Adele was indeed surprised for a moment.
If you want to say what is the most fascinating thing on the sea, besides "treasure" - a treasure full of mystery and legend, what else can there be? How many pirates shuttled through the turbulent waves and fog, chasing the illusory and tempting golden legends. Among them, the most attractive and mysterious treasure is called "Mist Treasure".
At the end of the tenth century, there used to be a kingdom named "Gurtu" on the east side of the Roland Empire.
Foreseeing that he could not resist the menacing Ule cavalry at that time, the last king of Gurtu ordered his people to pack all the treasures of the palace and secretly transport them to the island of Pokeroa. However, before the last king escaped from Gurtu, the army of the Ule Empire leveled the castle.
The last treasure of the Kingdom of Gurtu has thus remained forever on the secret island in the sea of Pokeroa.
For hundreds of years, there have been countless clues about the treasures of Gurtu, and it is difficult to distinguish the true from the false. Countless pirates and adventurers went to that sea area. However, the geographical location of the Pokeroa sea area is very complicated. It is located in the confluence zone of the western irrigation and red ocean currents of the sea of heaven. It is shrouded in fog all year round, and the monsoon wind direction changes frequently. In the mist, there are strange birds of death. Ships who enter it will lose their way unknowingly amidst their calls and die on the bottom of the sea.
The Iron Cross Pirates started out as an ordinary pirate group.
Before it became the "Uncrowned King of the Sea", the Iron Cross Pirates changed their captain and disappeared from people's sight for a long time. Wait until it shows up again, already reborn. Someone once vaguely saw the Iron Cross Pirates near the waters of Pokeroa.
Privately, many people speculated that the Mist Treasure actually fell into the hands of the Iron Cross Pirates.
Otherwise, how to explain that they suddenly have the financial resources to buy all kinds of sharp weapons and equipment
It's just that the Iron Cross Pirates didn't spend as much as other pirates who occasionally got lucky and found a treasure or two. From the beginning to the end, the development of the pirate group was carried out at a fast pace, but it could barely be explained by plundering merchant ships, and never produced any treasures of the tenth century that should not appear.
Although people have guessed, there is no way to prove it.
As Queen Roland, she is in control of increasingly sophisticated intelligence, including information provided by the Knights of the Temple who are also engaged in pirate activities. Adele has long known what the truth is.
What surprised her was not that the Mist Treasure really fell into the hands of the Iron Cross Pirates, but that Abigail and the others dedicated the treasure to themselves.
It can be said that the Mist Treasure is the foundation of the Iron Cross Pirates. Even if the Roland Empire is defeated in this war, as long as the treasure is still there, they can return to the sea at any time. No matter how much damage was suffered in the war, the Iron Cross can be rebuilt as quickly as possible. But right now, they have delivered the misty treasure to the queen, and there is no way out.
"You have to think about it," Adele said. "The empire does need the money, but it may not be rewarded."
"Would you treat the soldiers who have devoted themselves to the empire badly?" Abigail replied, she paused, "I really wanted to keep it before."
The red-haired female pirate crushed her heels on the ground, put one hand in her jacket pocket, and looked at the ships moored in the port: "I don't need them, but those idiots do. Even if I'm not here, they are in the navy." If you can’t get along, you can live comfortably by relying on it.”
"They need you more than that."
Adele was silent for a moment.
"So they're a bunch of idiots."
Abigail said softly.
Adele thought of those pirates who gambled desperately for their captain that night, and her heart suddenly moved... A group of notorious pirates guarded each other, and none of them was alone. The Mist Treasure, the last treasure of a kingdom in this Loyalty is as light as dust in front of you.
The benefits that so many people desire, they let go easily.
Everything has a price, but some things are priceless.
She sighed softly from the bottom of her heart, feeling a little envious, and also a little... faint, fleeting sadness.
Adele hid the sadness well.
The church bell rang, and Mrs. Kelly appeared on the stairs on the next floor of the lighthouse. She gently raised her skirt and knelt towards the queen, reminding her that Gurion's messenger had arrived. The brief, breathless moments vanished like fairy magic that expires in the middle of the night.
Quickly agreeing with Abigail how to hand over the rich ship, the Queen walked down the lighthouse with her.
When she was about to walk down the last step, Abigail suddenly and quickly stuffed something into Adele's hand.
"A present."
She jumped down two steps lightly, landed firmly on the ground, and winked at the Queen.
"I thought you sent one already?"
Adele lowered her head in surprise, and found that it seemed to be a sailing diary.
"It's a gift from the Iron Cross Pirates to Her Majesty the Queen," Abigail took off her hat with a smile, and bowed to Adele. "It's a gift from Abigail to her friend."
After speaking, the former pirate leader quickly slipped away under Mrs. Kelly's particularly unfriendly eyes.
"Okay, Kelly, where is Gurion's emissary?"
The queen softly called out to the head maid who always valued etiquette.
Mrs. Kelly cast a reproachful glance at the queen, but she didn't express her dissatisfaction with Abigail's rudeness.
… … … … … … …
Gurion, the "magician" of the Saran pirate group that the Queen had met, is now the ruler of the Ermia Empire. The envoy he sent to meet the Queen was his Paja—similar to the Minister of State of the Roland Empire, which shows how much the new King of Ermia attaches importance to the diplomacy of the two countries.
Members of the Saran Pirates and a clerk sent by the Queen to Elmia also came together.
They brought news that the trade war between the Roland Empire and the Elmia Empire had been successfully established.
"Gunpowder..."
The queen propped her head on one hand, tapping her fingers on the table in an unhurried manner.
Although the drought in the Roland Empire last year ended after the "God's Judgment", the previous drought still inevitably affected the empire's harvest. The food and materials needed to launch a war are a very challenging problem for any country under normal circumstances. The queen didn't want the war to end, and the streets in the country were full of starving corpses, so she could only consider getting more supplies from other places.
The Elmia Empire readily agreed to trade grain with the Roland Empire—it also meant thanking the queen for supporting Gurion's ascension to the throne. Among the various terms of the agreement, the Elmia Empire can be described as generous, not only willing to cooperate with the Saran Pirates to escort the transport fleet, but also willing to provide Roland with urgently needed supplies for repairing the ship.
They only made one request:
—They hope to get gunpowder, or in other words, they hope that Roland can help Elmia build her own gunpowder workshop.
After pondering for a long time, the queen gave an answer.
"Aren't you worried about raising tigers?"
Dalton stood by the door, watching with cold eyes the emissary of Elmia leaving in ecstasy.
"Indeed," the Queen flipped through the information brought back by the clerks, "Gunpowder is a sharp weapon, even if it is a backward ancient empire, if it masters it, it will regrow sharp fangs. But don't forget, Gu Li Ann is a person who has traveled in Root and Roland for many years, he knows the importance of gunpowder, and he also knows that Roland is not the only choice for him."
"If Roland refuses, Root will be happy to give Elmia what they want."
"Conversely, when they have gunpowder and fangs again, will Root be willing to see Roland have a powerful ally—and Roland's new ally may compete with them in the future. No No, Root and the Papal States will try their best to kill the chance of the Elmian Empire entering a new era of civilization, and in this case, only Roland is left as their only ally."
"In addition, a country that has been bound by primitive beliefs for too long, even if there is an enlightened monarch, it is still difficult to immediately enter the era of hot weapons from backward spears." The Queen flicked her fingers lightly. Looking at the information in his hand, "In the bloody coup, although Gurion won the victory, the killing caused by muskets in the temple made most of the priests and elders of the Sun Temple think that they were evil from the depths of darkness."
She smiled coldly and slightly.
"How stupid and stubborn do you think they will be?"
"More stupid and stubborn than I thought at this time," Dalton walked in. "It's like three spiritual battles."
"That's right," the Queen sighed, "Just for the sake of doctrine, people can kill each other to the point of splitting the entire country, not to mention the cultural conflict between the old and new eras."
"But they're still going to improve."
"This requires us to improve more and faster than them," the Queen leaned back in her chair, her voice sounded sensible and sober, "Ermia is not the only one who owns gunpowder, do we have to be on guard against a reason?" Complacent about being far inferior to our country? Hiding something like misers only makes us indulge in momentary superiority and eventually die of that superiority."
"Don't be afraid of the progress of others, but let yourself be at the forefront."
"If you become a missionary, I'm afraid there will be no heresies and heretics in this world."
Dalton said.
The candlelight imprinted on his face, the cheekbones and the ups and downs of every muscle were printed with thin shadows, and the outline was like a classically carved figure. Standing in the staggered light and darkness, Dalton hesitated a little.
"It's time to tell me why you came here," the Queen closed the stack of information and raised her eyes.
After a moment of silence, the young black-haired officer took out something: "I'm here to return it to you."
"I thought you had thrown it away."
The queen slightly raised her eyebrows, looking at the golden rose that was glowing brighter and brighter in the candlelight.
"I've heard people say that you once told Lord Heinrich that if it's profitable, why not dance with wolves." Dalton said, putting the golden rose into the hands of the queen. His eyes were deep and the tails of his eyes drooped slightly. , born with a cold and cold feeling, "There is nothing wrong with raising tigers and jackals."
"so… "
His voice was soft and thin.
"I ask you, after victory, can you give it to me again?"