"Woohoo!"
The four outboard Diesel Motors burst forth with 100 Horsepower, driving the three-bladed Propellers to accelerate the Speedboat past 20 knots in a very short distance, heading straight toward an abandoned Fishing Boat on the shore.
The all-steel, integrally welded Hull was extremely sturdy; the sharp Bow easily broke through the rotten Wooden Boards, instantly turning the original Small Boat into a pile of debris.
Tang Wen, who suffered the massive Impact force, tightly gripped the handrail, nearly flying out, but immediately following this was a System prompt in his mind:
【Below the Waterline penetrated, enemy Warship is Sinking! 】
【Sunk one enemy Warship, Silver Coin +5, Experience +10】
【Obtained Title "Phoenix （Sank Enemy Warship but Our Side Did Not Sink ）"】
【Current Experience: 63】
Just as Tang Yi said, the Commander's Mission is Combat; Combat is much more interesting than Shipbuilding.
Winning a real Naval Warfare grants Silver Coins and Experience, and you can also grind various Achievements.
Although doing this now has the suspicion of grinding points, the System still genuinely issued Silver Coins and a Title.
The only pity is that the acquisition of Experience and Silver Coins depends on the Level and number of Warships on both sides of the Combat. Crushing matches like a steel ship hitting a wooden ship yield pitifully low returns; Tang Wen estimated that after wrecking all ten of the Villagers' rotten boats, he would only get about a hundred Experience.
However... bumping boats is genuinely exhilarating!
Tang Wen turned the boat around, preparing to target the next objective, but noticed that the Village Chief and Wu Lao Er had actually appeared on the shore, so he paused docking to greet the two of them.
"Xiao Tang, what is this you're doing..."
Before the Village Chief could finish speaking, Tang Wen preemptively explained:
"Village Chief, I bought equipment from a bankrupt Shipyard outside, welded a boat using a new process, and they said it was super sturdy, so I came to test its strength."
After speaking, he adopted an attitude of 'believe it or not, this is the fact,' causing Chen Yonggui to open his mouth and then give up on asking, shifting his attention to the Hull.
"Buying equipment, you're starting a Shipyard?"
"Yes, but a small Shipyard in Nanwan couldn't keep going, so I bought the equipment directly. I'm expanding it now; it's busy inside."
"Then what about the Diesel Engines?"
Wu Lao Er, who had been listening intently, quickly asked:
"Is the supply of Diesel Engines no Problem? I brought a Big Business this time."
"How big?"
"I need twenty units!"
"Hiss."
Tang Wen sucked in a cold breath, his eyes immediately gleaming.
Based on the supply price with Wu Lao Er, 20 units meant 120,000—wasn't this Silver Coin coming in!
"Yes, absolutely yes."
Tang Wen was just short of pounding his chest to guarantee it, and he pointed to the Speedboat by the water:
"You drive it. According to your requirements, the Motors have also been made. They are already being tested; they work great!"
Wu Lao Er and Chen Yonggui then noticed the full four Outboard Motors and their eyes widened as well.
For a ten-meter Small Boat, installing four Motors was extravagantly shocking; usually, a Fishing Boat would be fine with one 10 Horsepower Motor.
"Good heavens, four Motors, won't that fly?"
"One hundred Horsepower Quad-rotor, it must be running at thirty knots!"
The Motors crammed into the stern looked powerful, and the two men who had spent half their lives dealing with boats had never seen such a concentration of Power; they curiously leaned in to take a closer look.
In their view, this level of Power was already quite exaggerated, but Tang Wen knew that the Power Group for the Duty-Free Commissioner was eight times this amount—that was what truly flying looked like.
The Shipyard Upgrade wasn't without its benefits; due to increased Manufacturing capability, the required Research and Development points for different Products were significantly reduced compared to Level 0.
For example, the 250 Horsepower Gasoline V8 Motor—because the Shipyard's R&D Center encompassed the Design information for all Level 1 Warships, it naturally included large Horsepower Gasoline Engines, essentially possessing good prerequisite Technology.
Now, developing the V8 Motor only required 50 Experience, one-tenth of the requirement at Level 0.
Of course, this kind of V8 Motor was based on 1940s Technology Level; in terms of both materials and Design, it was far inferior to current standards, but it could at least meet the Performance Indicators.
However, this type of Motor would certainly not sell as well as the 25 Horsepower Diesel Engine. For Fishermen, Gasoline Engines are prone to stalling if water gets in, and the Fuel Consumption is too high; they are not as practical as Diesel Engines.
250 Horsepower is also excessive; no Fishing Boat would install such a thing.
The Village Chief was very interested in the Duty-Free Speedboat with explosive Power; he took Wu Lao Er for a couple of laps, shouting excitedly as it sped up and slowed down on the water.
After finally getting his fill, Wu Lao Er jumped off the boat and excitedly pointed at the Motors on the stern, saying:
"Install two of these for me to push around; they work too well, not at all like something pieced together!"
"Twenty Diesel Engines, two Motors? That totals 134,000."
Tang Wen held out his hand, and this time Wu Lao Er looked a bit embarrassed:
"I only have 50,000 on hand right now. Can I give you that as a Deposit?"
"How can that be acceptable? Wu Lao Er, you have no conscience!"
Chen Yonggui directly pointed at him and scolded:
"The signed Contract requires payment upon delivery of goods; what if you run off with the money? This is over a hundred thousand!"
"How could I be that kind of person! But who can pull out over a hundred thousand right now? It will take me several days to transport them over. If I wait for the Final Payment to cycle back, who knows how long that will take, and the client might change their mind.
If Village Chief is worried, let Xiao Tang or someone accompany me. Honestly, transporting this many items makes me nervous too."
Wu Lao Er also had unspoken difficulties; this kind of middleman business relies on speed. He also wanted to get the money quickly, and a long delivery delay would be disadvantageous.
Moreover, in this era, transporting twenty Diesel Engines or carrying tens of thousands in Cash is no easy task; no one knows where Trouble might arise.
Especially since the Coastal Area of Goose City has a fierce local custom, on Dirt roads in places where there are no villages ahead and no shops behind, there is a high probability of randomly spawning bandits and highway robbers; considering it lucky just to escape with one's life.
Countless impoverished Villagers are currently relying on robbery to improve their lives, and the simple country folk are by no means soft-handed when they start.
This line of work has no bottlenecks; you can jump into it on a whim, and it was once so rampant that they even dared to attack government vehicles.
The slogan "Robbing police cars is illegal!" was born in this era, showing how severe the situation was.
When Wu Lao Er brought up the Problem, Chen Yonggui also fell into thought, clearly aware of the danger of traveling outside.
He wasn't afraid within the town, but once outside, who would recognize him? Even if they did, they would rob him anyway.
"Uncle Wu, why don't I dispatch a Truck and some men to escort you."
Tang Wen suddenly spoke up, surprising both of them.
"You'll dispatch a Truck?"
Tang Wen Nodded; the Shipyard had Trucks for transporting raw materials and surplus manpower for escort duty, as there were no production tasks for the time being.
"They were also acquired from the bankrupt Shipyard, and their Workers were brought over too. Two people plus Uncle Wu will fill the vehicle perfectly."
Chen Yonggui Nodded, but still hesitated:
"Three people might not be enough. How about this: I'll give you two guns to carry; that will be safer."
Acute gastroenteritis flared up again, with fever and dizziness; I finished typing this chapter in a daze.