"With this much material, I think we can make a very good mothership. Do you want the ship to have any specific task?"
"What does it normally do?"
"Well, it's usually used to secure dominance in the sea by using supreme firepower. We can have numerous powerful cannons on the deck, and in the hull of the ship. These cannons work well in long-range, and the fleet admiral will destroy all the smaller vessels of the enemy using it. Though a larger fleet will let the other ships destroy these small fry."
"Hmmm. I am not sure what I want. Dominating the sea sounds like a good idea. But I want to know other options."
"Well, some use it to transport powerful magic aircraft. This let the navy army to dominate the sea using air dominance."
"But I heard a lot of things cannot fly in the sea."
"You are correct. That's why these types of motherships are not very popular. But if you are in a situation where you can use it, you will surely become the winner of every battle."
"What else?"
"Some admirals use their mothership as a main support vessel. It will have a large storage space, and a magical tower that can enhance or strengthen allied vessels. This mothership only works well in a large fleet, and it couldn't defend itself on its own. But if you bring it to the battlefield, you can double if not triple the power of your fleet."
"Wow. That sounds scary…"
"It is scary. That's why when the enemy sees a mothership like this, they will do everything they can to destroy it first. For its time, it was known to be the best mothership, because it supported all the smaller vessels by transporting a lot of munition and also food and water for the sailors. Put them out in the sea, and they can last for years without resupplying on land."
"But people eventually figured out a way to take it out right?"
"Eventually, yeah. Its era wasn't long, but it is the most bloody era in the history of this continent."
"Can you tell me how a support mothership is taken out?"
"There are a lot of ways, but the most common is focusing all of your firepower on the mothership. For this you need a united group that will take orders without hesitation, and you have to do it quickly. Some fleets have more submarines, and they would just send dozens of them under the mothership."
"Can these submarines be defeated?"
"Yes they can. Very easy, actually. As long as you detect them, the frigate-class vessels can use their magic torpedoes to blow them to pieces."
"This is hard. Now I am more confused on what mothership I want to build."
"It's easy. What do you want to use it for?"
"I want to hunt for the treasure."
"I see. You will face a lot of enemies in the sea which means your fleet must be strong and durable enough to win against them before coming back to the shipyard for repair. And you might need a large fleet to win against the enemy, so your mothership has to have a large storage space."
"Aldred, I don't think you need large storage space to support the smaller vessel," Mary said.
Aldred nodded. "I will only hire a few sailors, and the rest of my crew will be golems. So I don't have to bring a lot of food and water with me. And not to mention I have a large storage space anyway."
"Ahh, so you have a power that can store a huge amount of materials," Tulban said. "In that case I have good news for you. We can create a hybrid."
"A hybrid of what?"
"A main support mothership and supreme firepower mothership. We can install magic towers to strengthen nearby vessels, and use the extra space to add powerful cannons."
"That's a good idea! Can you make that happen?"
"I can make anything happen. I've been here for decades."
"I see. That said, How can you create all these powerful ships while you're still in Gold Rank?"
"Most of the critical equipment for the ship is already enchanted or modified by the empress's Diamond Rank magicians. The rare materials that you give me are strong, but it will shatter like glass if hit by a mothership-glass cannon. So the Diamond Rank magicians created a powerful treasure that can strengthened the material nearby."
"Ohh… I thought you guys could create something so powerful on your own."
"Hahaha. Sadly, that's not how the world works. The cannons and the magical towers are created by them as well. This is why ocean warfare is so deadly for us Gold Ranks. One cannon can blast dozens of us at once."
"Yeah." Aldred realized that these ships made all the sailors on the sea equal.
As long as they were Platinum Rank and below, one shot of a cannon can kill them instantly if they did not use any defensive treasure.
Tulban grabed a quil and a piece of paper. "One hybrid mothership." He jotted it down. "So what else do you want?"
"What do people usually add in their fleet?"
"Cruisers, Destroyer, Frigates, Submarine, Fast Attack Boat, and Cargo Ship. And sometimes an Amphibious Ship."
"So many to choose from. Can you explain to me what a cruiser is for?"
"Well, it's smaller second only to the mothership and cargo ship. It has better armor and firepower than other vessels, but it's slower than a destroyer."
"I see. So it can be used to escort a mothership and help her in battle."
"Smart. Yes, that's what they are usually for."
"What about the destroyer?"
"Destroyer is an escort ship as well, but unlike cruisers, these ships are faster and more agile. Created for fast and devastating attacks, these ships carry torpedoes that can go underwater and create a hole on a ship's lower hull."
"Can we only buy the mothership?" Bartrem asked.
"Hahaha!" Tulban laughed. "If you want to be destroyed, sure."
