An Jin’s interest was imdiately piqued.
"Wait a mont, I’ll go with you," Mi Yin said, gathering the bowls and turning to enter the kitchen.
The sink in the kitchen was connected directly to a pipe, making it very convenient to wash the dishes. After washing all the bowls, chopsticks, and plates, he neatly placed them in the cabinet beside it.
The three of them went to the workshop together.
Even before they arrived, they could hear the hustle and bustle of people coming and going. Fortunately, the weather had cooled down, so the work wasn’t as unbearably hot as it had been a while ago.
The Beastn were incredibly efficient. After just two days, hundreds of standard-sized wooden planks, all cut perfectly flat, were piled up in the open space outside, already stacked several n high.
Seeing the three of them approach, many Beastn poked their heads out from behind the woodpiles, their eyes shining brightly as they waved from a distance. "Lord City Lord!"
An Jin smiled and nodded, walking over to ask gently, "How’s the progress?"
Gao Shi ran over with the blueprints, his face wreathed in a smile. He spoke respectfully, "According to your previous instructions, this large object..."
After being nudged by a Beastman next to him, he scratched his head, coughed twice, and said, "This... ship, yes! This ship! We’ve already finished cutting a third of the planks needed for its construction. In seven days at most, we’ll have all the planks cut and ready for shipbuilding."
"Also, the ironworks is rushing to produce the iron plating and nails."
"And..."
Listening to his step-by-step report, An Jin nodded in affirmation from ti to ti, the curve of her lips growing wider. "Thank you for your hard work. The project is going very smoothly. I was worried there might be so minor issues since this is our first ti building a ship."
"Haha, you worried for nothing, City Lord!" Gao Shi laughed. "The Beastn in the workshop are all old hands; we’re all experienced. While we don’t know how to build a ship, thanks to you, Lord City Lord, you’ve written down the specifications for all the required lumber so clearly. We just have to follow them to make the planks!"
"Making the planks is just the first step. Next, you have to build the ship’s fra and then attach the planks. Every step must be done to the best of your ability, with no room for error."
Gao Shi nodded heavily, a deeper sense of urgency and honor rising in his heart. Ever since An Jin had saved him from the Beast God’s grasp when he was grievously injured, he had been wholeheartedly loyal to her.
And he had never disappointed her.
For years, An Jin had entrusted him with commanding many matters, big and small, within the city. Essentially, every ti, Gao Shi delivered a satisfactory result to An Jin.
After inspecting the site and finding no issues, An Jin decided to head back. "Don’t let up on the work ahead. Have a few trustworthy Beastn supervise the others. I’ll co by to inspect the progress every day from now on."
"Yes!" Gao Shi replied loudly.
Spurred on by An Jin’s specific instructions and "daily visits," the Beastn worked with even more vigor. They beca more ticulous and strict with the quality of their products, terrified that the lumber they produced wouldn’t et the Lord City Lord’s standards.
For seven long days, the Beastn even ate their als hastily in the workshop. They would wolf down their food in ten-odd minutes and imdiately get back to work. Aside from ti for eating, drinking, and relieving themselves, they poured every mont into the construction project.
...
Building a great ship capable of long-term sea voyages in such a low-civilization world was no easy feat. Whether it was performance, design, materials, technology, or even the most basic problem of a power source, none of it was simple to solve.
So, after much deliberation, An Jin scrolled through the System Mall’s pages and finally settled on a large, oar-powered warship capable of carrying a thousand people.
Detailed Blueprints Price—5,000 Gold Coins.
An Jin glanced at her account. The balance was just a little over 5,000.
She gritted her teeth and bought it.
After obtaining the blueprints, she didn’t imdiately hand them over to Gao Shi and the others. Instead, she first modified the specifications to suit the current manufacturing capabilities of the Beast World before passing them on to the Beastn in the workshop.
Seven days later, she went to the workshop to inspect the results.
All the raw materials had been prepared, and the ship’s fra had a preliminary outline.
The experienced Beastn had carefully coated all the planks with a special tung oil. This oil would prevent the wood from getting waterlogged or leaking, protecting any transported cargo from moisture.
「Half a month later.」
Moored at the coast was an enormous, deep-brown warship covered in wood grain patterns. It was so large it was dumbfounding.
It looked like it could carry over a thousand Beastn and hundreds of tons of cargo!
Six thick mooring lines secured the bow and stern, tying it firmly to the pier’s wooden posts.
The calm sea rippled gently with the sea breeze, creating shallow waves beneath the ship.
An Jin’s vision was this—
Most of the world’s civilizations developed along waterways. Three of the four Royal Cities on the Beastman Continent were located near the great Aisala River, and countless tribes and cities populated the river’s distributaries.
As long as Sheng’an City successfully built the world’s first warship, it would be equivalent to gaining imdiate control of untrodden water routes, completely opening up trade routes to all corners of the world.
She was absolutely convinced that this one action would create a massive butterfly effect that would change the future of this world!
...
On this day, more than half the shops in the city had unanimously hung up "Closed" signs. The streets were deserted.
—Almost every Beastman in the entire city, with their families in tow, had run over to witness this monuntal, world-stunning project.
The news that a "ship" had been successfully built had been leaked early on by soone.
Among the dense, dark crowd of spectators were countless Beastn from other tribes and cities. After seeing the real thing, their initial skepticism turned into imnse shock and awe.
This ship possessed a terrifying, oppressive aura, like that of a legendary Giant Beast. The vast shadow it cast nearly blotted out the sun, blanketing them completely.
Many of the Beastn who had co closer to get a better look felt their legs go weak, broke out in a cold sweat, and their teeth chattered.
Sigh. It was shaful to admit, but they had watched this small, overlooked city rise from nothing. Like a miracle from the Beast God, it had beco prosperous and flourishing in just a few short years, selling countless dazzling goods all over the world and leaping to beco the largest economy in the region.
With the force of a storm, it had left them leagues behind and then slapped them hard across the face.
And they... they were still struggling desperately just to stay above the poverty line.
If before, they had been unconvinced, secretly sneering that Sheng’an City was just lucky...
...then after seeing this world-astounding "ship"...
that feeling of defiance buried deep in their hearts had completely and utterly vanished.
If you surpass soone by a little, they might feel jealous and defiant. But if you leave them so far behind that it’s like the difference between the clouds and the mud, then for the rest of their lives, they can only gaze up at you from afar.
"City Lord, please board the ship!"
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