Chapter 373 The Heart of Sidian
When Gao De heard this, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.
Sea Sentinel Mage belongs to the official system of the Plantagenet Dynasty.
This identity has many advantages.
First of all, it is backed by the government. Whether it is resources or knowledge systems, they are extremely complete and rich. The entire system is orderly and lawful.
As long as he makes enough contributions, he can get anything in exchange.
In addition, the Sea Sentinel Mage's status is very high. When he goes out, others will give him some respect, and few people dare to mislead him. This can save him a lot of troubles that he may encounter.
There are many other benefits, so I won’t mention them all for now.
But if we talk about the disadvantages, they are not without them.
For example, as an official institutional mage, your actions need to be just and in compliance with procedures.
After a normal mage kills an enemy, the next step is to take the opponent's wealth as his own.
Golden belt for murder and arson.
But in the Sea Sentinel system, this kind of behavior is not allowed.
If the water beasts are eliminated, the bodies of the water beasts will belong to the mage personally. There is no doubt about this.
But if it is like Gothe who "punishes rape and eradicates evil", Gaode cannot directly seize the property of the evildoer, but must turn it over for confiscation.
This is actually to a certain extent to prevent the Sentinel Master from abusing his power.
Otherwise, if we can directly confiscate the other party's property after eliminating the evil, we don't know how many incidents of "power corruption" and "unjust, false and wrongful convictions" will occur in the interests of others.
Of course, although most of the property seized in the end will belong to the Sea Sentinels, a small part of it will also be given to Goude as a reward.
But the process must be to turn in and register all the items first, and then the sea sentinels will discuss their merits and reward them. Instead of Goude picking a few that he likes and then turning in the others.
What Aldrich said now is to seize this pain point and use this to hope to make a deal with Gothe.
"You have a lot of ideas." Gothe looked at Aldrich and said.
"Sir, what do you mean?" Seeing that Gothe's tone seemed interesting, Aldrich cautiously probed further.
"It's very tempting," Gothe nodded, ignoring Aldrich's gradually brightening eyes, and said regretfully: "It's a pity that I'm not interested."
Although there is never too much money, and Aldridge kept saying that it would be kept strictly confidential, there was no telling whether he really meant it.
In addition, even if Aldrich really knows how to keep secrets, as long as the sea sentinel wants to ask questions, doesn't he have to tell everything honestly under the spell?
Then he will be the unlucky one.
It is absolutely not worth it to violate the rules and regulations of Sea Sentinel and leave hidden dangers for your future development in Sea Sentinel for such a small amount of money that is not important to you.
Even if he didn't have his back to the north, he wouldn't have reached such a deal with Aldrich.
He still knows which one is bigger, sesame or watermelon.
Gothe was very sober, so he refused decisively, and did not even listen to Aldrich's conditions and specific treasure.
The pile of words Aldrich had prepared was suddenly stuck under Gothe's flat refusal and could no longer be said.
His hard-working spirit collapsed instantly.
It is normal that a mage with such means, strength, and magnanimity at such a young age must have an extraordinary background. How can he value the treasure of a small person like him?
Him, I want to use my little inventory to seduce others. Isn’t this just a naked butt grinding, which is embarrassing!
There is nothing to talk about, nothing to talk about!
Those who play with fire will burn themselves.
Honestly, wouldn’t a person who does a job like him never think about this day?
When this day finally arrives, even if you thought you were mentally prepared for it, you will still find that you are still so unprepared.
"It's Viscount McKinley, but it's useless even if I say it. He never entrusts me with tasks in person, but finds an intermediary agent. All transactions are conducted through agents. I only know it's him, and there's no evidence."
Aldrich's head suddenly drooped, and he answered weakly.
"These big men do things in a flawless manner and will not leave anything that could be detrimental to themselves."
"I don't care about this," Gothe recorded Aldrich's confession on the parchment, while calmly shaking his head and saying: "I will arrest you and bring you to justice, and then I will take the credit. My matter ends here. The following matters have nothing to do with me, a little trainee mage."
The aristocrats in Lagos City are closely involved in the water beasts in Makoko District.
Matters at the upper level should be resolved by the upper level.
"Apprentice Mage?!" Aldrich was obviously stunned for a moment, and then he noticed that the sea sentinel uniform Gothe wore was indeed that of an apprentice mage, and it was also the lowest second-class apprentice mage.
"A second-class trainee mage, I fell into the hands of a second-class trainee mage." After a while, he seemed to be talking to himself.
“When did you start releasing water beasts into the Makoko area, how often, the specific process, who was involved, and all the details of the transaction.” Gothe didn’t care about Aldrich’s psychological activities, so he returned to the topic and asked in detail.
This is his credit, and naturally he must do it to perfection.
Aldrich bit his chapped lip and honestly explained everything clearly as Gothe requested.
The entire interrogation process went extremely smoothly, unlike what is often written in novels and biographies, where the villain is as tough as iron.
First, this is the reality. Most people are ordinary people, and the so-called "hard bones" are only a minority after all.
The second thing is that in a world with extraordinary power like magic, everyone understands that lying is meaningless unless you are determined to die.
Mage, there are many ways to make you speak.
To put it exaggeratedly, even if it is really a corpse, the mage can temporarily bring it back to life and speak.
After recording the ins and outs of the water beast incident in Makoko District, Gothe rolled up the parchment with satisfaction and put it in his arms.
"Sir." Seeing Gothe preparing to leave, Aldrich suddenly stopped Gothe.
Gothe is still unsure whether the nobles involved behind this incident will receive the punishment they deserve in the end.
But as a perpetrator on the surface, it is unlikely that Aldrich would survive.
Whether he is taking the blame or carrying out the law normally, his crime is too great, there is no special turning point, and there is almost no possibility of survival.
Lagos City Port.
Although the fishing industry is in decline and the economy is depressed, there are still many ships here, large or small. The hulls of the ships rise and fall slightly with the fluctuations of the waves. From time to time, there are slight collisions between the ships, making a dull crashing sound.
There are many masts, like a wooden forest.
There are also people coming and going on the shore, and it is noisy.
Porters carried heavy goods, and vendors shouted at the top of their lungs to sell various items.
Today is the day when the Harland Shipyard's ketch officially goes to sea.
A new ship going to sea generally follows this process:
The preparations and ceremonies related to the launch of the ship are first carried out. After the launch, inspection and debugging, provision of materials and other work are carried out, then the crew is recruited and trained, and finally the preparations for going to sea are completed before the ship can officially set sail for the sea.
Depending on the size of the ship, the distance of the destination, the complexity of the route, and the efficiency of the authorities, this preparation time generally takes several weeks to several months.
The comprehensive inspection and commissioning of the hull and the procurement of reserve supplies were carried out at the same time as the recruitment of crew members.
Because it is a traditional fishing city, coupled with the "laid-off wave" after the spiritual fever, there are many unemployed seamen in Lagos.
Plus, it is only a two-masted sailing ship, so it does not require many crew members.
Hence, the most time-consuming work of crew recruitment and training went smoothly, and everything was prepared and completed in just two weeks.
As for the procedures for going overseas, Haaland used his connections and money to open roads in Lagos for most of his life, and all the permission documents were completed within two weeks.
Port management officials in crisp uniforms, holding registers in hand, carefully checked the relevant documents of the ship, from the ship's construction permit and registration certificate to the crew's list and identification, and no one was left out.
They then personally boarded the ship for inspection, conducted random inspections based on the type and quantity of goods on the ship listed on the cargo manifest, and checked the trade license to ensure that the ship did not engage in illegal smuggling or smuggling activities and complied with regulations.
After completing this series of strict inspections, officials stamped the official seal of Lagos on the sea-going permit.
Everything is ready and it is time to go to sea.
However, according to local rules, there is still a set of rituals to be performed before a new ship goes to sea, which carries people's wishes for safety and success in navigation.
Perhaps many people may think this is superstitious, but for people who make a living on boats, they believe this.
The beginning of the ceremony and an extremely important part is naming the new ship.
The namer is usually a woman who is highly respected or has a close relationship with the ship owner.
It was not suitable for Elsa to appear in public, so Danika was ultimately the one who named her.
She was wearing a solemn nun's dress, standing on the bow of the ship, holding a bottle of Mulantan champagne, and solemnly announced the name of the ship.
h "I hereby announce that the name of this ketch, which carries the gift and favor of the ocean and will bring great wealth, is the Columbus!"
h Of course, this is the name given to it by Gothe himself.
Although Danica cannot understand its specific meaning, she certainly will not raise any objection. She is only responsible for announcing the name.
With Danica's announcement, the crew of the Columbus ship burst into cheers.
Immediately afterwards, amidst the cheers, Danika raised the Mulantan champagne in her hands with both hands and smashed it against the bow of the ship with all her strength.
With a clear and sweet sound of the bottle breaking, the wine splashed out like fireworks and landed on every corner of the bow.
This means blessing the new ship and giving it a unique identity and good luck.
After this step is completed, the crew members on the ship, including the captain, hang their own mascots everywhere on the ship.
These mascots come in various shapes, including small and exquisite horseshoes, amulets with mysterious patterns, and others
These mascots are very old and have gone through the baptism of time.
Because these mascots have accompanied them on numerous sea voyages since they became crew members. They are old friends.
According to the saying among the crew, the more times the mascot has been on the sea, the more luck it brings. Hanging it on the ship can turn bad luck into good luck.
After all this was completed, the captain no longer wasted time and gave the order loudly.
"Attention all crew, prepare to set sail!"
After receiving the order, the sailors acted quickly and began to turn the winch.
As the winch rotates, the iron chain connecting the anchor makes a "clattering" sound, and the heavy anchor slowly rises from the seabed.
At the same time, the crew members responsible for raising the sail quickly climbed up the mast, untied the ropes that fixed the sails, and pulled the sail ropes hard. The huge sails slowly unfolded under the sea breeze.
The sailor at the helm held the steering wheel tightly with both hands. Under the command of the captain, he slowly turned the steering wheel and sailed out of the Lagos port according to the prescribed channel.
The rudder rotates underwater, driving the hull to slowly turn.
Gothe watched the Columbus gradually move away against the backdrop of golden sunlight and blue water, and slowly exhaled.
"I hope everything goes well." He thought to himself.
This voyage is very important for the development of the Northern Territory.
Because the Columbus actually bears the important mission of opening up the Lagos-Walral Bay navigation channel.
As long as this voyage goes smoothly, this channel will be opened, and the northern border will be initially connected with the outside world.
In the future, what is needed will be exchanged, and resource replacement will no longer be a problem.
In addition, the Columbus also carried the wood and craftsmen that Phoenix is currently in urgent need of, as well as two princesses in distress.
————Everything was unknown on the first voyage, and Gaode did not let the orphans from Rongguyuan board the ship.
Keep it first.
In any case, with his current financial resources, it is not too difficult to maintain an orphanage.
"It's time to go back." Gao De took a long breath and thought to himself.
He received the mission on the 11th of the Ice Moon and came to Lagos City.
It is already the 5th of the winter solstice, and the 25th has passed.
This task took almost a month to complete.
But there is no doubt that the gains are huge.
When not performing tasks, the Sea Sentinel generally does not have jurisdiction over where the mages have gone or what they are doing.
But when performing tasks, if it takes too long, it will still cause concern.
So on the 15th of the Ice Moon, after completing the task of expelling the water beasts, Gothe wrote a briefing letter and sent it back to the White Tower of Dorne Abyss.
The general idea is that he has completed the task of expelling the water beasts, but due to personal matters, he needs to delay some time before returning to deliver the task.
Although there are many branches, the harvest is huge.
Aldrich's unexpected gain was enough to put him at the top of the Sea Sentinel's year-end ratings in his first year.
Go and take the credit!
Gaode was in high spirits and turned to leave the port.
Just after taking a few steps, his eyes suddenly froze.
In his sight, a familiar figure appeared.
It was a man wearing a black robe, his whole person was a little gloomy, his head was slightly lowered, and his face was unrecognizable.
But Gaode still recognized the other party at a glance.
It was the mage from the Principality of Ovoga who was looking for Elsa that he met at the front desk of the Palm Tree Hotel.
The other party's unusually long ears slightly peeked out from under the brim of his hat. They were really memorable and easy to recognize.
Gaode's heart moved slightly, but his face remained calm. He just smiled slightly and kept walking, passing by the man.
Obviously, this mage from the Principality of Ovoga no longer remembers Gothe.
He was just looking around, looking for something, with subtle anxiety and exhaustion in his eyes.
"She clearly asked the hotel staff for information about the shipyards in the city. She must have wanted to escape to the sea, but why could she not get any information about her after asking all the shipyards in the city?" The man frowned.
"I have been squatting in the port for several days, but still found nothing."
He raised his head again and looked at the sea full of ships: "Is it because I'm late, she has already gone to sea?"
"If she has really gone to sea and left here, where can I possibly find her again?"
"[The Heart of Sidon] is too important to take back. How can I explain it to the monarch?"