Chapter 67
“Careful! Slowly!”
Swaaah, splash!
The early winter breeze swept over the sea in front of Cremo Port.
Waves driven by the wind surged toward the harbor, only to be blocked by the side of a sailing ship.
The large ship trembled and rocked up and down. Naturally, the crane installed on its deck swayed along with it.
Each time it shook, Lloyd’s sharp gaze grew even more intense.
He maintained his focus, staring intently at the sea below, beyond the ship’s railing.
The ship’s captain approached him.
“Has it been pushed to the side?”
“Yes, about 50 centimeters to the port side.”
“Fifty centimeters, you say. Do we really need to adjust for that much?”
“Of course,” Lloyd replied, lifting his head to look at the captain.
“Even a minor deviation is unacceptable, especially considering the size and design of that caisson we’re lifting with the crane.”
Lloyd pointed upward. The captain followed his finger and saw it.
Two large ships, aligned side by side.
On their decks stood cranes, similarly aligned, lifting and transporting an enormous structure.
The structure Lloyd referred to as the “caisson” was a massive wooden box, 16 meters wide, 16 meters long, and 30 meters tall.
Its top and bottom were completely open, leaving only a hollow frame. The colossal, peculiar wooden box dangled precariously in the air between the two ships, suspended by the cranes.
The captain couldn’t help but wonder.
‘What on earth is that for?’
It wasn’t intended to float.
Its sole purpose was to be submerged.
But then, why move it at all? What purpose could sinking it serve?
Lloyd smirked bitterly.
“Captain, you might not realize this, but that caisson was designed and built to fit its placement site precisely. Now, what do you think would happen if there’s an error in positioning it?”
“Hmm, perhaps…”
“The entire construction would fail, wouldn’t it?”
“…”
“Then Count Cremo wouldn’t be very pleased, would he?”
“…”
“And he’d be sure to extend you a warm invitation to hold you accountable for it.”
“…”
“Do you think you could handle that situation?”
“O-Of course not.”
“You couldn’t, right?”
“Then, hmm, we just need to align it 50 centimeters to the starboard side?”
“Exactly, that’s it. Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
Lloyd smiled faintly. The captain barked orders at the sailors, who quickly got to work.
The two large ships tilted slightly to the right, correcting their alignment.
Lloyd’s gaze sharpened further as he observed the sea.
He simultaneously activated his surveying and design skills.
‘Tsssss!’
With his surveying skill, he analyzed the seabed conditions for the installation site.
The design skill’s options also activated.
[Skill-Specific Option ②: Floor Plan Display (3D) function has been activated.]
A holographic projection overlapped his field of vision.
Using the design skill and simulation options, he visualized the artificial foundation he had planned.
The foundation appeared as a three-dimensional floor plan on the seabed.
Thanks to this, Lloyd accurately identified the precise location for the caisson.
‘Good.’
He gave a thumbs-up to the captain, who shouted instructions.
The crane’s cables loosened.
The heavy caisson descended.
Splash!
It hit the water, submerging further and further until it finally reached the seabed.
There was no deviation from Lloyd’s design.
‘A great start.’
With the caisson securely positioned, Lloyd felt relieved.
—
Two days passed. During this time, Lloyd ordered hundreds of wooden piles.
“Each should be 15 meters long and 30 centimeters in diameter. Please strip and smooth them from poplar trunks.”
“Poplar, you say?”
“Yes,” Lloyd nodded at the Count’s chief steward.
“It’s the most accessible and moisture-resistant timber in this region.”
Indeed, poplar was historically used in early Venetian foundations, even for the famous San Marco Basilica.
Its reliability as a material was historically proven.
“So, it would be fantastic if you could prepare them quickly and sturdily.”
“Huh? Oh, yes, of course,” the steward stammered, flustered by Lloyd’s seemingly magical Korean tendency to emphasize urgency.
Thanks to that, Lloyd received all the piles within three days.
By then, the wooden box, the caisson, had settled firmly in place in the front sea.
Its immense weight played a part.
‘The seabed is full of silt and mud.’
The soft seabed allowed the heavy structure to sink deep.
It was similar to how a car left on soft ground, like a swamp or sandy beach, would sink under its own weight.
The caisson dug into the soft layers, reaching the firmer clay and sand mixture known as the ‘caranto’ layer, securing it in place.
This was why the bottom of the caisson was left open.
The open top, on the other hand, was for draining water.
“Alright, Hamang?”
“Hamang!”
“Do you like saltwater as much as freshwater?”
“Hamang! Hamang!”
“You love the salty taste?”
“Hamang!”
“Perfect. There’s plenty of saltwater here.”
“Hamang!”
“See inside that caisson?”
“Hamang!”
“You can drink it all.”
“Hamang!”
Splash!
Hamang leapt into the pool-like caisson, opening its mouth wide.
It began gulping down seawater.
‘Swoosh!’
A vortex formed as Hamang’s body swelled like a water balloon.
As the seawater level inside the caisson dropped, it eventually revealed the bottom.
Two meters, three meters, five meters… until the floor was exposed.
“Hamang! Hamang!”
Lloyd even prepared a bamboo straw for the now enormous Hamang.
Thanks to Hamang, every last drop of seawater inside the caisson was thoroughly drained.
“Hamaang!”
With Hamang’s cheerful laughter, the inside of the caisson became perfectly dry.
The seabed, which would serve as the foundation, was completely exposed.
Of course, no seawater from the outside could enter.
The high outer walls of the caisson effectively blocked the waves, and the lower part of the caisson, embedded several meters into the ‘caranto layer’, prevented any water infiltration.
A perfectly dry construction site had been created in the middle of the sea.
‘It’s a success. Thankfully, everything went as planned.’
Lloyd clenched his fist in triumph.
The modern ‘box caisson construction method’, adapted to the local conditions, had worked perfectly.
At the same time, he had harbored some anxiety.
What if the new method failed?
What if water seeped into the caisson?
To address these concerns, he ran countless simulations to refine the design.
His efforts paid off.
‘No water is seeping in. It’s flawless.’
With the first stage successfully completed, Lloyd immediately pushed forward to the next step:
—
“Alright, Javier?”
“……”
“It’s finally your turn.”
“……”
“Excited? Heart racing, isn’t it?”
“Not really… Hah.”
Javier let out a deep sigh, then looked at the enormous wooden hammer in his hands.
‘Can this even be called a hammer? No matter how I see it, it looks like a battering ram.’
Indeed, the hammer was massive.
The head alone was 1 meter long, and the steel handle was as thick as an arm and over 2 meters in length.
It didn’t seem like a tool meant for human use.
Lloyd, who had handed him this monstrous tool, seemed particularly infuriating at the moment.
“Lloyd-nim, are you—”
Javier’s voice turned noticeably colder as he looked back at Lloyd.
“Seriously treating me like construction equipment?”
“Of course.”
“……”
“You’ve been doing this all along, and you’ll continue to do so.”
“But I’m a knight.”
“I know.”
“I didn’t train in swordsmanship to do this every day.”
“Well, you should change your perspective.”
“Change my perspective?”
“Think of it this way: you trained in swordsmanship just to do this kind of work every day.”
“……”
“See? That makes it all worthwhile, doesn’t it?”
“How does that even make sense…?”
“Hey, everything in life depends on your mindset. You’ve heard of Master Wonhyo, right?”
“I don’t know who that is, nor do I want to think like that.”
“Ah, what a cynical young man.”
“Please revise that statement. It’s not the world I view cynically, but you, Lloyd-nim.”
“And yet, despite saying that, here you are holding the hammer.”
“That’s… well…”
“An endearing gesture to ensure you don’t lose your lullaby service, right?”
“……”
“Alright, enough grumbling. Let’s get to work.”
Lloyd set up a large wooden pile, positioning and securing it firmly.
It was an immense weight that an ordinary person couldn’t even hold steady.
Thanks to the ‘Asrahan Heart Technique’, Lloyd mustered all his strength and managed to hold it in place.
Beads of sweat gathered on his face as he flashed a grin.
“One strike. Precisely. Got it?”
“…Understood.”
Reluctantly, Javier adjusted his grip on the hammer.
—
Javier leaped into the air in one swift motion, raising the hammer high.
His blue eyes gleamed as he brought the hammer down like a bolt of lightning.
‘Boom!’
The hammer struck the top of the pile with pinpoint accuracy.
Javier, a ‘Sword Expert High-Rank’, unleashed not only the mana from his ‘Manaheart’, but also the amplified power of his ‘Triple Circle’, all in a single blow.
The result was astonishing.
‘Thunk!’
The 15-meter-long pile was driven entirely into the ground in one strike.
A deep smile spread across Lloyd’s face.
“See? You’re good at it.”
“……”
“Alright, let’s do another one.”
As Lloyd positioned the second pile, Javier let out a resigned sigh and raised the hammer once more.
—
One by one, they drove countless piles into place.
The 15-meter-long ‘poplar piles’ were densely packed, spaced 60 centimeters apart.
‘Good. The piles are going in perfectly.’
Each time a pile was driven into the seabed, satisfaction gleamed on Lloyd’s face.
There was no concern about the piles rotting over time.
Once deeply embedded in the ground and submerged in water, without exposure to air, even wood could last for centuries.
‘As long as the piles are fully submerged and don’t contact air, they won’t rot. Even after hundreds of years, they’ll remain solid.’
This was the very principle that had sustained Venice’s historic structures to this day.
‘Whoosh! Boom!’
Javier jumped and brought the hammer down.
With each strike, another pile was firmly driven into the seabed.
“Good! Keep it up!”
“You don’t need to rush me.”
Lloyd’s enthusiastic encouragement and Javier’s sharp retorts echoed through the air as yet another pile was driven into place.
—
[Days Later]
The seabed beneath the caisson was filled with over 700 piles.
The construction proceeded smoothly and rapidly.
The tops of all the piles were leveled, connected with steel bars to form a solid frame.
Additional reinforcement was added to the steel structure, and the caisson was filled with Roman-style concrete made using ‘volcanic ash’ collected with Bangul’s help.
With proper curing, the concrete dried perfectly under the favorable weather conditions—mild early winter sunlight and dry winds.
Once the concrete base had solidified, the caisson’s edges were removed, trimmed to match the foundation height.
Thus, a 256㎡ artificial marine foundation, measuring 16 meters by 16 meters, was completed.
“By the way, the height of the artificial foundation was deliberately set this way.”
“You deliberately set the height? What do you mean?”
“Count, do you know what time it is right now?”
“Of course, it’s high tide.”
“Correct. I adjusted the foundation height to be exactly 50 centimeters above the water level during high tide.”
“Haha, I see. Impressive,” the Count remarked, nodding as he gazed at the water.
It was a day with moderate waves.
The crests of the waves nearly touched the top of the artificial foundation but never quite reached it.
“This is excellent. If Gigatitan were to see the mermaid statue from afar, they’d surely think it’s floating on the sea.”
“That was precisely my intention.”
And it was true.
Additionally, this area had relatively small tidal fluctuations.
Even during low tide, as long as there were moderate waves, it would be difficult to discern the artificial foundation from a distance.
“Good, very good. But you do realize the work isn’t over yet, correct?”
“Of course.”
Lloyd understood the Count immediately.
His construction work was complete.
The artificial foundation was finished.
But the project wasn’t truly done yet.
‘The statue hasn’t been erected yet.’
The artificial foundation he had built was merely the base for the statue.
“So, now it’s my turn to wait, I suppose.”
“You won’t be waiting long.”
“Understood.”
It was now time for the artists tasked with creating the statue to take over.
Lloyd also anticipated that the payment for his work wouldn’t come until the statue was fully installed.
‘From the Count’s perspective, that makes sense. If he pays me now and something goes wrong with the foundation during the statue’s installation, it would be a disaster.’
This also meant that Lloyd would need to stay in the area for a while, in case there were any issues with the foundation requiring after-service.
‘Might as well take a break while I’m here.’
The journey from the barony to Cremo had taken two grueling weeks.
Upon arriving, he had immediately begun preparations and construction without a moment’s rest.
A break was long overdue.
So, Lloyd truly took his time to relax.
For the duration of the statue’s installation, he lounged around at the inn every day.
Occasionally, he played word games or riddles with Javier.
During this time, Javier received seven more love letters from the Count’s daughter, Lady Christine.
Each time, Lloyd couldn’t help but exclaim in mock despair, “What kind of world is this?!”
—
Two weeks later, the massive mermaid statue was finally completed.
That evening, a grand completion ceremony was held.
Six sailing ships were anchored beneath the towering statue, and a shipboard party was hosted.
Naturally, Lloyd and Javier were invited.
Both donned formal attire, purchased specially for the occasion, and attended the celebration.
‘Looking at it like this, it’s almost like the Statue of Liberty,’ Lloyd thought as he gazed up at the towering mermaid statue from the deck of a ship.
The fiery glow of the sunset reflected off the sea, casting a radiant hue on the statue.
From this perspective, the statue appeared magnificent and beautiful.
Thinking that he had designed and built the foundation for such a masterpiece filled Lloyd with an immense sense of pride.
And so, Lloyd remained blissfully unaware.
As did everyone else attending the party.
Even the citizens of the harbor city, winding down for the day, had no inkling.
‘Grrrrr…’
Far off in the waters beyond the statue, a colossal creature, 90 meters long and weighing 2,500 tons, fixed its fierce eyes on the mermaid statue, watching intently.
