Drawing Cards in the Middle Ages to Rise in Ranks-Chapter 420 - 105: Treasure Hunt

The current Ocean Disaster, seemed as if it had passed through the eye of a hurricane,

"Thanks to Miss Nina, otherwise, the losses this time would have been severe."

Hog knew better than anyone the horror of such a sea beast. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Hog frowned as he watched the Ocean Disaster slowly repair its hull. It was indeed heavily damaged this time. The white bony spurs growing from the hull moved much slower and took a long time to pierce into the remnants of the giant squid, slowly drawing out the vitality within it.

""

"Sorry, my lord, this was my dereliction of duty, I nearly put you in danger."

Captain Hog’s tone was a bit rueful. He and the sailors on board hadn’t tasted seafood like octopus for many years. It was common sense for anyone who made a living sailing the seas, yet he had completely forgotten it.

"It’s alright, as long as the outcome is good, that’s enough. Besides, what in this world is without danger?"

Losa recalled the Bohemian (non-Gypsy, referring to Czech) proverb: Life is but a joke. Having experienced so many dangers, he felt he was no longer as cautious as he was when he first crossed over.

He patted the tall captain on the shoulder, "Captain Hog, it’s time to get back to your old trade."

Captain Hog grinned, "It’s time to profit from the dead again."

...

The self-repair process of the Ocean Disaster gradually sped up, blood-red patterns appeared all over this Ghost Ship, and the aura of each zombie sailor increased slightly. The life essence accumulated by this giant squid was unexpectedly vast.

Bang bang——

The heartbeat was clearly audible.

Until the body of the giant squid was completely drained, leaving only a massive plank-like skeleton, which Losa casually sold to the Spoils Mall, exchanging it for merely a few dozen Gold Coins.

The Ocean Disaster set sail again, and the fallen zombie sailors began to reform their bodies.

This battle, in the end, was still profitable.

As the Ocean Disaster slowly sailed into the dining grounds of the giant squid, it was like arriving at a Sunken Ship City, with wreckage scattered everywhere, some intact, some fragmented. Losa even saw a Viking-style longship.

Captain Hog reminded, "My lord, the Ocean Disaster can temporarily grant you the ability to walk and breathe underwater, but you must return to the ship within a quarter of an hour, and do not stray too far from the Ocean Disaster."

"A quarter of an hour, got it."

Losa frowned and reminded, "We need to find a ship likely bearing the Vasilias Family’s blue cross emblem."

General Nikiforos only wanted him to find a Ruby, but the wealth accumulated by so many sunken ships on this entire seabed must be astonishing, it would be a shame to come in vain.

The ability to walk and breathe underwater was essentially like extending the Shield of the Ocean Disaster to individuals.

On the vast Ocean Disaster, the zombie sailors flickering with ghostly green light were like fireflies, descending onto the various sunken ships.

Losa and his party also picked a ship and went inside.

This was a three-masted ship, with the Dragon Bone torn open from the center, cargo and human bones buried in the sand were spread out evenly in a radial pattern on the seabed.

Jeanne casually opened a sealed box and immediately covered her nose, complaining, "Who—this smell is really strong."

It was a box of leather already rotted by seawater, most likely untanned. This stench was probably the result of uncleaned oils and decaying flesh.

Tanners often had to live in isolation in this era because, during the tanning process, they emitted a nauseating stench.

Some leather tanners even used dung water to soak hides, so some poor people would intentionally store and collect excrement to sell to tanners for a reward.

At the same time, the pollution of water sources by tanners was also astonishing, so in any larger village, there were restrictions on where tanners could draw and discharge water.

No one in Losa’s territory used dung water to tan leather, as lime water was a better alternative. Moreover, farmers gradually realized the Effect of manure, making the once-neglected excrement a treasure.

"My lord, come and see this."

Jeanne closed the box and opened another one.

It was filled to the brim with Silver Coins. Although they were just Silver Coins, the number was vast. Using a hand to scoop them up emitted a crisp, pleasant metallic clash.

Losa picked up a Silver Coin and examined it for a moment, shaking his head, "Poor quality, not worth much."

Medieval Silver Coins weren’t worth much, which was completely different from the currency devaluation caused by a large influx of Silver during the Age of Navigation.

Medieval Silver Coins weren’t valuable because of the shortage of Silver. The number of developed silver mines in Europe was very few. Additionally, the Church, nobility, and wealthy commoners used a lot of Silver to make utensils, candlesticks, and jewelry, further reducing the amount of Silver.

This also led to the circulation of "Black Coins" with extremely low silver content in the market, pushing the exchange rate of twelve Silver Coins for one equivalent weight Gold and Silver Coins from one to twenty in recent years, even dropping to one to fifty.

So, although this box was packed with Silver Coins, seemingly numbering in the tens of thousands, it was only worth a few hundred Gold Coins.

"Probably the ship’s merchant used them to deal with those Russian and Kuman people."

The risk for merchants during this period was immense, especially those engaged in sea trade. Pirates, storms, plagues, getting lost—it was hard for honest people to survive, let alone get rich.

"So this ship should be a Greek merchant ship, sailing north through the Mist Sea Region, and not our target."

Nikiforos mentioned that the ship met its fate on its way back to Constantinople. Merchant ships wouldn’t carry so many Silver Coins back to Constantinople; they must exchange them for goods on the steppe to make the journey worthwhile.

But since they were here, they certainly couldn’t go back empty-handed.

Losa directly sold all the miscellaneous items in the ship’s hold to the Spoils Store. Even the tiniest gains matter. Although underwater treasure hunting could yield quick money, it wasn’t that easy.

The vast majority of goods lose their value once waterlogged.

For instance, Jeanne had just opened a box of fine wine from Gaul Bordeaux.

The treasure that Captain Hog spent two months collecting on the Red Sea only calculated to about less than forty thousand Gold Coins in revenue.

Thus, they continued searching along the way.

"My lord, I think I’ve found it."

Jeanne shouted loudly.

Losa hurried over and indeed found a Shield emblem with a blue cross in the hold. After a thorough search, they found the so-called Ruby in the drawer of the captain’s cabin.

It was definitely a treasure, at least the size of a fist, glowing with a deep red light in the dark cabin.

Losa picked up the box and put it back in.