Destroying a walled city was something that hasn't happened since the formation of the government. The treasure hidden within dated back to the start of the virus. Of course, the capital walled city would have better treasure. Alexandria and Crimson Judgement still manage to get an impressive haul of treasure which was now being stored inside a makeshift treasure room. They were in the process of building a vault but that would take some time. Finally, there was the resources taken from the city as well. They were able to acquire technology, natural resources, and detailed documents for experimental research and technology.
"The amount of knowledge here is a bit overwhelming. I'm not even sure we could properly go through it all even working around the clock for the next decade if not longer." Amina poured over the documents a sparkle of excitement shown in her eyes.
Alexandria walked over to her putting a hand on her shoulder. "Are you sure you want to tackle this alone? We could give you some help so that things can go a bit faster."
Amina didn't respond right away trying to finish the document she was reading first. Taking a deep breath, she looked up at Alexandria the excitement had intensified. "I will only do this in my free time. I'm the navigator to your flagship after all. If anything, maybe Valentina could speed up the process with her time manipulation. Of course, the choice is yours in the end."
She did bring up a good point. Of course, Valentina's ability could only do so much. There were limits to it and she wanted Isa and Valentina to concentrate most of their training to the vanguard combo attack. "I will consider having Valentina help you in the future. We need to first divide up the resources between the different projects we have running at the moment. I also want you to only focus on the documents that are feasible so no over stretching our resources. Is that understood?"
Rubbing her hands together Amina nodded in agreement. "I've already made a list of the resources that could be used for each of the major projects. I also came up with a payment system for everyone outside of the main crew we used for the last battle. The sum is quite low, so it won't affect any of our spending habits in the future." She handed the document to Alexandria taking the time to go back to the next research document on the table in front of her.
Alexandria took the document reading it over. She was quite impressed with Amina's skills. Everything was budgeted right down to the last coin. They didn't have to worry about wood and other natural resources for the moment since the islands they gathered together could support them for quite some time. "This is very good work Amina. I will leave you for the moment to comb over the research. Don't forget to come to the crew meeting tomorrow, alright?"
Amina nodded as she continued to pour over the research in front of her. There were also a few things about navigation that she placed in a separate pile for when she was on the ship.
Alexandria let out a small giggle as she walked away going to check on Hugo since he was overseeing the unloading of the larger materials. These were being unloaded on the beach since the storehouse was not big enough to hold them at the moment. She also wanted the more dangerous resources kept away from the treasure to avoid any accidents from happening. She reached the beach rather quickly closing her eyes for a moment and taking in a deep breath. There was nothing that beat the smell and feel of the ocean. She would live on it if there was a ship massive enough to act as a floating city. Perhaps that piece of technology was buried in the documents Amina was sifting through. She let out a soft giggle, opening her eyes, spotting Hugo, and walking towards him.
"It would seem things are going rather well. It is a shame we don't have more people with superhuman strength on hand to do some of the heavy lifting." She stopped a few feet from Hugo who was at the moment cataloging some of the materials.
Hugo blinked for a moment looking up to see Alexandria standing there. "Well, hello captain it is good to see you out and about. We have had to do things without abilities for a while now so not having someone isn't an issue. There are ramps, rope, carts, and other things to help more these materials around. I wouldn't want to risk any of your crew just for the sake of convenience." He let out a hearty chuckle checking off a few more items from the list.
Alexandria echoed Hugo's chuckle with a giggle snapping her finger at him to get his full attention. "We want this process to go as quickly and safely as possible. No one is leaving at the moment to fight and carrying cargo even if it is dangerous or heavy is a normal thing for a pirate wouldn't you agree?"
He focused his attention on Alexandria giving her a smirk. "Well, you are right about that. My crew and I have been pirates much longer than you lot have. No disrespect since we are the few males in this world who can travel it freely without the need for a suit or injections."
She was glad to see he was in good spirits. He did have a point about them being pirates for longer and she did want to know how they were immune to the effects of the virus. Of course, that could be a question for later when they had more time to discuss it. "Very well, I see things are going well and from the looks of the beach everything is almost unloaded."
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
"That is correct. We took the time when everyone else was resting to get the ships unloaded. I have already taken the dangerous items of the ships and placed them over there. Once I'm finished cataloging everything else, we are going to move them to a more secure location."
She didn't get the rest much since checking in with Amina and Hugo was important before they had the larger crew meeting tomorrow. Of course, Hugo needed to rest as well since they were the only ones that have been working since everyone got back from the fighting. "Once you are done with that, I want you and your crew to rest. This is not a request but an order. I will have a guard posted on the beach to watch over the resources while that happens."
"Alright, consider it done. We have also started the digging for the treasure vault not far from here. We should be able to have it up and ready within the week. Well, the first section at least." Hugo gave her a cocky grin.
Alexandria let out a playful giggle patting Hugo on the shoulder. "I'm glad to hear it. Also, if that is your attempt at flirting with me don't waste your time. If you haven't already noticed, we play on the same team plus I'm married." She showed him her hand the light catching the ring showing off its brilliance.
"I would never in a million years try to court someone of your caliber. I was merely showing off my building skills. With your permission I wanted to finish things up and go rest unless you had anything else to discuss?" He blinked a bit from the light from the ring giving her a soft smile.
She returned his smile bowing her head a bit. "I will leave you too your duties. I look forward to seeing you at the meeting tomorrow. Rest well and be careful." She didn't give him time to respond since the conversation could've continued for much longer and she wanted him to finish and rest. He was one of the few males that she actually trusted. Taking in a deep breath Alexandria walked away this time going to look for Eve. They had a few things to discuss namely her tension with Lyric.
It didn't take Alexandria long to find Eve. She was at the center of the settlement looking over all the requests on the notice board. It was a good way to gauge the people living here along with find something to occupy her boredom between missions. Of course, she should be looking for people to send on convert missions at the moment. Alexandria raised an eyebrow as she approached. "Please tell me you're doing this for the purpose of finding candidates for your espionage missions and not to satiate your boredom?"
Eve jumped a bit letting out a squeak. "Do you always have to sneak up on me like that?"
Alexandria tried and failed to cover up a hearty laugh. Eve must've been looking for candidates for her espionage mission otherwise she would've sense Alexandria coming a mile away. "I will take your reaction as prove you're working. Have you found any suitable candidates yet?"
Eve shook her head bringing herself back to a semi balanced state. "So far there isn't anyone who could do the job right off the bat. There are a few people who have potential, but I really wanted to find at least one or two we could send out right away." She let out an exasperated sigh pinching the bridge of her nose.
"You don't have to put so much pressure on yourself. Finding people as skilled as you in infiltration is going to be difficult. How much training will the ones you found with potential actually need?" Alexandria was about to let Eve burn herself out before she even got started. There had to be something they could do to offset her expectations.
Closing her eyes tightly Eve went over the time in her head. "Well, just based off their skill on paper and not seeing them at the moment I would say at least a few weeks if not a month. That is just too much time wasted. There is no doubt word of the walled cities fall as reached most of the population which means the time left to gather information and addition allies is ticking down." Eve blew air out of her nose looking up at the sky.
Alexandria knew that the clock was ticking. There was the option of sending Eve out to the most important areas to gather information however she didn't want to wear her out with all that work. "Which places would you want to hit right now if you could? There has to be a few spots that you could do yourself without wearing yourself out of course."
Eve raised an eyebrow thinking for a moment. "The best places to hit would be the free market and then of course the next nearest walled city. Those two targets would give us information on the other clans movements as well as what the nearest walled city is doing after hearing the news."
"Those two places are a bit far apart if I remember correctly. Even with our fastest ship it would still take you the better part of a week or more to just get to one of them." Alexandria paused for a moment really trying to find a solution. Her eyes widened as she snapped her fingers. "What if you took the two people with the highest potential along with you? You could hit the free market first see how they fare and get training in at the same time. After that the walled city could be their test to see if they really have what it takes to work with you."
A chuckle escaped Eve's lips followed by a sly smile. "I do like that idea. Alright I will get in touch with the two and get them up to speed. Hopefully everything goes smoothly. Is there anything else you wanted to discuss before I left?"
Alexandria wanted to talk about the situation with Lyric however now just wasn't the right time. She also didn't want to spoil the moment they just had figuring out the current problem with her mission. Of course, Eve most likely already knew why Alexandria wanted to talk about she just enjoyed hearing it said out loud which made her pretty evil. "I think you already know. However, we will table that discussion until the meeting tomorrow before you leave for the free market. How does that sound?"
Eve smiled giving Alexandria a slight bow. "That sounds like a good idea. I will see you tomorrow at the meeting. Go enjoy some more time with Judy. I have to go and get these to people ready for a bit of hell." She let out a devious giggle walking away in the direction of her future students.
A nervous giggle escaped Alexandria's lips glad she wasn't on the receiving end of Eve's teaching. She was going to take Eve's advance and go spend a little more time with Judy. Things were coming into focus, and the coming weeks were going to interesting to say the least.