On the Seven Towers

Shuangfan City is a seaport city ranked in the middle of the southern city-states. Although the southern city-states are mostly seaside cities due to the terrain, Shuangfan City is famous for its deep water among many ports. Therefore, although it is not close to the Pearl Islands and takes four or five days more than the nearest city, it is also an important departure port and the home port of many large and medium-sized caravans. Another advantage here is that it is close to the Half Moon Forest and has a sufficient supply of wood. The long-term accumulated wood reserves allow it to have many docks and shipyards.

Jerez is one of the owners of one of the shipyards. It's just that he switched from a sea merchant to a shipyard. In his early years, he saved some family business by running ships. After middle age, he no longer wanted to risk his life on the sea, but he couldn't give up his feelings for the ship, so he took some people and went ashore to build a shipyard.

In the shipbuilding industry, he is a newcomer who has just entered the industry. Although his family has a lot of wealth and the docks he built are also good, his life has always been difficult due to the remote location and scarce customer base. Not to mention that the shipyard owners in the city openly and secretly squeezed the business of a newcomer like him, which made his life even more miserable.

Since the beginning of autumn this year, he has only completed the business of a fishing boat. Apart from that, he has not received a big business. Seeing that the shipyard is empty, the workers hired with money are waiting for wages to fill their stomachs every day. He is anxious in his heart, but there is no good way.

The owner of a nearby shipyard, Hovito, has come to his door several times to discuss buying his shipyard at a low price, but Jerez has refused. He always hopes that there will be an opportunity to turn the tide and let the shipyard overcome this difficulty.

However, the last time Hovito left, he said to him: "There are already enough shipyards in Shuangfan City. If there is one more factory, we will have less food. Do you think there will be any chance? No, you are now like a ship with a broken keel. It is only a matter of time before it is smashed by the waves."

Jerez knew that if he did not have a group of brothers who dared to fight, those people would have rushed to share him. But now they are like watching a tiger struggling in a trap, waiting for it to run out of energy so that they can kill it.

Heres still refused to give up. He still stubbornly wore his sailor's hat and wandered around the big market in Shuangfan City with a few old brothers, hoping to find a good opportunity.

Day after day, he waited for disappointment, until one day, a middleman he was familiar with came to him with two men and women in cloaks.

The middleman said evasively: "Heres, you should know that I brought you this business, but it was risky. Those people had already said that we were not allowed to bring you guests. But I see you have been wandering around here for ten days... Even if I am soft-hearted."

Heres immediately took out two silver moons from his pocket and put them in the middleman's hand. The silver moon coins of the southern city-state are smaller than the silver spears of the kingdom and the silver feathers of the empire, but two silver moons are also a lot of money. The middleman quickly put the silver moon in his pocket, then patted Heres on the shoulder and left quickly.

"He didn't plan to introduce the business to you. If I hadn't insisted on finding a shipyard with a quiet location, light business, and decent craftsmanship, he would have taken me to another place." The man who spoke sounded very young. He pulled back the hood on his head a little, revealing a very handsome face, "Let me introduce myself. My name is Crete, and this is my partner Catalina."

Herez looked to the side. The woman's face was half hidden in the hat, but she looked very young. She had green hair, and her figure was curvy and very agile even in a cloak.

The man didn't carry any weapons, but the woman had a dagger hanging around her waist. Herez was a man who had seen the world. The two men looked extraordinary, and the forces behind them were probably very unusual.

He smiled and nodded, saying, "Anyway, he brought the two distinguished guests here, so I have to accept his kindness. This is also the rule of doing business."

Crete smiled and said, "Mr. Herez seems to be a rule-abiding person."

"Why do you say that?" Herez asked.

"I heard from the middleman that your business here is being squeezed out a lot, which is not surprising. We have dealt with other shipyards before, and I know what kind of people they are. It is normal for them to squeeze you out. But today I saw that you and your subordinates are very skilled. If you go to their door, I am afraid that most shipyards will be in trouble. But you didn't use this advantage, but competed with them within the rules of doing business. This makes me admire you a little bit."

Heres looked at Crete deeply, and then said: "The sea has its own rules, and the shore has its own rules. You must abide by the rules wherever you are, otherwise, you will not end well."

Crete nodded and said: "Very good, we like to do business with people who abide by the rules. Let's go to your dock and take a look, and then talk about the specific content of the business."

"Of course, my dock is new and large, and can build all kinds of ships. Except for the remote location, other old factories have nothing to surpass mine." Heres tried to introduce.

Jerez didn't have a carriage, so he wanted to rent a car in the city to take the two guests there. Unexpectedly, the guests asked to walk with him. So he had to escort the guests to the dock with a few old brothers.

After walking a few steps, Jerez found that the two people walked very briskly. The young man seemed to have a faint magic lingering on his body, and the woman was obviously a martial arts master. Jerez himself was a mid-level warrior, but the two young men and women in their early twenties put a lot of pressure on him. Therefore, he became more suspicious of the identities of the two people.

Jerez's dock is outside the city wall. It takes another half an hour to walk over a hill along the coastline to get there. There are rows of docks and shipyards along the way. There are white sails on the sea from far to near. It is almost evening now. The sun hanging low in the sky casts scattered spots on the sea. Crete and Catalina are attracted by this beautiful scenery, and sigh that the weather in the port city is very different from that in the inland city.

Jerez also relaxed a little and said, "This is the sea, something that is beautiful and brutal. But even so, it is still like a beauty, always wanting people to conquer it."