Chapter 45 An Accidental Encounter at the Governor's Mansion

After arriving here, Fang Senyan had clearly defined what he needed to do:

First, sell off the smuggled goods he brought from Tortuga. This was a very profitable deal, at least enough to inject 20,000 gold pounds of circulating funds into his rapidly shrinking vault.

Next, take a look at the Governor's Mansion. Although he knew that Miss Elizabeth's gold coin would definitely not be easy to obtain, he still had to give it a try. It is worth mentioning that the Aztec curse attached to the gold coin actually originated from the box containing the gold coins. Anyone who took a gold coin from that box would be cursed, but Turner and Elizabeth didn't take the gold coins themselves; they just ended up in their hands, so they weren't cursed.

If Captain Jack Sparrow hadn't arrived in Port Royal yet, Fang Senyan wouldn't mind visiting Will Turner, who was still moonlighting as a blacksmith's apprentice. After all, he was likely to become the next captain of the Flying Dutchman, so it was good to get acquainted beforehand.

Finally, the reason Fang Senyan was desperately trying to make money was for consumption. Gold pounds weren't very meaningful to contractors. However, Fang Senyan had heard pirates say that a powerful alchemist also lived in Port Royal, whose achievements were no less than those of the deceased Mr. Bacon. Fang Senyan knew very well that the quality of an alchemist's services was often linked to the amount of gold pounds, so he was so enthusiastic about making money.

Although the incorruptible Colonel Norrington strictly prohibited smuggling, privileged classes who scorned the law existed everywhere, whether in foreign countries or China, whether in the Middle Ages or in modern times. As long as there were high profits, there would definitely be buyers.

For example, according to Philip's information, a merchant house called "Sheffield" appeared to only deal in red wine on the surface, but the boss dared to buy anything... because, according to reliable sources, the mastermind behind the boss was the beautiful Miss Elizabeth's father, Governor Swann of Port Royal. He was a stern and kind father, but also a shrewd and greedy governor.

The transaction process need not be said. Gold Mine didn't expend much effort to unleash his two great weapons: his eloquent arguments and the crackling sound of his abacus, very civilizedly forcing the shopkeeper to yield. In the end, the polite and gentlemanly shopkeeper, Mr. McKinney, still wiped away cold sweat as he sent them out. Fang Senyan's account gained nearly 30,000 gold coins in profit.

Just as the two sides were about to separate, a shrewd glint suddenly appeared in Mr. McKinney's seemingly cloudy old eyes. He took out a very exquisite gold-plated business card from his sleeve, coughed twice, and said to Fang Senyan:

"Gentlemen, since the cooperation between the two sides has had such a good start, then you are already qualified to become a VIP of this store. There will be a very special auction tomorrow. If you are interested, you can participate with this business card. I must add one point: since the wise Colonel Norrington took over Port Royal, this is the first time such an auction has been held, and the next one is far away, so there must be something you want at this auction. Of course, whether you can buy it depends on your financial resources."

"Something we want?" The black brother grinned silently. There was no malice in his smile, it was just a self-deprecating smile because he thought of the difficulty of obtaining the Aztec gold coin.

But old McKinney interpreted this "black slave's" smile as contempt and ridicule. As everyone knew, the British were polite only to conceal their arrogance in their bones, so the old man immediately stepped forward, straightened his wig, lowered his face gloomily, and lowered his voice:

"If I tell you that among the goods at this auction, there are twenty brand-new carronade guns just ordered from Hamburg, ranging from three-pounders to seven-pounders, will this gentleman take away the contemptuous smile on your face?"

The black brother and Reef didn't care, but Fang Senyan and Mr. Gibbs were shocked when they heard the five words "carronade gun". For this era, the effective range of ordinary artillery was only a few hundred meters. The carronade gun had both the ultra-long range of a cannon and the accuracy of a howitzer. The range could almost be doubled, and the accuracy was the same as other artillery!

Such cutting-edge weapons were of course desired by everyone, but given the manufacturing process at the time, the scrap rate was very high when they left the factory, and the cost was also very high. To put it bluntly, if a Class III ship was entirely equipped with carronade guns, then the money spent would be enough to build five Class III ships of the same level.

The fact that this thing could be found at the auction was enough to show that the corruption in Port Royal had reached its roots. These twenty brand-new carronade guns must have been intercepted from the ordnance that was originally going to be distributed to Norrington. Now, while Norrington was out fighting, they were being sold off at a high price!

Fang Senyan's face also became solemn:

"I'm sorry, sir, I apologize for his ignorance. I am honored to receive the invitation, and I will definitely come on time tomorrow."

Old McKinney's self-esteem was finally satisfied. He raised his head slightly and bowed, then walked away without looking back with that very stylish pride. Fang Senyan thought for a while, then smiled, waving the invitation in his hand:

"Now that he says so, I'm really interested in this auction."

At this time, Mr. Gibbs naturally began to urge Fang Senyan, eager to find out about his boss, Captain Jack Sparrow's whereabouts. Fang Senyan knew that if the normal plot development was followed, then he would have to wait two or three days. Colonel Norrington would appear when he was promoted to commodore.

What did Norrington rely on to be promoted to commodore? Obviously, he had established great merits in the battle with the Chevalier pirate group to do so. Fang Senyan certainly wouldn't tell his dear Mr. Gibbs his own analysis and judgment, but for Mr. Gibbs, who had been down on his luck for several years, even if he noticed that Fang Senyan was deliberately procrastinating, he didn't think there would be anything wrong with enjoying the days of being supplied with good wine and meat in the tavern.

Obviously, the Governor's Mansion, located on the hillside behind the port, was the most luxurious building in all of Port Royal. The only one who was of the same rank as the governor, Norrington, was also qualified to have such a luxurious mansion, but he was a guy who was strict with others and strict with himself. His residence was in the military camp and was very simple. So, it didn't take Fang Senyan and the others too much effort to find the Governor's Mansion.

Probably because the security situation in Port Royal was quite good, Fang Senyan and the others didn't find very tight security here. The only threat were two sailors, who were yawning greatly at the entrance of the Governor's Mansion, looking very listless.

However, after Fang Senyan checked the information, he realized that Norrington was indeed good at leading troops. The average stats of these two guards, who were his direct descendants, were only around 30 points. They seemed relatively mediocre, but the two abilities they possessed were troublesome.

Ability 1: Team Spirit lv4 (Passive). Whenever a companion is added nearby, health increases by 10,000 points, up to a maximum of 40,000 points.

lv4 Effect: Increases health by an additional 10,000 points.

Ability 2: Ambush lv1 (Active). This ability can only be activated when facing away from the enemy. Use a firearm or throw a sailor's knife to hit the enemy's back vital point, causing them to enter a bleeding state and reducing movement speed by 50% for 15 seconds. This ability has a cooldown time of 10 seconds...

The first ability made it impossible to kill them quickly, and the second ability meant that when you wanted to escape, they could quickly trip you. Fang Senyan also carefully observed that the straight-line distance from here to the barracks was only one mile. Unless it was like the Black Pearl's large-scale attack and invasion in the plot, otherwise, once the gunshots rang out in the Governor's Mansion, the entire military camp would swarm over in five minutes.

At this moment, Fang Senyan suddenly saw the iron gate of the Governor's Mansion open, and a young man walked out. He was carrying a long box under his arm, and he looked back at the Governor's Mansion reluctantly every few steps.

Following his gaze, they could see a beautiful blonde girl behind the second-floor window of the Governor's Mansion, seeing him off. When the young man turned his head, Fang Senyan immediately realized that this handsome guy wearing gray stockings, a Scottish skirt, and a red tie should be one of the purposes of his trip, Will Turner.

Obviously, the beautiful woman behind the window was Miss Elizabeth. Compared to her pure and beautiful appearance, it was hard to imagine that she was so sharp and so good at using her unique feminine charm as a weapon, so much so that even Captain Jack Sparrow was played by her under her pomegranate skirt.

After Fang Senyan withdrew his gaze from the second-floor window, he saw Mr. Will Turner walking towards his group with a sullen face:

"What are you doing here, loitering suspiciously?"

Fang Senyan stood up and said:

"I come from the East. I heard that the Republic of Great Britain is rich in products, so I came here specifically to find some special products to transport back to the East for sale."

Will Turner stared into Fang Senyan's eyes very distrustfully, obviously not believing his statement:

"Then the place you should go is the exchange, not in front of the Governor's Mansion!"