Henry VIII, who held the legs of a chair, founded the Academy, and at the beginning of the seventeenth century the dean, Thomas Brown, founded the Academy. Neville designed the Academy.

Stepping through the door, Lorraine saw a vast grassy Gothic courtyard with a fountain in the middle and a spired auditorium towering in the middle.

Hierro told Lorraine that Trinity College has maintained an interesting tradition since its inception, when incoming freshmen try to run around the giant courtyard when the bell rings at noon on the day of the opening banquet.

With a circumference of 367 meters, almost the size of a stadium, and the midday bell rings for only 43 seconds, every new student who completes the challenge will become the star of the welcome party.

He suddenly took out his pocket watch and looked at Lorraine with a smile: "Little Drake, today happens to be your orientation party." Don't want to try and challenge Trinity College's glorious traditions? ”

Lorraine looked at her dress with a strange look: "You plan to let me try a sport in a tuxedo?" ”

Hierro was stunned for a moment, and his smile gradually became embarrassed: "Also, the challenge of a group of philosophers, poets, scientists, and theologians is not a challenge to you at all. Please, your banquet is in the Neville Courtyard in front of the Lane Library, and we'll have to walk through the auditorium. ”

Walking through the auditorium and into the courtyard, Lorraine saw a long row of square tables in the courtyard, and the square tables were full of fine food.

Dozens of men and women were scattered in groups of three or five in the courtyard, keeping a suitable distance, whispering, but talking and laughing.

Including Lorraine, the Offshore Guild has a total of 27 member chambers, 13 of which operate the Cantabrian route.

This number only accounts for half of the guild members, but the transportation capacity and combat power account for seventy percent.

They are the dominant members of the Offshore Guilds, with the current President, the Roy Chamber of Commerce in Liverpool being the most powerful.

The Roy Chamber of Commerce is a veteran chamber of commerce with a history of nearly 200 years, with 30 ships, two of which are Karak-type destroyers of the same class as the Reindeer.

The Carrak is the predecessor of the Galen, also known as the Spanish galleon, and with the prosperity of the Galen type, it has gradually faded out of people's vision in recent years.

The two destroyers of the Roy Chamber of Commerce are both over 80 years old, and history has shown that they are not worth mentioning in all aspects except for their firepower and deck level.

The essence of a buffet is to socialize.

Men and men, women and women, the pre-dinner conversation is often more important than the banquet itself, and the topics discussed are more authentic and representative of the real state of mind of the attendees.

As soon as she entered the courtyard, Hiero's niece took Carmen from Lorraine's hand with a smile, and said to Lorraine, "Mr. Drake, I will take Miss Xavier to meet the noble lady of the guild, do you mind?" ”

Lorraine knew that this was what Hiero meant, and nodded slightly: "Carmen is a free unmarried lady, Miss Mindel, you don't need to ask my opinion. ”

"Yes." Freya wrinkled her nose as she grabbed Carmen, "My girlfriends say that God kissed me in the eye and I can see through everything." ”

"You can't see through the seafarers, we're covered in a mirage." Lorraine gestured to them, "I hope you have fun." ”

Politely watching the two girls merge into the circle of noblewomen, Hierro led Lorraine to a corner of the courtyard, a small circle of gentlemen.

The Roy Chamber of Commerce, the Sbrund Chamber of Commerce, the Shacklin Chamber of Commerce, the Samuelson Chamber of Commerce, and the chambers owned by the four presidents are all leaders of the Offshore Guilds, and like the Mindel Chamber of Commerce, they are all members of the Council, and the Roy Chamber of Commerce is the president of the guild.

"Gentlemen." Hierro greeted everyone in the circle, "I would like to introduce you to today's protagonist, Lorraine. Drake, president of the Drake Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Drake family in Tavistock, a young gentleman in England, and a brave, powerful, and trustworthy admiral. ”

Lorraine bowed his head to the presidents: "Lorraine. Arnason. Drake, I'm just an outcast of the Drake family, a dropout of the sea school, and I don't deserve such praise from Mr. Mindell. ”

"Don't be presumptuous, young man." The solemn gentleman who was arched in the middle of the presidents like the stars holding the moon pulled the corners of his mouth and stretched out his hand to Lorraine, "John. Roy, I'm the president of the Roy Chamber of Commerce. ”

Taking advantage of the handshake, Lorraine carefully examined his face.

In his fifties, gray hair, green eyes, the old gentleman in front of him gave people a strong and rigorous feeling, every strand of hair was attached to the head, covered with a wig, and the dress was not wrinkled, which perfectly matched the traditional definition of nobility in England.

From his tone, Lorraine didn't hear much welcome. He disdained Drake, a nascent small chamber of commerce, and he didn't value Lorraine's fighting will and fighting ability, which Hierro valued the most.

This snub embarrassed the small circle.

Hierro coughed, "Gentlemen, what are you talking about?" ”

President of the Shachlin Chamber of Commerce. Shaklin smiled: "We're talking about a new piece of news. ”

"What's the news?"

"The four fleets of the Cantabrian have become closer. Two days earlier, they had announced the formation of a combined fleet in the port of La Rochelly. Desai became the Admiral of the Combined Fleet, and the French destroyer became the flagship of the Combined Fleet. ”

Hierro frowned: "They actually solved the problem of the distribution of loot?" ”

"Seemingly, yes." Odilan shrugged helplessly, "We have a somewhat divided opinion on a powerful fleet consisting of one Galen-type destroyer, eighteen Brigentin-class frigates, and sixteen mixed-sail Scuna-type armed merchant ships. ”

"Disagreement?" Lorraine didn't understand what was worth disagreeing about this news at all, "Is the overall combat power of the guild still inferior to the first fleet of the four major chambers of commerce?" ”

"If you gather all the members of the guild who run the Cantabrian route, of course it will be comparable." Odillan's voice sounded somewhat helpless, "Our firepower is far superior to theirs, with two Carrak-type destroyers and thirty-two Brigent-type frigates, the problem is ......"

"The problem is that we don't have to bother at all." John interrupted with a sneer, "Those privateers shouldn't form a combined fleet. That fleet had already upset the balance of power in Cantabrian, and the Channel Fleet would not sit idly by. It seems to me that the blockade of Cantabrian is coming to an end and everything will return to the way it used to be. ”

Lorraine gave John a strange look: "Do you think at this juncture, the Royal Navy will declare war on the privateers on the Cantabrian route?" ”

"Obviously, isn't it?" John stroked his chest and confessed to everyone, and walked slowly to the north of the courtyard with his goblet and a silver fork, facing everyone.

Bite......

When the conversation was over, everyone gathered together, both men and women, in an arc and stood in front of John.

John cleared his throat, "Hierro has introduced us with a warrior. ”

On the fourth of this month, he engaged the Reindeer off the coast of Cantabrian, not only protecting his teammates with a Brigentin-type frigate, but also saving his own life. Let's extend a warm welcome to our new member, Lorraine. Arnason. Drake! ”

Applause rang out.

Amid the applause, Lorraine paced out of the crowd and took John's place, standing in front of and in the middle of the crowd.

His look didn't belong.

Hierro reminded below: "Little Drake, introduce yourself to the guys. ”

"Introduction?" Lorraine chewed on the vocabulary and suddenly began his initiation speech without a beginning or an end, "By chance, my ship cooperated with Mr. Mindel's fleet and defeated the Third Fleet of the Desai Chamber of Commerce, and also captured the successor of the Desai family, Acharin. Mr. Desai. From this, I was able to communicate with Viren. Desai meets. ”

"He's a madman. Set up an ambush at the negotiating meeting place, and on Guernsey, the royal possession of the King of England, with the intention of putting me to death. ”

"The fact that I can stand here proves that he has failed." Lorraine raised her glass and smiled, "Later, west of the island of York, I saw Viren again, saw the Reindeer, and had a battle by the way. ”

"The battle was not long, and my guns hit the Reindeer twelve times, and the biggest gain was the burning of her stern sail. She struck me three times, once in the bow of the ship, piercing two decks, once in the stern, shaving half of the stern, and one below the waterline, piercing two of my watertight compartments and nearly damaging the keel. ”

"He chased me for 30 hours until the Celtic West Rim before giving up the chase...... This is Velen. ”

Lorraine was silent for a while: "I have been a person who is unwilling to suffer losses since I was a child, and this time I have suffered a big loss, and I will definitely have to ask Veron for it back." However, it is difficult for the Drake Chamber of Commerce, which is fighting alone, to pose a threat to Veren's First Fleet, and now that the First Fleet has become a combined fleet, it is even more difficult to create a threat. ”

"I need comrades."

"I need comrades, so I entrusted Mr. Mindell with the task of joining the powerful Offshore Guild. However, I didn't expect to meet a group of nerds and a group of naïve middle-aged and elderly people at Trinity College. ”

"The Royal Navy intervenes in the war?" Lorraine laughed disdainfully, "My surname is Drake, and there shouldn't be anyone here who knows the Navy better than I do." ”

"The present situation is that England and France, and the Netherlands, and Spain are at war in the New World, and it is only by restraint that Europe itself can barely maintain the existing and superficial peace."

"No one dares to ignore the interests of the country and start a war in vain, and no one will drag the British mainland into the abyss of war for the sake of our small group of offshore merchants."

"Does England need the Cantabrian route?" Lorraine looked at the gentlemen and ladies in front of her with disgust, "Actually...... No, you don't! ”

"The vast Atlantic, the windy Celtic Sea, is the core route for goods from Asia, Africa and the New World to flow into the British Isles. England doesn't need Cantabrian at all, it's just us who need it! ”

"Stop having illusions about the Royal Navy, in the eyes of England we are not worth mentioning!"

Lorraine raised the wine glass in his hand: "Gentlemen, ladies, I am Lorraine. Drake, allow me to make a toast now. ”

"For the first cup, let us pay tribute to those who will eventually gain it for the enemy, or who will sleep at the bottom of the sea...... Our Wealth! ”

"Cheers."