ps: The chapter is numbered incorrectly, this is chapter 197.

Lothar carefully looked at the galleys in front of him, it was a three-deck galleys, although it was said to be medium-sized, but when you looked closely, it was still frighteningly large.

It was about thirty meters long, and with a spinnaker, it could carry at least one hundred and fifty pirates, including the oarsmen.

On the second floor, a row of thin holes protrudes from it, giving it great maneuverability even when the wind is headwind.

Except for a striking penetrating wound on the side of the ship, it can be said to be almost intact.

But it was this penetrating wound that was already quite fatal.

He followed Hogg and stepped onto the boarding board.

The deck was littered with slashes and axes, and although it had been cleaned briefly, Lothar could still smell a thick smell of blood.

"Are you sure this ship belongs to a pirate?"

"Of course, I followed it underwater for a long time before I started it."

Hogg's face showed a hint of invitation: "I can assure you that there is no mistake about their identities, and no witnesses have seen us. ”

Lothar nodded slightly: "The pirates on the ship are all solved?" ”

Hogg said triumphantly: "It's all settled, those fools think that they can escape by jumping into the sea, it's really naïve; But the captain of this ship is a ruthless character, and when I approached, he cast a spell of fire and burned my entire body to ashes - thankfully I was able to come back to life. ”

Lothar pinched her eyebrows, looking at the ship, as if she could think of those desperate cries.

Even if he encounters such a ghost ship on the sea, I'm afraid he will have a kind of despair that has no way to escape, right?

"Let's go, take me to see the pirates' treasures."

Bang –

Hogg kicked open the captain's room.

Pointing to the charts hanging on the walls, he said to Lothar: "My lord, I have seen them, and they show the locations of several ports on the other side of the Gulf of Aden.

In addition to that, there is a treasure map, and they are supposed to hide all the loot that they haven't had time to get rid of on an island, and I'll try to get it out after a while. ”

Lothar came to the back of the captain's chair, his fingers gently caressing the rough parchment of the chart.

In Hogg's mouth, the opposite side of the Gulf of Aden refers to the Horn of Africa, which can also be translated as "Northeast Africa".

Africa is a treasure trove of precious metals such as gold and silver, precious stones, ivory and other luxuries... It's all very strong hard currency.

It's a pity.

Lothar simply doesn't have the strength to develop it now.

First, the level of navigation is not enough, and Abyssinian and other countries in Northeast Africa, which are close to the Gulf of Aden, are not indigenous forces, they occupy favorable terrain, have a long civilization, and there are many Coptic Christians.

The difficulty of attacking them is not much easier than that of normal territory expansion, and it does not occupy the name of righteousness.

The idea that heretics are more hateful than pagans has only become prevalent since the Thirty Years' War, the wars of religion that swept across the continent.

Therefore, if you want to carry out a smoother colonial expansion, you can only sail further south to pinch those soft persimmons that are still in the primitive tribes.

If it is simply to trade with Africans, Transjordan lacks the best products, dates, wine, and grain. It's hard to make a profit.

Lothar didn't want to get involved in the slave trade.

Coupled with the plague of mosquitoes and malaria, it was enough to reduce an expeditionary force that was not adapted to the climate there by more than half of its strength before it even touched the enemy.

It is also necessary to consider the shamans of the African tribes, as well as the animal gods of primitive beliefs.

Therefore, let's take it slowly.

Lothar rolled up the chart, swept his gaze over some of the gold and silver utensils in the captain's room, and touched them one after the other, selling them to the System Mall.

"Come with me, my lord, there is another treasure from another sunken pirate ship in the hold, which has been scooped up by my boys and put into the hold."

…

After a sweep.

In the end, the gold that Lothar finally obtained was enough for 1,000 Souleds, which was roughly equivalent to the cost of building the new Habsburgs.

This is, of course, due to the fact that the most expensive outer walls of the new Habsburgs had already been built ahead of schedule.

In battles at sea, the winner takes all, and all the money is huge - if Hogg didn't kill all the pirates, but sold them into slavery, he could have made a lot of money.

"Hogg, I'll take half of this money to upgrade for you, I hope you will continue to work hard."

Hogg was a little surprised, but still pretended to excuse himself: "My lord, you are short of money now, is it too much to divide half of me?" ”

"Heh, don't be modest, you earn all this money, and it's not very generous to share half of it."

Lothar patted Hogg on the shoulder, and there was a thought: "You are already a mature servant, it is time to have the consciousness of earning your own money to upgrade yourself".

"Alright, Hogg, I'm very satisfied with your actions this time, and I'll do it in the future."

Seeing Hogg's momentum, he suddenly rose a little, and the dark green flames on his body suddenly increased for a moment, and then slowly converged.

Five hundred gold Souleds directly pushed Captain Hogg to level 30, which was almost like riding a rocket.

However, once the level 50 threshold is crossed, the cost of leveling up will increase exponentially.

After becoming elite, the subordinate attributes remain unchanged, and the level falls back to one level, and the upgrade cost will become normal.

"Thank you, sir."

Hogg's face was full of joy, his fists clenched, and he released them, he could feel the power in his body that had skyrocketed countless times, as a servant of the lord's template, which could make his ship, the Scourge of the Seas, and the crew on it all get a lot of improvement.

Now, again, the pirate captain doesn't have a chance to sneak up on him.

Lothar watched as Hogg stood on the side of the ship, jumping into the water in an elegant pose.

Under the surface of the sea, a huge pitch-black shadow slowly emerged, like a giant shark lurking under the water, and then drifted away.

Jeanne came to his side and said with some emotion: "It's good to be able to make money, how long has it been since Hogg came to your hands to be promoted to level 30?" ”

Lothar said angrily: "If you can earn your own money, the benefits will be yours." ”

He had planned to help Jeanne build a brewery, but who knew that this woman had completely given up the idea of making distilled spirits after only three minutes of heat.

Instead, he spent tons and tons in his cellar every day, drinking those high-priced wines.

Jeanna rolled her eyes: "I want to make money again, and I want to work hard, in our time, the capitalists in the factory didn't dare to think so." ”

"That's because you don't know much."

Lothar remembered the news she had heard in her previous life about paying to work, and silently gave Captain Hogg a thumbs up.

The galleys were sent to the shipyard to be cleaned and repaired, and Lothar was ready to return to the mansion.

The "Shore Defense Fleet of Port Ella" that he was planning to form had not yet been seen, and the first ship was already there.

Hans, today, has already begun to take the Varangian guards and run out of the city to preside over the division of fields.

But unlike Hebron's drastic and radical approach.

The strength of Ella Harbor is much smaller, and most of the land, Lothar is divided into the fields of Zahn and his diehards, which is equivalent to his own pocket.

Due to Zahn's perverse actions in Port Aira.

The harbor here looked a little desolate, and the porters waiting for work at the docks crouched to the side with sad faces, looking at Lothar's ranks fearfully and warily.

Patrol hussars, in a neat formation, patrol the harbor.

On the parade ground, the peasant soldiers were training under the leadership of the knights of the Imperial Decree, and they were equivalent to completely out of work during this time, and they had been receiving military training.

Because the stalls under Lothar's hands are a little too big.

Many of the peasants who had just been replaced by Alandler had no time to take a look at their new fields before they had time to go to the port of Ella to take up camp.

Pepin, who was temporarily appointed as the sheriff of Al Harbor, proposed: "My lord, should we completely convert this peasant army into a standing army that is out of production?" ”

Lothar sighed as she looked at the empty port, which did not even have a single merchant ship.

Although he had obtained five hundred gold coins from Hogg, he also had a lot of gold earned from Gwent and the Plate Armor Workshop in his small coffers.

But it's also very expensive.

He shook his head: "If Ella Harbor can't regain its former vigor and maintain a new standing army of peasants, it will be a loss-making business. ”