Europe in 1775 was calm, like a storm approaching, and it was oppressive and shivering.

In September, the Royal Navy of Great Britain New World Fleet entered a rotation period.

The new Admiral Elijah. Baron Drake was killed in a storm on his way to his new flagship, HMS Lion, the Royal Navy's newest third class ship.

Then six months went by in a flash......

Lorraine lay in a small room with her eyes closed.

The brown wooden door is half-open and half-closed on the left-hand side, and the wooden mattchalked bed board is placed on the opposite side of the door.

There are patches of mold on the walls.

At the foot of the bed was a half-worn cupboard, with the upper level open and the lower level with five drawers.

The tiny cracks in the wooden frame are the only pattern on its body, and if you stare at it, your mind will uncontrollably guess when the cabinet collapsed.

They are the only two objects in this room, and this is the new home where Lorraine has lived for half a year.

Devon, the small town of Tavistock.

Less than two kilometres from the magnificent estate of Baron Drake, the two are connected by a field road that stretches as far as the eye can see, but for Lorraine, it is like a moat.

He was the second young master of the Drake family, or rather, he used to be.

Six months ago, his doting father died on his way to the New World.

Four months earlier, his brother had inherited the title and had suddenly driven his illegitimate son and his nameless pagan mother out of the mansion as if he had changed his name.

Half a month ago, Helena, who had been in poor health, fell ill and died.

At that moment, sixteen-year-old Lorraine finally broke off from the world completely.

He was free, whether it was what he wanted or not.

Lorraine opened her eyes, lifted the worn rucksack hanging at the end of the bed, and walked out of the room with a blank face.

Today is an important day, his nominal lord and nominal last guardian Shaq. Francis. Drake will tell him what the family will do with him.

The result?

Lorraine doesn't care.

He walked into the living room with a cold smile, and when he looked up, he saw Shaq standing there for a long time.

Shaq was dressed in a modest tuxedo, holding a short staff inlaid with jade, his handsome face was stiff because of his seriousness, and his sea-blue eyes were bright, but he did not look at Lorraine.

Lorraine tugged at the corners of her mouth disdainfully: "Can't you find a place to stay in the farmer's house for a while, my dear Lord Drake?" ”

Shaq still didn't go to see Lorraine.

His gaze wandered, like a beautiful chart of mildew on the wall.

"Don't be cynical, my stupid brother." "You should remember that ridicule is the hypocritical dignity of the weak, and beyond that, it is nothing," he said. ”

"But I've always felt that self-righteous arrogance is hypocrisy." Lorraine walked over to herself, dragged her chair away, and slammed her feet on the table in front of Shaq, "Honorable lord, where is my verdict?" ”

Shaq's brow furrowed slightly.

He stomped his cane, and Falky, the butler, entered the door with a large suitcase, saluted Lorraine, and then carefully lifted the suitcase and placed it on the table where Lorraine rested.

Lorraine turned her head to look.

This is a good suitcase, buffalo leather, ninety percent new, light brown leather with clear clover markings, one by one, blooming with the Irish countryside.

Lorraine didn't ask what was in the box, just nodded at Forkinu.

The box was quickly opened, revealing its neatly placed position in front of Lorraine.

On the left and right are parchment papers framed in glass and wood, and in the center are three hundred gold pounds neatly tied with leather ropes.

In England, £300 is a lot of money, and it would take a middle-class family about ten years to save it, even if they don't eat or drink.

Lorraine couldn't help but laugh: "You are such a generous lord. ”

"In the eyes of the family, you need to have a decent life even if you are evicted from the house, which represents Drake's face."

"They're so lenient."

Lorraine stopped paying attention to the gold pounds, lowered her foot, and her slender fingers slid lightly over the glass.

Two instruments......

The paperwork on the left-hand side is from the prestigious Faculty of Law at the University of Cambridge and contains an official admission permit, while on the right-hand side, it is ......

[In the name of the King, I grant Mr. Drake the right to defend his legitimate interests on the seas and to attack the enemies of the kingdom...... Elizabeth I, on 27 March 1571]

This was the year-long privateer permit that Lorraine had been waiting for.

Two hundred years ago, Elizabeth I awarded it to Francis. Drake, the dragon of the seven seas, has conquered the world with this, from an insignificant bankrupt merchant to a legend on the sea.

Today, 200 years later, it still has the force of law sacred and inviolable. Through this thin piece of paper, the king of England authorized merchants to become pirates at any time and legally to plunder enemy ships throughout the world in the name of the kingdom.

Seeing it, Lorraine smiled even more heartily.

"That's your final decision, lawyer or businessman?"

"It's the family's verdict." Shaq still stood straight, "The family believes that the choice of undignified work by unworthy children is more appropriate as a reason for eviction than having illegitimate children and heretics in the family. ”

"Sure enough, it's Drake's face again."

Lorraine took a sip, pulled out the privateer license from the box, flipped over and stuffed it into her backpack, and then got up and went out.

In the moment of passing by Shaq, he suddenly said, "You know what? I smell freedom. ”

"It's your delusion." Shaq responded coldly.

"Not a delusion." Lorraine paused word by word, categorically, "When I come back and return all this to you in front of my mother, you will know that this is not an illusion." ”

Shaq smiled for the first time: "You are penniless now, and you still have the luxury of expecting to come back before I die of old age?" ”

"I'll be back." Lorraine shook her head slightly, "Shaq, you are a descendant of the first Lord Drake, a traditional and proud noble lord of England...... But I'm not. ”

"I have Francis, the dragon of the seven seas, in my veins. The blood of Drake is the Lord of Iceland. The blood of Arnathan. The descendants of pirates never accept handouts, preferring to take what we want. ”

……

Heavy rain came suddenly.

The pouring rain washed over the streets and hills of Tavistock, washing away the stains and dispelling the gloom.

On a sunny hillside, there is a nameless new monument without a cross, which is square and oblique to the northwest.

It is topped with a delicate pansy flower, and underneath is engraved with an exact epitaph of the same meaning in English, Viking and Chinese Simplified.

[There's a stupid woman lying here]

[She used to be the daughter of the sea]

[She gave up the sea for love, but after losing her beloved, she couldn't get her sea back]

[She longs to smell the sea]

[She failed, and her body turned into bubbles in this valley where she couldn't see the sea]

[May Neold not forget her, and be able to stir up a storm on the sea and sweep through the dry valley]

[May she find her way back to the ship city of Nuo Otong, and don't drift in the sky forever]

[May her soul rest in peace]

[May her lover not go to heaven]

[They first met at sea, and they should end up staying at sea]

[A ghost that does not exist in the world, Zheng Anyue, engraved in C.E.1776]