Captain of the Pirates: My Fleet's Limitless Upgrading-Chapter 42: Looking for Rubber, Black Dragon Kingdom Soldiers
Barnett and Solomon were clearly impressed by Leo’s ability.
Every time they thought about the hot air balloon that could fly up into the sky, they felt a bit lost. They never could figure out why the balloon could fly. They even started to wonder if the balloon was really made by themselves.
Leo had explained the principle of the hot air balloon to the two of them, but they still didn’t understand it completely.
This time, he didn’t feel like explaining anymore. He said, "We don’t need to build the iron warship right now. The most important thing is to make smoothbore cannons and build a strong wooden ship."
Leo was still worried about the situation on Flame Island.
According to the treasure map he had, the treasure on Flame Island was about to come out.
The map was lost, and Elyse didn’t seem too upset about it. Maybe this wasn’t the only map.
Barnett carefully put the map away and said, "Sir, building a wooden ship isn’t hard. Now we have Minotaur’s help, and we can finish it in two weeks."
"Good. We can’t fall behind on making the smoothbore cannons either."Leo said. He decided to put off making the rifled cannons for now.
Just like with the steam engine, the rifled cannon had too many problems to solve. The material for the barrel, the making of the bullets.
The hardest part was carving the grooves inside the barrel. It had to be precise to the millimeter. Even the dwarves’ skills couldn’t do it by hand.
Even if they could make it, they couldn’t make it in large numbers.
Luckily, he had improved the smoothbore cannon. The materials, the size of the barrel, and the accuracy of the bullets had all improved a lot.
In this situation, the improved smoothbore cannon was powerful enough to use.
Everyone started working again.
Anna and Lilia returned, bringing a lot of sulfuric acid, saltpeter, and over a hundred Flamestones.
Leo started distilling the sulfuric acid to make explosives.
Before that, he redesigned a new hot air balloon, which finally got Anna off his back.
This time, the balloon was very small. It could carry only one or two people, and it was easier to carry on the ship.
...
On Giant Whale Island, everything was busy and active.
A lot of smoothbore cannons were being made. These weren’t just for big ships, but also for protecting Giant Whale Island.
Giant Whale Island had a lot of mineral resources. Without enough strength, it wouldn’t be possible to protect them.
"Marina, you stole my food! That’s so unfair!" In the evening, at the dinner table, Anna shouted in anger.
"Who told you to eat so slow? And elves only eat fruits and flower nectar, right? I’m helping you." Marina had a skewer in each hand. She was eating so much that oil was dripping from her mouth.
"You little thief, give it back to me!" Anna jumped at her. The two girls started fighting.
Leo smiled as he watched the scene. It seemed that life in this world wasn’t all bad.
Beside him, Barnett and Solomon were arguing about something. They were both red in the face.
The Minotaur priest was also at the dinner table. He really liked the food Leo made. He always came on time for meals.
Anna made fun of him a lot, but the guy didn’t care at all.
Leo understood. The two were arguing about the sealing problem of the steam engine.
Barnett suggested using rope, while Solomon thought they should use cloth.
Both items could be used as sealing materials, but neither was the best choice.
"Sir, do you think I’m right or Barnett?" Solomon, unable to convince the stubborn old man, turned to Leo for help.
"Kid, you’re getting more and more out of control!" Barnett was so angry he was puffing out his cheeks.
"Enough."Leo cut in. "Both of them work about the same. But the best sealing material is rubber."
"Rubber?" The two looked confused. They had never heard of it before.
Leo explained, "It’s a kind of big tree. If you cut its bark, it will release a white liquid. It hardens into a sticky substance."
Rubber was very important for industrial production, and he had specifically looked for it.
The climate here was right for rubber trees to grow, but after exploring so many islands, he had never found any.
"Sir!" The priest, who had just swallowed a piece of grilled meat, raised his hand and said, "I think I’ve seen the kind of tree you’re talking about."
"You have?" Leo asked quickly. "Where?"
"I don’t remember exactly."the priest thought for a moment and said, "That was when I was young. I wanted to live overseas, so I drifted to a small island. I saw the tree you’re talking about. I wanted to cut it down for firewood, but it released a white liquid. The branches were hard to light, and they made a lot of smoke."
"That’s a rubber tree."Leo said after hearing the description. He was sure. He asked, "Can you find the general location? This thing is really important to me."
The priest tried to remember, but finally shook his head in frustration. "I really don’t remember. Back then, I didn’t know how to navigate, so I couldn’t tell which way to go. But there was something special about that island. There were giants living there, and creatures similar to dragons, but they didn’t have wings."
He said that, and then looked at Pyrothar, who was eating a big leg of roasted lamb, holding it with both arms.
"There are giants in this world?" Leo was surprised.
He had seen a dragon before, but never heard of giants existing.
"Yes."Lilia said from beside him. "Giants are terrifying. Their power is even stronger than dragons. But they are very rare."
"Roar!" Pyrothar let out a low growl, as if protesting.
"Lilia, do you know where there are giants?" Leo asked.
This was the only clue. Maybe finding the giants would lead to the rubber tree.
Lilia shook her head. "I’ve only heard about them. I’ve never seen them myself. I’ve never heard of any giants around here either."
Leo was disappointed, but he didn’t want to give up. No matter what, he had to find the rubber tree. It was important for his future plans.
He looked at the Minotaur priest and said, "Priest, this is a big favor. I need you to send out some ships to search around Giant Whale Island. You must find that small island."
The priest had been on the sea when he was young, and he guessed that the island wasn’t too far from Giant Whale Island.
"Okay."
The priest nodded without hesitation.
"Leo, you haven’t found me any glue yet."Anna said, remembering the problem with the hot air balloon. Without premium rice, she couldn’t make the rice glue. Leo had promised to help her find a substitute.
Finding a substitute for glue in the wild wasn’t hard.
"I already found it for you."Leo said. "There are pine trees around here. You can collect their sap. It’s a natural glue, even better than rice glue."
"Really?" Anna was excited, almost ready to go right then.
If it weren’t dark outside, she would have started collecting sap right away.
The hot air balloon was already built, and the canvas had been cut. All that was left was to glue it together.
Suddenly, a loud knocking sound came from the distance.
The group’s faces changed slightly. This was the Minotaur’s signal for danger.
"There are invaders!" The priest grabbed his piece of meat and ran toward the shore.
Leo and the others followed closely.
By now, the sky was completely dark. They could barely see four large ships on the sea.
"It’s a warship from the Black Dragon Kingdom!" The priest recognized the ships at once and warned them.
Leo nodded, but he was a bit confused. The ships looked like they had been in battle, and it was impossible for four of them to attack Giant Whale Island.
"Biggy, Secondy, fire a shot to warn them."he said.
A dozen smoothbore cannons had already been set up along the shore—newly built by Barnett and the others.
"Let me do it!" Anna was excited and took the torch. After Biggy and Secondy loaded the gunpowder, she quickly lit the fuse.
Crack!
A flash of fire, a loud boom, and the ground trembled slightly. A huge cannonball flew through the air and hit the sea, directly striking one of the warships.
In an instant, the strong ship was torn open, a big hole in its side.
"Wow!"
The Minotaur around them were scared. This was their first time seeing the power of the smoothbore cannon.
On the enemy ships, the Black Dragon Kingdom soldiers were also nervous. A white flag was raised on their mast.
"Are they surrendering?" The priest was surprised. These soldiers were known for being brutal and cruel, but they actually surrendered.
"Don’t worry about them. Keep going!" Anna was still excited and urged Biggy and Secondy to load more gunpowder.
Leo didn’t relax.
"Hey!" A voice came from the enemy ship. "We don’t mean any harm. We’re here to chase down prisoners from the Kano Kingdom. They ran onto the island."
Leo looked at the priest and asked, "Did anyone from the Kano Kingdom come to the island?"
The priest shook his head. He didn’t know anything about this.
Leo looked at the enemy ships. These people didn’t seem to be lying. Maybe there really were Kano Kingdom prisoners hiding on the island—but the Minotaur hadn’t found them yet.
He ordered, "Priest, have the Minotaur search the island carefully. We can’t let any enemies hide in."
There were too many secrets on Giant Whale Island right now. They couldn’t be discovered by outsiders.
"Okay."the priest immediately ordered the Minotaur to search the coast.
Leo turned to Biggy and said, "Tell them there’s no one they’re looking for on the island. Leave now, or you’ll never leave this place alive."
"Got it!"
Biggy climbed up a high spot and shouted as loudly as he could.
The enemy ships were afraid of the smoothbore cannons and reluctantly pulled away.
"This is so boring. Leo, let me fire a few more!" Anna wasn’t satisfied at all and kept pestering Leo.
He didn’t feel like dealing with her. He turned and walked away.
The night was deep. The island was quiet, with only the occasional sound of birds and insects.
Leo didn’t rest. Under the candlelight, he continued organizing and revising his blueprints.
In a few days, the wooden ship would be ready. This time, he wouldn’t take Barnett and Solomon with him. He would leave them behind to continue working on the steam engine.
Leo wanted to write down as many problems as he could think of—and the solutions—before the trip.
[Bip, Danger approaching]
Suddenly, a message appeared.
