Across the vast Mediterranean, a fleet was sailing slowly over the sea. The wind and waves were mild, and in the distance, the azure waters and deep-blue sky met at the horizon, painting a dazzlingly beautiful scene.
This fleet was transporting part of Spain's gold to Australasia, completing the second stage of the agreement between Spain and Australasia: transferring Spain's gold to Australasia.
Of course, the transaction between the two sides could not be completed in a single exchange. Australasia could not provide Spain with a huge quantity of weapons and equipment all at once, nor could Spain hand over all its gold to Australasia in one go.
While sailing through the Mediterranean, the Australasian Fleet remained highly vigilant.
The fleet was carrying as much as fifty tons of gold, roughly one-tenth of Spain's total gold reserves, with an enormous total value.
The actual value of 500 tons of gold was equivalent to 515 million Australian dollars. Even one-tenth of that amounted to 51.5 million Australian dollars—fully one-ninth of Australasia's annual fiscal revenue.
What the Australasian Fleet was guarding against, naturally, was the Italian fleet stationed in the Mediterranean. The actual value of those fifty tons of gold was enough to buy five capital ships, while its potential value far exceeded that of five capital ships.
If the Italian Army truly lost its senses and deployed every warship to attack the fleet transporting the gold, that transport fleet might not necessarily be a match for the Italian Navy.
Of course, that possibility was extremely slight. Italy had already chosen to back down earlier, and there was a very high chance it would not change its mind in the short term—unless it had already prepared for war.
The good news was that as the fleet crossed the entire Mediterranean from west