The Legend of the Fishermen of Sicily

Yesterday, Leo received a quest to upgrade his armory, and he thought to himself that he really should upgrade his weapons.

Leo had seen videos of tall-masted harpoons hunting swordfish on video websites.

Fishermen need to stand on the top of the mast that extends out of the boat and throw the fast-moving swordfish with a spear or harpoon.

Swordfish have an upper jaw that resembles a long, bony sword, and their sides are covered with rough, sandpaper-like skin. Adults can grow to over 5 meters long and weigh hundreds of kilograms. Their backs are as hard as armor and have extremely dense muscles.

When speared, it will struggle wildly and even ram into the fishing boat. If the weapon is not sharp enough or the spear is not inserted deep enough, the swordfish can break free with a flick of its tail.

Swordfish are also particularly vengeful; once they break free, they may turn around and attack, causing secondary danger.

[Precision Strike] The most suitable fishing gear is the harpoon, which can be thrown and used for close-range attacks. Therefore, Leo does not plan to replace it with more advanced weapons such as harpoon guns.

But the quality of this harpoon is too poor now—it's not long enough, not sharp enough, the center of gravity is wrong, it's old and worn out, and it's particularly difficult to handle.

It's fine for spearing fish at close range underwater, but it won't be enough for Messina.

In particular, the handle of this homemade harpoon is so worn out that it is impossible to tie a rope or fishing line to it. When using a tall harpoon to hunt fish, a traction device must be connected to the harpoon's tail to prepare for controlling the fish later.

Yesterday, when Leo was having lunch with Lucia, he asked Lucia to help him order a good harpoon in town, but the cooperative where the little glutton works only deals in food and doesn't have a channel for fishing gear.

Leo then went to the grocery store and asked Nicholas.

Nicholas has some fishing gear for sale in his warehouse and can help with ordering, but he doesn't have the kind Leo wants.

Ideally, this harpoon should satisfy two usage scenarios simultaneously—

One requirement is that the harpoon can be used to hunt swordfish in Messina, so it can't be too short. The harpoons carried by the "sea nobles" of Messina are all two or three meters long.

Secondly, it must also meet the requirements for everyday fishing scenarios.

Fishing gear is not cheap, and good fishing gear is even more expensive.

Leo doesn't want to buy two harpoons; ideally, he'd want one that satisfies both of his needs.

Nicholas really wanted to make the money, but after hearing Leo's demands... he didn't dare to take the job.

He told Leo that in the coastal region of Sicily, obtaining a suitable "divine weapon" was a matter of luck, and advised him to make one himself if necessary.

Many fishermen make their own harpoons and spears.

When Leo got home last night, he thought about it and realized that making it himself wasn't out of the question.

He loved watching "The Ribbon Knife Competition" and had a lot of fancy forging techniques in his head.

If we can find a blacksmith, maybe even two cobblers can forge a 'miracle weapon'.

This is a good opportunity to complete the "Upgrade Armory" mission.

You can't exactly bring a gun to Messina, can you?

They're not really the Mafia...

Unexpectedly, Enzo told Leo that Malzamemi had no blacksmith, only an "amateur".

Enzo said he would ask that person if Leo would accept Leo's request, and wait for his reply.

In the afternoon, Leo kept thinking about this during breaks from fishing.

"I wonder how strong that person is, and whether they can meet my needs?"

......

"Someone wants to make harpoons?" Aurelio's eyes lit up. "Sure, no problem. I've been itching to get my hands dirty lately. Whichever day it is, I'll clean up the workshop today."

Enzo looked down on his "cheap" behavior and waved him away to calm down.

"Save your breath, you can't clean up that garbage pile no matter how hard you try."

Aurelius, puffing out his beard and glaring, said:

"How many times have I said it! It's an old item! A vintage nautical item!"

Seeing Enzo glare at him, Aurelio immediately lowered his voice, and his tone became aggrieved:

"Can't you at least respect my hobbies...?"

Aurelio is a passionate enthusiast of vintage nautical items.

Old ship rudders, old compasses, old anchors, old nails... all sorts of old parts, I picked them up and took them home.

To repair these old items, he built a small, enclosed workshop in his home, complete with a furnace and forging tools.

In recent years, the Sicilian government has begun to pay attention to marine environmental management. With the scrap metal becoming harder to collect, Aurelio has become fascinated with forging.

It started with small items, and later it involved helping fishermen with tools and such.

But as for the skill level...

The harpoon that Rosalia's house had a trajectory that veered to the left was made by him.

In short, it's about being bad at the game but having a huge addiction.

Enzo was in a hurry and didn't want to waste too much time talking to him.

"It's Leo's job, should we take it or not?"

"Leo?" Aurelio started flaring his arms and glaring again, his mind not yet processing the information, but his mouth moved first, "No way! No way! No way!"

Although I enjoyed the performance very much and even sat in the inner area.

But the stronger Leo became, the more Aurelio resembled a clown. When everyone recommended Leo to go to Messina, he was the only one who acted like an idiot and said Leo was bad.

Enzo continued to glare at him:

"Fine, I won't answer. Why are you yelling?"

Aurelio quickly lowered his voice and stubbornly said:

"The workshop is full of antiques. I wouldn't feel comfortable having an out-of-towner with me the whole time if they got damaged or lost."

Enzo glanced at the time and left the cabin:

"Who would want your junk? Fine, I'll go get Dalio, but you won't take it."

Aurelio was taken aback.

Wait, no, they're leaving already?

Aren't you going to say something to stop me from leaving?

Seeing Enzo walking faster and faster, he followed behind, anxiously trying to find a way to save face:

"Although I wasn't really keen on taking the job, I'm still quite disappointed that I couldn't go to Messina. When Leo went to Messina... could you please tell me that I made the harpoon? If you're okay with that, I'll make it for him!"

"I'll ask for you," Enzo said without turning his head.

"Enzo!" the person behind him called out again.

Enzo turned around, glared at him, and asked:

"Could you please finish your sentence in one go?"

Aurelio said in a low voice, like a wronged child:

"After leaving the port authority, I took Bianchi to Syracuse for some fun. He lost his match yesterday and wasn't in a good mood."

“Bianchi isn’t that fragile,” Enzo’s tone softened. “But I’ll take him to Syracuse to clear his head before we come back.”

pier.

Bianchi, wearing a white shirt, walked towards Enzo:

"Are you done?"

Enzo nodded, gesturing with his chin towards the distance, indicating that he could leave.

"After we submit the documents to the port authority, we'll have a nice meal in Syracuse, and then I'll show you the city's nightlife tonight."

Bianchi turned his head and asked him:

"Still in the mood to play? Antonino said your documents weren't prepared very well, especially your diary entries, which were terrible, so you might not be able to get the certificate."

Enzo said indifferently:

"If it can't be done, it can't be done. If I can't go to sea, I'll go to the city to find a job and live the nightlife every day! Let's go, let's go, let's get to Syracuse quickly."

Bianchi hesitated, yet also seemed eager to try, and said:

"I can't come home too late."

Why?

"Mom said—"

"Your mother doesn't know!"

"But Mom told me—"

"Bianchi, you're 24 years old now. It's time for you to have your own life."

"Mom said the same thing to you yesterday... She suggested that I try to meet some new people."

"If you keep calling me 'Mom,' I'm taking Angie to Syracuse."

"What kind of nightlife are you talking about?"