The task of running errands for three hundred Golden Dragons was like a pie falling from the sky.

The Honorable-level Adventure Group, commissioned by Galen, traveled day and night. Their horses lost stamina and had to purchase fast horses at high prices directly from the stations.

With the blessing of the Aran Highway, and the relatively flat and less vegetated terrain of the Mulong Duchy, the horses sped up and finally, after a little over a week,

they reached the current rebel stronghold of the Mulong Duchy, Golden Palm Port.

Black Sail had brought over a thousand people this time; most of their core members were deployed. The fleets stationed in Anchor Bay in the distance, the Hall-level adventurers, and the East Sea Commissioner from Lostra couldn't possibly remain hidden.

Where they stayed and where they moved, such a large group of people simply couldn't be concealed. Just by inquiring with the information mongers who camped outside the adventurer's guild every day, one could find where those people were staying.

Based on the looks from the now-withdrawn old Warrants, many of Black Sail's core members were residing in the Dream Hotel in the city, said to be where the Lord of Golden Palm Port entertained distinguished guests, which average people couldn't afford even with money.

It made the leader of the Honorable-level Adventure Group believe that these three hundred Golden Dragons were as good as earned.

But dealing with desperados, the group leader, an old hand himself, said it would be enough for him to deliver the message alone; his brothers had suffered enough on the way here, having encountered numerous robberies. It was wise to be cautious and leave the others behind, given that the envelope was sealed with wax and the content unknown, just in case Black Sail's people decided to kill to silence them.

After several twists and turns,

the group leader found the recipient of the message, a guy wearing a helmet named Haywood.

Inside a room at the hotel,

Haywood, in front of the group leader, opened the envelope, read all the contents, and his face, hidden under the cold metal, showed no emotion.

He stiffened for a moment, as if recalling some discordant details that bothered him, then read through the letter again before folding the paper.

The leader's intuition was spot on, he casually mentioned that many brothers were still waiting for him outside, and in Aran as well, awaiting his news, hoping to complete the transaction quickly and get the three hundred Golden Dragons.

Upon learning the contents of the letter, Haywood planned to kill the entire adventure group. However, the group leader's words were extremely cunning. They were respectful on the surface, but between the lines, there was a deeply hidden threat.

Haywood had no choice but to give up his plan.

What was puzzling was that Haywood did not intend to take the fee from the public funds as payment for the delivery. Three hundred Golden Dragons was an absolute fortune, but Haywood, who had received a good share over the years and had spare money from the train robbery case, did not use much himself and still had plenty left.

He actually paid out of his own pocket to compensate the adventure group.

The leader's face nearly cracked with his smile upon receiving the money. He had never earned money so easily; this was the benefit of cooperating with powerful forces.

Before leaving, the group leader offered to work under Black Sail and go directly to sea but was outright rejected by Haywood.

The leader had to leave in dismay, not giving it much thought, just assuming that an organization dominating the East Sea wouldn't be interested in him.

Haywood paced back and forth in the room, a member of the Demon Clan with excellent night vision, so not many lights were on.

Only the sound of his iron shoes clanking back and forth could be heard.

Indeed, there was something fishy.

Even though he knew Liszt was rather capricious and without many scruples, he mentally prepared himself before confronting Liszt.

Although he was aware that the Demon God's goal was a Dragon, he didn't know if that included destroying this dimension on a whim. The proposal, in a sense, meant persuading Liszt to betray the world.

However, to his surprise, "Liszt" readily agreed, because he was unclear about the situation and, to maintain his disguise, he had to agree to Haywood's request to stabilize the situation.

The current issue was, Fake Liszt had ensured the success of Haywood's relic investigation project, but whether True Liszt would manage to pass this resolution remained to be seen.

The flame of the candle on the table flickered slightly with the air currents in the room.

Haywood picked up the letter, hesitated for a moment, and then placed the letter in the flame, quickly being engulfed by fire.

Suddenly, Haywood withdrew his hand, patting out the flames on the letter, only burning one-fifth of it.

He couldn't make such a reckless decision. Liszt would return from Aran soon after completing his errand, and since the relic investigation department had already been established with funding, that was enough.

Haywood needed no further assistance; he just had to report the gathered information to his superiors.

Should we let the others know now?

It's unnecessary.

Haywood needed to perfect the department before the real Liszt returned, recruiting a batch of knowledgeable archaeologists, or people with thief skills, targeting the libraries of various religions, the relics of untrodden forbidden zones, and, of course, the most likely place to find clues would still be the Miracle Church of Suffering, formerly known as the Divine Mother Sect.

Fen was a stickler for rules, whereas Liszt knew how to boast. He had let slip at the dinner table that the Miracle of Suffering was deeply interested in the legendary world depicted in paintings in the depths of the Extreme North, and following this clue might lead them to some of those cultists, as well as the dens of those demons.

Black Sail's grand strategy had already been set, and the fake Liszt, in order to maintain his disguise, couldn't stir up any trouble and was mere deadweight.

Having secured the letter, Haywood had made up his mind. He would gather people to head to the Northern Realm before Liszt returned. Once he was back, they would set off officially, and then they would take care of the fake Liszt.

At the same time.

The administrative lounge of the Dream Hotel.

Currently, they'd been waiting for someone over the Seventh Amendment to come along. The Black Sail group had nothing better to do all day and were bored to death.

Shadi smoked and browsed the newsletter published by the adventurer's guild.

Since Mulong Duchy had only recently become a vassal of Aran, it had been a kingdom before that.

The adventurer's guild was a platform provider, and the rule for running such a platform was always to brown-nose those in power.

Who was most influential on the Western Continent? The Emperor, or perhaps me?

Looking at the titles chosen by those castrated editors, Shadi felt like vomiting his dinner.

"Mulong Duchy, the Jewel of Aran's Narrow Sea!"

The article was full of how harmonious the two countries' relations were, completely ignoring the rash of bombings within Mulong.

And to call it an Aran jewel was purely bully talk. Every duchy under Aran was a jewel; even the cutthroat states like Beima were considered jewels.

Here, the term 'jewel' was as cheap as calling a handsome guy over after being charmed by a pretty female internet cafe manager to top up his account, extremely cheap.

"Have you received any letters recently?"

Rein guessed it had been more than a week, and if Liszt was still alive, news should have gotten back by now.

He would regularly ask other core members if they had received any mail, excluding Haywood, whom he believed was like a stomach worm to Liszt, purely a lackey. If Haywood had received a letter, he would surely share the news.

"No, why are you always harping on about it lately?"

Shadi ignored Rein and continued reading the paper, and as expected, the end of last year had shown that Beima Duchy could no longer hold out—it had turned into complete chaos.

The rebellious army, led by Beima Xiaochaijin, along with a group of coastal lords, had already started fighting with Beima's brainless king.

Warnings were issued to merchants and travelers to avoid going to Beima.

Beima was nominally still Aran's vassal, but for some unknown reason, when faced with the King of Beima's pleas for help, Aran provided everything but actual assistance.

The situation in Beima was now extremely chaotic.

It was just as Liszt had said, Beima's brainless king had a charm; he was a usurper, originally propped up by the Alan Royal Court, who later urged him to station troops at Heaven Port. However, the brainless king refused to intervene in the East Sea's mess and also refused to sign the Continent Transportation Law; railways couldn't penetrate either.

He was a textbook case of being a hypocrite, carving out a series of national policies. Although it made him personally wealthy, it pleased nobody; he had offended both Aran and Xiaochaijin.

The Alan Royal Court's inaction probably signaled their intention to set up a new ruler.

"It's time to watch General Fen's performance. Isn't he supporting Xiaochaijin now? To find a non-freezing port on East Shore and make it Black Sail territory, wouldn't that be freaking amazing?"

Shadi took a drag of his cigarette. Fen, stationed in Heaven Port, was cold and cunning; he was certainly going to stir things up.

He was indulged in the dream of Black Sail reigning over the Four Seas.

"Really?"

Rein's mind was unease. If Liszt had indeed perished, Fen was likely to be the next in command. With Fen's political acumen, he wouldn't oppose the offer of peace.

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