156: Zhenhai

In less than an hour, Arthur and his group arrived at the Lionheart Kingdom's largest southern dock, which had not been used for several centuries and had only recently been reactivated.

It had now been converted into a military restricted zone, with tens of thousands of soldiers stationed there and no outsiders allowed.

However, because the area had just been activated, many soldiers could be seen below the dock working on building military units and constructing the corresponding dock buildings.

For the past week, these ten thousand soldiers had been busy clearing debris from the seaside to allow this dilapidated dock to accommodate giant ships.

They had only just begun building their own houses; previously, they had been living in tents.

With Arthur's arrival, the soldiers below stopped their movements, their faces filled with fervor, and they knelt on one knee, shouting in unison:

"Greetings, Your Majesty!"

Seeing this, Arthur infused his voice with fighting Qi, allowing it to spread throughout the entire area.

"You have all worked hard. I know that cleaning the dock and building houses are not your duties as soldiers.

But I believe you have all seen the giant ship at the dock, over three hundred meters long!

It symbolizes the beginning of our Lionheart Kingdom's navy. In the future, the Kingdom will have more and more such giant ships!

And for all of this, you all have contributed!"

The giant ship purchased by Legendary Expert Elwin from the Empire through the Dawn Merchant Guild was three hundred and ten meters long, seventy meters wide, and sixty meters high.

Such a massive ship could be clearly seen not only by Arthur, who was above the dock, but also by many soldiers below the dock.

As Arthur spoke, the soldiers looked at the giant ship that had suddenly appeared at the dock today, their faces filled with excitement.

They never expected such a magnificent vessel to become a member of their nation's navy.

If that were truly the case, everything they were doing now would become extremely meaningful!

With surging emotions, they shouted again!

"Long live King Arthur! Long live the Lionheart Kingdom!"

After the cheers subsided, Arthur flew towards the giant ship, wanting to examine its unique features in detail.

When Arthur arrived on the warship riding the Two-Headed Wyvern Andel, he found three hundred humans on board who did not belong to the Lionheart Kingdom.

One of them, who looked like a captain, saw Arthur arrive and quickly saluted:

"Greetings, Your Majesty. I am the temporary captain of this sea calming.

We were once the navy of a certain country, but after defeat, we became slaves and have been working under the Dawn Merchant Guild. Now, we have been dispatched by them to pilot the sea calming.

The sea calming is over three hundred meters long, and we three hundred people can barely pilot it. To fully utilize its capabilities, more crew members need to be assigned.

The entire ship requires approximately one thousand people, and this is just for basic personnel; the troops on board are counted separately!"

Hearing this, Arthur nodded. The Lionheart Kingdom currently lacked all kinds of naval talent, and the appearance of these hundreds of people filled that void!

He said with a slight smile:

"Our Lionheart Kingdom is in need of talented individuals with rich naval experience like yourselves. I declare that from this moment on, you are no longer slaves, but citizens of my Lionheart Kingdom.

In return, you must continuously cultivate naval talent for the Lionheart Kingdom. Can you do that!"

On the Continent of Gods, once one became a slave, it was almost impossible to ever rise again.

Because the descendants of slaves were also slaves!

Arthur, upon meeting them, immediately abolished their slave status.

How could these crew members refuse? It was just about cultivating a navy, which they had done before in their own country. They all knelt to the ground.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. We will do our utmost to cultivate a navy and live up to your benevolence!"

"Hmm!"

After everyone stood up, Arthur looked at the current captain of the sea calming.

"What is your name?"

Hearing Arthur ask for his name, the temporary captain quickly replied:

"Your Majesty, my name is Eric Lamira."

"Good, Eric, please, as the temporary commander, introduce me to the specifications of this sea calming from the Empire!"

"It is my great honor!

The sea calming is the contemporary main battleship of the Thunder Empire on the continent!"

Hearing this, Arthur was startled and couldn't help but interrupt.

"Contemporary main battleship? The Thunder Empire is willing to sell something like this? Generally, aren't only decommissioned warships sold to other countries?"

Hearing this, Eric quickly explained.

"Indeed, ordinary contemporary main battleships are not sold externally, but this ship is a stripped-down version.

The magic arrays covering its entire body, once activated, can withstand attacks up to Ninth-level Magic and Sky Knight attacks.

Theoretically, as long as the ship's energy is not depleted and the attack does not Breakthrough to the Forbidden Curse level, the ship's shield cannot be broken.

In this aspect, the Thunder Empire did not cut corners.

However, in terms of offense, the Thunder Empire not only reduced the attack inscriptions in the magic array.

Preventing it from casting offensive magic, but also removed the ship's magical cannons!

Even so, giant ships like the sea calming are still loved by many!

Because the technology to condense such a magic array that can defend against Ninth-level Magic onto a three-hundred-meter ship is something that ordinary forces do not possess.

Moreover, the sea calming is entirely constructed from black ironwood. Although its body is wooden, it is harder than ordinary steel!

Many wealthy individuals lack a sense of security, and they are willing to pay a high price for the defensive capabilities of such vessels!

And such ships are indeed expensive. Although many functions were reduced, the Dawn Merchant Guild still spent two hundred million gold coins to purchase the sea calming!

Oh, regarding the gold coins needed to purchase the ship, the Dawn Merchant Guild previously stated that they would deduct it from the value of the treasures you sold!"

After Eric explained all this, Arthur understood.

Why the Thunder Empire was willing to sell their currently equipped naval vessels — it turned out to be a stripped-down version.

And the price was not cheap, a hefty two hundred million gold coins, which was already the Kate Kingdom royal family's net profit for a year!

Although the sea calming was good, Arthur believed that the Thunder Empire must have made more than double the profit.

That is to say, the cost of building the sea calming probably didn't even exceed one hundred million gold coins!

Arthur had overpaid, but there was nothing he could do. For the establishment of the Kingdom's navy, a necessary sacrifice of some money was acceptable.

Moreover, with this purchased sea calming, Arthur would have a reason to replicate more similar giant ships later, claiming they were imitations, and others would be powerless to object!

After all, he had a purchase record, so imitation was indeed possible.

Aside from the ship's exorbitant price, Arthur was generally satisfied with the sea calming, because its defense, capable of withstanding Ninth-level Magic, was indeed commendable.

As for offense, Arthur was not worried.