Chapter 49: The Heavenly Dragon

  The materials for shipbuilding were finally ready, and the heavy transportation began. The heaviest was the keel, tens of meters long, and dozens of people lined up in two rows to carry it back with their shoulders. Shipbuilding mainly used old-age Nanmu wood as the main material, which is solid and has a good texture. Qian Fangkong's statement that not a single iron nail was used is a bit exaggerated. However, he was skilled at using mortise and tenon joints to fix them together, supplemented with hemp threads, lime, tung oil, etc. The ship made of Nanmu wood had shallow draft, great buoyancy, could carry heavy loads, and was also agile to steer.

  Ying Tianlong was participating in shipbuilding for the first time, and he didn't expect the entire process to be so complicated. The production of wooden ships involves more than a dozen processes, from material selection and preparation to cutting, matching, breaking, splitting, splicing, launching, caulking, and oiling, all of which are done by hand. The craftsmanship is quite complex, with many processes and high difficulty, making it difficult for ordinary carpenters to master. Fortunately, there was Qian Kong, a skilled craftsman, and among the prisoners were some who had previously participated in shipbuilding as small workers or laborers. After the materials were transported back and preparations were made to start work, a ceremony was held.

  Even Luo Guo brought people to the scene to congratulate, it was really lively for a while.

  The general process of shipbuilding is to select wood, saw and plane the wood, select and nail the wood, brush the rudder, build the hull, apply putty and paint, and launch the new boat. Among them, the putty work is very important. Qian Fangkong told Ying Tianlong: "The putty work is commonly known as 'twisting seams' in shipbuilding families, which is to fill the gaps between the boards with tung oil and lime to make the wooden boat waterproof. The two boats we are building now are not big, but they are very solid. Firstly, we use the method of mortise and tenon joints between the boards to fix them firmly, making their ability to withstand impact maximized. Secondly, it has a shallow draft, large carrying capacity, and a wide hull, so it is very stable, and people can stand on it stably in general winds and waves. Thirdly, I installed iron thorns below the waterline of the boat, which will wound and bleed sharks if they collide with the boat, making them the target of their companions' predation."

  Ying Tianlong then praised him a few words. Who knew this praise would cause trouble.

  The shipbuilders all simply set up a hut on the spot and lived inside, working day and night. The shape of the wooden boat was revealed more and more every day. Ying Tianlong also didn't go back and lived with them. Seeing that even the master of the house was so hardworking, no one complained about being tired.

  Alan came to see him, Alan was with Ali. When Alan saw Ying Tianlong's temporary residence looked like a doghouse, tears fell down. Busy collecting his laundry, sorting out dirty clothes that needed to be washed and those that needed to be taken away. Women are rarely seen on construction sites, especially two young and beautiful women, forming a bright landscape. But everyone knows they are the boss's wife, who dares to touch the boss's wife? No one even dares to think about it.

  There is also Qian Fangkong.

  Alan washed the clothes that Tian Long was in a hurry to change, and hung them on a temporary rope at the entrance of the temporary residence. The weather was hot, she simply wore a vest and shorts, picked up her feet and put the clothes on the rope, her full and plump chest proudly standing upright, as charming as possible.

  Qian Fang happened to be passing by here and saw her at a glance.

  What a beauty, what a true beauty! The beautiful women on the island are as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. There's nothing to exchange for them, not even a single hair can be touched. In the "Black Wind Camp", women won't appear in broad daylight, you can't even catch a glimpse of them. At night, when the lights are red and the wine is green, they're at the bars and brothels, one by one, heavily made up, standing at the door beckoning to you. If you don't have anything to exchange, don't even think about coming in. For someone like Fang Kong who doesn't care about women, it's a kind of torture.

  Even if there's something a woman doesn't want to associate with him, it's because he's perverted.

  Qian Fangkong was originally a master who couldn't move his way when he saw beautiful women. Seeing such beauty, his lustful heart was stirred, and he walked over to flirt: "Beauty, why haven't I seen you before?"

  Alan raised his head and first saw a pair of dazed eyes staring at his chest, feeling disgusted in his heart, and replied irritably: "You haven't seen many people."

  "Is it?" Qian Fangkong replied as he walked over.

  Alan was a little scared because his eyes seemed to be shooting green light like a wild wolf. He hastily retreated: "You, what do you want to do?"

  Qian Fangkong is now infatuated, and has lost all sense of propriety. He pounced on Alan, embracing her tightly and trying to kiss her. Alan slapped him hard in the face. Her breasts were grasped by his hands.

  Just as Alan was about to shout, Qian Fangkong covered her mouth with his other hand and was about to press her down to rape her. At this moment, someone rushed over and kicked him away fiercely. Qian Fangkong looked up and saw that it was the patrol team, led by "Wild Dog" Wang Qing.

  Qian Fangkong was tied up with five flowers and pushed to the entrance of the cave, where Tian Long was sitting on a taishi chair looking at him, surrounded by six jingang and hundreds of prisoners. He thought to himself, it's all over, he had been blinded by lust, even daring to be indecent with the master's wife. But how could he have known? Now regret was too late, he would just have to wait for his punishment of being torn apart by five horses.

  Ying Tianlong is indeed very contradictory. This money-hungry, shameless and reckless person has gone too far. Not severely punishing him would be a loss of face for the brothers. However, on the other hand, this rascal is indeed a talented person, and his experience in shipbuilding is needed. Especially now that the project is nearing its end, there is still some follow-up work to be done.

  What should we do? How should he be punished?

  Qian Fangkong is now bruised and swollen, beaten by Wang Qing until he lost his shape, with blood still flowing from the corner of his mouth.

  When he saw Ying Tianlong, he burst into tears and stuttered: "Big, big master, I'm a scoundrel, I really didn't know it was the young mistress, it's a crime punishable by death. You are magnanimous, please spare me this time."

  Ying Tianlong replied, "I made a rule in the Whirlwind Camp: whoever uses force to take advantage of a woman will have his thing cut off and become a eunuch. He won't dare make the same mistake again. Now it's you who has done this, what do you think I should do?"

  Qian Fangkong knelt down in fright: "Elder, master of the house, you mustn't do this, I'm not even married yet, can't let me cut off my descendants."

  Lao Da Lin Wei was also very angry. If it were someone else, he could have turned a blind eye, but Qian Fang Kong had flirted with Ying Tian Long's woman, which was unbearable. So he said harshly: "Having no children is better than losing your head. You little scoundrel, relying on your shipbuilding skills to be reckless in the 'Whirlwind Camp'. Not punishing you would not alleviate the hatred of the brothers. Come, take him down for me."

  Two burly men with dark skin walked up, they were the executioners responsible for carrying out the sentence, holding sharp knives that shone brightly in the sunlight. Qian Fangkong's legs went weak, a foul smell came from his crotch, he had wet his pants.

  Ying Tianlong let out a cold laugh, just as Luo Guoyu had said. Greedy and afraid of death. But he couldn't really just let him off like that. A ship over ten meters long was built without any drawings, purely relying on his brain, which was truly impressive, and no one could replace him. This person would be very useful for implementing plans in the future. So he waved his hand to stop it: "I think I'll spare his life this time, first of all because he's not a member of the 'Whirlwind Camp', even if we were to punish him, it should be left to the 'Black Wind Camp'. Secondly, he came to help build ships, and I think his contributions outweigh his mistakes, and the work below really can't do without him. Thirdly, my woman didn't have any issues with him either. However, although he was spared from death, he couldn't escape punishment, so I'll record thirty military rods for him today, if the ship is built successfully, it will be waived, otherwise, the punishment will be doubled. Did you understand?"

  Qian Fangkong let out a sigh of relief, "thud" and knelt down in front of Ying Tianlong: "Master, from today on, I Qian Fangkong will be your most loyal dog. Wherever you point, I'll fight wherever you want, I won't go back on my word."

  The storm was thus calmed down.

  "Brothers, our shark-hunting boat will be completed soon and we can launch it for a trial voyage. This time, it's not just a small wooden boat that can be capsized with a fart. You've all seen it, it's a big ship, sturdy and reliable, as long as the sea is not mined. I'll take you to run wild then. Now, I order Old Second Qin Ming to resume shark-hunting training. For this first trial voyage, we must bring back something. What do you say?"

  "Yes."

  "We have people from a ship captain background and also experts in navigating the sea. Let's discuss, what name should we give to our shark-hunting boat?"

  Everyone started discussing and proposing several names, such as "Sea Wolf", "Hunter", and someone even shouted: "Why not just call it the Life-Taker?"

  "No, no." Someone immediately retorted.

  A prisoner with a quick wit raised his hand and said: "Your Honor, why don't we just call it the Heavenly Dragon?"

  The people below suddenly fell silent.

  "The Tianlong", the name is quite fitting, the big boss's name is Ying Tianlong, and the ship was named after him, it couldn't be more suitable. Everyone raised their hands in agreement. Passed unanimously.

  Tian Long said, "Since everyone agrees, it's settled then. 'Tian Long Hao', sounds good. It's destined to be the nemesis of sharks. How many brothers have we lost to the mouths of sharks, with no bodies left behind? Only their clothes were buried in the grave. Today should be the day for us to hold our heads high. For this first shark hunt at sea, I'll take charge of one boat, who will take care of the other?"

  Lao Da Lin Wei said, "Of course it's me." Lao Er Qin Ming refused: "I'm telling you, Lao Da, you're in charge of guarding the camp. And I'm leading the troops to fight. You'd better not compete with me, I'll take care of the second boat."

  The two people started arguing.

  Ying Tianlong said okay, stop arguing, we're brothers, what's wrong with talking about it, this time let the eldest go, and next time let the second one take full responsibility.

  Qin Ming remained silent.

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