Chess Mage of Faerûn

Chapter 374 Professionals
"Ahem, that was just a little joke. My summoned creature has a rather wicked personality, I hope you won't mind?"

The mage looked apologetic and seemingly sincere as he spoke, but Lars's mouth opened and closed, and he trembled as he couldn't utter a word.

"Actually, Master Tinker did not mean to offend; he was just eager to show off his new device."

As he spoke, Master Zhang gave the repairman a wink, and the latter waddled over like a big crab.

"The reason we were able to achieve that speed at sea just now was because of this, the turbine propulsion system."

Tinker turned around and showed off the thrusters on the back of his diving armor, his words tinged with pride.

"Can your ship keep up with my speed?"

Everyone shook their heads.
"Have you ever seen a ship that can match my speed?"

Everyone shook their heads.

Just as the tinker was about to speak again, Lars suddenly spoke up:
"Your comparison is completely unfair,"

He's the captain, after all; he's not so easily fooled.

"How can the Auerbach, a large merchant ship with a displacement of over 800 tons, be compared in terms of speed to your single-unit diving device? Do you think she could reach that insane speed just now if she installed your device?"

Tsk, at least they have some knowledge; they weren't fooled by that ridiculous trick of racing jet skis and cruise ships.

"There are indeed differences in tonnage, but my submersible doesn't have sails or oars. Everything is done by the propulsion unit behind me, which is an extraordinary means."

"May I ask, what makes you so confident that you can make a sail of the same size reach the speed of my armor? Similarly, larger tonnage ships can also be equipped with high-powered propellers, and this extra power complements traditional sails without conflict."

Tinker easily deflected the captain's questions, and then launched into another long and eloquent speech.

They talked about things like low energy consumption, high efficiency, strong power, reliability, convenience and easy maintenance, interspersed with terms such as electric drive turbine, alchemical auxiliary reactor and spring drive, leaving a group of illiterate crew members completely bewildered.

"I understand, it's about transforming Auerbach into a magic ship!"

Lars, the brilliant strategist, suddenly had a flash of inspiration and uttered this sentence.

Old Tinker's face immediately darkened. As a master craftsman who was obsessed with technology and craftsmanship (including magical technology), he had finally managed to sell a product to a customer in this other world, only to have it suddenly turned into a magician's trick.

"Yes, it's the magic ship!"

Mr. Zhang glared at the repairman, extinguishing his attempt to argue, and then turned to Lars with his usual polite demeanor.

"To be precise, this is not a modification but an upgrade, and it is inevitable. If you firmly oppose it, then the glorious task of piloting a magic ship will fall to some lucky person!"

"Captain Lars, you might want to think about this carefully."

When the monk mentioned the word "captain," he deliberately emphasized the word, the intention of which is self-evident.

Lars gritted his teeth and had to admit that although the other party's words were ruthless and domineering, they were also damnably hard to refuse.

On one hand, there's the chance to become a rare captain of a magic ship; on the other, there's the humiliating prospect of being thrown off the ship, watching helplessly as another fellow shipmate arrives to reap the rewards. Reality is staring them in the face, and further hesitation is pointless.

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Venerable Master."

Captain Lars finally realized the situation and lowered his head.

He politely praised the talented man opposite him for a few words, and then summoned another master craftsman, Old Clockwork.

"We'll follow Lord Lars to take a look around, so we can get to know the ship better and make it easier for future modifications and upgrades."

Whether willingly or reluctantly, Lars personally accompanied the four of them as they toured the ship, dutifully explaining the current condition of the Auerbach and the structure of its various functional compartments.

The more Lars talked to them, the more he realized how extraordinary those two masters, encased in tin cans, truly were.

The ship's structural performance revealed in the conversation was no less than that of the old shipwrights I had met. They could derive various parameters with negligible errors through visual inspection and simple checks. More importantly, they were still able to propose unprecedented, yet reasonable, improvements to the structure and function of this mainstream Faerûn ship.

Lars, who had resigned himself to his fate and was only clinging to a sliver of hope, suddenly felt a spark of anticipation. Before him stood genuine masters and sorcerers. With the two of them working together, how could they possibly be here just to deceive him?

After the inspection, Lars and his crew, whose attitudes had changed drastically, beamed with joy, repeatedly urging Zhang Yuan and his companions to stay a little longer and take another look.

The mage, who had already planned to finalize the renovation plan as soon as possible, did not refuse. He asked for a quiet cabin, and the group went inside. After sending a short message to Bard and the others using the communication crystal, they stayed on the ship from noon until the moon was high in the sky.

"These are the upgrade plan and renovation drawings. Please follow them. I will also have two masters come to guide and check on you regularly."

As he spoke, Zhang Yuan handed over a stack of parchment, on which Chen Ming had written a complete set of renovation plans, along with detailed data, intuitive charts and structural diagrams.

Lars, after receiving the drawings, could hardly contain his joy after flipping through just two pages. He had never seen such detailed and vivid drawings before.
Putting everything else aside, the three-view drawing alone is stunning.

"No need to be polite. As I said before, our interests are aligned on the Auerbach."

Despite Lars's profuse thanks, Master Zhang graciously brushed it off, arranged a time for the next visit, and then led the group off the ship, walking under the moonlight back to the squad's camp.

How long are you expecting the renovations to take?

The monk turned his head to the side and asked as he walked.

"It's hard to say, but from what I understand, with their current tools and modification capabilities, it's probably unlikely. They'd be lucky to complete the modification within two months, and that's assuming they can get into the dry dock to work."

Two months...

Even though I had anticipated this, the timing was still excessive.

Zhang Yuan paused, then continued walking, his tone resolute:
"Two months is too long, no matter how you look at it. There are only two and a half months left until spring plowing and land reclamation. We can't possibly spend all that time here. How many days will it take you to complete your turbine propulsion system?"

"With the current equipment and the laboratory equipment you provide as manager, it will take at least twenty days."

Thank you to Yanmieguichen, Qiang, Book Friend 20170717003623056, and Yu Wuqi for your monthly ticket support, thank you!

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(End of this chapter)