As the saying goes, a tall building starts from the ground up.
What's the first step if you want to create an entire fleet?
Hmm, that's right.
You must first own a ship.
Guilliman didn't want to deal with those damned evil mermen again in the small wooden boat of the dryad girl, which could easily capsize with a single poke. He needed at least a large cargo ship capable of carrying dozens of people.
Furthermore, this ship would soon be responsible for transporting materials to Black Tern Island, so it had to be sturdy and large enough.
After setting his goal, he immediately took action.
Guilliman first went to the Temple Quarter of Vizima and then entered the most popular inn there, the Hairy Bear Inn.
This inn was right next to Vizima's port, and its prices were cheaper than those in the Trade Quarter. Opposite it was the cheapest brothel in the Temple Quarter, with the most girls, called "Desire for Love."
If sailors and captains wanted to go ashore for some entertainment, this was their best choice.
Sure enough, as he pushed open the inn's door.
He was immediately met with a huge din and the stench of mixed alcohol, vomit, and sweat.
This was the poor district, and the Hairy Bear Inn was the cheapest inn in Vizima.
You couldn't expect the patrons here to be particularly refined, nor could you expect them to pay much attention to personal hygiene.
However, even though the smell was quite unpleasant, Guilliman remained expressionless.
For a Witcher who dealt with ghouls, monsters, and corpses every day, what was this level of stench?
Before he even walked further into the inn, his distinctive tall stature immediately attracted the attention of many patrons.
A somewhat rough, hoarse voice spoke up:
"Hey! Mr. Witcher, over here."
"Come over and have a few drinks, it's been a while."
Hearing this somewhat familiar voice, Guilliman turned his head and saw that it was Iron Axe Black and several of his lumberjacks, whom he had met before.
At this moment, the brown-bearded, dwarf foreman, wearing a huge horned helmet, was drinking, his face flushed, and he was grinning widely with a missing tooth, looking very happy.
After spotting this acquaintance, the Witcher didn't bother looking for the innkeeper.
He walked straight to Iron Axe Black's table and took an empty seat.
He familiarly patted the dwarf's shoulder and then greeted him in a gentle tone:
"Is it a holiday today, Black?"
"You seem to be in high spirits, you must have earned a lot recently!"
"Oh, thank you for your help last time. The drinks today are on me."
Having just acquired a treasure, the wealthy Witcher didn't care about this small expense. Besides, the dwarf had been very helpful last time, so he considered it a gesture of reciprocity and networking.
Sure enough, no one was unwilling when someone offered to pay.
Iron Axe Black and his lumberjacks immediately burst into laughter.
The middle-aged dwarf even joked:
"Good, good, good! Truly a friend that all dwarves like."
"Master Guilliman, since you're treating, I'll have to drink a few good bottles."
The Witcher chuckled, not caring, and casually called over a nearby bartender, ordering a bottle of red wine for himself, along with some braised beef and other meats.
He first chatted with Iron Axe Black for a few moments, discussing their logging business, some rumors in the city, and some gossip from other countries.
When he heard that Guilliman was looking for a qualified captain, and even a large merchant ship to buy.
Iron Axe Black suddenly patted his chest and laughed, saying:
"Master Guilliman, you paid for the drinks correctly today, you've found the most suitable recommender."
"Our logging business requires us to deal with those captains every half a month to transport the cut timber back to the city."
"There's almost no one in the city who knows more about the captains' situations than I do."
Hearing the dwarf say this, the Witcher couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, marveling at his luck.
It was a good thing he hadn't resorted to violence to solve the lumberyard problem back then, making a useful connection.
Indeed, it's always better to have more friends.
The world is so big, and no matter how good your swordsmanship or how strong your magic, many problems cannot be solved by combat power alone.
Iron Axe Black was a talkative dwarf, and after a few good drinks, he had already recommended several candidates to Guilliman.
There were local captains with clean backgrounds, whose families had been operating merchant ships in Vizima for generations.
There were captains with strong combat abilities, who had fought pirates at sea and even achieved great victories.
There were even big merchant captains with a keen business sense, who frequently traveled between Novigrad and Vizima, and already had their own fleets.
However, the Witcher wasn't very satisfied with any of these candidates.
The person he needed, while ability was secondary, most importantly had to be of good character, trustworthy, and obedient enough.
Hearing his requirements, the middle-aged dwarf scratched his scalp, then suddenly seemed to remember something, hesitating before offering another candidate.
"For those requirements, there is one more person who can meet your conditions, but his current situation is a bit special."
"We all call him Blackbeard Zod, from the Skellige Isles, in his forties, an experienced old captain."
"But he's had terrible luck recently. During his last voyage at sea, he encountered an attack by a group of sirens, nearly half of his crew died, and he lost a lot of cargo."
"But Blackbeard Zod is a trustworthy and responsible captain. To compensate the merchants for their losses and pay for the funerals and support of the deceased crew, he sold his own ship."
"Now he's not only penniless but also in debt, working as a laborer at the docks to pay it off!"
"Do you want to meet him?"
Hearing about Blackbeard Zod's plight, Guilliman was surprised again.
What the hell? In this medieval era of moral decay and lack of credit.
There was actually a captain who sold his livelihood and even went into debt to compensate his employees and pay off debts.
This guy was too responsible, too honest.
From this point alone, the other party's character wouldn't be bad, which was quite in line with his requirements.
Guilliman silently considered for a few seconds, and just as he was about to agree, the bearded dwarf opposite him suddenly remembered something, leaned in mysteriously, and said:
"Oh, Master Guilliman, I also heard a rumor."
"Blackbeard Zod's uncle is also a powerful Witcher, apparently from the Bear School."
"More than ten years ago, a group of pirates robbed his merchant ship and kidnapped him as a slave."
"As a result, when this news reached that Witcher's ears, in less than half a month, that notorious pirate group, with dozens of members, was wiped out by one Witcher."
"It is said that this incident was quite famous in the Skellige Isles at the time."
Hmm, it even involved a Bear School Witcher.
Although he didn't know if it was true, thinking of the Bear School swordsmanship he hadn't learned yet, and the possibility of making connections with some people from the Skellige Isles through this captain.
He smiled and patted the dwarf's shoulder, saying:
"Thank you, Black."
"You've given me a lot of useful advice."
"Please have someone invite this Blackbeard Zod over for a drink."
"Since you praise him so highly, this captain must be a good man."
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