The Mulong Duchy, due to the monarchical restoration, saw Princess Su Yizana ascend the throne. At the grand ceremony, she invited guests from various nations and gained international recognition, once again becoming a kingdom.

The railway stretching from Aran to Mulong has been repaired in the direction of the Royal Capital, currently extending only to Silver Moon City near Golden Palm Port.

After expelling the 24th Division of the Aran Army and the Eternal Sect, the railway still needs to be constructed, with jobs now given to locals in Mulong. Eventually, it will extend through the Kelor Highlands.

The train has come to a halt, and in the dining carriage, Liszt and his companions are having a meal while listening to a radio broadcast of the Continent Martial Arts Competition.

"The flavor is truly rich, truly rich."

Rein is enjoying Magnus's culinary skills.

Mr. Archer has now become extremely arrogant, relishing in his status and claiming he has returned to the Land Immortal Realm, only cooking for the Royal Family, with even princes needing to stay at a distance.

I'll have to find a time to prank him properly and tone down his arrogance; maybe bring five guys from west of the Narrow Sea to pin Mr. Archer onto the sofa.

"Strictly speaking, you count as a Terminator, right? Does the food taste the same as before? Shouldn't you be eating Demon Crystals?"

Shadi said with wonder.

What the hell, meeting again at Narrow Sea Calm Island two years later. It's just the order is a bit off; the business spheres of the East Sea and Narrow Sea are clashing, with Ox likely stirring up a top war over there.

"As long as my tongue and sleep are working, who the hell cares about being a Terminator or not."

Rein uttered crudely.

Archer is an idiot, but Magnus stubbornly took this guy as a teacher. Honestly, the only thing you can learn from him is culinary skills.

All the dishes this noon were made by Magnus. There's no denying that hardworking people and the Mousefolk are different species. Despite being one-handed, he has a natural talent, and in a few days, his cooking turned out quite decent, complete with color, aroma, and taste.

Garscek coughed a few times, due to his injuries, he could only resort to human means of transport.

"Let's go, time to head back and rest."

Garscek rose, holding onto Fafna. These people can't keep their mouths in check, not suitable for the little girl to hear. Once reaching Golden Palm Port, it's better for people from the Holy Spirit Church to take her to Heaven Port.

Liszt indulged himself while intently listening to the live broadcast of the Continent Martial Arts Competition, pirating the signal from Aran territory.

[As a candidate for champion, Clarke from the Narrow Sea has been suppressed by the stateless Gedre all the way!]

[How exactly does he achieve this?]

Liszt doesn't care about the others; the matches of Kaiden and Saleret today are the most crucial.

Saying he isn't nervous is impossible, as it concerns life and death.

The innocent are wronged, bearing valuable treasures, bound to erupt one day, but times have changed, and now Black Sail can hold its ground.

Let's recap all the current power blocks and personnel configurations.

I feel like I'm playing a damned card-drawing mobile game, putting the drawn characters into infrastructure, and these people can work.

East Sea scope.

Within Heaven Port HQ, Dreya is in control, overseeing the overall situation. Having lived two to three hundred years, she handles things well. Heavenly Mother Mo Yutong of the Atomic Heart Church is heavily pushing technology, and Old Wei is also managing affairs.

Fen has gathered old colleagues skilled in Black Magic to help out at Heaven Port, catering to his conditions. As a founding member, you can't refuse this level of authority, don't even mention the title of elector.

Holy Spirit Church has also set up a chapel at Heaven Port; cooperation has already commenced. They also hold Stone Tablet Fragments, and Fafna belongs to a three-party possession by the Church, Aran anti-imperialists, and the East Sea, needing to assist both the Emperor and the Pope.

On the four Fishing Islands, old buddy Qi Li, Ban of the Seventh Amendment, Wolman each have a piece of the island, along with one directly controlled by Black Sail, all offering solid returns.

Dead Man Bay sees Ox bringing in friends from Mirror Sea, having connections with the Mirror Sea radical group Sky Space Association, home to a so-called Legendary Great Mage working to improve surrounding ecology, quite intimidating. Liszt acts quite reactively, partitioning a section of the East Sea to Mirror Sea.

The Admiral of Kersuna Island and Black Sail have a very close commercial collaboration.

Main revenue projects include: security management fees from the Far East and the East Shore of the Western Continent, real estate leasing, adventurer commission platforms, tourism development on Iron Soul Island, dock production, and supply chain management for the entire island's food industry at Heaven Port, including taxation of small businesses like casinos and brothels rooted there, subsequent industrial goods export from Heaven Port, financing cultural and tourism projects bridging communication between the Far East and the Western Continent.

Western Continent scope.

Within the Great Wetland, there is a transportation channel leading to Aran, managed by Wolman and his former sub-dragon rebellious forces, cooperating with local park heads like Hened's old flame, scar-faced woman, to conduct business.

In Aran itself, Duguli, the city of art in Cast Province, has former Heroic Level adventurers like Violet and Nishi managing it. Nishi, with her flirtatious manner, has attached herself to the son of a wealthy patron she met at an art exhibition. Now, Swan is in charge there, just recently occupied with matters of the Imperial Continent Martial Arts Competition.

In Mulong, Princess Su Yizana, whom should now be called Queen, faces many challenges with the recent restoration, with General Fen sitting there to assist in follow-up matters, along with mercenary corps hired from Nashano and Dumb Iron Brigade, now considered stationed military forces of Black Sail, leaving some pirates in Mulong Capital.

Golden Palm Port is now Black Sail's territory, the first step in extending its reach into the Narrow Sea.

Main revenue projects: Iron Soul Island crafts are distributed in Duguli through the Great Wetland transportation channel, and subsequently, industrial products from Heaven Port are distributed in the markets of Great Wetland and Aran through this channel, which is the main source of income within Aran. The main sources of revenue within Mulong are railway shares, crude oil extraction, and land trade tariffs of Golden Palm Port.

Liszt finished the last bite of fried rice, now having reached the Half-step King Realm, just one step away from the Western Continent's mainland profit organizations—the Four Heavenly Kings, Thief Guild, Gate of Truth, Evgeny Consortium, Narrow Sea Convention Organization. The money is already quite sufficient.

Now for the current location of core personnel, let's rule out Claude; this guy doesn't count.

Haywood: Exiled, location unknown.

Fen: Mulong Capital.

Swan: Aran Royal City.

Mika: On the way to Aran Royal City, giving the Emperor some deep work.

Wolman: Going to the Great Wetland, managing the transportation channel, disapproving of Fen's rapid consolidation of power, also preparing to let his fellow sub-dragon people come to Mulong to learn.

Ox: Narrow Sea, Lostra Port, handling business disputes involving the Narrow Sea Commerce and East Sea trade.

The rest are all in the carriage, and Black Sail is now a terrifying giant entity, like the self-valorization of capital. Expansion is unstoppable, it can only continue. The next strategic target is to make a strong entry into the Narrow Sea.

Liszt watched this bunch of idiots fooling around, utterly speechless, boasting about going to the Narrow Sea, planning with Ox on how to operate, riding together in the Narrow Sea.

"Giant Whale Guest, is your wife the only one playing? You elbowed my face."

"Really sorry, bro; how about this, I'll find you his concubine."

"You already called me bro, what more can I say? It's just an elbow jab, change your pose and it's fine."

"So genuine, bro."

Archer and Chuan Che are completely shameless; although Liszt's expectations were already negative, they never failed to surprise.

"This is ridiculous, isn't it?"

Even Rein laughed.

Narrow Sea is different from East Sea; that's the Golden Waters, where free trade flourishes, not a gathering place for East Sea desperados. The mafia over there is stylish, plays fancily, and the people are quite trendy.

They haven't even reached the Narrow Sea, and their hipster phobia acts up. The pirates over there with privateer certificates are probably called managers.

I am the manager of a pirate ship, and today I'm here to share with everyone our newly launched seasonal menu. The inspiration for this came from my recent inland travels, which directly sparked my imagination for the pairing of murder and looting.

We always uphold a concept: we hope every guest we rob can experience a unique cultural collision and feel the artistic flavor of life, yeah, yeah.

"Damn it, is drinking rum in the Narrow Sea going to get you blasted by a beam from their lighthouse?"

Morison has never been to Lostra and is quite curious about the rapidly rising nation capable of competing with Aran.

"Don't worry; Lord Dor's manor will fly over to help us block the attack!"

Rein used to bounce around with an adventure group, exploring far and wide. After coming down from Chenfeng Plateau, he stayed inland and never visited the Golden Waters. Now he's filled with limitless imagination.

Liszt thought that during his time heading to Pedan, this bunch wouldn't be able to beat Giant Whale Guest, but they could still disgust them, then he'd return from Pedan Winterless Tower.

It would be like Xiao Yan returning to Jianan Academy.

Continued listening to the radio broadcasts from the Continent Martial Arts Competition, eavesdropped from within Aran's borders.

Even though he didn't know who Clarke was, he was ruthlessly beaten by someone called Gedre.

Then there were several more battles—some Divine Sword Xiaolong, Moonlight Swordsmith, Tomb Guardian, Blade Without Scabbard. Each name was more intimidating than the last, one guy fighting the heavens and earth, and another a bad-ass capable of creating black holes, and the remaining ones were betting to blow up KBC's void with billions of light-years.

Anyway, it was like Immortals battling.

Today they'd decide the top sixteen.

Liszt smoked, praying for Kaidenima to die soon, cheering on Saleret, hoping Mika wouldn't mess up either.

[In the upcoming battle, known as Ghost Eye Mad Blade, former Hall-level adventurer Saleret, and also from the Cross Alliance's Forgotten Port acting as Executioner, with the name Executioner!]

"Damn it!"

Liszt stood up, his pupils quaking.

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