Mystery: I Married the Queen of Mystery

After using the charm, Audiss began to consider modifying the "Thinking Cap" to allow knowledge to be instilled multiple times and mastered permanently.

However, he only briefly considered it and then began to observe the surrounding buildings and local customs.

Intis' architectural style was relatively flamboyant and ostentatious, employing many bright colors and bold shapes.

Compared to the conservative architecture of Loen, there was indeed a significant difference.

Most of the pedestrians on the street were North Continentals dressed in Intisian-style clothing, and when locals occasionally passed by, they kept their heads down and walked quickly.

Soon, after leaving this street, Audiss seemed to enter another world, where the buildings were low and dilapidated, some even with mud walls.

Audiss looked back at the bright street he had just left, and then at this dilapidated street, suddenly understanding what a colony was.

Bernadette's rule extended only to a few surrounding islands. The area lacked special mineral deposits, and the biggest "resource" was probably cheap labor.

And the "Mysterious Queen" was not there to alleviate poverty. The main purpose of building a bright street and a small palace was likely to enhance the cohesion of her subordinates.

After all, those who could live on that street, even if they were not doing well, could comfort themselves by thinking they were better off than the locals.

And this dilapidated street was a true reflection of the local area: poverty, filth, and disorder.

The local residents generally dressed frugally, and the children playing were mostly unclothed.

The pedestrians' faces lacked vitality, as if they had no expectations for the new day.

The occasional carriages that passed by also looked slow and listless.

Audiss then asked, "What is the total population of the islands ruled by the 'Queen'?"

"About five or six hundred thousand, maybe seven or eight hundred thousand," Ailiya said. "I'm not really sure, or rather, no one is sure. We can't exactly conduct a census of these natives, can we?

"Many of their tribes are very uncooperative, and even now, they still attack North Continentals on horseback."

Speaking of this, Ailiya shook her head. "Before we came here, these islands had no horses. They actually said they were monsters, and they probably think that people riding monsters are also monsters."

Audiss glanced at Ailiya, who looked puzzled, "You must have suppressed them with cruel methods, right?"

"They didn't accept our rule and attacked our people."

Audiss asked, "Why should they accept your rule? Because you are stronger?"

Ailiya was stunned by the question, "Yes, that's right."

Audiss opened his mouth, and at this moment, he felt the conflict between his values and the pirate-style colonial values for the first time.

In his view, strength was only one aspect of a ruler. If rule was based solely on strength, it would be difficult to maintain in the long run.

Even with the help of Extraordinary powers, the social hierarchy was severely solidified, and the lower classes had almost no power to resist, but such rule would still be fraught with trouble.

In Audiss's opinion, it couldn't even be called rule.

However, Audiss said nothing more, deciding that he should "do as the Romans do" and not express any opinions on the situation of the colony.

Ailiya also felt that Audiss's question was a bit strange, but the two of them quickly went on to discuss other topics, and she didn't take it too seriously.

Soon, they left the city.

Audiss looked back and saw that the city was centered around a palace and a street with tall buildings, with dilapidated local houses on the periphery. Their place of residence seemed to represent their status in the city.

After chatting idly for more than twenty minutes, they arrived at the industrial area not far from the city.

Here, the tall factory buildings once again formed a sharp contrast with the low local houses.

Audiss did not express any opinion at this time, stopping in front of the shipyard by the sea. He paid attention to the money Ailiya paid to the "chair carriers."

For walking such a long distance, they were only given 60 copper coins, which was equivalent to 6 pence, and it had to be divided among four people.

It was indeed cheaper than taking a taxi carriage, but this kind of cheapness only existed in the colony.

Under Ailiya's guidance, the two entered the shipyard unimpeded.

Due to the demand for shipbuilding and repairs, Bernadette had built a large shipyard on this colonial island!

There were five large workbenches in the shipyard, but only three were currently in use, and they were all repairing ships. Judging from the damaged parts of those ships, their hulls must have been damaged by enemy ships and had to be repaired in the shipyard.

All three ships were wooden, with tall sails, and were typical "three-masted ship" structures.

This type of ship was also the most commonly used by pirates, with smooth lines and good speed, and could often outrun the navy and church ships.

But one fatal weakness was its weak defense. However, if armor plates were added, speed would have to be sacrificed.

Almost all pirates would choose speed. Whether on the sea or on land, running fast was the key to survival.

On both sides of the shipyard were offices, design rooms, and other workplaces built against the high walls of the shipyard.

In the conference room, all the shipyard's designers, as well as six or seven scholars who followed Bernadette, had arrived in advance.

When they saw Ailiya, they greeted her warmly and smiled at Audiss.

After all, Ailiya had given prior notice. If they weren't stupid, they wouldn't question Audiss, since he was the person sent by the "Queen."

Even if this guy didn't know how to build ships, they would have to pretend to treat him with the respect due to a master of shipbuilding.

After exchanging pleasantries, Audiss unceremoniously sat at the head of the table. He took off the cloth bag from his back and took out a roll of blueprints: "These are the blueprints I drew. Take a look first, and we'll discuss anything you don't understand together."

Previously, in order to design ships driven by "Spirituality," Audiss had specifically found relevant information from the "Knowledge Wilderness" and taught himself ship design.

At the same time, he also taught himself cannon design, chariot design, semi-automatic rifle design, and so on.

The designers were slightly stunned when they saw the blueprints. First of all, the chief designer sent by the "Queen" knew about shipbuilding, but in some aspects, he was a bit conservative and felt a bit like he was reciting from a textbook.

It was a large ocean-going ship, divided into four levels. What the designers couldn't understand was that this ship had no sails and no steam engine.

In other words, it had no power at all.

However, the location of the power system was marked at the rear of the bottom of the cabin, but that little space was not enough to install a steam engine.

Just as the designers were about to ask questions, Audiss took out the second roll of blueprints: "These are the detailed blueprints of the engine system, weapon system, balance system, lighting system, and so on.

"Well, but the ship designers probably won't understand them. Please have these scholars take a look."

Those scholars took it very politely. After seeing the arrays, these Extraordinary scholars couldn't take their eyes off it. This wasn't something used on a ship at all. This was simply infinite knowledge!

Gradually, the ship designers felt that something was wrong. What were those blueprints? Why did they have to look at them for so long?

One of the designers finally couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Audiss, what will this ship use to propel it?"

"It's propelled by waves," Audiss said with a smile. "As long as there is Spirituality, the waves will push it forward continuously."

The designer was stunned for a moment, feeling that this answer was completely beyond his comprehension: "Waves...waves? What if there are no waves?"

Audiss said, "You may not have understood what I meant. The second document in the blueprints I gave to the scholars is an explanation of the power system.

"As long as it is arranged according to my design, waves will continuously form behind the ship and propel the ship forward quickly."

The designers were all stunned. This kind of power system was the first time they had ever heard of it.

Then they felt that it was a bit absurd, and some people directly expressed their doubts: "Is this...is this feasible?"

"It is feasible," one of the scholars replied. He first took a deep breath before saying, "It is feasible."

Then he smiled and said to Audiss, "Thank you, Mr. Audiss, for allowing me to see such advanced arrays. I never thought before that arrays could have such great power!"

The scholar paused and then asked, "I have never seen the mystical symbols used in the arrays. May I ask where you found these mystical symbols with amazing power?"

Ailiya, who was sitting next to Audiss, smiled slightly. She still remembered how surprised she was when she first saw the arrays in "Flame Arrow," it was probably just as surprised.

Extraordinary individuals of the "Seer" pathway are basically half "mystical scholars." They may not understand the mystical symbols that appear in the arrays, but just by looking at the structure of the arrays, they know that this is definitely an advanced array.

"I will explain those symbols to you later," Audiss said simply.

This belonged to the "technology transfer" content agreed upon between him and Bernadette, but he would only explain the symbols used in the arrays, and only the arrays used on this ship, without further explanation.

The scholars looked at each other and saw joy in each other's eyes.

At this time, they finally understood why the "Queen" wanted to build such a ship. Mastering the construction of such a ship was equivalent to mastering many advanced and high-level arrays. It could even be said that Sharla Island's research in mysticism would suddenly be several levels higher.

However, the ship designers didn't quite understand these things. They were still very worried about the new ship's power and weapon systems.

Besides the power system, which they didn't understand at all, the weapon system also exceeded their understanding of weapons. This was because there wasn't a single cannon on this ship; instead, there were all sorts of strange weapons.

These weapons were unheard of to them.

Odyss saw that they were full of questions but didn't know where to start, so he smiled and said, "I'm not an expert in ship design, but some of my research in the field of mysticism has been recognized by the Queen."

"So, everyone, please don't use your past experience to look at this ship."

"How should I put it... Well, this is the first extraordinary ship in human history. Many problems need to be solved through exploration."

"We need to work together to complete the task assigned by the Queen."

Upon hearing "the Queen's recognition" and "the task assigned by the Queen" again, everyone knew that the Queen valued this new ship very much.

Before they could express their opinions, Ailiya spoke first: "Mr. Odyss, please issue your orders."

Everyone in the room was stunned. They were, of course, aware that Ailiya was sent by the "Queen," and her statement meant that the "Queen" intended for them to completely obey this young man named Odyss.

Odyss was prepared. He took out a list and handed it to the scholars: "These are the spiritual materials and extraordinary materials used in the ship's magic arrays. I need you to complete the purchase as soon as possible to prepare for shipbuilding."

"Because the magic arrays on it are very large and require many carved parts, in the future, I will need you to become my main assistants to share the task of constructing the magic arrays."

"So, starting this afternoon, you... Well, the number of people is still too small. I need at least ten people who understand magic arrays to come to the Emerald Palace to listen to my explanation of the uses of these magic arrays, as well as the meaning of mystical symbols, and other courses."

In order for the magic arrays to function better, some extraordinary materials are also needed. These materials basically belong to the "Sailor" pathway and are not difficult to buy at sea, but there will definitely be some premium.

The scholars were a little dazed after receiving the list. They didn't expect their first task to be procurement.

Ailiya knew that they were not good at this work, so she said, "Leave the procurement work to me. You only need to determine the quantity and quality."

The scholars breathed a sigh of relief and agreed one after another.

Then, Odyss said to the ship designers, "I need you to help me optimize the overall structure of this ship, but I need to participate in the whole process because I know which parts cannot be optimized."

"After finalizing the drawings, start construction immediately, first building the overall structure, and then arranging the magic arrays and taking it to the sea for testing."

The ship designers also breathed a sigh of relief. There were indeed many places in the design drawings of this ship that needed to be modified.

After determining the general direction, the construction of the new ship began immediately. Odyss revised the drawings with the designers in the morning and began explaining the magic arrays he invented in the afternoon.

Regarding the ship's drawings, because Odyss's design was originally relatively reasonable, the drawings were basically finalized the next day.

That afternoon, the shipyard began to organize manpower to lay the keel.

This ship is basically an "experimental ship," so it is built using mature wooden ship technology. The manpower of the entire shipyard is basically invested in this work.

After Odyss revised the drawings, he finally had the opportunity to return the ashes and the extraordinary characteristics of the "Night Watcher" to the Night Church. Moreover, he planned to visit Bayam, the largest colonial city in the Rage Sea, when he had time.