1558, spring.
In a bay in the northwest of the Free Commercial City, under leaden gray clouds, a fleet of about twenty galleys was bumping on the sea. A group of people who were anxiously waiting in the port saw the mainsail blown up by the sea wind, and immediately knelt down on the ground excitedly, shouting with joy.
Among the crowd was a tall, thin, middle-aged man with gray hair, brown eyes, and deeply sunken cheeks. He looked like a skeleton. This person held a small black cloth bag tightly in his arms, and a rancid smell emanated from the bag.
Everyone around consciously stayed away from this obviously abnormal guy.
The boat came through the wind and waves and stopped smoothly at the abandoned pier. The refugees waiting here rushed to board these pirate ships.
Yes, that's right, the ships that came to take them away were the same pirate ships that made them fearful in the past.
"Hold on to the rope! Hold on tight!"
The Corsican captain waved his hat and shouted at the Neotheists who swarmed onto the ship like a swarm of ants. Nicknamed "Demon Hunter", he is a great pirate who is active on the narrow northern coastline of the Sea of Heaven. Before that, together with the Iron Cross Pirates, he accepted Queen Roland's solicitation.
At first, the Corsican captain had doubts about whether he really wanted to obey the will of a woman. After working with the royal family, not really doing much, but he soon regretted it.
He never expected that Queen Roland would have such courage.
After the Night of Roses, Her Majesty the Queen cleared up the decaying imperial navy with vigorous and decisive means, and even opposed all opinions, appointed Abigail of the Iron Cross Pirates as the admiral of the navy, and handed over the Rose Strait, the throat of the empire, to Abigail in your hands. The other pirates were all green with regret.
—If they had been more active from the early morning, wouldn’t they be the governor of Rose Strait now
It was after this incident that the pirates officially realized that they were serving a monarch who was extremely decisive.
This time, after the Queen issued the "Special Asylum Order", the captain of Corsica no longer hesitated, and was the first to lead the fleet to set sail to assist the Neotheists who were in trouble in the Free City.
He knew Abigail's purpose in letting the Iron Cross Pirates join the Imperial Fleet: no matter how famous the pirates were, they would never end well. Like his elder brother, who once threatened a party, and was finally nailed to the mast of his own ship.
If you want to enjoy the looted money with peace of mind, and grow old peacefully, the only way out is to get the blessing of the empire.
Their queen, though young, was not easy to fool, however.
She is rewarded and punished.
Only those who contribute can get what he wants.
On the map, the Sea of Heaven is narrow from north to south, and long from east to west. It is divided into more than a dozen interconnected areas by peninsulas protruding like fangs. Each area has unique airflow conditions, complex coasts, and dotted islands. [1] The pirates are well aware of these complex terrains, their ships are light, and they are good at taking advantage of the harsh terrain, so it is very appropriate for them to undertake the rescue work.
After boarding the pirate ship, a large number of New God believers were quickly sent to Istan of the Roland Empire—there is the emerging cotton textile industry area of the empire.
In addition, many people directly became members of the pirates and stayed on the pirate ships to participate in future pirate wars.
These people are full of desire for revenge.
Although the aid to the New Gods in the Free Commercial City was mainly for the Queen's merits, the Corsican captain himself also believed in the New Gods, and he had rare sympathy for these refugees.
"Captain! Captain, there is a guy who wants to see you."
One of his men squeezed over and said to the Corsican captain.
"who?"
The captain of Corsica was in high spirits.
He knows how terrible hatred is - the desire for revenge can drive people to do all kinds of things that were unimaginable before.
The people who joined the pirates were so that they could kill their enemies in Japan, and these days, many of the Neotheists they rescued spontaneously found them to give them advice-on what places and which targets are suitable for the war. Retaliatory looting. They also did their best to point out to the pirates the points of springs on the coast and islands, nothing more important to a galley that needs fresh water every few days.
Because of this, the voyage during this period was the smoothest and most comfortable since the Corsican captain's pirate career.
Thanks to the advice of those people, they also launched an attack on the caravans and islands of the Yager Kingdom along the way, and the harvest was gratifying.
In light of this, the Corsican captain of the "demon hunter" is now affable and surprisingly good-natured, willing to take the time to meet anyone who wants to see him.
Soon the requester was brought before the Corsican captain.
Even the Corsican captain, who didn't care much about personal hygiene, frowned violently when he saw this person. He looked at the small cloth bag in the arms of the tall and thin man, wondering if he might be a lunatic—who knows what was wrapped in that cloth, the rancid smell was so pungent, and this man could still hold it tightly.
"My name is Male Barbaro."
The person who was no different from a skeleton spoke, his voice was hoarse like chain friction.
"A military engineer."
Marle Barbaro used to be a good ship designer in the Free Merchant City.
Relying on his rich sailing experience, his familiarity with the coastal terrain of the Sea of Heaven, and his superb design ability, his life was pretty good in the past. Today, it is difficult to find traces of happiness on Mahler's face. His cheeks are deeply sunken, his cheekbones are raised, and his bones are thin.
His wife is a Protestant.
Just a week earlier, his wife had been burned at the stake.
He tried to explain to them that she was pregnant, and begged them to have mercy and spare her life.
"Let me take her place! For God's sake! She's pregnant!"
He yelled, pleaded.
Soon someone was walking towards her, and he was overjoyed, thinking that she would be freed from the terrible cross.
Immediately afterwards, his throat lost its sound, and he witnessed the most terrifying nightmare of his life—they cut open her protruding belly, pulled out a barely distinguishable mass of flesh and blood, and threw it in front of him.
"Take it, your boy."
The man in black said casually, and then someone dragged him away.
Mahler fled the city with his children and trekked with them to a port where pirates were said to have arrived.
"The Alliance fleet was designed by me."
Mahler said holding them "brought" his children.
"I know how they cooperate and where their shortcomings are."
The Corsican captain's face grew serious.
Aware of the importance of the man in front of him, he gestured to the side, and soon a separate room was arranged for Mr. Mahler.
"So, what do you want?"
asked the Corsican captain.
"I want..." On the bone-like face, the deep-set eye sockets were marked with the flames of the stake, "revenge."
The crow screamed and flew into the sky.
……………
"Every era has its tragedies, but just because of different beliefs, persecuting another person and sending him to the stake must be the most ignorant and absurd tragedy of our time."
Flipping through the letters from the Corsican captain and the ship designer Marle Barbaro, Adele sighed.
Dalton sat across from her, marking the map.
He was wearing a black embroidered hunting jacket, and the cuffs with silver buttons were rolled up. Dalton is not that kind of burly person, he is slender and thin, and the forearm line is bounded by black cuffs, which makes him look extraordinarily tall and straight.
"Ignorant people are always proud of it."
Hearing the queen's words, Dalton looked up at the letters in the queen's hand, and guessed where they came from from the emblem on the letter paper, and what the content might be.
"As a participant in two religious wars, your views will surprise those who follow you." Adele put the letter on the table while thinking.
Dalton himself took advantage of the violent religious conflict between the New Gods and the Old Gods to rise to the top of the military, and he even became the leader of the New Gods. However, the astonishing truth is that he doesn't believe in gods at all, whether it is the new gods or the old gods, in his eyes, they are just wooden idols.
"If the Old Gods can help me, I don't mind being a devout Old Gods." Dalton said half-jokingly, "Aren't you the same? My dear majesty."
The queen raised her eyebrows, but did not deny Dalton's words.
She took out her pen and wrote a brief reply to the Corsican captain.
When John VI was struggling for the city of the Free Chamber of Commerce, the preparations for the war in the Roland Empire were proceeding in an orderly manner.
In detail, since the alliance with the Root Empire in August last year, the queen has begun to prepare for this war from the overall situation. Two important regulations have laid an important foundation for today's situation. Now the preparations for the battle have fallen into a more nuanced and specific aspect.
A large amount of wheat and wine were purchased and raised, asphalt needed for voyages, wooden barrel staves and other materials were transported to several important ports, and gunpowder workshops were working day and night... Thanks to the help of pirates and escaped believers, the Roland Empire made great progress for this time. The war draws out extremely detailed sea charts-this sea chart is enough to make any country frightened.
Dalton, who has rich military experience, has repeatedly discussed with the Queen these days to determine the supply line for the war.
The war in the Sea of Heaven is greatly affected by the climate. The traditional combat season starts from the end of March to the beginning of April. The continuous rain after autumn will make the soldiers lose their will to fight, and it must end after October at the latest.
Now that the battle season is approaching, the time left is limited, and they must make complete preparations before then.
"Bell Ryder is coming soon."
Dalton made the last mark on the map, put down the pen, and stared at the queen leaning against the car window.
Belle Ride is a small city at the junction of the Roland Empire and the Root Empire, and it is also the place where the fiancee, Emperor Orsis of Root and Queen Adele of Roland, met for the first time.
"You're going to meet your 'fiance' soon."
Dalton said gloomily, sitting upright in the dark, with an unconcealable hostility on his body.