Chapter 81: Admiral of Stars

Chapter Eighty-One
Admiral of Stars

Ding-a-ling!

Klein rode the pedal cycle Leppard had just finished around the lawn behind the inventor’s house several times.

“Not bad. It is just as I imagined it. However, there is no need to make a separate hand bell. When something happens, the rider may find it difficult to free a hand. The bell can be integrated with the handlebar. That will make it more convenient, simpler, and more in line with the development of the object.”

Klein pinched the brake with his right hand, causing the pedal cycle to slow rapidly and stop.

At the same time, he put the hand bell in his left hand back where it belonged.

Leppard pondered for several seconds.

“Yes. It really should be done that way. I was only imitating carriage bells and forgot that ours is a completely new vehicle.”

At this point, he looked at Klein, who had dismounted with ease and set up the stand, and asked with faint puzzlement, “You give me the feeling that you have ridden a similar vehicle before, and ridden it very well… I am certain that all other pedal cycles on the market have serious defects and are clearly different from mine.”

Learn about shared bicycles sometime… As a Clown, I should actually be riding a unicycle…

Klein lampooned silently, then smiled.

“This has nothing to do with experience. Excellent balance and athletic ability are the key.”

He immediately changed the topic. “But from your introduction just now, the cost is quite high. That conflicts somewhat with our product’s positioning. You must produce a plan as soon as possible to reduce costs. You should know that nobles and wealthy upper-class figures of status will certainly not choose to ride themselves. It would be beneath their dignity. The middle class with annual incomes above three hundred pounds will be the same.

“Our target customers are junior clerks, postmen, and the so-called labor aristocracy—that is, people with annual incomes between seventy and three hundred pounds.”

“This is only a prototype—hm, a word Emperor Roselle invented. A high cost is normal. If the later factory-production stage proceeds smoothly, I believe lowering it to under six pounds will not be a problem. If we can find a cheap material to replace natural rubber, that would be even better. That is the most expensive part,” Leppard answered, clearly having thought about it.

Unfortunately, this world has not discovered petroleum yet… I do not even know whether it exists… Can refined coal tar replace it in certain ways here? I have no idea. I neither studied this field nor belong to the Savant pathway…

After thinking briefly, Klein said, “If the cost can be controlled below four pounds, then we will make a fortune. As for a cheap material to replace natural rubber, you can look through Roselle’s manuscripts. Perhaps he recorded some ideas.”

Leppard gave a soft “mm,” then suddenly said, “Speaking of that, I just remembered that next week there is an exhibition commemorating Emperor Roselle at the Kingdom Museum. It is being hosted by the Church of Steam and Machinery. They say it will include Emperor Roselle’s original invention manuscripts and various relics.”

Original invention manuscripts and various relics?

Klein’s heart gave a strong thump. He immediately asked, “What are the exact dates? I am very interested.”

“Tuesday through Friday next week, from nine in the morning to six in the evening. Although Emperor Roselle was once an enemy of the Kingdom, the charm of his legendary life will not be diminished because of that in the slightest.”

“I will find time to visit the exhibition.”

Klein took out his bulging wallet and drew out two ten-pound notes and two five-pound notes.

“This is the second portion of the investment. Use it to study how to lower costs, and go to the patent office to make the most complete application possible. If you do not know any suitable solicitors, I can introduce one. I will give you the final twenty pounds next week to find new investors and complete the product’s factory-production stage. Of course, I will also help contact interested parties.”

He had never intended to monopolize the profits from bicycles. First, he lacked the money to put them into large-scale production. Second, he believed he did not have enough connections in manufacturing, promotion, or sales. If he forced himself to do it, or hired people to do it, it would cost time and effort, might still fail, and might even lose money. Since that was the case, it was better to bring in new investors with the corresponding resources and channels, and let professionals handle professional matters.

More importantly, by doing so, he would have a chance to cash out a portion of his shares early, accumulating some money for the resources needed to advance to Faceless later, so that he would not encounter them and then be unable to buy them.

Besides, I never planned to become a bicycle tycoon. My identity is sensitive. Before becoming Faceless, I need to stay away from matters that might turn me into the focus of society… What I will act as is a Magician, not a merchant or factory owner…

Klein sighed inwardly.

“I know several solicitors,” Leppard muttered, accepting the second investment. “Why not apply for a bank loan? Once we obtain the patent, I believe banks will certainly lend to us—for example, Backlund Bank, or Bavart Bank.”

“What we are bringing in is not merely investment, but channels, connections, and capability. Understand?”

Klein smiled and explained briefly. Then he put on his hat and said, “Once the patent application is done, send me a letter. You know my address.”

…

On the Sonia Sea, there was an island where a long-dormant volcano towered.

Ships with masts upright and sails raised arrived one after another, crowding the not-small dock.

The pirates’ songs, shouts, laughter, curses, and cheers rose without end, making the place seem like a sea of revelry.

The Hanged Man, Alger Wilson, stepped down from the Blue Avenger, climbed the cliff not far away, and quietly looked out over it all.

“Apart from the Four Kings and the seven admirals, other pirates only received word of this grand gathering a week ago. Most of them could never make it in time. This is also to guard against surprise attacks from the navies of various nations and the powerhouses of the great Churches.”

Alger watched the pirates moving barrel after barrel of malt beer, his mind not entirely focused on the scene.

He knew that the Loen Kingdom already possessed epoch-making ironclads, but he was not worried he would encounter one here. Only four months had passed. The invincible fleet described in propaganda still needed more ironclads, needed different types of vessels to cooperate, and needed officers, sailors, and gunners to be trained. Without more than a year, it would be impossible to form real combat strength.

As Alger’s thoughts scattered, the pirates aboard the ships and on the dock suddenly cried out in alarm. Some ran toward the depths of the island, while others hurried to pilot their ships away from the dock, as though avoiding demons and plague.

In only a few minutes, the lively and noisy scene from before had turned into nothing but disorder and silence.

Alger turned his head toward the sea and saw a ship painted entirely black. From its mast flew a huge white flag painted with a skull.

The skull had black as its base, with ghostly blue flames burning inside its eye sockets.

“The Black Death…”

Alger murmured.

He understood at once why those pirates had fled.

Wherever Vice Admiral Ailment Tracy went, people would always fall sick for no apparent reason!

The Black Death slowly docked. A figure wearing a white linen shirt and draped in a dark-red coat appeared at the prow.

This was a very beautiful lady. At the same time, she was a valiant and spirited lady.

Her charming black curls had been gathered high and wrapped in a white headscarf. Her long legs were clad in well-fitting beige trousers. Her figure was slender, yet not lacking in graceful curves.

Yet what most drew the eye were her long, straight eyebrows and those sharp, bright blue eyes.

When her gaze moved, her eyes occasionally lost focus, becoming hazy and misted, especially alluring.

At some unknown time, a bard who had mixed among the pirates came to the edge of the cliff and said in a nearly moaning tone, “She will forever be a maiden.”

“She has indeed brought disease. Oh, I am ill. My mind is filled with her.”

Some of the pirates who had fled began gathering again, staring at Disease Maiden Tracy with intoxicated expressions.

Suppressing contempt, Alger glanced at those pirates and sneered inwardly:

“What a group without prospects or willpower. Just now they still knew to hide, and now they are enchanted by beauty.

“Though Disease Maiden is indeed beautiful, it is not to the point where they should react like that. Hm… a Beyonder ability related to charm?”

As Alger’s thoughts turned, Vice Admiral Ailment Tracy left the Black Death and walked toward the black palace deep on the island.

At that moment, another enormous sailing ship appeared on the horizon. Its flag depicted an eye ringed by ten stars—an eye with no eyelashes.

“Admiral of Stars Cattleya…”

Alger nodded faintly, murmuring without sound.

Because the Black Death and other ships were already docked there, the enormous sailing vessel did not approach shore. Instead, it circled toward the wind-sheltered position beneath the cliff and dropped anchor.

Immediately afterward, the gloomy sky suddenly lit up. Drop after drop of dazzling starlight fell, converging in midair into a transparent bridge stretching from the enormous ship toward the palace in the depths.

A lady stepped onto the bridge and walked through the air.

She wore a classical black robe painted with many symbolic signs and magical marks. The most obvious among them was a mysterious eye—an eye without eyelashes.

From this lady’s waist hung items such as an astrolabe and a short wand, making her look like one of the powerful wizards active during the Fourth Epoch in folklore.

Alger looked up for a while, then suddenly frowned slightly and muttered to himself in doubt:

“That astrolabe gives me a very familiar feeling…

“Like—like that strange glass bottle I obtained earlier, the one whose use I never learned. The strange glass bottle that shattered after Mr. Fool pulled me into the gathering…”

…

In the northern outskirts of Queen’s Borough, Audrey led her maids and the golden retriever Susie into the estate belonging to her.

“Miss, the cargo sent from Enmat Harbor is just ahead,” the butler responsible for this estate said respectfully.

“All right.”

Audrey nodded gently and half jokingly said to the golden retriever beside her, “Susie, this is your gift.”

As she spoke, they turned a corner and saw the so-called gift.

They were huge lizard dragons whose skin changed into different colors depending on the light. Each was fully three meters long. Even lying down, their height came nearly to Audrey’s knees.

They were two massive creatures—massive creatures enough to frighten a child into tears!

“Woof?”

Susie barked in confusion and astonishment, turning her head to look at her mistress, only to find that Audrey’s expression was exactly the same as her own. Clearly, Audrey also had not expected the gift to be so exaggerated.