Chapter 438: Get Me To Serenity!

[Congratulations]

[You have received the Great Harbour of Carthage]

There was a pause for a moment as a subtle feeling of the ground shaking could be felt, it was only minor as if an earthquake had been hundreds of miles away, but Dom felt it regardless. Dom caught the eyes of his guard Actumerus, who had a raised eyebrow as he looked back at Dom, as if expecting the vibration in the floor had been caused by his King once again.

[The Great Harbour of Carthage was the Maritime Hub of Carthage. It was a Cothon, a man made port primarily used by Phoenician related Civilisations. It had a man made rectangular harbour that was protected by walls for the Mercantile ships, with a giant entranceway that could be opened or closed to defend those inside. Beyond the large mercantile harbour, that could easily base over three hundred Naval Ships, was the key to the Great Harbour of Carthage.

The Key to the Great Harbour of Carthage was a Circular Large Inner harbour, with a towering entranceway that could also be opened and closed like that to the main harbour. The Inner harbour led to the main harbour, which then led out to the sea beyond. The Inner Harbour could house up to two hundred and twenty Naval Ships. It was built as a large circular structure with an outer ring structure divided in to docking bays that could be used for maintenance or the building of new ships. Each docking bay featuring a raised slipway so that ships could be pulled from the water easier for repairs outside of the water.

Above the raised docking bays were warehouses, training grounds and housing for naval personnel. In the centre of the circular Inner Harbour, was a raised Island. On the raised Island was a towering building, that was used by the Admiral in Charge to see across the whole of the Harbour, the Sea and the City behind it. The Admiral could easily signal with fire for the Gates to be closed, or if a faster solution is needed, the great metal boom chains beneath the gates could be raised.

The Harbour, both Inner and Outer, were surrounded by high Walls that protected the Harbour and the City itself from any direct attacks from the sea.]

[Great Harbour of Carthage has been renamed as the Great Harbour of Serenity]

[Great Harbour of Serenity will arrive with three small Carthaginian coastal fleets from the peak of the Carthaginian Empire around Three Hundred BC. The ships will be crewed by Carthaginian Sailors from the wider empire, some of their families will also join Serenity and the Lazarus Kingdom with them. Each fleet will include three Quinquereme, three Trireme, three Bireme and Supply Ship, with a total of around two thousand one hundred crew members. The Harbour itself will come with partially stocked warehouses of materials, six currently functional shipyards with more ready to be used. The Harbour will also come with two thousand workers and their families, including: Shipbuilders and Carpenters, Harbour Security, Riggers and Sailors, Administrative staff, Labourers and Dockworkers, Provisions Staff and a variety of Artisans.]

Dom just realised that the Great Harbour of Serenity could have just become the most important military building in his Kingdom. Not only had he gained thirty ships with over six thousand sailors, he had gained a large number of Civilians that could build him more ships, especially Quinquereme which he had just gone from having three to twelve of them. He didn’t know much about Carthaginian Naval Tactics, but he was sure that Crassus would have some ideas as the Roman’s had defeated the Carthaginians and conquered their lands by the time of Crassus.

[Great Harbour of Serenity has upgraded due to relevant Naval Heroes]

[Great Harbour of Serenity

Building Grade - Legendary

Building Level - Legendary

Building Upgrades - Naval Academy (A Training Institute for Naval Personal of all levels from sailor to Captain), Admiralty Offices (A Headquarters for the Kingdom of Lazarus’s Naval Forces), Naval Training Grounds (A sub section where basic ship skills can be learnt before joining the sea, pumps have been created and man controlled mechanisms to replicate different weather patterns)

Building Perks - (Greatest Harbour - Attracts Merchants from across the World) (Naval Masterpiece - Attracts Naval Sailors and Marines from across the World) (Shipbuilders Dream - Ships built here are of an improved quality to other shipyards) (Admirals Dream - More Naval related Civilians will spawn in the City) (Schematic Library - Schematics for all current ships and related ships can be found in the Shipyards, with the possibility for new Naval related Schematics to be discovered)]

"Actumerus, get us a ship. Get me to Serenity!" Dom exclaimed as he read the stats of the building, his mouth agape. He then paused for a second as Actumerus quickly grabbed a Hoplite that was nearby and gave him some instructions. The young Athenian that had only arrived through the Hoplite Complex a day earlier quickly saluting and running off towards some Forbidden Guard to pass on the message. "I need to get my Naval Commanders!"

Dom quickly sprinted towards the Hoplite Complex himself, his guards jogging beside him in their heavy armour as many people watched the King run, surprise on their faces. Dom pushed the doors open and headed towards where his Generals were still gathered. They all looked at him, his face flush as he had sprinted faster than he had ran in a long time.

"King Lazarus, are you ok?" Nicomedes asked, the brother of Pausanias being the first to ask as everyone else seemed to just be looking at him in confusion to his state.

"Thank you Nicomedes, I am ok." Dom replied as he breathed heavily, before looking towards Zhou Yu. "I used the Legendary Building Cube and we received the Great Harbour of Carthage, it has been placed in Serenity, we should go and inspect it."

"We should." Zhou Yu agreed, none of the Heroes present had seen the Great Harbour of Carthage, and most of them had never even heard of it before as it had been built after most of them had existed or they were from a different part of the world. However, some of them head read about it since arriving in Riverside in the Library, or had been told about it from some who had seen it. Zhou Yu had heard about it, and understood the impacts the Harbour could have. "General Subutai, I will take my Naval Admirals, the ships can still move today as planned and we will meet you in Eruthros tomorrow."

"I understand." Subutai grinned, also having an understanding of the positive situation. "I hope your visit goes well, I will have to make time myself after the Battle of Eruthros."

Dom felt a tinge of excitement and nerves when he heard Subutai call it the Battle of Eruthros, as if cementing that the Battle would become a major part of the Lazarus Kingdoms history. He quickly departed with Zhou Yu, Xanthippus, Mardontes and even Su Fei who said he would take a ship north to Megara and cross back to Renatus by horse so he could see what was happening at Serenity. Ling Tong was already scouting ahead at Eruthros, whilst Gan Ning was with Meritamen and her brother at the remains of the Ancient Underground City to the south of Plataea.

.....

"What was the population of Serenity before the Great Harbour arrived?" Zhou Yu asked Dom as they approached Serenity. They were currently on one of the newer Trireme, part of Xanthippus fleet that would return today with Dom, Xanthippus and Zhou Yu, before heading towards Eruthros in the morning. It’s Captain was Eudoxus who Dom had met at the Battle of Mycale Map and seemed to be one of Xanthippus most loyal Athenian Captains.

"Around three and a half thousand." Dom replied as Xanthippus and Mardontes spoke with Eudoxus at the other side of the ship, seemingly pushing the men to move faster down the now much busier waterway than it had been weeks earlier. They had passed Tranquillity around an hour ago and Dom new Serenity would be within sight soon.

"So it now has an extra two thousand Civilian Workers, plus their families. Then there is the families of the Sailors, which you believe to be around another six thousand sailors and twelve thousand civilians." Zhou Yu asked him, Dom knew the actual figure though. The population of Serenity had just increased from three thousand five hundred to twenty one thousand, plus the Sailors and Marines of the fleet themselves. Serenity had just become the biggest City in the Lazarus Kingdom. "Artemisia is not going to be happy."

"She is the Mayor of our biggest City and suddenly has our biggest fleet." Dom countered, but he knew what Zhou Yu meant. She had returned home and was preparing Serenity for it’s new place within the Kingdom, whilst Sun Ce was out at sea with his guests showing them some manoeuvres with some Trireme. Suddenly they would have a giant building arrive in the centre of their City and an increase of people by nearly eight times.

"And the Great Harbour comes with housing?" Zhou Yu asked him, as if trying to work out the rest of the situation. Zhou Yu wasn’t just a strategist, he was also the Sun Quan and Sun Ce’s right hand. If the Wu family had been the Lazarus Kingdom, then Zhou Yu would have been it’s Prime Minister like Shang Yang.

"It does, and it normally houses up to two hundred and twenty Naval Ships, as well as the main harbour." Dom explained, but understood Zhou Yu’s perspective.

"This is a good respite, but we will need to severely increase house building in Serenity. I’ll take a separate ship back and stop by Tranquillity and speak with Elder Qiao. We will need to send a large amount of food provisions as well as whilst the Harbour may have come with some, the Granaries do not hold enough for that many people in Serenity." Zhou Yu explained. The news surprised Dom, not the situation but that whilst Zhou Yu was in charge of the Navy, he had paid attention to the rest of the happenings in the Kingdom. Zhou Yu seemed to notice Dom’s gaze and smiled, "My wife is expecting another child, it seems I may have to temporarily step down from my role for a while in the future to be a father. Or at least that is what she had told me."

"Does Xun Yu know?" Dom asked, as Xiao Qiao, Zhou Yu’s wife, worked for Xun Yu.

"He does, he is very happy for her. He told her to stop working but she disagreed and said her work was too important to the Lazarus Kingdom." Zhou Yu explained, before taking a deep breathe as Serenity soon entered their eyes. A Towering building could be seen in the distance that wasn’t there in the past. "The Admirals Tower I assume."

....

"Helena was visiting." Artemisia said to Dom as he sat down in the Admirals Tower in the middle of the Great Harbour of Serenity. "Thankfully Himilco was so excited as a Carthaginian himself that she didn’t get chance to overly complain about the large wave that caught her at the old docks. I say old, they are not, but compared to this!"

Dom looked out at the view, seeing the new ships slowly make their way out of the Inner Harbour and through the Main Harbour to the Serene Sea beyond. Mardontes, Xanthippus, Sun Ce and Su Fei were with them. With the ten Lazarus Kingdom Trireme that were currently doing exercises also at Sea waiting for them. Dom could see far out of the window, noticing the clouds on the Horizon and seeing the Island of Kos that was just across the bay. He felt that modern technology could build a giant bridge towards it or a tunnel beneath the sea.

Zhou Yu was stood looking out of another window as well, whilst Artemisia sat behind a desk and looked comfortable at it. Crassus had supposedly headed north in the morning, seemingly trying to find some reinforcements again. Dom thanked Crassus deeply, knowing that whilst heroes like Shang Yang and Subutai were instrumental, Crassus was just as important.

"This is a game changer." Zhou Yu commented, as Artemisia nodded in agreement.