Linus was able to rest easy after the first voyage, knowing how effective the newly casted bronze cannons were against his foes. If he could, he would have brought the entire fleet, but due to the shortage of copper ore, he was only able to equip 15 ships with 10 cannons each. And that already took a heavy toll on the treasury, which made Julius very unhappy.
"Son, how was the voyage?" Julius asked Linus.
"It was great. We encountered little resistance." Linus modestly reported.
"Don't sell yourself short, son. Navark Ray happily reported to me how he sank a fleet of 15 pirates ships without them fighting back." Julius replied.
"But it depleted half of the munitions Raymond and the chemists prepared. We have to increase our production capacity. Pops, I suggest we expand our mills for crushing of ores by the river. It will reduce the time and the amount of labor needed by the foundry to cast bronze and crude iron." Linus told him.
