Chapter 248 - Rattlesnake
Translator: TeamTWO
Editor: Jun
The arrival of Tan Xiaoli and Meng Feifei was only a little spindrift in the ocean in the life of the great lord of Shanhai.
With the identity and status he had now, Ouyang Shuo need not entertain the others. He acted and moved according to his own will; every decision made was well-directed without the slightest distractions from external elements.
The Dongli Sword Sect was given to Song Jia with full authority, so Ouyang Shuo would not intervene in it. He believed that Song Jia had the ability to handle matters well.
On the second day, the cousin brother of Cui Yingyu, Cui Shouren, sent Ouyang Shuo a parcel of gratitude. Based on Ouyang Shuo's conjecture, the Cui Chamber of Commerce had made a fortune during the food crisis.
The Cui Chamber of Commerce was grateful for Ouyang Shuo's help, and was thinking of ways to repay the debt. As gold and silver were too common as reparations, they had prepared a special gift.
Ouyang Shuo opened the parcel; a book laid quietly in it. He picked it up and inspected the properties of the book.
According to the historical studies, the ancient Chinese pearls cultivation technology had started to embark during the Song Dynasty. As time flowed, the pearls cultivation technology was nearly fully matured during the late Ming Dynasty, and it held a certain economic value.
The raw materials were mainly the 'Tridacnidae' or more commonly known as the giant clam. However, ordinary calms could be used too. The pearls cultivation technology was relatively simple, the pearls' cultivating cycle ranged from months to a year.
Ouyang Shuo was still thinking on how to develop Xila lake, and this gift was just the timely aid he needed. If the cultivation of pearls were implemented on a large scale in Xila lake, it would then turn into another industry with a bright future.
Ouyang Shuo called over Yingyu to explain his plan for the cultivation of pearls. According to Ouyang Shuo, the cultured pearls would be placed under the jurisdiction of the Industry Division of Finance Department, while Tian Feng City would be in charge of the cultivating operations. Ouyang Shuo would assign 1000 gold to support the establishment of the cultured pearls industry.
Cui Yingyu was in joy after listening.
After the discussion, Ouyang Shuo called over the secretary Bai Nanpu and handed over a black-iron village creation token, the
The village creation token he handed to Bai Nanpu had been merged with the [Token of Territory Merging], so it could be directly used without Ouyang Shuo having to present himself on the spot.
As the 3 black-iron village creation tokens were merged with the [Token of Territory Merging], the token had disappeared into thin air in a flash of white light.
Along with the items was attached a letter handwritten by Ouyang Shuo. In the letter, Ouyang Shuo explained his plan of the pearl cultivation industry, and he instructed Zhao Dewang to revive the potential of Tian Feng City with the token. After the revival of the city, the refugees spawned would have to be sent to work on the cultivation of pearls. It was purposed to develop it as the core industry of Tian Feng City.
Other than that, Ouyang Shuo did not forget to send Yishui City a village creation token. As the cousin brother of Cui Yingyu, Cui Shousi had been sent there to act as the city magistrate. Ouyang Shuo believed that he could decently maximize the use of the token.
As for the last village creation token, Ouyang Shuo kept it in his storage bag, leaving it for another use.
After everything was settled, Ouyang Shuo went over to the relay station and sent his little aunt 5000 gold, and he requested her to purchase a premium shipyard building blueprint. In the letter to his little aunt, he also stated that he would like to ask her to put up a bridge and contact the Rattlesnake mercenary group, as there wassome cooperation he would like to discuss about.
The Rattlesnake mercenary group, although not listed in the top ten list of mercenary groups, were still very famous as they were true mercenaries in the real world.
However, the Rattlesnake mercenary group was still low key, and only a few knew of their background. Thanks to his past life, Ouyang Shuo had some understandings about them.
The cooperation he mentioned was that he would like to hire the members of Rattlesnake as the instructors of Shanhai's military. Their job would be to help the Shanhai military by providing training to the scouts and special forces.
In regards to this matter, Ouyang Shuo could not work along with Zhan Lang, who was supported by the military. Hence, his only shot was the mercenaries.
Ouyang Shuo requested his little aunt to act as the middleman. As his little aunt and the Rattlesnakes were all adventurers, they could communicate with each other better. If Ouyang Shuo had approached the Rattlesnake mercenary group in person, it would seem a little odd.
Jian Ye, Base of the Snow-War Rose Mercenary Group
Lin Jing frowned upon receiving Ouyang Shuo's letter; she mumbled to herself, "What sort of business does this brat have with the Rattlesnake mercenary group, how did he come by this name?!"
"Jingjing, what are you mumbling about?" Xie Siyun who was beside her asked.
Lin Jing raised her head and said awkwardly, "Siyun, do you have any contacts with the Rattlesnake mercenary group?"
"The Rattlesnakes?" Xie Siyun frowned. "From what I know, they're also based are in Jian Ye. I had seen their leader once, Black Mamba, during the gathering of heads of Jian Ye. I heard that they're keeping an unusually low profile, why do you ask?"
"Little Ouyang Shuo wants us to put up a bridge between him and the Black Mamba. It seems like he have intentions to cooperate with the Rattlesnakes, but he had not specified what."
"Cooperation?" Xie Siyun lowered her head and pondered. She said slowly as she recalled, "From the clues and trails, the Rattlesnakes should be a fixed group in the real world; they don't take in new members and remain around 500-600 in number, not even the size of a medium guild."
As the president of the Jian Ye Overlord guild, Xie Siyun was familiar with each and every guild in the city, but there was an exception. She only knew a little about the Rattlesnake mercenary group.
Xie Siyun shook her head and also shaking her thoughts away, she said with a wry smile. "What a mysterious nephew you have, thousands of miles away and yet he is still so familiar with the mercenaries in Jian Ye. Since he mentioned it, he must have his own reasons. Alright, I will contact the leader Black Mamba and see what does he has to say."
"Alright." Although Lin Jing grumbled about Ouyang Shuo, his requests weren't taken lightly.
The base of Rattlesnake mercenary group was situated in a humble courtyard in the city of Jian Ye. If Snow-War Rose wasn't a large party in the city, they might've not been able to find it at all.
Xie Siyun and Lin Jing had decided to personally visit the Rattlesnakes.
"Who are you?" The guard were alert.
In a situation like this, it was always handled by Xie Siyun. She answered their doubts with a smile. "We are from the Snow-War Rose; we have something for your leader. Please pass the words."
To the adventure players in Jian Ye, how could they not know the name of Snow-War Rose? The guard of course knew who they were. His heart skipped for a beat, but he remained calm on the surface, "This way please!"
Xie Siyun and Lin Jing glanced at each other, both of their eyes filled with surprise. The quality of the members of Rattlesnakes were so high. Even an ordinary guard was so calm and steady; the Rattlesnakes were deeply hidden, and must not be underestimated.
Xie Siyun was even more surprised. There exists such an elite mercenary group in Jian Ye and yet she was clueless about it. It seemed like she had to reevaluate the Rattlesnake mercenary groups.
It was also one of the reasons why Ouyang Shuo requested Lin Jing to act as middleman. Other than the fact adventurers communicate better with their own, he also wanted to tell them that the Rattlesnake mercenary group was not as simple as they thought it was.
The mercenary Rattlesnakes' main businesses were assassination contract, kidnap, assault and any other requests by their employer. They were a bunch of dangerous men.
The guard led the two ladies into the meeting room, and he said, "Please wait for a moment, I will now report to the leader."
Xie Siyun nodded and answered, "Thank you."
A short moment later, laughter came from outside of the meeting room. The man wasn't there but the sound had reached them.
"Haha, guests of importance, welcome welcome!" The sound was like the bright and sunny sun, clear of gloomy dark atmospheres, warming the hearts of those around.
A man walked into the meeting room. He was dark-skinned, had a strong physique, was tall and buff with an army of hair, giving off an aura of masculinity.
Xie Siyun and Lin Jing stood up, their hearts filled with doubts. The black mamba snake was venomous and insidious, but the man who stood before them was nowhere close to that even though he carried the name of Black Mamba.
"We are sorry for the sudden visit." Xie Siyun said.
Black Mamba nodded. He sat down, smiled and said, "It is an honor for the two great leaders of the Snow-War Rose to pay me a visit." In actual fact, he was also surprised and curious about the sudden visit.
The two parties had simple greetings and Xie Siyun went straight into the topic, so she said, "We are here today for two reasons. The first is to enhance the relationship between the two mercenary groups, and the second is that we were requested to do so by someone."
His sights congealed and his aura changed. The warm bright man was no more and the atmosphere was stagnated; it could almost suffocate the weak. Black Mamba was astonished. They kept a low profile but in the end they were still noticed by someone.
"Who is it?" in a solemn voice Black Mamba asked.
Xie Siyun was shocked. Her heart trembled, but she was no ordinary woman either, she stayed calm and said, "Lord of Shanhai City, Lian Zhou Marquis Qiyue Wuyi."
"What a man of high prestige, no wonder he can instruct the two of you." Black Mamba gazed carefully at the two ladies. His sights were filled with questions, wanting to know what was the relation between the Snow-War Rose and Shanhai City.
Xie Siyun ignored his wordless questions, and summarized the situation. "Lord Wuyi would like to have cooperation between Shanhai City and the Rattlesnake mercenary group, what do you think?"
"Cooperation? What kind of cooperation?" Black Mamba asked curiously. He felt that the Shanhai lord from thousands of miles away had his eyes on him. This feeling, to be honest, didn't feel good.
Xie Siyun shook her head. "The details will be discussed between you and the Shanhai lord. But, with his high prestige, he will not say meaningless words."
Again his sights congealed. Even without Xie Siyun saying so, he would still pay a visit to the legendary lord of the Chinese server. His heart would never rest at ease without knowing who the lord was and what business he had with the Rattlesnakes.
"Alright, Rattlesnake as a mercenary group will naturally not decline business. May the President of the War Rose pass the words to Lian Zhou Marquis, I will am always ready to pay Shanhai City a visit." Black Mamba reverted back to his usual image of a bright and warm gentleman, and answered like a businessman.
Xie Siyun nodded; she stood up and left with Lin Jing.
Chapter 249 - Special Forces
Translator: TeamTWO
Editor: Jun
On October 14, Ouyang Shuo received the premium blueprint and reply letter from his little aunt Lin Jing.
Ouyang Shuo first threw the premium shipyard building blueprint to Bai Nanpu in the office next to his, instructed Bai Nanpu to deliver it to Beihai City, and demanded Beihai City to immediately upgrade the shipyard.
He then returned back to his office and opened the letter.
In the letter, his little aunt Lin Jing said that she had contacted the leader of Rattlesnake mercenary group, Black Mamba, and that he was very interested to see what Ouyang Shuo had to offer when he arrived at Shanhai City.
Ouyang Shuo nodded. Sure enough, Shanhai City was now a giant no one could look down on. He immediately wrote a letter to invite Black Mamba over to Shanhai City tomorrow to discuss their cooperation.
Since he still had some free time, he took a trip to the military factory located on the outskirt and retrieved a batch of military grain pills for the upcoming naval battle.
In order to increase their success rate, the shipyard followed Ouyang Shuo's request and was now upgrading the 25 Meng Chong warships of the Beihai navy fleet with naval rams and inner metal plates.
As for the trump card, it would naturally be the alchemical oil. Ouyang Shuo would very much like to see how the wooden ships of the pirates would perform when faced with the fire arrows of alchemical oil.
The following day, Black Mamba arrived on time and was welcomed by Ouyang Shuo in the hall.
Along with the mercenary leader were two other gentleman. After the introductions, they were Viper and Cobra. Ouyang Shuo knew very well that only the core members of Rattlesnakes could embrace the name of a venomous snake.
While Shanhai City only had Ouyang Shuo who was accompanied by the director of Military Affairs, Director Ge Hongliang.
"What is it that the Lian Zhou Marquis would like seek from the Rattlesnakes?" Black Mamba was straightforward.
Ouyang Shuo understood their doubts and worries. If he didn't clear them off and they remained wary, the cooperation would never continue on as he planned. Ouyang Shuo nodded and said, "As the saying goes: A straightforward person does not resort to insinuations. I know very well that you are mercenaries in the real world. I am here today, inviting you over with the hope that you can return back to your destined role."
Black Mamba's sights congealed, his bad foreboding came true.
In truth, being mercenaries was not a big deal, especially after the occurrence of the interplanet migration, there was simply nothing more to hide. What Black Mamba was wondering was how Ouyang Shuo had found out their identity.
Ouyang Shuo made the conversation clear. He didn't want both parties to be tangled on their respective identities.
Black Mamba was also an extraordinary man. After Ouyang Shuo had spoken clearly, he stopped hiding and said, "You are indeed worthy of the name of Lian Zhou Marquis. I am now very curious, what kind of cooperation can people like you have with us?"
"Simple." Ouyang Shuo explained. "I hope the Rattlesnakes can send over a team of instructors and be stationed in Shanhai City. They will assist Shanhai City in training an elite special operation force. How is that?"
His idea was simple. It was to implement the tactics and strategies of modern warfare to the armies of an ancient era. It would be hard and difficult; the idea was whimsical, and it required the help of professionals.
Rattlesnake was one of the best international mercenaries. The elites of the elites. Their combat capability and combat tactics were comparable to the special forces.
Black Mamba was stunned. He was shocked but the whimsical idea of Ouyang Shuo. This was the advantage of a layman. Because he was clueless about the industry, he dared to propose such a mad idea.
Of course, the high understanding of the game played an important role too. From Ouyang Shuo's point of view, there weren't so many restraints and rules. While others saw Earth Online as a game, he simply looked at it as the real world.
Ouyang Shuo didn't find it weird at all implementing modern knowledge in this world of the ancient era. He was completely a pragmatist to the marrow of his bones.
Black Mamba and the others were stuck with the usual set of inertial thinking. In their heads, the game was in the end only a game and it should not be related to the brick and mortar real world. Since the theme of the game was the ancient era, they would play along and adapt themselves to the general affairs of the ancient era.
Ouyang Shuo noticed that a bright white light flashed in the eyes of Viper who was standing behind Black Mamba. It seemed like he was excited by the whimsical idea of Ouyang Shuo.
The members of Rattlesnake mercenary group were all true mercenaries, so there were no need for them to go through special training anymore. Their thoughts and actions would unconsciously drift towards the ways of special forces. Maybe they didn't realize it either, but the ways of special forces seeped deep through into their bones and had became a part of them.
The idea Ouyang Shuo proposed was a stimulus to the war activists; it was difficult and challenging. But it was in their bones that they feared no challenges, rather, they enjoyed the challenges. The more challenging it was, the more exciting it was as well.
Black Mamba, as the leader of Rattlesnakes, was the perfect lead example. But at the same time, he was also the most sober man. Although his blood-boiled heart pumped in great excitement wanting to comply to Ouyang Shuo's idea, his cool-headed mind was constantly reminding him to fight for the benefits of the mercenary group.
He suppressed his excitement and became the master of his own emotions. He calmly asked, "The idea Lian Zhou Marquis proposed, it is indeed interesting. But, what are the prices are you willing to pay?"
Ouyang Shuo had well understood the needs of Rattlesnakes. The offering price was something they could not resist.
"I am willing to pay with God-arm Crossbows, with this number." Ouyang Shuo lifted up 5 fingers.
"50?" Black Mamba was a little unsatisfied.
Just as Ouyang Shuo thought, as the mercenaries, the God-arm Crossbows were the best cold-weapon for them. 50 God-arm Crossbows were close to Black Mamba bottom line expectation.
"No." Ouyang Shuo shook his head, "500 of them."
*Hiss.. Even with his immense control over his emotions and remaining calm all the time, he still couldn't help but to take in a breath of cold-air to calm his heart.
500 God-arm Crossbows, that was sufficient to fully equip the entire Rattlesnake mercenary group. Basing on the current market price, the total value would not be less than 8000 gold, and the supply in the market was unstable too.
"Alright!" Black Mamba slammed on the table as he stood up in excitement. "The Lian Zhou Marquis is truly generous. The Rattlesnakes accepts your terms and the deal is sealed. Rest assured, the best instructors of the Rattlesnakes will be sent over to Shanhai City." Ouyang Shuo's generosity earned Black Mamba's recognition and his approbation towards the cooperation.
Ouyang Shuo nodded. This was exactly what he wanted.
Then next thing they needed to do was to expand further discussions on the details of the cooperation.
The agreements included that the Rattlesnakes would send over 10 core members including Viper and Cobra to station in Shanhai City and assist Shanhai City with training a special forces.
In the afternoon, Ouyang Shuo invited Black Mamba, Cobra and Viper over to Restaurant Sangu for a banquet.
On the table, Black Mamba raised his cup of Three Flower Wine, smiled and said, "Shanhai City is truly worthy of its name as the World's First City. It really opened my eyes."
Ouyang Shuo nodded, smiled and said nothing.
After the banquet, Black Mamba returned back to Jian Ye while Viper and Cobra stayed back.
To train a special force, the first thing that needed to be done was to select the appropriate candidates. Only the best of the best could join the training. Needless to say, the first thing that came into Ouyang Shuo's mind was the Guards regiment. The whole of regiment would be joining the training.
But at the same time, in order to avoid the gossips and unpleasantness from the other units, Ouyang Shuo had decided that all of the 5 regiments from the 1st Legion could recommend a squadron of soldiers to participate in the screening. While the 3 city defense regiments of Shanhai City, Qiushui City and Friendship City could recommend 50 soldiers to the screening.
Other than that, Ouyang Shuo had instructed the spies of the Military Intelligence Division to join in as one of the abilities of the special forces was scouting, and that was exactly what the Military Intelligence Division needed.
After knowing the situation, all 3 heads of Military Intelligence Division had requested to join. The words Ouyang Shuo spurred on them were still ringing in their ears. Now that they had the opportunity to receive specialized training, of course they wouldn't miss it.
Seeing that the intelligence gathering workload was not as heavy as before, Ouyang Shuo approved their requests.
Therefore, the total number of candidates had reached 3,250 in number. Ouyang Shuo did not set any slots. He would be leaving it to the instructor's jurisdiction. They would decide who stayed and who left.
After the candidate selection, it would establish a proper specialized training base.
The training camp would be placed in the outskirts. Qiushui City was located beside the woods, so it was a good option. In the afternoon, Ouyang Shuo led Viper and Cobra to the southern suburbs of Qiushui City.
Under the professional advice of the two mercenaries, they had chosen a piece of woodland. It was special because it had a pond, making it an ideal source of water. It could also be utilized in certain training programs.
Other than that, there would be another naval training base in Beihai City.
Ouyang Shuo had specially invited Sun Xiaoyue over. Under the suggestions of Viper and Cobra, Sun Xiaoyue drafted the architectural building blueprint, and handed it to the Construction Division.
The training base required many professional equipment and facilities. There were some modern facilities such as high pressure water guns that couldn't be achieved under the existing condition, so they could only look for alternatives.
To establish a qualified training base and to realize the whimsical plan, Viper and Cobra would have to make use of their specialized knowledge finding alternatives and improvise the existing conditions to meet the required standard of facilities.
Not only that, but the establishment of the base would require the coordination between Construction Division, weapons workshop, woodworking workshops, and the others.
The complexity and importance were to the point that Ouyang Shuo personally asked the master of weaponry, Liu Mo, to slow down the research of Research Institute No.7 and come over to cooperate with the Rattlesnakes in perfecting the training facilities.
For the establishment of the training base, Ouyang Shuo had thrown in all of his resources and funds.
His full support encouraged the enthusiasm of Viper and Cobra. At 4 PM in the afternoon, the other 10 instructors from Rattlesnake arrived, and immediately submerged themselves into the preparation work.
The candidate selection and training base establishment would be synchronized. The candidates recommended by the units would also have to go through a series of internal screenings. Before the completion of training base, Viper and the others would commence a round of physical fitness tests in the western outskirt of Shanhai City. This would also be the first round of screening selections.