The light from the lighthouse guided a Shengming Empire warship to dock smoothly at the dock.
This warship has a thick bow, and the warship is located in the center of the deck. It looks like a cube, with a treasure chest that is the same length, width, and height.
The surface of the treasure box-like ship building is depicted with layers of magic arrays. The magic array is inlaid with a large number of gems, including sapphires the size of a fist, diamonds the size of a human head, yellow sapphires the size of a carriage, etc.
It's the treasure chest number.
Tan Loach, the lord of Snake and Rat Island, has long been waiting at the dock with a group of subordinates.
When Tan Mo, the captain of the Treasure Chest, led a group of people down the pier, Tan Loach hurriedly greeted them.
Tan Loach said: "Brother, you are here! You have worked hard all the way, and the dinner has been prepared a long time ago."
Tan Loach, the lord of Snake and Rat Island, is a short, middle-aged human man with an ordinary face, while Tan Mo, the captain of the Treasure Chest, has a fat body, a short neck, and a shrewd look in his small eyes that cannot be concealed by the night.
The two are members of the same family.
Tan Mo said: "Brother, it has been three years since we last met, right?"
The loach laughed.
Tan Mo motioned to his subordinates with his eyes: "Go and move the goods down. These are specially transported by Tan Loach clan members."
Tan Mo's face showed joy as he watched the navy begin to transport goods and invited Tan Mo to the dinner again.
Tan Mo said: "I have to hurry up and don't make it too grand. There are some people who don't need to be seen, so there is no need to see them."
The loach understood, nodded, and immediately made new adjustments.
The carriage was ready. Tan Mo and others got on the carriage and were soon welcomed into the city lord's mansion.
The dinner was indeed sumptuous and carefully prepared.
Originally, there were some key senior officials of Snake and Rat Island at the dinner, but since Tan Mo didn't want to see them, Tan Loach directly arranged for them to disperse.
In the huge banquet hall, there were only two members of the clan and a few servants, making it seem a bit deserted.
Tan Mo held a goblet in his hand, took a sip of red wine, and looked at the pier through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
His eyes focused on the lighthouse on the pier.
This lighthouse is not ordinary. The building is slender, and the top of the building is a cube with a side length of 3 meters. Both the tower body and the cube are silver-white.
A closed eye is engraved on the four sides of the cube. There is also a prismatic crystal of adult height at the upper end of the cube.
This is the spotlight turret.
Tan Mo's expression was cold, but he complimented: "Brother, your financial resources are unexpectedly strong. You have only been managing Snake and Rat Island for a short time, and you have already installed a light-concentrating turret."
"I believe that the family will be very happy to see that you are successfully operating here."
Tan Loach quickly smiled bitterly: "Brother, please don't mock me. You are a navy, and you must understand that the cost of the Concentrated Turret is much lower than that of the Mage Tower. It is a defensive consumable deliberately developed by the Empire for invading the wilderness continent."
"I can't even think about the Mage Tower."
"Even this light-concentrating turret was bought by people who tightened their belts, scrimped on food and clothing, and hesitated for a long time before gritting their teeth and buying it."
"Alas, the Lord's Mansion of the City of Snake and Rat Island spent a lot of money for this turret."
"My life is hard, but I can't help it. Piracy has become more and more rampant. The situation at sea is turbulent, and other ghosts and monsters have emerged. The Double Eye Island, which is relatively close to my island, suffered a massive attack by fishmen a few months ago.
attack."
"I also saw the intelligence and found that the spotlight turret performed quite well in this battle."
"For the sake of the safety of the territory, I have to purchase one. This is the only one!"
Faced with Tan Loach's complaint and cry for poverty, Tan Mo snorted, looked at Tan Loach playfully, and then focused his eyes on the red wine glass in his hand.
He leaned back on the chair, slowly twirled the tall glass in his hand and said, "Tan Loach, do you think I don't know?"
"You captured the Meuzang Pirate Group and made a huge war fortune!"
"You captured the bone shell alive and had it redeemed by the Great Misery Monastery. You also got a large ransom for it."
"There is also Kuzou. This is a gold-level pirate. You escorted him to the empire and gained a lot of military exploits. After the merits are combined, you will probably be promoted to a noble rank."
"However, if I were you, I would sell the meat cache directly to the Great Misery Monastery. They are willing to pay, and their family is big and their business is big, so they can afford a high ransom."
Tan Loach's expression changed for a while, and then he said bitterly: "Oh, to be honest with you, I want to do this too."
"But there is no way. The people who were originally responsible for Snake and Rat Island were the Shengming Sect."
"After the meat war, the priest died in the battle, which led to changes in the diocese."
"Now, the Justice Sect has settled in, vigorously crowding out the Shengming Sect, and has completely gained the upper hand."
"I had to ease my relationship with the Shengming Sect, so I took the Shengming Sect's route and sent the meat cache up there."
"But with such a level of deduction, I will definitely lose a lot of military merit. Promotion to a noble title is out of the question!"
Tan Mo raised his eyebrows slightly, curious: "This can be considered a good thing."
"The Shengming Sect is too powerful. Compared with it, the Justice Sect is completely a small sect."
"This is good for your lord's authority."
"It seems that your skills, brother, are really not bad. You actually managed to defeat the Shengming Sect without getting involved in the sectarian dispute."
Tan Loach smiled bitterly again: "Brother, the introduction of the Justice Sect was the pre-war agreement at that time."
"Lord Guangke comes from the Justice Sect, and we urgently need his gold-level combat power. So, not only did I agree, but the priest also expressed his agreement on behalf of the Shengming Sect."
"There is a clear magic contract. This is the best reason to prevent the Shengming Sect from coming to trouble me!"
Tan Mo looked at Tan Loach with a bitter look in his eyes.
He couldn't help but think about the past.
In his memory, the clan brother in front of him had always been inconspicuous since childhood. He was nicknamed "Loach" by his peers in the family.
"Unexpectedly, this little loach really revitalized Snake and Rat Island."
"In Shengming Continent, according to his status, how is it possible to obtain such a huge territory?"
"Although it is a little barren, it still has industrial pillars!"
"Tide Snake, Molten Rat...even the Hunter Guild was attracted and set up a branch here."
"There is also the dispute between the Shengming Sect and the Righteous Sect... This brother's political skills are not low, and his luck is also good. Father Shengming really died in a naval battle."
"In the future, these two sects will restrict each other, which will further highlight his authority as a secular lord!"
Thinking of this, Tanmo's emotions became a little complicated and subtle.
"Sir, the inventory of the goods has been completed." At this time, Tan Loach's subordinates came to report, "But there is a batch of slime slime missing."
"Huh?" Tan Loach suddenly frowned.
The goods unloaded by the Treasure Chest were materials purchased through his family's channels.
This time, Tanmo's route happened to pass through Snake Island, so the family let the Treasure Chest serve as a transport ship.
The space inside the Treasure Chest is very spacious and is very suitable for transportation.
"Although slime mud is not expensive, it is the most basic material for me to build fortifications. It must not be missing!" Tan Loach suddenly frowned.
He asked his subordinates: "Have you checked clearly?"
The subordinate hurriedly said: "I have checked it three times. The only possibility is that it is still there..."
Having said this, the subordinate's voice subconsciously weakened, and he quickly raised his eyes to look at Tan Mo across the dining table.
The beach loach sighed and thought to himself: "What is supposed to come has come."
He was very familiar with the character of his clan brother. This time he had already paid the transportation fee, but he didn't expect that something like this would happen.
Tan Loach waved away his subordinates, turned to look at Tan Mo, and saw a smiling expression on the latter's face.
Tan Loach suppressed his anger and asked pretending to be confused: "Brother, my subordinates just checked the goods and found that there is a batch of slime slime missing."
Tan Mo groaned, surprised: "Is there such a thing?"
Tan Mo said with a sad face that although slime slime is a very basic alchemy material, it is very important to Snake and Rat Island. He hoped that Tan Mo would send his subordinates to check and find out the slime.
Tan Mo frowned deliberately: "It's difficult, clan brother. It's not that my brother doesn't want to find it, but it's very difficult."
"You don't know, there is a big shot on my ship. I dare not offend him!"
"It seems that the slime slime is stored near the big man's cabin, and no noise is allowed there."
"I wonder which big shot it is?" Tan Loach asked.
Tan Mo chuckled and said: "He is from the Blood Light Sanctioning Institute. He is going to Eye Island to investigate the matter of the Necromancer. I was ordered to send him here. Speaking of which, you still have his reputation. Otherwise, I
How could the ship come to Snake Island?"
"Bloodlight Sanctioning Institute?!" Tan Loach was suddenly shocked and his expression changed.
Tan Mo carried out the Blood Light Sanctioning Court, which was really cruel. Tan Loach didn't dare to think in this direction.
He clapped his hands, summoned a servant, and whispered a few words in her ear.
After the servant went down, he came back soon and brought a wooden gift box.
The wooden gift box was very exquisite and was presented to Tanmo's table.
Tanmo pretended to be surprised: "Brother, what does this mean?"
A smile appeared on Tan Loach's face: "Brother, a little gift. You have a heavy task of escorting the people from the Blood Light Sanctioning Institute, but you still took time out of your busy schedule to come to me and help me transport supplies. I feel very warm,
How could there be no expression at all?"
"This is a small gift. It represents a little bit of thoughtfulness from my clan brother. I hope you can accept it."
Tan Mo opened the wooden box slightly, and his face was illuminated by a glow of treasure.
He saw three pieces of gold-level precious materials. The mica pearl in the center was as big as a small bowl and was the most eye-catching.
Tanmo's heart almost beat three times because of this.
But his face remained calm, he closed the wooden box again with a calm expression, and then looked at Tan Loach with a smile: "Brother, why are you so embarrassed? It really cost you money!"
He said he was sorry, but his hand movements were very natural and smooth, and he directly put the wooden box into his storage bracelet.
Tan Loach quickly said that this was his intention, and the gift did not represent the strong gratitude in his heart.
He also said that it was really difficult for him and slime slime was very important to him!
Tan Mo nodded, immediately called his subordinates, changed his attitude, and told his subordinates to do their best to find and transport the slime slime without disturbing the important people.
The subordinates quickly reported back that they had found the supplies and were taking risks to transport them.
Tanmo's extortion was successful, and his subordinates did not even need people from Snake Island to transport it, and directly transported the slime slime. The attitude was in stark contrast to before.
Tan Loach's heart was burning with anger, but he held it back and toasted Tan Mo to express his gratitude: "Brother, you really helped me a lot this time."
After getting what he wanted, Tan Mo also relaxed and drank several times with Tan Loach.
The atmosphere gradually improved, and the topic of the two naturally turned to the development of Snake and Rat Island.
Tan Loach sighed: "The biggest resources in the territory are the tide snakes and molten rats in the underground space. In order to attract the Hunter Guild to settle in, I gave them a lot of profits."
"Up to now, the number of tide snakes and molten rats has dropped sharply. According to statistics, even if all killings are stopped now, it will take five years for them to return to their past peak state in a natural breeding environment."
Tan Mo was curious: "As far as I know, the Hunter Guild is not like this. They are very particular about sustainable development. How can the Hunter branch here be so unwise?"
Tan Loach shook his head: "I don't blame them for that."
"The main reason is the Dragon and Lion Mercenary Group!"
Mentioning this group of people, Tan Loach gritted his teeth with hatred: "These guys once went to my Snake and Rat Island and secretly harvested many tide snakes and molten rats, seriously damaging the ecology inside."
"We were all kept in the dark. It was not until recently that a large number of tide snakes were discovered and all the molten rats were hunted."
"Oh?" Tan Mo raised his eyebrows.
In order to blackmail Tan Loach, he specially investigated the information on Snake Island. Among them, the naval battle with Rouzang was the top priority, so naturally the Dragon and Lion Mercenary Group could not be avoided.
Therefore, Tanmo also knows a lot about the Dragon and Lion Mercenary Group.
"This group of people seems to be a group of arms smugglers? They are very powerful!"
"They helped you a lot in the naval battle."
"Without them, you probably wouldn't be able to win against Rouzang."
"Uh..." Tan Loach's indignant expression froze, a little embarrassed.
He continued: "The Dragon and Lion Mercenary Group has made too much money from me."
"When they left, they took many ships with them. These are the spoils of naval battles."
"The most annoying thing is that they are recruiting people here, and they have recruited many talents from the island. Among them are giants and magicians."
"Even for low-level magicians, I still lack them."
"As a result, although the supplies have been replenished, Snake Island is short of people. I am too short of capable subordinates."
Tan Mo was noncommittal and finally asked: "Have you investigated this group of people? Do you know who the arms dealer is behind them?"
Tan Loach shook his head and shrugged, saying that although he tried hard, it was of no use. The other party hid it too deeply!
Tan Mo also feels the same way.
After he learned about this identity guess from the intelligence, he used his own channels and resources to investigate the background of the Dragon and Lion Mercenary Group.
Nothing was found either.
"It's normal for people who are able to smuggle arms to hide deep. This is a brainless business!"
"If I were to investigate it all at once, I would doubt the authenticity of the investigation."
"However, if we can really dig out the arms dealer, it will definitely be a great achievement!"
Not getting any useful information from Tan Mo, Tan Mo was no longer interested in staying for a long time.
After a sumptuous dinner, he parted ways with Tan Loach, boarded the Treasure Chest, and set off overnight.