"Since you’re all old friends of Du Yu, you’re my brothers as well. Please, sit. This is real Dragon Flesh, hunted in the desert a while back. It took quite a bit of effort to get. Du Yu, please take good care of these friends for me," Qin Ziwen said with a smile.

Du Yu understood at once. Knowing his lord’s intentions, he led the three men to the front hall.

Qin Ziwen and his brother continued to work in the back kitchen.

By the time he carried the steaming hot Dragon Flesh out to the front hall, Du Yu and the three men were already getting along famously.

"I never expected Brother Du to have such an opportunity. To think such a magical place exists in this world," Yan Da said, deeply moved. When he looked at Qin Ziwen again, his eyes held a newfound awe.

They were all men of the martial world, speaking its slang and living by its rules.

When they met someone with true skill, a sparring match to test their mettle was inevitable.

A moment ago, in a bare-handed fight, the three of them had taken turns attacking, yet Du Yu had single-handedly taken them all down.

The three fell silent, completely stunned.

Brother Du’s abilities were truly formidable.

And according to him, his lord’s abilities were even greater than his own... ’It’s almost unimaginable.’

As he ate the meat, perhaps because he’d seen the dragon’s head, Yan Da found its aroma especially fragrant and its flavor unique.

The three were devouring their meal when Yan San put down a bone, his words full of admiration for Du Yu. "Brother Du, we are thoroughly impressed by your skills. Apart from our abilities in the water, everything we three brothers have is in our hand-to-hand combat."

"To take down the three of us empty-handed... I doubt even Grand Guardian Lü, the ’Fist That Shakes the Yellow River,’ could manage that."

Du Yu smiled faintly. "Honestly, when I first arrived, my skills were no different from yours. I owe everything I have today to our lord’s training."

Hearing this, the expressions of the Yan Family’s Three Brothers shifted.

Yan San’s face filled with longing, while Yan Wu lowered his head in contemplation, sneaking a glance at his eldest brother.

Yan Da looked thoughtful. His gaze swept over his two brothers before finally settling on Qin Ziwen.

"Boss Qin," he said, cupping his fist. "We three brothers were born fishermen, making our living in the river since we were boys. That’s how we developed our skills in the water. Later, we studied under an old master who had left the monastic life and learned the basics of martial arts. That’s how we ended up with the nickname ’The Three Ghosts of the Yan Family’ in the martial world. Our parents passed away a few years ago."

"The Court is corrupt, and we’re no longer willing to be attack dogs for those bastards. Hearing what Brother Du described today has lit a fire in our hearts. If you, Boss, don’t find us too crude, we’ll go through fire and water at your command!"

Qin Ziwen was overjoyed. He slammed his hand on the table and said to his brother, "Xiaowu, go get a jar of Yellow Rice Wine! None of us are going home sober tonight!"

After three rounds of drinks, Qin Ziwen formally invited the three to join him.

All three of them accepted.

This time, Qin Ziwen tried assigning them directly to a residence instead of the tavern.

He gave it a try, and sure enough, it worked.

And so, the three men’s "slots" were assigned to the newly constructed Level 2 Residence.

Afterward, Qin Ziwen, Du Yu, and Qin Ziwu worked together to carry the three drunken men to the residence.

He then found Jia Liangcai, gave him a few instructions, and finalized the arrangements for the three men.

After leaving the residence, Qin Ziwen asked Du Yu how the three men’s fighting skills were.

Du Yu thought for a moment before giving them a "decent" rating.

"Then that’s fine." Qin Ziwen was satisfied. ’For Du Yu to rate them as ’decent’ is actually quite good.’

Most importantly, they claimed to be skilled underwater. ’I’ll have to test that thoroughly once they wake up.’

The three men didn’t wake up until evening.

After waking up, Yan Da rubbed the space between his brows. He thought for a long time, recalling the conversation from before he got drunk, and took in his surroundings.

When he stepped out of the house, someone was already waiting for him.

"The warriors are awake," Liu San said with a smile.

Yan Da cupped his fists. "Sir, do you know where Boss Qin is?"

"That, I do not know. Lord Jia might," Liu San said, shaking his head. ’Even if I knew the lord’s whereabouts, I couldn’t just blurt it out.’

Yan Da said, "It’s alright. We’ll just wait here for the Boss."

Yan San looked around, his curiosity piqued by the strange, new environment.

The massive structures in the distance looked particularly impressive.

Before long, Qin Ziwen heard the news and hurried over. "Hahaha, you’re awake just in time! My three brothers, come with me."

Qin Ziwen led the three men to the Ghost Ship Dock.

Construction on the Ghost Ship was complete. A layer of Ghost Gold Ship Membrane had been applied over its original frame, covering up the scar-like seams.

Qin Ziwen now only had one Node slot remaining. Of his other two Nodes, one was on cooldown, and the other was located dozens of meters deep in the ocean.

He felt it wasn’t appropriate to launch the Ghost Ship directly into the deep sea. Although the vessel was already exhibiting some strange properties, it was still a far cry from the eerie, phantasmal Ghost Ships of legend.

Launching it directly into the deep sea could cause it to sink a second time.

Sending it out through the main gate of the Home was also impossible; the ship was too big and the gate was too small.

For now, a Node was the most suitable option.

But if he used his last Node to anchor it to the sea’s surface, he would temporarily have no spares left to place.

After weighing his options, Qin Ziwen decided to use it anyway. After all, what’s the point of building a ship if you’re not going to set it sail?

’Otherwise, what would be the point of expending so much energy to build a massive ship, only to keep it hidden away at home, too afraid to use it? It would be a complete waste.’

’Still, I need to choose the location for this last sea-surface Node very carefully.’

’And I should pick the perfect opportunity.’

Qin Ziwen thought of the Mosasaurus.

’If it shows up again, maybe I can place the Node on the sea surface right next to it and launch a surprise attack.’

Behind him, the Yan Family’s Three Brothers who had followed him were all stunned by the sight of the Ghost Ship.

"Brother, only the Emperor’s own Dragon Boat could be this big, right?"

Yan Da said with feeling, "Normally, those Cao Ships and Merchant Ships are only six or seven zhang long at most. This behemoth... it must be over fifteen zhang."

"Wait, Brother, look! The ropes on the mast... they seem to be moving," Yan Wu suddenly said, raising his hand to point at the ship.

"What’s so strange about ropes moving? A deckhand pulls a rope and you jump out of your skin..." Yan San started to mock his brother, but then his pupils contracted, and he swallowed the rest of his words.

Because he saw that the ship’s rigging was moving on its own, with no one controlling it!

"There’s something strange about this ship."

"It’s our new boss who’s extraordinary," Yan Da remarked. He noticed that Qin Ziwen was completely unfazed by the ship’s movements, which meant he already knew about its strange properties.

"And look at the sails. They’re so light and wispy, like smoke. I can’t imagine how this ship was built," Yan Wu said, shaking his head. He then considered why Boss Qin had brought them here. ’Could it be... we’ll be stationed on this ship from now on?’

...

...