Chapter 131 Coral and Parabola (Two in one! Please subscribe!)
Box after box of gold coins and spoils seized from the pirates were carried off the three-masted warship by the Idar navy soldiers.
The gold coins seized from Kelvin's castle were only a pleasant surprise. What really excited Bruno were the red corals that were being unloaded from the three-masted warship by Idar's soldiers.
The reason why coral islands are called coral islands is not because their land appearance is similar to corals, but because the ocean around the coral islands has extremely rich coral resources.
Moreover, most of the corals growing around the coral island are crimson gem-grade corals!
As we all know, coral is actually the outer shell secreted by coral polyps. Its main chemical composition is calcium carbonate, and it exists in nature in the form of microcrystalline calcite aggregates.
Corals are mostly in the shape of branches with vertical stripes. Their colors are bright and beautiful, and are in no way inferior to the exotic flowers and plants growing on land.
In addition, compared to flowers and plants that grow on land, corals grow in the ocean, so it is more difficult to obtain them. Therefore, it is natural that they have become the favorite decoration of the nobles of this era.
Coral pendants, coral bracelets, coral necklaces, these ornaments made of coral have always been sought after by nobles from all over the continent.
The Norman nobles' love for coral jewelry can be traced back to hundreds of years ago. At that time, the Normans generally believed that the bright red coral had the meaning of removing evil spirits and preventing disasters. At the same time, wearing coral jewelry was said to have the effect of stopping bleeding and dissipating heat.
Therefore, among the countless corals, corals with red, pink and orange-red colors are usually regarded as gem-grade corals, and the market value of this kind of coral is much higher than that of ordinary corals.
Therefore, gem-grade coral was also called "red gold" by the Normans! Of course, the sought-after and expensive corals are not only red gem-grade corals, but also black corals, white corals and even extremely rare blue corals, which are often also loved by the nobles.
In fact, the different colors of corals are closely related to the trace elements they absorb from seawater during their growth.
For example, if corals absorb a large amount of iron from seawater during their growth, such corals will usually appear red.
If the adsorbed element is mainly iron, but a small amount of magnesium is also adsorbed at the same time, the coral will appear pink or pink-white; if it does not adsorb too many other impurities while adsorbing magnesium, the color of the coral may appear white. The pure white coral produced in the deep sea is regarded by many as the best coral stone, and its value is no less than that of ordinary gem-grade coral.
In the Norman Empire, the waters in the western part of the empire were the most important coral producing areas.
Although there are a small amount of coral resources in the waters near Idar Territory, most of the corals grown on the east coast of the Norman Empire, including Idar Territory, are of poor quality and have natural defects such as wormholes, cracks, and chicken claw marks, so they cannot be sold at all.
But... the corals produced in the area around the coral island are extremely precious! For example, the piece of red coral that the soldiers were carefully carrying off the ship was the most precious "oxblood red" at the moment, representing unsurpassed grace and luxury! Therefore, compared with these captured corals, the rest of the spoils seemed a little eclipsed...
What's more, when Captain Jack successfully takes control of the Coral Island with the support of Lord Idar, there will be more and more such top-quality corals!
This is a new source of income for Idar! While the soldiers were carrying the spoils, Admiral Mal Karen, greeted by Bruno himself, came to the Sky Garden and reported to Bruno about the battle...
"The intelligence about the Coral Island pirates that Captain Jack revealed to us helped us a lot. By ambushing the pirates' route, the Idar Navy successfully captured Fast Pearson, the pirate captain who planned to attack the Cape Salt Works, in its first naval battle."
"Fast Pearson? Is he the culprit who planned the attack on the salt works?"
"Yes! And I have ordered the soldiers to escort him to Idar. Now he has been locked up in the dungeon."
"Where is the pirate leader named Kelvin? I remember he is the boss of the Coral Island Pirates, right?" Bruno asked in a deep voice.
"He...he's dead..."
Mal Karen answered somewhat lacking confidence.
This was because, before the expedition, Bruno had ordered him to escort the pirate leader Kelvin Prato to Idar for trial, but... who could have thought that the guy would be killed on the spot by a magic crystal bomb? "Dead?"
"Before we landed on the coral island, we first used magic crystal bombs to carry out large-scale bombardment of the buildings on the coral island, and then... Kelvin was killed by the magic crystal bomb..." Mal Karen explained hurriedly.
Hearing this, Bruno nodded. The battlefield was changing rapidly, and since Kelvin Plato's luck was not very good, there was nothing that could be done about it.
etc……
Bruno seemed to suddenly realize something. What did it mean... to use magic crystal bombs to carry out large-scale bombardment?
My magic crystal bomb! It was made by several apprentice mages who worked day and night to make it. Can't we use it sparingly?
"You just said... to use magic crystals as bombs to carry out large-scale bombardment?"
“That’s right!”
Mal Karen did not notice the change in Bruno's expression and continued to tell him about the war. "After the Idar navy soldiers wiped out the pirates under Pearson, I ordered the soldiers to take the newly captured pirate ship and sail to the Coral Island at night. In a very short time, we took control of the pirate port at the southern end of the Coral Island."
"So I thought, since the pirates are already trapped, why not use magic crystal bombs to kill their spirit and reduce the casualties of the soldiers? So, I let the soldiers operate the catapults to carry out large-scale indiscriminate bombing..."
“…”
Bruno's mouth twitched.
Just to kill the pirates' morale, you start dropping bombs?
How come I didn't realize you were such a loser before? Mal Karen continued, "...and what we didn't expect was that Kelvin Prato was actually killed by the magic crystal bomb thrown by the soldiers...The battle after that was almost one-sided. We successfully occupied the coral island and captured nearly a hundred pirates."
"Well done... well done... Also, in this battle... how many magic crystal bombs did you consume?"
At this moment, Bruno still had a glimmer of hope. Perhaps... the so-called large-scale bombing that Mal Karen mentioned was just to appear more powerful. It was possible that he only dropped a small number of bombs...
"Probably only two-thirds! As per your instructions, some of the remaining bombs were given to Captain Jack to intimidate the pirates on Coral Island, and the rest were brought back."
What does it mean… only two-thirds?
Bruno, who had originally held on to a glimmer of hope, finally revealed a smile that was uglier than crying…
Although the consumption of magic crystal bombs exceeded Bruno's expectations, he could not blame anything for this reason. After all... the situation on the battlefield was changing rapidly. Since Bruno had granted Mal Karen the authority to lead the troops in battle, everything that happened during the war would have to be based on Mal Karen's ideas and thoughts.
Besides, Mal Karen's move was also to reduce the casualties of the soldiers, so...
It was painful, but if Bruno himself was commanding the battle at the time, he would probably make the same decision.
"Most of the post-war cleanup work was carried out according to your instructions. With the support of the magic crystal bomb and Idar Territory, I believe that Captain Jack will soon be able to stabilize the Coral Island pirates, and control the Coral Island waters for Idar Territory and monitor everything that happens in the Basel waters."
"It's just that... on our way back to Idar Territory, we discovered a giant whale..."
"Giant whale?"
"Yes, it's the kind of whale that the fishermen talk about, which is huge and can spray thick water columns. If there is no war mission next... I personally hope to let the soldiers try to hunt giant whales. Because just looking at the size of the giant whale, you know that hunting a giant whale will definitely not be easy. Therefore, in the process of hunting giant whales, you can also let the soldiers practice cooperating with each other..."
Bruno nodded slightly at Mal Karen's suggestion.
Whales can be said to be treasures from head to toe!
Because the huge body of the whale can not only provide humans with a large amount of whale meat, but also whale oil and other related products.
Whale meat accounts for about half of the whale's body weight. In addition to being used as feed or fertilizer, it can also be eaten by humans after processing. It is rich in protein and has extremely high nutritional value.
The oil contained in whales' bodies can be used not only to make soap and purify lubricants, but can also be used to make candles!
But the most important thing is that a blue whale weighing about 120 tons can produce more than 40 tons of fat! If you want to get a considerable amount of fat from other animals, you will probably need thousands of adult fat pigs!
Of course, in addition to these basic uses, if a sperm whale is hunted and it also suffers from indigestion, the waste extracted from its stomach can be made into a high-grade spice called ambergris in the previous life! This spice is a dark gray waxy substance when it is just taken out of the whale's body, and the smell is extremely foul. However, after drying, it will appear amber-like in color. Once ignited by an open flame, it will burn with a light blue flame and be fragrant.
Whale skin is soft and has a little fluff on the surface, so it can be used to make clothes and bags.
Whale fins can be used to make umbrellas.
Whale ovaries are a miraculous medicine.
Whale poop and bone meal can be used to make fertilizer.
In addition, whale bones, whale baleen, and whale liver also have extremely important uses. Therefore, once Idar Territory can hunt a whale, the benefits will be extremely huge! "I will consider hunting whales, but, speaking of which... how did the magic crystal bomb perform in this battle? In other words... are there any shortcomings in the first batch of magic crystal bombs?"
"The power of the magic crystal bomb is extremely huge, and it can even be said to be unexpectedly effective. The only drawback is... the hit rate of the magic crystal bomb thrown by the catapult is a little low. If it is at sea, usually only two or three out of ten bombs can cause effective damage to the target..."
"What!"
Hearing what Mal Karen said, Bruno stood up from his chair.
"You just said... out of ten bombs dropped, only two or three can cause damage to the enemy?" Bruno confirmed again.
"Yes." Mal Karen answered somewhat lacking confidence.
Only one or two out of ten magic crystal bombs can effectively kill the target... This means that many magic crystal bombs are actually wasted due to lack of accuracy!
Waste is shameful at any time!
What's more, what was wasted was the extremely valuable magic crystal bomb, a powerful weapon! "How did the soldiers aim?" Bruno suddenly asked.
"Ah?" Mal Karen obviously did not expect Bruno to ask such a question, and answered without even thinking: "Of course, estimate the distance of the enemy warship, and then launch according to your experience in training..."
Bruno suddenly came to his senses after hearing what Mal Karen said.
yes!
I was previously busy supervising the mage apprentices to learn "Elementary Mathematics", but I forgot about the navy soldiers who were responsible for operating the catapults!
The soldiers who operate the catapults don't need to learn very in-depth. As long as they learn a little about functions and parabolas, they may be able to greatly increase the hit rate of the magic crystal bombs!
Bruno cleared his throat and said to Mal Karen, "Gather all the navy soldiers in Idar who are responsible for operating the catapults. I will focus on teaching them these days. In short, they must learn a lot of knowledge about parabolas as soon as possible to improve the hit rate of the magic crystal bombs!"
"parabola?"
Hearing another new term coming out of Bruno's mouth, Mal Karen felt completely confused.
"This is a thing that can increase the hit rate of magic crystal bombs!" Bruno explained.
There are a lot of things going on today, so the update is a little late... I feel that the plot has been progressing a little slowly these days, and I will start to speed up tomorrow.
(End of this chapter)
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