Right when Aldred's caravan arrived in front of the gate, the guards stopped him and used numerous magical treasures to scan his carriage.
The soldiers were tense and Aldred told them not to move a muscle.
After the inspection was done, the guards let them enter the city.
Aldred sighed in relief after that.
Bartrem glanced at the soldiers, and he noticed one of them gave him a weird look. "Let's leave this city after we get our ship. This is not a good place to stay. The balance between the two sides is stable, but they might feel threatened with our existence."
"How can a bunch of Gold Ranks scare them?" Aldred asked. "They have dozens of Diamond Ranks."
"Yes, but remember you are a treasure hunter, so anyone above Gold Rank cannot attack you."
"That is kind of important in a situation like this. But they still can attack in self-defence though. The world will judge my actions, and I cannot lie to it since the world sees everything."
"Don't underestimate their ability to obtain information Aldred. You think your action in Paphia doesn't reach them?"
"Right… I should be careful."
Mary looked at the road ahead, and then told the coachman: "Turn to the right."
"Isn't going straight faster?" Aldred asked.
"That's his majesty's territory. They probably won't do anything, but it's better if we avoid trouble."
Aldred noticed the guards had an insignia of a dragon on their chest, and when he turned to the right, the guards here had an insignia of a phoenix.
Mary and Bartrem drop their wariness after they saw the guards' symbol on their chest.
"Mary, the phoenix symbol on their chest means they are the empress' men, right?"
"Yeah. We are safe here. This city block is owned by the empress. Formally it's in the royal family's hand, but that's not how things really work. If you put enough soldiers in a certain place, then you own it. Who can say otherwise?"
"That makes sense. But who owns the shipbuilding company?"
"There are two shipbuilding companies. One of them is owned by the empress so you don't have to worry."
"That's a relief.
After a few hours, they finally arrived at the shipyard. There were already a lot of ships being made by the shipbuilders.
"Wait here. I will talk to the boss." Mary walked out of the carriage and entered a room that seemed to be an office.
Minutes later, Mary walked to the carriage and told them to get out.
"The boss wants to talk to you about what ship you need. It's okay. He's on our side, and you can be slow in deciding what ship you want. He wanted to give you the best and most compatible ship."
"How nice of him."
"We're on the same side after all."
They entered the office, and then a big man immediately stood up and hugged Bartrem.
"Bartrem! Long time no see! Look at you, still small as always."
Bartrem groaned. "I am not small. It's just that you are too big, Tulban."
Tulban laughed. "Good one, Bartrem. You always know how to make me laugh."
He glanced at Aldred who was currently in his adult form. "They tell me you are a boy. Who is this man?"
"Sorry about that." He transformed to his real form.
"Wow. You can change forms? That's cool." He then put his big arm on Aldred's small shoulder. "Tell me, can you transform into a sexy woman as well?"
Tulban grinned which sent a terrifying shiver down Aldred's spine.
"HAHAHA! I am joking! Youngsters these days have different tastes in humour. Or maybe I am just too old for this."
'Who the fuck jokes like that!' Aldred thought.
"So. What kind of ship do you want?"
"I want a mothership."
"A mothership!"
"Is it possible?"
"It is possible, but it will take time."
"Can you finish it in 3 weeks?"
"3 weeks? Hahaha. You have some sense of humour with you boy. A mothership could take years to build."
"Years… I cannot wait that long. I have a treasure to hunt, and everyone else will be ahead of me by then. Give me the fastest option."
"If you want it fast, but still hold the standard quality, then you might have to use an existing mothership."
"Is there one?"
"No. You think a mothership is so cheap we just have one or two laying around?"
"What takes shipbuilding so long anyway?"
"Mostly materials and manpower."
"Say that again."
"Materials and manpower?"
Aldred laughed. "Say it again, please say it again."
"Materials and manpower. Why do you tell me to repeat it?"
Aldred laughed maniacally.
Tulban looked at Bartrem. "What did you all do to this boy?"
Aldred then opened up a portal on the ceiling and a lot of materials poured out into the office.
Tulban widened his eyes when he saw all the rare materials on the floor, but then he had a look of panic when the materials were about to drown him.
"Stop! Stop!"
The office was huge and yet the materials almost drowned him.
"Is this enough?"
"This is a lot of materials, but not enough."
"This room is too small. I have so much more in my storage."
"Follow me. You can put your materials there." Tulban did not question how Aldred brought all of the materials with him.
The reason why materials were a problem for the shipyard was because of logistics.
Transporting a large amount of materials for each ship could take days, weeks, and even years depending on the ship.
And since the shipbuilding had a lot of orders, a lot of the manpowers was already busy. This was why any new orders could take years to finish.
Aldred arrived in a large warehouse.
"You can put all the materials in here."
Aldred nodded and opened the portal to his divine dimension again.
All the rare materials poured in like a loud waterfall, and it took Aldred hours to finish pouring it.
"Is this enough?"
Tulban looked at the sea of treasures and smiled. "Hell yeah!"
