The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Chapter 440 - 0437: Warehouses Full of Big and Small Pearls (First Update)

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The Fresh Flower Vessel returned to Fresh Flower Port, laden with the weighty Tridacna and conches.

It was time to tally the harvest, and watching the workers on the dock carry off one enormous seashell after another stirred Liszt’s emotions.

He had always wished to manage Coral Reef and Black Pearl Lake, but due to insufficient manpower, he had struggled to even develop Black Horse Island, let alone Black Pearl Lake. However, with the Sea Sprite Ake, a single voyage yielded so many shells, those which could produce Black Pearls and Pink Pearls.

"Two or three trips a year should be essentially sufficient!"

The growth of Tridacna and conches was very slow. There was no way to over-harvest them, and it seemed that the larger specimens all hid in the waters around Black Pearl Lake. It was rare to see them engage in fierce battles over territory in Black Pearl Lake, allowing Ake the pleasure of reaping the benefits.

"My lord, how should we deal with these marine products?" asked a Knight who served as a dock official, coming over to inquire. He was a former classmate of Liszt’s, born to a minor noble family’s second son.

Liszt said directly, "Hand over the large conches to the castle for processing... Harvest the Black Pearls from the Tridacna and give them to the castle, as for the meat, release it into the seafood market, half to be sold by Thorn Caravan and the other half to be sold cheaply for consumption by the residents of Fresh Flower Town and the port town."

Whether it was Fresh Flower Town or the port town, except for grain such as wheat which had to be purchased from elsewhere, other items like seafood were very cheap.

Even serfs could afford it and could enjoy seafood feasts every day.

The reason was simple: the sea area had never been overfished, and the fishery resources were abundant. Unfortunately, these methods did not involve much technical skill, and the lords of the small seaside towns of Coral Island indulged in private fishing. They either consumed the seafood themselves or secretly sold it to surrounding towns.

The seafood business of Fresh Flower Town, impacted by such conditions, found that the seafood from the beaches had become worthless.

That was why he now asked the residents of Oyster Village to advance to the near sea and dive for other seafood to replace the beach seafood.

Ultimately realizing a fishing industry scale that developed deep-sea seafood, shallow water seafood, and beach seafood simultaneously.

"Sir, there’s too much meat from the large conches, and I fear it can’t all be consumed, nor is it easy to store... There’s not much ice left in the ice cellar, and we’re unable to continue keeping the seafood fresh," Mrs. Abbie said worriedly upon seeing another big batch of large conches being brought back to the castle.

"Just turn them into food and hand them over to me; I’ll distribute them among the knights of the territory for all of us to enjoy the nourishment of the Magical Beast," Liszt said casually.

He had already eaten all the meat of the Six-Headed King Serpent and turned the snake skin into snake skin armor, handing over the snake bone and other parts to Chris Truth to be processed into magical materials. Now, his Gemstone Space had very few items stored—the wealthier Liszt no longer stored low-value items like Fine Steel Armor there.

Currently, in the Gemstone Space, there was only the Crimson Blood Sword, Drift Bottle, Soul Storage Vessel, a set of spare Mithril Armor, two telescopes, Sapphire Magic Ring, Goat Head Flag, Sapphire Dragon Ship Figurehead, Soul Submerged Wood, and a batch of poison-coated Thorn Wood Arrows.

And five books—"Philip, Descendant of the Sun’s Diary" used for learning the Sun Script; "To His Highness Annuette—Curtis the Truth" detailing how to make Liches and Ghost Ships; the Sword Saint’s Notes gifted by Marquis Merlin; a nameless Dragon Rearing Manual, and the Advanced Dou Qi Manual "Rising Sun Blaze".

The Mithril Mine, Jade, Crystal, and Black Pearls, he had sealed in the storerooms of the castle.

Therefore.

He had freed up quite a bit of space in his Gemstone Space, to store Magical Beast Meat, Sea Monster Meat, Dragon Breed Milk, Magic Potions, ensuring that no matter where he went, he could enjoy the same nutrition. This batch of large conches’ meat could be perfectly stored in the Gemstone Space, to be savored slowly.

Of course, he was not so stingy as to enjoy all the Sea Monster meat by himself.

The Earth Knights of the territory could get a share, and the officials of the territory could have a bit, too. This was a fair distribution of benefits.

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After the inventory was completed.

The number of pink pearls was not large, totaling seven including the one Chris was studying.

Two ordinary bowl-sized pink pearls came from those bathtub-sized sea snails, one of which had no pink pearl; two goose egg-sized pink pearls, and three chicken egg-sized pink pearls. These seven pink pearls were all irregularly shaped ovals with flame-patterned textures.

The quantity of black pearls was considerable, a total of one hundred thirty-six. The largest Tridacna alone contributed twenty-nine black pearls.

Adding to Liszt’s existing stock of black pearls.

There were a total of three basketball-sized black pearls, eleven sea basin-sized black pearls, forty-eight fist-sized black pearls, and many smaller ones.

There were also two basin-sized black pearls, one from the stock and one from the largest Tridacna caught today.

Additionally, there was an even larger black pearl, nearly the size of a bathtub. Without a doubt, it came from the largest Tridacna.

"Hmm, so many pearls, am I rich again?" Liszt grinned as he gazed at the pile of black pearls, already envisioning future maritime domination.

Previously two basin-sized black pearls had been made into Calming Sea Pearls, mounted on the Fresh Flower Vessel and Thorn Number.

Although there were no severe storms between Black Horse Island and Coral Island, engaging the Calming Sea Pearls during the occasional convection weather could greatly reduce the rocking of the vessels, allowing safe passage through the storm.

"This bathtub-sized one must be used on my future flagship. Once I get the shipbuilding technology and study the technology of square rigging, as well as the Dragonbone Stabilizer Technique, relying on rubber and Thorn Wood, I will surely create a super luxurious multi-mast ship... Right, maybe I can study magic-driven technology too!"

Black pearls can disperse wind attribute magic power and even ordinary wind, so, by reverse engineering, could a magic array be developed that stimulates wind power?

Maybe delve deeper and design a magic array that controls wind attribute magic power, turning storms into a driving force for the vessels.

Thinking about it is exciting.

However, to achieve all these, without substantial financial, material, and human resources, it’s simply unattainable: "I still need to continue biding my time on Black Horse Island, developing the land slowly... Who knows, maybe I’ll become successful at dragon riding and become a Dragon Knight soaring through the sky before the land is developed."

By then, there might be no need to study magic-powered vessels.

Regardless, he immediately placed the bathtub-sized black pearl into the Gemstone Space, its value undoubtedly immense.

The rest of the black pearls were simply stored in the warehouse.

Gazing at the gleaming black pearls, inspiration suddenly struck him: "I was originally planning to give Levis a pink gemstone as a wedding gift, but now it seems unnecessary. The pink gemstone can go to Ake or Chris, as they are magicians and need a boost to their spirits."

Not to give Levis the pink gemstone. Explore more at empire

The alternative gift became clear: "Gift a black pearl instead, one basketball-sized. Solely based on appearance, it’s definitely more shocking than a single gemstone."

Initially, even a fist-sized black pearl sold to Levis fetched hundreds of Gold Coins; now giving him a basketball-sized black pearl would surely make him ecstatic.