Black Sail
Chapter 306: CCCVI. Ironclad Warship

Chapter 306: CCCVI. Ironclad Warship

The damp rainforest atmosphere crackled with the crisp pops of the slightly moist campfire kindling, sparks flying.

Celeste’s camping spot was located in the quietest corner of the main group, barely noticeable.

Five high-level agents from Lostra and one leading top-tier intelligence officer all had the same idea, simultaneously putting down the flasks in their hands, reaching an unspoken agreement.

Now was the best time to take control of Liszt.

They just waited for Celeste to use a hand signal to give the command, and they could take Liszt into a dark, unlit part of the forest where they had the means to slowly coax information out of him.

"Secrets of both worlds... Pardon me for being frank, you are indeed a character in the East Sea, but to speak of both worlds at such a level, might be a bit exaggerated—I suppose it includes some jest."

Celeste remained noncommittal.

In her view, just as war is an extension of politics, individual clashes also served interests. If information could be obtained safely, there was no need to consider fighting, though it might create various risks.

Under the light of the flames, Liszt’s gaze lingered on Celeste’s somewhat provocative tight outfit.

At first glance, it seemed like attire meant to seduce others, yet walking in the tropical rainforest for so long without seeing Celeste sweat, it must be highly breathable, probably a textile craft. It was a high-grade soft armor, resistant to sharp and slashing attacks, though its exact protective capability was uncertain.

Liszt was a bit distracted, thinking about Ada Wang, who people often referred to as little Celeste, and whether his own hands could be protected.

The five agents squinted slightly, their expressions blatantly intense.

"No, it’s true, I hold something in my hand that you couldn’t possibly imagine. Not only am I offering a high salary, but I’m also willing to share what I have..." Liszt paused slightly, "Drifting around isn’t a solution, like your so-called exploration of the New Continent; the cost-return ratio is full of uncertainties. Having a stable job, settling in a tranquil and peaceful place, that’s the real final destination."

Wandering the world could be called traveling if one had money, or fleeing if not, Liszt tried to slowly attract their attention to these pain points.

"It’s indeed very tempting, but the secret you mentioned, which aspects does it involve?"

Celeste leaned her chin on her hand, looking forward eagerly.

The selection of Lostra’s agents was extremely harsh, first and foremost ideological alignment was essential, and thorough background checks were conducted. All these agents were nationalist fanatics, either thinking about how to empower their homeland or plot against Aran and the hostile forces of Lostra.

Even if Liszt offered a high price, none of them would waver.

"Of course, it’s about military strength, I’ve already decided to hire you at a high salary, raising the price from ten Golden Dragons per week for your team, to fifteen Golden Dragons per person per month. But it’s not just that, this is the basic salary, which can be earned by doing nothing, about seven or eight times that of a High Order Clergy. If you participate in a project, the profits from it would be far beyond this."

Liszt enticed them methodically.

"No..." Celeste shook her head, "Indeed, it’s a high price, but we need to consider things more comprehensively. All of us are clean, once we join you, we might not be able to return inland. I’m more interested in the secrets you mentioned."

Celeste thought now was the time to pry some information about the Dragon Lady. Besides this, what else could Liszt, a pirate, offer?

Moreover, Liszt’s tone seemed to overestimate the value of the Dragon Lady. She was indeed valuable and her worth immense; otherwise, they wouldn’t have deployed people like them. But to claim influence over the world was a bit of a stretch.

Liszt pondered deeply, by January 25th, his role as the mastermind behind the train robbery case would be known world-wide, and with Mo Yutong, a high-ranking official of Aran, now missing, he was the prime suspect.

Perhaps he wouldn’t need to reach out to the people from the Atomic Heart; they would likely contact him proactively. Their Church Leader, no, a goddess-like figure, was now in his hands.

"You’ve heard, I robbed the train and those iron-shelled monsters appeared. How far could the era of the ironclad warship be?"

Liszt thought if he started a collaboration with the Atomic Heart, they could just ship some machinery here and he would only need to set up a power station.

Industrialization of the East Sea just in one step.

It was a long-term strategy, but he needed to boast.

"I can build ironclad warships. Sails naturally can’t support iron ships, but steam engines could provide the necessary power. I have connections in Pedan..."

Liszt tactically leaned back and conjured up some principles to bamboozle these scholars about what’s called an "old gun" from the underworld.

Watching the astounded looks in the eyes of the six people in front of him.

Liszt felt uneasy, damn it, he might have overblown his own story, and it’s no wonder the others might think he’s an idiot now, but it wasn’t entirely incomprehensible considering they didn’t know about the bunch of Cosmic People that had come to their territory.

This was extraterrestrial technology.

And the astonishment of the six people was genuine.

Originally, Celeste didn’t think highly of this newly risen East Sea Overlord, but now it seemed he indeed had connections everywhere.

Old powerful nations of the Western Continent’s peak competition, spy agents and secret agents so numerous they made one’s scalp tingle.

All were infiltrating each other.

The Atomic Heart Church wasn’t even established yet, and in its early planning stages, Celeste knew about the emergence of something like a Mechanical God Sect, a new mad group.

Moreover, the military factories secretly set up in Aran Sunrise Port by Pedan and the coastal developments he was involved in were actually going to build ironclad warships.

And such information was only accessible to the higher echelons of the intelligence agencies, like Celeste and her group; some lower-level operatives had no clue.

Liszt, stuck in the informationally isolated East Sea, knew the affairs of the world without even leaving the island.

Most people might not find this impressive.

But in the eyes of a spy, Liszt now truly seemed poised to dominate the East Sea.

"Ha ha," Liszt laughed awkwardly, realizing his act had flopped, so he attempted to lighten the mood, "Of course, these things aren’t achieved overnight. Shipyards, support facilities, special steel, and riveting welding techniques all require plenty of high-end personnel. It’s about taking one step at a time, and when the time comes, integrating the strength of the entire East Sea to build a fleet of iron ships is definitely feasible."

Liszt used some technical jargon to defuse the awkwardness; anyway, most people wouldn’t understand it.

The Western Continent had many languages.

Due to adventurers, pirates, merchants, and nobles needing to interact with many foreigners, they not only learned their native language but also learned Cyrusian.

Cyrusian, also known as the common language, became universally spoken around the world after the Overlord ascended to the pinnacle of the world two thousand years ago and named the entire world Cyrus instead of establishing a country.

The language of the Overlord thus became the universal language circulated worldwide.

Even after two thousand years had passed.

And since the Western Continent was a place full of magic, to justify wars, each country declared itself the legitimate Cyrus.

Thus, the common language was even integrated into school curriculums, expanding its reach and still maintaining the highest popularity to this day.

This was a logographic language, not a phonetic one; new words could be created using existing characters.

During his many years here, Liszt had learned only Cyrusian, and a bit of Aran and Pedan languages.

After all, as long as one learned the common language, they could blend into society, as even the Triad Gang members needed it for smuggling and turf battles.

Liszt would have been better off not mentioning it.

When he talked about these self-coined terms, which followed the same pattern of word formation as Earth thinking, Celeste found many of the same vocabularies in countless secret documents she accessed.

The group was even more astonished, unable to utter a word.

Liszt was baffled, was this still not enough to impress them?