After passing through the storm, the temperament of the sublime inland sea became unusually mild. A week later, at noon of the eighth day to be exact, a black arc appeared on the horizon where the sky and sea were the same color as the sea. It was the mountains of Metz. The sailors re-measured the position of the fleet and confirmed that they were in the waters near Fathom Tan. In fact, the imperial patrol ships with red sails could already be seen on the sea level.
This imperial patrol ship came from the nearby Fathom Tan Port. The sailors on the ship were obviously frightened when they saw a huge fleet coming out of the clouds in the afternoon sun. They were in a flurry for a while before they sent out a signal and asked who they were.
"They usually ask with the Wind Message Spell when they get close. Sometimes they also use flag signals. They should be warning the port now," Ivram explained in a muffled voice as he stood by the bow of the ship.
Brando nodded and responded faintly, "Tell them our identity."
…
"Did you see clearly what they said?" Hellman, the captain of the imperial patrol ship, turned around and asked his second-in-command. The drunken old man was already half sober from the shock. He threw away the wine bottle, took the brass binoculars, and looked at the unfamiliar fleet in front of him shakily.
"They said … they are the fleet of the Bugas," the first-in-command replied with trepidation.
"What, the Bugas! What are they doing here? Are you sure you're not mistaken? "
"Sir, I'm sure I'm not mistaken, unless they are using the wrong flag signal."
"Then what do you think?" Hellman touched his unshaven chin. "This is the fleet of the Bugas?"
The first-in-command stared at the sea of sails shining like silver scales on the clouds. His expression was complicated, but he still nodded honestly. It was the one and only fleet in the world, the fleet of the Silver City.
…
The nominal owner of Fatham Harbor, Baron Ludwig Metz, was a little restless in his office today. Just a quarter of an hour ago, the men he sent finally figured out the origin of the fleet that suddenly appeared at his doorstep. It was really the fleet of the Bugas, and it was said that they had encountered the air force of the Jorgendy Ridge south of Loen Harbor and fought once. It seemed that these Bugas were actually allies of the empire. However, the wizards rarely intervened in mortal wars, even in the previous holy war, they watched coldly from the sidelines. Baron Metz did not understand why the other party suddenly changed their attitude, but at least they brought news of the Evergreen Corridor south of the Evergreen Corridor, and the noble refugees, which could not be faked. His second-in-command also said that he saw Earl Alcorn and a few other leading figures among the refugees. With these people as witnesses, Baron Metz did not think that the other party was faking it.
However, seeing the huge fleet docked in the harbor, Baron Ludwig Metz could not help but be a little worried. He was not worried about anything else, but how long these wizards would stay here. It was not a simple matter to support the logistics of such a huge fleet. Even if the other party was self-sufficient, with so many warships flooding into the harbor, it was inevitable that the harbor would be affected. Not to mention other things, just the number of berths alone was reduced by more than half, and all of that was money.
On the other hand, as the lord of a city, Baron Metz was also respected in the empire, but after all, the other party was a Silver Person, and had unknowingly surpassed the ordinary people. The empire had always boasted of being the center of civilization, but this center was usually limited to the area under the rule of the Holy Cathedral of Fire. Even Fanzin and Saint-ausol might not be respected, let alone other places. Nowadays, most people advocated civilization and order, and it was well known that most of the civilizations of this era were inherited from the previous era, and many had been lost in the flames of war, not to mention the priceless ancient documents stored in Babel Tower before the Battle of Dusk. In this regard, the Silver People had an innate advantage over the Black Iron civilization, not to mention the craftsman wizards who boasted of being the 'keepers of knowledge'. Therefore, in the eyes of the world of this era, the arrogant and isolated Bugas were simply synonymous with glory and civilization, born to be high and mighty. Among the ordinary nobles, the culture of the Silver City-State was very much admired, especially in the territories of the major empires, to the extent that it had almost reached a morbid level of subservience to culture.
Although Baron Ludwig Metz was pragmatic and was not the kind of hardcore Bugas admirer, but as a member of the high-ranking noble circle, it was inevitable that he would be affected. When he thought of having to deal with those white-robed, gentle craftsman wizards in the clouds, for a moment, he felt a little uneasy in his heart.
If Brando knew that an excuse he casually made up could give rise to such a mentality in an imperial noble who had been on the battlefield for a long time, he wondered if he would laugh his head off. But at least he would never believe that there were any gentle craftsman wizards. When he was a player, he had stayed in the Silver City-State for quite a long time, and the wizards he had seen were generally of two kinds — either very pragmatic, or similar to science fanatics. The former were mostly from the Silver Council, and the latter were mostly from the Silver Society.
At this moment, the baron was thinking about what kind of attitude he should use to meet these noble guests later. Suddenly, he heard footsteps in the corridor outside. He raised his head, and the office door was suddenly pushed open with a creak. This change made Baron Ludwig Metz frown slightly, thinking that these southerners really did not know etiquette. They pushed the door open without waiting for the announcement. He did not expect that it would be the Bugas who came in from outside. In his opinion, the Silver Folk should be much more civilized than the people on the ground, and certainly would not do such a rude thing.
As soon as the door opened, Baron Ludwig Metz did not see the silver-robed Bugas wizards, but what made his eyes widen was a group of soldiers in armor, blue battle robes, and halberds. These soldiers were certainly not his subordinates, because he had seen them come straight up to him and pointed their spears at him from left and right.
"You are …"
Baron Ludwig Metz was stunned for a moment before he finally found the origin of this military uniform in the deepest part of his mind. His expression changed several times, and finally he blurted out:
"Erouine's men?"
…
It was Erouine's men.
Unfortunately, Baron Ludwig Metz realized it a little late. In fact, this was exactly what Brando wanted to achieve. He used the Bugas fleet as a cover, hoping to make the people in Fathom Harbor lower their guard. Fortunately, the fleet itself was built by the Bugas, and the warships themselves followed the consistent style of the wizards. In addition, Count Alcorn and others on the ship testified, even if the Cruz people wanted to be suspicious, it would be quite difficult.
Things developed as he expected, and the fleet entered the port without any hindrance. After the warships docked, the soldiers on the warships rushed down to remove the weapons in the hands of the Cruz harbor guards. Those guys still could not believe that the Bugas wizards would suddenly turn hostile and attack them. After all, in their opinion, the Silver Folk did not care about what happened in the mortal world at all. Worldly power was like a fleeting cloud to them. Thousands of years of tradition had almost formed a kind of inertia, and this inertia allowed Brando to build a great advantage.
He commanded The Shire, Eugenie, Marjory, Ivram, and others to "take over" the entire harbor, and then personally led a team directly to the castle where Baron Ludwig Metz was located. They did not encounter any resistance along the way, and even the castle guards personally opened the gate for them. When they were forced to have their weapons confiscated, they were stunned and asked these Erouine's men what they wanted to do.
But when these people finally realized that they were not facing the Bugas, but Erouine's men, they showed a similar look to Ludwig Metz himself. First, they were shocked and could not believe it, then they were shocked and could not believe it.
For these people, Brando did not have time to answer their doubts for the time being. With a wave of his hand, they were all locked up in the dungeon under the castle. In this way, almost without any trouble, he and his fleet took over the harbor.
Of course, this was only temporary. After all, he was just an outsider. If he wanted to rule such a huge city, it was definitely not enough to rely on the few Aouine people in his hands. At most, he could only capture the upper echelons in one fell swoop. As for the lower echelons, he did not have the time nor the ability to capture all of them. Moreover, even if he had the ability to do so, who would manage this city for him after he locked them all up in the dungeon?
In order to make such a huge port work, the amount of manpower needed was not small.
Fortunately, he did not only have Erouine's men in his hands, but also a considerable number of Cruz nobles. These people were all prominent figures in the Empire. With these people in his hands, he could justifiably take over the city under the pretext of military control. The Empire was in a state of internal and external troubles. On the east side of the Evergreen Corridor, the Empire and the Wind Elves were locked in a fierce battle. On the south side, there was the sudden appearance of the Jorgendy Ridge army. Not to mention, a few days ago, the Lion Men of Toquinin finally captured the Anzeruta Fortress Group. It could be said that at this time, the situation in the south of the Empire was in a deep quagmire, and even the Metz region was exposed.
At this time, they were nominally allies of the Empire. A Bugas fleet, after reaching a consensus with the nobles of the Empire, was here to rest and help them fight against the Jorgendy Ridge army. It did not sound very strange. At this time, letting the nobles of the Southern Empire contact the middle-level officials would not give the Cruz people in the harbor the illusion that they were 'occupied'. It would make them feel that the harbor was still under the control of the Empire, and this Bugas fleet was just a temporary amulet.
Of course, to do all this, he must reach a consensus with Count Alcorn and the others.
Brando had not thought about how to deal with these fleeing nobles. After all, 'taking over' a harbor from an Empire's governor sounded like a rebellion. For these fleeing nobles, they might not be willing to be on the same boat as him. But he did not expect that an Empire merchant ship that they captured on the route would be of great help to him.
At that time, he originally ordered the capture of the merchant ship because he was afraid that the other party would leak the news that such a huge fleet had appeared in the heart of the Empire. But when they boarded the ship, they found that the bottom of the merchant ship was full of refugees from the heart of the Empire.
These refugees brought them unimaginable news.
A civil war broke out.
During the week they were sailing on the Sublime Sea, or to be exact, on the second day after they left Loen Harbor, the Kirrlutz Empire underwent earth-shattering changes. Her Majesty the Queen suddenly took control of an army that had never appeared before. This army was composed of the Senia and the Miirnas. She directly deprived Valla of his authority as the Pope of the Holy Cathedral of Fire and announced a religious reform. A religious reform initiated by a secular monarch was simply a big joke. In the first moment, the churches in the Empire were divided into two distinct factions. The School of Economics clearly stood on the side of Her Majesty the Queen, while the local faction loyal to Valla immediately raised the flag of rebellion after a short period of chaos.
In short, the Empire suddenly became a mess. This was not just an internal matter of the Holy Cathedral of Fire. This huge change of interests affected everyone's heart. The nobles of Cloak Bay responded to the call of the Silver Queen immediately, but the nobles of the North obviously could not accept this fact. In fact, at this time, the two sides had already fought in the east of Metz. Surprisingly, the traditional military nobles were defeated and suffered a big loss. Brando could not learn more from these refugees for a while. He only knew that the coalition forces formed by several lords retreated in the direction of Ludwig after losing.
But these were not the main points. The real bombshell was:
The Miirnas were back.
These survivors from the era of the Dark Dragon had finally risen from the ashes.
When they heard the news, the supporters of Her Majesty the Queen, including Count Alcorn, could not believe it at first, then they doubted it. But after confirming it again and again, they fell into silence one by one. After all, this was still a world dominated by order after the War of the Holy Saints. No matter how unrestrained and rebellious they were, they dared not deny the justice of the Four Sages. This was the foundation of the Iron Folk and the noble ancestors. For a while, they could not figure out what happened to Her Majesty the Queen. Was she crazy? How dare she do this?
But after a moment of silence, Brando knew that his opportunity had come. He hurriedly instilled his plan into the stunned nobles of the Empire. In the case of an uncertain environment, it was best to stand firm first and then choose what to do next. It was probably because of such a huge change in the situation that these fleeing nobles no longer cared about such a small issue as' taking over 'a port. Besides, Count Alcons and the others were not stupid. Of course, they knew what the best choice was when they were surrounded by powerful enemies and the situation was uncertain.
As for Brando's actions of taking over the port, they unanimously chose to remain silent.
But Brando actually understood that choosing to remain silent at this time was actually supporting him.
As the dust settled on the affairs in the port, the tasks were assigned one by one. Brando stood in the original office of Baron Ludwig Metz. Through the floor-to-ceiling arched window, he saw that there was not much commotion in Fatham Port outside. Everything was still in order. Finally, he could not help but breathe a sigh of relief. This time, the wizards of Buga had given him a huge problem. Now, he had finally taken the most difficult first step. Fortunately, Tulman did not lie to him. Her Majesty the Queen had indeed taken action first. In this way, there were more options left for him.
At least the interior of the Empire was no longer a monolith.
As for the matter of using the tiger's skin as a banner, Brando thought that the wizards of Buga would definitely not mind such a small matter. He could not help but think with some malice. These damn guys wanted to stay out of this matter, but he would not let them do as they wished. He wanted to let these wizards, who thought that they were superior, understand that there was a price to pay if they wanted to use him as a chess piece.
He knocked on the table just in time to see The Shire pushing the door open and coming in from outside.
The young wizard attendant looked at his Lord with a strange expression and said, "My Lord, the weather is good today. There are some unexpected gains in the port."
"Cut the crap," Brando's face stiffened, and then he was slightly stunned. "Unexpected gains?"
"Well, it's a big fish … Oh, no, it should be a little mermaid."
What kind of nonsense is this? A mermaid? I thought it was a Siren. Brando frowned and was about to say something, but The Shire already knew what he was going to say and quickly interrupted him with a smile: "I'm not talking nonsense, my Lord. You'll know when you see it."
… …
The light that penetrated the darkness was the only connection between this huge moving cage and the outside world. It came from the air holes above, and this beam of light scattered diagonally in the dark environment. It fell on the floor not far from Vahina, forming a circular spot of light. Her hands and feet were shackled with ice-cold shackles. The shackles were not heavy, but they were inlaid with formations that could isolate magic power.
She calculated day and night based on the changes in the position of the light spot and the food she had obtained. It had been almost a week since she had been locked up in this cage, and almost half a month had passed since she had been imprisoned in Wagner City.
Thinking back to when she was first locked in this cage, she was furious and wanted nothing more than to kill that despicable Rodney. But as the days passed, she became numb to it. After the rage, she felt a deep sense of unease and fear. But what Vahina was most afraid of was not her own fate. After all, she was the student of the Green Sword Saint, Veronica. She would not kneel down and beg for mercy in order to survive. What she was most worried about was her family, her father, and her younger sister. If she still did not know who was behind this, then she would be a true idiot of a noble lady without the slightest bit of political intelligence.
… …
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
