East Sea, Heaven Port.

Fen was very displeased.

Ever since the Black Sail Pirate Group was established, although he had been acting as the second-in-command in the eyes of outsiders, in reality, he shared decision-making power with Liszt.

As everyone knows, the Beima Duchy is now a complete mess, and as an old friend of the East Shore of the Beima Duchy, the Black Sail, which is now its neighbor, the East Sea, the current attitude of the East Sea is very important.

Beima Xiaochaijin had already started to clash with the foolish King inside the country, and not long ago, a Beima Navy warship came, belonging to Xiaochaijin's side.

To discuss matters with the Black Sail Pirates.

However, Dreya had bypassed him completely, and she had handled things well.

Currently, the battle situation was not yet desperate, and a major decisive battle was still far off; the Black Sail Pirates would not throw themselves into this bottomless pit at such a time and be the fool.

Of course, they also wouldn't wait until there was a definitive conclusion about who would win or lose to send in a strong force, as that would be meaningless too.

The Black Sail Pirates would commit at a critical moment, but not now.

One of the biggest advantages after the fall of Doringger was that the current ruler did not have to recognize the debts of the previous ruler. "The ones who robbed your East Shore ships were the old East Sea folks; it has nothing to do with us, the new East Sea."

Although this round of negotiations hadn't made much progress, Dreya had nonetheless made the position of the Black Sail Pirates clear. They would not side with the foolish King in any case, and strategic cooperation with Xiaochaijin would remain in effect.

Due to the turmoil in Beima, trade between the Western Continent and the Far East was greatly affected, and the protection fees from the Ship Traders Association of the Western Continent couldn't be collected for the time being.

But if Xiaochaijin really became the Beima Emperor and broke away from Aran's control, changing from a Duchy to a Kingdom...

That would be credited to the Dragon's efforts; the East Sea's fortune wouldn't be small at all. Beima was one of the very top nations under the Five Permanent of the Western Continent.

Once the people of Beima learned about the stance of the East Sea, this matter was temporarily put aside.

Fen was always brooding over this matter because that mad woman had essentially bypassed the board to make this decision, monopolizing the authority. When he raised objections, Dreya simply stated that now the biggest shareholder of the Black Sail Pirates was Garscek, who had the highest priority and undeniable right to execute.

Fen was unable to refute.

Since Liszt and the Black Sail Pirates were bound by life-and-death relations, anyone could casually enter the top floor of the main city building where Doringger used to live, as it was a public place.

But after Liszt left, Dreya immediately made it her private area, just like Doringger before her; not only outsiders but even their own senior executives had to give advance notice before visiting.

Dreya had sung a one-man show.

Of course, Fen didn't care much about these trifles; it was the symbolic significance of the matter that was important.

Since Mo Yutong was recently busy with workshop matters, the overall financial accounts were now solely managed by Dreya.

Clearly, Dreya was Liszt's cheap wife, and now Liszt was the rich man to whom Dreya had attached herself.

After this happened.

That's why Fen was eager to build his own faction, sending some stupid lackeys to Duguli to play some tricks.

Now there were quite a few impressive Divine figures among the Black Sail Pirates, and Fen could not let himself lose influence within the group.

Now Heaven Port was short of middle management personnel, and Fen's old friends, who had lost power, Scholar Mages were arriving at Heaven Port one after another, seeking refuge with Fen.

It sounded nice, calling them Scholar Mages.

The truth was, Fen had turned Heaven Port into a concentration camp for Black Mages; any Magician who got into trouble would flee there.

Inside the manor.

Fen was discussing matters with his friends.

His old scholar friends from Pedan, who shared the same political views, were to be distributed into various Black Sail institutions for document management work.

As for the Magic Energy Industrial Committee, there were fewer friends in this organization, only three, which didn't compare to Fen's former status.

Fen used to be a faction leader in the committee, while these three people were just there to make up numbers for a faction.

Nevertheless, they were still the best among others and possessed extremely high magic technique attainments.

"If there's anything you don't understand, go ask Mo Yutong; she's definitely a genius. You should work with her first to get the spare parts production workshop up and running. If Liszt's side succeeds again, the East Sea can squeeze onto the world's biggest poker table."

Fen believed that Mo Yutong was a very talented woman, with abilities equivalent to five masters from Pedan, but one person couldn't possibly monopolize all the technical jobs in Heaven Port.

He had to completely dominate this area with his own people to ensure his decision-making status.

And the creation of the Shipyard Island, guarded by the Mountain Giant under the Sea God, also had to be firmly in his grasp.

"Not a woman..." The handsome male clad in the silk scholar's robe couldn't believe it. He knew Fen better than anyone—a person of unparalleled arrogance, who believed everyone in the world was an idiot but himself.

Moreover, Fen's level of perversion was beyond what most could imagine.

Commoners just knew that Fen was a political prisoner. Those with a bit more insight knew that he restored the Pedan Royal Family from the grave to conduct a funeral for his father, but that wasn't all.

Only a very few insiders were aware of the deeper secrets—the ones that angered the Pedan Royal Family and the Magic Energy Industrial Committee to such an extent that they offered a bounty of three thousand Golden Dragons, regardless of the cost, to put Fen to death.

His perversions were monstrously outrageous.

Even the most creative fantasy realist writers wouldn't dare to write such narratives.

But that was all in the past. If Fen praised someone, they had to be outstanding in their field to an unbelievable degree.

"What's wrong with a woman?"

Another friend of Fen's, wanting to slap someone, was also a woman.

"Anyway, she is someone you could consult. Mo Yutong isn't any minor figure; the goods shipped from Pedan were provided by the Atomic Heart Church, and her ties with this church run deep. Once the problem with the energy source is resolved, these workshops can produce some things that are ahead of their time—you'll be interested."

After Fen finished speaking, he said no more and had a pirate take the three to the workshop's address in the newly cleared area after chopping down the forest around Heaven Port.

After arranging all this,

Fen finally had some leisure time. The construction of the outer city had been ruined by the Sea God, but now he had Pedan friends overseeing it, and other matters were also proceeding according to plan.

But the cost was...

Astronomical figures. Every day he woke up to find that several hundred, nearly a thousand, Golden Dragons had been spent on various things, and though income could barely keep pace, the shareholders saw no profit, and factoring in the time cost, the quarterly financial report was sure to show a loss.

Only if Liszt's operations went smoothly could he invest more money into the Cross-Era Workshop and Shipyard Island.

Swan's reply had also arrived at Heaven Port a few days earlier.

Fen issued a kill order to Haywood directly, bypassing Liszt. After all, this was one of the iron rules of the original Black Sail Eleven-man Group, a matter unrelated to outsiders.

He had never been one to cherish loyalty or friendship.

Things aren't looking great on Mulong's end, should I go take a look?

"You're born to labor," sighed Old Wei.

Now he was the grand steward of the manor, but his daily tasks just involved fussing over the flowers and plants.

Doringger was extravagantly cruel; despite being by the sea, the manor had several large artificial lakes where one could boat and fish, and within the lakes was a dedicated ornamental pond, filled with valuable fish and crystal-clear water.

Doringger, a pure-bred canine warlord.

The weather today was pleasant, an early summer scene with agreeable sunlight. Old Wei invited Fen to join him.

"I'd better not, something else might have slipped my mind."

Fen rested his chin in his hand, deep in thought.

Old Wei was always accurate in reading people. He came from the Gureg Royal Knight Order, with countless people under his watch.

In previous years, Fen seemed somewhat self-destructive and not very dedicated to anything.

But now that he was on the rise again, some of his true nature was beginning to show. Although Old Wei did not meddle in anything, he noticed how Fen was frantically pulling people into Heaven Port to build factions.

"I just want to say, I enjoy my life right now and hope it lasts a few more years."

"Don't worry, Old Wei, I will push Black Sail... to the pinnacle of the world. Don't you want to retire back at the Gureg royal palace?"

"Spare me. I don't have such high ambitions. Some things are beyond human control and must be left to time."

Old Wei suddenly spoke with deep seriousness.

"Is that so? I must get going,"

Fen replied noncommittally.

He had to meet with Dreya to review the accounts, as financial matters were not to be taken lightly.

Once that was in order, he could focus on Mulong. If he could control the critical passageways around the Narrow Sea and the inland transportation network,

Fen then would have the capital to speak frankly about benefits and detriments with the Pedan Royal Family.

He knew what Old Wei was hinting at, but he only cared for what could be achieved in his lifetime: to drain the East Sea's potential, expand at a breakneck pace, and push through with a reckless surge.

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