Chapter 150: |
A couple minutes earlier.
“We’re taking over the main ship! Let’s go!”
After summoning the cubes, Qasim spurred the [Red Goddess] onward.
*Whirl!*
The cubes spinning beneath his feet added to his momentum, and Qasim rocketed dozens of meters before landing on the deck of the enemy flagship.
“Gu! Giiic!!”
Peng flapped his tiny, little wings and followed after Qasim.
“…I thought penguins weren’t supposed to fly.”
Otto muttered in disbelief as he watched the penguin take to the air.
“All of you lay down your weapons and surrender.”
“Guik, GUII!!”
Qasim and Peng yelled at the opposing forces as they stormed into the enemy lines.
“You bastards!”
“Attack!”
The knights and mercenaries aboard the Oberhauser ship bared their claws as soon as they understood that the deal was broken.
They realized that the fleet surrounding them was not the Pirate Lord Avery, but someone else.
And so the battle was waged on the decks of all the smugglers’ ships, including the enemy flagship on which Qasim and Peng had landed.
‘They’re too strong.’
Qasim realized his shortcomings during the battle.
It was all well and good to dive in with excitement.
But the men of Oberhauser were no pushovers.
They were no ordinary traders, but rather the private army of the Great Emperor Argonne.
The Oberhausers were the imperial house of the Krares Empire, which had once united the continent.
It was no wonder Qasim was in such a state of crisis.
‘I can’t let His Majesty down. Concentrate, stay focused. I must become stronger to be considered worthy of His Majesty.’
Qasim pushed himself harder and harder, with only one goal in his heart to please Otto.
And suddenly.
‘I can feel it!’
Qasim suddenly noticed that he had become stronger.
The experience he’d gained from all the hardships and trials he’d faced had been seamlessly integrated into his swordsmanship, allowing him to unleash even more deadly force.
“…This is how he awakened.”
Meanwhile, Otto was dumbfounded to see the potential of Qasim blossom.
He couldn’t believe that Qasim would awaken so suddenly….
A sudden growth with no apparent end.
But the effect was certain.
After awakening his potential, Qasim’s combat power increased tremendously in that short moment, and he was able to dominate the enemy leader in the blink of an eye.
And so the battle ended in a great victory for the Lota Navy, thanks to Qasim.
“Your Majesty!”
Qasim dropped to one knee as Otto climbed aboard the flagship.
“Congratulations on this victory!”
“You did well. That was a very impressive, spectacular performance.”
Otto helped Qasim to his feet and praised him.
“I was impressed.”
“Is that true!”
“Absolutely, and I look forward to seeing what you do in the future.”
“SALUTE!!!”
Qasim’s eyes became moist once again.
‘Huhu! Mother, your son has been recognized, he’s been praised by the king for his work, Mother!’
He was not the old Qasim of his hometown…..
He was overcome with emotion as he thought of his mother, who was probably vacationing with their family in some resort in the south of the country right now.
‘After all, you are the only one in this world who knows me. I will continue to serve you with utmost loyalty.’
Qasim clenched his fists, reaffirming his loyalty to Otto.
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Having succeeded in capturing all of Oberhauser’s smuggling ships, Otto brought the men in charge in for questioning.
Unfortunately, there were no core personnel on board.
With such an important matter, one would have expected the Argonne himself, or at least a key member of his inner circle, to show up…
‘But. If something goes wrong and it involves a core member of the organization, it would be difficult if their tail ends up being stepped on.’
Otto was painfully aware of how cautious and vigilant the Great Argonne was.
But it didn’t mean they weren’t a bunch of small pawns.
“Y-You, Otto de Scuderia!”
Shaylock, a merchant trader and middle manager within Oberhauser’s upper echelons, recognized Otto and exclaimed.
“What the hell are you doing here!”
“Well.”
Otto smiled coldly.
“Why would you be here?”
“You think you can mess with the goods of our Oberhauser and get away with this!”
“I thought the banner hung above is the Ego Troupe?”
“T-That.”
“Why did you sneak in here in the first place, disguised as another merchant group? This is Pirate Lord Avery territory.”
“…..”
“I always knew you were a bunch of backstabbing bastards. You didn’t think I didn’t know that.”
Shaylock clamped his mouth shut and made no response.
Apparently he’d rather remain silent than divulge top-secret information.
“Well. There are plenty of ways to force you to talk.”
Otto didn’t bother to urge Shaylock.
There was torture by mages.
It was a bit creepy, but if all else failed, he could use the Kairos method.
Besides, while Shaylock was a competent merchant, he was merely a middle-manager, not a key executive in the Oberhauser hierarchy.
They already had Gaius, one of their key executives, imprisoned, and they couldn’t afford to lose him.
Of course, he would still interrogate him to some extent to get the most recent developments.
“Your Majesty, what do we do about the people of Oberhauser?”
“Hmm.”
Otto pondered Camille’s question for a moment before speaking.
“We lock them up for now, and sell them when we get to the Caliphate.”
“What?”
“The Caliphate has many mines of magic stones.”
“Ah.”
Understanding what Otto was saying, Camille nodded.
The Caliphate was the world’s largest producer and exporter of the precious commodity, making it one of the richest countries in the world.
However, the mining of the stone is incredibly dangerous and arduous, and the kingdom relies on a large number of slaves to make up for the shortage of labor.
As a result, the Caliphate had a thriving slave trade, with most of the slaves coming from the world’s worst criminals.
Even in a country where slavery exists, it is extremely inhumane to use ordinary, innocent slaves to work in the magic stone mines.
So, the Caliphate had been purchasing criminals from all over the world and importing them.
Those scum who shouldn’t deserve any human rights.
They were importing subhuman beasts that were not worthy of living and breathing and making them work as slaves in the magic stone mines.
“Why even bother getting our hands dirty? The people who execute people are not humans. Let’s just sell them to the Caliphate and get some pocket cash. It’ll be sweet.”
“How wise.”
Even Camille agreed with Otto’s decision.
He knew how vicious the Oberhauser were, and he felt that even killing them would be getting his own hands dirty.
“What do we do with the seized vessels?”
“We keep them in good shape and give them back.”
“What?”
“We send them back to Argonne.”
“Why would we give them back if they’re still functional?”
Otto didn’t answer.
“Hehehe.”
Instead, he grinned so devilishly that Camille doubted if this was a person.
‘What the hell are you plotting.’
Camille couldn’t even begin to imagine how wicked and diabolical Otto was scheming.
But one thing was certain.
The Great Emperor Argonne would once again be eating sh*t….
Otherwise, there was no way Otto would return the ships used for smuggling to Argonne.
“First, let’s transfer their cargo to our fleet.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Needless to say, the tobacco, alcohol, and salt on board the smuggling ships became Otto’s.
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Otto has remained in the Gurling Archipelago ever since, tending to administrative matters.
The Archipelago is a strategic location and a natural fortress that allows for complete control of the seas southwest of the continent.
He couldn’t leave such a strategic area entirely to Drake, who was still merely a young man.
So Otto took Drake with him and tutored him briefly, providing him with one-on-one instruction.
As if that weren’t enough, he also assigned five magic swordsmen to help Drake manage the Archipelago.
‘Taking him to the Kingdom of Lota will only weaken his potential.’
Pine beetles must eat pine needles, and a sailor must live on the sea.
Taking Drake to the Kingdom of Lota was not a good option.
Normally, Drake should have been fighting Avery, experiencing hardship and adversity, gaining experience and maturing.
However, by pledging allegiance to Lota, his potential as a Lord was weakened and his scenario was destroyed.
In order for Drake to grow as a naval admiral and fleet commander, he must stay in the Gurling Archipelago.
‘If I leave him here, he’ll grow up on his own, and I can’t do everything for him.’
Otto’s hope was that the Gurling Archipelago, with Drake in it, would grow into a great naval powerhouse on its own.
A workshop of sorts.
So before leaving, Otto made a bold statement to Drake.
“I, Otto de Scuderia, King of the Kingdom of Lota, do hereby appoint Francis Drake, Chief of the Naval Staff, as Governor of the Gurling Archipelago.”
“…..!”
“In the future, I hope you will develop the Territory of mine to make it strong and fulfill its role as a naval base. That’s all.”
“I’m honored. Your Majesty”
Drake, who had just become governor of the Gurling Archipelago, was overwhelmed and knelt down and bowed to Otto.
‘I am now Governor of the Gurling Archipelago. Father, as you can see, your son is now the governor of this pirate den.’
Loyalty welled up in Drake’s heart as he looked at Otto.
For Drake, Otto was the man who turned his life around from being a vengeful man to fulfilling his childhood dream.
If he didn’t have that kind of loyalty, he’d be considered an animal.
“Well, I’m leaving.”
Otto patted Drake’s shoulder, encouragingly.
“Be good. You understand.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“I trust you.”
“I will do my best to live up to your expectations.”
“I believe you.”
“Yes…?”
Drake was confused as Otto repeated his words over and over again.
‘Is he begging?’
Then.
“He wants you to deliver your tribute on time.”
Camille whispered in Drake’s ear.
‘Tribute?!’
Drake was dumbfounded, but decided to give Camille the benefit of the doubt.
“Taxes, I’ll send them regularly, every quarter.”
“That’s good.”
Otto flashed him a satisfied smile.
“You know how important taxes are.”
“….”
“When you’re a Governor, you have to be mindful of your taxes, you know, Ha…”
An uneasy feeling came over Drake that perhaps he had met the most corrupt monarch of all time.
“Welfare without taxation. Development without investment. Faithful payment of taxes to the central government as a local government. That’s the most important thing, okay?”
“I understand, and I will keep it in mind.”
Drake broke out in a cold sweat.
Otto’s words were surreal sophistry.
It sounded like he was giving him a penny and asking him to buy bread and milk, buy tobacco, and keep the rest for his pocket money.
Of course, it wasn’t impossible.
It ‘might’ be possible if Drake went out to sea and diligently hauled in a load.
“Oh, and.”
Otto added.
“Don’t forget that in a month.”
“You mean the Oberhauser group?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll make sure we’re on track.”
“All right then.”
Otto gave Drake a brief smile, then climbed aboard the [Red Goddess].
With Drake stuck in the Gurling Archipelago for the time being, focusing on internal affairs, he wouldn’t need the world’s fastest vessel.
Otto took the Red Goddess and a few other ships from the Black Fleet back to sea.
Heading for the Caliphate, the world’s largest producer and exporter of the magic stone, and his final objective.