Mystery: I Married the Queen of Mystery.

Chapter 211: Manning of a Pirate Ship

Bernadette saw Odysseus's expression, which looked like he was about to vomit blood, and smiled, "It seems that you don't know much about ships. If it's an ordinary small ship, I can sell it to you for five or six thousand pounds.

“But if you’re caught up by a navy or church ship, don’t come to me to return the goods.

"In addition, the ship you designed will definitely use a large amount of spiritual materials, as well as weapons and parts customized by craftsmen. These things are very expensive.

"Giving you this price is already the cost price."

Odysseus scratched his head. He had just counted his savings last night, a total of 13522 pounds and 7 soli.

Even in Backlund, this is a huge sum of money.

He was confident that he would have a lot of extra money after buying the boat.

Unexpectedly, it was still not enough, and it was 1500 pounds short of the asking price of the "Mysterious Queen".

So Odysseus smiled and said, "Can you make it cheaper?"

"If the money is not enough, give me whatever you have now, and I can have the shipyard build it for you first." Bernadette said, "When you make money, you can pay the balance.

"But it can't be any cheaper. The price I offer can basically only cover the cost."

Odysseus thought for a moment before saying, "Okay, I'll bring the money to you tomorrow afternoon. I'll give you 12000 pounds first."

He intended to keep over a thousand pounds in case of any unexpected expenses.

Bernadette sat on the sofa in the study and asked, "What are your plans after you build the boat?"

"Of course, I'd sail my own ship and cruise the sea." Odysseus had long planned this, and now that he was finally free, he was determined to fulfill his pirate dreams: "Strike pirates if I encounter them, plunder merchant ships if I encounter them, and live the carefree life of a pirate.

"Of course, you might need to fly the flag of your pirate group, and I can hand over a portion of the spoils to you."

Bernadette smiled and said, "You are quite conscious. Well, all the other captains under my command have to hand over half of their spoils to me, and I only want 10% from you.

"But in exchange, if there are any technical problems with the new ship, you must come back immediately to help solve it. You can't refuse."

Odysseus nodded: "No problem."

If he flew the flag of the "Mysterious Queen" pirate group, ordinary pirates would not dare to target him, which would save him a lot of trouble. It was a very good deal for him.

Bernadette continued patiently, “Also, even for a small ship, you still need to recruit a first mate, a second mate, a navigator, two helmsmen, and six sailors.

"Also to be manned by several gunners and gunners, and eight to twelve marauders who are brave enough to climb the enemy ships."

Odysseus calculated: "A small sea vessel also needs more than twenty crew members?"

"This is the minimum configuration." Bernadette said: "If it were an ordinary small sea vessel, a pirate group of this size wouldn't even dare to rob a medium-sized armed merchant ship.

“But the ship you designed certainly cannot be measured by the standards of a small ship.

“But because of its small size, it can’t accommodate too many combatants, so your so-called ‘free and easy pirate life’ is more likely to be dodging other pirates everywhere, and only robbing when the time is right.

"Oh, by the way, I must tell you that it's very difficult to recruit crew members if you use a small sea vessel and plan to be a pirate.

"Even if we told them they were new ships, no experienced adventurers or pirates would apply."

Odysseus pondered for a moment. "I do have a solution for this. There should be a 'craftsman' among your subordinates, right? I need to order a batch of special parts and items from him."

“A large number of parts and products also need to be ordered from the foundry on the island.”

Bernadette said generously: "I will let Alia take you to the 'Craftsmen' Guild' on the island and ask the president to recommend the best 'craftsman' to you.

"As for orders to foundries, you can clearly state the purpose, draw up the blueprints, and have Alia communicate with the foundry, or you can communicate with their designers yourself."

Odysseus was a little surprised: "You actually have a 'Craftsmen's Guild'?"

Bernadette pursed her lips and smiled: "On the sea, many wild 'craftsmen' need a certain degree of protection, otherwise they can easily become high-ranking prisoners controlled by pirates.

"I can provide them with some protection and give them a steady stream of orders, so more and more 'craftsmen' come to me for help.

"When four or five 'craftsmen' gathered here, they formed a 'guild.' Currently, this 'guild' has over thirty members. Of course, they are not all 'craftsmen.' There are also some 'low-sequence' Beyonders among them, who simply hope to seek opportunities to become 'craftsmen.'"

Odysseus smiled and thought to himself: I have mastered a new channel.

……

Backlund, Morning Street, Cherwood District, the new residence of Hugh Dilcher and Fors.

The New Year had just passed, and Xu, who was ready to go out to take on a mission, dressed neatly and habitually checked his mailbox before going out.

In theory, no one knows their new address, and no one will send them greeting cards or letters wishing them a happy New Year.

But Xio saw a thick letter. She took it out and looked at it. It was a letter to herself, but there was no signature from the sender.

Back in the living room, Xio found a knife and cut open the envelope.

At this time, Fors, who came out in her nightgown to get some water, saw Xio and asked dazedly, "It's noon already? Are you back for lunch?"

She yawned loudly as she said this: "Why do I still feel sleepy? Go out and buy something to eat. I'll make dinner tonight."

After reading a few lines, Xio raised the letter in his hand and said, "This is a letter from the 'leader'. He gave me my first mission."

"Oh?" Fors suddenly felt sober. "What does he want you to do? Isn't it to accompany him through lonely nights?"

Xio glanced at his friend with some resignation, "He asked me to be the new 'leader'."

Fors was stunned for two or three seconds before saying, "You...are you kidding? Isn't he afraid that under your wise leadership, the Occult Research Society will only have two or three members left in a month?"

Quinn rolled her eyes unladylikely. "How could I be so bad? At least I can keep half the members."

Fors smiled and leaned over to ask, "Why did the 'leader' do this?"

"He said he had to leave Backlund due to some issues." Xio continued reading, "He also told me in the letter how to keep most of the members stable at the first gathering.

"And telling me how to develop my intelligence acumen... My God, just this empirical information is valuable information.

"Then... well, there's also a general overview of the members. Phew... With this information, I really have the confidence to hold a gathering."

Fors looked at the thick letter in Xio's hand and said, "Honestly, if I hadn't met the 'leader' and knew you had pledged allegiance to him long ago, I wouldn't believe you if you still said there was nothing going on between you two."

Xio smiled and said, "Do you believe it now?"

"I'm not completely convinced yet." Fors scratched her messy hair. "Even if you pledged allegiance to him, he wouldn't have to take care of you this much."

Xio raised his chin. "Maybe he saw the potential in me." Fors hummed. "The 'leader' has a really good eye. Your potential is so hidden, yet he can still sense it."

"That's right." Xio smiled before realizing that there was something wrong with what Fors said.

However, she did not plan to go out to take on any missions today. She planned to study the information provided by the "leader" at home.

In the evening, just as Xio and Fors were preparing dinner, there was a sudden knock on the door.

Xio saw the carriage with the "Mechanical Holy Emblem" outside the window, and knew that it was the contact person mentioned in the "leader's" letter, so he hurried to open the door.

Max, with his strong features, was outside the door. "Excuse me, ladies. I trust you have received the letter from the 'leader,' right?"

"Yes." Xio made way for the door. "Come in."

Max entered the room and casually took off his hat. "Miss Hugh Dilcha, I'm your contact. If you need help, you can find me at the Backlund Mechanical Research Institute or send me a telegram.

"If you have any important information, please write to me. If it's urgent, you can come to the research institute to find me."

Quinn asked Max to sit over there in the dining room: "Okay."

Max took off his windbreaker again, hung it on the hanger, sat down on the dining chair, and glanced at Fors who was busy in the kitchen.

Xio immediately understood what the other party meant and said, "This is my good friend. Don't worry about betraying me."

Max hummed before saying, "Let's agree on a code. If we meet, I say 'The Wind of Backlund' and you say 'The Stones of the Tusk River,' that proves everything is normal and we can meet again."

"If there's no code, then it's not normal..."

Then Max talked about how to leave secret codes in telegrams and letters, and Hugh wrote them down carefully.

In the kitchen, Fors thought to herself: The church's procedures for contacting informants and verifying the authenticity of information are no less stringent than those of the Abraham family.

After Max finished discussing the dos and don'ts, he asked, "When are you planning on having your first meeting?"

"Next week." Xio followed the "leader's" instructions.

Max nodded. "I'll keep an eye on the advertisements in the Backlund Post. I'll bring people to protect you during the first few gatherings."

"Thank you!" Xio thanked him and then asked, "Why did the 'leader' leave Backlund?"

Max was stunned for a moment before saying, "You'll know later."

Then he took his leave, and Hugh saw him to the door.

……

Lasha Island, Emerald Palace.

At eight o'clock in the morning, Odysseus finally stopped dressing like a local and wore an Intis-style shirt and trousers, carrying a tall cloth bag.

In the Kingdom of Loen, it was still winter.

However, there is no winter on the tropical island of Rasha, so you can wear relatively light clothes here.

Many locals even wore only shorts, but people from the northern continent, even the unemployed, pirates and adventurers, wore long pants and shirts in such temperatures.

So it is clear at a glance who are the colonists and who are the locals.

At the side door of the Emerald Palace, Odysseus met Arya, who also called for two "lift chairs".

The so-called "carrying chair" is to tie two wooden sticks to a chair and have two locals carry it on the street.

This is the special "means of transportation" of the Misty Sea Colony, because in these places, the locals are the cheapest labor force, even cheaper than cattle and horses.

The two people got on the "lift chair" and moved forward together.

Alia introduced: "On Lasha Island, or in the entire Misty Sea, the currency used is Felgin and Kopei. I wonder if you have any knowledge of Intis's currency before?

"One Felkin is 1 Kopeks. Converting to Loen currency, about 100 Felkin equals one pound."

Odysseus looked at the exotic street before him and said, "So, one firkin is worth less than one soli, and one cope is about one-tenth of a penny."

He smiled and said, "This is a more humane currency structure. After all, in Backlund, many things cost less than a quarter of a penny."

Then Odysseus commented: "The value of the penny is still too high."

Alia nodded: "That's right."

Odysseus asked again, "Where can I exchange my gold pounds for some local currency?"

Alia pointed to a building with a golden facade and magnificent decorations and said, "That's the bank opened by the 'Queen'. You can exchange currency there, but there's an 8% handling fee."

Odysseus was stunned. That was to say, for every pound he exchanged, he would have to pay Bernadette a handling fee of about 1 soli and 1 pence!

This is about 3% higher than normal banks.

After calculating the handling fee, Odysseus realized, "The Queen actually has a bank?"

"Yes," Alia smiled. "This archipelago is a small country!"

This was a little beyond Odysseus's expectations. He thought to himself: However, the economy and culture are highly overlapping with Intis, and it is more like an Intis colony with Bernadette as governor.

Alia looked at the buildings on both sides of the street and said, "The architecture of Lasha Island is basically based on the Intis style, and most of the pirates and adventurers here are also of Intis nationality.

"Oh, by the way, most people here speak Intis. I've prepared a spell for you that will allow you to become proficient in both the Intis language and the Intis script within the next three months."

As she spoke, she handed Odysseus a brass charm: "The spell is 'knowledge'."

Odysseus smiled and said, "Communication is indeed a key issue."

He took the talisman and studied it carefully before saying in ancient Hermetic language, "Knowledge!"

The talisman in Odysseus's hand suddenly emitted a faint brass light. As the light spread, Odysseus felt that there were many unfamiliar words and pronunciations in his mind.

Soon these words and pronunciations combined with his previous memories, forming a resonance. Odysseus immediately understood how to speak Intis and also understood the Intis language.

The talisman in his hand had completely lost its luster and original bright color, and turned into an ordinary piece of scrap copper.

Odysseus sighed: "This is an extraordinary convenience."

(End of this chapter)