. Clearly, such a powerful strike did not take much of his strength.
At this moment, with his full concentration and sufficient preparation, he was already able to use a powerful force that was similar to sword aura.
He had already reached the level that the peak Knight of Shilius, Colonel Reynolds Bane, who had sunk to the bottom of the sea, had once used the ultimate [Circle of Ritual].
Clap! Clap!
Calvin had never expected that his teacher was not only a miraculous Magus, but also a master of swordsmanship who had reached the peak of perfection.
In his opinion, regardless of whether or not preparations were required before one could use sword aura, this was already the ability of a master of swordsmanship.
If not for the fact that he did not want to appear too much like a child, he would have already jumped up and down.
'Being able to become a disciple of such a teacher is really a huge gain for me!'
"Calvin, you already have a certain foundation in swordsmanship. Now that your body has recovered, it shouldn't be difficult for you to pick it up again.
Especially the combat power of a Magus at the apprentice level, it is far inferior to an official Knight. You can try to practice swordsmanship at the same time after completing the learning plan I've set for you.
At least you can have the ability to protect yourself at the apprentice level. You can strike a balance between work and rest, and it won't delay your witchcraft learning. "
Elvin turned around and was about to give his second disciple some pointers.
Suddenly.
Whoosh!
A tern descended from the sky and brought Elvin an urgent letter from Dearborn Castle, summoning him to "Dearborn Castle" to attend an emergency meeting.
He did not dare to delay. A few hours later, he saw Lieutenant General Gustav with a gloomy face and other senior officers who were also attending the meeting.
"I have very bad news to tell everyone …"
The first batch of silver ore from the Potosi Silver Mine was attacked by the "Oathbreaker" Bradley and his pirates during the transportation. After the tern sent out the message in advance, there was no more news.
Not only Faletis, but Zack and Atlan were also the same.
Even the member states of the Tulip Family, all the countries that had interests in the New World had reported different degrees of losses, and the situation was getting worse.
The attackers were the pirates and Shilius's army …
Although everyone could afford to lose the first month's output, this incident sent a very bad signal to them.
Shilius' policy on the New World had been tightened, and he had put the noose around the necks of the other countries. He did not even bother to hide his attitude of taking what he wanted!
The series of actions that Shilius made due to the destruction of the treasure fleet was like a fuse that blew up the already tense nerves of the other countries.
In just a few days, the countries had already reached a consensus.
"Shilius must pay the price for his arrogance! The other countries must also take countermeasures against him! "
While the perpetrators were feeling complacent about obtaining large amounts of short-term benefits, a comprehensive anti-Silius alliance had quietly formed …
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