Chapter 635: Seize the Golden Fleet, Garrett, You Come Up with the Exam Questions!
"Me? Join the Navy?"
Garrett looked up from the medical records, bewildered. I'm a doctor! I'm busy with the cesarean section project! And now you're dragging me to the navy?
"We're not asking you to fight! The navy is about to depart, and we need you to test the healers. If anyone needs extra lessons, you'll provide them."
Garrett stared blankly at the speaker. A Level 9 healer mage, somewhat familiar, but he couldn't remember the name. You're three levels higher than me; can't you assess their skills yourself?
"It's the stuff you came up with! We don't fully understand it. You made it, so you set the standards! Hurry!"
Garrett was dragged away. He mounted Apa and rushed to the navy camp:
Priests, healer mages, and necromancers, gathered together.
The air was thick with the tension of impending war, permeating the camp.
The sudden increase in pirate ships from the Orc Kingdom was not an isolated incident. In fact, it was part of a grand scheme by the council, finally coming into play.
The Magic Council had previously negotiated with the dwarves, barbarians, vampires, and the Orc Kingdom for cooperation. The agreement was to unite and attack the Radiant Church's fleet. But before that, there was a lot of preparation to do;
The vampires occasionally launched raids on the border of the Kingdom of Rhine, even penetrating small towns slightly inland. This diverted the Radiant Church's attention, making them deploy their divine practitioners to the land borders;
The barbarians stuck to their old habits: raiding the northern territories of the Radiant Church, rowing longboats along the coast, robbing and fleeing.
The Magic Council provided them with new steel weapons, new armor, places to sell their loot, and even a small amount of penicillin. With the steam engine, the production of iron ore and steel products had increased, indeed.
The Orcs were responsible for the southern sea area of the Radiant Church. In that calm, basin-like sea, even a small wooden boat could easily cross two to three hundred miles. Pirates swarmed, completely capable of drawing the church navy's attention to the inland sea.
Then, the outer sea navy...
The Radiant Church and the Brolyn Kingdom's navies occupied three continents: the Old Continent, where the church was based; the vast Wild Continent to the south of the Old Continent; and the resource-rich section of the New Continent, from the Storm Islands to the southernmost tip of the continent.
Especially the New Continent, which was so distant that it required crossing the ocean and storms, sailing continuously for dozens of days. A strong fleet was essential. Thus, the Radiant Church's rule over the New Continent was essentially like this:
A fleet would go over, station there for a few months. Then, another fleet would return, bringing back gold, silver, precious magical materials, and various valuable items.
Each fleet's return was a windfall for its owners.
The council targeted the Radiant Church's annual return fleet, known as the "Golden Fleet." This fleet was the largest, carrying the most gold, silver, and valuable items.
More importantly, it was almost exclusively owned by the Radiant Church, not co-invested with other kingdoms or local lords...
Injuring ten fingers is not as effective as breaking one.
Weakening the Radiant Church's power while minimizing damage to local nobles' forces would increase the likelihood of rebellion, feigned compliance, and other possibilities!
Even half a year ago, when Garrett was sent to receive vampire visitors, he was kept in the dark about the fleet robbery plan. Only the leaders of each delegation and a few core members of the council knew about it.
Even after the agreement was reached, it was kept strictly confidential. Personnel were quietly trained, fleets quietly moved, and materials quietly purchased...
Even non-military nobles and spies from the Radiant Church (if any) were to be kept in the dark. Garrett, who was completely absorbed in medical projects and had even gone home for a visit, knew nothing at all.
Until he was dragged into the military camp. In the spellcasters' area, a large group of healers were busily working, seemingly nearly a hundred. Garrett estimated that if each ship had two healers, this scale would suffice for fifty ships...
Moreover, it was unlikely for a ship to have more healers. Generally, a large wooden sailing ship of five to six hundred tons would have one priest above Level 5, possibly with an apprentice.
A smaller ship of one to two hundred tons might only have one low-level healer or none at all, relying on the flagship for treatment if they survived a battle...
"So, what am I testing them on?"
A note was shoved into his hand.
That afternoon, all the healers gathered in a lecture hall. Invisible servants rushed around the room, distributing test papers. Garrett banged on the desk from the podium:
"No looking around! No whispering! No copying! No using Arcane Eye, Eagle Eye, Keen Sight, or summoning magical pets!"
The methods of cheating in a magical world were far more than in his previous life. Could I borrow a few archmages to invigilate... I have no experience, I can't manage this...
The healer mage who brought him here solved all problems with a single command:
"No magic or divine spells allowed!"
The healers, including the necromancers, began their test with grim faces. The papers were filled with text and diagrams, several pages long:
"The daily dosage of the antidote for [Ocean Plague]? Briefly describe the administration method—"
"Describe the preparation of penicillin skin test solution and the skin test procedure."
"Describe the storage method of penicillin agents."
"List the indications for penicillin."
"Describe the medicinal dosage, preparation method, complications, and rescue methods for penicillin."
"Explain the principles of wartime first aid."
"Describe how to use [Detection Magic] for diagnosing and resetting fractures."
"The binding position and key points of a tourniquet."
"Draw the locations of major blood vessels on the diagram, and indicate the needle insertion points for blood collection and transfusion."
"Precautions for storing transfusion devices."
Sodium ascorbate, for suppressing scurvy.
Penicillin, to combat various mysterious infections from sea voyages and battles.
Promoting wartime rescue plans.
Teaching blood transfusion...
Counting on his fingers, Garrett proudly realized that he could reduce the navy's mortality rate by... well, about five percent?
"Stop daydreaming! Get to work on the papers! After the written test, there's a practical exam. Theory is useless without practical skills! Especially you, from Black Crow Swamp!"
The lecture hall was filled with groans of despair.