Several hours later, the group arrived at the port of Lordaeron. Around a hundred soldiers were assembled there, surrounded by large piles of lumber and ore that had been transported from various locations.
The volume of lumber and ore was massive, piled five or six meters high and covering an area well over ten square meters. Lumber and stone are fundamental building materials, generally considered the easiest resources to acquire.
In addition, there were several large barrels of mercury and a few carts of sulfur, along with two exquisite small boxes.
"We have arrived, Rhodes. I mobilized a batch of lumber and ore for you from the national treasury. Mercury and sulfur were also relatively easy to acquire.
However, gems were much harder to find. As for crystals—Arcane Crystals and other crystal ores—I managed to gather some for you, but the quantity is not very large." Terenas led the group toward the collected materials.
"Let me take a look! If Your Majesty's contribution is useful to the Titan Keeper, then he will directly take these resources.
But regardless, since you helped prepare these resources, he will at least grant you one magic ship." Rhodes said.
Setting aside the other resources, the lumber and ore alone were enough to justify the cost; Rhodes still intended to provide a magic ship.
Whether he could give more depended on the quantity of resources provided by Terenas.
Rhodes first approached the piles of lumber and ore. He received 160 units of lumber and 150 units of ore. Excellent!
After collecting the lumber and ore, Rhodes approached the mercury barrels—five large vats in total, which converted into 5 units of mercury resource.
The several large carts of sulfur were counted as 4 units. The resource conversion rate was quite astonishing!
Seeing Rhodes simply approach the ore, lumber, mercury, and sulfur, causing them to instantly disappear, everyone was filled with astonishment!
They did not know where Rhodes had transferred them, or if the Titan Keeper was responsible. Under normal circumstances, a human's spatial magic bag could not hold such a massive quantity of materials.
Rhodes then approached a small box of gems, which contained various colorful gemstones of differing sizes and shapes.
Gems in the game are also colorful. As for their size, you cannot discern it at all, as there is no icon display.
One unit of gems is certainly not a single gemstone. Unsure how much this small box of gems was worth, Rhodes placed his hand on the box, and a prompt indicated the discovery of three gem units.
The resource conversion rate is a bit low!
However, it was finally confirmed that the gems of the Azeroth World were useful. After collecting the gems, Rhodes turned his attention to the crystals.
In the game interface, crystals are colored red, but in reality, any type of crystal is usually counted as a resource.
The box of crystals, like the previous gems, also yielded three units. After collecting these resources, Rhodes closed his eyes, pretending to communicate with the Titan Keeper, but in reality, he entered the Hero interface.
Building the Level 1 mage Guild had previously exhausted his rare resources. Now, to construct the Level 2 mage Guild, he needed 1,000 gold and five units each of lumber and ore.
All advanced resources required 4 units, and now he was only short 1 unit of gems and 1 unit of crystal.
Having just acquired over 160 units of ore and lumber, Rhodes decided to exchange some resources with the black market merchant. It is only a 100:1 ratio, after all. He could certainly afford it!
"Your Majesty, the Titan Keeper has taken all these resources. The Guardian promised to grant you two magic ships, plus the one he is gifting you, for a total of three ships." Rhodes turned to Terenas and said.
Constructing a shipyard requires 2,000 units of gold and 20 units of lumber, while purchasing a ship costs 1,000 gold plus 10 lumber.
The remaining lumber was sufficient to build four ships. He would keep one for himself and give Your Majesty three.
In any case, the usage rights were entirely in his hands. Aside from himself, no one else possessed a Hero unit capable of sailing them; magic ships cannot be navigated by anyone other than a Hero unit.
"It is good that they are useful. Rhodes, please convey my thanks and Lordaeron's thanks to the Titan Keeper for helping Lordaeron make the westward crossing." Terenas said to Rhodes, letting out a sigh of relief.
Lumber and ore were manageable, but sulfur, mercury, gems, and crystals were much more difficult to acquire.
Especially the gems and crystals, which he had procured only after paying a hefty price.
"Then, Terenas, if you are ready, I will take you to look at the magic ships." Rhodes had already constructed a shipyard within the city and could now purchase vessels.
Terenas nodded and followed Rhodes to the seaside. Rhodes extended a hand and aimed it toward the ocean.
He purchased four ships from the shipyard in the city interface and then released them all.
Following a flash of light, four wooden ships—approximately 7 meters long and 3.5 meters high, equipped only with simple sails, and looking incredibly rudimentary—appeared before the group.
"..." Terenas fell silent, then turned to look at Rhodes.
His expression seemed to ask, "I provided all these rare resources, and this is what you show me?"
What the hell is this? Doesn't this just look like a common fishing vessel?
At best, it was only marginally better than a boat used by an independent fisherman, and it could not compare to even the worst warship in Kul Tiras.
Jaina Jaina covered her mouth and chuckled on the side. The items Rhodes produced were as rudimentary as ever!
In terms of appearance, they were extremely poor; they did not look impressive at all upon first glance.
"Ahem! Your Majesty, you must not underestimate the creations of the Titan. The medical tent Rhodes produced earlier was also very rudimentary.
But its effect was ridiculously potent. These ships might not be as simple as they appear on the surface." Uther quickly stepped forward to smooth things over.
The magic tent was the best example.
"Baron Rhodes, can these magic ships truly accommodate tens of thousands of people?" Terenas looked at Rhodes skeptically.
"Haha! Your Majesty, you absolutely must not underestimate it. Follow me, and you will understand once we enter the cabin." Rhodes smiled, leading Terenas, Jaina, and Uther onto the magic ship.
The deck was not significantly different from a regular sailboat, but it lacked a rudder or similar steering mechanism, as Rhodes could pilot it using his mind.
Rhodes opened the cabin door and led the group inside. Only after entering the cabin did everyone gasp in astonishment.
"The Light above! This... this is actually a spatial device?"
"It is certainly a spatial magic device, but the space is excessively large." Jaina also wore an expression of shock.
The interior size of the cabin far surpassed everyone's imagination. It was an immensely vast space, divided into seven levels. Each cabin level covered an area of 1,500 square meters, totaling 10,000 square meters across all seven areas.
This was far larger than a football field!