Chapter 285 - 258: Island’s First Week Settlement
Getting such a massive ship back home, however, was no easy task.
After a moment of thought, Qin Ziwen came up with a plan.
Looking at the seabed before him, he opened a Node.
VMMMM—
The next second, an oval Teleportation Gate appeared before them.
Without his permission, the seawater was held back on the other side of the gate.
Qin Ziwen returned to their Home through the gate.
The others followed him back.
Their wet feet padded onto the ground of their Home. Someone stared at the other side, just a gate away, where the deep blue seawater was held firmly at bay by the transparent Teleportation Gate.
Someone asked curiously, "This gate is a bit small. Can we really pull that ship through?"
They had guessed their President’s intention—he must want to bring the ship back.
"President, judging by the ship’s condition, it’s probably been sunk here for at least several decades, maybe even a century. The wood is likely all rotted," Zhang Liang said hesitantly. His background was in prop design, so he knew that for a ship that had been soaking in water for who knows how long, the hull’s ’durability’ would have reached a critical low.
Qin Ziwen replied, "It’s fine. We can repair it once we get it back. The main thing is figuring out how to get it back first. It’s a huge ship. Do any of you have a good way to bring it back while keeping the damage to an absolute minimum?"
Zhang Liang pondered for a moment. "President, it’s basically impossible to avoid any damage at all, at least not with our current level of technology. The best method would be to dismantle it into several large sections and transport them back through the Teleportation Gate."
At this, Zhang Liang gestured with his hands. "President, this gate is a little small. Can you make it bigger?"
"I can." Qin Ziwen nodded. With a thought, the gate instantly grew ten times taller.
This was its current limit.
Still, it was definitely big enough to transport the ship.
After that, everyone began preparing tools. The Qin Alliance had a few former math teachers, physics teachers, and engineers. They gathered with several craftsmen from Li Yue’s Divine Machine Workshop.
They even ate more of the fruit and passed through the Teleportation Gate to the other side of the sea to conduct an on-site inspection.
After a heated discussion, they finally came up with a relatively sound plan for strapping up the ship.
Li Yue stood to the side, choosing his words carefully. "President," he said cautiously, "we’re not professionals, after all. We have no experience salvaging shipwrecks. This is just a method we’ve devised based on deduction. It’s not impossible that some accidents might occur when we actually try it."
He had been pushed forward by the group to speak. Everyone was worried they might be blamed by the President if an accident happened while hauling the wreck.
Qin Ziwen said breezily, "It’s fine. Just do your best."
’According to the Ghost Ship Dock’s abilities, it can repair even damaged ships. Although it doesn’t specify the extent of the damage, I imagine it can’t fix a ship that’s been smashed into building blocks.’
’That’s why we have to preserve the hull’s integrity as much as possible.’
Of course, if an accident really did happen and the shipwreck couldn’t be repaired, he would understand.
After all, it was a massive wreck that had been submerged for who knew how many years.
As long as everyone did their best, he couldn’t be too harsh on them.
"Understood, President." Li Yue breathed a sigh of relief, a weight lifted from his shoulders.
With that assurance, everyone felt they could now go all out and give it a try.
Once the plan was set, the entire Qin Alliance began to operate like a precision machine.
Qin Ziwen felt a bit wistful. He had originally gone exploring the seabed for two reasons: one was to find suitable resource points, and the other was to look for an altar.
He had found an altar in the end, but there were no Cards on it.
Fortunately, the trip wasn’t a total loss. They had found a massive shipwreck on the ocean floor. He had no idea if it was left by a native civilization of this world or by beings similar to those from his Gated Community who had arrived long ago.
But regardless, if they could bring this forty-meter-class ship back to the Ghost Ship Dock, repair it, and then modify it with Ghost Gold, they would have a proper seafaring vessel for this map.
He could still tell what was more important.
After returning to their Home, some people stayed behind while the rest were free to do as they pleased. They could go back into the water or choose to save their remaining Deep Sea Oxygen Fruits.
Most people chose to save them. The fruits were precious, allowing them to breathe underwater, which in their eyes was as rare as a Card.
Meanwhile, another group started cutting down the steel cables from the elevator shafts, then moved to the adjacent floors to cut more.
They were excellent materials for ropes and would save a great deal of forging time.
Then, the Military Equipment Supervisor went into full swing, cutting and weaving the steel cables.
They planned to forge four massive, flat, belt-like cables.
They also needed to build a complex, multi-group series pulley system and create a huge winch.
The work progressed in an orderly fashion.
At midnight, the Military Equipment Supervisor was brightly lit, and everyone was working with fiery enthusiasm.
To speed things up, Qin Ziwen temporarily switched the guild’s Shared Building to the Military Equipment Supervisor.
[Level 4 Yanwu Military Equipment Supervisor: Level 4+1 Military Fanaticism, Level 3+1 Weapon Standardization, Level 5+1 Exclusive Research and Development, Level 3+1 Efficiency Enhancement] (Special Effects: Omitted) (Inlaid: Second-level Wondrous Blade Stone)
Qin Ziwen was truly witnessing the Military Equipment Supervisor running at full capacity. With enough manpower and the boost from the building’s traits, the work progressed at a rate that was almost visibly insane.
’They’ll probably be done by tomorrow. That’s unbelievably fast,’ Qin Ziwen thought with amazement, then quietly departed.
Because tonight, the first weekly settlement for the Island map was about to begin.
The last few days on the previous map, plus the few days since they had crossed over to the Island map, added up to exactly one week.
[You have successfully survived one week in the Gobi Desert and Island maps. Current day on Island map: 5. This week, the Mongolian Horse advanced to the Extraordinary level, you obtained a large number of Cards, successfully completed a decapitation strike, the Military Equipment Supervisor produced a large quantity of military equipment, and you completed a Level 1 Task from the Hunting Celestial List once... Comprehensive Score: 2074]
[Rewards Received: [Advanced Enhancement Card] One-star Enhancement Card x1, [Duplication Card] Advanced Building Copy Card x1, [Expansion Card] Snowfield Expansion Card (Large) x1, [Function Card] Level 1 Retrospect x1, [Enhancement Card] Human Physique Enhancement Card (One-star) x1]
Qin Ziwen scanned the rewards at a glance.
Compared to the previous two weeks, these rewards were a bit simpler.
But then again, they hadn’t completed any higher-difficulty hunts this time. It was mostly a transitional period, so it was understandable.
First up was the Advanced Enhancement Card. He now had two of them.
He had been debating whether to use it on himself or on the Beaked Eagle.
Now he didn’t have to choose.
’I’ll give them to the Beaked Eagle and Red Hare first.’
’Both of them can serve as mounts.’
’I’ll further enhance the Beaked Eagle’s flight and carrying capacity, while Red Hare can run on the sea. If I make it faster, then even a Mosasaurus might not be able to catch me.’
’As long as I’m fast enough, the Mosasaurus will be left eating Red Hare’s dust.’
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