Last Totem Novel - Chapter 67
Chapter 67 First Mate
In the evening, Tie Zha, the captain and Accountant gathered downstairs at the bar, eating dinner while discussing ways to make money.
Accountant was the first to suggest that they apply for the Horton Chef, and then slack off, forcing Old Man Horton to pay for his dismissal. The captain shook his head and said that the three great clans were not to be offended, so he didn’t want to offend anyone for a few gold coins.
“Right, go get the hairpin!” The captain suddenly remembered.
“Forget it. It’s useless to come back.” Due to the problem with the gun, Accountant changed his mouth and analyzed that this hairpin could only be sold at auction. However, the nearest auction house was in the Boiler Castle. They could not enter the city, nor could they get money back.
The captain hesitated for a moment, sighed, and said, “Alright, let’s talk when she grows up.”
“Boss …” Accountant said, but cursed in his heart, “Hooligans, investment is really long-term.”
“Cut the crap. How do you make money? Hurry up and discuss it!” Tie Zha frowned and said.
“Brother Tie, you also came up with an idea.” Said Accountant.
“If you have no other choice, go to the island to try your luck. The military bases in Silver City usually have backup supplies.” Tie Zha suggested. The captain said that he could take the risk, but the ship’s problem had not been solved yet, so he had no choice but to go. Tie Zha leaned back in his chair and said, “I’ll just fight. Don’t ask me anything else.”
“Forget it, let’s go to the Fisherman’s Home and see if there’s a suitable commission.” The captain spread out his hands and said helplessly.
“We are the overlords of the deep sea. How can we mix with those fishermen?” Shouted Accountant.
“Tyrant, what the hell? Without money, nothing! Is there a tyrant as poor as you?” The captain scolded.
After discussing, the three of them left the giant wooden barrel on the snow and headed south.
Luoyan Town had seven large forces, and the fishermen called them “three families and four societies”. “Three Clans” refers to the Ling Clan, the Horton Clan and the Sima Clan, while “Four Clans” refers to the Fishermen’s Clan, the Pioneer Guild, the Black Sea Craftsmen’s Association and the Deep Sea Alliance.
The Pioneer Guild mainly gathered navigation information. Before the fishermen went out to sea, they usually came here to learn about the weather and tides in the target sea area. The Black Sea Craftsmen’s Association, on the other hand, mainly deals in marine products, such as black-backed fish scale armor and pearl hair clips.
The Deep Sea Alliance was a pirate nest, but its organization was very loose. Usually, the pirates were constantly rubbing against each other, fighting back and forth. Only when foreign forces intervened forcefully would they be able to unite the front and unite with the outside world. The existence of the Deep Sea Alliance was for the sake of solidarity and mutual assistance at all times.
Fishermen’s houses mainly deal in the circulation and sale of seafood. Occasionally, they issue some commissions, but most of them are related to fishing. To put it bluntly, the Fisherman’s Home is a wholesale market. Deep-sea fishermen bring the seafood here, register it, and then send it to the nearby cities to sell it on their behalf.
Half an hour later, the captain brought Tie Zha and Accountant into a shack area. This place was packed with people, bustling with traffic. The workers pushed carts filled with seafood to and fro, and the fishermen gathered together in twos and threes to draw their fingers …
There was steam everywhere, and the ground was a little wet. Ice water mixed with black mud, black mud mixed with snowflakes. The cold and humid environment made people feel extremely uncomfortable. There were many large trucks parked around the shack area. They were filled with sharp-fanged marine fish, thick crustacean shrimp, and crabs, so heavy that the wheels fell to the ground. Some people in yellow suits, glass masks and electric bottles patrolled near the trucks, holding electric harpoons in their hands to prevent mutated sea creatures from sprinting out to injure people.
Deep in the shack area was a very large colored dome tent, a bit like the stage of a wandering circus in a fairy tale.
Walking into the tent, there was a pile of charcoal burning in the open space in the middle. It felt much warmer. Outside the charcoal fire stood blackboards filled with information written in various colors of chalk. There were dozens of people standing in front of each blackboard, some looking at the blackboard, some lowering their heads to copy.
The captain walked to the largest blackboard and saw a line of words written at the top of the list, “The Hortons paid 800 gold for a Snow Bear gallbladder.” He immediately shouted, “800 gold! Did I see wrongly? 800 gold!”
“That’s right. I heard that the only son of the Horton family is seriously ill. He needs bear gall to be cured.” Someone answered.
“I heard it’s a man’s disease. It’s probably useless to eat bear gall.” “It is said that he is curved. It is impossible for him to straighten up even if he eats bear gall.” “I heard that the old duke is so worried that he is about to faint.” Some people burst into laughter.
The captain squeezed out the onlookers and came to a corner of the tent, where there were several desks and clerks wearing presbyopic glasses.
“I want to accept the Horton Clan’s entrustment.” Said the captain.
“It’s not a commission, just use the Snow Bear Gall to exchange for money.” The old clerk raised his head to look at the captain and answered.
“This is clearly an entrustment. It will take more than two months to return to the Snow Night Ice Plains. If someone else accepts the entrustment when we return, wouldn’t it be a waste of our trip?”
The captain’s words were reasonable and well-founded, and the old clerk did not deny it. He said, “Then let’s call it a commission. Let me record it. You guys go hunt bears.”
“Entrustment requires an advance deposit.” The captain reminded.
“Please wait a moment” The old clerk took out a thick notebook and began to search the records. After a while, he raised his head and said, “Captain Xia, you don’t have enough credit at the Fisherman’s Home. According to the rules, not only can’t you get a deposit, you have to pay a deposit.”
“What is my credit rating now?” The captain asked.
“Negative 350.” Old Accountant replied.
“What! Why?” The captain shouted, “I don’t usually have any contact with you. Why do I have such low credit rating?”
“Let me see” The old clerk looked down for a moment and explained, “Yesterday you were still minus three hundred, but someone saw you blackmailing another captain at the Lisbon Bar, so your credit rating dropped by another fifty.”
“F*ck!” The captain scolded and took out a large pistol and slapped it on the desk. “Tell your steward to come out! What bullshit rules! My personal grudges with others are yours to deal with!”
The old clerk was so scared that his glasses almost fell off. He hurriedly got up and ran away …
After a while, under the lead of the old clerk, a man in a black suit walked over. Behind him were two mechanical modifiers. The two transformers were emitting a metallic luster, with thin pipes at the joints and a whole piece of tempered glass covering their chests. Through the glass, you can see the precision gears running inside and the ups and downs of the pressure pump. Such a design was more intimidating than a battle. After all, the protection of tempered glass was not comparable to that of steel plates. This was to make it clear to the other party that this was a new model, not an ordinary street product.
The captain involuntarily took a step back. Tie Zha reached out and shook his shoulder, indicating that he didn’t need to worry. The captain was immediately confident and stood up to greet him. In reality, however, Tie Zha was ready to retreat. He could barely fight one, but he could only flee if he fought two at the same time. As for the captain, he wasn’t his companion yet …
“Captain Xia, how are you?” The man in the suit enthusiastically held the captain’s hand, but his gaze swept back and forth, maintaining vigilance at all times.
“What’s wrong with your credit rating? Why am I minus 350? It’s fine if I don’t have a deposit for a commission, but I still need to pay a deposit. What’s the reason for that?” The captain came up with an apology.
“The Fisherman’s Home has always had its own credit system. This is based on the assets, social status, wind rating, rumors, and comprehensive evaluation of a person’s credit rating.” “Captain Xia, this is our rule. Please cooperate.” His tone was very respectful, but the content was very powerful.
“I am the first mate of the Fishdragon!” The captain risked his life and threatened, “Alright, this is the credit given to our captain by your Fisherman’s Home. I’ll remember it. Goodbye!” With that, the captain made a sign to leave.
The man in the suit hurriedly pulled him forward and said with a smile, “First mate Xia, don’t go. Your credit rating is at least 100 points.”
In the eyes of the Fisherman’s Home, “Captain Xia” and “Chief Officer Xia” were completely different concepts. Captain Xia represented a rogue pirate. His combat strength was not strong, he was deceiving, and he had no bottom line. First mate Xia, on the other hand, was completely different. He represented one of the overlords of the Black Sea, the number two figure under the [Poisonous Spider]. No one dared to offend him. In Luoyan Town, a small matter could be spread to everyone’s ears. Although the grudges between Captain Xia and the Poisonous Spider weren’t known to everyone, they were still slightly heard of. The poisonous spider had never denied on any occasion that Xia Yihan was the first mate of the Ichthyosaur. Therefore, when Captain Xia called himself First Officer Xia, they could only change their attitudes and treat him differently.
The old clerk kept a record and immediately reported to the man in the suit, “It’s registered. The client of the Snow Bear Gall is the Fish Dragon’s First Mate Xia.”
“Half the deposit.” The captain reminded.
“This” The man in the suit couldn’t think of a way to answer. According to the usual rules, they should pay half of the 800 gold. But this rogue captain got so much down payment that he might cut Luoyan Town off the navigational chart and forget about this place from now on …
Afterwards, the two sat down and discussed for a long time before lunch. Finally, the Fisherman’s Home paid 50 gold in advance. During that time, the man in the suit said “mate Xia” one by one, causing the captain to feel unhappy and almost jumped him with a gun.
After withdrawing the money, the captain went straight to the Armed Flying Goose Shipyard. Now, there was a total of 219 gold, and he could go pick up the boat. When they arrived at the VIP room, Old Accountant came out to welcome them. The captain threw away his money bag and said that he was going to pick up the boat.
“Not enough.” The old accountant counted a little and added on the money he had left, there was still a gap of 21 gold.
“Is Hai Jiao here? Call her.” Said the captain.
“Young miss went to the boiler castle to buy some.” “Where’s the rain?” “Today is Wednesday. Second Miss is at school. She won’t be back until the weekend.” “Zhen Xiao …” “Third Miss is also at school.”
Listening to Old Accountant’s reply, the captain suddenly had a bad premonition …