kscans

Chapter 164 - Building a Large Ship

Hayato thought of the Shipyard Dock as just a giant port.

That perception might not be technically correct, but Hayato had never seen a real ocean in the first place. The colonies had no seas, and while Earth did, he had no business with the ocean or the continents beyond it, so he didn't know much about them.

In other words, his knowledge was based on what he had seen in virtual reality and in photos online. And if this place was called a Shipyard Dock, his only response was, "Oh, I see."

At the end of a stone pier in that Shipyard Dock stood Sonia and several men.

He had never seen them before, but assuming they were members of the former Thieves' Guild, now the Treasure Hunter Guild, he approached without any particular caution.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

"Don't you worry about it. We're the ones makin' the request, so it's fine. By the way, is the big ship gonna be ready today?"

"Yes, I'll build it right now, so please just wait a moment."

Normally, one would assume that building something as massive as a large ship would take time. The NPCs, for whom this virtual reality was their only reality, seemed to think the same way, retaining the real-world knowledge that building large objects takes time.

It was unclear how the game reconciled that sort of thing, but it seemed they didn't find it strange.

Real-world knowledge aside, few players or NPCs ever built large ships. The Woodworking Skill was considered underpowered in this game, so not many players leveled it up.

(You need the skill to be at least 90 to build it, and even at 90, there's a high chance of failure. It's rare to even go out to sea on a large ship, so most people probably don't know how they're built.)

Simply put, whether it was a large ship or anything else, production items were created in an instant. Hayato knew this from having built a large ship before. Assuming it would be the same this time, he took out his favorite saw.

"Alright, I'm going to start building, so please step back a bit. It's dangerous over there."

Hayato used his saw to open the woodworking menu and located the large ship.

With a Woodworking Skill of 100, the chance of creating a five-star item was 100%. The appearance wouldn't change, but the ship's durability would. Higher quality meant it would be harder to break, so he would be able to make the best possible ship.

He selected the large ship from the menu. The sound effects of a carpenter, giko giko giko, ton ton ton, could be heard, and in the next moment, a huge rainbow-colored light shone, and a massive ship floated in the air slightly above the sea's surface.

It fell into the sea, obeying gravity. The impact sent a huge splash of water toward them. However, since Hayato had told them to move away, no one got wet.

The memory of the Kokuryu members getting soaked when he first built one brought a slight smile to Hayato's lips.

"That's incredible!"

"Sonia, you're getting too excited. Act your age."

"Hah, this is why I can't stand withered men. How can you not get excited when you see something like this?"

Sonia seemed so thrilled that she paid no mind to Relic's exasperated face, clamoring as she looked at the ship. Naturally, the members of the Treasure Hunter Guild also seemed excited.

The ship was what was known as a Galleon Ship.

It was a very old type of ship, a wooden vessel that might seem unreliable by modern standards, but this was a virtual reality. It was set to run on magic, so its movement was not affected by the wind.

And the ship could be shrunk with magic. It could become a miniature size, small enough to be put in an item bag. Once it was built, carrying it around was simple.

However, it could only be miniaturized or enlarged at a port. It wasn't something that could be done anywhere there was an ocean, so it could only be shrunk for the purpose of transport.

After looking over the ship, Sonia was all smiles.

"This is great! I was right to ask you, Hayato!"

"I'm glad you're pleased. But it's not finished yet, so please wait a little longer. You're free to look around inside. I'm going to get on board and work on it now."

"Not finished? What're you gonna do?"

"I'm going to install a winch for treasure hunting, of course. But there are no cannons. I don't know how to make them, so you'll have to wait a bit longer for that."

"Oh, right. Well, I'll leave it to you then. We'll get on board and look around."

Sonia said this and boarded the ship with her men. Relic had been watching with an exasperated look on his face.

"Good grief... My apologies, Hayato-sama."

"There's no need for you to apologize, Relic-san. Besides, I'm happy if something I made can stir people's emotions. Seeing them this excited makes it worth the effort."

"That may be so, but she's old enough to know better. I wish she would calm down a little..."

Relic smiled wryly. Hayato took the smiling Relic and Esha and boarded the ship.

The three of them went out onto the deck. This was where he would install the winch that ran on magic.

Normally, a winch alone wouldn't be enough for salvage, but when the hook at the end of the winch was lowered into the sea, some sort of magic would automatically search for and pull up treasure.

That part was very game-like.

"If I had the Diving Skill, I wouldn't even need a winch, but I wonder if anyone has that skill. Do you know, Esha?"

"I've never met anyone who does. It's probably a skill only people who have mastered treasure hunting would have, don't you think? Besides, the Diving Skill can only be used for salvaging, right? Can it be used for anything else?"

"I don't know. But you know, if there was an Underwater Temple or something, it seems like it would be useful there, don't you think?"

"Please don't chase after such fantasies and live a more grounded life."

"An Underwater Temple is definitely a fantasy, but that's not what I'm talking about, is it?"

Hayato continued his preparations while having this conversation.

A winch just needed metal, rope, and a hook. He already had these in his item bag, so he selected it from the menu with his favorite hammer.

He created a five-star winch without any problems.

For now, the preparations were complete. All that was left was to salvage at the location where the airship's design documents were sunk.

But more preparations were needed.

There were monsters in the sea, but there were also pirates. And though the possibility was low, Hayato was being targeted by the Assassin Guild, the Greedy Fire Serpent, and the Ten Holy Demonic Swords, so there was a chance they could attack at sea. He needed combat power.

This was a problem that could be solved if Hayato just holed up in his base, but he wanted to see the salvage event. And there was a chance that his production skills might be useful if some other problem arose.

Besides, as Esha had said earlier, pulling up treasure from a sunken ship, while not quite on the level of an Underwater Temple, had a great deal of romance to it.

As he was wondering what to do about combat power, Sonia and the others, who had been looking around the ship, returned with smiles on their faces.

"It's a flawless piece of work. Just like that treasure chest before, you've got good skills, Hayato. I'd like to hire you as my exclusive production specialist from now on."

"It's no exaggeration to say I've mastered production skills. I'm grateful you like it, but please be careful not to handle it roughly, or it will break. Once its durability runs out, this ship will break too."

"Of course, I know. When it gets dangerous, I'll ask you for maintenance, Hayato. For a fee, of course."

"I can't do it anytime, but if you let me know, I'll do it. By the way, when do you plan to head out to sea? You don't have enough combat power yet, do you?"

"I'm thinkin' as soon as possible, but you're right, we don't have enough power to go to sea. And you're being targeted, Hayato. That's my mistake. I'm sorry about that."

Sonia bowed her head to Hayato with a serious expression.

"Don't worry about it. But because of that, we should think about the timing of when we go out to sea. I think it's best to gather as much combat power as possible."

"You're right. My guys are useless in a fight, so I'd like to hire some help from elsewhere, but..."

As Sonia said this, the men from her guild complained with a laugh, "That's not fair, Big Sister!"

"Don't call me Big Sister. From now on, call me Guild Master. It sounds cooler, don't you think?"

Sonia said this with a laugh as well.

On the way here, Hayato had heard that Relic and Sonia had been betrayed by their student.

Looking at the current situation, it didn't seem that way, but Hayato thought they must have been through a lot. And if they were having fun now, that was what mattered most, and Hayato smiled too.

"Alright then, Sonia-san, I'll ask some of my acquaintances about combat power, so let's head out to sea once we've gathered them."

"That would be a great help. So, what about the ship? Should you shrink it and hold onto it, Hayato?"

"No, please, you take it, Sonia-san. This is a purchase, after all, right?"

"Ah, that's right. I'll message you the amount later and transfer it. Don't worry, I'll pay up. If I tried to pull a scam in front of Relic, my own life would be in danger."

Relic didn't say anything, just smiled. But perhaps feeling pressure from that smile, the guild members' faces tensed slightly.

He hadn't been worried about that at all, but he mentally reflected that such a possibility did exist. And when his reflection was over, he began to think about who to ask for as combat power next.