CHAPTER 218: CHAPTER 156 THE PERFECT PLAN FOR THE SHIP

Hibroke waved his hand and said, "Don’t ask about me yet, tell me about yourself."

Obviously, the old man had heard about Andre and the Treasure Hunting Team running into trouble, and was more concerned about comforting them.

"I heard earlier that Andre’s ship was in an accident, and I thought I wouldn’t see you, this feisty little girl, again.

Where’s your father? And how’s Andre, that hot-tempered young man?"

Hearing Hibroke’s words, Chadite looked a little embarrassed.

From this conversation, Alka understood that Chadite really must have been quite violent as a kid, leaving a deep impression on this elder.

Who would’ve thought Andre was also a hothead when he was younger?

Chadite replied, "The Treasure Hunting Team is wiped out, but my father is relatively safe. He did lose an arm though."

"Lost an arm, huh... Sigh, the ocean, the ocean... But at least he’s alive. Now he can settle down and live a peaceful life here."

"With his contributions, he really ought to be a Regional Bishop by now."

Hibroke sighed with both emotion and a hint of helplessness.

Then he suddenly seemed to recall something, slapped his forehead, and looked a little embarrassed at the two of them, saying, "Seems I’ve gone off-topic again. Old age does that. Who’s this young man?"

Hearing this, Alka immediately stepped forward, reaching out to shake his hand.

"Hello, my name is Alka. I used to be a member of Andre’s Treasure Hunting Team."

"Oh, Alka. So, this ship is...?"

At these words, Alka smiled and said, "This is my ship. I’d like to entrust your shipyard to restore her for me."

Hibroke looked at the battered ship, leaned on his cane and walked over, stretching out his rough hand to touch the rotten, decaying hull.

"This ship’s been through a lot. The whole hull has been corroded like this by the elements of darkness."

Looking at the ship, Hibroke turned around and waved his hand, signaling the ordinary craftsmen to withdraw.

Then, taking along a few people behind him—who looked like his apprentices—he boarded the ship and gestured for the two of them to come up as well.

"It’s safer here. You should know the situation with your ship, right? She’s a Ghost Ship."

Alka nodded. As expected of the descendant of a shipbuilding house, he could tell at a glance.

"She should still be missing something. Can you... um, I mean, can you help her with the final step?"

Hibroke was a bit careful with his words, but the meaning was clear enough.

Alka nodded. He knew Hibroke was asking whether he had any treasures that could help the ship complete the final step and officially become a Ghost Ship.

After all, as a shipyard master, having this information should help with repairs.

"I can. If that’s possible, then we’ve got a lot more options."

Hibroke clearly felt much more at ease.

Then the old man led his apprentices to inspect every part of the ship, using all kinds of magic tools to measure here and there.

Alka and Chadite just stood on deck watching them get to work.

Hibroke, while measuring, was also scolding his apprentices behind him.

The tone and energy of his cursing didn’t sound like an old man at all.

The apprentices were completely chewed out, and could only keep agreeing meekly.

They stayed busy like this until late at night before they finally finished.

Hibroke put away his tools and, propped up by his apprentices, made his way back to the deck.

He looked at Alka and said, "I’ve got two plans for your ship. Take a look and see which one you want."

"Plan one is also the most basic: we’ll do a full replacement for the entire ship, keeping only the core keel, and repair her to the highest level of Spell Ship."

"The good thing is, it’s fast and convenient, and the materials cost is relatively cheaper."

"How cheap is ’relatively cheaper’?" Alka couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity.

"About 2,000 to 2,500 Golden Sails. That’s already quite cheap. Since the order comes from the Archbishop, we don’t charge for labor, only the basic materials cost."

One of the apprentices behind him added, "If we charged labor, it would have to double the price at least."

"..."

At these words, both Alka and Chadite went silent.

As far as Alka knew, a normal, lower-level Spell Ship usually cost a few hundred Golden Sails at most.

Like Andre’s ship, which was worth about 600-800 Golden Sails.

But after all, that belonged to the Church and was probably built here too, so the price likely wasn’t the usual market rate.

And even then, it was only a mid-grade Spell Ship.

He didn’t expect there’d be such a huge price gap between Spell Ships.

But looking at Hibroke and his apprentices’ expressions, it seemed this really was considered cheap.

Two thousand Golden Sails—what an astronomical price! And if you count labor, it doubles.

Meaning if you bought one outside, you’d probably need at least 4,000 Golden Sails.

And it still might not be available—even most shipyards can’t build a ship of this class.

In the world of the ocean, ships are all strategic resources.

From this, top tier Spell Ships are definitely the kind of things that money alone can’t buy.

Alka couldn’t help but turn his head to look at Chadite.

He wanted to know just how much the treasures they brought out from the Realm of Pitch Darkness could fetch.

Chadite saw the look in his eyes, understood what he meant, tiptoed up and whispered by his ear, "Rough estimate, we can sell them for about 4,500 Golden Sails."

Hearing this, Alka’s eyes widened in shock.