In the vicinity of the Black Wolf Archipelago, except for Bullhead Island, which was used for trade, other islands generally did not allow outsiders to enter. After all, the Black Wolf King was a pirate. Naturally, he was worried about soldiers coming to explore. If the local hydrology and island defenses were found out by soldiers, they would have no geographical advantage. Once attacked by soldiers, they would not even have a chance to escape. In order to ensure their own safety, pirates naturally prohibited outsiders from familiarizing themselves with the surrounding environment of the archipelago.
However, with Niuer, a local, leading the way, there was naturally no problem. Niuer was very popular around the Black Wolf Archipelago. Almost all the natives of the islands knew him and knew what he did.
The distance from Bullhead Island to Giant Tree Island was only 20 miles. It was not very far, but the underwater situation was a bit complicated. There were many submerged reefs. A little carelessness may cause the ship to be destroyed and people to die. It was very dangerous for unfamiliar people to sail quickly here. But for Niuer, this was not a problem. Niuer was very familiar with the surrounding hydrology. Even if he closed his eyes, he could swim in the sea without worrying about the ship hitting the submerged reefs.
"Distinguished guests, there are a lot of submerged reefs here. If unfamiliar people force their way in, they will suffer a lot. Even the people on the island don't dare to drive too fast here. However, I am very familiar with this place. It's okay to drive fast."
Niuer said proudly.
"Niuer, which one is Giant Tree Island?"
Ang Lee looked at several islands in the distance and asked.
Niu Er pointed to one of the islands and said, "It's the one in front. That's the Giant Tree Island. There are many trees on the island. Among them, there is a very huge tree that reaches the sky. This tree is at least hundreds of years old. These trees are all of good quality and can be used to build ships. There are hundreds of loggers and shipbuilders on the island. They can build several ships every month."
The scenery on the sea was very good. Because Giant Tree Island had more trees, it looked very beautiful. It was much taller than the islands next to it. Because of the large number of trees, the number of seabirds on Giant Tree Island was also very high. The seabirds would leave a lot of bird droppings on the island, and bird droppings could improve the soil on the island, making the soil more fertile. This would promote the growth of trees on the island, forming a virtuous cycle.
There were many patrol ships near the Sea Wolf Archipelago. These ships were filled with pirates. They were the subordinates of the Black Wolf King.
A patrol ship like this could carry more than ten people, but most of the time, it would only carry three to five people. After all, the Black Wolf King did not have many people under his command, only a little more than a hundred people. He could not spare many people to patrol.
At this time, on a patrol ship not far from Ang Lee, there were several pirates, and one of them was a small leader.
"Fourth King, you don't have to do such a small thing as patrolling. We can do it. Besides, our place is so remote. The soldiers won't come to encircle us."
A patrolling pirate said.
The Fourth King he mentioned was naturally the brother of the Black Wolf King, One-Eyed Wolf. He was also one of the main small leaders under the Black Wolf King. He was the weakest wolf among the Three Wolves and Three Dogs, but he was stronger than the Three Dogs.
This time, he was ordered by the Black Wolf King to personally lead his men to patrol the nearby area to ensure the safety of their territory.
One-Eyed Wolf looked at his subordinates and said, "We can't be careless. Recently, there's news from the north that something happened to Seagull Island. It was wiped out by the soldiers. Seagull Island has been operating for decades. It's gone just like that. We must take this as a warning and not let our guard down."
"Fourth King is right. We will be careful."
A few of his subordinates said.
One-Eyed Wolf looked in the direction of Ang Lee and asked, "Is that one of our people on the ship in front?"
One of his subordinates replied, "Fourth King, it's Niu Er from Bullhead Island. The ones behind him should be his clients. This kid never does proper business and likes to make easy money."
"Niu Er, the one who swindled people?"
One-Eyed Wolf said lightly.
"Fourth King is right. This kid only relies on his mouth. He doesn't have any real ability. Only outsiders who don't know anything gave him the opportunity to make money."
The subordinate said.
One-Eyed Wolf said, "Looking at them, they're going to Giant Tree Island! What are they going to do? "
"Fourth King, should we go and ask?"
The subordinate said.
One-Eyed Wolf nodded.
"Niu Er, where are you going?"
Following them, a young pirate asked from afar.
Niu Er shouted, "We're going to Giant Tree Island. These distinguished guests want to see the fishing boats and whaling harpoons. They're worried about the quality and want to see if our workmanship is good. If it's not good, they'll buy it elsewhere."
"Oh."
"Fourth King, they're the customers who want to buy the boats and whaling harpoons."
The young pirate said.
The one-eyed wolf nodded in acknowledgment.
Although it was possible to buy it directly on Bull Head Island, it wasn't strange for customers to be worried and want to go to the manufacturing site to check it out. Over the years, there were indeed people who often went to Giant Tree Island to see the construction process of the fishing boats.
One-Eyed Wolf looked at Ang Lee and others and did not find any problem. Ang Lee and others live a good life. At first glance, one can see that they're rich. It's very easy for them to pretend to be businessmen. Chen Fugui himself is a businessman. There's no need for him to disguise himself. So, one-eyed Wolf naturally won't suspect anything.
— — —
Ang Lee and others, under the leadership of Niu Er, quickly entered Giant Tree Island and saw everything on the island. More than half of the island is covered with hundred-year-old trees. With so many trees, it's enough to build thousands of fishing boats. At present, only a small part of it is being used. The small trees can grow slowly and can replenish the loss caused by the felling of the big trees in time. There's no problem to maintain the shipbuilding materials for decades.
On one side of the island, there is a shipbuilding workshop that can build two fishing boats at the same time. All kinds of materials needed for shipbuilding are also being prepared.
The manpower here is divided into several parts. One part is responsible for logging, one part is responsible for processing the trunks and building the trunks into parts of the boat. The last part is on the berth, assembling the various parts of the boat. In this way, a complete fishing boat is born.
The fishing boats that can be produced here are not of the same model. There are many models, some are bigger, some are smaller, some are fast boats and some are slow boats.
"Several distinguished guests, there are many kinds of fishing boats that can be made here, but in fact, not only fishing boats, there is also a kind of fast boat, but fast boats are not for sale. They are kept for their own use."
Niu Er said.
"Fast boat, how fast is it?"
Ang Lee asked.
Niu Er replied: "It's not very fast, but it's definitely much faster than the average fishing boat. Now there is a fast boat under construction in the port. The fishing boats parked next to it are not fast boats."
"Haha! So, these fast boats are specially used to rob the rich and give to the poor! "
Ang Lee asked with a smile.
Niu Er smiled honestly and nodded to admit this fact.
Ang Lee walked to the fast boat under construction and looked at it carefully for a while. The fast boat was almost finished, and even oars and heavy crossbows were being installed.
Because the distance was very close, Ang Lee could clearly see the specific structure of the fast boat and sighed.
The size of this fast boat is equivalent to a medium-sized fishing boat, but its speed is undoubtedly much faster than a fishing boat. The weapons it carries are naturally far better than a fishing boat. It can be regarded as a very luxurious pirate ship.
This fast boat has a streamlined design. Not only is it prepared with sails, but it also has more than 20 pairs of oars. If it is full of oars, it needs nearly 50 people. It can be seen that the speed of this boat must be very fast, much faster than the average medium-sized fishing boat.
In terms of weapons, this fast boat is also very good. On both sides of the deck, there are more than 20 heavy crossbows, and the total number of heavy crossbows is also close to 50. So many heavy crossbows are a great threat to fishing boats and merchant ships.
In other words, such a small fast boat actually needs more than 100 people to be full. Such a large number of people represents absolute strength. Once such a fast boat attacks an ordinary merchant ship, it can be said that the merchant ship absolutely has no ability to resist, and it is only a matter of time before it is captured.
This fast boat's full crew is enough to kill all the pirates under the Black Wolf King. Of course, the oars can be handed over to ordinary fishermen. Anyway, they are all one. As long as the Black Wolf King makes a request, no ordinary fisherman will dare to refuse.
"Niu Er, is this fast boat prepared for your Black Wolf King?"
Ang Lee asked.
Niu Er doesn't know, but he can go and ask. Anyway, he is more familiar with the craftsmen working here, so he can ask for the answer.
"Old Liu, which king is this fast boat prepared for?"
Niu Er asked.
"Go away, you brat. Why should I tell you?"
Carpenter Liu's face is full of disdain. It seems that he doesn't want to pay attention to Niu Er. Of course, he doesn't really ignore him. He just doesn't like him. He feels that Niu Er is not doing his job, unlike them who work hard every day.
Niu Er naturally knows Carpenter Liu's temperament. He smiled slightly and took out a small wine jar that he has already prepared.
"How is it? Have a sip."
Niu Er said with a smile.
The corners of Carpenter Liu's mouth curled up into a smile. He directly snatched the small wine jar and finished it in a few mouthfuls.
"It is prepared for the Black Tiger King. The Black Tiger King has more than 200 brothers under his command, but he only has one fast boat. Moreover, it is relatively small. After this fast boat is built, this problem can be solved."
Carpenter Liu drank Niu Er's good wine, so naturally he won't continue to be rude to Niu Er. Instead, he straightforwardly told Niu Er about this matter.
"Old Liu is busy, we are leaving."
Niu Er smiled and left.
After Ang Lee learned about the Black Tiger King, he asked about the situation of the Black Tiger King. However, Niu Er doesn't know much about the situation of the Black Tiger King. The scope of his knowledge is limited to the territory of the Black Wolf King. He doesn't know much about the situation of the other kings and the Black Dragon Emperor.
However, judging from the situation of the Black Wolf King and the Black Tiger King, the pirates should not have many fast boats. The four kings have no more than eight fast boats, and the Black Dragon Emperor himself has no more than six or seven fast boats. The total number should be less than fifteen, but so many fast boats can be regarded as a sea force that can't be ignored.
According to the strength of the fast boat in front of him, Chen Fugui's whaling ship has fallen into an absolute disadvantage. They are not even on the same level.
The only advantage of Chen Fugui's whaling ship is that it is faster than the fast boat. Once it escapes, the fast boat can't catch up with it. However, its military strength is much worse. The whaling ship only has ten whaling ballistae, while the pirate's fast boat has nearly fifty ballistae. Each ballista is equipped with a large number of crossbows, unlike the whaling ship's ballistae, which only have one crossbow.
Even Ang Lee feels that even if Chen Fugui's four whaling ships fight together, they can't beat a fast boat. The difference in strength is too big.
If you want to deal with these fast boats, you can only use the warships of the Tang dynasty's navy, a type of warship equipped with hundreds of cannons. One warship is enough to kill all the fast boats.
Of course, at this moment, these warships are not in the hands of Ang Lee. Ang Lee only has four whaling ships, which were provided by the merchant Chen Fugui.
"Honorable guests, the workmanship of our fishing boats is the best. Is there any problem?"
Niu Er asked.
Ang Lee naturally didn't come to buy a boat. He smiled and asked, "Niu Er, are you really not selling the fast boats here?"
Niu Er replied with a smile, "Of course, we can't sell them. This can't be wrong. In addition, as long as we don't rob the rich to help the poor, we don't need such a fast boat!"
Ang Lee said with a smile, "The quality of the fishing boats here is good. I will go back and report to the patriarch truthfully. As long as the patriarch is interested in buying, you can buy it here."
After that, everyone started to tour the forest of the Giant Tree Island. The environment here was quite quiet. The island was almost completely covered by huge trees. In the gaps between the trees, there were many shrubs and flowers. There were also many small animals living on this island.
Because they were in the ocean, everyone here mainly ate seafood. They ate three meals a day, and almost all of them ate sea fish and shrimp. In the future, only the rich could afford to eat abalone and lobster. Here, they were just ordinary food and were not considered rare.
On the beach of Giant Tree Island, there were a lot of people digging for turtle eggs. There were a lot of turtles here, and when it was time for the turtles to lay their eggs, countless turtles would flock to the shore and lay their eggs on the beach. The craftsmen working here would take advantage of the time when they were working to dig for turtle eggs on the beach to supplement themselves with different kinds of nutrients.
Even if you eat lobsters and abalones every day, you will get tired of eating them. Eating turtle eggs once in a while is pretty good. Naturally, the turtle eggs here belong to whoever dug them out. Li An and the others also joined the ranks of digging up turtle eggs. It didn't take long for them to dig up a few hundred turtle eggs. From this, it can be seen how dense the turtle eggs here are.
The speed of the turtle movement on the beach is very slow. Once it is discovered, it is absolutely impossible to escape. Eating turtle eggs is normal, and eating turtles is also a daily habit of the people here.
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