There were not many people whom Countess Luo Peini Gilen could trust, and the butler seemed to be one of them.
"I'm honored to be of service to my mistress."
The butler of Gilen Castle bowed his head before Gwen. He was courteous, respectful, and elegant.
"Then, please serve your mistress again." Gwen nodded slightly to the butler. "You need to go to Firmrock Fortress."
The butler kept his head bowed. "What do you want me to do?"
"Send a message that Cecil's army has occupied Gilen Hill." Gwen said. Then, he suddenly changed the topic. "How's your acting?"
The butler looked up and said calmly, "Eleven years ago, I was there when the bandits broke into the castle. I hid the burned young master in a pile of firewood, and then leaned against the pile of firewood and pretended to be a dead body. I pretended to be a dead body under the eyes of the bandits for a day and a night."
The butler paused and smiled confidently. "My acting skills are very good."
…
Cecil Hill, north bank of the Whitewater River.
Two large inland river ships were anchored in a newly built dock. The scaffolding on the ships and the busy craftsmen around the dock showed that the two ships were undergoing intensive renovation. On a platform beside the dock, Tyre in her sea serpent form was using her long tail to support herself in the air. She was curiously looking at the details of the two ships.
She could tell that the two ships were not newly built, but modified from some kind of foundation. Their prototypes were not much different from the large cargo ships she usually saw in the White Water River, and those so-called "cargo ships" were nothing in the eyes of the sirens. What she was interested in at the moment was the modifications and the new structures on the ships.
She saw that the craftsmen were using metal skin and alloy skeleton to reinforce the key structures of the ships. They also made a big hole in the deck to install various metal brackets and pipe systems of unknown purpose. She also saw that the sails of the ships had been removed, and many metal frames that looked like wings were installed in the empty space. The frames were covered with human magic runes.
This was truly a strange transformation, and Tyre was very curious about it.
Byron Knight was also inspecting the ships in the shipyard. The knight's face was full of pride. He pointed to one of the ships and showed off to Tyre. "These two ships were captured when we were bombarded by the Whitewater River. Almost all the ships we captured at that time were damaged. Only these two are intact."
Tyre saw the smug look on Byron's and Knight's faces and asked curiously, "Is this very powerful?"
"These ships were built in the Peibo region, the best place in the Southern Territory for shipbuilding!" Byron Knight waved his arm. "The biggest ships in the Southern Territory were built by them! Don't you think these two ships look great? "
"Ha … probably." Tyre shook the tip of her tail perfunctorily and continued to look curiously at the wing like structure on the ships. "I'm more curious about how Gwen is going to transform them …"
"Let me take you up there." Byron remembered what the seigneur had told him. He knew that the siren in front of him was the 'power source' responsible for sending the two 'strange ships' to the north, so he was quite enthusiastic at the moment. "I'll explain it to you while you look."
When they boarded the ship, Tyre realized that Gwen's transformation of the two ships was more powerful than she had imagined. She saw that the deck of the ship had been covered with thin metal plates, which were covered with magic runes and connected to the wing structure. There were also many pipes, alloy skeletons and magic gears below the deck. The whole ship looked like a traditional inland river cargo ship, but in fact, it had already become some kind of magical creation. This level of transformation was obviously not completed in a day or two. She could not help but be curious. "Did you start transforming the ship after you towed it back?"
"To be honest … yes." Byron did not hide. "After the White Water River bombardment, the seigneur ordered the two ships to be magically transformed. But at first, he planned to install the magic crystal railgun on the ship. For this, we specially strengthened the deck and added a lot of extra skeletons. Look over there — some small secondary cannons have already been installed. But now, we have to replace the original main cannon with the 'Rainbow Light Device'. The Rainbow Light Device is bigger than the largest magic crystal railgun, and it is also very heavy. The two main cannons have to be reduced to one, and we have to dismantle half of the secondary cannons already installed to prevent the ship from sinking … "
As Byron spoke, he led Tyre to the lower deck, pointing around the modified parts. "Fortunately, the magic net interface is universal, and the energy of the magic crystal railgun can also be used on the Prismatic Device. Do you see these magic net units? Not only is there a layer on the deck and in this cabin, there's even a layer at the bottom of the cabin. The entire ship is like a small factory with the Magic Net in its stomach. This way, it can provide energy for itself … "
Tyre followed behind Byron, staring curiously at the advanced magic-powered structures in the belly of the 'backward wooden ship'. In the end, she could not help but ask, "Why don't you just build a new ship? It's so awkward to stuff such advanced things in such a backward ship. "
"… The shipbuilding technology is not enough." Byron spread out his hands and said helplessly. "Shipbuilding is a technical job. The craftsmen in the Southern Territory who know how to build ships are the people in the Peibo region. The ships they build are like this one in front of you. As for technology that is even more advanced than this … The lords are still researching it, but we don't know when they will be able to produce a result. And even if they do, we don't know how long it will take to build a new ship from scratch. The enemies of Firmrock Fort won't wait for us. "
"Tsk …" Tyre smacked her lips as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she did not say anything. She just poked a nearby wooden pillar with the tip of her tail.
Byron looked at the siren lady's reaction, secretly curled his lips, and continued, "Let me show you the bottom of the ship — it's an unfinished place."
The two came to the bottom of the 'warship'. In the cabin, which was illuminated by the magic crystal lamp, Tyr saw a metal frame that was obviously left for some large equipment. There were also some magic network units that had not been connected. She could not help but be curious. "What's in here?"
"Power," Byron said. "An unsolved problem."
When Tyre heard the word 'power', she remembered Gwen's request. She immediately nodded. "Oh, yes, your lord asked me to help solve the power problem. He said that these two ships can't be operated on their own, so he needs my help … "
"Yes," Byron said. "Did you notice that we took down the sails on the upper deck? That was to install additional magic net and auxiliary runic arrays. And to install the pumps and corresponding pipes, the original position of the oarsman was taken up. So the ship can't be operated by traditional means. As a replacement, the lord designed an 'oar' that is powered by a magic engine, but as you can see, it's not finished yet. "
Byron Knight pointed at the empty space at the bottom of the cabin used to install some large equipment and said regretfully, "Mr. Egg has been working on it for a long time, but it's not finished yet."
Tyre frowned as she listened. In the end, she could not help but poke the wood nearby with the tip of her tail. "What kind of modification are you doing? The last ship doesn't even have power …"
Byron Knight waved his hand. "There is power according to the plan, but it's not installed yet!"
"Shouldn't this be designed earlier?" Tyre put her hands on her waist. "Do you know how to build ships?"
When Byron heard this, he could not help but sigh. "Sigh, why do we say that our shipbuilding technology can't keep up? We can still hire craftsmen at a high price to build a traditional river boat, but this new type of ship that uses magic technology, who knows how to build!"
"Tsk …" Tyr smacked his lips again as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he held back. After poking the wood with his tail for a while, he waved his hand. "Alright, I've seen enough. I don't understand your magical technology … I'll go back to sleep. Call me when you're ready to depart."
After saying this, the siren left the cabin.
Byron turned his head and looked at the empty 'engine room'. He could not help but mutter, "Why didn't she take the job …"
Not long after he said this, he heard footsteps near the stairs. He looked up and saw Knight Philip walking into the cabin.
"Miss Tyre has left?" The young Knight saw Byron standing alone in the cabin and asked curiously, "Did she visit our warship?"
Byron nodded. "She looked around. She was a little interested in the magic technology, but apparently she didn't like our warship."
"Oh, then she …"
"Don't mention it. Every time she didn't wait for me to speak, she would immediately stop talking. She's so alert." Byron looked frustrated. "She's not as good as you in this aspect. You're better at talking than her."
"Can you not change the topic every time?" Philip frowned. "Miss Tyre is a foreign guest. We can't force her to help. Anyway, the seigneur only asked her to be interested in the magic technology. The seigneur will have other arrangements for the rest. "
Thinking of Gwen's expectations of Tyre and his persistence in 'building new ships', Byron could not help but sigh. "The seigneur has set himself an incredible goal to get the lazy Miss Tyre to help him for a long time. But then again, why is he so obsessed with building new ships? Are the ships made by the craftsmen we recruited from the Peibo area really useless?"
"The seigneur said that the land is just the cradle of mankind, and mankind will eventually walk out of the cradle," Knight Philip said with a straight face. "Although I don't quite understand what he means, it has always been proven that the seigneur's judgment is almost never wrong. If he says the new ships are useful, then they must be useful."
"Well … I believe in the seigneur's judgment anyway," Byron said. He then looked up at the metal beam added later on the cabin roof. The beam made of light alloy had a hexagonal array of magic runes flashing faintly. This thing called the 'power spine' was the main artery of the ship. It connected the several decks and the magic network units in each cabin together to provide the massive energy required by the Rainbow device. "Whether the new ships are useful or not, I'm looking forward to the use of these two ships."
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